Merry Christmas - 2010

JESUS

He came not to a throne..

but to a manger

He lived not as a king...

but as a servant

He choose not an earthly kingdom....

but a cross

He gave not just a little....

but EVERYTHING

~Holley Gerth

What can we say about the year 2010? I think the word that really represents this year is CHANGE! We left you last year with us trying to sell our home in Michigan and awaiting a move to Missouri. Well, that all happened and here is this year's story:

ALMOST 2010 ;) - December 2009:

Brian had his 10 year reunion for the Macomb Mathmatics Science Technology Center. We were able to see many of his friends - that he is still good friends with today :)

Travis & Megan, Christy & Brian - Travis was a groomsman in our wedding

Brian & Natalie

Brian & Andy - another groomsman in our wedding

Christy, Brian & Andrea

We had such a good time catching up with you all!

JANUARY:
We rang in the new year with our dear friends in Missouri. We played games, ate yummy food and we also got to celebrate their daughter's 4th birthday! We got her this great toy - she can bake cookies now - without the oven :)
At the end of January, Christy's Grandma Helen passed away. It was a very sad time - and Grandma Helen will be missed! (this was taken at the last visit we had with her - she is holding Molly - Amanda's daughter)
At Grandma's funeral, we were finally able to see Christy's brothers - Daniel, John & Paul. Heather was able to drive up from North Carolina to be there. We actually got a picture of all of the "Marble" kids - something that doesn't happen very often!

Back Row: Christy (27), Leslie (19), Tom Jr (25), Matt (23), Daniel (17), Middle Row: Paul (11), Heather (21), Amanda (29), Front Middle: John (14).

FEBRUARY:
February started off with Christy attending her very first Pampered Chef conference, and she loved every second of it. She got to see all the new products that came out March first and meet many more consultants who love the business as well. Christy is still selling Pampered Chef and loves it! Please let her know if you would ever like to host a party or would like some free products :) Her website is: www.pamperedchef.biz/cmsal if you would like to check out the products!

Christy traveled to Missouri over Valentines weekend to visit Brian and we actually got to spend our FIRST VALENTINES DAY together - EVER!! Brian took Christy to a charming little restaurant in the little town of Hermann, Missouri More about Hermann in August :) We had a great time reconnecting :)

The beautiful flowers Brian sent Christy at work

At the end of the month, Brian's Mom and very good friends had a going away party for Christy (Brian would have been invited if he had been around!) All the girls got together to gab and see each other one last time - we had alot of fun!!

L-R: Lori, Sharon, Christy, Tammy, Kala, Chris, Diane, Mickey & Norene
They gave us a huge basket of all of our favorite Michigan products - such a sweet gift - that was throughly enjoyed!

MARCH:
The first weekend in March was Christy's last trip to visit Brian in Missouri (YAY!) During her long weekend there she was able to catch up with some great friends and meet some new ones!
L-R: Elizabeth, Lora, Anna, Christy, Amy & Rachel
Shortly after our party Anna and her family left for Uganda to be Missionaries there! It was such an honor to get to know her better and see her love and passion for sharing the message of Jesus with others. (It was great seeing the other girls too, not just Anna! LOL!)

To make the big move easier, Christy shuttled the truck back to Michigan to give us a little more room. However, on the trip back, she got into an accident in Anderson IN and the truck was out of commission for a month and a half. To make it back, she had to rent a car that is even smaller than the Cobalt, sufficiently foiling our plan.

MARCH 18th - MOVING DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!

The moving company showed up BRIGHT & EARLY and started packing up our house - we are STILL in awe of how fast they packed everything! It was a very "easy" move, watching them pack all of our items as we sat on the couch and read or played around on the computer.

Before/During the move:

We forget how big the house really was until everything was gone!

The kitchen was the last room that we had items in - and had to pack some of those items ourself.

Amanda & Molly came to say goodbye to us the last day we were there - this is Molly saying goodbye to Uncle Brian.

Saying goodbye to the house was bittersweet. We were so ready to "be married" again, but at the same time the house is where we fell in love, had our first kiss, Brian proposed out by the pond, and where we started our married life together - I think we both shed a tear or two.

We hit the road bright and early on March 20th and drove through snow in Michigan, spring time in Indiana, and more ice and snow in Missouri! It was quite a trip! But we made it safely and were able to unload the rental car into the apartment that Brian was living in - we called it the "Ugly Centralia Apartment" (you'll see the pics) but truly we were VERY thankful for a FREE apartment for 6 months! Although when the time came to move we were ready!

The Living Room:

The Kitchen:

The bathroom was the worst - they even wallpapered the back of the door! So funny!!

