Happy Birthday Carrie!

We celebrated Carrie's birthday last Tuesday. I since it was the second day of school we were unsure of what to do. So, our friends Melissa, Leslie, RheaAnne, and Whitney invited Carrie and me over to Leslie and RheaAnne's home for dinner and dessert! RheaAnne and Leslie were in charge of the meal and Whitney and Melissa were in charge of dessert. Dinner was great and dessert was fun! The chocolate chip cookies for dessert were fun from the beginning. Melissa and Whitney brought their rack from their oven over to Leslie's to finish baking all of the cookies. That is when we figured out that the ovens were different sizes! The rack would not fit in! When the cookies were finished we had a choice between softer ones or harder ones. Thank you for the birthday party girls. Carrie had a great time!

The first day of school. . .

Carrie's students: L-R top row: Sonnia (Austria), Luke (USA), Samuel (Austria), middle row: Askalech (Ethiopia), Anouk (Holland), Daniel (S. Korea), front row: Mekensie (USA), Joseph (India), Malaika (S. Africa), me!

Amanda's classroom - I've rearranged the desks already! They are now in a U formation. This makes it easier for me to get to each and every student.

Amanda's beautiful students! Say hello to L - R top row: Selvin (Philippines), Esther (S. Korea), Timmy (Austria), Julia (Poland), Me! (USA) front row: Andrew (Kenya), Levi (USA-Colorado), Frank (Holland), Uendjipa (Namibia), and Maria (India).

I thought these backpacks were interesting and very cute!

They are great kids!! I already love teaching them. I have a few chatter boxes but other than that we are doing wonderfully! It is exciting to share the love of Christ with these students on a daily basis. We are truly enjoying ourselves!

Our Apartment..

Here are some pictures of our apartment. Enjoy!

This is the view from our living room windows to the hof (courtyard) below.

Our tiny but cute kitchen!

Our "hallway" between the front door, living room, and bathroom.

Our living room windows and the TV. We were watching Miss Congeniality.

Our toilet room with a sink. Apparently it is uncommon to have a sink in the toilet room. We like it!

Our beautiful washing machine! It's bright but it does the job!

Our bathtub. It is quite tall. I feel like I need a stool to be able to get out of it!

Our tiny fridge. Isn't it cute!!

Amanda's bedroom

Carrie's bedroom

Mayonnaise and Mustard. . .

This is our mayonnaise and mustard. The mayonnaise tastes just like we're used to but all of the mustard is more like a brown mustard.

An Austrian Tradition

So, we had a staff picnic (inside because it was raining) and they gave all of the new staff these things that look like huge cones. Carrie and I believe they are called tutens (this is probably not spelled correctly or even the correct word but this is what we heard several people say). Anyway, these tutens are traditionally given to first graders on their first day of school. Inside could be anything but probably candy and some school supplies. These tutens remind Carrie and me of Easter baskets only for the first day of school. Inside of our tutens we had house slippers, a Milka candy bar, a Mozart ball, a ginger ale type soda, some egg noodles, baking soda, baking powder, italian dressing mix, a soup mix, and some wafer candy that tastes like hazelnut. It was a wonderful suprise and fun to open!

Our first official mail from a dear friend!

Our friend Jennifer has the official title of first mail sender to our Vienna address!! It was wonderful to open the mail box and see a letter written in English and actually addressed to us!!! It was fun to read the postcard and letter inside. They made us laugh, cry and miss her even more. They were a wonderful highlight to our tired day!

Internet is here!!

I am excited to report that internet has been installed in our apartment!! This is certainly an answer to prayer! I prayed that internet would be installed by the end of the week and it was! I am excited to report that I was able to call my family and we had long conversations! It was wonderful! Our microphone doesn't seem to be working so I think that we will have to investigate the possibilities of purchasing a new one. UGH!! We'll see if we can get away from school before the electronic stores close on Monday.

So, here are some pictures. Enjoy!
Our U-bahn stop

On our way to IKEA on the bus

Another view of the bus

Please Pray!

