Oh How We Love IKEA!!!

I was in Seattle last week on a business trip and while I was there I made my usual visit to the local IKEA store. Sherri and I are both big fans of a more modern / contemporary approach to home decorating. Many times this type of furnishing can be very expensive, this tends to be the "in" thing right now, so a lot of companies really mark up the prices on anything "modern". However, IKEA always has an amazing assortment of products that are both modern, and well priced!! We have a lot of IKEA products in our home and our newest additions are the floor lamps that you see in the picture on the left! (you can click on the picture for a larger view). These lamps have a great contemporary look and were only $16.99 each!! Thats a great price! If you have never been to an IKEA or seen any of their produces you can check them out at www.ikea.com. The only downside to IKEA is that they currently do not ship to Alaska!! So, till they start shipping here I will continue my regular visits to the Seattle store!

Enjoy!!!

Is This Really A Deal?!?!?!

OK, so here is the deal. Sherri and I were in our local "One Stop Shopping" store tonight and we were browsing the electronic section. Sherri saw this clearance sale tag on a TV. The regular price is $1,299.99 and the clearance price is $1299.97? Really? A whopping .02 discount! How generous! We laughed pretty hard at this! Sorry for the bad picture but we just had to share it!!

Finally...AN UPDATE!!!

Well Hello Strangers!

I know, I know, it has been a while since an update. So, we have a lot to catch up on!

Our trip to Indiana was Great! We had a really good time and it was very nice to get to see so many people!! Thanks to everyone who was able to make the BBQ!! We got to spend a couple of great days with Eric, Lisa and Ian. We had such a wonderful time in Bloomington and really enjoyed finally getting to meet our nephew!! Who is now walking!!

Work has been going well, Sherri is back to her normal 9 - 4 shift and is liking that much more then the early mornings she was working. I haven't been traveling too much recently, but I have some trips coming up, so that may change.

We spent a weekend in Homer, Alaska recently. We were there for the wedding of a very good friend. It was a beautiful weekend and Homer is such a great little town. It was nice to just relax and be away from home for a couple of nights.

We joined a gym that opened earlier this month. We both want to have much more of a focus on living healthy, so we have been going to the gym daily, and we are already seeing some pretty awesome results!!

That is about all that's new with us, it is tough to believe that we are just a couple of months away from our 2 year anniversary!! We spent some time today talking about what we would like to do for it. Also, I must say that we are experiencing the sweetest time of our marriage!! We are really enjoying each other and all that we have in life! Times are just really good and we love experiencing life together!!!

We will certainly get back to updating our blog on a much more regular basis!

SO, till next time...Buh-Bye!

Alaska...

I came across this quote and, having lived in Alaska for most of my life, but also having traveled pretty extensively, this quote rang very true to me. It is from Henry Gannett who was the chief geographer for the Harriman Alaska Expedition.

"There is one word of advice and caution to be given to those intending to visit Alaska for pleasure or sight-seeing. If you are old, go by all means; but if you are young, wait. The scenery of Alaska is much grander than anything of its kind in the world, and it is not well to dull one's capacity for enjoyment by seeing the finest first."

It has always amazed me that I see the mountains everyday, yet they never get dull.

I have driven along the Seward Highway, which lies at the base of mountains and on the edge of the ocean, hundreds of times, yet I always stop for photographs and I am always amazed at the grandeur.

We are now entering "tourist season" in Alaska. It is the annual migration of millions of people who flock to see and experience Alaska for a short period of time. I sometimes forget that I experience daily, what most people dream of "one day seeing".

How I love this state!!!

So..We..Kinda..WON A CRUISE..and were given a new TV!

Howdy -

So, it has become a tradition to take part in the Alaska Visitors Industry Charity Walk with our friends. This walk raises money for several local non-profits. At the end of the walk they have a big event with live music, food and a lot of prizes from the Travel Industry. Last year we won a trip on the Alaska Railroad to Denali, a couple nights at a hotel and a river rafting trip, which was awesome. So, this year we go, not expecting to win anything of course, and what happens? We end up winning a 7 night Caribbean cruise for two!!! So, we just have to use the cruise by the end of March 2008. We get to pick the cruise and the dates. We are looking at December or January for the cruise. It should be A LOT of fun!! The most amazing part is that for the two or three weeks before the walk we had been looking at booking a 7 night Caribbean cruise as a vacation for us. So, it's pretty amazing how it all worked out!!

