Trip to Indiana Recap

Hi Everyone!!

We recently got to spend several days in Indiana with family and it was a GREAT trip!

We spent the first couple of days in the South Bend / Mishawaka area with Eric, Lisa and Ian. It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with them in their house and get to spend some quality time getting to know Ian! While there we were able to tour the Bethel College campus and attend one of their chapel services, go to the College Football Hall of Fame and take Ian to Build-A-Bear to help make one of his Christmas presents! We also got to experience Lisa's amazing cooking! We read their blog often and hear about her recipes and love for cooking, but being able to experience it first hand was just awesome! They are a great family and we loved the time that we were able to spend with them!

We then spent the remainder of our trip in Fort Wayne with Sherri's parents. We packed a lot of activities into a short period but we had a blast! I got to experience my first taste of Indiana High School Basketball and what a game it was! Southside won with a last minute shot and the atmosphere was just electric! The stereotypes of Indiana and basketball are true!

On Saturday we had the big Amstutz Family Christmas and I think we had around 40 people come through the house that day. It was really great to get to see family and spend time with them, especially around the holidays! Both Sherri and I wish that we had more one-on-one time with everyone, but we feel like we got to connect with everyone pretty well! That evening we had a smaller Christmas with the immediate family and we finished the day up with a delicious dinner of Alaskan Crab and Shrimp Scampi! It was a great ending to a great day!

On Sunday we got up early and drove into Indianapolis for a Colts game! We got to see history made as the win gave them the most consecutive regular season wins, as well as becoming the winning-est team in any decade. Pretty Awesome! After the game we were able to go on the field and hear a few speakers, but honestly, I was more focused on being on the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium than I was with anything they were saying, it was just a great experience all around and a memory that we are super glad we got to share with family!

Monday was our last full day there so it was spent with some last minute shopping and packing.

We headed for Chicago on Tuesday, along the way we stopped in Warsaw and got to spend a few minutes with a friend who now works for Grace College, it was cool to connect with a fellow Alaskan in the heart of Hoosier country! We forgot about the time difference between Chicago and Indiana so we got to Chicago earlier than we expected, we filled the time with a trip to Wrigley Field and then we wrapped up our trip with a quick visit with my brother! He happened to be in Chicago for business that day and it worked out perfectly that we got to see him!

Our trip was not as long as we would have liked it to be, but we are so thankful that we got to see as many people as we did and we really did have a great time! On the trip back home we both agreed that this was probably our best trip yet to Indiana! Being able to spend time with Ian and finally meet Kaylyn were certainly highlights of our trip! We are certainly a proud Aunt & Uncle!

Christmas Blog - 2009

Hello Friends & Family -

My, how fast time flies! Can you believe that 2010 is only a few short weeks away?

2009 has been a GREAT year for Sherri and I, and we wanted to give you a quick re-cap of it, as well as a peek into the year ahead.

A Look Back

• One of the main highlights of this year for us was our trip to Ireland in March. We were able to spend 10 days there over St. Patrick's Day exploring the Southern part of the country. It was an amazing trip that went far beyond our expectations! We took over 500 photos, met some amazing people, saw breathtaking sites, almost died dozens of times as I attempted to learn how to drive on the other side of the road and came back with a deep desire to go back to Ireland.

• Work continues to go well for me. Despite a slow tourist season here in Alaska, my hotels still performed very well and are always among the largest revenue producers in the country! In November I celebrated my 3rd Anniversary with Extended Stay. This year was also the first time since we got married that I haven't traveled for work! Due to the economy my company put a travel freeze in place so I only had 1 work trip this year! In the previous years I traveled 20 plus times per year, so being able to be home has been wonderful!

• Sherri still enjoys her job greatly. She loves where she works and the people that she works with and that makes all the difference! In October she celebrated her 2 year anniversary with TecPro! She feels fortunate to work for a company where she feels valued and appreciated. It has been a place where she has been able to use her talents and giftings and also learn new skills.

• In September we started working with the 4-year-olds at our church during one of the Sunday morning services, and we are loving it! The kids are just amazing and we look forward to every week that we are with them!

• We have now been in our house for over a year and a half and it really feels like "us". This year we changed out all of the closet doors and we are planning on putting in hard wood floors in the kitchen and dining room and adding a dry storage area below our stairs. These will probably be winter projects.
  

• We had an amazing weather year! Our summer was filled with, what seemed like, non-stop blue skies and perfect days! We were able to get out camping several times and really enjoy the Alaskan wilderness.

• Tomorrow morning we are leaving to visit family in Indiana from December 7 - 15. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. We have a busy trip planned but it should be a lot of fun! We will get to celebrate Christmas early with everyone there and we are really looking forward to that!

A Look Ahead

• I will be in Dallas for a week in early January for work (here comes the travel again)
• In April I turn 30! What kind of senior discounts do I qualify for at 30?
  
• Sherri and I are still discussing possible 2010 vacation destinations.
  
• In June we are going to Seattle to see U2 in concert! During that trip we are trying to plan for several days in the Oregon / Idaho area so that Sherri can meet much of my family that lives around there! Details to follow!
  
• We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in September!

We hope that 2009 has been a great year for you! Feel free to check this page often as we try and keep it updated on a regular basis. Also, e would love to hear from you so leave us a comment on this page or send us an e-mail to adamandsherri@gmail.com and let us know how you are! We are so thankful for the strong support system of friends and family that we have, life is sweeter because of all of you!

Many blessings in 2010!

Here are some photos from 2009:

View from the hot tub during one of our "getaways"


Summer sunset, 11:30pm!

Dunguire Castle in Ireland


Celtic Cross in Cashel, Ireland


3 Moose on our lawn!


View on our hike back from Byron Glacier


Denali (Mt. McKinley) on a Fall day

Scarves

Sherri and I are big believers that true Faith is more what you do, than what you say. We enjoy looking for ways to put our faith into action and this year we had a great idea.

Can you imagine a worse place to be homeless than Alaska? Being homeless is never easy but when you add to that our long, cold winters, it just seems extra tough. Winters can be hard on us and we have a thermostat that controls our heat with the push of a button. Trying to imagine living outside in the cold just seems miserable.

So, we decided that anything warm that we could give would probably be much appreciated. On Black Friday we found a great sale on fleece at Joanne's Fabric. We were able to buy $150 worth of fleece for $50! We spent the last few evenings measuring, cutting and tying 55 scarves to hand out to the homeless here in Anchorage! So for less than $1.00 per scarf we were able to provide something that hopefully makes them a little warmer and let's them know that they matter, because everyone needs that, especially at Christmas, right?