Hello faithful prayer partners and financial supporters!

Carrie and I are doing well. We are setting up our classrooms this week, and we’ve been putting in many hours getting them ready. The first day of school is quickly approaching as school starts next Monday (August 25).

We have been having meetings every morning and in one of these meetings we found out that the Austrian Government has just raised the amount that foreigners have to have coming in so they can stay in the country. Well, this amount is not encouraging but I know that the Lord has his hand on the whole situation and He will provide. We currently have to prove that we are raising $2,400 per person per month to make visa requirements. This is a $300 increase from the original amount. So, this means that we are currently struggling financially and will go into debt with RCE (our sending agency) rather quickly. We really need your prayers and any ideas about where we can turn to raise the needed monthly support. We have already heard many stories about the ways that children’s lives were changed last year, and we are so excited to start our ministry this school year.

God Bless,
Amanda and Carrie

Hello from Vienna!!

Wow, I cannot believe that we are actually here! We arrived safely with all of our luggage. We had to literally run through the airport in Munich to make our flight to Vienna. It was a long run and interesting. Kind of like surprises around each corner! I never knew what to expect next.

We are just finishing our week of Vienna orientation. It works! I am confident about getting around Vienna, but I still need a bit of encouragment to order or buy anything. I kind of freeze when German comes out of their mouths and then I cannot remember what to say. I even ordered a sandwich at Spar (a grocery store) using a combination of German and Spanish. The lady looked at me a bit funny, but she understood what I said!! For that I was thankful! It is funny to me how I know I cannot use English so my back up language is Spanish and then I feel that Sign Language will come out.

Our apartment is nice. We love it and feel extremely safe here. We just purchased our beds yesterday and set them up today. It is wonderful to be able to say I have a bed and am not sleeping on the floor anymore. Our house is now starting to look like a home. We have a couch, table and chairs, beds, and shrunks (kind of like wardrobes).

We have our Austrian bank accounts, our cell phones (called a handy here), we've signed our rental contracts, we've registered our presence with the Austrian government, and registered our presence with the American Embassy in Vienna. That is a lot to get done but I am happy to get it all done. We still need to have the phone installed, internet hooked up, and get a yearly transportation pass. These things shouldn't take very long, but here in Austria things close early and are not open on Sundays so this hinders our process here a bit. I enjoyed having absolutely nothing to do after church on Sunday. It is a new concept to me that nothing is open on Sunday but I like it.

We've been walking everywhere. We anticipated this fact; however, our feet still hurt. Carrie's been wearing a pedometer the last few days, and for the last three days we walked over 18,000 steps. 10,000 per day is what is typically recommended, and is equal to roughly 5 miles. So, this means that we've been walking at least 9 miles each day. That's a lot, no wonder we're tired!

We will post interesting pictures soon. We forgot the camera! Sorry. Something to look forward to, I guess! Love you!

Leaving on a Jet plane and 1,000 letters!

So, today is the day we fly to Vienna! It seems hard to believe that the day has actually come. I never thought it would happen, but I am glad the Lord believes in us! We're currently sitting at the airport waiting and waiting. I can see our plane outside of the window (Well, I think it is our plane!). I am excited, nervous, and sad. These are a lot of confusing emotions all at once. I know this is what I am suppose to do, but it is honestly the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

1,000 Letters:
So, I (Carrie) had dinner with my grandparents last night. My grandma was telling me that when my grandpa was overseas with the army he sent his first letter to my grandma with an address where she could write to him. In that letter he jokingly told her that he expected to receive about 1,000 letters from her. My grandma tried to do just that. She numbered every letter she sent, and over the two years that my grandpa was gone she said that she thinks she sent about 600 letters. So, I've decided to do the same for my grandparents. I want to send 1,000 letters or emails to them. So far I've sent two. We'll see how many I can send!

We'd also love to receive any email or mail from you. If you feel are interested let us know and we can give you our personal email addresses or our physical address in Vienna. We hope to hear from you soon!

