Vacation!

We crammed A LOT into our vacation to Marquette. We arrived in Marquette on Thursday, July 5th and left that Sunday, July 8th. We spent the beginning of the week relaxing and doing a whole lot of NOTHING so we felt refreshed and ready to be extra busy during the second part of our vacation! I took MANY pictures but tried to pick out a few to summarize our visit!

Classic Bridge Photo

We quickly found our way to Lake Superior to dip our toes in the cool water!

Alyssa (Ben's old resident, now our downstairs neighbor) and I 

So happy to be HOME!

The sights of Marquette never get old!

Ben and I tried to visit all our favorite locations: Donckers, Border Grill, Marquette Food Co-Op, NMU, Lil' Presque, Sugarloaf, Presque Isle, etc. 

We made multiple trips to Presque Isle!

We also visited the church we were married in and celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss!

Our pals, Elizabeth and Taylor got married! The boys had a pre-wedding huddle!

I thee wed!

YOU DID IT!!

There was a slight boat malfunction that was corrected with help from some wedding guests. (of course Ben helped too!)

The BEST guest "book." I seriously love this idea!

My old resident, Parker! He was one of my feisty kids when I was a Resident Adviser. Gave me some trouble but turned out alright... :)

Congrats Elizabeth and Taylor!

Their first day as husband and wife was spent rock climbing, cliff jumping and hiking! 

Ben and I left the group for a bit and found "our tree." The photographers took photos here on our wedding day. We have stopped at this tree twice since we left Marquette. 

Two days after the wedding we all got together at the newlywed's home to eat reception leftovers and to play a game. Ben made salsa to contribute to the lunch. 

On our hikes Ben and I found some blueberries! YUM!

Ben and I went for one last hike before we left Marquette. Right before we left we hiked Sugarloaf Mountain. 

Honestly for how busy the trip was, it was PERFECT! We did just about everything we wanted to do and accomplished what we set out to do - celebrate with our dear friends. And we did just that!

The Great Campout

Summer has been crazy busy and so much fun! One week in particular was extra fun!

June 12th/13th - James' was born

June 14th- we celebrated our anniversary 

June 16th- The Great Camp-Out

Justin and Tia along with Danny and Chelsea (we all went to High School together) went camping for a night. Ben was working so I took a day trip to camp with them in Climax, MI!

I arrived first and took a picture of the huge campsite. 

Justin pulled up in style... look how close he was to hitting the picnic table!

YIKES!! Skill or luck?

Our morning beverages. Can you guess which one is mine and which one is Justin's? Coffee or beer? 

We all have the same style blue chairs. Ben and I got ours 2 years ago! 

Danny and Chelsea brought their fur-child, Moose! 

He really was a good boy! 

Lunch: sandwiches, chips and watermelon. 

We went on a walk to check out the trails. They were narrow, filled with thorny plants (and poison ivy!), and all of them dead-ended. Not too exciting. 

The beach was filled with people and no dogs or alcohol was allowed so we went and hung out on the boat docks instead. Moose loved playing in the water and we loved watching him. 

Daddy Danny playing with Moose. 

This is how we traveled around the campsite. 

The twins preparing for our fishing trip!

Chelsea was clearly super excited! 

Yeah fishing! We had so much weight in the boat we were taking on water and the motor barely moved us!

It probably didn't help that Moose and his cage joined us, but we couldn't leave him out of the fun!

Chelsea's first fish. She caught two! 

Fishy Love!

My one and only little fish! (I've only been holding fish for a year! I am so cool!)

XOXO

Tia and I were bummed with our inability to catch fish. Only 4 were caught by the 6 of us!

Danny's big catch!

Moose wasn't as interested as I thought he would be. 

After fishing the boys cooked us dinner, Tia made us popcorn, we made some smores', had a few drinks and ended the evening around the fire. I headed home as the sun was setting and made it home to see Ben when he got home from work!

Thus ends photos from The Great Campout 2012!

Hi Ho It's off to Grand Rapids We Go!

We have made it to Grand Rapids!!

Friday I said goodbye to my student teaching classroom.
Sunday I said goodbye to my job at the zoo.
Tuesday Ben said goodbye to the Discovery Center and Boy's Ranch.
Wednesday we said hello to my parents!
Thursday morning we made a quick trip to the airport to visit with a friend for 30 minutes who was in town interviewing at a college in South Dakota.
Friday morning, 8am, we left our little apartment in Sioux Fall to travel to Grand Rapids!!
We stayed overnight in Illinois on Friday before completing our trip making it to Grand Rapids a little after 3pm on Saturday afternoon!


