Time away

Andrew and I are going to be able to do a little traveling in the next 2 weeks. It has been a solid 2 months of hard work and lots of school, and we are looking forward to the time to take a little break. Work at the hospital is going well, but it will be wonderful to step away for a bit. Andrew is plugging away at his assignments, and will most likely still have to do a little work while we are away.

The Stravitz's current travel plans include:

- Conference in Louisville this coming weekend on Adoption at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

- Trip to snowboard in Taos NM March 3-10th! We are staying at a Bed and Breakfast called the Cottonwood Inn which had a web site that left us both drooling. ( http://www.taos-cottonwood.com/ )

There will be updates as to what transpires at each trip. I am really excited to learn to snowboard! Andrew promised to teach me and that I will hurt by the end. Bad. Good to know there is a hot tub at the B&B we are staying at. :)

Happenings

It's a good almost 3 months into winter and I have just started to wear the thermal pants under my jeans. Guess I held out long enough and am now just not all that interested in being cold all of the time. And there are clothes that you can wear to prevent that. Go figure. Ah, Chicago.

Things are progressing, at least in somewhat more of a unified direction for Andrew and I this semester. We have decided to start goi

ng to a church in the North Side of the city that has recently been planted and is starting to establish their ministries and their church as a whole. The one aspect we have consistently been impressed with is the depth of the fellowship among believers that really don't know each other all that well yet. The spirit has been granting sweet unity and transparency among these brothers and sisters, and we are excited to be a part of that.

Andrew is all languages this semester, with classes on Greek exegesis, Hebrew, Greek reading, advanced Greek grammar, and a TA position in an u

ndergrad Greek class. Challenging, certainly, but stimulating as well.

Most exciting has been the development of fellowship with some of the other couples at Trinity. Andrew has been meeting weekly with a group of guys who want to hold each other accountable to spiritual growth during seminary, which has produced sweet friendships. I have started meeting with the wives of these men,

to be able to encourage and support one another, which has been wonderful. There are some awesome women in this bunch, and though we have only met once so far, we were able to be truly honest with each other the first time we gathered. It was amazing. Andrew and I are both very glad for these sweet believers to get to know at Trinity.

I joined a book club that was started for the nurses on my floor, and was able to hang out with some of those ladies this week. Most of my co-workers live in the city, which makes it a bit more difficult to hang out with them. So it was great to get the chance to do that.

Officially, we have decided that curry is the new chili, perfectly suited for delicious cold weather food. And, Dark Horse Brewery has officially become my favorite brewery upon the discovery of their seasonal stouts which included:

- Coffee Dopplebock

- Cream Stout

- Smoked Stout

- Blueberry stout

- Oatmeal Stout

All delicious, all amazing, all favorite. Sigh. If only they were year-round.

And those are the happenings in Chicago for a while. More to come.