It is official!

Carrie and I received the official phone call today stating that even though we are not 100% monthly funded we are going to be allowed to go to Vienna!!! We will have to meet with the business manager periodically to discuss our support until we reach 100%. Please pray that we are 100% funded by Christmas so the school will not have to post our positions. We officially leave DIA at 2:00pm Thursday afternoon. We will have a short layover in Munich and then we will fly to Vienna. God Bless!

A few things we've learned while on this journey. . .

1. God is certainly faithful regardless of how we may mentally limit Him.
2. Life goes by very quickly when all you want it to do is slow down!
3. I really despise packing and moving!!
4. Never stick you name badge in a time card machine. It will eat it and you will never see it again!
5. You really do not completely understand how much you will miss something or someone until you don't see them on a daily basis.
6. We take many things for granted and do not realize it.
7. If you ever call the MOT shipping/freight company ask for Cinderella. She apparently is a real person. I left a message for her. I wonder if Belle or Snow White were also available. =)
8. Saying goodbye is really, really hard but necessary.
9. There is a lot that needs to be done before a person moves overseas.
10. When we tell people that we are going to be missionaries in Vienna, Austria some people think we are going to two places that are not Vienna, Austria. They are Venice, Italy and Australia. Unfortunately we will not be going to either of these locations, but maybe we will visit both of these places some day!
11. Lufthansa Airlines customer service is extremely helpful!
12. We are leaving on July 31 and that is only 7 days away! It doesn't seem real!

Thank you for all of your continued prayers, encouraging words, and financial support. We appreciate you! We look forward to seeing you at the going away party on Tuesday. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we travel to Vienna on July 31. We leave around 2:00pm. Thank You!

Please pray for us

Carrie and I are making support calls this week. We have to know our final amounts by July 23rd. At this point Carrie and I are both around 100% for one-time (set-up) costs. This is amazing that we've made it so far!! I am proud of us!

Monthly Donations: We are currently at the point of departure and still need to raise of 27% (for Amanda)and 37% (for Carrie)in monthly donations. This is stressing us big time and we feel like we are climbing a huge mountain!

So, we are praying for a miracle and confident that the Lord will provide. We thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement. They mean a lot to us!!!

My Life as a Quaker Ridge Junior Camp Counselor!

Being a camp counselor is always the highlight of my summer and this summer was no exception. We had an amazing time getting to know the Lord better. The 7 girls in my cabin ranged in age from 9 - 11. It was fun to see them all interact with one another and bond as a cabin group. They all looked out for each other and loved learning about the beatitudes! Many of them already knew them as they had to learn Matthew 5:1-12 in third grade! They enjoyed reiterating all that they have learned and tried to go deeper with their understanding of what each beatitude means. Something important that I've learned this year. . . never start your week as a counselor completely exhausted!!! The girls loved to run everywhere they went and they also enjoyed laughing and giggling until very late into the night (apparently it is even more fun when the lights are turned off!!!). Thank you for all of your prayers. We had a wonderful time!!

Amanda's Cabin of beautiful girls!!

Aren't they cute? I'm not quite sure why they are dancing but I thought it was cute!!


Carrie's cabin of beautiful girls!!!

Tired but Happy!

Hello all! Carrie and I have arrived back in Colorado after a two week training in Houghton, New York! It was amazingly encouraging. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is preparing to go overseas. It prepares you in ways you cannot imagine. It also gives you more encouragement than you ever knew you needed!=) We've bonded with the other new members of the VCS (Vienna Christian School) team. God has called some amazing people to serve at VCS. I am honored to say that I am a VCS staff member. It is amazing to think that there are many, many more people at VCS patiently waiting for our arrival. I can only imagine how wonderful these people will be as well!!!


