Cold: It's what's for winter

Brrrr.  That about sums up the weather report here in Deerfield today.  I'm pretty sure the weather got UP to zero (when we woke up it was about -6).  Check out our new PICTURES at the link on the right--they give a feel for the winter we're facing here.  Molly put it best by saying "it's moved from shivering in the cold to running around screaming."  It's true--we found ourselves running to and from our car while doing errands today, involuntarily shouting with cold.  There's really nothing else you can do.  It's like you're just shouting to keep your lungs from freezing over.  Probably the biggest indicator of how cold it was came when we tried to scrape off the outside of our windshield, only to find out that what really needed scraping off was the ice on the INSIDE of the glass.  Yikes.  We're trying to adjust with gloves, hats, coats, scarves, long underwear, thick socks, and warm drinks.  We're also adjusting to driving in this weather--last night we (as in me, Daniel) managed to drive our car into a snow drift.  Luckily both car and passengers managed to escape unharmed, thanks in part to a friendly family who helped push our car out.  Doesn't the snow just bring everyone together? :)

However, the cold outside has done nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for life.   Yesterday we received one of the best compliments we could think of when one of Molly's coworkers said "Don't take this the wrong way, but the stuff you guys do for fun is usually reserved for people who are high on some drug."  We tried to explain that we're just joyful because of the many blessings God has given to us, not drugs!  Speaking of coworkers, we were treated to an amazing Brazilian barbecue dinner last night for Molly's company Christmas party.  It was probably the best meal we've ever had, from the endless perfectly cooked meat selection to the unbelievable desserts.  If you ever get a chance to go to a Brazilian barbecue, especially if it's free, you should go!

Our lives have been pretty busy since we last wrote.  Molly's job has been a little bit slower due to people taking vacations and the inclement weather conditions, but she's been busy making Christmas presents, baking, going to Bible study, helping me study (i.e. coffee runs) and generally doing the things that keep people busy in December.  I've managed to finish my classes, which is a huge relief.  Finals week was pretty brutal.  I pulled the first all-nighter since college, studying for my Old Testament final that was worth 2/3 of my grade for the course.  My finals generally went well--I think I've managed to avoid academic probation for next semester at least.  I'm excited about the next few weeks--I'm hoping to practice the drums, read some Chesterton, finally take care of all the papers lying around the house, and reflect a little bit on last semester.  

I should say that last week included what was probably one of the single best days of my life.  It all started on Thursday night, when we had some friends over to celebrate the end of Finals.  Our friends from upstairs ended up staying until about 11--which in itself is a great sign of how our friendships are progressing out here.  About the time they left, a large snowstorm rolled in.  Since we just moved from CA, we're still like little kids when it comes to snow; we essentially keep our faces glued to the window and watch it come down.  So we decided that it was really a shame to go to sleep while it was snowing outside.  Instead, we thought we would have a pizza party.  We grabbed some cold pizza from the fridge and headed across the street to Molly's clinic, where they have a Nintendo Wii system.  There we proceeded to play video games and watch movies until 3 in the morning, taking breaks every 15 minutes or so to check out the progress of the snow.  It was a blast!  We of course slept in on Friday, only to wake up to about 8 inches of snow on the ground.  We were so excited to have the day off, and the snow was so pretty, that we decided right then and there that today was going to be our Christmas.  We promptly went out and bought a two person innertube/sled and found the nearest sled hill, where we joined all the kids in celebrating a snow day.  On the first run we managed to find the only jump on the hill, which sent us flying off the tube and rolling down the hill, to the joy of the observing teenagers I'm sure.  After sledding we came home, warmed up, and headed out the Chicago Botanic Garden, which is only about 15 minutes away from us.  There we enjoyed walking in the silent snow and checking out some great Christmas lights.  Upon our return we had a wonderful time of reflecting on the past year, which has been one of the busiest of our lives.  Through it all God has been good--maybe we'll give a recap sometime soon just to show how God really has watched over us.  To finish off the night we opened up some presents, which was a blast as always.  We love giving gifts to each other.  All in all it was a fantastic 24 hours.  And we haven't even had our official Christmas yet!

