Has it really been this long?

Sorry to leave you hanging for over 8 months. I'm sure you've all been waiting breathlessly for a new post. :) Much has changed since February.

We are still in Tulsa, for now, living in our cute little apartment by the river! Ethan is working for Tulsa Computer as an IT and web guy. He's really enjoying it. We left the church in mid-September and it was really hard to leave the kids but we (along with many others before us) had some issues with the leadership or lack thereof. We love the kids and have seen them a little here and there, but we are enjoying "normal" life for awhile. Playing Tennis, biking, working out, guitar, reading, talking and my design work has consumed our free time. Oh and we also just got caught up on Hereos! We are attending Jenks Church and trying not to get to overly involved too soon. We are taking things slow as we just took a temporally leap out of full-time ministry.

So here we are, in this exciting place somewhere in between our next big adventure and life as "normal." While it's thrilling to have the world at our fingertips, we are desperately seeking God's direction. Our lease expires in January and at this point, we aren't quite sure that we should stay in Tulsa. It's been fun, we've met some amazing people and enjoyed the city but we both feel that it's time for us to move onto big things. Our constant question is "What exactly are these big things we are moving on to?"

Ethan is doing well. He had a busy summer full of fundraising, camps, trips and everything expected of him in-between. He's had a great year, full of personal and spiritual growth. It’s been wonderful to watch God continue to mold him into a better man every day. I'm so thankful for him and I'm glad that he's mine! :) He is enjoying his new job and is doing very well at it. The computer experience is like gold and I'm certain that God will use this in the near future. Ethan feels that ministry IS where he needs to be and we are seeking God's direction in that.

The sky is the limit for us, and my heart is always on Australia of course. :) We have both been saying that really need to get out of the Midwest culture that we are often frustrated with, but it will be hard to move away from our families. Obviously I have a rather nomadic spirit and could move every few years and Ethan's sense of adventure is often the same. It's cool to see why God put us together. We’ve received some great advice from friends lately regarding relocating and ministry. We’ve been told to be careful not to move anywhere that we wouldn’t be happy if our jobs “imploded.” With that in mind we are currently taking a look to see what’s out there.

I'm also doing well. Enjoying some time to get things done that have been on the backburner for the last year. I've been busting my buns at 5:30 every morning for quite some time - working out - determined to fit back into my "college jeans." I just published my first web site www.kristenhollandcreative.com geared towards my freelance design work. I'm in the process of trying to figure out exactly how to market myself outside of facebook, craigslist and eBay. I've got business cards as well, but let me know if you have any ideas! I would love to get this going over the next couple of years so that someday ... down the road ... I could work from home when we decided to "reproduce."

On that note ... no, we are not pregnant. But we are very excited for all of our friends who just had and are having babies this winter! It's an epidemic of babies, everywhere! Our new church is baby central, but its a young church so I guess it's natural.

As for now, I will try to continue to keep this updated. My new best friend at work is seeqpod.com - it's one of the only things that gets me through the monotony.

Peace!