Day 58: Christen Haaland

Last night I called my dear friend Marianne Haaland. As she and I were chatting, her hubby called Drew and they talked. It was almost like we were on a double date again!

Marianne and Christen have been dear friends of ours since we started college at PBA. They were a few years older than us, and have a few more years of marriage experience, so they have really been great guides to us on our own personal love journey!

Christen is a great guy, first off. He is jovial, funny, and has a really kind heart. He and Drew hit it off from  the get-go! Christen is a dreamer and I can't wait to see what becomes of those dreams some day.

Something else you should know about Christen is that he is a board game Nazi. Seriously. One of our favorite things to do with the Haalands is get together for dinner and games at their house. We have played several different games with them, but our favorite being Monopoly. It is bad when we all play together. Man, it can get ugly! We all take this game very seriously and Christen is really, really good at it. As much as it breaks my heart to admit defeat, I must. He beat me. And Drew. And Marianne. Yuck. But, I suppose that is why he will be a good entrepreneur.

We have so many fun memories with Marianne and Christen. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Our Beach Trips
2. Game Nights
3. Dinner/Movie Nights
4. Our Trip to Universal Studios for Rock the Universe
5. Marianne & Christen's trip to Orlando when we had to break into their car in the middle of the night because they locked their keys in the trunk!
6. Having them share our wedding festivities with us!
7. The summer Drew & Christen sold steaks together!

As you can see, this couple has provided quite a bit of fun in our lives and we are so thankful for that!

Christen is a really nice guy and he has been such a great friend to both Drew and I. He and Marianne have both been there for us through thick and thin. Even though hundreds of miles physically separate us, we keep in touch often and I know we will always be friends. Even if we go years without seeing each other, I know we would pick right back up where we left off! They are such a treasure to us!

Christen,

Thank you for being a such a dear friend to us! Thank you for being a great husband to my girl Marianne! Your zest for life and sense of humor is such a refreshing trait! You have a huge heart and a passion for the Lord. Thank you for all the ways you and your lovely wife have blessed us over the years!

Love you both!!

MB (and Drew too!)

The first official picture of the Darrs and the Haalands! 

Day 57: Ty Schenzel

Let me start off by apologizing for not writing for the last 2 weeks. I was very lazy and I am sorry. However, I think I am going to restructure this a little so that I don't get burned out as much. I think my goal is going to be 365 people, but maybe not in 365 days. It can become tedious to crank out a blog every single night, and I really don't want my thank you's to become a chore or insincere. I like to be inspired for each blog rather than force a writing.

Tonight I am writing to you about Ty Schenzel, Drew's uncle. Uncle Ty is awesome, to put it simply. I met him a few years ago when I joined the Darr clan in Nebraska for Emily's (Ty's Oldest Daughter) wedding. I will never forget how funny he was! He kept introducing me to everyone as "Drew's girlfriend Felina" which was obviously, not my name. It was funny to me though how many people probably thought that was my name for a while!

I loved the whole Schenzel family the second I met them! They are all so warm, welcoming and fun! I thought it was pretty cool that Ty actually tried to get to know me over that trip. He sat down next to me and basically asked for my story. Although, a bit intimidating, I really appreciated that he took the time to hear my story. It's so rare that men in our society actually take initiative in getting to know others. It seems like they are only interested in things that, well, interest them, like sports. It was so refreshing to see such a huge level of depth in Uncle Ty.

Uncle Ty has had a huge impact on Drew. Quite frankly I think Drew is the spitting image of Ty! Ty is an amazing father. It brought tears to my eyes several times watching his beautiful relationships with his children, but specifically with his daughters. I know that Drew will be an equally wonderful father someday....WAY, WAY, WAY down the line. Ty has a huge amount of compassion in his heart and in general is one of the kindest people I have ever met. He is selfless, loving, and generous. He started a foundation called The Hope Center for Kids which is located in Omaha, Nebraska. It is a very cool organization that is inspiring so many people.

 To learn more about this program go here: The Hope Center for Kids

Drew and I thought it would be really neat if we both had our uncles who are both pastors, collaborate on our wedding ceremony. We loved how it turned out. Ty welcomed everybody and then spoke a little bit about Drew. Later he led us in taking Communion which was a very cool thing to do in our ceremony. It was so special to us to have both of our uncles marry us!

Ty is a role model in countless ways, but the best being his relationship with the Lord. You can tell that Ty seeks God's wisdom and plan for his life and for those around him. Ty has his faith in the Lord and he relies on God for everything. That is so awesome. I love to see strong Christian men and fathers.

Uncle Ty,

Thank you for you influence in Drew's life and in mine. You are a very awesome uncle and we love you very much! You are so kind, witty, and compassionate. Your role in our wedding meant so much to us and we are incredibly grateful for all of your help. You are an inspiration to us in the way you live your life and the care you have for others. Thank you for leading by example. We are hoping to plan a trip out to Omaha this summer!