In other news, we continue to develop relationships with people from church and school out here.  A couple weeks ago we got together with a few couples from our church and had a great game night.  It was really fun to hang out with people on a Saturday night and then see them the next morning at church.  We were reminded of how extremely important it is to be involved in a local church, and are so thankful that God has provided a home for us so quickly.  We've also been trying to get involved in a home bible study through church.  I met with one of the pastors about possibly leading or co-leading group, and he's working on figuring out how to find a group that would work for some kind of internship-type leadership role.  You can be praying that we find a group that will provide both leadership opportunities for us and also good fellowship with like-minded believers.  We are anxious to get involved in January if possible.

For Christmas day we'll be down in Indiana with Molly's family.  We'll leave after work on Tuesday and come back on Sunday.  The whole Green family will be there, and we are excited to see some extended family as well.  Its going to be our biggest break since our move here, and Molly especially is looking forward to a few days off.  After Christmas we have more family time to look forward to, as Molly's family will be coming up here on New Year's eve to celebrate her birthday with us.  It is wonderful to live close enough to family that we can fairly easily drive and see each other.

We hope that all our friends reading this are doing well, and that you get to have a wonderful Christmas with family, wherever you will be.  We miss you all and wish that we could see you soon.  May God remind you of Christ's love this Christmas, and may his peace and joy fill your hearts.  Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Adventures

Hello friends and family--Daniel here giving you the latest lowdown on the happenings for us here in Chicago and beyond.  

Before going further let me direct your attention to the links on the right--you'll see that we have some photo albums up.  I'd suggest right clicking on the links and opening them in a new window.  Hope you enjoy them!

It feels like every time we post lately there is so much to update you on.  That probably is an indication of how busy it has been for us this November.  We had wonderful visits with my parents on one weekend, and the very next weekend got to spend a great time with Jonathan and Michelle.  While we had a blast both weekends, we were left feeling a little bit worn out afterwards.  We had about one week to recover, during which time I worked feverishly on a term paper and Molly was busy working across the street.  Although we tried to protect our evenings together, the lack of routine has been a little bit hard, especially for me I think.  I like routine :)  

After our week of relative calm, we got up really early last Tuesday to board a plane from Milwaukee to Boise for Thanksgiving.  Imagine our surprise when we ran into my Aunt Pam from Iowa while on a layover in the Minneapolis airport!  She was on her way to Boise as well as a surprise to my uncle Nathan and the rest of the Reider family.  We ended up sitting next to her on the three hour flight, and it was really fun to catch up with her and share about our lives.  If you remember we spent our first anniversary at Aunt Pam's farmhouse on our way across the country this summer, so she and her Viking husband Stan have a special place in our hearts.

Thanksgiving itself was wonderful but very packed.  We pretty much spent the whole time sitting around and eating lots of food, drinking lots of coffee, and having wonderful conversations with the Arroues and Reider families.  It was so special to be with other believers and just be encouraged by them.  I think we both felt very cared for, as we were able to talk about our transition to Chicago and all the things we're working through as we adjust to a new life.  The time definitely went by too fast, as we had to board a plane early on Friday morning in order for Molly to get back for work on Saturday.

Actually I should say that we TRIED to board a plane early on Friday morning.  In reality what happened was we attempted to board the plane at 8 AM, but we didn't really board until about 4.  For some reason our plane decided it didn't want to work (perhaps it ate too much turkey the day before) and so we were stranded at the airport for 8 hours.  It was one of those situations where there's really nothing you can do, because at any moment the plane might be fixed, and so the time stretches on, and on, and on.  Eventually we were able to go take a little adventure away from the airport and enjoy the beautiful Fall day outside.  We like to call it "extreme carry-on walking"--check out our pictures for samples of what it looked like.  The great thing about being married is that even being stranded at an airport can be fun--Molly and I really can make any situation fun when we're together!  At ended up being a very long day, since we got up before 6 and didn't get to our house until midnight.  I'm beginning to think that my parents may have passed down their unnerving ability to turn any vacation into "an adventure."

