WER

Today I am heading to Indianapolis to attend WER. As busy as I've been these past few months (maybe even years) I wasn't looking forward to leaving AGAIN, but now that today is finally here, I'm excited! I've made so many friends throughout the state of Indiana that I can't wait to see. Our Central Baptist Church ladies are going to be there. Our new Barrington Ridge Baptist Church ladies are going to be there. I also get to serve with the Indiana pastor's wives by decorating for their breakfast. God really took me out of my comfort zone when Diana Davis asked me to decorate, but I'm really glad she did. I'm heading out today with my van full of decorations and my bags packed. I'll have lots of pictures to share when I return!

One More Thing Marked off the List

We have lived here in Paoli for about five winters now and have NEVER been to Paoli Peaks. The house that we own was built by the man who built the Peaks so his wife emails me every season asking if we've been and usually offering us next to free tickets.

Well, tonight Kenny Harkness called and invited us for "employee" night. I guess if you work there you can get a certain number of people in for (are you ready?) $1 each instead of $20 each (tubing). Hello a dollar!....yes, we went and had a blast. My first time down the hill was a bit scary, but I went a second time just to see if I liked it. I still wasn't sure so I went inside for hot chocolate and pretty much decided I enjoyed watching the kids instead of joining in on the fun. Well....Mitch talked me into going again and again and again and again and by about the seventh time, I loved it. We stayed for several hours. The weather was perfect and the crowd was minimal. Thanks for the invite Kenny!

Here are Lindsay and Mindy getting ready to go.

Here's a view from the top....you FLY down those hills because they're icy from all of this bad weather we've had. The employees said that this is the fastest the hills have been since they opened. Go figure....on the night I'm there:o).

And here's a view of Mitch coming down...FUN!! Oh, see those black mats? I tripped and fell on one of them. I looked around to see who saw me and I was safe...it was just an employee that didn't know me. There were probably about 30 or more church members there with us.

A view from the top.

Last but not least, me and Mitch. Notice Mitchell posing at the last minute. He loves to get into our pictures.

If you get the chance...go tubing at Paoli Peaks. It's a blast!

Getting Caught Up

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but things have been busy here at the Whidden home. We decided to go and visit my mom during her radiation treatments to make sure she was doing okay so that was a quick trip to Florida and then today we had an auction along with several others to clean out our house before the big move. Tomorrow will be another busy day and then Friday I leave for Indianapolis and join over 700 other women from the state for a Women's Enrichment and Renewal conference. The insane thing is the fact that I'm decorating for the pastor's wives breakfast on Saturday in the midst of all of these other things we're doing.
Last Sunday was Mitch's last day as pastor of Central Baptist Church. After church on Sunday Roger Robinson came over to check out our "stuff" for auction and then informed us that the next one would be TODAY. So....on Monday we cleaned out every closet, room, and the garage to make sure we wouldn't miss the chance to get rid of things. Then we were planning on leaving on Tuesday morning for Florida, but on Monday I found those great deals on plane tickets so we had to start the morning at 3:30 after a long day and night.
As you can see by the picture below, it wore the kids out.

Michael took this great picture of us coming into Florida.

This is at the Sarasota airport. Michael is the poser of the family.

Mitchell decided to serenade the crowd while we were waiting to get our rental car.

Like I said in an earlier post....our first stop was Brownville Park. Michael caught this fish....ha! If you take a close-up, it appears bigger. The funny thing of his whole excitement for fishing is only in catching the fish. He does not want to touch it afterwards. Mitchell had to coach him on the technique of getting the fish off of the hook.

After a few days we visited a place that we lived close to for years and never really visited....Putt Putt Golf.

We were BURNING up, but it was beautiful!

Oh yeah....Hole in One for ME!!!!

After our 18 holes of golf we went to my favorite place....the bridge. I used to walk this bridge on a regular basis when we lived here. I love it!

