Keeping Up With Andrew and Hillary

It's Been A While

2009-01-28T17:38:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since we posted anything on our blog! So sorry to our loyal 1 follower (Juliette). At any rate, it gives me great joy to officially announce, on our blog, the birth of our son, Nathan Matthew Jones. Some pics of the little guy are on my Facebook profile for those that are interested.

I think it is safe to say that we will be trying to do a better job at keeping this up now that the little one is here.

Life is great! We are alive and somewhat rested here in Charleston. The weather has taken a turn towards rainy and cloudy...ah, reminds me of Germany. I am working hard at St. Andrew's and have actually been hired (alongside my current position) as the worship leader for St. Mary's, a mission church of St. Andrew's. This is a huge affirmation and encouragement for me, as I have really enjoyed leading music and leading people into the presence of the Lord. I am hoping that this will develop into something more full-time, but in the meantime, I am just happy where we are. I continue to pray diligently that God will give us a clear sense of direction for the next couple of years.

Hillary is great. She is still a babe. And she is an outstanding mother. It is so cool to see her step into the role that she has, for so long, wanted to have. And she is dang good at it, too.

We both send our best to you, reader. And we hope to speak with more of you soon!

As always, blessings,
Andrew and Hillary

JUNE

2008-06-21T13:35:00.002+02:00

Catching up with June...

At the beginning of June, Andrew and I visited friends in Bristol, England. It was great to see so many old faces and those we remembered from our first visit back in November. We were lucky enough to stay in the mansion we stayed in last time and to get a lot of one-on-one time with some really good friends. It was a great trip to say the least.

June 9th we celebrated our one year anniversary! We had a very nice and relaxing day beginning with lunch in the castle gardens. Later that day we went to one of our favorite restaurants near our house, read through our ceremony, watched the wedding video tape, and just reflected on the past year as a married couple. It was a really wonderful day!

Just days later we went to the doctor for our final baby check up before we return to the States. The doctor confirmed that all is well with baby and we had another ultrasound and heard our baby's heartbeat by doppler. It was just incredible to see how much our baby has grown! We saw bent legs and arms, spine, top of head, brain, arms and hands, and a very active little baby. It is just so exciting every time we see our little one and how much he/she has grown!

MAY

2008-06-11T14:47:00.007+02:00

Catching up with May…

May is always a crazy month because there are so many birthdays to include Andrew’s and mine. My birthday was really nice and relaxing. Andrew and I spent some time in the castle gardens before we met at a friend’s house to enjoy a birthday treat. Juliette and Stefan had decorated their living room and made a yummy fruit dessert with sorbet. Then the four of us headed down to the river where we rented a paddle boat. It was great fun! That evening Andrew took me out to one of our favorite restaurants ‘Café 1900.’ It was a wonderful birthday!

Just twelve days later we celebrated Andrew’s birthday. We had a cook out with our hauskreis (home group) in our backyard. Complete with bratwurst & brotchen, potato salad, veggies, fruit, desserts, etc. It was an absolute feast. We celebrated for hours, ending with Andrew leading us in songs around the fire. It was a really great time!

Also, on Andrew’s birthday we had a baby check up and another ultrasound. The baby was doing great and had grown from 2mm to almost 2cm! At this check up I was 9 weeks along and feeling great (counting my blessings for no morning sickness). It was just breathtaking to see our little one! The first time he/she was just a circle with a heartbeat and this time the baby had a recognizable head, body, arms, and legs.

One more bit of news, for those who don’t know yet, we will be arriving home July 1st now. We cannot wait to get home and see everyone. We love and miss you all.

APRIL

2008-06-10T12:08:00.010+02:00

Catching up with April…

This was a very busy month! We started the month with a week in Berlin. We were invited by the Fulbright Kommission for a weeklong conference. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights, walking the city, and sitting in on seminars. We were even addressed by the Mayor of the city.

Just after our return I was lucky enough to have my wisdom teeth removed. I have to admit that it was probably THE most terrifying thing I have ever done. I had all four removed (which by the way is absolutely unheard of in Germany), two were fine but two were impacted, I only had local anesthesia/ novacaine (so I was able to hear and see EVERYTHING), and when they started to take out the impacted ones I could feel it so they had to stop and give me more novacaine. Of course, to top it all off I couldn’t understand what was being said to me so my wonderful translator sat in the room the whole time to help me out.

Thankfully, I was back to normal soon after to read a positive on a pregnancy test. We weren’t sure what the procedure was in Germany so as soon as we had the positive at home we went to the doctor who confirmed the pregnancy with an ultrasound. We found that we were 5 weeks pregnant and the baby was only 2mm but even then we could see the baby’s heartbeat. It was amazing to say the least! We are very excited about our little one and will keep everyone up to date.

JANUARY / FEBRUARY / MARCH

2008-06-08T18:29:00.005+02:00

Catching up with January and February…

During these two months we were able to spend a lot more time with friends here in Germany. We met for coffee, movies, etc. and just had a really good time here in Marburg. It was still very cold so we tried to keep warm through it all. We did receive an email in the middle of the month from the University letting us know of a possible open flat in the center of the city.

Catching up with March…

March was pretty slow going until the end of the month. Just a few days before Easter we were given the ‘okay’ to move into a flat in the center of the old city. We quickly began packing our belongings and moving into the new place. We now live right beneath the castle! In fact, the stairs to the castle are right outside our kitchen window. This flat is so central we were able to say ‘good-bye’ to the buses.

