A start of a new era...

Despite all the times I have thought, I should blog about this, or this is too funny not to share on our blog I have yet to post a single word of the going-on’s of our life in 2010… However in my new endeavor to keep our friends and family more updated in life I am going to try to do better!

January started out calm, which was such a nice break from the fast pace we were going in December! Though our rest did not last long! We both started grad school again, small group started, and the biggest commitment of all… LGN! But before I explain what that is you need a little back story!

Back in October I heard about a running opportunity through World Vision. Basically they started a “running team” that runs for world vision to raise awareness and money for their cause. It is an awesome organization that does so much for children and communities in third world countries. I will talk more about that in future blogs though…. After praying about it and feeling a great call to use my love for running for the greater good, I along with two other employees from Northwestern started a team. How this all evolved is another long story for another time, but God’s hand and leading had been amazing… more to come soon!

SO, after having made the commitment to run a few different races, including a Marathon (yup, that’s 26.2 miles…) I knew I needed to make changes in my life so that I could not only run but have a healthier life as a result! Phil also decided that he would train and run. We joined a gym last may and since we have been there kept on hearing about a class they offer called “Look Good Naked Boot Camp.” After talking to the trainers about the class Phil and I decided that this would be an awesome way to get in amazing shape, lose weight and overall be healthier, especially with starting running we both knew we needed to do something to prepare other than just running.

The class is crazy! The first week Phil and I almost literally could not walk! We go Monday through Thursday and every other Saturday for an hour of the craziest workout possible. We do cardio, strength training, yoga, kick boxing, boxing, biking…. Ok well basically any exercise ever invented we do. The trainers help us not only get a great workout but help us if tracking of our eating and making sure we are breaking old habits and creating new, healthier ones! After only three weeks we both are seeing dramatic results in our bodies and our overall health.

Stay tuned for more…..

Saying Goodbye to 2009 – the year of changes

Happy New Year, I can hardly believe that it is 2010. It seems like 2000 was just yesterday yet somehow ten years has gone by.

This year has been so full of life, good and hard. Phil and I were talking a couple of days ago about where we were this time last year and were simply amazed at how much has happened and changed over this past year. We decided that we wanted to start a new tradition of looking back over our year and thanking God for all that He has done and taking a moment to re-cap our last year. So we sit snuggled on our couch in our living room remembering….

January (from Katie’s perspective)
Well, really we must start in December of 2008. Phil graduated from Northwestern with a degree in Accounting and was hired by Shoreview Community Center as full time staff immediately. For Christmas we headed to New Mexico to spend with my extended family. Though it was vacation, Phil and I were both thinking and planning for the future during this trip. We wanted a house, but were unsure if we were supposed to stay in Minnesota or move to New Mexico where we both would have jobs and be closer to my family. While we were there we even looked at a few houses to possibly buy. One day I remember coming back from looking at a awesome house with a beautiful pool out back and many other great features. Phil and I both sat down on the couch and I cried because we felt lost as to what we were supposed to do and where God was leading us. We decided that when we got back we needed to see if we could get a mortgage and if so start looking for a house. We prayed about it and said that if God wanted us to stay in Minnesota he would make it clear to us by making the house come through….
OK, onto January! When we got back from New Mexico we met with our mortgage lady and on January 17th sat down with our realtor and discussed what we were looking for and where. We went out house shopping a few times and started getting greatly excited about buying a house! Because we were still living in our apartment we needed to have two month notice so after praying and thinking about it a LOT we decided that we would tell our apartment we would be moving out by March 31st! We drove back from the apartment office looking at each other like we were crazy, we did not have a house but we still felt like God was leading us to give notice!

February (from Katie’s perspective)
On February 5th I had my 23rd birthday. That Saturday we went house shopping again with my Mom and walked into 1000 Roselawn Ave. The house was in great disrepair, Phil wanted to walk right out and not even look at the house! Mom and I, being the visionaries we are, started seeing potential. After looking at a few more houses we went home and Mom and I both could not stop thinking and talking about this house. We called our realtor and asked if we could go and see the house again the next day. After seeing it for a second time Phil started to see the potential. The next day we put an offer in on the house and signed final purchase agreement papers on Thursday that week for a closing of February 27th, exactly three weeks after seeing the house for the first time! From the day we closed until we moved in we spent every last minute we had cleaning, packing, painting, mainly being crazy people with little to no sleep! We were overwhelmed by our friends and family who supported us and helped us do some really dirty work!!

