Today's Coffee: Not sure, Thomas made it...

So, yesterday was a really stressful day for me. Dealing all day with kids who had broken bows or bridges and then having a 2.5 hour rehearsal in the evening. Tuesdays are usually long and awful but the Lord put me in a very unique and terrifying situation yesterday afternoon. I had 2 errands I had to run after school - one was to go into downtown New Haven and get my timesheets set up for the after school program and the other was to go to the strings shop and pick up repaired instruments. I knew I didn't have time to do both of these before a 3:45 pm cello lesson I was teaching at the house so I had planned to go do the timesheet thing first. I was nervous about driving the new car because you can usually only parallel park in downtown but I was able to find a close spot. The woman I needed to talk to wasn't there and won't be back until Monday - so I checked my watch and decided that if I hurried I could run by the strings shop and get my instruments. (This is the first interesting change in plans). Now, the street that the shop is on is one way and again - only parallel parking. I usually park at the dentist office and walk - but for some reason I decided that I was going to try to find a spot that I could pull into on this one way street. And again - there is was - it was perfect. This is also very strange that there was a spot to pull into. So, I walked in and chatted a few minutes to find out what instruments were ready and to find out that someone (teacher before me?) had jammed the endpin wooden part into the cello with duct tape. So, that was interesting. I ended up able to take 2 cellos and 1 violin with me. As I was walking out the door this Chinese woman stopped me and wanted to talk about some music program in Hartford. PRAISE GOD I didn't blow her off and continue walking - because 10 seconds later and car can flying out of control down the road - straight towards us. He ran into a car parked on the street which came propelling onto the sidewalk about 20 feet away from where we were standing. I was trying to get back inside the building - but with 2 cellos and 1 violin and a belly the size of a basketball - I couldn't move very quickly. The parked car that was coming for us hit the side of a lamp post which got knocked over and the huge glass bulb on top was shattered and glass was flying everywhere. The out of control car kept going (getting faster) down the sidewalk past us, hit and ran over a tree and finally hit another parked car before it stopped. I was in shock - God had protected me. I would have been right there next to the lamp post walking to the car if that woman hadn't of stopped me. I made sure everyone was getting help and that someone had called 911 before slowing walking back to my car. I got the cellos inside - I was shaking uncontrollably. I called Thomas when it all kind of hit me. I was crying hysterically for a long time. It was really scary. I called and canceled my lesson and got to Thomas as fast as I could. Which wasn't very fast because I drove so slow. So, praise the Lord for my guardian angel. I am so thankful for His protecting mercy yesterday.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121

In Christ,

Julie

Today's Coffee: Regular with Peppermint Mocha Creamer

Here we are - Monday the 22nd of November. We are so close to Thanksgiving I can already taste the food. And boy o boy will there be food. I'm really excited to be having Thanksgiving at our little home this year - joined by Seth. With this being our last Thanksgiving together without children, I really wanted to cook myself and decorate the table and such. So, we didn't accept any invitations this year and are doing it 100% ourselves. I honestly think that it will be a lot of work, but I cannot wait. The recipes are amazing, the ingredients are waiting to be used and all I can think about is pecan pie and ham. I am not a fan of turkey and my family always did ham until we got a deep fat fryer and started deep-frying the turkey... so, I do a fabulous ham. I plan on starting the day with blueberry pancakes and maple bacon. Then we will go to a Thanksgiving service at the WOPC. We hope to skype the families so that we can see everyone. I am also happy that I get to be 26 weeks preggers for Thanksgiving. My enjoyment of food is crazy - so this will be a real treat. And then we will also spend some time talking about what we are thankful for. The Lord has blessed us in great ways this past year and I thought I would share a few of these things:
1. My salvation - I honestly cannot imagine where I would be today without Christ.
2. The love of my life - Thomas. What a great journey we have had thus far in our marriage and I cannot wait to see where we go from here.
3. Wilson Aiken Russell - I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed this pregnancy upon us. There have been some days (and nights) that haven't been the most fun - but every time I feel the little guy kicking- I just realize what an amazing blessing life is.
4. Family - Even though both families are 900 miles away the support that you have given me through the pregnancy is felt everyday.


