Christmases

Last Saturday, Nathan and I spent the day with his family for Christmas.  It held all the necessary components a good Christmas gathering should: family, good food, Christmas cookies, pie, candy, presents, games and relaxing.  I had a headache through most of the day so I wasn’t able to enjoy it a much as I wanted to.  It was a wonderful time though. I got to hear Stephen play his bagpipes and watch Basil, the family kitten, tirelessly chase a laser. 

I worked Monday and Tuesday, Christmas eve.  They let us off work early so I made one final shopping trip, cleaned the house, unclogged a drain, and prepared Christmas-eve dinner. 

yah, ew. I know blame it on me.  

Most of my hair that comes out gets thrown in the trash, this is just all the little buggers that snuck by.

Anyway...
Everything was going as planned until Nathan called. 

He had run out of gas on the interstate.  So, I dropped everything I was doing, threw on some shoes, and drove to the farm.  Jake helped me fill a gas can and I headed off to find Nathan.  I ended up driving all the way to Tremont to get on the interstate going the right direction.

Supper was only an hour late and everything turned out fine. I wouldn’t recommend sparkling cranberry or sparkling pomegranate.  Neither are very good.

Our fancy table. 

When you can't burn candles- that's what you get. 

Here is our little Christmas tree with lots of gifts :)

Christmas day we went to Church and then over to my parent’s house.  We ate good food, played a few games, opened wonderful gifts, and sang our favorite selections from the Messiah and other Christmas songs. 

playing Village

Matt and Lena showing off the crowns that came in their Christmas poppers.

Cecily has one too :)

lots of presents 

what is it? :)

Dad in his strange new hat.

enjoying his gift of a motion activated candy dispenser. 

Poor Bob, everyone got him the same thing. 

Thursday evening we went to the Schlipf Christmas.  We ate the traditional potato soup and chili. I love soup. :)  We sang some  Christmas carols and then tried out Bethany and Jesse's new green-screen. 

We all got mittens from our California cousins. 

So,  here we are showing them off in some snowy mountains. :)

I worked Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, so between work and Christmases, I've been pretty busy. 
I did get some time to stop and think though. I was trying to decide what about Christmas would mean the most to my clients.  I think what would really mean the most to them is that Christ can understand their burden, their pain, and their rejection. While I tend to focus on the beautiful glorious part of Christmas, I tend to forget the comfort, healing, and sympathy that Christ brought. 

Isaiah 40:1-5

 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

In Christ

~Michelle

Rock Climbing!

I think it has always been something I've wanted to do. Crazy, I know. In Middle School we had a rock wall we climbed in PE and I always loved it.

This past Tuesday, Larissa invited me to go rock climbing. Nathan was busy driving about all evening so, I took the opportunity to have a bit of fun. :)
Larissa is pretty much an expert at rock climbing. Well, not really, but she's really good. She and her sister took me to Upper Limits in Bloomington. They converted old grain silos into climbing walls. It was so much fun. 

up and up and up :)

Almost there!

By the time I got to my third and fourth climbs, my arms and legs were shaking. I was pretty sore the next day. :) It was totally worth it though.

In Christ

~Michelle

Christmas Parties

We’ve been pretty busy in the evenings.  Between Christmas gatherings and work, I don’t get much time at home.

Monday evening we went to Nathan’s Homeway Homes Christmas party.  It was fun. Nathan works with a lot of people that Matt and Jenny went to High School with so I felt slightly out of place hanging out with legends from the past.  Not really, they’re a lot of fun. It is awkward though, when you can only remember someone by the nickname your sibling called them in high school.

Thursday evening was Wahington Secret Sis. Christmas party.  That was a great evening.  Washington girls are just solid. :) 

Sunday, Nathan and I went to one of his family Christmases. I survived. :) Actually, it was fine.  I think the awkwardness of going to the in-laws is exaggerated.  Well, I guess when you have a family like the Wyss’s, it’s hard to be shocked or overwhelmed by anything. :)

Work is going well.  I feel like a case worker now- whatever that means.  People always ask me what I do and I don’t even know where to start. I do a lot of random things and I love it. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Entering the Christmas Season

Yet another week has past. 
It is absolutely crazy to me how fast time is flying. My job is going really well. I love what I do and I'm starting to get to know my clients pretty well. 

I failed to mention a few things in my last post. Last week on my break, I took Kandace and Carli shopping. I don't like to shop alone and they are great companions. I managed to buy a tree on sale and some Christmas decorations. 