Christy's Birthday was the week after we moved - our good friends drove up from Springfield to celebrate with us - it was also their son's birthday - we had a blast with them :)

Our friends at the Les Bourgeois A-Frame lookout over the Missouri River - gorgeous views here!

APRIL:

Not much happened in the month of April - it was a lot of adjusting to living together again! We also drove to Indiana to get the truck back!

Christy held her first Pampered Chef show for a bunch of Brian's co-workers. We had fun making & eating a delicious Trifle as well as meeting new friends!

On Good Friday we looked at a BUNCH of rentals in Columbia and actually found our Condo that day! We were very excited for May 1st to come around so we could move in!

MAY:

May 1st we got the keys to our condo and on May 4th the moving company arrived with all of our stuff - YAY!!! They unloaded all of our items and dragged our VERY VERY HEAVY sectional upstairs into Brian's man land.

The driver got the truck stuck about 3 times trying to get to our front door:

Christy spent the rest of the month moving everything in and unpacking - along with downsizing since we realized we didn't have as much storage as we thought! There are STILL boxes in the garage to be unpacked!

Our New Place:

Kitchen:

Downstairs Living Room:
Downstairs Living room looking towards the kitchen:

The Master Bedroom:

The "Man Land" upstairs - Brian decorated it all himself - Christy actually thinks it looks good ;)

The Guest room - or better known as "Norene's Room" - This is upstairs:

We also have an office that isn't pictured :)

Brian's Birthday was May 10th - He came home to dinner on May 7th to his favorite coney's from National Coney Island in Michigan. Christy had them delivered for his birthday - it totally surprised him -something that she isn't very good at doing!

At the end of May, we jumped on a plane and headed to Pittsburgh to go to a wedding for one of Brian's college friends. We planned a "mini-vacation" while we were there and did some sight seeing. Christy had never been to Pittsburgh before so it was a totally new experience for her.

Us in front of PNC Stadium

The Happy Couple - Dan & Michele Birenbaum!!

Christy & the Bride

Brian & His college friends: Kevin, Brian, Dan & Mike

The ladies: Becca, Elizabeth & Christy

Brian, Mike, Becca, Elizabeth & Kevin - Elizabeth & Kevin are getting married next year - we are looking forward to their wedding!

Dan & Michele under the Chuppah

JUNE:

June 5th - The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals - and we were there to witness it :) We used the tickets that Christy bought Brian for his birthday to attend the game. We had a lot of fun cheering on our Tigers - and especially enjoyed looking smug walking to our car after the game :)

The second weekend in June we decided to try our hand at camping here in Missouri - something we won't do again unless it's in February or November! We were really shocked that the different tempatures from Michigan camping to Missouri camping! it was VERY VERY VERY HOT and muggy the entire trip - it didn't cool down! We had fun though - but we didn't take any pictures - imagine that..... While we were there we visited the Ha Ha Tonka State Park and did a bit of impromptu hiking :) The state park has beautiful views and some fun history.

The end of June brought our second anniversary and since we really didn't do anything special for our first anniversary we decided to do something SUPER special for number two!

We headed to St. Louis for the weekend and stayed at an AMAZING bed & breakfast - The Fleur-de-Lys Mansion. The B&B was amazing - we loved staying there and felt SO SO pampered - if you are ever wanting to stay at at B&B in St. Louis this is the place to stay! The food was amazing - and the entire atmosphere was very romantic!

Our Room: seriously the best bed ever!

We toured the Anheuser-Busch Brewery - and got to see their famous Clydesdale's - they were amazing to look at!! They were HUGE - some over 7 feet tall!

We also visited the Missouri History Museum and got to learn A LOT about the World's Fair in 1904.

Brian trying out an old telephone!

One of the things we did to celebrate our anniversary was see "Wicked"; it was such a great musical. We loved it!

Wicked was performed at the Fox Theater in St. Louis - Brian thinks the one in Detroit is better.

After the play we went to a little restaurant called "The Fountain on Locust" they serve really really good food - and the worlds smallest sundae - as you can see Brian was enjoying below!

The next day we headed over to see the Science Center. We checked out all of the displays including the "Real Pirates" exhibit. We enjoyed learning more about a pirates life and the untold story of the Whydah.

To continue our obsession with Triple D - we were able to cross two more restaurants off our list! Iron Barley - which we weren't too crazy about and Sweetie Pies - which was AMAZING!!! Totally worth waiting in line for close to an hour to get in!

On June 28th was our actual anniversary - Brian brought these flowers home for Christy before we headed out to CC's City Broiler for dinner. Brian enjoyed his 20oz ribeye so much so that he finished it the next day.

