Coming to you from Grand Rapids, Michigan...

Hi again!

Kris and I arrived in G.R. two weeks ago, and have been slowly settling in to our new lives here. After a long, relaxing, and enjoyable summer, our lives are about to get a lot busier - I started orientation at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine here in Grand Rapids yesterday, and Kris has an exam coming up on Tuesday and will start classes on Sept. 6. Here are a few pictures from our new home in Calvin's seminary housing - we'll be living here for 6 months, and then we'll need to find a new place to live (Kris will only be in classes at Calvin Seminary for one semester).

The tour starts at our front door. Walk straight forward into the living room...

or turn left to the bedroom (straight ahead), bathroom (door on the left) or coat closet (doors on the right). The bedroom is pretty messy, so no cameras allowed in there!

Here's a picture of the living room again. I didn't get it in the picture, but the stairway is just to the left of where I was standing to take the picture. Also not in the picture but taking up a bit of the living room are several boxes that belong to some friends of ours from Vancouver who should be arriving at Calvin Sem in the next two weeks.
The living room again. I should also thank Tom and Melissa (my cousins) for letting us borrow their furniture while they're in Nigeria, and John and Ev for driving the furniture down from Ontario.
The dining "room"
Kris preparing lunch. He's taking over as "head chef," at least until he starts school in September.
Now we'll head downstairs to the basement. Take a left at the bottom of the stairs, and you'll find yourself in our office. I'll let you guess who sits on which side:
There's also a big storage room in the basement.

And finally, a view of our back deck:

Thanks to everyone who housed us on our way out here, and thanks also for all your support and prayers! Med school so far is not what I expected (all fun and games the first day of orientation) but I think it will be picking up in intensity pretty soon!

Kim (and Kris)

Spring in Vancouver

Although the weather still feels too cold for the end of May, we have had some nice sunny days (including this morning) in Vancouver.

On Good Friday, April 22, we visited Queen Elizabeth Park for a view of the city and to see the new spring flowers.

We'll miss the view of the mountains when we move to Michigan:

For those of you who haven't seen Kris in a while, he's decided to grow his hair out (those are lacrosse sticks poking out of his backpack behind his head, by the way).
This week we celebrated our 3rd anniversary! We also want to say happy anniversary to John and Evelyn, and (today, I think) to Mindy and Scott. (And to everyone else who got married around this time of year, as there are many!) I would just like to point out that the writing on this cake is even and straight - it's the cake that's crooked :)

Our anniversary dinner - I think that's the first time I've capture steam in a picture!
This week will be an exciting and sad one as it's my last week of work. Then I'm off for the summer to do some traveling and then moving, before the real work begins! Kris is auditing a class until June 10, and then he'll be done until September when he starts his semester at Calvin Seminary.

I hope you all enjoy a sunny, restful Sunday!

~Kim

Go Spartans!

After a 10-month application process, I am very happy to report that I have been accepted to Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine! This means that Kris and I will most likely be moving to Michigan sometime this summer, and I'll be starting med school at either the main MSU campus in East Lansing, or the new MSU med school campus in Grand Rapids. I'll add another update when we have a plan in place.

Kris is finishing up his last two papers of this semester (his last paper is due April 21). This spring/summer, he has to take 2-3 classes for an additional 6 credits, which is what he needs to complete his M.Div. The end, and the beginning, are in sight!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us and encouraged us through this whole process!

Love,

Kim (and Kris)

Earth Hour 2011

Kris and I celebrated Earth Hour on Saturday at 8:30. We thought it would be cool to take a picture of Vancouver before 8:30 and after, from the park by our house. Here's the before picture:
And here's the after:To be honest, the difference was pretty underwhelming, and can probably be attributed to the fact that the camera was in a different place and different orientation. We did see one big building downtown turn out their lights, but that was about it. Come on, Vancouver!

We had a nice hour anyway, first taking some pictures (Kris took these), and then playing Risk (the board game) by candlelight. (Kris beat me badly in about 3 turns.)


Pretty poor turnout for Earth Hour, but at least we got some fun pictures!

~Kim

Happy New Year (and welcome back)!

Dear friends and family,

Hello! I had some pictures from the holidays to share, and rather than sending out a mass email, I thought I'd come back to this (rather dusty) blog! No, I will probably not be posting things on a regular basis, but maybe more regularly than the past year :)

First, a quick update - Kris and I are still living in Vancouver, Kris is wrapping up his last full semester at Regent (he'll also take a couple classes in the spring), I am still working at the same office...starting to understand why I haven't been updating the blog?!?

So, for something more exciting, here are some pictures of the past few months:


For Canadian Thanksgiving, we went to visit Kris' friend Trevor in Vernon, BC. These are some pictures from the beautiful Mission Hill Winery in Kelowna:



Trevor, looking over Vernon (I think):

We had snow in November this year!! This is a picture of our front yard:

Our first Christmas celebration (of three) with our housemates, David and Anna:

And the second celebration, in Montana. Bryce received a book about a turtle. He had mixed feelings about the book:

"Wow, thanks for the toy, guys. I'll play with it all the time" says Jeanette.

Bryce is taking his fashion cues from the Christmas tree:


Kendal, Devan, and Natalie took us cross-country skiing:


(I like this a lot better than downhill skiing!)

Abby joined us:
And finally, Christmas in Seattle. John, Ev, and Andrew were also there.

A creative wrapping job by John:
Kris drew Andrew's name for our gift exchange:

John and Ev at Briana and Chris's wedding. John was one of the groomsmen:



The best picture of the evening (we were setting up to take a family picture, which turned out well, but not as well as this one):

Dr. A, and a future doc?! (I didn't mention it early, but I have been accepted to one medical school, and am still waiting to hear back from 4-5 others):

This picture is from last fall, and I include it because...I lost my sunglasses. Has anyone seen them?

And finally, Evelyn got me these great au gratin dishes for Christmas. I used them to make pecan french toast. Thanks, Ev!
That's all for now. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

~Kim (and Kris)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Snow is falling, Christmas concerts are already over, and exams are yet to come...

While Kris stayed in Vancouver and worked hard on a paper, Kim drove down to Seattle to watch Andrew's basketball game and Madrigal dinner.

Andrew getting ready to rebound

Where are you going? The ball is behind you!

Grandpa didn't like that :(
Shooting freethrows
During some down time, it's always good to clear out your nostrils.
Here's Kris, studying in Vancouver
Our Christmas decorations. Thanks Mom W. for the decorations, and Grandma R. for the stocking!
Choir practice before the Candlelight Service Sunday night
Not very Christmas-y - flowers for Kim's birthday

Stay warm and drive carefully!