counting down . . .

Today is the three week mark. In exactly three weeks from tomorrow Ben and I will leave for the Burdine triennial family reunion . . . Ben's first of many to come and my 10th, yes that makes me 30+ now, still not sure when that happened. So the craze has begun, or maybe just continued. :)

Our days are filled to the gills and life is good, very good, but very busy. Ben is finishing a two week summer class tonight which is the grand finale of his seminary career and we are SO glad. He has worked crazy hard the past four years. I am wrapping up three more weeks of work before we leave on June 12th for Missouri for family reunion. Ben is also finishing up a part time job with Cragoe, a pesticide company he's been working for for the past couple of years. In the midst of all that we are packing up the house here and there and soaking up as much time with friends as we can before we leave.

We are hoping to sit down sometime this weekend and solidify our hypothetical drive to AK a little more. The general plan at this time is . . .

* May 28th Ben finishes work with Cragoe and starts prepping for youth ministry in AK
* June 11th I finish work with the Saugus School District
* June 12-20th family reunion in Missouri (yes we are flying, yeah!)
* June 22nd load the Uhaul and drive to San Fransisco to spend a night with the Hultgrens (my aunt and uncle)
* June 23rd drive to Oregon and spend a night with Mark, Joani and Allison
* June 24-? Spend a few days in Washington with Ben's family
* Get to AK by July 3rd but sooner if possible
* July 4th Ben leaves with Faith Bible youth on their first summer trip (I crash and unpack a little)
* July 18th we both leave with the youth for a week long VBS in Eagle, AK (the trip we went on last year right after our honeymoon)

Ben is going to hit the ground running literally full speed ahead so I am hoping he can soak in some down time before we leave my last couple weeks of work. We are excited for the move and sad at the same time to say good bye to close friends down here. A positive is that we will likely be back occasionally for the March Shepherd's conferences at Grace when we can see people here again. We are so thankful for God's provision, provision in giving us both jobs in Alaska, provision in providing finances to get there (Uhauls to AK are not a cheap endeavor!), and provision in blessing us with sweet fellowship all along the way, here in CA and back up in AK. God is faithful.