So.. what have we been up to you ask... ???

So, I (Andrea) have been bad with updating this blog recently. So, I thought I would just give you an update of what has been going on since I last posted.

Well first off, Easter! It seemed weird that it was so early this year and thus being really cold! It was great celebrating all that God has done for us and the power of the resurrection! Well, another part about Easter that we really enjoy is going to Joe's aunt and uncle's house. It is always a good time catching up and seeing his family. Another perk to the time there is an Easter egg hunt! Guess who searches for the eggs... ? All the adult kids! There are no young kids in the family... yet..! It is so fun.. Joe's parents and aunt and uncle fill the eggs with goodness... candy goodness and money goodness!

Here is a shot of me hunting!

So, since the weather has been warming up... Joe and I have really been enjoying hiking and taking walks. Hiking has been fun.. as we go with Joe's parents. We have been walking in the town of Lewisburg and praying as we go.
Hiking! It was a little cold this time!
So.. another picture of hiking. Check out the sign for the pond. It is upside down.. but if you read the reflection in the pond it is right side up.
So, I also had my birthday at the beginning of April. I am getting old - 24! Joe's parents made me my favorite cake. It is a kiddish cake.. but I love it. It is funfetti cake with rainbow chip icing (even sounds kiddish). I used to have the cake every birthday growing up. My wonderful in-laws called me into the kitchen and sang me "Happy Birthday" and decorated the cake with 24 jellybeans and Reese PB cups. I made a wish.. and tried to blow the candles and saw sparking... trick candles! Kiddish cake and fun candles.. what could be better!

Anyways, Joe and I have been enjoying our time in Lewisburg. We have been connecting with many people about our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ and have been very encouraged! We are finally at 50% of our monthly financial goal! We have been raising support for about a year now.. but Joe and I are really trusting God for the last 50% by June. We would love if you would be praying for us and that God would help us to be at full support by June!

Thanks for reading this long lengthy post. Hopefully, I did not bore you.

We've moved... and blizzard!

So, the Correll's have relocated to Lewisburg, Ohio! We moved on March 4th - after we voted of course! We have really enjoyed living with Joe's parents and have been having fun helping around the house! So, just in the knick of time.. we get here.. and bammm-o!!! bad weather strikes! I think we got around 11 or so inches, with blizzard like conditions, and a Level 3 snow emergency. Here are pictures for your viewing delight.. ! I was struggling to get them up.. because blogger kept not allowing me to add pictures.. ugh. It's crazy that today it was around 50 degrees when we just had a semi-blizzard last week!

The snow was up to Andrea's knees in some parts!
and
a super cool drift!

Joe's parent's house covered in a blanket of snow and us with another fun drift!

Joe in his cool snow tunnel drift!

Family Fun!

So, as you may have seen in previous blogs ... this is our adorable niece Ellie (notice name tag)! Andrea's sister (Jill), Ellie, and Ava (2 year old niece) came to visit this weekend! We had so much fun! It was family time all weekend, which was great! Andrea's dad works a lot and thus is normally catching up on sleep on the weekends or working.... this weekend he had off and the nieces were in town... so it was family fun! So, back to the picture above of Ellie... she really likes the movies "Little Rascals", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Charlotte's Web". So, she likes to pretend to be the characters in the movies or make others participate in plays involving the characters from the 3 movies. She proceeded to make name tags (writing the names all by herself) to put on a production on the stage (fireplace). Here are some pictures from the festivities....

Here is Ellie (as Darla from the "Little Rascals") and Uncle Joe (as the Wizard from "The Wizard of Oz") ...notice the beautiful name tags. Joe was called to the stage to sing "We're Off to See the Wizard"!

Andrea's dad (as the Lion from "Wizard of Oz") and Ellie. "Over the Rainbow" was this performance!!! :)

So, after the plays and Ellie making everyone sing... we went for a walk in the woods behind Andrea's parent's house. It was fun showing the nieces all the animal tracks and trudging in the woods. So, above, is Andrea's dad, Andrea, and Joe's attempt at a snow fort. Ellie wanted a snow fort with a roof. So, as you can see that's what she got... we used up most of the snow in the yard... and with Andrea's dad's expertise... we made a roof using some cardboard and covered it with snow! Ellie and Ava wanted to stay in their snow fort all day and eat snow!