March (Phil’s view)
The entire month of March was painting and cleaning our new house to move in and then cleaning and painting our apartment to move out. From the day we closed, we spent almost every waking minute, other than work, at the house cleaning and painting. The house was unbelievably dirty and grimy. We put at least two-three coats of paint on every wall. Most of the ceilings needed 5-6 coats of paint to completely cover up the tobacco and smoke stains from the previous owners. We purchased the house from the children of the people who built the house in 1949. Since then, they did very little updating of the house and almost guaranteed they did not paint at all. So many of our friends and family spent countless hours at our house and we couldn’t have cleaned and painted as much as we did with out them. The weekend of the 14th-16th Katie, her sisters and her mom had a wonderful opportunity to lead worship for a women’s conference in Normal, Illinois, Hearts at Home. They would lead worship for two identical conferences later on in the year also. On March 21st, after three weeks of cleaning we got about 15 people to help us move our apartment into our new home. Yet another amazing show of love from all our friends and family. The next day was not as much fun. Katie’s mom and sister packed up their belongings from their farm in Wisconsin and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where Jane’s family lives.

April (Phil’s View)
The kitchen in our new house was the room needing the most updating. So much so that the first day we owned the house we had torn out all of the overhead cabinets leaving just a few base cabinets and an old countertop to make up our kitchen. Despite this, we were not discouraged from having 14 people over to our house for Easter dinner. We always have and always will enjoy having large gatherings at our house, and this was no exception. The day after Easter, April 13th, we got out a sledge hammer and got rid of the rest of the cabinets as well as the epoxy flooring in the kitchen. All we had left was a few pipes where the sink had been, a refrigerator, stove and sub-flooring. This was the first of many large and minor remodeling projects around the house. With little to no previous experience Katie and I completely remodeled the kitchen in three weeks. We bought, assembled and installed new cabinets from IKEA. We installed a new porcelain tile floor. We re-did much of the electrical to accommodate our new appliances. We also installed the dishwasher and sink plumbing. The only thing in the entire kitchen we did not do ourselves was the countertops. We had a contractor come and install cement countertops which with our white cabinets and new appliances looks amazing. The entire month of April was spent working on the kitchen, either planning or actual remodeling.

May (from Katie’s perspective)
On the 9th our countertops were installed and we celebrated a completely re-modeled kitchen! However Phil and I are always moving quickly onto the next project so May 10th we tackled the huge overgrown bushes that were all around our house. My Mom gave Phil her chainsaw when she moved and we put it to good use! There were many bushes as well a as a pine tree that we cut down. Phil’s parents helped us out by bringing their large diesel truck to pull all of the stumps out. We then quickly brought loads and loads of black dirt in and made flower gardens around the house. The whole yard changed dramatically! And once again Phil and I were exhausted!
We hosted a few different parties, one for the youth group volunteers and the Memorial Day with friends and family. It was great to be able to use our “new” yard and beautiful new kitchen! We watched the trees bloom, the grass turn green and felt so grateful for all the God has provided!
We also had two girls from Northwestern move into our basement for the summer, Jen and Brittany. They worked for me at the Student Center for the summer and it was a lot of fun to have them here and be able to share the amazing house God blessed us with, with others.
On a personal note, May brought about the finalization of my parents divorce. Though this was extremely hard, it was also good to know that it was finally over and that we could start to heal and get over all the hard stuff. Both Phil and I were (and are) so challenged to live our lives in a way that we are dealing with the baggage in our lives. Though this was so hard it is so awesome to know that God will not waste this time in our lives and that if we let him, we can grow more to be like Christ in these situations.

June (from Katie’s perspective)
In June we took a little break from major house projects and did smaller things around the yard and house. My job keeps me extremely busy through the summer so we just did not have the time to do huge things! Phil was asked to be in a wedding of some really close friends, Charlie and Lindsay Grill, in June and greatly enjoyed being a part of their day as a groomsman. I celebrated one year of working for Northwestern as professional staff through my yearly employee review!

July (Phil’s view)
July was a somewhat quieter month. We continued to enjoy our “new” house and share it with friends and family every chance we got. A group of friends and us went to Stillwater for fireworks on the 4th and then came back and spent the evening playing games and enjoying each other’s company. Katie’s job at Northwestern finally got classified as full-time after more than a year of being in limbo between her school year job and her summer job. We also got to see and spend time with Katie’s mom, Jane, again in July. She came up at the end of the month for a little more than a week.