In a short amount of time we caught up with the Ben's family, some family in Holland and our best friends! 


Since arriving in Grand Rapids Ben and I have moved into the room that his older sisters shared when they lived here. Most of our belongings are in little pod type containers and were taken away. We have looked at one apartment and have others scheduled for this week. 


We were able to attend Raena's lacrosse game and then got a phone call from our friends who needed our help unexpectingly this evening. We live a life with no regrets and we enjoyed our time in Sioux Falls but we are so thankful to be here and so involved with their lives and happy to be back in Michigan! 

Lots of BIG news in a tiny post

Here is a tiny post of all the BIG things happening in our life...


1. Ben got a job in Grand Rapids, his dream job on a family-owned, organic farm learning all that he wants to learn! We are moving to GR in just a few days. This means living near our family and friends! 


2. I graduated college!! I am officially a college graduate. I was not able to make it back for the graduation ceremony but I had a wonderful graduation ceremony and party with my students, teacher and aide. 


3. The weather is beautiful! We kinda skipped Spring and jumped right into Summer. From rainy and 50s to sunny, hot and 80s! I haven't gotten out much to enjoy the weather but will be able to do so soon!


4. I am so excited for not only the changes happening in our lives but in the lives of all of my friends as I watch them preparing to graduate, searching for dream jobs, getting engaged, married, having children. Even though I am not able to be near all my friends I am thankful for things like Facebook and cell phones so I can keep up with everyone! 

A Wonderful Surprise!

We've been in the hotel since around noon today and well there is only so much you can do to occupy your time. Ben didn't bring much to do besides a book so he was feeling kinda antsy. He picked up a shovel and shoveled the sidewalk in front of the hotel. He has done this a couple times tonight because he was bored. 

While we were sitting in the lobby a woman came over and asked what room we were in. Ben and his dad went to the desk wondering if something was wrong. The desk receptionist was on the phone with her manager and told him about Ben. He said Ben deserves a free room! So... Ben's boredom got us a free room!!!! 

Minor Setback

Hello everyone,
This isn't the post I expected to be writing. I thought I'd be telling you about our apartment, about all the progress that we made unpacking everything and about the beautiful city of Sioux Falls. That post will have to wait until tomorrow because....


WE ARE STUCK IN BLUE EARTH, MINNESOTA! 


Just under six months ago Ben and I were arriving in Minnesota with new rings on our fingers and hearts so big we thought they'd burst at any moment. The weather was beautiful and our drive was filled with many little pit stops because we weren't in any sort of time crunch. 


Today we arrived in Minnesota with all of our belongings in a U-Haul and hearts saddened by our departure from the UP. The weather is.... AWFUL! I can't recall a time where the weather was this terrible. The wind, cold and snow can truly be defined as a BLIZZARD! 


We are about 130ish miles from Sioux Falls. We were forced off the Interstate when it was shut down and led us a city called, Blue Earth. We couldn't see a thing and all the roads are closed so the first hotel we found we reserved a room. 


We have been chilling in the lobby of this hotel chatting with others who are unexpectedly spending the night here too. A restaurant employee, mail man, and others have walked through the door and have added some excitement to this relaxing evening. I really feel like I'm in a Lifetime movie. A family stranded during the holidays in a hotel filled with all sorts of interesting characters to add some excitement to the plot. (Okay, maybe I've just been watching too many holiday movies on Lifetime...)


There have been a few varying weather reports so we don't know exactly what is going on. Some reports say that things should slow down late tonight and roads should be open in the morning and others aren't as optimistic. We'll see what happens but I know at some point we will be in Sioux Falls! 


Until then, keep us in your prayers!

The Start of Something New

We left Marquette today. Overall, the trip has gone well. Everything fit in the U-Haul, the roads have been clear and not a single snowflake was seen. 


We are staying in Lacrosse, WI for the night. We are leaving bright and early in the morning to finish up the drive. It is about 5 hours to Sioux Falls. We'll get there around lunch time and the unpacking fun will begin. Ben's parents will be leaving Sunday morning. 


It is so crazy to think that just yesterday I was relaxing in our apartment. 


We will not have internet for awhile but I'll be back to the blog world soon. 

Travel Update

I just talked to Ben. He went through quite a bit of bad weather including snow, snow/rain, and rain. He is almost into Michigan so he'll be home soon!

A Hunting We Will Go

Ben and Rich (one of our groomsman) have traveled out to Sioux Falls to look at apartments. 


Here was the original plan:
Thursday Ben drove to Rich's apartment in Minnesota.
Friday they spent the day looking at apartments and getting to know the town a bit.
Saturday, they were going to look at a few more places and Ben was going work on getting a job. Then they were driving back to MN to spend the night.
Sunday, Ben comes home.