Love,

Mary Beth

This is a picture of Uncle Ty and his two beautiful daughter's Annie and Emily. Love this crew!

Day 56: Gwen Latham

Gwen is a dear family friend of mine. She is a wonderful lady and I consider her one of my aunts even though we are not biologically related.

I got to know Gwen from my brother's baseball games! One of her sons and my brother used to play baseball together for years. They were on traveling teams together and local teams, and it always seemed that I found myself at a baseball game. Baseball is not my favorite sport, but because I am a supportive sister, I choose to go. Regardless, after spending a lot of time with with the family of the players we all became very close. We used to go out to eat and to the beach together on all of the traveling games (those were my personal favorites).

Gwen is many things. She is fabulous, southern, creative, funny, and kind. She has an amazing heart and loves the Lord. She always throws really great themed parties that I love going to! Gwen was a wonderful help to us during our wedding! She was always out shopping for items we needed (like candy for our candy buffet), brainstorming ideas with me, setting up/decorating on the actual day, as well as tearing everything down in the evening. Only true friends are kind enough to help you THAT much on your wedding day. I have not even seen her since then, which makes me so sad! But we stay in touch through facebook.

Gwen,

Thank you for your fun spirit! Thank you for your kind and thoughtful heart. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you looking after my family when I was not physically present to do so myself. Your kind words and actions have deeply influenced my life. I love your zest for life and how funny you are! Thank you for including my family and me in your zany parties! They are awesome! I hope to see you very soon! Love you!

MB

P.S. This picture is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! 

Day 55: Miranda Stapel

Forgive me for not writing for several days. I have had a wonky work schedule since I put in my 2 weeks notice at my current job so I have slacked on the writing. :(

Tonight I had some much needed "girl talk" with a friend of mine from Carbondale, Miranda. It is quite clear that God placed Rick and Miranda in our life when we moved to Carbondale.

Our 2nd day in town Drew met Rick at work. He and Rick are both grad. assistants in the english dept. Rick noticed that Drew's wedding band had Hebrew on it. He asked Drew what it meant and when Drew said "my beloved is mine and I am hers" from Song of Solomon, Rick asked Drew if he was a Christian. Drew said yes, and then Rick invited us to his church. Needless to say we went, loved the church, and joined Rick and Miranda's small group. The rest is history.

Rick and Miranda have been a huge blessing to us. They have invited us to their home for dinner, out to coffee many times, we have gone out for dinner, and hung out at many work related events for Rick and Drew. They have gone out of their way to make us feel welcomed to Carbondale, and we have been blessed ten-fold because of it.

Tonight Rick and Drew were out socializing with the English crowd and Miranda invited me over for coffee. It was such a nice evening. We had coffee and some awesome banana-blueberry bread that she made. I am always really impressed when people make bread. I don't know why, but the idea of baking bread intimidates me! So I was super impressed. It was a delight.

It was so nice to chat to a member of the same sex, for a significant amount of time, in person, without a husband around. There is just something about girl talk that is good for the soul. We talked about our marriages, families, shopping, work, etc. I really needed that. I sort of re-energized me in a sense.

Miranda,

Thank you for inviting me over tonight! Thank you for all that you and Rick have done to bless Drew and I and make us feel welcomed to C-dale! You guys were put in our lives by the Lord and we are so thankful for that. I have enjoyed getting to know you more over these past months and look forward to getting even closer as the year continues! You are such a strong woman. You are a Godly wife and mother and that is so inspirational. Thank you for the great girl talk!

Love,

Mary Beth

Day 54: Kalyn Rushing

Let me tell you something...Kalyn is a wonder woman. Never in my life have I met someone with so many skills. Kalyn is outstanding at everything! Literally. Here are just a few of her amazing talents:

1. Math
2. Fashion Design
3. Sewing
4. Make-Up Artistry
5. Soccer
6. Roller-Derby
7. Swing Dancing
8. Organic/Natural Food Cooking
9. Oh! And she does a great "Lolly" dance! (It's the Cuban in her...)
10. Super cute hair-dos!

I would like to do ONE of these things really well, heaven forbid master ALL of them. Seriously Kay! Share your talents with the rest of us! ;)

Kay is a friend of mine whom I met while in college. She was roommates with Meg, which is how I met her, then she lived with a bunch of us girls the following year, and last year she, Shick, and myself all lived in 324.5....aka....La Crystal Palace. We have a lot of fun memories. Kay, Shick, and I shared a 3 person bunk bed last year. Crazy right? Yes, but it was fun. It was like a slumber party every night. I have a lot of fun memories from last year.

