A little belated Merry Christmas 2009 and Happy New Year from the Mitchells

Dear Family and Friends,


Christmas 2009 (written Dec. 3)

Merry CHRISTmas to you all! We trust this past year has been a good one for you, and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. Our year, as always, has been eventful (like most people’s lives!) We have been able to enjoy many events and also many blessings. Of course, we have had some rough patches as well, but God has proved Himself faithful as always. I’m so thankful for a personal relationship with the God who never changes!

Many things in our lives have stayed mostly the same… same church, same jobs, same address… which is a miracle for us! As a matter of fact, this year made it the longest that we have ever lived in one place and one address in our married life!

We continue to work at the same jobs, but Chris has been given more and more responsibility as a manager at Cross Chrysler/Jeep. These past 3 months have been really slow, but God continues to provide. I still work as a nurse with special needs kids, but had a lot of changes in my cases this year, including almost 2 months of no work. It was nice to be home and have more opportunity for ministry and projects, but not so nice for the checkbook! :-) I know MANY of you know how that is! November 10th I started another case that is M-F, 7a-3p. Not too bad, until I found out it was an HOUR away! It’s been a struggle for me to get up early, but God is teaching me to be dependent on HIM to get through the days! I’m tired! I’ve also been sick off and on for the past 6 weeks… pink eye, two ear infections, and a horrible cough for about 3 weeks! Thankfully, I am FINALLY feeling better!

We continue to serve in the same ministries in our church here as well. This past Wednesday was our beloved pastor’s last service after serving as pastor for 37 years here at Shawnee. We are looking forward to what God will do as our new pastor, Bro. Dave Delaney, takes up the torch. Pastor Dave was our youth pastor for 5 years, so we already know and love him. Chris also has started singing solos in our church, which is an honor for him!

Other than our normal everyday work and church, here are the highlights from our year:

January - we had an ice storm at the end of January. I know for those of you up north, that’s not really a big deal. However, down here, they aren’t really prepared for this kind of weather! Thousands of people were without power for over a week! Thankfully, we were not one of that group, so we opened our home for a few days to some friends who were without power.

February - Chris sister, Tiffany, came for a long weekend the last weekend in February to spend some time with us. We had a blast! Unfortunately, Chris had to work most of the time.

April - I was COMPLETELY surprised on the 14th when Chris came in the door from work carrying a 4 month old little girl… our niece, Raegan! Chris sister, Kim, and her daughter, Korissa then stepped out from behind him! They came to visit us for a week while her husband was overseas on business. We were thrilled to be able to meet Raegan, and SO enjoyed having them here. Korissa LOVED “Uncle Chis” (pronounced kiss) and always wanted to be wherever he was. While they were visiting, we were able to enjoy Thunder over Louisville… the fireworks kick-off to Kentucky Derby Festival. The girls did really well through the fireworks, too! The house seemed a bit more quiet and lonely when they went home! At the end of the month, I was able to attend the Sword of the Lord Ladies’ Jubilee in Murfreesboro, TN. It was a great time of spiritual encouragement and refreshment.

May - The first weekend of May is the Kentucky Derby, so we always try to “get out of Dodge” for the weekend. This year, we took a quick road trip to Atlanta to attend a game at Turner Field. We were able to have lunch with my Uncle Dave, and then meet up with some friends on Sunday for church. The next weekend, we flew to Maryland to see my best friend. That trip was my Valentine’s/Mother’s Day gift from Chris. It was a wonderful long weekend, but went MUCH too quickly!

June - On June 30th, I headed to Cincinnati to meet up with my Gma & Gpa Decker at the Creation Museum. They came down from MN with a group from their church. It was 2 years to the day since I had seen them. Again, the time went WAY too quickly, but it was such a blessing to see them again!

July- We celebrated Independence Day at our camp, Indian Creek. Chris was thrilled with the opportunity to preach the service there that night. On July 24th, we celebrated our 9th anniversary (hard to believe it’s been that long already!) by staying here and visiting sights in Louisville. We went to the Mega Caverns, the Louisville Slugger Museum (we just couldn’t do an anniversary WITHOUT some kind of baseball!) J We walked around downtown enjoying the time together, and then ended the evening at Morton’s Steakhouse, where everyone that served us in any way said “Happy Anniversary” to us! We thought that was pretty cool!

August - We started out the month with the 25th Youth Conference at Shawnee. Having 1,000 teens at your church for the week just to hear preaching is pretty amazing! That Thursday, we had a major flood! They were calling a Flood Emergency (which I had never even heard of), telling everyone to stay wherever they were to avoid getting caught in flood waters. Crazy weather this year! Also, that week, I was able to visit with a dear friend who was in town for her granddaughter’s birth, as well as one of the little boys (and the family) that I worked for in Maryland.

That Saturday, we flew down to West Palm Beach, FL, to visit Chris’ sister, Sandy, & family for vacation. We made a couple visits to the beach, and attended a Marlins’ game and Rays’ baseball game. At the Marlins’ game (which was also Chris’ birthday), we made it onto the BIG SCREEN at the field for the 1st time! We discovered that it helps to have very few fans at the game, great seats close, and an adorable 4 yr old nephew! J It was a wonderful vacation!

October - October was a busy month for us, with something going on every weekend! We attended a University of Louisville football game (my first big-time college football game), one of the biggest high school football rivalry games in the country (St. X vs. Trinity), Youth Retreat (which Chris actually took off work for), and then I was able to meet up with a college friend and visit for the day. It was so fun! The last event of October was Trunk-or-Treat. We participated this year by actually decorating our “trunk” (the back of Chris’ Jeep) with a replica of his car dealership!

November - We started up the month of November by heading up to the Upper Peninsula of MI to visit my brother, Greg & his family. My nephew, Caden, had just turned 13 months, and we hadn’t met him yet! We were able to spend a week with them. It was probably one of the most relaxing vacations we’ve had in a while! Unfortunately, both Aksana & Caden got sick, as did I! We went to Tahquamenon Falls on Saturday, and it was a GORGEOUS day (for the UP). We spent Thanksgiving Day with some friends of ours in Cincinnati, OH. With the nature of Chris’ job, we don’t get to travel far for the holiday season, so it was wonderful to be with friends for the holiday.