:) just the right size.

greenery goes well in a lantern :)

The Thanksgiving/Christmas season always brings a lot of friends into the area. Last Saturday, I went out for lunch with some good friends. Breana was in town for the weekend, so she, Wendi, and I went out to eat in Washington. I seriously am so blessed to have such amazing friends.  :) We were so engrossed in catching up, an hour later,  we barely realized our waitress had forgotten to take our order. 

Friday evening, Nathan and I went to my work Christmas party. It was an ugly Christmas sweater party, which was hilarious.  It went pretty well and I think Nathan was able to  enjoy himself. 

We left around 8:00 and went shopping. The cold weather had reminded me- I didn't have a decent winter coat. I've been wearing a really lightweight fleece peacoat, and it just wasn't going to keep me warm enough this winter.  Thankfully we were able to find a decent one and I will now be much warmer. 

Tonight, I made a batch of sugar cookies. I didn't have any Christmas cookie cutters so I just used a doughnut cutter. They didn't keep their shape very well though. I think I may need to add more flour next time. 

We have Christmas lights up all around the apartment and I love to curl up on the couch with a book and look at the lights. Ah. :) I like Christmas season. 

And, as of December 1st, I began listening to Christmas music. Not a moment sooner. :)

In Christ
~Michelle

The Week of Thanksgiving

Two weekends ago, Nathan and I decided to visit Aaron and Kendra in Morton.  We spent the day with them in church, hung out in Kendra's future home, and went out to eat.  Nathan and I both went home very excited about how awesome Aaron is and how much fun it will be to hang out as couples. 

Last week was a short week at work. The CEO let us all off at 2:30 on Wednesday as a Thanksgiving gift. It was wonderful.

We spent Thanksgiving with Nathan's family.  I took pies. I got a lot of pie baking things at my showers, a pie cookbook, pie pans, a pie crust protector etc., and so it became know that I like to make pies. Nathan's family put me to the test. :) They said I passed, so that's good.

I realized recently that I've had Grandpa, Grandma, Pearline, Scott, Joy, Kacie, Alyssa, and all the local Wyss cousins to our apartment, but not my dad. So, I decided to have my parents and Jake over Sunday night. I was feeling lazy so we ordered pizza and had leftover pie. It was a good evening though and I feel less like a terrible daughter. :)

On Thanksgiving:
I could list all of the things I'm thankful for with the obligatory (and truthful) number one being my salvation, I could post a poem, a Bible verse or a song that fits well, but above my thankfulness there has been a sense of conviction, a nagging, a frustration that maybe I enjoy Thanksgiving too much. That maybe, I too easily give thanks for what I have, and stop there. That part of giving thanks, being truly grateful, is wanting others to have the same.

It truly has been an eyeopening and convicting experience so far at work, and I am amazed by what God has already taught me.

On Wednesday at my job, I talked with my clients, asked them about their plans, and told them to have a good thanksgiving. And, as I drove home, as I spent Thanksgiving with family, I was reminded- my clients didn't have plans. They didn't have any family to go to, no home to return to, no grandmother cooking the turkey. Instead, they were bused with all the other clients to a restaurant for dinner.  

I was frustrated because I, in all of my social-workiness (save the world! :) tehe), legally can't do anything because it would be stepping over the client-worker boundary. 
It just hurts to hear my clients try to hide their anger and disappointment that they are alone during one of the biggest family days of the year. 
I have been convicted that my thankfulness shouldn't stop at 'thanks'. 

In Christ
~Michelle

the aftermath

The Sunday the tornado came through, Nathan and I had kept Kacie and Alyssa overnight. I really enjoy keeping people but only having one bathroom does present a problem. :) We had a lot of fun Saturday and Saturday night. Kacie got to our apartment around 2:30 and got to watch me finish baking cinnamon rolls. Then, Saturday we went to testimonies. 

The whole thing got totally over shadowed by the tornado. 

The rest of the week was crazy. My typical day was: go to work for 8.5 hours, spend 2-3 hours at church helping feed work teams or clean up, get home around 8:00 and crash. Wednesday, I took a 5 hour shift at the Crossroads church feeding tornado victims. My house never got cleaned up from Kacie and Alyssa and until Nathan finally did the dishes there were dishes in the sink since last Saturday. 

I spent this past Saturday working on a work team in Washington. It was a wonderful experience. There are no words to describe the amount of debris and pictures just don't capture it.  

The parking lot full of truck, trailers, skid-steers, and other machinery  

Devonshire-Hampton area

standing in someone's kitchen

Oh, and if you ever pick up a paint can that survived a tornado- it may have a leak. 

 I got to toss a lot of bricks, haul a lot of boards, and sort through piles and piles of ruble.  I found a stack of baby pictures, Amber F. found someone's wedding dress still in plastic, and someone found a bunch of tools. But, even with all of those finds, the amount of stuff they lost is incredible. 