As I am nearing the end of the second trimester - you really start realizing that the baby is really going to one day be in your arms. Scary thought at first, but I mainly get pretty excited now. Wilson kicks almost all day and he does flips and scoots and all kinds of acrobatics. I've told a lot of my students at school (when the ask) that we are naming him.... 'probably Cello' - they really don't know what to think of that and since I have a great dead-pan face they cannot tell if I'm kidding or not.

Thomas just played a recital in Philadelphia this past weekend. He did really well and the organ was bee-you-tiful. We didn't a chance to sight-see at all but I was pretty ok with just chilling at the hotel and taking naps. Sigh.
Anyways, it's been a 12 hour day for me. Started at 8:30 and worked until 8:30. Mondays are not the favorite day of the week. I have a half-day on Wednesday - I CANNOT WAIT! So, that's the brief update of our lives.

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: IHOP Regular

Well, today is Thursday. Truly my favorite day of the week. Thursdays this semester have been put aside as Coffee Date Day. Thomas and I always try to work out in our schedules one day a week where we can get together and go out on a date. This semester - it's Thursdays. I have only one early class that I teach (7th graders... all girls!) and then Thomas and I meet up at one of the coffee shops we like to haunt. Today it was IHOP. After-all, I'm pretty hungry all the time now. I have gotten back to drinking a little bit of coffee in the morning - just to avoid the headache later on in the day - and because I really do not like soda that much. We get together and just talk about our marriage, the Lord and of course WILSON!!! Our little boy was kicking today (which is always really exciting!) and he seemed to like IHOP blueberry pancakes! :) He kicks everyday at different times and he seems to know when I am frustrated or angry. After a 3rd grader dropped a cello in class, he was doing somersaults. It was so adorable.

I am now 21 weeks and getting bigger each day it seems. Thankfully I had bought some clothes last week - they really came in handy this week. I've been walking with my dear friend Chloe on certain days of the week and that has been a lot of fun. We get to share teaching ideas and funny stories while getting our heart rate up. Walking up the Canner hill - it's tough! Today, Thomas and I are venturing out for a walk down Whitney Ave. The trees are just beeyoutiful! It's chilly today - high of 61! Eek! I hope I'm ready for another Connecticut winter.

I'm super excited about Thanksgiving! I have some amazing recipes I'm going to make - as this will be our only Thanksgiving together that we make, didn't spend at someone else's house and didn't have children. And Thanksgiving is like, every pregnant mom's dream - right? I'm stoked!

Thomas has the entrance exam into Yale's MMA program this Saturday - so we've been having much more nerdy conversation than usual. Listening to NPR in the car has now become a study session and intellectual discussion. Honestly, I can't wait till it's over. ;)

Well, time for our walk! We love you! Please keep praying for both Thomas and I - as well as little Wilson Aiken Russell! :) We cannot wait to meet him in March 2011! :)

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Caffeine: Dr. Dazzle

Well, here I am taking a break from the school day to write about how things are going. First of all, Thomas' 30 minute recital went really well yesterday. He played in Battell Chapel on Yale campus. While it was a lot of work putting together a recital in only a few weeks - he did it and now can focus on all the other things going on. We are praying that he will do well on the MMA entrance exam on the 23rd of October. He is kept so busy with school and practicing that sometimes we have to have a night where we don't work. We can very easily get overwhelmed with our earthly responsibilities that we lose sight of other important things.

I am enjoying my second year of teaching. I feel much more prepared and so far I have been pleasantly surprised with how well my students are learning. I'm getting to work with Yale on some different after-school options - so I am hopeful that the program will continue to grow.