ALSO....

We have some friends of the family who are VERY well off. They recently purchased a 60 inch plasma TV for their new house and were getting rid of their, nearly new, 42 inch HDTV. SO, we were given their old TV! The TV that we had was fine, we bought it new from Best Buy a year and a half ago, but it was nothing compared to this new TV. We sold our old TV and stand on Craigslist for $250.

SO...

We got a cruise and TV and still came away with $250.00 more then we started with.

We are feeling pretty blessed.

Back to the Midwest....

Hello Everyone -

Sherri and I had been planning a trip to Indiana for Christmas this year. However, Sherri's brother, Ben, is being deployed out of country this July. We wanted to be able to see him as well so we have decided to take our trip this June, rather then December. SO, I just booked our tickets and we will be in Indiana June 5th - 14th. We don't know what the itinerary will look like for our time there but I am sure that we will keep this page updated with our plans.

That is all for now, will update more later.

- Adam & Sherri

April Update...

Hello!

Here is a quick update on us!

We had a GREAT Easter, church was amazing, they had over 6,500 people attend!! Dad and Susan came with us and we had Easter dinner at mom's house!!

Spring is certainly on it's way, temps have been in the high 40's and much of the snow is melted. It is nice to see grass again, even if it is still brown!!

Sherri is currently taking "Strategies For Life Coaching" which is a curriculum that ChangePoint developed, it is their main "leadership" course. She is really enjoying it and getting a ton out of it!

Adam has been traveling a lot lately with work and is really looking forward for spring, so he can play disc golf!! He also recently turned 27 and had a great birthday!!

Our small group is currently going through The Truth Project and it has been awesome, it really makes you look closely at what you believe and why you believe it!!

We saw STOMP last weekend, it was awesome!! Adam saw it a couple of years ago when it was here but this was Sherri's first time. We both loved it!!!

That is all for now!!

Feel free to leave us a message and let us know what is new with you!!!

- Adam & Sherri

Easter at ChangePoint

Sherri's Passport Update...

Hey Everyone -

Sherri has a trip to Vancouver, Canada next weekend for work and her passport was still in her maiden name. When we applied for the updated passport we were told that the passport would probably arrive the day that Sherri was scheduled to fly out, at the earliest. The Passport department is so backed up because of the new passport laws that they are having much longer delays then normal.

We got word today that her passport is complete and will be here tomorrow!! That is 6 days before "the earliest" date that we were told it could be here! This is a huge relief for us, especially Sherri as she is really looking forward to this trip.

We are pretty overwhelmed at how great life has been lately.

Rock The House...

Our church puts on an event called Rock The House which is designed to be a high energy, interactive evening for families with kids in elementary school and younger. Some of us from our Small Group decided to help out at the event by running a few of the carnival games that they had for the kids. Sherri and I were in charge of the Miniature Golf course. They had over 1,800 people show up for the event, and we had a great time!!!! This is a picture of us after the event.

Sunrise From Our Balcony...

This is a picture of the sunrise on March 1st. Seeing the sun come up over the mountains is just amazing!!

Anchorage is Coffeetown, USA

This is an awesome article that appeared in our local paper today. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8669696p-8563102c.html

Anyone who has been to Anchorage knows that there are coffee shops EVERYWHERE!!

Nice Winter Drive....

Howdy -

Last night after work we decided to go for a little drive. It was such a beautiful day that we thought we should sieze the opportunity to take some pictures. We drove down to Girdwood, which is a little ski resort town about an hour outside of Anchorage. Here are some of the pictures that we took!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Hi -

This is just a quick post to wish everyone a VERY Happy Valentines Day!! We had a GREAT day!! We got to spend a lot of time together, got each other flowers and had an amazing dinner!! Our menu included: Filet Mignon, Shrimp Scampi, Twice Baked Potatoes and salad!! For dessert we had a heart shaped cake and ice cream! Mmm Mmm Mmm! It was so good we took a picture of it.