Oh, and I have to tell you that instead of spending money on eating out, I cooked EVERY meal, everyday....that gave us some extra spending money for other things. Mom enjoyed the food each night too.

We spent four hours on the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor and got completely burned. We had no idea the sun was frying us so much. Here's Mitchell on the front of the boat as we're coming back in for the day.

Michael caught two fish while we were out. He's the fisherman of the family. This one was a little bigger, but we still threw it back.

Here's my mom and Linda (the one I told you all about in one of my posts) down at Brownville Park.

Mindy's absolute favorite thing to do....the rope swing. She loves them!

On Saturday evening we went to Mitch's sister Pam's for dinner. All of our nieces and nephews came over and it was a great visit. We're not used to seeing them in Florida now that they own a home here in Indiana.

Here's the whole bunch!

Sunday we visited the first church that Mitch pastored. My mom joined us...

She is halfway through her radiation treatments. Please continue to pray for her.

Lovely

Here we all are. I need to find some pictures of us in this same pose about ten years ago. Believe it or not, Mitchell did use to be shorter than us.

And guess what we found as soon as we arrived back at the Indianapolis airport.....You guessed it....SNOW! And it's been snowy ever since. Oh well, at least we have pictures of sunshine. :o)

House Hunters!!

Let me start by saying that this is my 200th post since I began blogging in August. Who would have thought that I have that much to say on a daily basis....(I know that some of you can't wait to comment on that comment).

One of my (and Mindy's) favorite things to do while traveling is watch HGTV. It's always a battle of the remote when we stay at a hotel with "real" cable. The boys always want to watch something like Survivor Man while we girls want to watch something like House Hunters or Jon and Kate Plus 8 (Have you seen that on TLC....I love it). Anyways, last night we were watching House Hunters at my mom's and I thought about some of the places we've looked at to purchase in NW Indiana. I think I may like to go on that show and choose my house. Let me tell you, it's not an easy job. So far we've looked at about ten houses, but I'd like to share three of them with you today.....Just like House Hunters.

I actually thought the houses would be a little more expensive since we're moving so close to Chicago, but they're actually not too bad.

House #1: I wanted to like this older cute little house, but it just didn't do anything for me. It's pretty dated and small. Pros: great price, fenced yard, and close to church. Cons: older dated home, in older neighborhood with small houses, and upstairs bedrooms have low ceilings (I feel like a giant).

House #2: I really thought that this could be "the house" the first time we went to look at it, but after my second trip, I don't think it's the one. Pros: Great back yard, all four bedrooms upstairs, and completely renovated....with granite counters. Cons: On a busy street, built in the 1960's, and downstairs laundry in unfinished basement (not good in the winter). I do really like this house though.

House #3: Mitch and I (and Shaun, Beth, and Mindy) LOVED this house. This may even be "the house," but we're going to keep looking just to make sure. This house is in the neighborhood behind our new church so the location is exactly what we want. Pros: Newer four bedroom house, fenced yard for Suzy and Sallie, above ground pool (especially for Mindy), great kitchen, great bathrooms, GREAT house. The cons: Close to neighbors, barking dog next door, and it's at the top of our price range (we think).

So there you have it...three houses that we've considered. Which one do you like best?

