Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I'll be gone on holiday for a week! I'll be writing lots of blogs to catch you up on what happened and what the Brakes are thinking. Merry Christmas! Remember the reason for the season. Enjoy your time with loved ones and remember that the joy of this season isn't in presents (though I love them) it's in the presence of the Lord in our lives!

updated

Go on back to December 9 and catch up with the last week's worth of posts - sorry for being delinquent in getting things posted!

Snow snow snow!

It rained all day yesterday in Indianapolis. Snowed overnight. But the roads were fine... mostly. We drove all the way back to Michigan and arrived home to 1 foot of snow in our driveway - and this incredible path leading up to the house. Our friend Melissa had taken some pity on us and had started the shoveling for us! Almost half the WHOLE driveway!

Great friends are hard to come by and show their true colors in times of need.

It made our arrival home so much nicer.

(pict: Amy shoveling)

The wounded man

So, I'm not completely healed yet. My knee and wrist are both getting better (they've both been injured for nearly 2 months). This weekend I stopped wearing the braces. I'm going to wear the knee brace for activities, but I'm really trying to allow the muscles to work again and to see if that will aid the healing process. Please be praying along with me. I want to be healthy and fixed by Tuesday next week (Christmas) so that I can thoroughly enjoy all that Washington State has to offer as far as fun in the snow!

Visa Regulations

Amy & I are still trying to figure this out. There have been some changes to Russian visa policies. (They went into affect in October, but I hadn't been looking at visa stuff since we're not heading back until next summer). I'm not sure if the changes affect all visa types or if they affect only Business visas. If only commercial (business) visas are affected, Amy and I are a-ok - we're cultural exchange visas. I'm not sure about educational visas either. So it might be smartest for us to travel on an educational visa. I'm trying to do some research to figure this out.

Here's the new rules:

1. A foreign citizen can obtain a visa to Russia ONLY in the country of his/her citizenship. Exceptions include those who have a residence permit for a foreign country for the period more than 90 days. A visa may also be issued in a country other than an applicant's own in case of urgent necessity, such as participating in international, governmental, official, scientific, sport and cultural events. A final decision in these cases would be left up to the consulate.

2. A multiple entry business visa allows nationals of all countries to stay in Russia up to an aggregate of 90 days out of the period of 180 days. (does this mean that Amy and I will have to spend 1/2 our time outside of Russia?)

3. Russian Foreign Ministry has retracted its decision to apply the new visa rules even to visas issued before October the rule came into effect. Older visas have now been "grandfathered." (This means that Jim & Sally can stay in Russia until their current visa expires)

4. A multiple entry visa is only available for people who have been issued a Russian visa before. If this is your first visit, you are only eligible to obtain a single or double entry visa for 1 to 3 months. A copy of your previous Russian visa should be enclosed in your application for a multiple entry invitation. (Praise the Lord! Both Amy and I have had visas issued to Russia before).

Again - I don't know if these apply to all visa types or just commercial/ business visas.

Russia vacation

Amy took her Russian final today! She, of course, doesn't feel like she aced it, but I'm sure she's done a tremendous job. I know that she's my wife and I'm supposed to talk about how wonderful and amazing she is - it's very easy when it's the truth. She's doing an excellent job at her language lessons and she's decided to continue forward with the intensive second year Russian next semester. We are still talking a little bit about the 'normal' level Russian lessons, but leaning toward the intensive.

In order to prepare to focus more on class and getting ready to head back to the field, we've decided to end our relationship with Starbucks at this time. Amy's last day is next Thursday. It's going to be so wonderful to NOT get up at 4:40am twice a week and to feel rested. I think it'll be better for both of us mentally, emotionally, and intellectually.

But we'll miss the free coffee and discounts (I don't even drink coffee, but I love for Amy to have what she loves!)

World Outreach Candidacy

Amy had her interview today with World Outreach (the missionary arm of the EPC) trans: the agency that I've been working with for the last several years. Of course, she passed the interview with flying colors.

We're just thrilled to have this final technical hurdle out of the way, so that we're officially able to do support raising as a united couple with World Outreach!

Amy's got her Russian final tomorrow morning - keep praying!

Teen Technology Trends

It is with great joy that I present this post. I've been at UM in my position for 6 months and one of the big movements that I've been trying to establish in our office (Technology Services) is that technology isn't scary and that 90% of the battle to master it is just knowledge.

So I've been putting together a presentation to share with staff in the Division of Student Affairs. The presentation drew a crowd of 60 people and I've been asked to present it again in the Health Services unit! It's really exciting, because the current generation of students (Millennials, Net Generation or Digital Natives) are really connected to technology and the current generation of staff and faculty (Baby Boomers and Generation X) are digital immigrants.

