Weekend Getaway

It wasn't really a weekend getaway, but the weather was great. Linds and I set out for Louisville, KY with 4 others to check out Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sunday after church, we left Lincoln, and Dr. Estep drove us to Louisville. The best part was stepping out of the van in Kentucky and it was 61º. We ate at a local restaurant, and then hung out some of Lindsay's friends who attend Southern.

We got up early the next morning, had breakfast,

and wandered around campus for a while. It was a beautiful day. We met at admissions, and they took us to the cafeteria for lunch and then gave us a tour. It was a very beautiful campus and would be a wonderful place to attend. Their library has hundreds of thousands of books. While it is still a ways off. It was a nice look into what might be the future of my education. Like I said previously, I hope to continue my education with in some sort of doctoral program. It might be at Southern, it might not. It was a nice place to visit, and I had a good time.

On the way back, we swung by Southeast Christian Church. It's a really nice church, and we were able to get a quick tour of the church. The have a lot of good things going on their. They are a very successful church and it was a cool to have a sneak peak into some of what goes on during a typical Sunday morning.

That was my adventurous weekend. I hope that your weekend was adventurous as well (or restful, if you needed that).

Peter In Real Life

If you've seen the movie Dan in Real Life you could get a basic understanding of my week in Colorado. Not the plot of the movie, but the setting. The movie stars Steve Carell as "Dan in Real Life" who is spending the week in a giant house with the rest of his family. And that's what I did.

This last week Linds and I went to Colorado and spent the week in a big vacation home with most of my immediate family. We went to Breckenridge, CO and the h

ouse sits at around 10,000 ft above sea level.

It was a really fun week. We spent a few days walking around the town and checking out the shops. We spent one morning hiking up part of a mountain. One morning we went to a little fun park at the base of Peak 8 in Breckenridge. We bowled another day. We did a lot of fun stuff.

The best part, however, was just being able to spend time with my family. The main purpose of the trip was to spend time with my brother's family. They haven't been able to travel since my nephew was born (that's my nephew on the left). He was born premature and has had numerous health issues since his birth. They were able to come out for my wedding in May, but we didn't spend much time just hanging out. So we took this trip out with my parents, one sister's family, and my uncle's family to Colorado and had a lot of great family bonding time. I can't wait to do it again and see them all again. Maybe this time, however, we can stay at a place with a little more oxygen than Breckenridge, CO.

a quick update

Lindsay and I are in Colorado on a Stevens Family vacation.

Last Friday, my parents came to Lincoln and we took my dad down to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum as a Father's day present. Then we took my parents to D'Arcy's Pint in Springfield (which I highly recommend if you are ever in that area.)

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Kansas. It wasn't a bad drive. We had a good time in the car. We met one of my sisters and my uncle's family in Hays, KS and spent the night there. Then on Sunday we got up and drove to Colorado. We stopped at my brother's house in Castle Rock for lunch. Then we drove to Breckenridge. Probably the most interesting part was the Eisenhower Tunnel which goes under a mountain. That's where we are this week and I'll have more from the week later.

The New Stevens Family Update

Thirteen days ago, Lindsay and I got married. It was a long day, but a very good day. We spent along time waiting for the day and we were very happy for it to come.

The day itself went very well. The only problems of the day were my nephew, who was supposed to be the ring bearer (or barrier as he said), got sick the morning of the wedding and the unity candle not wanting to light. Other than that the day went according to the plan. My dad even remembered to do the rings.

For our honeymoon we drove from West Salem, IL to Nashville, IN and stayed in a house just outside of town. We had a great week. We spent sunday relaxing, and we drove into Bloomington, IN to do some grocery shopping. Monday we went to the zoo and hung out with my family. Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Nashville and Edinburgh. Thursday we went to see Wicked in Indy and ate at the spaghetti factory afterward. Friday was another day in Nashville. We got reservations for dinner at a small cafe called Cafe Interlude, and apparently we were the only ones who made reservations for dinner that night. So we had this little cafe all to ourselves with personal service and a guy playing guitar serenading us. It was funny and romantic all at the same time. Saturday we took off for her home in Bone Game, IL.

Since then we have moved into our tiny apartment and are trying to make everything fit. Eventually it will all fit, but for not we are dodging boxes and Rubbermaid's that are in our way.

And so it begins one last time.

Well, it has been such a long long time since I posted last and lots have happened since then. So I will elaborate in list form:

• Came back from Maine, stopping in NY to see my sister and her family.
• Visited friends in Lincoln, IL at LCC
• Visited friends in Quincy, IL at Madison Park CC
• Went back to NY to spend a few more days with my sister and my family.
• Drove back through a blizzard in Cleveland.
• Spent Christmas and New Years in Indy
• Spent a weekend with Lindsay's family and met the new niece and nephew from Ukraine.
• Moved back to Lincoln for an intensive class
• Lindsay and I went to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond to register for wedding gifts (and I registered for a Wii)
  
• Now, classes have started and I'm volunteering at Jeff St. CC

Now that everyone has been caught up, hopefully regular blogging can begin. Things are going well here at LCC, we've experienced sub-zero temperatures for a few days, but now it's back above 0°.

I've been through all of the syllabus classes and have a 3 day weekend. It's going to be a good semester, but I have a ton of reading to do. But it's alright, because this is the last semester of College that I have to get through before I graduate.

That's all for now.

A Weekend with Lindsay.

On Saturday I got up, I drove down to Manchester, NH and picked up Lindsay from the airport. Since then, Linds and I have done a lot.

On the way back up from Manchester, we stopped first at Goldenrod for ice cream. Then, from there we went up to Kittery, ME and wandered around the outlet stores. We also stopped at Stonewall Kitchen in York, ME. There, we tried all of the jams, dips, salsas, and sauces that they had out. We also bought some Chipotle Pineapple Salsa. It is wonderful. Then we spent the evening at home watching the Sox beat the Rays in game 6.

Sunday, I had to work. I helped in e-kids again. It was a little crazy this week. Then Linds and I went out to Wendy's with some of my friends here. I spent the afternoon preparing for Fusion. This was the first time that I led Fusion all by myself. Jared was out for the weekend, so I was left in charge (I know, it's a scary thought). So I taught the High School students, and left the middle school leaders to run fusion without me for the first time. The night went well. We had the most total amount of students that we have ever had. Then Linds and I went home and watched the Sox lose in game 7. Who would have guessed that the Rays and the Phillies would go to the world series?

Monday, I got the day off and Linds and I went to Freeport, ME, the home of L.L. Bean. It was a beautiful day. We wondered around all the outlets and treated ourselves to some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I also found a nice coat at the Timberland outlet for over half off the original price, that made me happy.

We also wondered around the Old Port area of Portland. It's a nice little area with old buildings and lots of quaint little shops. It is also right on the water front. It was a nice day. That's been our trip so far. We'll see what the rest of the week has in store for us.