August (Phil’s view)
August was another month of immense change. Katie decided that pursuing her Masters of Organizational Leadership was a more important long-term step than staying with youth group at church which really killed her. I thought that since Katie was going back to school to get her Master’s degree I might as well do the same and just like that we were both scheduled to be back in school in late September at Northwestern. Jen and Brittany moved out of the basement on the 9th to move back to school and the same evening Katie, her sister Emily, my friend Alex and I ripped out the ceiling of the basement in the first step toward finishing/remodeling half of the basement. This was so that Emily could move in at the end of the month. The next day was Monday August 10th, our two year anniversary. We took a break from our basement remodel to spend the day canoeing down the St. Croix River, what a wonderful day! We are amazed to this day at how quickly time passes. As the next two weeks progressed the basement continued to improve. We replaced the electrical in the entire basement, installed new recessed lighting fixtures, built a wall and closet to make a bedroom area, and installed a new ceiling. If that wasn’t enough we tore out the staircase and built a new one. And we did all of that in two weeks! No one can ever say we didn’t work hard enough. August 20th brought one of the hardest events of the year. I was laid off from the Shoreview Community Center and immediately our income was more than cut in half. We had just purchased a house, were in the middle of remodeling our basement, starting school again and just starting to have to pay off our current school loans. We spent many hours and days in prayer uncertain of the future. At the end of the month Emily moved in to a 95% completed basement, we weren’t able to get carpet installed before she moved (and we still haven’t been able to but it’s on the horizon).

September (from Katie’s perspective)
In our two and a half years of marriage we have been continually amazed at how God has provided for us. Once again we were able to witness God’s hand so evidently working in out lives by providing a job for Phil exactly two weeks after he was laid off from Shoreview. Phil started working at Black Box Resale Services on the 3rd just in time to celebrate his 24th birthday! (Can you believe what an old man he is?) We had yet another party at our house to celebrate Phil’s birthday and Labor Day with friend and family. Phil still has some friends who work for the Air Force Falcons football team and they were able to get us FREE tickets to the first game in the new TCF Gophers stadium. Though we were sad the Air Force lost the game it was an absolute blast to be at the game and enjoy some great time together. We also started out first class for graduate school.

October (from Katie’s perspective)
I started out October by flying with Emily to Chicago where we met Mom and Marta and rented a car to drive up to Grand Rapids Michigan for the second Hearts at Home Conference that we lead worship at. It was an amazing weekend spent with my sisters and mom. I was so thankful for the time we could be together and really enjoy each others company.
As it started to get cold, we realized that our furnace was not working and in need of replacement (if you would like the full story it is in a earlier post.) Thankfully we were able to get a new one installed and are plenty warm in these cold winter months!
We also started a small group of five couples from our church. Phil and I are really enjoying building friendships with everyone and are so grateful for the group!

November (Phil’s view)
As November started I was once again faced with looking for a job. My position with Black Box was a contract position and my contract ended on November 2nd. Once again we were seeking God’s guidance and wisdom as to where I was supposed to work and once again we were amazed at His provision. Two weeks again to the day I started, with a different contract agency, at Thomson Retuers in Eagan, MN. The drive is a little more than I’d like but it’s a good company and the pay and benefits are great. God is so amazing! The third Hearts at Home conference was in Rochester, MN over the weekend of the 6th-8th and because it was so close I was finally able to go with and support Kate. It was a lot of fun. Our remodel of the basement got a little closer to done as we finished the basement landing and coat closet toward the end of the month. And once again we hosted a holiday gathering with 14 people at our house. My family came over for Thanksgiving dinner.

December (Phil’s View)
December was a month that brought little change for once. We finished our first semester of grad school (both with a 4.0 GPA!!) On the 20th we had yet another holiday gathering at our house. The Buckles’ Christmas was here. We had to move it to the 20th instead of the 24th. Reason being on the 21st, Katie and I as well as Emily and Leif had to be at the airport at 4:30am to get on a plane bound for Cancun Mexico. Katie’s amazingly generous and loving family paid for a trip for 14 family members to spend 8 days in Cancun. Everyone agreed that it was by far the best vacation ever and the timing couldn’t have been better. We spent each day snorkeling and swimming in the ocean, reading and relaxing on the beach and we even went scuba diving in the second largest barrier reef in the world once or twice. This is the vacation by which all other vacations will be measured for a long time to come. Much to everyone’s chagrin we had to leave 80+ degrees to return to Minnesota earlier this week. Despite having to deal with the cold it is always nice to be home. We were home for New Year’s Eve and, can you guess, we had a party.