But now for the good stuff! I have been feeling Baby more and more frequently (I was feeling little kicks when I started this post!) and Thomas has been able to feel some of these kicks too! We had a great doctor's visit on Monday and we are now counting down the days (only 7!) until we have our 20 week ultrasound. Drumrolllllll!!!! I have been growing out of my clothes - but in a very strange way. I have only gained 2 pounds since the last doctor's visit but my pants I cannot button or keep up. I really do have a little pregnancy belly and my students at school are taking notice. Mainly whispering behind my back - do they understand that I have ears?? Oh well, they will know soon enough. Thankfully, I have some gift cards that I will be using to try to clothe myself properly! ;) We are so excited to be coming home in December! Now that it's October it doesn't seem that far away anymore! The Lord has been so good to us both so far this school year. My morning sickness is all gone and now I eat... a lot. I also eat often. I try to walk everyday - but I'm finding that my job has a built-in exercise plan. I'm on the 4th floor and I'm still walking the stairs since I'm still able (probably won't be in 15 weeks!) and I do a lot of walking between classes. Our house has been a little chilly but we were able to get the gas people to come check it out today. After this post, I'm going to make another grocery list and then Thomas and I will head out on our coffee date. Or whatever I can drink with a smidge of caffeine in it.

Please continue to pray for a healthy and safe pregnancy and baby. Please also keep Thomas in your prayers as his school load is very hefty this semester.

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Caffeine: Dr. Pepper

Much has occurred since the last posting. Thomas is back in school starting his second year in the Masters Program at Yale and I have started back at my public school in New Haven teaching strings. After attending church last night one verse seemed to stick out to me

"Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him." 2 Samuel 10:12

Lately, Thomas and I have been doing a lot of relying on God for answers. We have been learning about trust instead of stressing each moment out to the max. I believe that this is particularly hard for us since we are so far away from our families. A lot of what this verse is talking about is just doing our Christian duty - and what that means in a day to day sense, well, I'm learning about that too. About trust - now that we have a little one on the way in late February or early March we are really learning that life really won't be about just 'us' anymore. No more just doing whatever we want. There will be a new life to take care of and love and cherish. There are days when I get scared and think "my goodness, I'm too young!" and there are other days when I simply cannot wait. The Lord has been good to us by teaching us in and through our marriage and relationships with others how our life is truly going to have to revolve around Christ for a family to work.

In our career news: my students from the Morse Summer Academy will be playing before a New Haven Symphony Orchestra concert on Thursday night! :) Also, Thomas has a recital this Saturday at his church job that is to help prepare him for the real thing at Yale on October 6th. Thomas is enjoying his classes thus far and is learning some pretty crazy stuff. The singing system for his 20th century analysis class has them assigning each half step a number. It makes sense - but hard to change from solfege to the number system. I'm excited about school. I have really good students this year (58!!!!) and they are eager and ready to learn.

Tomorrow will be 16 weeks and I am so excited to start feeling the baby and that stuff. I'm just going to be so giddy, I know it!

That's about it for right now! Rehearsal tonight with the Morse students and then back at it again tomorrow!

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: I finally ate some cake...

Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Lord has truly been good to Thomas and I. We went in for another ultrasound today - and everything is healthy! The baby's heart rate is 'perfect' (as the doctor put it) and we are actually 12 weeks and 5 days (not 12 weeks and 1 day as we all thought). We are blessed with our ability to go to the Yale Health Center and we were given 5 pictures of our precious baby. The picture was so clear and it truly made us think of life as a miracle! We hope you can enjoy these pictures as much as we do right now! Please continue praying that things will continue well.


My favorite picture is the top one
with baby looking like he is sucking his thumb!!! So cute!!

And no - we don't know yet if we are having a boy or a girl - soon enough!

Today's Coffee: Still haven't had any...