It was so cold. Halfway through the morning Wendi brought hot coco out to our work team. It was wonderful. :) After lunch, I went back to church and found some foot warmers. They helped immensely. 

There were so many volunteers. I knew so many people, it made the work a lot of fun. Brook and Corey were there. It was so much fun to be able to work with them.  Troy and Ellie were there too. And, so was Janelle G. who I visited in Haiti.

Lena worked crazy hard this week as the unofficial secretary. 

She looks so cute curled up with Heather's baby. :) tehe

So, tonight I made it out grocery shopping, and began cleaning the apartment. 

All stocked up for the holiday baking to come :)

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Refuge from the Storm

My back was against the outside wall. I was holding on to Cecily as the lights flickered and then went off. Everyone sat silently in the Sunday school room where I sat as the roar outside grew louder.  I could feel the church shaking and groaning.  There was a loud roaring sound, debris slamming into the church, and I felt like the roof was about to lift off. I positioned myself to fall on top of Cecily if that happened. At that moment I knew I was ready to die but I also knew we would be spared.  The was a peace that seemed to fill the whole church and I knew God would be with us to the end. 

When they announced we would be going back into the Sunday school rooms, I didn't believe them that there really was that much of a threat. But, as we all emerged from church, it was clear that all of us had just witnessed a miracle.  The tornado had been heading straight towards our church, but  instead turned north a fourth of a mile from us.  The church yard was covered in trash and a few cars had broken windows.

My family was all in church on Sunday for Kirk's baptism. The baptisms were moved to Eureka because they had running water even though they didn't have any power. Most of my family went to the baptisms but Nathan and I stayed back.

After all was clear, Nathan went with a couple others into the subdivisions to see if they could help. Here is some of the AMAZING pictures he took. Seriously, Washington looks like a war zone right now. 

Kendra is an ER nurse so she started feeling like she should be in there helping, so I drove her to the fire station where they were setting up a triage area. People were laying on sheets on the concrete floor and there were no pain medications. I saw a man come in covered in blood, shaking, wrapped in nothing but a sheet, a woman laying dazed on the floor, and another woman whose head was bleeding through the bandage on it.
One of the doctors who knew Kendra wrote up a prescription on a piece of cardboard and sent us to OSF to get medication. 

It took forever to get out of town and even longer to get back in. Roads were blocked off, police, ambulances, people leaving, people coming, gawkers, first responders etc. I have never seen anything like it. They routed us, rerouted us, and rerouted us again. Kendra was wearing scrubs by this time and so the police let us into areas where others were unable to go.  
There are no words to describe the destruction and devastation we saw. families standing on piles of rubble that used to be their houses, cars where a house used to be, wood, plastic, insulation covering the streets, people milling around dazed, shocked. 
By the time we made it back to the fire station, most of the injured were being sent to different clinics that were set up around Washington. So, Kendra and I headed back to church.

That night at my parents house, because our power was out in Eureka, Nathan and I opened to Isaiah 25:
1. O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2. For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
3. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

God was our protector in the storm, I have no doubt of it.  I pray His name can be glorified through the relief efforts. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Licensed

I am Licensed. Finally. After a month of working without full access to cases, I finally got my clearance. 
Last week my background check cleared and this week everything else came through. 

It's official! :)

 Work has been going really well. I got a really nice ease in because of the time it took to get all of my clearances through. 
I now have all of my clients, I can visit them alone, I'm starting to get a hang of going places, and I've testified at court on my own. 

Visiting my clients is a lot of fun, minus the slightly dangerous side of things. :) There's nothing like being a little white girl walking through a pretty rough neighborhood all alone. The guys are pretty protective though and they always walk me to the door and watch me go to my car. 

Inside the houses is really interesting as well. My first day on visiting a client, a half asleep, half naked teen stumbled across the hall in front of me with his tooth brush hanging out of his mouth. Usually when I go upstairs, all the doors are shut, loud music is playing, and guys are shouting at each other through the walls. 

The other day, I went up there and timidly knocked on my client's door, silently praying he'd be fully clothed.  He shouted from the other side of the door "Who is it?" (in an angry tone, add an expletive or two). Mind you, he's also about 6'5", very big, and not Caucasian. ;)  "It's Michelle, your case worker" I said. His head popped out the door. He grinned. "I'll be down in a minute."