Well, you have made it to the end! It is amazing to look back and see so many hard things that happened this year, but also so many amazing wonderful things. We are reminded daily that God has a plan for us and our lives and is taking care of us everyday. We are so thankful for all that has happened and are so excited to see what this new year holds for our lives!

November

It's been a while since we've updated anything here and I thought that today was as good as any. So what's been happening in our lives since our last post? Oh so many things.

First, my temp position with BlackBox resale came to an end on November 2nd so we were once again left with only one income. But as always, we are amazed at God's faithfulness in these situations. Two weeks, to the day, later I started a job working in the Technology Finance Department at Thomson Reuters. This too is just a temp job but I get to make my own hours and the pay is excellent.

There is a position in the Accounting Office at Northwestern College which has opened up and I have applied for. From everything we can tell, it would be perfect. We would both work at Northwestern which would have many benefits both financially and personally. So that's something to pray about. Northwestern is notorious for being slow in their hiring process but it's an exciting opportunity on the horizon.

Katie is still working for Student Development at Northwestern and loving it. It seems like every day she tells me that she's been given more responsibilities which is great to give her more things to work on to pass the time.

I realized that we haven't put any pictures of our newly updated, finished basement. We're adding the final touches to the stair landing this weekend and then maybe we'll remember to get some pictures up here.

It seems like every weekend we become more involved in our church. As Katie said in her last post we started a couple's small group with some friends and some new couples from Eagle Brook (who have quickly become friends also). That has been great for all of us. Having other couples to talk with and having friends who are in the same stage of life as us has been great. Additionally, Eagle Brook has decided to open two new campuses (in Blane and Woodbury) over the next three years and that is very exciting for everyone involved.

One of our funniest and maybe most stressful stories from our house happened in early October. As the weather started to get colder we decided it was finally time to turn on our furnace for the winter. So I went and lit the pilot light and tried to get the furnace to light. After several days of fiddling and trying I still couldn't get it to light. Eventually we bit the bullet and called a furnace repair guy to come look at it. After several hours, many phone calls and a second repair guy they decided that they could fix it now and probably be back several times through the winter to keep fixing it since it was so old or we could get a new furnace. We decided that because of tax rebates and other things, now was as good a time as any to get a new furnace installed, especially since we knew it was something we needed to so sometime soon anyway. So the day comes to install the new furnace, the guys spend just under 8 hours removing the old one and installing the new one and it comes time to turn it on for the first time. It won't light. Sounds like the same issue the old furnace was having. They replace the thermostat. It still won't light. Eventually they decide the only option left is to re-run the wiring from the thermostat to the furnace. When they're running the new wires they find the problem. As it turns out the wire from our thermostat to the furnace accidently got cut when we were remodeling the basement. The old furnace would have worked just fine!! Oh well, we decided that was God's way of getting us a new furnace before our old one broke in February and we had to get it replaced then. There are two morals to this story. If you ever do remodeling, DO NOT remove wires unless you are absoutley sure where they come from and where they go to. Second, if your furnace isn't working, check the wiring!

Well that probably covers most of our life changes for the past month or so. Hopefully we'll get those basement pictures up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Phil

Can you believe it is almost October? As I was sitting at work today I realized that we have had many life changes since this was last updated, so I though I would fill you all in.

Phil as many of you know has been working at Shoreview Community Center since he graduated back in December. We have been so grateful for this job but decided early August that he wanted to move on due to different circumstances, the major one being the hours that he worked. So Phil started applying to other jobs and we started praying that God would make it very clear what we were to do. Well, to say the least our prayers were answered very quickly… On August 20th I came home early to find Phil home when he was supposed to still be at work. For reasons we are still foggy on Shoreview laid-off Phil without notice. Though it was shocking and unbelievable frustrating, we both knew that God answered our prayers, just maybe not exactly like we would have wanted!

After our initial shock we both were reminded of how faithful God has been to us every step of the way in our lives and marriage and were able to give the situation over to God. Though I will not say we were even close to perfect it was awesome to be able to trust God with our future and know that he has the big picture.

