Well... it's official

We officially became residents of Illinois today...but are still buckeyes at heart! I'd have to say, Illinois DMV has it down pat. We had taken the written test, got our new licenses, titles, and license plates all in under an hour. I feel like in Ohio that would have taken like 3 hours - or maybe that has just been my experiences. I tell you what, Illinois is expensive though. Golly jee, we thought that we would get away cheap because our licenses were only $10 a piece...but not so fast, we walked away spending almost $300!ISU students at the "Every Student Sent" conference

In other news, we have been pretty busy lately. In mid-February, we were gone for a week to attend two different conferences. One conference was for all new staff with Campus Crusade for Christ that had reported to their ministry assignment within the last year. It was a great time learning new things and getting to meet new people. We feel like we got a lot of tools for our ministry toolbox. At the end of the week, we went to Indianapolis for the "Every Student Sent"conference with CCC for juniors and seniors. The speakers were amazing and challenged students to live their lives and futures for Christ and not what the world portrays as success. It was awesome hanging out with students and even reflect on our own relationships with Christ.

We have been loving the random heat waves, so one Saturday we soaked it up by going to a park close to town. It was quite muddy, but enjoyable as we saw nearly 25 deer.

It was awesome to be able to go hiking and it was so peaceful. We saw about 8 deer attempting to cross the road. I think they saw us and retreated, so I made Joe hide behind some pine trees with me. They then came back out and since it was so quiet, you could hear the pitter-patter of their hooves on the pavement.

My (Andrea) parents came to visit this weekend! It was great to see them and to spend time together as a whole family. My sister only lives about 45 min. from us, so we all stayed with her. My niece had gone to a cheer session and then got to perform at the boy's varsity basketball game on Friday night with the rest of the kindergartners. It was pretty hilarious as we asked her before the performance to rehearse her cheers. She told us "Bingi, Lilo, go, go!". She wasn't sure who Bingi and Lilo were - we thought maybe the mascots or something. So, when she did perform we realized the cheer was supposed to be "Big G, little o, GO, GO". So, she was to be spelling "go", instead of Bingi and Lilo. It was pretty cute!

Our niece Ellie before her half-time cheer-leading show!

We are enjoying the periods of warm weather and can't wait to go to the beach for spring break!

Fun in Illinois...

Well, it has been a little while since I last posted. SO, I will have to recap you on our January.

We are still trying to learn new things about Bloomington and have been enjoying spending most of our time with students. A fun way we have been learning about Bloomington "hot spots" or super fun things to do is through our weekly dates. Joe and I take turns planning our Wednesday date night. We try to pick a new place to go out to eat, visit, or explore. One of my dates was going to an Illinois State men's basketball game. We had a blast - it was a close game and the redbirds won!

Joe took me to a cool restaurant with a tree inside for one of our dates and to the library (we read each other children's books!). I learned that it costs 50 cents to get a movie from the library - I never knew that it cost to rent anything at any library - and I've been to a lot in my day.

Other things we have learned about the great state of Illinois is their love for Lincoln. Our co-workers with Campus Crusade for Christ all have Lincoln pride. I like Lincoln and all, but Joe and I aren't to that point yet. We have been seeking to start CCC on some schools in Springfield, and thus were near the tomb site of good ole honest Abe. In case you weren't aware, his tomb is in a middle of a cemetery in Springfield, Illinois and now I can say I've been there. As I mentioned before that our staff team has Lincoln pride, so they took us.

There is a large Lincoln head there. You are supposed to rub his nose for good luck (that's why the nose is so golden in comparison to the rest of the head). I can say the tomb was actually pretty neat.

So, I mentioned we have been learning about Bloomington and then spending most of our time with students! We have been loving our job so much (if you can even call it a job)! Joe and I meet with several students weekly from different universities in central Illinois. We are mostly on campus at ISU, since it is here in town. We have been enjoying getting to know students better and seeing them take steps of faith!

Daka, Brian, and Stephanie - students involved with CCC at ISU - having fun at "Winterfest".

We (Campus Crusade for Christ) just had a table at "Winterfest" at ISU. Winterfest is where students can come, explore, and gain information on all the campus organizations and groups. Students were asked if they would like to take a 60 second survey and then their name would be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Potbelly restaurant. Some of the questions on the survey were based on if they would like more information on CCC, CCC events, bible study, if they would want to know God personally, and if they would be interested in taking a spiritual questionnaire at a later date. We were very excited as many students marked they would be interested in finding out more. Joe and I had fun manning the table with some of the students!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of our January! We are headed this upcoming week to Indiana for two different conferences with CCC!