Day 2: Florida

Well, yesterday was a little cool for this area....so says my mom. We spent the morning unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, and checking the fridge before heading to the store. When I asked the kids what they'd like to do they all mentioned Disney World. Of course that was not an option so I suggested Brownville Park (again) and they were excited about that. Let's see, $500 for Disney or FREE for Brownville Park.....sounds like a no-brainer to me. Mitch said that the excitment for Disney was a ten and the excitement for Brownville was about a nine so we were all happy. As we were driving down to the river, I called my mom to have her meet us there after school and she said, "It's too cool to go down there today." Are you ready for this Indiana friends.....????? It was 71 degrees....ha! Too cool. I should have sent her those pictures of the ice storm last week....."too cold".....whatever!!! On our way down Mitch stopped at our old church to talk to the pastor. We decided to leave because we knew he would be awhile so off we went. Michael caught a fish within 2 minutes. I'll post it for you later. The kids went swimming, played on the tree rope, and I talked to a new friend. The deacon at our new church as a sister who camps at Brownville Park in the winter. Now let me tell you, there are only about 15 spots to camp there....what are the chances that it would be someone from NW Indiana and not only from NW Indiana but a sister of one of our new members? We actually camped there with them last March, but we didn't make the connection until Mitch preached a revival up north in October. It's a small world. Anyways, I sat on her porch and talked to her for quite awhile....the weather was beautiful!!!
I headed to Wal-Mart with mom after our little river visit mainly to purchase a cord for my camera, but once we got there I couldn't remember what I needed.....so I can't post any pictures yet, but I'll try to remember to get a cord today....
that is if I don't forget AGAIN. I need to leave one here since I seem to be coming every few months :o).
I'm not sure what our plans are for today, but I know we'll be warm whatever we're doing.
Thanks for the comments.....and Shannon thanks for posting....I REALLY appreciate it.

Sunshine....Beautiful Sunshine

Yesterday our family got out of bed at 3:30 a.m. and headed to Indianapolis airport to fly to Florida. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 a.m. and it was a two hour drive to the airport. As of Monday night we didn't even know if we were coming down to Florida and if so, we were planning on driving. That was until I found plane tickets for $80 each. You can't drive to Florida for that.....so off we headed at 4:00 a.m. There were a few obstacles in our way, but we managed to make the flight....we were the last ones on and the plane was kind of waiting on us, but we made it.
When we left Indianapolis the temperature was 11 degrees. When we arrived in Sarasota, the temperature was 71. I think my body was in shock. I blamed it on the lack of sleep, but I really think it was the temperature change. Our first stop after arriving at 9:15 a.m......Bob Evans for brunch. Our second stop after our bellies were full....Brownville Park. When we lived in Florida Brownville Park was just a small gravel road that went to a few picnic tables and the river. It was located right around the corner from our church so the kids used to love to go down and play in the water. Now Brownville Park is a small campsite with RV hook-ups and tent sites. It has restrooms and even a small shed that has water and snacks AND....the road is no longer rock...it's paved. We headed straight down there in our winter jeans and hoodies changed in the restroom and spent the afternoon watching the kids swim and fish. Mitch and I both had our Bibles out and I started a new study right there in the sunshine. I think I'm finally starting to thaw out!!!
Keep checking back for pictures....
I've already taken a bunch!!!
Oh, and post the temperature where you are if you get a chance.

Moving, Moving, and More Moving...

It's been an eventful weekend for the Whidden family. Friday night we packed up Mitch's office and loaded it in a trailer to take north. There was only one problem.....the spiral staircases. The books, shelves, desk, and everything else are HARD to get down those stairs. When we moved Mitch's office from the church building (for more education space) to the house, it would have been best to keep it OUT of the upstairs. Oh well, you live and learn!

Shaun and Beth went with us to our new church to drive the trailer and to help us pick out a house. It was a beautiful sunny day and there was NO wind. I think that was a first in all of my visits.

Several people from the congregation had just finished painting his new office so it worked out great. This side is the "meeting" side. He wanted it comfortable for people as they're being counseled or just visiting.

This other side is the "office" side. All of the books found their home and it's ready to go. All that we have to do is put the border up. The paint wasn't quite dry enough to do that on Saturday. They had a Lord's Supper border on the wall and Mitch said it was too formal for him. He asked for a border of little army men or hunting dogs. They went with books....which he loves!

Sunday was Mitch's last day as pastor at Central Baptist Church. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in that sanctuary. The balcony was full as well as folding chairs in the back. It was a great day.

Mindy was recognized with an AWANA trophy for completing all four books. She actually finished them all in less than two years. Way to go, Mindy!

Michael was awarded a ribbon for completing his first book. It was a Huge accomplishment for him.