After only two weeks of Phil being unemployed the temp company that he was working with called and said that they had an opening at a company and could Phil start the next day!! I am completely blown away by Gods complete provision of us! He started working as a temp for a company called BlackBox exactly two weeks after he was laid off from Shoreview. While Phil and I both know this is not a job he wants forever we are so grateful for a job. Phil is continuing to job search in the accounting/business field and has made some great contacts. So we continue to trust God with the future, but this is the best place we could be and it is teaching Phil and I how to lean into God more everyday and strengthening our marriage in great ways. Also with this new job he works Monday-Friday 8-5 pm! I can’t explain how amazing it has been to have the same schedule and to spend weekends together again!

As most of you know I applied and was accepted into a Masters program at Northwestern College awhile ago. Through Phil losing his job we talked a lot about where we want to be and how we would like to get there. Phil and I both came to the realization that this masters program is something that we both really wanted to do, so Phil also applied and was accepted!

We started class a few weeks ago and so far are enjoying being back in school! It is awesome to be doing this together and also know that what we are learning is going to greatly help us in the future. The program is a Masters in Organizational Leadership; it is very similar to the MBA but has a wider focus. We will both graduate May 2011, only two years!

Phil has also decided that it is time to get his CPA (certified public accountant) license. This will greatly help him with the job search and also give him more qualifications. The test is very hard and is in three or four parts that you take over the course of a few months. I know he is not looking forward to all the studying that will go into this, but will be great to have done and will help him a lot in the future!

On the home front… In August we completely remodeled our basement. We tore out existing ceiling, wiring, paneling and many other things and replaced it all with a beautiful new ceiling, walls, lights, a new stairs going down to the basement, new electrical, doors and I’m sure other things I am forgetting! As usual when Phil and I are doing a project we go at an insane pace because we both hate having things done partially! So from the date we tore out the ceiling to completion it was three weeks. My sister Emily is now renting from us and living in the new space! I will post pictures soon!

Phil and I are continually involved with our church, Eagle Brook. Though we are not able to help our with youth group any more due to grad school being on Wednesday nights, we are starting a small group of couples our same age. There are a few that we knew from college and a few we are still to meet! But we are both very excited for new friends and community with others! Since Phil’s work schedule has changed he is able to run lights again for weekend services! We are normally on the same weekend so it is awesome to serve together! This weekend we are both involved again.

Well, I believe that covers the big stuff for now, I am hoping my next post will not be quite as full of changes!

Katie

Update

So much has happened since the last time we wrote. First of all a huge blessing has come through and Katie is now officially Full-Time at Northwestern College which means better benefits, pay and vacation. Phil is still at the Shoreview Community Center as a Building Manager but if anyone knows of any open accounting and/or finance positions in the Cities please let us know. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated as Phil is having a really tough time with his job right now.

Katie has been accepted to Grad School at Northwestern starting this fall, she's pursuing a masters of organizational leadership. After some consideration Phil decided this was a great plan and is just finishing up his application for the same program.

We just celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday. We went canoeing down the St. Croix River and did we get sunburned or what. It was an awesome time spent together remembering how much we love each other.

On Sunday the last of our summer renters moved out of the basement and we started construction of a new living area in the basement. We've already put up a bedroom and closet wall. Last night we replaced our stair case with one that has longer treads and is a shallower angle which makes it a lot nicer to walk up and down. We're hoping to be done with the whole remodel within the next couple of weeks because Katie's sister Emily is moving in the 1st of September.

We are constantly busy with our house and our friends and family but we love every minute of it. We're always open to company so if you're ever in town let us know and we'd love to have you over. Hopefully we'll get some of those basement pictures up here soon so you can see our progress.

Love to all,
Phil and Katie

The FINISHED Kitchen!!!

Here are the pictures of the kitchen finished!

KITCHEN!!

After three weeks of hard work and waiting, our kitchen will be finished within the next few days. The contractor who is making our countertops is coming tomorrow (Saturday) at 10am to install them. Katie and I are so excited, we kind of wish this wasn't our weekend to serve at church because we will be there all weekend which means that we have less time to install the little things like the faucet and outlet plates.

We got a new table for the kitchen yesterday that fits the setting really well, it will be great to have in there. I need to install a few more outlets for the under cabinet lights to plug into but that's a little thing that doesn't have to be done immediately.

After the countertops are in and we get the sink and faucet installed we will take a bunch of pictures and post them for everyone to see the before and after. The change is amazing, it's hard to believe that it's the same kitchen we bought just over 2 months ago.

We've been getting a lot of people saying that they got our "We've Moved" postcards, if you haven't gotten one keep an eye out for it. If we don't have your address (like if you've moved in the past year or so) let us know and we'll send you one.