Cooking FUN!

So, for some reason, we decided to cook a turkey. Well, I guess I know the reason... it sounded good and I thought the meat could be used over and over again for various other meals. So, we bought a turkey and cooked a big dinner for my parents. This was our second attempt at turkey baking. My mom told us, "It was the best turkey I've ever had". So I guess... we did okay. Here are some pictures of Joe and I slaving away in the kitchen! We really enjoy cooking... especially together!

Joe's haircut

So, Joe's hair was getting way too long. It needed cut very badly. If you don't believe me, here are some pictures!

Joe with a full head of hair!
and ....
Joe with a fro!
Haha... this was after I washed his hair in the sink with the squirter! I felt like a beauty professional!
So, you are probably wondering, why in the world did we let his hair get this long???! Well, I (Andrea) had to substitute teach right before we left to travel for Christmas festivities. So, I never got around to cutting his hair and quite frankly it didn't even cross my mind or his to do so. But, thank goodness... here is what he looks like now... after I cut his hair.

Whoa... much better!

I enjoy cutting his hair. I am getting better at fading it throughout so he doesn't get a "Marine cut" or "high and tight"(Joe's terminology). Notice - his facial hair is even trimmed!

Indy Christmas Conference

From December 28th to January 1st, we had a blast at the regional conference for Campus Crusade for Christ in Indianapolis. There were 2000 students at the conference. We had a great time hearing from the speakers and being challenged to be Christ's ambassadors. We also went out in Indy to share food and Christ's love with the needy.

Dave (a student from Illinois State University), Ivan (a man we shared Christ's love with), and Andrea out in the community of Indy

Joe out in Indy with Amanda and Ruth-Anne (students from Illinois State University) looking for someone to talk to about God's love

We had a great time hanging out with our future students. We were up so late every night spending time with them. We are still trying to catch-up on sleep, especially after going to bed at 4am some nights! We had to get up early everyday, too. Staff with CCC have jobs at the conference to serve the students and for the whole shabang to go smoothly. We were a part of the ballroom crew. This meant we needed to be at the meeting an hour and a half early and get up at around 6am everyday. We did really enjoy our job, despite being tired every morning! It was fun greeting the students as they came into the meetings! We had to make sure only the people allowed into the meetings came in and had the responsbility of opening and closing the doors! We also put information on about 2000 seats every morning! Needless to say, we had an amazing time at Christmas Conference! We love our students and can't wait to get to Illinois!

Some highlights from our time in Indy were: being challenged in our relationships with God, amazing praise and worship, praying and praising in the New Year, sharing God's love in the community, spending quality time with students, hanging out with old friends, and thinking all this greatness is just a part of working with Campus Crusade for Christ! An added bonus to the time, was getting to stay in a super nice hotel for a really cheap price. We stayed in the Westin - yes, they advertise heavenly beds, and they were heavenly!

Look at the heavenly bed and our super nice room!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Hope your holiday has been as great as ours. We have been having such a great time with family and reflecting on Jesus' birth! We have been to Lewisburg, Ohio to spend time with Joe's parents and to Illinois to spend time with Andrea's family. We will be traveling later today to another part of Illinois for Christmas fun with Joe's extended family. Here are some pictures of all the fun!!!



In Lewisburg, we went to a fun light display throughout a park with Joe's parents. It was quite fun and they even had free hot chocolate!

Joe with his mom (Debi) at the light display.


Having fun on the bridge with the fog and Christmas lights.


Our adorable nieces pumped for Christmas!

Our nieces were an absolute hoot on Christmas. They are just the perfect ages for tearing open the presents! They kept saying "Oh my gosh, look what I got"! Hope you all have been having a great Christmas!