Well, now there is all sorts of fun things going on in our lives... I need to be better about blogging so everyone that is 900 miles away can know what's happening. This is the last week of the music summer camp. The Lord has been so gracious to give me this job but it has sure worn me out. I'm so tired all the time now. And I sleep gobs at night - even though it's not entirely restful sleep. I still have trouble eating. The nausea is still pretty severe some days but I am holding out that we are nearing the end of that. I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and we go to the doctor's tomorrow for another ultrasound. I'm sure all the moms out there know how paranoid expectant moms can be about these sorts of things - and I am no different. I am truly learning how to rely on Christ because truth be told - I worry. A lot. I have to keep reminding myself of our memory verse for the week:

Psalm 73.25-26 "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart my portion forever."

I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control. So, I am very excited and nervous about tomorrow. Mainly excited... but you understand.

I should also note that I love our crock pot. We have never had space in our past 2 apartments to even open it up out of the box - but we did 2 weeks ago. Amazing! I'm surprised we made it this long without it. I have tons of recipes I would like to try especially for Thanksgiving time... we'll see if my tummy is up for it.

Thomas is taking my in a few days for a one night trip to Mystic, CT. He's such an awesome husband - the Lord has blessed me so much! We are going to go to the huge aquarium there. I love aquariums - especially the jelly fish. Thomas also is having his 30-minute recital moved to a different date. They wanted it on Feb. 18th - but we had to explain to them about the timing with the baby and such... probably not the best date for a recital. ;)
Thomas has been currently teaching at the Westminster Orthodox Presbyterian Church VBS - he's doing the music! He's having a blast and I'm sad that I can't be teaching with him. He even remembers the hand signals for the Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock from when he learned it.

Well, I need to change over the laundry. Please be praying for the doctor's visit tomorrow. I am merely only a weak redeemed sinner and goodness knows I can't control any of this. Please pray that mom and baby are healthy (and that I've gained some weight since I lost over 10 lbs. in the first 6 weeks).

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: I'm actually didn't have any today...

But Thomas had: New England Coffee Breakfast Blend. I - on the other hand - am no longer drinking coffee due to to the fact that Thomas and I are having a baby!!!! :) It's true - today marks 9 weeks! We have known for about a month and tried to keep it a secret as long as possible (maybe only made it a week). We are now telling everyone in hopes that our friends and families will pray for and with us for a healthy baby and pregnancy. The Lord has been so good to us to bless us in this way and we are so thankful and excited to raise up a family based on Christ. So, that's the big news!

In other aspects of our lives: I finished my first year of teaching (I actually found out I was pregnant on the last day of school!) and Thomas completed his first year for his Masters. We have been trying to stay cool in the summer heat and eventually bought an AC unit once I started having morning sickness. Thankfully it hasn't been awful but it certainly has knocked me down for the past few weeks. I can at least be thankful that I'm sick during the summer and not when I will be teaching.

Thomas and I only have one picture so far of our little 'bean' and we were able to see the heartbeat last week and hear the heartbeat today! We both were overcome with tears and we really began to understand that the Lord is in control of life! It's an amazing testimony for us as married people to really hear the heartbeat of our unborn child. It was beautiful! :)

I am currently teaching in a summer music academy through Yale (it's only day 2) and lasts for 4 weeks. It's been a lot of fun so far and I really enjoy it. The hardest part is getting back on a routine schedule that has us waking up at 6.30 am. My tummy doesn't enjoy the mornings anymore and I eat what I can. My doctor was hoping to help the nausea with Unisom (it's really a sleepy pill but has anti-nausea properties) and I was only taking half a pill - but it knocked me out for about 4 hours every time I took it. So, since the nausea has calmed a lot the past 4/5 days we are going to try eating without it.

Also this summer we have really started to like the show NCIS. Thanks to the Russell fam for helping us get the DVDs to watch - it's been the activity during most of our chill time. Thomas is currently studying and practicing for the upcoming year at Yale. So we keep most of our days full. A good friend of ours took us to the Lighthouse Beach last Saturday - so now we know a great place to relax, get wet and just soak up some sun.