The most recent thing that has happened is that Chris was involved in a major car accident on 11/29/09 on the way home from church. I was home sick with a terrible earache. Chris says that he’s never been more thankful for a horrible earache in his life, since it meant that I wasn’t involved in the accident. I already have a lot of problems with my back/neck! The abridged version of the accident: Chris was rear-ended on the freeway by a 24 foot box truck. The truck hit the back passenger side of the Jeep, going up on two wheels, and sending the Jeep spinning into the concrete barriers between the east/west lanes of the freeway. Thank the Lord, Chris is OK… just a stiff and sore neck/back. We are praying that the insurance will total the Jeep, and that there will be no hidden injuries when Chris goes in to get his X-rays read on Wednesday. We are SO thankful for the Lord’s protection in this situation! Please pray with us that his Jeep will be totaled, and wisdom as to what to do as far as a vehicle is concerned… we won’t be able to afford to replace the Jeep, since it would cost about $6,ooo MORE to get the same exact Jeep now! Also, please pray with us about God providing for us to go back into full-time ministry. We have been praying about it for almost a year now, but God hasn’t seen fit to open the door yet. NOT that we really want to move again, but whatever God wills… :-)

Well, I think that’s all the news for our year. At this time of celebration, please don’t forget the REASON that we celebrate. Jesus Christ came to earth and was born in a manger for the sole purpose of becoming the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead the third day so that we could have the opportunity to go to Heaven with Him when we die. Jesus gave the Ultimate gift… His life for our sins so that we could have the gift of eternal life. Have you accepted His gift? All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, believe by faith that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sins (breaking God‘s law), and ask Him to forgive those sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Have you done that? If not, you are missing the GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT of ALL! (If you have questions or want to know more, give us a call anytime!)



Wishing you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry CHRISTmas to you all! We trust this past year has been a good one for you, and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. Our year, as always, has been eventful (like most people’s lives!) We have been able to enjoy many events (including two most-likely once-in-a-lifetime opportunities) and also many blessings. Of course, we have had some rough patches as well, but God has proved Himself faithful as always. I’m so thankful for a personal relationship with the God who never changes!
Many things in our lives have stayed mostly the same, with a few minor changes. For one thing, we are still living at the same address as last year… this is a major accomplishment for us! We still attend Shawnee Baptist Church, and are continuing to stay involved there in choir, bus ministry, nursery (for Heather) and youth work. We have expanded our ministry with youth by helping out with teen church and Sunday school for the bus teens. Chris had the opportunity to preach in teen church a few weeks ago for the first time in over 2 years! We LOVE our church, and are so thankful that God brought us here.
We continue to work at the same jobs, but Chris was promoted from sales associate to sales/business manager on July 15th. I am so proud of him! After only 19&½ months in the auto industry, a promotion like that is virtually unheard of! The promotion allows Chris to actually TAKE his day off during the week, so we now are able to enjoy Wednesdays off together. It’s nice to have him around more! The most exciting news about Chris’ work is that he had the opportunity to lead one of his co-workers to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ just a few nights ago.
I still work as a nurse with special needs kids, and continue to work with the same little boy as last year. My time with him decreased from full-time to one day a week, and I now care for another little boy on the other days.
Last year’s letter ended with the information about our final In Vitro Fertilization cycle. We went ahead with it on February 18th, but I didn’t get pregnant. Of course, we were incredibly disappointed, but are continuing to trust God (and WAIT!) to grow our family. We have thoroughly discussed many options, however, we do not have peace about pursuing any of them at this time.
Now on to the other happenings of the year… In February, we celebrated Valentine’s Day by enjoying a fabulous dinner compliments of Chris’ boss. (Chris earned it by being Sales Associate of the YEAR). April found us joining another couple on an overnight trip to Chicago for a Bulls’ game. We enjoyed a fantastic meal at a Brazilian steakhouse, which was a new experience for us! We also attended the Thunder over Louisville again, which will be an annual event as long as we live here. Our 2nd annual Derby Day trip to St. Louis for a ball game began our month of May. This time we took two friends with us and we were able to go to the top of the Gateway Arch - VERY cool! This year marked the last trip to Pensacola for graduation for a long time! Chris’ youngest brother, Jon, graduated with his undergraduate degree, as did my sister-in-law, Caroline. Chris’ youngest sister, Tiffany, also graduated from the seminary there with a Master’s degree. Chris TOTALLY surprised me for Mother’s Day by buying me tickets to go visit one of my best friends for Memorial Day weekend. His thoughtfulness made a rather difficult holiday for me much easier to bear. The second week of June brought our much-anticipated vacation. We flew into Las Vegas to spend time with about ½ of Chris’ family. From there, Chris’ brother, Jon, joined us for the trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. While there, we attended 4 ballparks (LA Dodgers, LA Angels of Anaheim, and San Diego Padres), took advantage of one of those “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to go to Game #3 of the NBA finals - Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers, went to the San Diego Zoo, saw the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier, and enjoyed DisneyLand and the beach in Los Angeles. We traveled back to Vegas, spent another day&½ with the family, and then flew back through Phoenix (to go to an Arizona Diamondbacks game) on the way home. This was my first time visiting California. The vacation was AWESOME, and we enjoyed the time with family. The end of June (the 25th) brought the entrance of a new nephew, Colton Michael (Steve&Kathryn’s first baby) into the world! As usual, we love welcoming new family members! July and August were filled with various activities, including a few more baseball games here in Louisville, and free tickets to a game in Cincinnati. Over Labor Day weekend, I “ditched” Chris (who had to work) and headed up to Watertown, WI, for the Maranatha Baptist Bible College (my alma mater) Alumni football game. My whole family, with the exception of Chris, met up there to watch my older brothers, Steve & Greg, play against my baby brother, Nathan (who is a senior this year), for the last time. I was also able to meet my nephew, Colt, for the first time, and enjoy time together with my whole family for the first time since June 2007. My nieces and nephews have grown up so much in that time! Our second “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity came in the form of free tickets to watch the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament practice on September 19. We were able to see all 18 of the international golfers, and Chris was able to obtain 10 of their autographs. It was a neat experience, and a beautiful day to spend together. October 1st brought another new arrival into the Chromy clan… my nephew, Caden Andrew (Greg&Rachael’s second baby). Big sister Aksana was praying that he would be able to walk and tie his shoes on arrival! Near the end of October, we had the privilege of going to North Carolina to be a part of a family member's homecoming from an overseas deployment. We were praising the Lord for his safe return and that of most of his platoon. We enjoyed the time with him&his family, along with Chris’ parents and some extended family members we hadn’t seen in quite a while. The time was way too short, but a little time is better than no time at all! We were not able to travel anywhere far to be with family for Thanksgiving, but had the privilege of spending the day with friends of ours who are missionaries on deputation. Their departure date to Romania is January 13th, 2009, so we were grateful for their hospitality and the chance to spend the day with them before they leave the States. This month has us crazy busy with all the events that come with celebrating Christmas. December 4th marked the entrance of a new niece into the world… this time on Chris’ side of the family. Raegan Elizabeth was born to Chris’ sister, Kim & hubby, David, as well as big sister, Korissa. Our plans are to celebrate Christmas at our home with just the two of us this year (unless something comes up between now and then!) It’s difficult to be so far away from family during the Christmas season, but at least we have each other (and a great church family!) My parents are coming down this week to pick up a car they bought from Chris a few weeks ago, so we will get a brief visit with them, for which we are thankful.
Well, I think that’s all the news for our year. At this time of celebration, please don’t forget the REASON that we celebrate. Jesus Christ came to earth and was born in a manger for the sole purpose of becoming the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead the third day so that we could have the opportunity to go to Heaven with Him when we die. Jesus gave the Ultimate gift… His life for our sins so that we could have the gift of eternal life. Have you accepted His gift? All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, believe by faith that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sins (breaking God‘s law), and ask Him to forgive those sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Have you done that? If not, you are missing the GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT of ALL! (If you have questions or want to know more, give us a call anytime!)Wishing you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell
Psalm 91:1, Lamentations 3:22-23

