Our Chirstmas Photo

Greetings all, and Merry Christmas! So my good friend Sarah Davis pointed out the other day that this photo of Gwynne and I looks like a cheesy Christmas photo, especially since we're both wearing turtle necks. And I realized she was right. We inadvertantly had a picture taken in front of our fire place and now it's like a flippin' Christmas card. It's not a very good picture of either of us either. Gwynne looks like she's been drinking even though she hasn't been, which makes it more priceless and that's why I had to share.

It was actually taken by one of our new Indiana friends, Sarah Ronk, at our 20-something Bible study Christmas party. That was a lot of fun and it was nice to actually entertain again, although we missed all our Ohio friends and wished we could bring them along with us! On that note, I got to see the Clarks yesterday! They stopped by Anderson on their way to Texas and we ate at IHOP and it was delicious. I love the IHOP. It's delicious. And I love the Clarks.

Ok that's all for now. I'm hoping to share more after Christmas! Until then, Feliz Navidad and buy the new Travis Raymond CD! (See the link on the right).

Joe

A little Christmas Artwork

I hope everyone is gearing up for Christmas seeing as how we're less than TWO WEEKS AWAY! Gwynne and I are very excited, even though it means that we have travel all over the state of Ohio for a weekend. It's worth it though to spend the holiday with family, we're just praying that the weather isn't too bad this year for the travel.

For anyone who may be interested, the picture above is my 2005 Christmas desktop wallpaper. If you click on the photo it will bring it up full size and you can download it to your computer or just right click and tell it to set as wallpaper and you're all set. Hopefully you'll like it! So that's all for now. I have to go study for my finals which are today and tomorrow and then I'll have officially completed my first semester of seminary! WOO HOO!

Merry Christmas to all.

Joe

Yahoo! Messenger...GET IT!

Ok so I must quickly plug the Yahoo! Messenger as my all time favorite messenger software EVER! I've always been a fan, but no one seems to know about it, so I'm starting a Yahoo! drive to get people who know me and IM to switch to Yahoo! There are so many features that I just love, but the fact that Yahoo! Music is part of it is just SWEET. The way it works with your Yahoo! email account and address book is pretty doggone cool too! SO, what are you waiting for? Get it now!

At least in OUR little bit of corn...

...there is much rejoicing!

OHIO STATE beat that dreaded team Up North once again, making Jim Tressel's record now 4-1 lifetime (which you'll notice is twice the number of wins Coop recorded in something like 15 years)! I (Joe) was not able to watch most of the game because I was with the New Life youth group at the Indiana State Youth Convention for the Church of God, but it was worth it because the teens all had a great time worshipping and being built up in Christ. The victory was just icing on the cake. I was also proud to see a sprinkling of Scarlet and Gray in the crowds on Saturday in Indianapolis though, it's good to be a Buckeye!

Well I just thought a celebratory post was called for, hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow or so to put a big update up and talk a little about ISYC some more.

GO BUCKEYES!

The Corn is So Distracting

I must confess, at this very moment I should be doing work. I have a TON of work to do and not a lot of time in which to get it done, but for some reason I...JUST...CAN'T...GET...MOTIVATED. It's all for the same class too, and I'm just not sure how to get through this wall. Hmmmmm. Oh well.

Ok well, let's see just how much work I can get done.

Ugh. But hey, we're visiting the 614 area code to see Ohio State play Northwestern! I'm so jacked to get to see this game. Thanks to the Roberts family for hookin' us up!

Later yo', and remember, "Always call before you dig."

Joe

PS. Here's a really sweet article about the signing of the THAD FIVE. It's so fun to be in Indiana and have Ohio State just sign the top recruit in the nation right out of Indianapolis. GO BUCKS.

A long overdue update

Well, Joe has been the main one to update our blog, and he has been super-busy as of late. So since I was getting sick of seeing my old post up there, I thought I would take the initiative and put up a new post. I mean, I we don't want to lose our readership!

We are still trying to adjust to actually having things to do. Between work, school, church, our small group, and helping with the youth group, our free time is disappearing! For the most part, it is a good thing, but Joe has three papers due over the next two weeks, so he is a bit stressed.

So let me give you a brief update on some of the happenings here in the land of corn since our last post:
– Work so far is good. I just have to get up way early and drive, so I have been pretty tired.
– The leaves have been changing. They look very pretty, especially when contrasted with the brown stalks in the confields. (I'm being serious. There is no sarcasm in that statement.)
– Joe is going to be teaching the Sr. High Sunday school class at church in a few weeks. We are really looking forward to it.
– We went to Columbus last weekend. It was great to see everyone again and get some quality time with the Clark family. The worship service at North Metro was REALLY moving. I didn't realize I missed the Goodwin arrangements as much as I did!
– The Buckeyes play Illinois this week, but we are looking forward to two weeks because WE GET TO GO TO THE GAME! Woo hoo! (And we get to celebrate my grandpa's birthday and have some more quality Clark time!)
– Mr. Kitty a.k.a. Brutus is doing well. He has been having some issues with his lack of control of his evil back legs and his nails that have grown too long. He keeps scratching himself. Poor Mr. Kitty.