JULY:

The 4th of July brought Norene & John for their first visit - sadly we didn't take many pictures - but in this one you can tell John & Brian are brothers huh? ;)

Norene & John were only down for a few days so we didn't do a lot of sightseeing. We did attend the "I Love America" Festival at the Fair Grounds and then came home and made ICE CREAM - as you can see below!

The following week Christy attended the Pampered Chef National Conference in Chicago. There were over 6.000 consultants in attendance. Christy learned MANY new tools and ideas for her business and was very excited to get back to Missouri and put them to good use. While she was there, she got to visit Navy Pier and go for a boat ride on Lake Michigan to watch the firework display over the city.

A view from the boat:

The end of July we decided to check out the Boone County Fair. Let's just say it made the Imlay City Blueberry Festival look REALLY good.... We missed attending the Armada Fair and the Eastern Michigan Fair.

While at the fair we did see some pretty things - Christy really liked these pillows:

This wreath was made out of corks - so neat looking!

AUGUST:

The first week of August Norene & John came down for their second visit - this time getting to stay and visit for an entire week instead of just a few days! Sadly, Brian had to work while they were here - but Christy had an entire week of sightseeing planned for them!

On Monday we bummed around Columbia MO. We ended at the mall where Christy found a coffee cup with her name spelled CORRECTLY on it! She didn't buy it because it wasn't a "Michigan" mug :)

We also stopped by Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium and John had to get his picture taken:

Tuesday we headed to Hermann Missouri (mentioned in February) We toured a few different wineries, had a beautiful picnic lunch and then on our way back to Columbia we stopped at 'Artichoke Annies" a HUGE flea market!

These pictures were taken at Stone Hill Winery:

Barrels of wine in the making:

The Vineyards: In a cellar:

On Wednesday, we headed to St. Louis. We toured the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, The City Museum, The Arch, and the Museum under the Arch. We had lunch at the Fountain on Locust.

The City Museum - if you look closely you'll see a BUS hanging off the roof - along with a HUGE "jungle gym" type climbing structure that actually goes through all 10 stories of the building - such a great place - especially if you have kids!

These bugs were SERIOUSLY huge!

John eating the worlds smallest Sundae at The Fountain :)

A picture of the Arch - turned out pretty good for a cell phone picture!

A quote from the museum under the arch - good words to live by.

On Thursday we went to Arrow Rock MO - unfortunatly this is a town that really "booms" on the weekend - but not so much during the week. The hours on some of the businesses read "If you catch us we're open, and on weekends" - too funny! We also headed to Rocheport MO. We had lunch at the Trailside Cafe & Bike Shop and then enjoyed looking through all the antique shops in town.

In one of the little shops someone had carved all of these AMAZING trucks, tractors and other little gadgets!

We then walked part of the Katy trail that runs through Rocheport - we got to see & walk through this amazing tunnel that was actually quite cool despite the heat!

John standing in front of the "other" entrance to the tunnel:

On Saturday, Christy had a Pampered Chef event to attend so Brian took Norene & John to Jefferson City and they toured Jefferson Landing, the Capitol Building, and the Missouri State Museum. Afterwards they went to Prison Brews for lunch. A good time was had by all. Christy then met them and they headed to Central Dairy for some delicious ice cream!

That night we all attended The Columbia Farmer's Market "Taste of the Market" it was a fundraiser to help build a pavilion. We had SO much fun. They had a "Iron Chef" competition between 3 chefs in Columbia - it was so much fun to watch!

This is the Chef from Les Bourgeois (Christy actually emailed them and asked for the recipes - they looked delicious - she still hasn't made them -oops!)

SEPTEMBER:

We had another holiday wedding, this time Labor Day. Christy's cousin Tiffanie was getting married in Fenton, MI. We flew up early so we could celebrate Norene's birthday.

Norene & her boys after we had dinner at Hamblin Pub - slightly ironic that Brian is wearing a Michigan shirt and lives in Missouri, and John is wearing a Mizzou shirt and lives in Michigan ;)

The wedding was beautiful - and it was great to see family we hadn't seen in a while!

Mr & Mrs. Jacob Champine!!

Heather flew up from North Carolina for the wedding - she is looking so cute - Heather & Howie are expecting a little Girl - Evielyn - the beginning of January:

Most of the "Marble" girls - we missed Leslie!!

Top Row: Amanda, Dianna, Bottom row: Heather, Autumn, Christy

Tiffanie & Jake had a photo booth at the reception - here the pictures of us:

And the girls:

Since everyone was in town the girls decided to throw Heather & Evielyn a baby shower:

Amanda made the lovely (and yummy!) cake.