<--- Our Valentines Dinner!!

<--- The Flowers and Chocolate Adam Bought!!!

Winter Fun..

<-- Jason and I doing our best figure skating routine


<-- Me riding the Ice Train. CHOO CHOO

<-- All of us with Snowzilla!!!!

Hello Everyone -

Here are some pictures of a recent winter outing with friends. The HUGE snowman in the pictures has been dubbed "Snowzilla" and has garnered some national attention. He is over 30 feet high! Now thats a snowman!! The other pictures are at our Town Square park in downtown where every winter they have a community ice skating rink. This year they had ice carvers come in and do some carvings around the rink. Its pretty awesome! Enjoy!!

New Years, Job Updates, Snow and Florida Sunshine!

Hello!

We are now over a week into 2007, so here is our first update of the new year!

Our New Years Eve was a lot of fun! We went to a very nice dinner with two other couples and had a great time. One of the things that we were most thankful for in 2006 are the amazing friendships that we have created, so it was only fitting that we "rang in the new year" with some of those awesome friends!

Some exciting news on the job front. Work for Sherri has been going really well. She is enjoying her schedule and the people that she is working with. Also, SHE GOT A RAISE!! It was just over a 10% raise, so that is awesome! She has been doing so great at work and has been so loyal that I am excited that she is being rewarded for her hard work!!

After a snow less Christmas in Connecticut we have certainly made up for it here at home. We are having one of the snowiest winters on record! In December we had 39 inches of snow, which it the 4th snowiest December ever! Alyeska Ski Resort, which is the largest resort in the state and about a 45 minute drive from Anchorage, received over 24 FEET of snow in December, which is a resort record!! So, needless to say, skiing has been amazing there! The resort is hosting the US Ski Championships in a couple of months so this is a very good winter to get a lot of snow! Also, we have already had over a foot of snow in January here in Anchorage. It is pretty fun and everything is VERY white and wintry!!! Just the way a winter should be!

I will be in Orlando, Florida from the 13 - 19th of this month for my companies Annual Conference. It should be a lot of fun and a great opportunity for me to meet everyone within the company. I have been enjoying my job and everything is going well so far!!

The only other BIG news is that we have decided that 2007 will hopefully be the year that we purchase our first house!!! The housing market in Anchorage is really good and the outlook is good for quite some time, so this is a great opportunity for us to get into a house and begin building quite a bit of equity. I think that we are 5 or 6 months away from potentially moving on a property, but it is still exciting for us! We have already begun to keep our eyes open for what is available in the Anchorage market. We will certainly post more on that as that time gets closer.

That is all for now!!

Vacation Recap...

Hello!!

We are sitting in the SeaTac airport in Seattle anxiously awaiting our flight home. We have had an amazing vacation on the East Coast. We got to do just about everything we wanted to, and more! There is no way that I could give a detail by detail description of our trip but I will try and touch on some of the highlights! We had an amazing day in Boston! We were a little worried that our short time there would feel rushed and that we would leave feeling like we had barely done anything. In fact, we left feeling like we had done and seen about everything we wanted to! We took a trollie tour around the city and saw many of the more famous sights that Boston is known for such as the Old North Church, USS Constitution, Boston Tea Party site, Quincy Market and MANY other places. We loved Boston and enjoyed our time there! We spent a day in New York City also and had a great time! We went to Rockefeller Center and saw the tree and the skaters, shopped on 5th Avenue and saw Times Square. We had lunch in Trump Towers at the Trump Grill, and George from "The Apprentice" sat 1 table away from us!!! How awesome is that?! We also took a carriage ride through Central Park and saw Mo Rocca (actor/comedian) filming a commercial. We didn't get to go to a Broadway play like we wanted but we will make sure we do that next trip. We had a great day in NYC seeing all of the sights that normally you only see on TV!!! We also took a day trip to Newport, RI. We toured "The Breakers" which is the most famous of the "Newport Mansions". It was the former summer home of the Vanderbilt Family. Talk about amazing!!! Newport was a great little town. We did some shopping, saw mansions and enjoyed this little town on the Rhode Island coast! We spent a lot of time in Connecticut with family and it was really good to see everyone and it was great for Sherri to finally meet that side of our family! We ate and ate and ate and ate!!! The food was always amazing and we had some good times gathered around the tables! So, between seeing family, New York City, Boston, Newport and all of the other awesome things that we did, we certainly had a GREAT vacation!! I am posting just a few pictures from our trip here.