We are hoping that December is a little bit more normal, although we have a lot more family stuff to look forward to, including a visit from Molly's family on this Friday.  I'm sure that this month will go by just as fast as last month did, between finals for me, new clients for Molly at her job, and everything surrounding Christmas.  And to cap it all off we'll be celebrating Molly's birthday on December 31st (hint hint) with the Green family up here.  Speaking of which, we are really looking forward to the snow that December brings to Chicago.  In fact we just had our first real blanket of snow come last night.  We've got our house all decorated for Christmas and our enjoying the warm and snuggly feeling that the winter season brings.  We miss all of you!  Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the advent season.  Love to you all.

The Reiders

First Snow

Just thought I'd write to say that we had our first snow last night.  It wasn't much, but it did cover the ground in white and make us feel like we really live in the Midwest now.  Also we discovered that it's possible to slip on ice even in mid November--I came really close to losing a whole cup of coffee in a parking lost last night!  It apparently dropped to 20 degrees last night, but our house stayed warm even though we didn't turn on the heat at all.  This is further evidence that we are placed right about the furnace room--I hate to think about what it's going to feel like once they turn the heat on "overdrive" to keep the pipes from freezing this winter!  We have several friends who have mentioned they keep their windows open at night, which sounds crazy until you realize that its possible to be hot even with your apartment's heat turned off . . .

Anyways, that's about all I have to say now.  I'm procrastinating on my Greek homework.  We leave a week from today to go to Boise for Thanksgiving--yippee!  Bye for now . . .

Pass the Hot Chocolate

Well, Alright. It is the 9th of November and until now it's been all talk of Indian Summers, the beautiful leaves, apples,  and long walks in snugly sweaters. But we have a new song to sing around here.  One to the tune of "WHOOOOO BOY!....Where's my parka, my mittens, and my wool body suit because I think an icicle just hit my bones".   We're considering giving up our apple and granola diet for more substantial choices.....like caribou:) Just kidding.

But really, the biting cold weather has hit. Just like that.  Sweaters one day, and dreams of layering downy puffy coats the next. And the funny thing is that Mom and Dad Reider were here with us to enjoy our first punch of cold weather.  We have had the most beautiful 5 days with them. It's funny we invited the tallest preacher in Idaho to fold into the smallest guest room in Chicago but he and Mom Reider were the most gracious of visitors (as usual). Nothing but the most intentional conversations, the best coffee, and the loveliest hugs.  Not to mention the best entertainment. We went to see Amanda (Daniel's sister, a senior at Wheaton) perform in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  She was stunning and we were thoroughly awed by the original design and brilliant acting... oh and we laughed (or honked) heartily.  Shakespeare was such a funny guy.  Today we enjoyed a meal after church with our good friends from upstairs, Dave & Libby, and Nate & Debra (with adorable little Annabelle). We are so grateful for our friends here and were refreshed with the meeting of two very important pieces of our lives. Now if we could only get all of our dear ones from California to come for Sunday lunch:)....

Daniel is studying as we speak for D.A. Carson's quiz in the morning. Looking over his posts I'm sorely disappointed in the disclosure of his smarts. He's doing so well in classes. Truly...so brilliantly well. Coming to terms with what it means to be a student has been the bigger hurdle. I think we are both struggling in our own ways to commit to roles that feel very narrow. I know we look forward to times when "Bible scholar" and "speech therapist" go hand-in-hand with broader acknowledgments of what we love. In the meantime, we hope our role in church and community continue to grow as we seek what God has for us and grow deeper in love with Him.

We miss feeling known like our friends in California know us. We miss not needing small talk to get to the good stuff. But regardless, I'm so excited it's November... whether it means going head-to-head with Jack Frost or not:) It means we've been here for a while now. We've seen it change. We've seen kids in our apartment courtyard go from bathing suits to snow suits.  We've gone from fans and popsicles to soup and socks.  It smells of longevity and of growing roots.  Better yet...it's starting to smell like Boise and Thanksgiving. I can't wait:)

Love you all. 