I love going shopping with Kay. She and I would often make trips out to malls together or even Target and amuse ourselves for hours. She introduced me to Lush products and many other wonderful goodies at Sephora. She showed me the ropes, so to say.

Kay is a daredevil too. She has many tattoos that are all very artsy and cool. I personally like her Peter Pan themed ones. I am too much of a wimp to ever get a tattoo, but I liked seeing Kay's and watching her go through the process.

Kay and I would sometimes spend our entire Saturday watching America's Next Top Model. One time we even did our own shoot! It was a blast!

Kay,

I miss seeing you every day! I miss hearing about what tattoos you are going to get, what happened at roller-derby/swing dance, and what mathematical phenomenon you solved that day! You are such a kind person with a huge heart. You love people and that is a great thing! You are incredibly talented and always fun to hang out with! I miss laughing with you and having roommate dates. Hope all is going well with you! Let's catch up soon!

Love,

MB

Day 53: Austin Goins-McCree

Hello my faithful readers! I am sorry I have not blogged in a few days. As much as I try to write one blog a day, sometimes I am simply too tired, too busy, or too cranky! And no one wants a "cranky thank you"!

Today I am writing about a wonderful girl I have met through our church: Austin. I met Austin probably towards the end of August at one of our small group meetings. She invited me out for coffee a few days later. I remember thinking how nice that was of her to invite me, the new girl, out to coffee. I really enjoyed talking with her that day and I came home and told Drew that I felt like she and I would have a lot in common.

Here are some things that I have noticed we both have in common:

1. We both wear similar Tiffany necklaces.
2. Our husbands are both loons! (Very lovable, but also a bit crazy!)
3. We both have a younger brother.
4. We both love to shop and wish there was better shopping in C-dale.
5. We both love Sushi! (which we still need to go out for!)
6. We both liked to have our nails painted pretty much all the time.
7. We both love cats and spoil our own.
8. And now, thanks to Austin, we both work at Walker's Bluff!

Austin is an executive at Walker's Bluff, which is a local vineyard and winery, and informed me last week that they were looking for a second event coordinator. She asked if I was interested (which of course I was!) and basically hooked me up! She was an excellent point of reference for me to have to get my foot in the door. Yesterday, after an application and a few interviews last week,  I was offered the job and I am so excited about it! I am incredibly thankful to Austin for even thinking of me for this position.

Austin,

It has been so nice getting to know you over the past few months! You and Quentin are a hoot and we love spending time with you guys! Drew and I were just talking last night about how we need to all go out to dinner some night in the near future! I am so thankful for your kindness in making me feel welcomed to the small group and Carbondale in general. Thank you for thinking of me as I was job searching and giving me the chance of an awesome opportunity! I am so excited to be working with you and getting to know you better! You have been a wonderful blessing in my life!

Sincerely,

Mary Beth

This is a picture of Austin and her hubby at the Walker's Bluff New Year's Eve Event! 

Day 52: Uncle Rick

Tonight I am writing to you about my awesome Uncle Rick! Rick has walked through many stages of life with my family, and I have become super close to him during the past years we lived in Atlanta.

Rick is my "funny" uncle. Do you ever compartmentalize family members? For instance, Uncle George is my "firefighter and strong" uncle, Uncle Dwight is my "pharmacist and who I go to for medical advice" uncle. Simply put, Rick always makes me laugh. He is witty and has a lot of jokes on hand. He always knows how to cheer me up!

Rick is also a Pastor. He married pretty much everyone in my family, including Drew and me this past summer. He was also the Pastor that baptized me when I was 13 years old. I have been given the privilege of sharing many life defining moments with him and I am very thankful for that.

Rick is also super compassionate. He is tender-hearted and has a supreme understanding for people's situations. Maybe that comes with the Pastor territory, but I think it is specifically how the Lord designed his heart. He feels what others are feeling and is empathetic. He has been there for my family countless times. Over and over again he has prayed with us, cried with us, and joked with us and that is what family is for! We are there for each other, to carry each other when we are too weak to carry ourselves. And that is exactly what Rick has done for us.

Uncle Rick has experienced too many pains in life. He and his family have had to endure more tragic life circumstances than any one should ever have to go through. He has somehow kept his faith in the Lord and joy in life. I certainly know I do not have the strength that he has to endure so many things. It has to be a God-given strength. I respect him so much and look up to him for the way he has survived the curveballs of life. He and his whole family are inspirational.

Uncle Rick,

Thank you for setting a Godly example for Hank and me. You are such a blast to be around and we love you so much. You have always been so funny and such a joy. Your compassion and care for us has been incredible and I am so thankful for it and blessed by it. Thank you for all you have done for you. You are an amazing man with excellent character. I miss you! Hope you are doing well!

Love you,

Mary Beth

This is a picture of Rick marrying us this past June!