The Dome Is Going Up....

Hello -

Our church has been in the process of building the largest air supported structure in North America, on our new campus. It will serve the entire city of Anchorage and really the whole state of Alaska as a state of the art indoor sports facility. It has a full track, soccer fields, softball fields, batting cages and much more. It will be approx. 177,000 square feet and they are estimating 150,000 - 200,000 people will use the dome each year!!

The fabric structure was delivered last week and just the dome material weighs over 100,000 pounds!! The instalation and inflation of the dome will be going on for the next few days. Our church has put up a webcam so that the public can watch the entire process of the dome being assembled and inflated. Here is the link to the webcam: http://www.changepointfamily.com/sportsdome/

Check it out, it should be an amazing process!!

- Adam & Sherri

Christmas Lights in Anchorage

Check this out! This is a Christmas light display on a house here in Anchorage!! How awesome!!

Private Jets, Holiday Shopping and Sunny Skies!!

Hello -

It has been a few weeks since we have posted on here so we have a lot of updating to do!! So, here goes. A few weeks ago some buddies and I went to an event that we had at church, the wives got together to do Holiday crafts and we had planned to meet up with them after the event. Shortly after the event ended one of our friends who was with us got a call from work that he had to fly that night (he is a pilot). He flies private planes and it just so happened that there were three seats open on this flight. It was just a short 30 minute flight to Valdez and back, but it was still a great experience! So we all piled onto a private plane, which was a first for all of us. I must say, I fly A LOT and I certainly understand now why people buy their own planes! It was so nice and very comfortable! I grabbed a quick picture with my phone before we left of me in front of the plane, it's kind of goofy, but that's ok! It was a very fun experience!!

Our Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, we went to an early Thanksgiving dinner at my Dad's house and then went over to a friends house for a 2nd dinner later that night. We hung out with friends and just had a great night! We had been planning to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, as that has become a sort of yearly tradition for us. Our friends wanted to join us so we all decided to stay awake all night, rather than trying to get a few short hours of sleep. At 3:30am we left our friends' house and headed to Best Buy, hoping to snag some of the great deals that they had advertised. The doors opened at 5am, so we figured that 1 1/2 hours would be plenty of time to get a good spot in line. Well, we were wrong. When we arrived shortly after 3:30 there were already approx. 1,000 people in line ahead of us. So, we decided to brave the line and the cold and wait outside with everyone else. The temp was -3 that night!!! After an hour and a half of waiting we finally got in the store and, I am proud to say, we all got everything that we had on our lists! We spent the rest of the morning hitting some other stores and then grabbed breakfast at Hogg Brother's, a favorite restaurant here in town, and went to get some much needed sleep!!

My new job has been going really well, I am enjoying it and am really looking forward to being "cut loose" after my "training" is over. I will be in Orlando for approx. 5 days in January, so that will be a nice trip! Sherri is doing really well. Work has been going good, probably the best that it has in the 2 1/2 years that she has worked there. She is enjoying the people she works with, that is a great blessing!

We have had a very strange November. We have had sunny skies EVERY day this month, with not even as much as a trace of snow! The temps have been very cold, in the single digits, and we are all ready for some snow! Cold is ok as long as there is fun snow to play in!

Our home is all decorated for the Holidays and is looking quite festive! Sherri painted some AWESOME holiday decorations this year and they just look great! I will try and get some pictures of our home on here soon.

We leave for Connecticut on the 17th of December, so we are getting very excited for that trip!

I think that is probably about it for now. We would love to hear from all of you, so if you have the time, drop us an e-mail with an update!!