After having a nice conversation with client #1, I went looking for client #2.  I asked guy #1, who is not my client, if he'd seen client #2. Guy #1 asked guy #2 and client #1.  
So, picture this. Little me, standing in the upstairs hallway with three large teenage males, who do not share the same skin tone as me,  when client #2 comes sheepishly out of the bathroom. :) Ahaha. I love my job.

I think they like me though. They all sat around for about 20 minutes answering questions about the fact that I am not Amish, I do not cuss, what it means to be a conservative Christian, and no I do not know what a conservative vice lord is. Needless to say, I now know what a conservative vice lord is (a very violent sect of a Chicago gang), and I'm not sure I'd ever want to run across one in a dark ally. :)

It has amazed me, though it shouldn't, the fearlessness I feel. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
It has amazed me, though it shouldn't, the ease at which I suddenly find myself in spiritual conversations with my clients.  They are so hungry to fill that hole in their lives. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Sing Unto the Lord

Last weekend, the entire Wyss clan descended to record a CD for my Grandparents.
My grandpa has always loved when either his kids or his grand-kids would sing. So, for a surprise this Christmas we recorded a CD.  We had to tell them about it before hand though, because of all the out of town family that was here for the weekend.

Nathan and I kept our first overnight guests- Scott and Joy. They were great guests and we had a lot of fun with them. 

We recorded Friday evening and most of Saturday.

the studio

the cousins recording

trent and kray goofing off

the end of the day... Ned playing violin and men sleeping on the couch.

It was a lot of fun and a really great way to spend time with cousins, singing praises to God. :)  It's been a while since I've sung for any other purpose than church or young group. I got to sing some of the high stuff, eek. :) Which, I thought was great fun, but who knows how it sounded.  :) My voice was definitely shot by the end of Saturday, though. 

We didn't sound very professional, but I think it fulfilled it's purpose. I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have grown up in this family.  

In Christ
~Michelle

Code Orange

It was a crazy day at work today.

The morning started out like any other normal work morning.

One of our clients threatened to kill a worker, and we all were warned not to allow him in the building. 

Then, around 10:00 the power turned off. For about an hour and a half we sat in the dark and waited for the power to turn back on. With no computers, no printers, no copiers, or phones we couldn't do any work. 

Then, at around 2:00 we received a Code Orange: "external threat."

Supposedly a few days ago a man kidnapped his wife. She was found dead in her car today and the police traced the guy back to his house. 

Three blocks down from where I work.

They had the house surrounded and expected gun fire. Our building was on lock-down and the police were evacuating nearby houses.

So, again we sat and waited.  And since this was all very exciting and we were totally unmotivated to work by this time, we toured the building trying to find a window we could watch out of.  We never did find a good view but we found out that it's a pretty creepy old building. 

We spent the next two hours on the internet watching for any news updates. 

Finally at 4:15 we received the good news that the police were inside negotiating with the suspect and the area was now safe to leave. 

:) I guess these are normal occurrences when working on the south side.

In Christ

~Michelle

*I don't know why it's doing this white background thing.

On the weekends

Now that I'm working, the weeks go by quickly and with relatively little excitement. Anything thrilling seems to happen on the weekends. 

A few weekends ago, Matt and Lena convinced Nathan and I (with very little effort) to go to Ned's orchestra concert at U of I.  It was a really great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The music, for the most part, was beautiful. A few of the songs weren't exactly my style, but they were played quite well. 
After the concert we went out to Five Guy's with Ned. 

This past weekend,  Troy and Ellie invited us up to Belvidere.  We got up there Friday night. Us and Wendi and Daniel stayed and their house, Kendra and Larissa stayed with Darcy, and Aaron stayed with Seth in a hotel.  Saturday, we went shopping- which served the purpose of allowing us to wander about chatting  more than we actually shopped.  Then, we went back to Troy and Ellie's and ate a wonderful supper and stayed up quite late.  We spent the day, Sunday, in church and sang at a nursing home.  

We're all couples now! :) 

It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. I have such amazing godly friends. I am continuously reminded how blessed I am. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Kendra

We've been best friends since the day she was born. We grew up together, rarely spending more than a week apart. On Wednesday nights, it was a fight to see whose house we'd go to. Sleepovers, swimming, Sunday school, Wyss vacation, vacations with friends, adventuring, day dreaming, telling secrets... :)

We did everything together.

As we grew older, we encouraged each other in our Christian walks, talking late into the night.  And, we still found time to be goofy, laugh like crazy, and act like complete dorks. :) God truly blessed me with an amazing friend and cousin. 

Now, we're going to be married couples together. Eee! :)

Kendra and Aaron

I'm so excited, I don't think I even know how excited I am. :)

Congratulations Kendra and Aaron! 