A few memories...

I wanted to post a few pictures today. These are the few memories that we have about our precious babies, and I'd like to share. Hope you all don't mind! I also wanted to say that we so much appreciate your outpouring of love toward us in this difficult time. Your prayers mean so much to us! Thank you, thank you!

Chris and I the day we found out we were pregnant (12/19/07)

Chris and I get a personalized ornament every year. I bought this one, and then wrapped it up and gave it to my mom and dad for their "anniversary." They didn't get to keep it, though! :-)

My parents didn't know about us going through in vitro fertilization, mostly because I wanted to surprise them. They arrived here on Saturday night (12/22). Their anniversary is 12/18 (celebrating 37 years!), and I hadn't sent them a card or anything. I couldn't wait for Christmas to tell them about the baby (especially since we had been pre-warned about the possibility of miscarriage.) So, I bought this little photo album and made a small scrapbook for them.
My parents love lighthouses, so I thought this was the perfect cover for them... especially since the bottom says "Life is filled with wonderful surprises..." This was the first page of the book... this pic was taken after the Christmas program 12/16.
These were the second and third pages. I think if you click on the pictures you can see them bigger. Anyway, these are both pictures of the embryos they transfered this time. The page on the left quotes our promise "Psalm 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, to be the joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD." The second page (which is difficult to see) says "Our baby's picture" and the little pregnant girl stamp says "You Grow, Girl!"
These pages are pictures from our doctors office. The one on the left is a picture of the sign in the dressing room. I think it's hilarious. On the right are our babies' doctors and the IVF nurse coordinator... Dr. Bastias (embryologist), Dr. Homm (fertility specialist) and Kara (IVF nurse).
These next few pages of pictures are some we took during the transfer process. I kind of combined pictures from both cycles.


I also have the pregnancy test from our second cycle. I was so nervous the morning we went in for the test (more nervous than I've ever been in my life, as a matter of fact), that I had to use the bathroom twice before we even got to the office. My urine was VERY diluted, and the pink line is SO faint that you almost can't see it. Our nurse practitioner told us it was no problem... as long as it was there, that's what mattered.

Oh, yeah... my parents opened their "anniversary" presents (we did video it, but can't seem to get the CD to work), and the look on my mom's face was priceless when she figured out what we were trying to tell them. She squealed and raised both her hands up over her head, and then started pounding my dad (who was sitting next to her) on the back! It was great! Of course, we had to tell them right away about the probability of miscarriage, but at the time, I was pregnant, and Chris had me on bedrest, so we chose to tell them anyway. I'm so glad we did.

God is good, and we are thankful for the little things. Lord willing, the promise we are claiming will be fulfilled shortly: Psalm 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, to be the joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. :-)

Thanks for letting me share my memories. Though this is difficult, I'm glad God allowed us a few days with our babies.

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Thanks be unto God for His
UNSPEAKABLE GIFT!

(II Corinthians 9:15)

Don't forget the GREATEST GIFT we've ever received this Christmas... that Jesus Christ left Heaven to be born in a manger, to die on a cross, to rise from the dead, to live in Heaven forever giving us the gift of ETERNAL LIFE if we choose to accept His gift! I pray that you have accepted God's gift.

John 3:16 For GOD so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Merry CHRISTmas from Chris and Heather Mitchell! :-)

Christmas Letter 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry CHRISTmas! It's that time of year again, and we are so excited when we look back on the year and see what God has done for us this year. The Bible says in Psalm 72:18 "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who ONLY doeth WONDROUS things." Obviously, we, like everyone else, go through tough times in our lives, and we have this year as well. But when we look back, it is so awesome to see how God has been with us through the tough times as well as the great times. The Bible also says "As for God, his way is PERFECT." I'm so thankful that HE is in control of our lives, not me! It has been such an encouragement for us this year to be reminded of the fact that God loves us, cares about us, and ALWAYS does what is BEST for us. HE has a plan for our lives, and though we may not always understand what God is doing at the time, we can trust Him to only do WONDROUS things.