Basically there is culture shock happening on college campuses worldwide where the students out number the faculty and staff, yet are more advanced.

It was SO exciting to share with folks. One participant asked me "what is mp3?" I was so pleased that the atmosphere was comfortable enough for people to ask questions that to others might have seemed very simple.

I'm basically just really pumped.

Meeting Nora

I'm thrilled to present a new friend in the world. Nora Evelyn McGowan. She's the daughter of dear friends and co-worker Jen & Kevin McGowan. Amy and I were so excited to meet her. She was sleeping for a good portion of our time with her, but as you can see from this picture - she woke up to stretch for us and open her pretty little eyes. She's so tiny and precious (almost 7 lbs and so soft and with that awesome baby smell). We're thrilled for the miracle of life that was given to Jen and Kevin (they'll be wonderful parents). I'm looking forward to having Nora's mom back at work, but know that Jen's chosen the best path for now to be with her daughter!

So cute!

Christmas Ornaments

(ONE) Only in America can you find Christmas Ornaments that are as big as your head.



(TWO) Amy and I chose this as our first Christmas ornament to purchase for our tree. Giraffes are important to us for many reasons and these two just seemed to reflect so much cheesy newlywed love that we had to buy it.

(THREE) This is a necklace that I got last year for Christmas from my friends Sasha and Zhanna. It makes a WONDERFUL Christmas ornament and so Amy and I chose to put it up on our tree. Doesn't it look great!?

Making Borsch in America

Photo 1: using the cleaver Todd bought for me in China! It cuts cabbage with a vengeance! I used it in the second stage of making Borsch.

Photo 2: Borsch in America. For some reason it doesn't taste quite the same. I have to be honest, I think it's because the vegetables aren't as good and fresh here. But it was still delicious and it got better every day. We ate it for days.

One laptop per child

I feel like I'd heard about this organization before - but I stumbled upon it again today (nearly ashamed that it was through a website for the tv show Heroes on NBC). One Laptop per Child is a non profit that has literally composed a laptop for $100. It runs linux as it's operating system (free) and has wireless, drawing programs, chat, music programs, 2 programming languages, etc. It's really quite incredible. I really think that the Holiday Spirit has seized me - it's just so the right kind of thing to do. So Amy and I are in talks about getting a laptop for a child in an developing country.

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

I just read on this website that if you give a laptop before December 31st 2007, they'll send a laptop to a child in a developing nation AND one to you! That's really incredible. I wonder if we'd be able to use laptops like these in Russia to work with kids at the cultural center? Computer literacy is really becoming required in Russia too....

A bit too busy - inspiration

I've been a bit busy to do much posting lately, but you'll notice my twitter post on the right side of the blog. This is an opportunity for me to do microblogging... I can literally just type a few sentences and this blog is updated. So I hope that it's still fun to keep up with me. I'll have a bit more time this weekend for continued blogging.

I'm stressing out because of some confidential stuff happening at work. Life has it's stressful times. The following quote was shared with me this morning by my boss. It was a BIG encouragement to me

Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants. And do your homework. - Maggie Kuhn

Power of a Praying Husband

I've been reading this really great book for about 3 weeks. It's about praying intentionally and purposefully. Of course, it's in the main genre that I've been focused on for just over 4 months -- marriage -- being a husband. it's really great. I've been enjoying the easy to read format of the book and using it as a component in my daily devotions. These are the main topics of prayer in the book:

• Her husband
• Her spirit
• Her emotions
• Her motherhood
• Her moods
• Her marriage
• Her submission
• Her relationships
• Her priorities
• Her beauty
• Her sexuality
• Her fears
• Her purpose
• Her trust
• Her protection
• Her desires
• Her work
• Her deliverance
• Her obedience
• Her future

a bit hazy

our morning started off a bit hazy today... 4:40am and the alarm jolted me out of bed. I was very confused and didn't know where I was. I laugh sometimes, because I think it's just because it's SO dark at that time that it's hard to get up - especially when the bed is cozy and warm!

Amy and I dragged ourselves out of bed (5.5 hours isn't enough) and prepped for our day. It's hard to get up that early, but there are benefits too (like 2.5 hours of uninterrupted work before anyone else comes in). I digress.

I write this morning to share a funny story. We're running around in the morning to get Amy to starbuck's on time. I'm making lunch and her coffee. She's getting her hair put together, munching cereal, reading her devotional. I'm packing her cell phone, my bag for work. She's dressed, I'm trying to find a sweater. She's brushing her teeth and foaming at the mouth.