Well, we will try to be better about making our updates! We miss all of you who are not here with us amongst the corn!

Love always,
Gwynne

Rejoicing in the land of corn!

Well, I am glad that my first post to our blog is to deliver some good news... GOD GAVE ME A JOB! There is much happiness in our shelter from the corn today!
I will be working at the College Network as a marketing specialist. It is a company in Indianapolis that helps people with continuing education. They have a bunch of different degree programs and they sell study guides and hold seminars that help people test out of a lot of their general education requirements for their degrees. Then after people do their general requirements, they work with the company's partner schools to complete their degrees online. Pretty cool. I get to help them with a lot of their writing needs in the marketing department, which is good because I have enjoyed the writing aspect of my previous jobs the most. Yea! Feel free to check out their Web site if what I have said doesn't make much sense.
I know a lot of people out there have been praying for us in this area, so I want to thank all of you for your support. It has been rough at times, but this stretch of unemployment really has helped us grow in trusting God and his promise to provide for our needs. I just ask for your continued prayers as I start this new job. I hope it all works out well!

Love you all,
Gwynne

Mmmm. Pumpkin Log.

I'm making a pumpkin log. Mmmm. Pumpkin Log.

Batter: 2 eggs beaten

2/3 cup pumpkin (Libby)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 c flour

topping: 8 oz cream cheese

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup confectioners sugar

Beat cheese, sugar, and butter until creamy. (add pecans optional)

Mix ingredients for batter. Pour on & thin out on a well-greased & floured cookie

sheet, or spray with Pam. Bake at 350 for 15 min. Place on paper towels covered

with confectioners sugar while hot. Roll up in towel until cool. Unroll, smooth on

topping, and roll back up. You can do this ahead and freeze it if you want.

This recipe is from Kathy McCorkle.

A Dark Weekend Here Amongst the Corn

The thing about an Ohio State loss before we moved was that if I went somewhere Sunday or even Monday there was likely to be support and understanding, a sharing in the loss that made it seem bearable. The "misery loves company" philosophy that says, "you and I share in the pain of this defeat and so it'll be ok."

It's different when you're somewhere else. At church Sunday, people didn't know they should be sullen, the didn't share in the agony of a loss. It makes it more difficult when you know that at best there will be an apathy to the whole thing and at worst and antagonistic attitude toward someone who is feeling the sting of a Buckeye defeat. It's a strange world, here in the corn. Perhaps there's a buckeye out there somewhere we can befriend and all will be better, at least for a while.

I don't know why I care so much, I just do.

Joe

Bible Study and the Davis's

No not those Davis's, Tim and Christina Davis. They go to the church that we have started attending and they host the 20-something bible study. The most amazing thing about it is that it's a group of 20-somethings and there's only ONE family with kids! Anyways, we've been going through the John Piper book "Desiring God" and thanks to Pastor Josh, I feel like I'm cheating! I should just make a shirt with a footnote on it giving credit to half the stuff I say to him because seeing as how he's covered the topic so much I think I've got a leg up!

Anyways, there's like 4 couples and some singles that are a part of the group and it's really a lot of fun. It's so nice for the BOTH of us to be meeting people and making friends. Hopefully they won't ask to watch an Ohio State game with me though and I drive them away. That'd be bad.

Ok the wife just got home so I have to go, it's breakfast for dinner night! Woo Hoo!

Later.
Joe

Grow Cube Fun

Ok you have to check this out. See how your GrowCube can grow! I love these sort of mindless puzzle games and as I come across good one online I'll post them (Honestly I get most of them for the guy who does www.ritilan.com so I have to give him the credit for finding this one as well. I'll try not to rip off his stuff too much though). So enjoy if you dare, though you could lose hours of your life to something like this.



Joe

Our shelter from Corn

Our Living Room complete
with huge couches!



The house from the corner.
It's a PRIME spot.
I'm closer to classes then the dorms are!


Our Kitchen, it's big!
We love it!

Just wanted you to see our home.
Come visit sometime please.


Joe & Gwynne

One among millions

So what is the point of one more blog among the many millions that likely exist? Hmmm, I suppose when you look at it that way there is none really. But then I suppose there might be something more. I figure there might be a person or two who would be interested in keeping up with what is going on in the life of two people as we deal with being displaced in Indiana and how the struggle of getting settled is working out. Why a blog though, why not a newsletter, that once seemed like a good idea? How about time. Time has become a precious commodity since school's began, and that's just not a reality any longer. So this is it. If you're interested you'll come back, and if you're not well, I can't blame you Indiana's pretty boring. Hopefully we can keep this current and entertaining and give everyone a way to stay connected to us while we're here.

Thanks for checking in and let's see what happens from here.

Joe & Gwynne

*About our Xanga site: if you're wondering why we moved there are two reasons. 1. we can upload photos now, something we couldn't do for free before. 2. People don't have to have a Blogger sight to leave us comments. Something I found very annoying with Xanga. So there you have it. Hopefully our Xanga faithful will still check in here!