I'm going to share with you the every day things in our lives first, and then tell you about all the extra things that we were able to enjoy this year.

First of all, we moved here to attend our church, Shawnee Baptist. This year our opportunities for ministry at our church have expanded, and we are so thankful for those opportunities to reach others for Christ. Chris drives a bus route every Sunday morning to pick up kids and adults for Sunday school and church. I ride along to help with that as well. We also both sing in the choir, which we have really enjoyed, and I work in the nursery at least once a month. In September, our asst. pastor approached us about joining the teen ministry as youth workers. We were able to meet with the youth pastors in early October, and started our ministry with the teens the first week of November. Chris is co-teaching the 9th&10th grade teen Sunday school class and we are excited about working with teens again. We are enjoying getting to know the teens and the other youth workers as well.

As far as work is concerned, we are pretty much doing the same things we were doing last year at this time. This is the first year since we've been married that we have both worked for the same company the WHOLE YEAR! I continue to do nursing home health care with special needs kids. I have been caring for the same patient full-time for almost a year now, and almost feel like he's my own baby. He just turned 2, and is learning so much and doing new things almost every day. I have also had the privilege of witnessing some to his mom, other nurses that I have oriented to the case, and some of my unsaved co-workers in the staffing agency office.

Chris continues to work at Cross Chrysler/Jeep as a sales associate. God has truly blessed him this year in his job. He earned the award of Salesman of the Month 3 months this year - in January, March, and April. It was awesome to see him earn that award the first full month that he was working as a salesman. At the company Christmas party, it was announced that Chris had won the SALESMAN of the YEAR award as well! We know that all the glory goes to God for these accomplishments, but I must say that I am so thankful for a husband that is willing to work hard and put in long hours to take care of our family. The financial blessings have been nice, but Chris, too, has been able to witness to many of his co-workers over the past year. One day he had over an hour long conversation with one of his managers about Creation vs. Evolution, the Bible being God's Word, and various other spiritual topics. It is encouraging to be able to share God's Word with those that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The other major thing that happened this year for us is that we were able, after 6 months of paying double housing costs, to sell our house in Maryland. We closed on that house on March 30. Then, the Lord led us to look for a house to buy here. We found one after going out with our realtor one time, and our offer was accepted. July 17th we moved into our new home, and we LOVE it! So, for yet another Christmas letter, we have a different address! This is an ongoing joke with Chris and me... hopefully we won't have to give you a new address again for a VERY LONG time!

Now - for the entertainment in our lives:

February – February 11th brought a new niece into our family... Korissa Ann was born to Chris' sister, Kim and her husband, David. Korissa is their first baby.

April - We flew down to Jacksonville, FL, for a Chromy family reunion/Mom's 60th birthday party over Easter weekend. We had a great time seeing all of my immediate family, though the time was short. We hadn't all been together at one time since Steve's wedding in 2005. The day after we got home, Chris surprised me by bringing home a new car for me. It's a 2007 Chrysler Sebring sedan, Inferno Red, and I LOVE IT! What a great surprise! :-)
Also in April, we attended a local celebration day here... Thunder over Louisville. This is the kick-off to the Kentucky Derby Festival which is the two weeks before the KY Derby. It is basically KY's version of Mardi Gras, but they do have some pretty neat events to attend. Thunder over Louisville consists of, among other things, a 6 hour air show, and at the end of the day, one of the largest fireworks displays in the world! It is AWESOME! The fireworks are actually choreographed to music, but we didn't sit in a place where we could actually hear the music. Anyway, it was a great time!

May - The first weekend of May is the KY Derby. Pretty much every business in this area is shut down that day b/c everyone is at the Derby. Chris had the day off, so we decided to take a day trip over to St. Louis, MO. (I know, I know - you can't BELIEVE that we didn't go to the DERBY! We don't gamble and we don't drink, so we didn't really want to spend the day around a bunch of people who were doing just that!) Instead, we enjoyed a great date together... we attended a St. Louis Cardinals game in early afternoon, then went over to see the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and were home by about 9pm. We are trying to attend a game at every Major League Baseball Park in the States, so we had a great day and checked off another ballpark on the list.
May was also a HUGE month of graduations for the Mitchell family. Chris' older brother, Tim, graduated with his 2nd Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. He earned a 4.0 GPA, along with being a husband and dad, working, and serving in his church. That's a full plate! Then, Chris' sister, Julianne, graduated with her Associate's Degree from Pensacola Christian College. She had a brain aneurysm when she was seven, so since then has always had struggles with her academics. We are so proud of her for her determination to graduate from college, and she did it! A couple days later, another of Chris' brothers, **name removed for privacy** graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island. We are so proud to have an immediate family member serving our country in the Marines. Then, later in the month, Chris' oldest niece, Kimberly, graduated from Kindergarten! Wow - what a busy month! Chris and I were only able to attend Julianne's graduation together; then Chris returned home to work, while I attended the Marine graduation with Chris' family.

June - We attended our first baseball game at Louisville Slugger Field. We have a minor league team here called the Louisville Bats, and Chris' boss has season tickets to the games. He gives away the tickets for free, so we were able to attend 3 games this season. Hey, what can I say? It's a pretty nice cheap Saturday evening date! :-) The big event in June was my baby brother, Nathan's wedding. He and Caroline got married on June 30th. It was a beautiful wedding. It was really nice to have all of the family together again for the second time in 3 months when we hadn't been together in almost 2 years!

July - On the way home from Nathan's wedding, we made a little detour through Cleveland Ohio to attend a Cleveland Indians game at Jacobs Field (another ballpark off the list!) The big even of July was our 7th Anniversary trip, which was a surprise for me. Chris planned the whole trip, and we had a GREAT time! We went to Chicago (Chris had never been there other than driving through, and I hadn't been there since my college days) for about 3 days. We stayed in a REALLY nice hotel (they had bellhops and everything!) right off Michigan Avenue across from the Hancock Building. While we were in town, we attended two more baseball games... one at Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs, and the other at US Cellular Field to watch the White Sox. I told Chris that he has the best wife in the world b/c she actually ENJOYED going to ballgames on her anniversary trip! :-) We also walked up and down Michigan Ave and the shoreline of Lake Michigan, visited the Shedd Aquarium and Navy Pier, and generally just relaxed and enjoyed the time together. It was a great surprise, and it was over WAY too quickly!