With all of the junk we have, we decided to have an auction in Bedford at the armory. We don't have enough to have our own so they will combine our stuff with others that day. We also gave Pam and Gerald a house full of furniture for their new house up here.....and we still have a lot of stuff. Today we are boxing things up and sorting to see what goes and what stays with us. Whew....what a job!

Kevin came over to help load the trash. I'm not sure how we end up with so much. I do know that when we purchased this house the former owners left ALL of their garage stuff....so we had double the stuff to go through.

Look at what I found in the trash pile: Memories....That prevents me from accomplishing more than I do. I like to look through things.

While we had our excitement in our yard, the neighbors were having some excitement of their own. This truck got stuck delivering materials for the new house and it took them hours to get it out.

That's about it from my end. I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be doing over the next few weeks with all that's going on, but I'll try to post when I get a chance.

Things are rolling.....now all we need is a buyer for this house!

You Gotta Love Valentine's Day

I remember as a teenager thinking, "Even after I'm married I want my husband to do special things for me on Valentine's Day." About a year into our marriage I can remember saying, "Please don't spend any money, I don't need or want anything." Things really change once you start paying the bills.

Our very first Valentine's Day as a married couple, Mitch had just gotten out of boot camp at Paris Island. We got each other all kinds of cute little things. By our second Valentine's Day we had Mitchell and he was only two weeks old. The last thing on my mind was Valentine's Day or gifts (I was thinking SLEEP), but Mitch did get me some flowers and balloons. I have a picture of Mitchell with his eyes wide open looking at the balloon. From there things went in an interesting direction. By our third year Mitch got me a crock pot; the fourth a vacuum cleaner; and the fifth a new microwave. Yay! You ask why? Because he asked what I wanted and that was my list....:o)
After we had been married about seven years he started learning how to be romantic with his gifts, but instead of waiting until Valentine's Day he would surprise me throughout the year with different sweet cards and special gifts.
So, you ask, "What did you get yesterday?" Well....after 15 years of marriage my husband brought home the sweetest card with a typical 4-point sermon of love along with a great gift of.....................................................
........................................................
........................................................
Biolage shampoo and conditioner
Not only is that something that I love and hate to spend money on, BUT he actually went into two different beauty salons in Louisville to get it! That makes it even better.
What I like best are the cards Mitch writes. He writes unbelievable things to me and that's better than any gift you can purchase. He's the best husband ever.....!!!!!

Mitch is Graduating

After what seems like 29 years of college, Mitch received a long awaited letter in the mail yesterday...
Yes, it was from Boyce College of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and YES he is on the list to graduate in May. Yippee!
He opened the letter and was so proud! Mitch first attended Liberty Bible Institute back in 1996, but that was only two years of Bible and nothing else. Back then we just knew that we were called into the ministry, but didn't really think about "college credits, transfer, etc." In 2001 while he was serving in Punta Gorda, FL he went to Edison Community College to work on his "basics." During that time he felt lead to go back to college, but I ignored him for over a year. In October of 2003 we came up to visit my dad in Kentucky and Mitch decided that he wanted to go over and visit Southern Seminary. I didn't want to visit because I knew that God would speak to me in a way that I didn't want to be spoken to at that point. My answer was always, "But God we're reaching people right here in Punta Gorda. Why would you want us to give up everything to start over?" But you see, God knows what's best even when we don't think we like His answers. We drove on to campus on a beautiful fall day and we both knew what was next. In December of 2003 we packed up a U-Haul and headed for Louisville. ((Tears)) I wasn't convinced even on the trip that we REALLY should go. I remember pulling up to our rental house crying and telling Mitch that we still owned a house in Florida and our church would be glad if we came back, but in my heart I knew that wasn't God's leading, but my own.

