At last...

It is time to return the favor. Recently a longlost friend of mine got in touch with and gave me a little update on her life. Tonight, I am finally able to sit down for a moment and attempt to do the same. (Sorry for the delay!)

I guess I'll start where you did, after high school. I decided to go to Wheaton College, which is about 20ish miles west of Chicago. I went right after high school and really enjoyed my time there. I had great professors, made some wonderful friends, and yes, met my husband Andy there. I met him on my first day at Wheaton, and it didn't take long before we were spending every possible moment together. We dated all of my four years at Wheaton (he graduated a couple years before I did) and got engaged my senior year. We will have our one year anniversary this July 9th. (I can't believe it's already been a year!)

We moved to Aurora IL right after we got married and bought a house. We are still in the process of painting and putting in new carpet in some of the rooms, though to be honest our progress has mostly stopped in the last 3 or 4 months. We've both become increasingly involved in our church, and our time at home has become less and less as a result. I have played the piano for our church for about 3 years now, and Andy has just recently found himself on just about every committee there is! We are in the process of building a new building as well as searching for a pastor, so as you can imagine there is plenty of work to be done. We will probably move into the building in August, so we are truly looking forward to that! So much work and prayer has gone into this project, and we are really looking forward to the new opportunities we will have.

I am working as a dental assistant (thats what you get for majoring in English!) in a nearby city called Naperville. I work for an endodontist, meaning we do only root canals. I started there as soon as I graduated, and have found that I really like it. Andy is a fifth grade teacher, and he has been teaching at the same elementary school in Aurora for 3 years. During the summers he does interior painting jobs, which is a really nice extra income to have around.

I still love to read as well, but just like you said, Janette Oke hasn't made her way onto my bookshelves as of late either. I've also grown to love music, especially anything with a folk influence. Hmmm...what else does my life consist of? : )

My family is somewhat scattered now, with Ben living in Minneapolis, Steve and his wife Rachel (and my adorable 9 month old niece Ella!) living in the UP of Michigan, David just graduated from Wheaton and moved to Muskgeon for the summer, Lisa in Grand Rapids at Aquinas, and Daniel still at home. It is amazing to look at my siblings, the younger ones really, and see that they have grown into adults, with real lives and friends and goals! It is sometimes hard to be far away from everyone, as I'm sure you know.

Well, I guess that covers the basics. There are so many things that don't fit into words, but here is everything that does. You mentioned in one of your posts that you are planning to visit your family soon. Where do they live? I have no idea if it is close to where I am now, and if they are if it would even work, but I would so love to see you and your family. I don't want to intrude on anything or make your schedule any more hectic than it probably is, but on the off chance that something would work out I'd be thrilled! You can email me if you want instead of posting all that in a comment. : ) (Janell.Mccann@gmail.com)