We have a few things to update you on. First, I am feeling a ton better. Many of you may not have known that I caught a cold that seemed to go to my lungs rather quickly while I was away. I was certainly glad I had people praying for me and that I had my inhaler! Second, thanks to Carrie's mom, our boxes arrived at the warehouse and were accepted. The school was able to get the shipping company to delay the boat until all of the boxes arrived. Merlin had to repack most of the boxes as they were completely beat up. Thank you Merlin for all of your hard work. We appreciate it. I have a cute story about the shipping company and a a few strange names if anyone wants to hear it! Third, we have to report our final support amounts around July 23. You do not necessarily need to send in the money right now, but you certainly can if you would like. We mainly need you to send in the commitment cards with the amount you would like to contribute. We are very close to our goal on one-time gifts (set-up) costs so we are concentrating on monthly pledges. We need a miracle, but I know this is where the Lords wants us and he will miraculously provide!! Thank you for your prayers!!

Now off to our next adventure . . . camp counselors!! This is always the highlight of my summer!! I love ministering to children and being at camp is an awesome way to do that!!! We will be at camp from Sunday, July 6th until Thursday, July 10th. Please pray for strength to make it through the time at camp. Pray for the lives of those kids we will be ministering to. This time at camp is more valuable than anything else I can think of.

Niagara Falls!!

I have always wanted to go here and it was very neat aside from the down pour while on Goat Island. The falls are magnificent and very loud! We were able to take a boat ride into the falls and that was even more wet and loud!! It was amazing to see God's wonderful creation up close and personal. Carrie and I walked around the entire American side of the falls, but we did not have enough time to go to the Canadian side of the falls. That was okay with us as we were pretty tired from walking around in the rain to view the entire American side. We were kind of happy that we did not have enough time to make it to Canada since it seemed that the walking was even more and my asthma was acting up because of my cold. So, here are some of the pictures. It was a good break from the endless seminars that we had been going to up until then.

Letchworth Park

While at PFO we were able to take an evening and go to Letchworth State Park. I didn't know what it was but I was told that there was a waterfall there so I was game!! It turns out that Letchworth State Park is about 15 minutes from the Houghton Campus and it is absolutely beautiful. There are canyons and several waterfalls! Everything is so green here. That's probably because it seems to rain every afternoon! Part of the park was called the "Grand Canyon of the East." It was absolutely beautiful.

Here we come!!!

This is a picture of all of the new staff members at VCS this year!! We are going to be working with some wonderfully amazing people who are all leaning on the Lord just like we are. It has been wonderful to be at PFO (training) and be able to get to know the people who we will be living with and working with on a daily basis.

First Grade!

I am so excited to report that I will be teaching 1st grade at VCS. Until I came to Pre-Field Orientation training, I thought that I would be teaching kindergarten next year. However, since the new elementary principal is also here he met with all of the new elementary staff. He said that the 1st grade teacher was not returning next year and that position is now open. I jumped at the opportunity to work with this grade as I know that I'll enjoy this age even better than kindergarten. It worked out well, as there is another teacher here who didn't know what she would be teaching next year, but she has taught eight years of kindergarten and loved it. So, we are both thrilled with our new assignments! ~Carrie

Shipping Dilemmas!!!!

So, we received word that our boxes were refused at the warehouse in New Jersey. This was frustrating and brought a few tears. We called FedEx to see what the problem was. They told us two things. 1. The warehouse said that they could not accept the packages. 2. They (FedEx) could not relabel the boxes and send them again to the warehouse. So, 14 out of 18 boxes have arrived back in Colorado and 4 seem to be missing. They'll probably arrive soon enough, but who knows at this point!

When we arrived at PFO (training) in Houghton, New York, we were surprised to discover that every single person (from Vienna Christian School) that sent their boxes to the warehouse had them refused and sent back to their homes. So, that is where we are right now with the boxes. We are waiting on the people at Vienna Christian School to come to a decision with the shipping company at the warehouse to refund everyone their money and get the boxes in the container by next Friday. So, please pray that all shipping problems will be solved and our boxes can be shipped and make it to the container on time!!!