 

Finally another update!

Due to popular demand Molly and I have decided to finally update our blog--sorry it's been so long!  We know you must all be crying into your computers every time you check to see if we've written and nothing new is here.  And since I know you all check multiple times per day, that means a lot of tears!  Gosh, I'm starting to feel guilty just thinking about it.  We have a responsibility to keep you all happy--we'll try to update more often in the future :)

Here are some pictures of our life the last few weeks (you'll see pictures from a local apple festival, Milwaukee, and a walk in a local forest preserve, in that order)

Well, life has been very busy here lately.  We took a trip down to Indiana for a few days at the beginning of October and had a great time hanging out with the Greens.  They loaded us up with bikes and cross country skis, which we are excited about using in the beautiful forest preserves around here.  While we were there we also got to check out an Indiana University football game.  Let's just say we're glad their basketball team is pretty good--watching the football team was kind of like purgatory--you couldn't wait to get onto something better!

Last weekend we took a trip up to Milwaukee for a day.  That was really fun--we really enjoyed just walking around, exploring the architecture, and viewing the local industry (i.e. the Miller brewery).  Molly and I have also been down to Chicago a couple times just to go to some fun coffee houses.  It only takes a little over a half hour to get there, so it's nice to be able to run down there after work sometimes and go on a little adventure.  We have realized that most of our good conversations occur when we're off doing something new, so we try to go exploring often.

My schoolwork is going pretty well.  I've finished one class and am doing fairly well in the other classes.  I'm still not quite adjusted to studying all day, but it's becoming a little bit more routine as the weeks go by.  Molly is excelling in her job--she just earned the fastest promotion her boss has ever given!  I couldn't be prouder of her :)  It's still a struggle for her to adjust to all the new requirements of this job, but she is passing all her challenges with flying colors--and she looks cute while doing it!

We are enjoying our new church, Evangelical Free Church of Libetertyville.  I just went to the Men's retreat, which was quite an adventure given that I didn't know anybody going into it.  I had a good time, although all the conversations with new faces got a little tiring.  We're hoping to find a Bible study to be a part of in the near future.  So far the people we have met have been very friendly and encouraging--we look forward to deepening relationships there.  We miss our old church though--we just got the worship album they put out and all the old songs are making us a bit nostalgic for all the relationships and worship times from back in CA.

Well that's about all for now.  A few things come to mind that you can pray for us about:

1) that Molly will make some deeper relationships with women out here.

2) that Molly and I will continue to know how to care for each other well in this new place.

3) that Daniel will begin to see what God might be leading him to do in ministry after Seminary.

Thanks for reading--we appreciate all your support!  Write us back!

First day of Fall

I know today isn't the official first day of Fall, but for me (Daniel) today is the REAL first day of fall.  It is absolutely gorgeous outside today in Deerfield.  It rained all day yesterday, but today the rain blew away and left a clear blue sky with white puffy clouds scuffling along high above--everything you could ask for in a perfect sky.  I was so inspired by the weather that I went out running in the ridiculous "neighborhoods" (i.e. mansions with Central Park-ish lawns surrounding them) surrounding Trinity.  My run wasn't quite as beautiful as the day, but it was great to just be out in this weather.  The trees are beginning to turn, the air is crisp, you can smell dry leaves and cut grass and muddy dirt.  I think this day definitely rivals some of the prettiest Fall days I've ever experienced--five years ago, in Oxford.  And that's saying something!  I pretty much was in love with Fall over in Jolly Old England :)

I was going to post some pictures, but I'm afraid I couldn't do it justice.  And plus, more clouds are rolling in again . . . looks like the perfect Fall day may not last very long.

In other news, wasn't Molly's last blog great?  I'll try to convince her to write often!  Also, Molly and I had a great time at our church on Sunday.  I say "our church" because I think we have found a home.  We went to the Pastor's house for lunch on Sunday, along with some other church members.  We really enjoyed everyone we met, plus the food was very good!  They even invited us to come to the local High School's Homecoming football game this Friday.  We can't go though because we already have plans with friends.