After four years at Boyce College Mitch is finally finishing up! Yesterday at lunch I asked him when he was going to start seminary. He told me after I finish my college.....so.....seminary is looking like something in the far-off future....LOL! After two years of Liberty, two years at Edison Community College, and four years of Boyce, I don't blame him for wanting a break. He does say that one day he'll be Dr. Mitch. Mitchell says that one day he'll go on TV and help people just like Dr. Phil. ha!

I'm really excited for Mitch. He will be the first ever Whidden male to graduate from college (that we can think of)!!

Way to go! Okay family and friends....mark your calendar for May 9th at 9:00 a.m. That's the day!!!


(This is extra....Spell check isn't working on Blogger right now so please excuse any errors in my quick typing/spelling)

Technology

What did we ever do before cell phones and Internet? And I'm not just talking about any kind of Internet, I'm talking about DSL. Mitch has pretty much always had a cell phone since he's been in the ministry. It started with one of those bag phones for the car and then later progressed to a phone attached to the floor of his truck. From there technology has flown. When we first moved to Paoli, he had a cell phone, but I really didn't care to have one. Sometimes I just don't want to be found, if you know what I mean. After I started traveling to teach in the computer lab in Orleans, Mitch decided that I needed a phone. The problem....there was no service at the school or even 3 miles before the school so I returned the phone. About a year ago Mitch upgraded his service and decided to add me for the low low price of $10 a month...ha! The problem? I never used the phone. I never even knew where the silly thing was, let alone charge it. In October I decided to give my phone to my mom so that she could cancel her phone and just use our "cheap" $10 a month service. After doing that we upgraded to another $10 a month phone and I got a "FREE" razor phone. Well, I took that brand new phone to Florida and it stopped working within a few days. I tried to buy a new charger...it didn't work. We tried a new battery...it didn't work...so when I returned to Indiana I traded it for a NEW pink razor. This one worked until Saturday night. When I (are you ready) charged it on Saturday night, it wouldn't work. It still had a few batteries, but it would turn on and turn right back off. After about three tries, it wouldn't even turn on. So....off I go to the store again on Monday. The lady tells us that razors are junk and she went through 8 in a year. GREAT NEWS!!!

The problem....all my phone numbers are on that phone! Back before cell phones, I memorized all of my numbers. Mitch used to call me a walking phone book, but now I don't need to memorize because I have a razor....WRONG! Oh, and another thing....

Since Mitch has resigned at Central we wanted to cancel our home phone service because we didn't think we needed it....WHY? Because we have cell phones....ha! So, here I sit wondering what we ever did before cell phones. If you need me.....email me! My new phone should arrive within a week or so!....oh and it's a Blackberry!

Memories....

Today I was sitting in Mitch's office talking about our lives and future plans. As I looked up behind his desk, I noticed this picture. It was taken at prom in probably 1990 or 1991. I was a a sophomore and he was a junior in high school. Little did we know back then how our lives would be over 16 years later. God has been good.
I love this picture!

(Sorry it's blurry. My scanner no longer works so I had to take a picture of a picture and it was small)

Oh...this is an extra....notice what's in my hand....it's a Poloroid picture...LOL

Happy Birthday Mindy!

Today is Mindy's 12th birthday. She and Mitchell are two years and nine days apart in age. She was actually due on leap year of 1996, but she arrived a few weeks early.
Today after church several girls came over for a party. We started at our house and then went over to the bowling alley.

Here are the girls dancing with Mindy's Praise Dance 2.

Eating pizza!

Drinking too much Mountain Dew!

Having fun bowling....

The men even found something to do!


It's been a good day for Mindy. She got lots of great gifts and had a blast!

Playin' In the Snow!

Earlier this week we went to our new church to take care of some things and this is what greeted us in the parking lot as we arrived!...Lots and lots and lots of snow. It was a foggy day so some of them didn't turn out too good!

Mindy and Michael on the mound.

Mindy....the weather wasn't too cold that day so they really enjoyed playing. Behind her is a small pond that was covered.

Michael deciding what to do next.

Mitchell tumbled down the hill.