Thanksgiving and more

Well I haven't been doing to well at keeping things up to date on here so sorry about that. Things are going well and I'm looking at just one more full week of classes and then finals left to this semester...yea! That said I have also officially switched my degree from a MACF (Masters of Christian Formation) to an MDIV (Masters of Divinity). What this means is that I will not be graduating this may but instead I will be wearing that lovely hat in May of '09. There are several things that led to this switch for me but I feel pretty good about it. I will be able to have my same internship working with the undergrad students here next year and the thought of being with the same students 2 years in a row is really exciting. And it will be pretty sweet to be able to have my MDIV! Now I'm just praying that they extend my scholarship!

I was also able to be home for Thanksgiving a few weeks ago and got some pretty relaxing (maybe to relaxing) time with the Fam. My Aunt from Louisiana and Cousin from Texas came out to and it was great to see them as well. Here are some pics from the weekend...

The Whole Fam (minus Tate who is taking the picture)

The Wysocki Clan...including the most doted on dog ever

The Gerber clan... chloe is not cooperating

Kristen, Laura, Tate, and I on our downtown Christmas light adventure

Nothing says Merry Christmas like some free Salvation Army hot chocolate!

A glimpse of restoration

In 10th grade I transfered schools and making friends didn't happen overnight. But a few weeks into school I auditioned for and got a part doing a duet with this girl named Lori. That was 12 years ago and Lori and I have been friends ever since. Our friendship has seen some pretty rough things but it has been so great to grow up together and to watch each other learn how to do life. Last week I had the honor of standing for her at her wedding. This event held so much significance because she and Andy were engaged 2 years ago and their wedding got called off. The easy thing would have been for them run but I'm proud of the way that they worked hard to make their relationship work and worked hard to learn new things about themselves. They fought to restore their relationships and I'm so proud of them. All of these things combined with the absolute beautiful setting of Cancun made it such a wonderful day. It was so moving to see them finally take their vows and be finally be Andy and Lori Plucker...

A few tears at the sight of it all

Here comes the bride

Finally...

Lori, Andy, wedding party, and parents

We love Andy and Lori!

Fall Break in Cali

Last week was my fall break so Sheri took work off and we headed to northern California. The idea was to have a fun trip (obviously) and Sheri had never been to San Fran. But we also have people that we both really love who now live in that area. So this trip ended up being a perfect combination of amazing sights and refreshing adventures exploring the area and the chance to be with some amazing people and have great conversations. We stayed with the Mazzariello's in Marin for a few nights, had dinner with the Greco's, and got one night with the Josephson's in Sacramento. Couldn't really have asked for anything better for a fall "break". We took way to many pictures but some of our favorites are below.

Our Adventures in San Fran included...

A Ferry Ride
Amazing views
Cable Cars...is there any other way?
China Town and $4 t-shirts
And shopping

The next day found us in Sonoma and Napa Valley exploring some vineyards, eating an amazing lunch of brie and bread, and ending up in some tasting rooms that were for members only...oops! How were we to know?

Poetry in a bottle, huh?

The colors were beautiful

Grapes don't smell...don't know why I was tryingThe cellars at Schug Winery
Robert Mondavi Vineyards...pretty ugly huh
At V. Sattui Winery...pretty sure that the people who took this picture had been wine tasting for a few hours already, it's amazing it turned out really!

This trip also marked my first visit to Lake Tahoe and my first visit to a Casino.

Lake Tahoe
So cold but loving the view

Our tour guides
And the beginning of my addiction (just kidding, I walked away)

So a few more days around here in classes and such and then I head to Mexico for Lori and Andy's wedding and then on to St. Louis for part of the Youth Specialties conference and to see my Colorado peeps. I Can't wait! I'm just wondering when I'm supposed to do homework this month...?

Marit and Benj's wedding...

On Saturday Marit and Benj got married! Marit was one of my roommates last year and Benj went to seminary last year with me but graduates last may. They are fun and the wedding was really great. Here are some pics from the event.


The Happy couple
Trying to cross Foster as they led all the guests to their reception
Don't worry, they made it in one piece!
The wonderful candy buffet
The Angie's
Sheri, me, and Kristi

Marit and I
Jamie, Sheri, and Lindsey trying to eat the massive cupcakes

5 weeks already?

So I had a latte at 7pm, then went to an awesome North Park Homecoming soccer game, then watch "Blades of Glory" and now I'm not even remotely tired. So what better than to catch you up on life around here these past 5 weeks. Yes, it has been 5 weeks already. My weeks go by so fast but so far they have been challenging and really rich. I feel such a freshness this semester and I feel like God has just given me a new perspective on myself and on my life right now. I'm loving working with the undergrads and so far I have remembered most of the names of people I've met...really there are a lot to remember. So it's been good. Here are some of my highlights from these past weeks...

HEATHER'S WEDDING...My first weekend back I went to my college roommate's wedding. It was one of those weddings that everyone went to so it was great to see some old friends. I have to say that it was one of the most laid back weddings I have ever been to. The ceremony was maybe 5 minutes long and it was in this cool garden center. But it's totally what Heather and Jack wanted and we all had a blast. If this picture looks blurry that's because it was so fast! Caleb and Sharon stuck around for a few days and so we threw in a day at the zoo too.