Speaking of friends, God continues to bless us with new relationships out here.  We now have several couples that we would probably consider rather close friends already.  Living on campus has been great for that--there are so many people around here that are in similar situations as us.  Tomorrow night we're going with our friends Dave and Libby to watch the Boise State football game at our favorite new restaurant--the Cubby Bear!  (yes, it's named after the local pro teams).  As a bonus, the Cubs are playing my beloved Dodgers in the first game of baseball playoffs at the same time.  I'm thinking about wearing my Dodgers shirt and seeing if I get beat up :)

Well, I am hungry after my run.  Hope you all are doing well.  Write us back sometime!

Daniel

Seeing Blue

   Well if your thoughts mirror mine at all in these last few weeks, you're probably thinking to your self, "Goodness Mols, when are YOU going to contribute a blessed thing to this blog?!"  

Ta Da!......

 Following the soggy weather a couple of weeks ago, the most beautiful days have swiftly followed. It has been a warm and late extension of summer, but some trees are just beginning to hint at their knowledge of fall. One who is brilliantly confused, is dropping golden leaves all over our courtyard already. It's lovely. 

And aside from seeing a blue sky again, Daniel and I decided to bring a piece of the sky indoors with us. We spent a few late nights after school/work last week painting our living room the color of a very calm peacock. We're still thoroughly enjoying the effects of such a happy change in our home.  HOME. I'd say the paint has pushed us nearer that word. 

With our place looking even more settled, we had a torrent of guests in and out of our apartment. Just how we like it. Our new friends from upstairs, sweet Meg, Daniel's sister Amanda and her roommate from Wheaton,  our friends from across campus, and lastly my Momma, Aunt Missy and fire-cracker Nana. They came into town for one night to to see the show Wicked in the city. It was lovely. We continue to enjoy the fruits of having a front window facing the courtyard. Daniel is able to to keep up on the neighbors throughout the day (we tease he's like a cute little granny) and people have taken to knocking on our windows to say hi or invite us to do something. We love it. 

Daniel is positively dominating (to use a favorite Reider word) Greek. I'd like to say it's all GEEK to me:) Just kidding. I'm sooo proud of him. He's enjoying his classes, and is a wonderful attentive friend to fellow seminarians, while still adjusting to the grind that inevitably accompanies the excitement of ministry preparation. I'm still adjusting to work and learning so much. I know it will take a long time to feel confident, and I'm a bit antsy for that day. But I continue to love the kids, and the weeks simply fly by.  Despite the ups and downs of continuing to adjust, we carry a keen sense of being deeply blessed. 

Today for our day off, we discovered a free way (oh YESSSSSS!) to enjoy the nearby Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was such a beautiful place to explore.  We're looking forward to getting back to enjoy the changes reflected through the seasons. Enjoy dear friends. We love and miss you.

Daniel discovered to his dismay that the sun dial did not reflect Day-light savings time.

                                                     Something had to be done.....

                                                               A new  'do for the fall:)

Just another day . . .

Closed roads.  Flood warnings.  Flight delays.  Lots of rain.

A hurricane?  No, just another day in Chicago.  I feel like rain must be a trigger for me to update the blog, but it might just be the coincidence of it pouring rain two Saturdays in a  row.  This particular rainstorm is supposed to last a few days.  Which means that when studying there are three things you need to keep close by (see below)

From left to right:  coffee, book, pillow!

Here's the view from our house right now:

Notice the sweet grill we have in the picture below--I'm trying to learn how to barbecue like a real man!  Kind of hard in the rain though . . .

In non-weather related news, Molly and I are doing pretty well.  Molly continues to get adjusted to working at her new job, and has up and down days.  I stopped by today and got to see her interacting with kids and parents a little bit, and let me say she does an excellent job!  I wish they would let me come and watch her more often--it's fun to see a pro in action.