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.~ Proverbs 27:17

In Christ
~Michelle

Saturdays, Work, and Waiting

I like Saturdays. 
And now that I am working, I like them even more.

On Saturdays I have time to get things done, relax, and do random fun things like baking. :)

Last Saturday, Nathan and I went to a potluck. We were told to bring bread so we spent part of our day making bread together. :) They turned out awesome. Nathan is a pretty good cook.

really really good pumpkin bread :)

and awesome cheesy bread :)

Work this week was long a boring. I think I'll like it but I'm still waiting on background checks and such to come through before I can actually take on clients.
I had to sit and wait a ton this week. I had to get a physical and a TB test on Wednesday and scheduled an appointment for 4:30. I got to the clinic at 4:15...they didn't call me back until 6:00.  Needless to say, Nathan and I were late for church. 
On Thursday, I had to get finger-printed. I went in at 4:00 and waited until 5:45 until they finally got to me. 
I am so tired of sitting. :)

Through the week, any time I've had free time, I've been drying apples. I love dried apples and I eat them about as fast as I dry them. They bring back childhood memories of jumping off the school bus in the fall and gobbling them up for our after school snack. 

yum. :) 

Today, I cleaned our sadly neglected apartment and did a bit more baking. :) Yah, I like to bake. We had some extra apples so, Nathan and I made two pumpkin pies and four mini apple pies.  Don't worry we won't eat them all. We took one of the pumpkin pies to the farm for the Old Farmer to enjoy. :)

I love pies. 

Tonight we heard the testimonies of three of Nathan's brothers. It was a blessing to be there.  Praise God for His work in every one of our lives! 

In Christ
~Michelle

First Day

Today was the first day of really being an adult. I went to work. 

It was mainly orientation all day today, filling out tons of paperwork and getting confused and overwhelmed. It's a whole lot like syllabus day in college. You feel like you accomplish nothing and see everything that has to be done.
Ah, well. It will all get done.  It's just a bunch of things I have to do in this first week of employment. 

To answer some questions:
I think I'm going to like my team and my supervisor seems really approachable.
I am part of the supervised independent living program (SILP) for the Peoria Children's Home and I'll be working with 17-20 males.
I really don't know much about what I'll be actually doing. 
My hours are relatively flexible. I'll mostly be working from 8:00 or 8:30 to 4:30 or 5:00. 

I really feel that God has placed me there. I applied for a position in foster care and the SILP supervisor picked up my resume and asked if he could interview me instead. The interview went really well. The other workers really liked me and before I knew it, I had a job offer.  
It's not what I would have chosen. 
But, It seemed as if God kept telling me "these are the least of these. Go serve them."  It really is these kid's last chance before they spend the rest of their lives in and out of prison. 

Please, don't be scared for me. Yes, this is a dangerous area of town. Yes, these are the "roughest kids in Peoria" (as stated by my supervisor). But, God will protect me. He has protected me in the past and he will again. This is for His glory, not mine. I did not go into social work for the comfort and safety. 

Anyway. 
For those of you who get squeamish at the sight of anything sappy-read no farther. 

So, tonight while I lay languishing in my bed with a pounding headache, (The headache could have been a result of the long day at work, dehydration, bad posture, being hungry, or the incessant beeping of the fire alarms (no, I didn't burn anything) that took Nathan and I way to long to turn off. Seriously those things could drive a person absolutely insane.) Nathan did all the dishes, made my lunch for tomorrow, and scrubbed the kitchen floor. 
:)
He is so awesome. 

God has truly blessed me. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Day at the Zoo

This Wednesday, we had grandma and grandpa and Pearline over for supper before church. I really enjoyed the evening. They got to see where we live and experience my cooking. I made chili. It'd be pretty hard to ruin chili. 

Thursday was a fun day. My mom, Jenny, Cecily, Lena, and the little girl she babysits went to the zoo for Cecily's birthday.  

she enjoyed my gift of Masha and the bear :)

tiger 

Cecily kept saying "sheep" :) 

I forget what this actually is though. Some cow-like animal.

Cecily and her camel :)

Brielle and Cecily enjoying the zoo

Lions

afternoon rain

Thursday evening, Nathan and I went to the farm to do more cider. This must have been the year for apples. Most of the apples didn't come from the farm this batch. It was storming, so we did this round in the shed. We ended up doing 32 gallons!

double rainbow over the farm

kendra turning the crank 

"a-b-c-d...." :) 

cider :)

:)

Friday evening we went to a Martin family thing to celebrate Nathan's mom's birthday.

It's been a busy week. My last week of freedom.

I start my job on Monday, prayers are appreciated. 

In Christ
~Michelle