Yes, foaming at the mouth. She makes a horrible face and spits into the sink and bursts out laughing. Soap. She put soap on her toothbrush. We're both in such a fog that we just giggle and laugh, that she's spitting suds.

seriously... it's a funny start to the day. I checked my calendar. I'm doing a 3 hour training this afternoon with 3 colleagues. We work VERY well together. We all know the material. I just don't know what part I'm responsible for... it's so fun to send emails to co-workers at 4:45 am. Anita's going to think I was in a panic to email that early!

Making time to rest

I've not fallen off the planet in the last week, Amy and I are just making some decisions to help us be more relaxed and rested. It's difficult, because there are so many things that we actually WANT to do as well as all of the things we know we NEED to do and what we SHOULD do. We're trying not to SHOULD on ourselves and accomplish what we must while remembering to enjoy our first year of marriage!

This weekend was busy, probably too busy again, but also included quite a lot of fun. We headed to Grand Rapids where we watched a cross country race with Amy's former team from Franklin College. It was really fun to see Amy in her element. We were running ALL OVER! I think that we made more mileage than the athletes (exaggeration is my forte). Then we had lunch with friends and supporters, followed by dinner with more of the same.

Dinner was really SO much fun. Amy and I dined with Steve and Suzanne Cole. Steve is one of my oldest and best friends from Bellaire. We laughed so much and just reminisced and enjoyed each other's company. I wish they lived closer.

On Sunday we spoke at Knox EPC to the youth group about the upcoming Siberia summer camp mission trip. We're really hoping and praying to have enough interest for 3 full teams this summer - it's really one of the focuses for ministry this year, so I'm hopeful.

We also raked the yard and took a nap on Sunday (after lunch with friends) - whew.

So the resting continued a bit on Tuesday, when we napped after work followed by more raking and then watching some tv and talking to one of the elders from Amy's home church Common Ground. He's going to be writing Amy's recommendation for joining World Outreach.

And the real resting. Thank you God that Amy has no class and no work today. She can sleep in, rest, relax, and just enjoy the day. It has been so busy that rest has seemed far from us too much for this year of recuperation in the States and 'getting to know your spouse.'

I'm praying it's a marvelous day for her.

the praise of man

I know that the praise of man is not what is supposed to fuel us, but it sure does feel good. Today I got an email from my supervisor at UM and he wrote:

Fantastic! And, you can’t be any more pleased than I am with what you are accomplishing!

It just felt really good to know that my efforts here are making a difference. I'm thrilled to be back and I know I'll be sad to leave once again when Amy and I return to Russia.

I've been working on several larger scale projects and ironically at 5 months, 1 week about 5 of them are all culminating at the same time.

SNOWING!

That's right, it's the simplest, shortest blog entry ever! It's snowing. Just little teeny flakes. The first snow always brings me joy and reminds me to think about the wonder God has created in the nature of our world. It's SO cool! Green leaves that turn magnificent colors, rain drops that become floating fairies who dance about the skies, hazy nights, sunsets, and on and on....

The Perfect Day

Today was as close to the perfect day as I've every experienced. Amy and I started the day by staying in bed and going back to sleep. Then we got up and decided to walk downtown. On the way there we saw a cyclo-cross race (it's like cross country running, but with hybrid mountain bikes). When we reached downtown we got coffee and chai and window shopped (we were searching for the perfect bag).

We then strolled through the farmer's market on our way to Zingeman's for a quick scone/cinnamon roll. We meandered back through some of the shops in Kerrytown and then walked back home.

From there we hopping in the car and drove to Livonia for lunch/dinner at PF Chang's (the lettuce wraps and Dan Dan noodles are incredible). Stopping at REI we found the perfect bag (see post). Then we spent several hours in Barnes & Noble bookstore reading and writing.

Amy proposed getting some dessert, so we stopped at Bravos! for cheesecake, it was decadent, delicious, and we demanded a second piece.

We watched a movie, some episodes of TV on dvd and went to bed.

INCREDIBLE. The perfect day. (and we really needed to slow down and relax for a day)

The Joy of Organization

My wife knows me TOO well. She has flooded my soul with joy. #1 my love language is gifts. I often feel shallow about this, but it's who I am and who I was created to be. I really like receiving presents, small ones, large ones, homemade, thoughtful, if it's for me - it's a deposit in my love bank.

My love bank is FULL right now. Amy bought me a new messenger bag for me to carry my laptop and files around. It has so MANY pockets and organized compartments, it's AMAZING.

Here are some photos. (I love my wife - and she loves me -- sorry we're newly weds!)