UMIN RETREAT...The next weekend we went on a retreat to Lake Geneva with all of the student leaders that are involved with University Ministries this year. I really love the way that the UMIN staff casts a vision for the year and they way that they raise the bar for their student leaders. It's really just a great group and they aren't afraid to lay it all out for them. I feel like there is a new energy around this group this year and I'm excited to see what God is going to do through them. (sorry there is no picture...I was to busy killing mosquitoes to take any pictures)

MUSKEGON...This year there is a high concentration of my friends living in Muskegon, MI. The Ciccone's are still there, Dave Nagel is still there, Alicia Vela (friend from Colorado) moved there to be an intern, and Laurey Kiehne (former student of mine from MN...and one of my favorites!) moved there are well to live with Tim and Maria and be there nanny. So I went up there for a weekend and it was good as always. Visiting the Ciccone's is so great because I feel so at home with them. They are those friends that you can visit and just hang out all Saturday and it's great. And of course it's always good to play with Caleb and Josiah. Caleb and I tried to play Wii on night but I'm not good and I think that frustrated him so we just pretended that the sticks were microphones...see picture below...
APPLE ORCHARD...Yep, went to an apple orchard because that's what you do around here in the fall. Funny how the day we went though it was like 85...didn't matter, we went to an apple orchard. I went with Jen Zerby, her sister -in-law Amber, and Amber's boys Caden and Tage. We had a blast, not so sure that Amber did (because she doesn't like being outside or walking in grass so she was set up for failure). There were cider donuts and really cool little tractors that I tried to ride. What more could you want really?
BOAT TOUR...This past week we took some of the students from our chapel planning team on the architecture boat tour of Chicago. This was my 3rd tour and as always it was great. I just like that I can go do something fun on a Wednesday night and not feel guilty...yea for less homework and fun students!

And now you are pretty caught up, if you made it through this whole thing. It's ok if you just looked at pictures because sometimes that's all that I do on people's blogs (Cav...use some pics!). This weekend is homecoming around here and it's all pretty fun. So again, not much homework will get done for me. Tomorrow is the bloc party and they are expecting 4, 000 people...hm, if that works well it will be a homecoming miracle. All that said I should try to sleep as I have to run the snow cone machine tomorrow for those 4,000 people...if you're lucky you might get to see a picture of that...!

Believe Big and Travel Together...

This week found me once again packing up my stuff in Denver and setting out for Chicago, how many times have I done that? If you know me well you know that I absolutely hate transitions, which is funny considering how many times I have moved since high school. So just like every other time I was feeling pretty bummed about leaving Colorado and leaving so many of my refreshing and safe friends. But at the same time there were things that I was excited to get back to in Chicago. AHH, I just love the tension! But Thursday morning came and my mom and I started driving. We had a fun drive, avoided some hellish weather, and spent the weekend playing in Chicago.

Friday I also squeezed in an interview for a campus Pastor internship that I had applied for last may. I never heard from them and assumed that it was already filled and I kind of forgot about it. But the week before I left I got an email asking me to interview and I got my hopes up that this might really happen. Long story short, they offered the job to me on Saturday and I started last night. The job entails working with the Campus Pastor to help lead the chapel planning team and to have a pastoral presence in the undergrad student body. It's really everything I want to do and you get paid for it! North Park just hired Judy Howard Peterson as the new campus pastor after having her here last year as the interim campus pastor. Judy is such a gifted woman and I still can't believe that she is my boss this year. It's funny how last week I had no idea that this was on the horizon for me, what a great surprise. We had our convocation for this school year yesterday and again I was surprised by how great is was to see some people and to be back in this place. Classes started today and it just felt really good to be here and to have some new experiences and responsibilities in the mix for the fall. One of the things I was praying for this year was to have more opportunities to be with undergrads and to have more of a place to belong and to be held accountable. Being on the UMIN staff and having a team to work with this year is a direct answer! ( Check out what university ministries is all about here)

I feel so blessed to have such a great community in Colorado and to have had the chance to jump in there and be apart of things this summer and then to come back to North Park and have another way to jump in and develop some relationships. Judy told us (myself and Nathan, the other intern) that UMIN's focus for this year is "Believe Big and Travel Together". And so on this first day of classes I'm dreaming big about what this year will hold for me and for this campus full of students that I get to work with. I'm also so thankful for you... the wonderful people that I get to "travel" with. I'm praying that you to are believing big...

Everything Fray

When Ben and I were growing up one thing that we loved (along with most of Denver) was going to concerts at Red Rocks. And this past weekend Ben, and the rest of the guys, reached a milestone in selling out three nights at Red Rocks. The place was packed Sat, Sun, and Mon night with thousands of Fray fans and we were right there with them. How could we miss that! The only down side is that it rained Saturday and poured Sunday night (gotta love summer monsoon season). Even with the rain all three nights were awesome shows and guys never fail to amaze me. It was surreal to watch them and I couldn't help but be proud. I also love seeing all of our friends who come to the shows, a lot of them are people that have poured into our family and it's fun to watch them be proud of Ben and support him. I was thinking about all of this the last night as I watched Jason Stocker watch Ben and Dave. There is so much history there and he was beaming as he watched his boys play! These shows were also a huge milestone in the fact that they were the guys last shows in the United States for a year or so. They have been on the road for about 2 1/2 years and they are worn out. When they hit the road again they will most likely have a new album. So all in all it was a big weekend, kind of hard to explain and put into words so here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Ben...doing his thing

Rain, rain go away...Lindsey, Robin, Mom, and I toughing it out Sat night

And even more rain Sun night...ps I discovered that the coat I was wearing was really not all that water proof, would have been better to know before the downpour!

Crazy fans Monday night

Bill and Robin cheering Dave on

The Wysocki cheering section

This picture made the cut because of Bill's face...I don't think he was all about taking this picture, at least mom and Robin are cute

We love Red Rocks

"Everyone knows I'm in over my head..." all the fans who get to help play tambourine during Cable Car

One of the backgrounds that for their new song "Dixie"...it's going to be big