i really wanted to send out our very first ever mr. & mrs. aaron schappell christmas card this year. well, the ending of my semester was entirely too hectic, chaotic, and stressful for me to even dream about writing, labeling, and mailing letters.
so sadly, no letter or cards came out of our house. i truly hope people understand! however, now i am on christmas break and i have time to write so our 'christmas letter' will be our 'christmas blog'.
this past year has been an exciting one for us.
the beginning of the year was typical for us college students. i finished up my final semester as an RA and was, of course, very busy. aaron and my brother, thomas, both graduated from VFCC in may. it was exciting to watch them graduate, but i had a hard time surviving the day without crying as i was happy for them but it was hard to know i was not graduating and they would not be in school with me the following year.
during the summer i worked at driver's village in cicero for my business internship and sincerely loved it. i had a great job that allowed to me to learn a lot, enjoy work and still have my evenings and saturday's free. the joys of not being the runt high-schooler! in my 'spare-time' i was planning our wedding with mom & dad and going to the gym to go to zumba classes.
aaron spent his summer working, officially full-time, as the children's pastor at the bridge church in hamburg, pa. he loves his job and is so wonderful with kids. he is so creative and is able to communicate so effectively to 'his kids' and he thoroughly enjoys writing his own curriculum. (i'm allowed to brag since i'm writing this!) he is learning a lot about the administrative end of ministry and is always looking to improve the effectiveness of his ministry especially within the limited amount of time he can spend with the kids. here is a picture of him on the way home after surviving a week of kid's camp!
our summer was so wonderfully ended with our wedding! july 31, 2010 we were married in north syracuse, ny by both of our pastors. it was a beautiful day, a beautiful wedding, and a wonderful day to celebrate with our families and friends! i previously, posted a wedding blog. there are also photo's on my facebook page. we also were a bit silly and a creative dance.
we spent our honeymoon in cozumel, mexico after a few plane hiccups that left us back at my parents house the day after the wedding. mexico was beautiful and we enjoyed having our very first vacation together. it was also aaron's first time flying on a commerical airplane and out of the country.
following our honeymoon we moved into our very first and very tiny (under 300 sq. feet) apartment. we really do like it though! of course, a little roomier will be a blessing in our future, but we do feel like it is 'our home.' valley forge has a dorm building that is designated for married couples, families, and independent students. aaron has been so sacrificial to let me live right on campus. he commutes to work, an hour drive each way, so i can live and walk to my classes. living on campus also allows me to contribute to our family and babysit 12 hours a week which works out great for us. here's our little kitchen and living room.
as promised, i chopped my hair off after the wedding. but it was incredibly long! it was actually longer than this... but i don't have a good picture.
we were able to spend our christmas holidays everywhere! we spent christmas morning together, then spent the rest of the day with his family, and joined my family in syracuse the following day. i also got to see many close friends that i haven't seen since our wedding. we concluded the rest of our holiday celebrations in harrisburg with more of my family. we are so blessed and had a great time everywhere we went.
so, i am finishing up my last week of christmas break before classes begin. aaron is busy at work and i am enjoying quiet mornings at home and a few hours of baby-sitting in the afternoons. this will be final semester at valley forge--woohoo! i will graduate in may with a bachelors of arts degree in children's ministry and a bachelors of science degree in business administration. my double major is the reason i did not graduate with aaron and thomas.
we are looking forward to this 2011 year. we need to move by the end of may and are hoping to find a reasonable apartment in the hamburg area. i also will be looking for a full-time job in the same area. we are open to any suggestions or connections:) we are looking forward to be closer to the church and i am looking forward to not having to do homework at night so i can be more involved at the church than i currently am.
we pray you have had a great year and will have a wonderful year this year!