All in all, our summer has been awesome. We love how the Lord is working in us and through us and cannot wait to continue seeking the Lord through the birth of our child! We hope that everyone is doing well wherever you may be!

In Christ,
The Russells (all 3)

Today's Coffee: Beaumont Classic Blend

Well, it's June 6th. Much time has gone by since the last post. Many things have happened also. Thomas and I love living in our new house! It's been so nice to have storage for our camping gear and no longer having to pay many many quarters for clean clothes. We love our backyard probably the most. We recently bought 2 camping chairs from Aldis (7.99 each?!?) and do a lot of sitting, eating and thinking out there. Our garden is growing. We have beautiful flowers on the peas and the squash leaves are just reaching right up to heaven. It's beautiful and I cannot wait to make and grill some of these veggies. We also have a family of Canadian geese that used to be adorable and now just make us mad. They have 11 little babies - and they aren't so bad - but the parents literally hiss and scare us to the point of not being able to be outside. Granted, we did feed them a few times and the babies get really close to us - but still. Our feelings changed for the babies when we had gone through the whole germination process with our Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes. We had 7 shoots (out of 10 seeds!) grow and we were moving some into their own pots when the geese came. The parents drove us inside and a baby goose ate one of the shoots. I could have cried. It was so sad. We are trying to see if it will come back to life without leaves.... but we are pretty sure it won't.

Thomas went to Germany for 10 days in May. It was very hard for us to be apart for that long - especially since we had to use a phone card and Skype to talk. Thomas got to do a lot of amazing things while he was there... such as:
1. Visit St. Thomas church (Leipzig) where Bach worked.
2. Play an organ that Bach designed. (Hildebrandt Organ, Naumberg)
3. Heard a performance of a Bach cantata by the St. Thomas Choir in Bach's church. (Leipzig)
4. Ate lots of good bratwurst and wiener schnitzel.
5. Saw a performance of Rolando Villazon with the Gabrieli Players. (Munich)
6. Toured many incredible cathedrals.

Faith came and lived with me while Thomas was gone for a few of those days. It was great to have her here with me. She got to see my school and my students! Very fun. We also had a Biggest Loser Marathon - even though I kept falling asleep.

My end-of-the-year concert will be on June 10th - why so late you ask? Because I teach through the 24th of June. Long long long school year. And then - summer time! Thomas and I are doing a lot of planning for the summer. We hope to visit SC, Granny in VA, Mary N. in DC... it's going to be great. We also are in the process of training for a half-marathon in September. There are 5 races leading up to the half-marathon that will be cool so that we can keep up with the training and get timed and everything. We hope to do a marathon on day in 2011 maybe. We just bought our new running shoes. We haven't gone running in them yet - have to wait until tomorrow - but they feel so good. Never again will we buy just tennis shoes (for serious running). I am also getting an amazing opportunity to teach at the Morse Summer Music Camp led by Yale this summer. This will be so nice to do and have a schedule starting around mid-July. Before then, we hope to come home and visit all our friends and family. Well, we need to head off to church. Have a great Sunday!

In Christ,
The Russells
3.

Today's Coffee: Cafe Romeo Blend

Well, it again has been many many weeks since we have posted. And as usual - lots has been going on. We have moved into a new townhouse for (hopefully) the remainder of our time here in New Haven. The Lord provided for us in so many ways. We were able to get a washer and dryer, my dad and brother up to help us move and someone to rent out our old place so that we didn't have to finish our lease. We are now living in a 2 bedroom townhouse with Lake Whitney basically in our back yard. We have a full basement and a parking garage. We have planted a garden with tomatoes, bell peppers, peas, squash, strawberries and raspberries in our back yard. We simply love our new place.