August - August 10th brought another new niece into the family... again on Chris' side! Jacquline Abigail was born to Chris' brother, Burt and his wife, Julie. Jacquline is their first baby as well. We are always excited to have another member join the family!
We didn't actually take any trips in August! We stayed home to work to pay off all of our gallivanting that we did all summer! We both celebrated birthdays... our birthdays are only a week apart. I turned the big 30 this year, but I don't mind at all. We had an open house/Chris' birthday party on his birthday, and also had a fun surprise as some friends of ours were traveling through town and took us out to lunch. We hadn't seen these friends in about a year. Then, the Thursday before my birthday, one of my patients that I took care of in MD and his family were in the area visiting family, and they came over and spent the afternoon visiting us. It was fun to see them again.

September - According to Chris, this was the best month of all! First of all, I was able to attend our Ladies' Retreat at the camp sponsored by our church. It was a great time of fun and fellowship. But - the weekend of the 15th, we made a VERY QUICK weekend trip to Boston. As most of you know, Chris grew up just outside of Boston until he was 12, so this is his "hometown." He is a die hard Boston sports fan. He decided that we couldn't go to Wrigley Field for a game and not go to Fenway Park! We got tickets to the second game of the last NY Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox series of the season. We had a BLAST at the game! It was the best crowd of fans at any game or ballpark I've ever been to! They were cheering the WHOLE TIME! Of course, I might be slightly biased by my husband's brainwashing... but it was really cool! In the morning before the game, we took a quick tour of Boston, seeing most of the historical sites... Freedom Trail, Quincy Market, Paul Revere's House, the Old North Church, the USS Constitution, etc. We packed a lot of things into a short amount of time, but again, it was great to have the time together and making memories!

October - We found out in late October that there will be another niece or nephew joining the family this next year (Lord willing)... My older brother, Steve, and his wife, Kathryn, are expecting their first baby in late June! Again, we are always excited to have more babies added to the family! :-)

Since then, we have basically stayed home and worked! Now we're saving up for our next vacation next summer (Lord willing!) and you guessed it, it includes going to games at several ballparks! :-) We were able to go to visit some friends of ours in Lexington, KY, (about an hour &1/2 from here) for Thanksgiving. It was a great time of fellowship and we enjoyed the day. For Christmas, we are staying home as well. We do have family planning to come down to our house for Christmas this year... we're just not sure yet if it will be Chris' sister and her family or my parents.

Well, I think that about covers everything! If you are really interested in seeing pictures from our excursions this year, they are all posted on our personal website.

Again, Merry CHRISTmas to you all! Don't forget the REASON for this season we are celebrating... The Lord Jesus Christ! We are celebrating his birth on this earth, but don't forget that the only reason He left Heaven for earth was to take the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. The story doesn't end there, however. He was then buried, and rose again on the 3rd day. He conquered death, so that we could have eternal life in Heaven with Him. How do we receive the gift of eternal life in Heaven? We have to accept the fact that we are sinners, believe by faith that Jesus died in our place for the punishment of those sins, and confess our sin to God and ask Him to forgive us and save us from our sin. Have you done that? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? If not, you are missing the BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT OF ALL! (If you have any questions or want to know more about accepting Christ as your personal Savior, you can give us a call anytime!)

Wishing you the very Merriest of CHRISTmases and a BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Serving Christ,
Chris and Heather Beth
Psalm 91:1, Lam 3:22-23

Christmas decorations

Here are some pictures of our house decorated for Christmas:
The Nativity scene always takes it's place of honor centered under the tree. The wisemen are on the table in the kitchen... they are still on their way! :-)
A wreath my SIL, Rachael made for us for Christmas last year, and a snowflake bell door chime that another SIL, Julie, gave me for Christmas many years ago.

A sled that a friend, Dawn, made for me for Christmas probably 8 years ago now.
Candy Cane snowman. He's funky, but a dear friend gave him to me, so...

Side table in the kitchen... the wisemen are on here now.
The dining room

My kitchen windowsill

My one shelf in the living room :-)

Putting the tree up
Chris and I started a tradition of getting a personalized ornament every year with our names and the year on it. We didn't get one last year b/c of $ issues, but we're planning on making up for that this year. Anyway, here are the ornaments all together, and below are pics of them on the tree. I couldn't get a half-way decent one of the snowflake due to the reflection. Anyway, here they are...
Our first Christmas 2000
2001
2002
2004

2005

A large barn star ornament I made at a stamping party this year

the small barn star we made

A snowflake ornament that I made years ago. I have about 2 dozen of them on my tree. I love them!

The tree during the day

At night with the niches lit up as well.

Merry Christmas everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Heather & Chris - Christmas Eve (I tried a something a little different with my hair... I "flipped" it out instead of curling it under.)
Our old TV - Chris bought it 9 years ago for $99. This picture is for comparison's sake!

Our new TV - Chris' parents gave us some money towards this gift, and we pitched in the rest.The quilt that my parents gave us for Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I had to post these pictures today... since our e-mail doesn't like to send huge size pictures, this is the easiest way for everyone to get the pics. So - these are the major gifts that we got this year. Chris and I will be doing Christmas a little late this year with all of the financial things going on. We are very thankful for our families, and wish that we could have been with them this Christmas. We love you all very much and miss you. Oh, yes, we also had a wonderful verbal Christmas present from Chris' brother, Burt, and his wife, Julie... they are expecting their first baby on July 31st. We are SOOOOOO excited for them!!! :-)

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING...

Last night, I worked a night shift for a 1 year old boy who is on a ventilator. I have very little to do while at work at his house during the night shift, since he normally sleeps from 8pm to about 6:30am... unless you wake him up doing suctioning, breathing treatments, changing his diaper, etc. Knowing that this is usually the case, and knowing that I had to do something to keep me awake, I made the rest of my Christmas cards. Here are the two that I made last night (12 of each):

Simple tree

Candy Cane card

I just HAD to use all of the little candy canes that my grandma sent me. I just think they add such a sweet little unexpected touch to the card.