Just days later, and after plane delays, my parents arrived in Germany. They were lucky enough to witness our only true snow of the year. Yes, it snowed for about three days straight starting in the evening on Easter. In all, we probably got 2-3 inches of snow.

We had a great time showing my parents around our little city and we even took an English tour of Marburg which was very interesting. In turn, they rented a car and drove us around Germany to the places they (and I) used to live. We also drove up the Mosel and down the Rhein, ate great German cuisine, and drank great German wines. We had a blast!

DECEMBER

2008-06-05T13:44:00.010+02:00

Catching up with December…

It was a pretty cold month, especially for our thin South Carolina blood. We had freezing and sometimes below freezing temperatures most of the month. Unfortunately, no snow stuck. There were a few flurries here and there but nothing to make snow angels with.

We had a really great month preparing for Christmas. We put up decorations all over our flat including advent calendars, an advent wreath, snowflakes on the windows, and a Charlie Brown Christmas tree decorated with red and gold.

We were able to enjoy quite a few of Germany’s famous Christmas Markets which began somewhere at the end of November and continued until very close to Christmas. We also had the opportunity to visit a couple markets with family and friends. In early December, Andrew and I visited my Uncle Tim and Aunt Debbie who live very close to the Netherlands and for Christmas Andrew’s sister Caroline and one of our close friends James stayed with us for a week and a half. We were able to travel to Fulda (a beautiful but tiny city) and to Munich during their time with us. It was nice to see so many familiar faces during December!

NOVEMBER

2008-04-28T17:00:00.002+02:00

Catching up with November...

So we went to Frankfurt for a day trip and had a great time. We visited the zoo which was pretty depressing actually. We walked for over 10 minutes before we saw the first animal. Most of the animals seemed unhappy (pacing back and forth, etc) but the worst were the giraffes that were in a cages in a building...three in each cage! Then we visited the Bible Museum which was interesting. It was all hands on with a full size fishing boat, traditional tents, common food, musical instruments, games, etc. from Jesus' time. Andrew loved it!

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Bristol, England with our friends Phil, Mags, Skye, and Olivia. We arrived the day before Thanksgiving and with great surprise Phil and Mags gave birth to their son Joseph. Mom and baby were home to enjoy a wonderful, huge turkey dinner with all the fixings. To top off the trip...we stayed in an amazing mansion we like to call "The Shire."

Playing Catch-Up

2007-11-27T00:02:00.000+01:00

Hello again!

It has been VERY cold here recently (much colder than our warm Charleston beaches). Right now it is in the mid 30's and has been staying close to that. In fact, last week we woke up to snow on the ground and it snowed throughout the day. Today it also snowed off and on...it is quite exciting!!! It has been so long since we've seen snow!

We have been quite slack in our posting...we will try to do better. Since the last post we have taken many more pictures and two wonderful trips (the first to Frankfurt and the second to Bristol, England). We will give more detail about the trips soon, pictures included.

Elisabethmarkt

2007-10-29T21:11:00.000+01:00

We were exposed to our first German Fest-ish carnival at the beginning of October here in Marburg. St. Elisabeth is big around here (the prominent Gothic cathedral named for her)...so why not have a fair in her honor? It was great and Hillary even got to revisit a childhood memory...hippie buses on a merry-go-round! Good times, good times.

Crazy German Kids

2007-10-29T21:01:00.000+01:00

Just thought we would share a moment from outside of our bedroom window. Where are these kids' parents? Oh my gosh...we're getting old! Oh, and yes, those are trash dumpsters!!

Christival Preview...Kassel '07

2007-10-16T21:51:00.000+02:00

Here are some pictures from Christival Preview in Kassel, Germany (about and hour from Marburg). A couple weeks ago we had our first Autobahn experience as we traveled with Elke Werner, wife of Roland Werner (head-honcho of Christus Treff, our church) to Kassel.

We left to attend a conference/rally for a HUGE event later in 2008. Every six years since 1972ish, there has been a Christival (literally, Christ festival). We have been told that the average attendance is in the millions. How crazy is it that we happen to be in Germany in one of the years it is going down. Long story short, there is a preview event, a couple of thousand people, in Kassel, to get people pysched for the big event in Bremen 2008. It was awesome! Talks, prayer, and a rockin' band...a recipe for goodness.

More Like a Home

2007-10-09T00:20:00.000+02:00

The pictures of our flat that were posted last time are now out-of-date...

We have started to make the flat feel a bit more like a home now. A coffee table, some more lighting and some furniture rearranging make it feel a little more cozy and welcoming. If you really want to know what it feels like then I guess you will have to come and visit us. :)

Much love,
Andrew and Hillary

We're legal!!!

2007-10-02T12:45:00.000+02:00

good news everyone! we are officially legal in deutschland. after weeks of red tape and confusion we have conquered germany's bureaucracy. our residence permits have been stamped into our passports. all very official-looking. i could explain the whole process, but i am afraid that i will run out of space and computer memory.

oh...and they are colorful too...like our curtains...and the 80's...yeah

ttfn
andrew and hillary

Our Flat in Marburg

2007-09-27T19:07:00.001+02:00

Welcome to KUWAH

2007-09-27T16:14:00.000+02:00

hallo to all

we want to welcome you to our new blog. we will be keeping you informed as to what is happening in our lives as we live and tour Germany and the rest of Europe for these ten months. we will be adding pictures, videos, and the like along the way.

tschüss!