The Wedding

I have finally managed to share several of our wedding pictures (yes, it's been over a month!). Twas a wonderful weekend full of many blessings and memories, and life is starting to return to a new normal at Mom & Dad's as Matt and I get settled into our new home. For more wedding photos and further ramblings of Stephanie in the future, please visit Matt & Stephanie's blog at msschulz.blogspot.com.

There is a Season

Ecclesiastes 3

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

The day has come! Yesterday was the time to be born, the time to grow and learn, the time to begin my walk with the Lord. Today is the time to be married and become one in the Lord with my groom. Let us cherish the moments we have together today as they will soon become our memories from yesterday, and let us always remember to put our faith in God, for He IS the one who holds tomorrow!

We appreciate the love, prayers, and support as we make this new beginning together in marriage.

The Day Draweth Near

Just when you thought you would not hear from her again until after the wedding...Stephanie posts again.

The best words I heard all day came from my mother: "I'm almost starting to feel like I can start relaxing a little now." She probably didn't want to be quoted on that, but it is good to hear that she is at least thinking about starting to relax a little.

The last time I wrote, we had just finished sending out our invitations for the wedding. We are now on the final stretch: only five days of engaged life remain. Things are starting to fall into place. We finished all of our showers in one week, the house is pretty much ready for its two future inhabitants, the wedding and reception are coming together, the honeymoon is planned, the dresses are done, and the marriage license is sitting on my dresser waiting for a few signatures. Everything is perfectly under control. All that I am missing are five days.

My mother will probably keel over when she reads what I just wrote. But she is really and truly the best mom ever.

Church Shower 

Shower Committee 

Our diligent gift bearers kept us moving. 

Erika had my personal shower...take note of the power line centerpieces. 

Figuring out how to make chocolate chip cookies! 

Billy thought we should study his textbook to make sure the chemistry was right between us... :) [*nerds*] 

Living, Homework, Breathing

Hello again. This is another post from the college student. Stephanie wanted me to do another post about college life, but college hasn't been all that eventful. Other than creating a cure for cancer in my chemistry lab, designing a self-driven full-size airplane in my engineering design class, and scaling cliffs in my free time, nothing much has happened up here. Just kidding, I'm not really doing those things, but I am doing some things.

The joys of learning chemistry...

However, I'm still trying to figure out Calculus!

I've been doing homework, studying, learning, eating, sleeping, washing my hands, showering, walking, biking, driving, bus-riding, smiling, laughing, reading, praying, being with friends, doing blog posts, looking for jobs, touching up my resume, exercising, shaving, mowing the lawn, and cleaning. That pretty much wraps up my life in once sentence, but I will go into detail on a few of these topics.

First of all, of course, I am doing my coursework, studying, and going to class. I had my first round of tests in Chemistry, Calculus, Engineering Design, and a Mechanical Engineering Analysis course, and those went alright. The Engineering Design and ME Analysis tests went well (although I don't actually know the score for the Analysis one, but feel pretty good about it). However, I didn't do as well as I hoped on the Chemistry and Calculus tests, so now I have to begin the impeccable task of bringing my grade up. So I've been doing a lot of studying. I've also begun my first design project for Engineering Design. We're doing "reverse engineering," which means we are taking apart a coffee pot and analyzing each component, its function, putting it back together, and finally modeling it up on SolidWorks 3-D Modeling.

Also, probably the most exciting thing in the past few weeks was the Engineering Career Fair two Tuesdays ago. For those of you who don't know what a career fair is, it is where tens to hundreds of companies go to a college or university and recruit students to work for them. The Iowa State Engineering Career Fair is one of the best, with over 400 companies, so lots of students go to it and most often find a job or summer internship. I talked to about 12 companies, and although I was a first-year student, some of them seemed somewhat interested in hiring me as a summer intern. The resume-reviewing process is still continuing, so it will be a while before I know for sure what I am going to do this summer. The experience itself of being at the career fair and talking with recruiters was definitely something that will help me for the future.

This is from the 2011 Iowa State Career Fair, and this year's was about the same...lots of people.

I also have been accepted into a club, Freshmen Leaders in Engineering. So far, we haven't done a whole lot except prepare for the career fair and elect officers. But I think it will be a good experience and give me some good opportunities to grow as an engineer.

Besides that, I have been exercising most mornings that I can drag myself out of bed. I also enjoy getting together with some students from church most evenings for dinner, church service, or just being together.

Through all of this, God has been there for me even at times when I wasn't completely focused on Him. He has guided me and given me grace to stay close to Him each day. College life is a great challenge for a young Christian, but through it all, I have drawn closer to God and learned how to overcome by His grace!

This looks similar to what our deck looked like after giving it a fresh paint job on a nice Saturday afternoon.

A Week of Birthdays

By Jesse

Mom, Justin, and I had our birthdays all in one week. First was my birthday.

This is my cake. I turned 8.

These are all my presents.

This is my slinky junior.

This is where I am finished opening my flashlight, Lego set, food, ukulele, slinky, pajamas, and Lego board.  

This is inside of my cake.

This is Justin opening his presents on Monday. He turned 14 yesterday.  

This is Justin's cake. Justin passed his permit test today so now he can drive with a parent.  

For my mom's birthday, she got two purple shirts and an awesome phone. We cleaned the house for her and Dad took her to a restaurant for supper.