BUT.. I am an IDIOT! I have a HUGE test tomorrow that will determine if I will get my teaching certificate. I need to show my license.. but I gave it to Ben along with our credit card in case he needed it for the application process.


So less than an hour ago I realized this and now Ben and Rich are on their way home right now so that I will have my license in time. 


This was such a silly move on part. The exam costs $75 and I have to take it here so I'd have to drive the 13 hours to get back here for a test that lasts about an hour. I'm thankful that things seem to be working out but I feel so terrible that Ben's weekend of SD stuff and hanging out with Rich is cut short.


BUT..
Ben made some serious progress on the apartment hunt. It looks like they have narrowed it down to house-type apartment that has 5 apartments in it. Ben wasn't able to get any pictures (he was going to do that tomorrow, Saturday, but now he can't) but he seems to be in love with it so I'm sure I will be too! 


Ben said they saw some pretty sketchy apartments today and some great ones that were just a tad bit expensive for our budget. Ben is going to create a sketch of the layout and I'll be sure to put it up when I get it. :) 


Pray for safe travels for Ben and Rich (they might run into a snowstorm in MN)!

We are in...

Minnesota!

Many of you guessed the correct state at one point or another.

1. Aunty Jodi and Uncle Steve

2. Uncle Tom

3. Tommy and Sandy

4. Aunt Addi

5. Aunty Lisa

We did not go to Canada, even though I feel like we are since their flags can be seen EVERYWHERE!

So the winner is...

AUNTY LISA with her guess, "will go with Grand Ely Lodge in Ely Minnesota."

Runner up is Tommy and Sandy because they were the first to guess the city we are honeymooning, "in Ely MN, near boundry waters."

The Grand Ely Lodge in Ely Minnesota is the perfect location for us! Beautiful sights, filled with outdoorsy activities and many awesome local shops and cafes. The resort itself is beautiful with the most amazing restaurant located inside (we've eaten there 3 times!!). We are pretty wiped out today. I think the lack of sleep we both encountered over the last two weeks has finally caught up with us. I slept for about three hours this afternoon and Ben is going on hour two. We needed to catch up on sleep and we figured our honeymoon was as good of time as any!

Keep checking the blog for updates on our honeymoon and post-wedding things, including pictures!

Thanks for playing the honeymoon game! Aunty Lisa, Tommy & Sandy - keep your eyes open for a prize being sent your way in about a week! :)

Love you all!

Mr. and Mrs. H

The LAST Clues!

We've decided we've agitated you all enough and we will be telling you where we are... tomorrow!

We will say this, someone has found us! They know EXACTLY where we are!

Here are a few more clues:

1. We were 2 feet away from 6 wolves today.

2. We are in the hometown of a famous conservationist. (one of the reasons Ben choose this place!)

3. We found our first two geocaches. Our username at geocaching.com is Journey612 but I'm not sure if that will help you find us. We are new to this after all!

Check back in tomorrow for the BIG REVEAL!!

Marriage and Honeymoon!

We are married!!

Jessica Hannink here with an update from the couple! :)

We turned in our wedding license today and it felt like a huge weight off our chests to have that turned in without a hitch. We also went through our cards last night and still can't get over how gracious everyone is and what amazing friends and family we have. We are in awe of how blessed we are!

We also had quite the fun time reading our guest book mad libs! Some were really heart warming while others had us crying with laughter!

A few pictures are showing up online and I can't wait to see the rest. From the pictures I've seen so far, this one is my favorite! :) Thanks Taj for taking such a fun picture!

We currently are sitting in our hotel room in our undisclosed location. We got quite the surprise when we found out that they upgraded our room (for free of course) and it now includes a jacuzzi in the room! They also greeted us with a sign and basket filled with goodies; etched wine glasses, local root beer, candle, and picture frame. It left us speechless and the ladies found our lack of communication quite humorous. We also have a nice porch outside our sliding door and there are picnic table located right outside along with some Adirondack chairs perfect for reading and relaxing!

Want to know where we are!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Here are a few clues!

We'll give three each day and if you think you've figured it out, let us know. :)

1. We are about 400 miles from Marquette.

2. Canoes are a very integral part of this area.

3. Moose, bears, ospreys and bald eagles can often be found roaming the land.

Come back tomorrow for more clues!

Ben picked a perfect spot for our honeymoon and I couldn't be happier. The resort is spectacular (more amazing than Ben imagined!). There are plenty of things to do if we want both indoors and outdoors! I wish we could stay longer! :)