My schooling is going well.  So far I'm doing great at Greek, which has been surprising to me.  But as I tell people here, I've got no excuse for doing poorly at school at the moment--I've got plenty of time to study!  Other than Greek I've just been doing a lot of reading.  I'm especially enjoying my Biblical Theology class and my Old Testament class, both of which are giving me lots of new insights into how to study scripture. 

We're spending more time with new friends out here, which is a huge blessing.  You can keep praying for us to find a new church home--so far we haven't found anything we're very thrilled about.  Molly is in a women's bible study on campus that she is enjoying, so that's been good for her to get to know a few other women around here.  And we've been able to see our sisters in Wheaton a few times, which is always really great.

Well I should go back to studying.  Hope you're all doing well--feel free to email or give us a call any time.  I'll try to convince Molly to give an update the next time--make sure she agrees with me about how things are going!  Bye for now.

Why it is green here

Hello everyone, it's Daniel here again.  So Molly and I went into Chicago for a fun trip on Labor Day and we were surprised at how green it still is there, even though it is the tail end of the summer.  What could have caused this to happen?  California stops being green around March 19, so we figured that everything here would be brown and gross.  Not so--and now we know why.

It has been raining nonstop all day--cats and dogs raining.  Raining like the clouds all sprung leaks big enough to sink the Titanic in a heartbeat.  Raining fit to flood the pot-holed streets.  Raining so hard that reading "An Atlas of the Holy Land" is literally being prescribed by doctors as a cure for insomnia.  In short, I'm expecting Noah to float by any minute.  And as further proof that we are no longer in California, no Trinity students are running frantically around campus, as Biola students (ourselves included) were likely to do every time a good downpour showed up.

Life is starting to feel a little bit more settled for us.  Molly is getting more used to her job.  Her boss told her yesterday that she is "way ahead" of any other employee who has come in with the same amount of experience.  I'm so proud of her!  My classes are going well.  I dropped my Evangelism class in favor of a Missions class.  I'm going to tackle it next semester instead. Other than that, I'm just trying to adjust to the VERY long lectures.  My Old Testament class goes from 7:30-10:50 on Wednesday mornings--gross!  The professors are good though, and I'm slowly getting used to doing lots and lots of reading (my OT class has something like 1,500 ages this semester, which seems like a lot for one class!)

We are starting to make some friends--the people here are all very friendly.  We've done a couple dinners with people in our apartment complex and had a great time getting to know those couples who are in a similar situation as us in this new place.  It's good to know we're not alone.

Well this is getting a bit long.  I hope that you all are doing well.  Keep praying for us as we adjust to this new area.  I think that our emotions especially are on edge as we adjust to everything from new streets to new faces out here.  Below are some pictures from our trip to Chicago--enjoy!

A view of our house

Can you tell that I've got time on my hands today?  Here's a video tour of our new place.  

By the way, don't you just hate hearing yourself talk on a video?  I think I sound waaaay smarter in real life.  I promise!

Pictures

Hi again!

We've put up some pictures with captions for your viewing pleasure.  There are three albums, which can be found here, here, and here.  I hope it works for you to see them.  Somebody let me know if it doesn't--I'm kind of new at this :)

Things are going well here.  Molly is on her second day of work, and Daniel has been filling his time creating albums on the internet and blogging and stuff like that.  Very productive!  Classes start on next Wednesday, so things should start to pick up soon.  Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here in Deerfield!

Hello friends and family!

We have successfully moved all the way across the country, thanks

 to a lot of help from our friends and family and a very jam-packed trailer.  We're enjoying the sound of katydids and crickets out here, and we've already seen lots of deer hanging out on the side of roads as we drive around.  I guess Deerfield got its name honestly!

We sure miss everybody out in California.  The second bedroom of our apartment is all set up for you to come visit us though--book your flights soon!

Here are some pictures of us over the last three weeks.  We spent a couple weeks up in Michigan at Molly's family cottage, which was a very nice and relaxed time (Read: we watched like 80 hours of Olympics).  

We'll give you more updates soon.  We still have the same cell phone numbers, and we'd love to talk to you!  We're also on Skype--if you call us we will give you a virtual tour of our apartment!