So we did get to spend a good deal of time with my dad and brother. It was great to have them up here. A few days after they left our besties from South Carolina came up to visit. They got to hear Thomas' recital (which was amazing) and got to help me chaperon a field trip with some of my strings students. It was a fun time - and we discovered our new favorite cafe with them: Cafe Romeo. Amazing. My favorite drink is the Iced Dirty Chai - iced chai tea with a few shots of espresso. Yum. They helped us complete a lot of our projects that we wanted to get done. We painted, hung curtains, made a fence for the garden and made a hanging for the bathroom sink. :)

Thomas' parents are now visiting for tonight and leaving in the morning to go pick up Seth from Eastman. It has been so cool to get to see everyone and spend so much time with family and friends. Thomas is done with his first year here at Yale and leaves on Sunday morning to go to Germany. It will be a fun trip for him, but I will miss him very very much. I, on the other hand, have over 30 school days left. I hope that I can focus and make it through. The students seem to have already checked out - and it's hard to focus with gorgeous 73 degree weather going on outside.

So - that is what is basically going on right now in the northern Russell household. We are also approaching our 2 year anniversary! It's crazy to think that we have been married this whole time. And - not to be too sappy - but we have loved every minute of it. We are so blessed to have the marriage we do. :) Anyways, hopefully more to come later... and hopefully better pictures also.

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: Starbucks Christmas Blend

As you can see, we are just now getting to Seth and Faith's coffee they gave us at Christmas. We got about 9 bags and have been loving it! Thomas and I want to be better about keeping in touch with people - and one way to do that is to update the blog more than once a month. So, here I am... sitting in Woolsey Hall getting ready to listen to an organ recital at 8 and thought I would blog again. Today was the first day back at school after we had the last week off. It was hard to get everyone to focus and we had small meltdowns about the whereabouts of instruments - but it all worked out by the end of the day.

Thomas and I went to Virginia Beach to see my Granny. She has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is starting radiation tomorrow for it. 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Ugh. We were able to spend some awesome time with her while we visited. We helped her take a car load of things to a thrift store - only to find out that they will not take anything that is stained or torn. She said that we had to leave quickly then before they opened up the bags and saw what she was donating. ;) We also fed the seagulls and ran around with her poodle Trixie. The weather was lovely and the jets were flying about every 4-5 minutes from the base near her house. Overall, it was wonderful to see her (even though it was on short notice). We hope to get back down there during Tom's spring break in March and then again during my spring break in April.

In other news, I played some duets with my dear friend Chloe the other day. I played viola and she played violin. We played through... let me rephrase that - she played and I hacked through the Handel-Halvorsen passacaglia duet. Needless to say, I'm hooked on viola. I love it. Such power and a nice change in tone from the usual violin sound. So, I borrowed the music from her and hope to truly it. Thomas' half hour recital in Woolsey Hall will be on March 3rd - so he is getting ready for that and practicing hard. He has also joined a chamber group where they play early music and Thomas gets to play harpsichord. He really likes it and hopes to possibly continue more on harpsichord.

Well, we are both fairly busy - with school(s), orchestra, chamber groups, church and private lessons. We really are going to start running and I want to cross train by swimming for our next race. Could be fun. Please keep us in your prayers as we hunt for new housing for next year while keeping the cost low.

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: Grower's Alliance Coffee - Kenyan Coffee

It's been well over month since we posted - we need to be better about that. I have the week off from school this week. It's been nice being able to catch up on work, chat with friends and rest but I'm starting to get a little antsy without going to work each day. Thomas, sadly, does not have the week off and must continue going to classes. With his half hour recital approaching very quickly he also spends a lot of time practicing and getting ready for that in March. My students gave a second concert in celebration of Black History Month and did a fabulous job. We played Mary Had a Little Lamb, a D Major scale and Twinkle. I was so proud of them! We stood (except the celli) and I think it looked very professional. Thomas and I then played a Scherzo by Brahms for violin and piano. It was fun playing together again!