Well, after being up all night, I need to head to bed and get some sleep... although I really don't feel very tired right now. This used to happen to me all the time when I worked night shifts regularly. I would be SO tired just before getting off work (sometimes even struggling to stay awake on the 10 minute drive home), then when I got home, I would catch my "second wind." It would usually take about an hour to wind down before I could actually go to sleep. ANYWAY, Good night! :-)

KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS

Holly Berries and Skating Hedgehog

Snowflakes and Skating Hedgehog

Here are a couple of cards that I made the other day to send out for Christmas. I just love this hedgehog set... it is so cute. Not very spiritual, though, but I always make sure that I put Merry CHRISTmas in the inside. I was VERY convicted last night during the message about not keeping Christ in my Christian CHRISTmas! The preacher's 4 points in his "Room for Jesus" message were:

ACKNOWLEDGE HIM IN YOUR HEAD:

Keep Christ and the REASON for CHRISTmas in the forefront of your mind during the Christmas season, decorate with manger scenes and things that point people to CHRIST

ADORE HIM IN YOUR HEART:

Love Christ enough to sing about Him, tell others about Him, & spend time reading the Christmas story

ADVERTISE HIM WITH YOUR LIPS:

Again, tell others why we celebrate CHRISTmas - share the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL with others, say MERRY CHRISTMAS~ not Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings

and ACCEPT HIM AS SAVIOR (if you haven't already done so.):

Accept the fact that Jesus ~the son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords~ came to be born in a stable (like a tomb), in a manger (like a grave) and wrapped in swaddling clothes (like graveclothes) in order to live 33&1/2 perfect sinless years on this earth just so that He could be the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty of death for your sin and mine. Jesus was born to die. Three days after he died, he arose from the grave and now lives in Heaven. He paid the penalty for our sins, and now is offering you the gift of eternal life through his shed blood on the cross. The price has already been paid for that gift... won't you receive His gift today?

CHRISTMAS CANTATA

Heather & Chris - dressed up for the Christmas Cantata

Sunday, December 17th, was our church's Christmas Cantata. Chris and I joined choir a few weeks ago, but the way it works in our church, we have to attend choir practice 3 times before we can sing in church. Chris sang for the first time last week, but I was sick with a cold, so I couldn't sing. This Sunday morning was the first time I was able to sing. We used the cantata written by Ron&Shelley Hamilton: Goodwill to Men. I was thrilled to have 2 ladies from my work attend, bringing 3 more adults and about 10 children from their church. It was a great service.

MORE CHRISTMAS CARDS

I made these cards at stamping party. Brenda (the demonstrator) had all of the materials cut and ready, we just had to put them together to make the cards. Since we were able to make 2 of each (except for the slide card), I tried to make one like the sample, then one with my own personality to it. The hedgehog card I made by myself at home, but had to add it b/c of the wire candy canes my grandma sent to me. I thought they were so cute! I apologize for the pictures, though... I can't really do anything super straight, including taking pictures, apparently! You get the idea, though. :-)

CHRIS' WORK CHRISTMAS PARTY

Tonight, we attended Chris' new company, Cross Chrysler/Jeep, Christmas party. The party was held at the Galt House, which is a very ritzy hotel located just off the Ohio River. It is very different going from the Christian world to the secular world... especially when it comes to Christmas parties. We were greeted outside the door to the Fountain Room by the owner, Joe Cross. He was wearing a reindeer antler headband, which looked really funny considering the fact that his head is shaved! The good thing is that since we don't drink, we got $10 cash. We really only went for the dinner. When we walked in, there was a strings quartet playing background music. That was really classy, and they sounded great. As we were finishing a delicious dinner, the "One Night With You" live band started playing a bunch of oldies. After 2 or 3 songs, they had an Elvis impersonator come out. I got kissed by Elvis! Yikes! When we finished dinner, we left, as most of the people were hanging out drinking and dancing... not exactly on our to-do list! It was nice to get to meet the people that Chris will be working with, and several of the salesmen told me that they are glad Chris is "on board" and that they will take care of him. I am excited to see how God will use Chris in this job to impact people and to make the money to pay our bills!

