it's been awhile

oops! guess amidst life happening we let this blog slide. sorry! its been a good month - recruiting is pretty much over, retreats have been going well, and summer's on the way! yesterday was jareds' birthday - happy 27th husby! i spent last week down in the cities for a much needed break to reconnect w/family and friends. we celebrated my grandpas' 89th birthday, we celebrated my little brothers' engagement, and we celebrated being together. we haven't been back to the cities since christmas, so it was a wonderful reunion. then yesterday jared drove down to fargo, and i drove up to fargo, and we had a birthday party for him and his mom. tomorrow we'll caravan back up to camp.

nysse is still the best dog ever. next month she starts puppy school!! i'll take her everymonday night for 8 weeks. i can't wait! there's a dance studio right around the corner with an adult hiphop class right after her puppy school, and a starbucks in the parking lot, so i'll make a night of it. i will be going full time at camp for the summer and i'm really excited about that! i'll be co-summer director (alongside jared), in charge of staff development, and helping in the office - all stuff i probably would have done anyway but now i'll get paid for it! yippee! :) we have been trying to be a little healthier at casa de rendell, so prayers that we would be able to stick to our resolutions and reach our goals would be appreciated!

we miss our family and friends in the cities and fargo area. we think about you and pray for you often. please let us know if there are ever ways we can specifically pray for you! and leave comments on the blog - it's really great to know if people are reading it :)

anna, jared & nysse

valentines getaway 2010!

we have spent so much time on the road in the last month. we knew it was coming, but the toll it took on my body and spirit still surprised me. in the midst of it all, we knew we needed a family getaway. we had planned a weekend in bismarck, but jared booked a surprise for us! he found a lodge outside bismarck and rented it for the weekend. it was a fully restored old farmhouse, just beautiful! we had so much fun - we watched the olympics and some movies, we played games, we ate good food, and just spent fun time together. here are a few pictures:

the house!

the amazing kitchen

husby's "senior pic" :) (shot of foyer and kitchen)

one of 4 bedrooms!

we had a great time. now gearing up for a large group this weekend. they're nervous about food, lodging, etc, so hopefully we'll go over the top to make them comfortable, happy and confident in us and in camp. night friends!
anna, jared & nysse

craziness!

we've been traveling a lot here at team rendell! it's summer staff recruiting time.  so last week we were:

• ND State Univ.
• Mn State Univ. Moorhead
• Concordia College
• Univ. of ND

this coming week, we'll be at:

• Bismarck State College
• U of Mary
• Valley City
• Jamestown

phew! in between (so this weekend) we had a 20 person retreat and a blizzard. phew again! along with the traveling and visiting with staff, we've been to several constituent churches, hosting retreats, and working on summer publications. it's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks.

in other news... we have got a lot of snow! which is fine by me. love it! and our pup loves it. she rolls, jumps, eats, chases, adores the snow! tomorrow we hit the road again for bismarck. pray for safe roads and smooth travels please!
anna, jared & nysse

... and we're home.

phew! 4 flights, 10+hrs in the car, a rehearsal, a wedding, a 3 year old, a pair of 80 year old grandparents, and other misc family excitement later - we are home.

 

a few highlights from the weekend:

• the wedding dance- we boogied the night away!
• singing at the wedding w/my jared

• our 3yo nephew walking around w/a blanket over his head, saying "oooooo, i'm a scary ghost!"
• swimming w/aforementioned nephew
• walking to starbucks w/husby and reading the NY Times!

• talking laaaaate into the night w/family we rarely get to talk to in person
• coming home to the joyous excitement of our poochie
• also arriving home to a big box from Gooseberry Patch - wheee!! so fun to open!

what a whirlwind! and now, getting ready to go to bed. night friends!
anna, jared & nysse

Team Rendell goes to the big city!

this weekend we're flying out to New York! jared's brother is getting married in albany, so we're all going! he's a groomsman, and we are playing and singing during the ceremony. the whole rendell clan will be there, and we are REALLY excited!

camp life is going well. we had a marvelous Christmas getaway where we visited family and friends in MN and ND, got snowed in a little bit, and ate way too much :) the weather here has been gorgeous - it was over 40 today!! all the snow is melting. we have lots of groups coming to camp, and in a few weeks jared and i will hit the road to go recruiting. i'm really excited about that - we'll visit 10 college campuses and participate in their "camp fairs" to talk with potential summer staff. should be really fun! we're also going to travel to another bible camp in a week to tweak the summer curriculum. we do buy the ELCA curriculum, but as with any pre-packaged item we'll have to work it a little to really make it ours. so we will travel to this other camp and tweak together with many other program directors! i'm excited to keep meeting more camp people from around ND.

nysse is doing well! she still loves playing with her best friend carly, and at 75 pounds now outweighs her. she loves to be outside and run around camp. yesterday though, she proved that she does know where home is. she and carly were chasing camps' site manager (who was on a snowmobile), and they were getting pretty far from camp. nysse decided she'd had enough, turned around and came home to me! it was pretty sweet. she is so smart :)

tonight was a nice night - we had grilled steaks indoors (thanks grandpa, for the indoor grill!), ate fresh green beans, then went to the Malt Shoppe in town for some ice cream! this whole wednesday nights free thing is awesome! :) hope everyone else had a great night too. miss and love you all!
anna <><
(and jared & nysse)

we'll be home for Christmas!

tomorrow, we pack our car full - gifts, goodies, crafting supplies, a puppy, a weeks worth of clothes and gear, us - and head home. home. to the daytons 8th floor display and candyland. to our church. to our family and friends. to grandpas' house. to skyscrapers and traffic and stores open past 8pm and hustling & bustling and 3-floor malls and familiarity.

 

i can't wait.

life is good here in ND. we have made some friends, our house feels like a home, the stars twinkle brightly every night, and downtown is adorable and has everything we need. but it's not the place i lived for 27 years, you know? so to be able to head HOME for Christmas... it's going to be good. like soul food. again, i can't wait. 

 

team rendell has been working for a long time getting ready for this trip. cookies are baked and packed up. gifts are wrapped (only 2 more to finish tonight!). plans are made back home. we're not packed yet, but we'll get there. in fact, here's tonights list:

•  bathe the dog
• create two more gifts
• wrap said gifts, plus one more
• pack ourselves and puppy's stuff
• load the car
• sleep.

tomorrow jared's preaching at a church just outside of town, and then we'll hit the road!! ahhh, late night eating and shopping, family galore and caribou coffee, here we come!!!!!!
anna<><
(jared & nysse too)

nothing much...

hi friends! i know there hasn't been a post in the last couple weeks, but there's really not much to tell! i (anna) spent last week at camp with 50 of my youth. we had a really great time! and then we did a family camp over the weekend, which was also a blast. spent a LOT of time driving in the past couple weeks too, which was miserable and long, and i don't want to dignify the ridiculous hours i spent alone in a car by blogging about them and they're just not blog worthy. jared comes home tomorrow, and then i have one last summer trip with my youth group. it should be fun - we're taking 13 high schoolers to the boundary waters canoe area wilderness! so we'll be gone (but together, yay!) again next week. and then sunday august 9th is a recognition and reception for us at church. it will be sad. so thanks for checking in - sorry there's not more to tell! we'll talk soon.

anna (& jared)
<><