We met up with friends from high school to go travel around NYC for a bit one weekend in January. That was fun. We were able to see Columbia and ride some awesome elevators and eat some yogurt. I have recently stopped eating ice cream to test a theory that I may be lactose intolerant. Good news - no problems since I quit. Bad news - I quit eating ice cream. It was only my favorite food ever. We are currently making and eating snow cream. Yes, we go outside and gather some clean snow mix it with some sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, a little bit of vanilla extract and some super strong coffee - mix it all up - and boom! Mocha flavored snow cream. A little unorthodox but we like it. It snowed crazy amounts yesterday - it was so beautiful! The snow landed and stayed on every tiny branch. It is many many inches deep so getting in and out the car is always an adventure. I believe that I can now I say that I can drive in snow. So, I feel pretty good about that too!

So, we are going to try to get down and see my Granny this weekend. Please keep her in your prayers - the doctors found a brain tumor and will be starting chemo soon. It will be good to get away for a little bit and also spend some time with her. Thomas and I have been doing a strenuous Bible reading plan - it's been great (except when you miss a day or two). We also have plans to sign up for a 10k in May. We would like to start training now and then maybe do a half marathon over the summer... we'll see. It's very difficult to get yourself to get dressed to run in 30 degree weather when there is snow on the ground. We were ready to run the sweetheart race on the 13th - but Thomas woke up with a migraine. We have counted and this is the 4th one he's had. We are fairly certain that it is food related - but we usually don't think about that on a super busy day. On a sad note, our new fish (Helen) died. It was sad. We still have Troy and Maximus and they seem to enjoy having the tank to themselves. We are also currently looking for a new apartment to move into in July. Something with 2 bedrooms in a decent neighborhood. That's about all for now. Thomas is working hard as am I. Please keep us in your prayers as well! :)

In Christ,
The Russells

Today's Coffee: McDonald's Coffee

It has been a long time since we have written. Many things are going on! We went home to SC for the holidays and are now back in school (I'm teaching and Thomas is learning!). We now have 3 fish, Troy, Maximus and Helen (she's the newest one). We have a 5 gallon tank and they seem to love it. I am working hard at school to introduce the students to the bow and more new notes to learn. I have started a 'King of the Mountain' game for speed note reading. The winner each week gets a prize out of the 'Orchestra Pit' (which is a box full of pencils, pens, candy, and stickers - just fun little stuff). We are also having a contest in my orchestra classes for a Music Party at the end of the year. It is a 6-tiered system (1st tier is whole note, 2nd tier is half note and so on) until you reach thirty-second note - which means they must sit and listen to 2 minutes of music silently, do the warm-up on the board, unpack their instrument, learn a new song for another teacher, go through 2 class periods without me having to say anything twice and finally putting on a concert as a class. They are pretty pumped about it, although we are only at the half-note tier right now. We'll see.

Thomas and I are now on the T-Mobile network with our cell phones. We now have one car between the both of us. I am fairly active in the community orchestra that I play in; the New Haven Chamber Orchestra. Our next concert is February 13th and we are playing Brahms Symphony No. 1 and a piece by a Russian composer (Sviridov) which was music for a play based on a poem by Pushkin. It's pretty cool. That same day we are running a 4 mile sweetheart race (in whatever weather CT February has to offer!!!). My little brother Mark and our friend William came to visit us when we came back after Christmas - that was a lot of fun. I still had to go to work, so they played Risk. 2 games in one day. Goodness!

There has been a lot of snow here. Thomas has had to dig the car out several times to get to either church or work. Of course, the sledding excursions have been a lot of fun too. We sled right behind the Divinity School at Yale. It's incredible. :) We will be going to a Yale vs. Brown hockey game tomorrow night - getting excited about that and trying to get all our work done tonight so that tomorrow (after teaching lessons and practicing) we can do some super fun things. We don't know what they are yet... but we are thinking running/hiking, hockey game, Chinese food and whatever else! Should be a good day! We have also purchased a $7 VHS player so that we can buy the awesome movies (ya know, Jurassic Park, Braveheart, Narnia movies) for very cheap at Goodwill.

Keep us in your prayers and have a wonderful day!

In Christ,
The Russells