After a VERY lengthy process we finally decided on Grace Bible Church as our church home - and we couldn't be happier. The people there have been so welcoming and friendly towards us!

The second week of September, Brian started an 8 week class to learn how to weld. The class met three nights a week from 6-9pm, after Brian worked a full day. There were some long days and a lot of coffee.

The same week Christy started a women's Bible study called "One in a Million" by Priscilla Shirer. The Bible study was different than other studies that she has participated in the past. She very much enjoyed the group of women that she met.

Towards the last week of September Christy & Brian both joined the Church's Christmas production. Christy was in the choir and Brian was in the drama. He also helped build the set - more on that in December.

OCTOBER:

Christy drove up to Michigan for several Pampered Chef parties. On the way, she received a call that her Grandpa Joe had passed away. Christy was able to attend his visitation and see her younger brothers.

This is one of the last pictures we have of Grandpa Joe - He will be dearly missed.

Some of the Marble Siblings: Amanda (30), Daniel (17), Leslie (20), Paul (almost 12), John (15) Christy (28)

For Sweetest Day, Brian got Christy flowers. He has a new go-to flower shop in Hallsville, Addie Jane's Originals. If you are ever in Hallsville, look them up. Mostly to get directions, since you are probably lost.

Christy started to nanny for a little boy named Maclin. For all of you Mizzou fans, he is NOT named after the former Tiger wide receiver.

On a bittersweet note, the transmission on Brian's truck self-destructed. After some discussion, a new-to-us vehicle was located so Brian could get to and from work. We welcomed a 2008 Dodge Charger to our vehicle fleet.

We will miss the truck - like our house, the truck played a huge part in our dating relationship :(

Hello new car! And yes, now Christy has a new car to tote all of her Pampered Chef items around in - much easier than the Cobalt!

On the last weekend of the month, we went to our first Halloween party as a couple, hosted by Keith and Donna, who lived downstairs from us in the apartment in Centralia. Hopefully you can tell that we were Fred & Wilma Flintstone! Christy made both of our costumes. She did Brian's costume freehand and it turned out REALLY good; she used a pattern for hers and it turned out ummm....not so well.

Brian is carving a pumpkin for our front porch - you can tell he really enjoyed it!

He did a good job!

NOVEMBER:

Christy held her second annual Pampered Chef Christmas Open House and several people from church showed up along with one of our neighbors. Brian was a huge help in taking orders and making sure every guest was greeted with a smile.

Norene & John were able to drive down and spend Thanksgiving weekend with us. Thankfully Brian & John didn't fight like this the entire weekend ;)

Even though the girls did beat them in our Hand and Foot card game :)

Christy cooked up Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. The menu included turkey (of course), homemade stuffing, sweet potatoes, red smashed potatoes, salad, pumpkin pie, blueberry cream cheese pie, pecan tassies and punch. We were able to enjoy dinner with Norene & John and new friends Sam, Emily & Ethnie. After dinner we played some games, ate some dessert and had an all around good time.

Christy drug Brian, Norene & John to all the Black Friday sales - She & Norene had fun, the verdict is still out on the guys. Although they enjoyed watching a lady try to back out of a parking spot at Menards. They are pretty sure she is still there trying to back out. As a reward for being good, Christy & Norene took Brian & John out for breakfast at Lucy's Corner Cafe.

DECEMBER:

The first weekend in December, Brian and Christy both performed in the church musical "I'll Be Home for Christmas" Brian helped with set design and construction - he made these amazing signs:

He made a total of 6 signs - 2 each of On Air, Laughter and Applause. He also made the controls for them. The musical was set in 1941 right before the bombing in Pearl Harbor, and a big part of the musical was the main characters listening to the radio. Brian also was a performer for three radio skits including Fibber McGee, The Shadow and the narrator for the Lone Ranger. Christy was one half of the altos! We did a total of 3 shows at the church - the auditorium was packed for each show. Brian was also able to be part of a special show at a local retirement community.

The Radio Cast

Brian in the radio booth

So as you can see we've had a lot of changes this year - and we've survived! Thank you for your prayers and support this past year. We hope to see many of you while we are in Michigan for Christmas. If you ever find yourself in Mid-Missouri please stop by and say hello! (we have a guest room!!)

As we go into this Christmas season, we hope you stop and pause to remember what this holiday is really about - The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came to earth to save each of us from our sins so that we one day can go to heaven and live with Him. We hope that each of you are truly seeking to have a personal relationship with Him. He loves and cares for YOU!

Please feel free to leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing! (if you don't have a gmail account or a blogger account you can leave an anonymous comment - just leave your name so we know who it's from!)

We hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!

With Much Love,

Brian & Christy Msal