CHRISTMAS LETTER 2006

Dear Family & Friends, Christmas 2006
Merry Christmas! I cannot believe that another year has passed already! When I think about all of the changes that have happened in our lives over the past 6 months, it is no wonder time seems to have flown by so quickly. We can look back over this year and be thankful that God is faithful. This year has been one of great times and not-so-great times for us. It has been a year of triumph, testing, trials, tears (and lots of them), and learning to trust God, even when we don’t understand.
From January to July 3rd, Chris was the full-time youth pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Temple in Hagerstown, MD. We absolutely LOVED our ministry and the people there, and God was blessing incredibly. In the 16 months that Chris was youth pastor, the youth group grew from about 10 teens on Wednesday nights to over 30 coming regularly. The teen church on Sunday mornings grew from 5 bus teens to around 17 teens per week. In February, I started teaching the 7th & 8th grade girls’ Sunday school class, and had it grow from 2 girls to 7 girls in 4 months. It was such a blessing to see the numbers grow as we were able to reach new teenagers with the gospel.
Through those months, we kept busy mostly with church and church-related activities. Jan. was a month that we had a little breather after the busyness of the Christmas season. My brother, Nathan, came to visit us on the 7th. We were glad to be able to visit with him. He called us the next weekend to tell us that he was now engaged (01/14) to Caroline LaChance, who he had been officially dating for almost a year. On the 24th, we attended a basketball game at Loyola University near Baltimore. One of our friends, Rich Gainer, is the voice of the Loyola Greyhounds and he also works for ESPN radio. He invited us to the game. While we were there, we had the privilege of meeting Anthony Weaver, who was the starting defensive end for the Baltimore Ravens (since signed with the Houston Texans).
In Feb., we had a Super Bowl Party, then a surprise activity, the adult Valentine Banquet (Chris preached the message at the banquet) and a church staff retreat all within the 1st 15 days! Then, over President's Day weekend, I was able to join my parents and take a trip up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see the newest addition to the Chromy family… Aksana Grace Chromy was born to Greg and Rachael on February 1st. We spent the long weekend visiting with Heidi and her family as well. We all descended on Greg and Rachael for the weekend! It was a little chaotic, but it was great to get to spend time with my family.
March was a very busy month for us. A man in our church donated the money to pay for the construction of the youth room, and we held our first service in the new youth room on March 1st. The following Fri., we held an all-nighter with our teens and 2 other churches (a total of 96 teens!) We had a great time, and were thrilled to have the first teen saved in the new youth room that Fri. night! Then, on the 17th, we took the Jr. high teens out for pizza and bowling. The following Sun., we hosted the Youth After Church activity at our house. We had 37 people in our house at one time! It was quite exciting! That week, Chris attended a pastor’s conference with our pastor in Hammond, IN. This was the first time that Chris left while I stayed home. I didn’t really care for that much (if you have to go somewhere by yourself, it’s a lot better being the one going away!)
April 1st marked our 1 year anniversary at EBT. We celebrated by taking a trip to Philadelphia to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Philadelphia Phillies. We took one of our youth staff and one of our teens with us for the game. The next weekend, Chris and I went to Camden Yards to watch the Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles. (Of course, you know that Chris is a Red Sox fan-addict!) :-) Two weeks later, we took our pastor and his family to RFK Stadium to watch the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves. Pastor and his family, especially his wife, are HUGE Braves fans. The funny thing about all of the baseball games that we attended in April is that they all had some kind of rain delay. I think maybe Chris and I were jinxing the games! April 22nd, we held a youth activity called the Fantabulous Race. Chris got the idea from the TV show The Amazing Race. We had a blast with that activity (it was raining at first in the morning for that, too!) The last weekend in April, I attended the Sword of the Lord Ladies’ Jubilee in Murfreesboro, TN, with the ladies from our church. It was a good time of fellowship and learning.
The 2nd week of May, Chris took a short trip to Pensacola, FL, for his sister, Tiffany’s college graduation from Pensacola Christian College. Because of my 2 trips already this spring, we couldn’t afford for me to go along. I was pretty bummed about that. Then, on May 20th, we held a paintball/craft activity (the boys and a few girls go paintballing, and the other girls do crafts with me). The guys LOVE playing paintball, and have great stories to tell when they get back, with bruises and welts to illustrate. Why they love it so much is beyond me!! The following week, we had revival services with evangelists Jerry & Scott Sivnksty. On Thurs. of that week, we held the Extreme Cola Wars (Mountain Dew vs. Vault), which is basically a couple of camp-style games, free pizza and pop, then the teens all join the adults for the revival/evangelistic service. We were thrilled to have several teens get saved that night. The 28th was Graduation Sunday, when we honor our high school and college grads in the morning, and our 6th grade graduates moving up to the youth group on Sunday night. We had a special activity on June 3rd for the new 7th graders. The boys went to an Orioles game, the girls went to the Baltimore Aquarium.
In June, we held our Vacation Bible School, with a special program for the teens during that time called “War on the West Side.� Chris used modern day military gear from one of our friends who fought in Iraq as a marine to parallel the armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18. Chris did a great job of running the program and preaching. We broke attendance records with 76 teens on Thursday evening, and had 26 teens saved over the course of the week, and several baptized the following Sunday. It was awesome to see that God still works in the lives of people, teens especially.
We finished up June with an activity to watch the Frederick Keys baseball game, and then had our annual cookout/ fireworks activity, ending up at the Antitam battlefield to watch the fireworks.
On July 3rd, Chris resigned very unexpectedly from his position as youth pastor at EBT. This was a major shock to me, as I had no idea that anything was happening. There had been some issues going on for about 6 months from which he had protected me, but it was at this point that Chris and our pastor decided that it was best for everyone if Chris resigned. This was a major trial for us. On July 5th, Chris announced his resignation to our church family. We had a chance to say goodbye to our friends that evening, but from there we attended a different church down in West Virginia. Pastor was gracious enough to continue Chris’ salary through the end of the summer, so we continued to live in MD until Sept. 8th. I continued working, and Chris worked on construction in our house to get it ready for sale. I was so proud of him; he built a second bathroom in our house from scratch all by himself! I mean, plumbing, electrical, all the fixtures… everything! He did a great job! I also worked on landscaping the front of the house, and put in a beautiful flower garden in place of what Chris calls “old-people� bushes (you know-the shaped evergreen bushes). No offense intended! :-) Chris was able to work the last week of Aug. and the first week of Sept. for a man from our church there, and was able to get enough money to pay for the move.
In Aug., we went on vacation to Idaho for a week. Chris’ parents own mountain top property near Kellogg, Idaho. They have been inviting us to join them for vacation up there for a couple of years, and we had never had the opportunity before to go with them. It was an awesome vacation, and we had a great time with Chris’ parents and three youngest siblings. The 3rd week in Aug., we took a week long trip to Greenville, SC. While there, we were able to attend the ordination service for our friend, Jeremy Frazor. Labor Day weekend, we spent Sun. visiting my parents at their house before we moved.
Sept. 8th found us moving to Kentuckiana. Because of the emotional upheaval of Chris’ resignation, we decided (on advice of our pastor and several other Godly friends) to take a year off from full-time ministry. Our pastor told us that he experienced something very similar in his early years of ministry, and taking a year off was the best thing he ever did. So, we looked for a church where we could join, attend, and be faithful as laypeople in the church. We decided to move to the Louisville, KY, area to attend Shawnee Baptist Church, where Bro. Lonnie Mattingly is the pastor. We just joined the choir there, and Chris is doing some substitute bus driving for the church bus routes.
I was able to take a trip the last week of Sept. to Colorado to visit 2 of my girl friends from college. I had a great time visiting them, and even got to walk within 50 feet of an elk herd in Estes Park. While there, I had a “makeover� done… while with my friend, Deb, I got my hair cut… very short for me! Then, while spending time with my friend, Mary, she did the make-up part. Mary sells Mary Kay products, and was generous enough to give me enough products to wear makeup for a long time! What a blessing that was! (I never really wore makeup much before now.) Then when I got home, I found that Chris was growing a “makeover� of his own… I got my hair cut, and he grew a goatee! I still don’t like the feel of it, but I think it looks nice! Then, just a couple of days after I got home from CO, my grandparents stopped by on their way to FL for a cruise. They had supper with us and spent the night, then headed off early the next morning. Though the time was short, we enjoyed their visit.
The agency that I worked for in MD has an office in Louisville, and so my job transferred. However, I didn’t get full-time work until the last week in Oct. Chris had to find a secular job for the first time in his life, which was very difficult for him. He ended up working with a company that does “back end banking.� Basically, they sell credit card machines to businesses. He worked there until the last week of Nov. Due to some employees stealing thousands of dollars from the business in various ways, Chris had not received a paycheck for over a month. With this move being so financially straining already, we had piles of overdue bills that we couldn’t pay, and Chris wasn’t getting the money he was working for. So, when we returned from our Thanksgiving trip, he decided to look for a different job. The following Mon. he had a job interview, and then was hired that Fri. to work as a car salesman for Cross Chrysler/Jeep. This company actually paid him a substantial amount for 3 days training, and then spent all of this past week training him as well. It seems like a good company, and we pray that this job works out better than the last one.
We were blessed last week to have Chris get hired for this new job, and the Lord provided a way for us to pay our overdue bills. Chris’ truck has been paid off for a while now, and he had quite a bit of equity in it. We were planning to sell it and buy something else in order to pay off bills. However, his new manager bought the truck from Chris, then sold it right back to him to allow us to have cash in hand. Thank the Lord for his timing! With that money, we were able to pay ALL of our overdue bills and still have money in the bank for groceries! So, now we have a truck twice owned, but we don’t have overdue bills hanging over our heads!
The other major event of this year was our Thanksgiving trip to Pensacola, FL. Chris’ family has not been all together for the holidays in 10 years, so last Christmas, we started planning a surprise family reunion for Chris’ mom for Thanksgiving. Since Chris has 1 brother and his family that live near Pensacola, and 3 siblings in college there, we figured that we could all meet there. Chris’ mom thought that she was going to FL to surprise her 3 youngest kids for their last Thanksgiving at college, but when she arrived, the joke was on her! She was shocked to find that 7 out of the 8 kids were there. We were able to spend Wed. – Fri. with Chris’ family. We also had a custom-made mother’s ring designed for Chris’ mom, and gave it to her at the Thanksgiving meal. Of course, she was totally surprised, and I doubt that there was a dry eye at the table (except the grandkids.) One of Chris’ nephews, Tron, said, “Mommy’s crying and shaking because she’s so happy.� It was a blessing to see the joy on Chris’ mom’s face to have almost all of the family there. Chris and I were also happy to be able to spend a little bit of time with my brother, Nathan, and his fiancée, while we were there, along with getting a little time with a couple of friends before Chris’ family arrived.
So – what’s planned for the coming year? First of all, we are praying that our house in MD will sell very quickly in this new year! As for events… well, Chris’ sister, Kim, and her husband, David, are expecting their first baby – a girl – the beginning of Feb. We have a Chromy family get-together planned for April in Jacksonville, FL. Chris’ brother, Jon, and sister, Julianne, graduate from PCC in May and another brother, Tim, graduates from University of South Alabama that week as well. My brother, Nathan, and Caroline get married June 30th in Michigan. So, Lord willing, we will be able to get to all of these events.
Just one more little note: Chris and I now have our own personal website. It is usually pretty up-to-date with pictures and updates of what is going on in our lives. I’m about a week behind right now, but you can find pictures from Thanksgiving, etc. on there. Check out Mitchell Mania at www.mitchells2000.blogspot.com . Enjoy!
As we celebrate Christmas, we wish to remind you of the real reason for Christmas. Jesus Christ was born on this earth, died for the sins of the world, including yours and mine, was buried and raised again on the third day that we might have eternal life in Heaven. However, in order to have the gift of eternal life in Heaven, you must accept God’s gift of His only begotten Son. You must confess that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ died and took the payment for your sins, and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and make you righteous before God through the blood of Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way to Heaven; you cannot buy your way to Heaven; you can never be good enough for Heaven without accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. Have you done that? If you haven’t, you are missing the greatest Christmas gift of all.
We wish you all the very merriest of Christmases, and a safe and happy holiday season. We look forward to hearing from you and catching up on the news of the year. Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all the best this holiday season,
Serving Christ,

Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell Ps. 91:1, Lam. 3:22-23

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS 2006

yep - it's that time of the year again... CHRISTMAS IS COMING! I love Christmas time. I love the fact that people are more open to the gospel now than at any other time of the year. I love to be able to get together with family and spend time with friends and loved ones. I love getting Christmas cards and letters catching up on friends that you don't get to talk to often enough. I love decorating for Christmas, too. This year was a little bit hard for me, though. With just having returned from a big trip to FL for Thanksgiving, and the financial strain that we've been struggling with, to be honest, I was a little depressed. We will be staying here for the holidays, and as far as I know, will not be seeing any friends or family over Christmas. However, yesterday, Chris found out that he has a new job, and we sold our truck and bought it back, providing us with enough cash in hand to pay ALL of our overdue bills! Praise the Lord! Learning that news brought back the Christmas spirit, and I finally decorated! Enjoy the pictures of my decorated apartment!

HARMONY SS CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY

Tonight was our Sunday School class party, hosted by our friends, Micah&Faith Jenkins. They have a beautiful home, and Faith has done an excellent job on interior decorating. The first time I went over there, I came home and told Chris that their house looks like it should be on HGTV (Home and Garden Television, for those who don't know!) Anyway, we had a great time getting to know some of the other couples in our class. Of course, there was good food (and a fondue fountain), good fellowship, and good fun. We enjoyed a Chinese Auction/Dirty Santa/Whatever you call it gift exchange, then split up to play table games for the rest of the evening. We had alot of fun, and it was nice to get to know some more people a little bit better. I feel like we're finally getting settled in a little bit here, though I still feel like I left my heart in Maryland.