Camp Gaulke

Camp Gaulke is now in preparation for March 2011! Pre-registration has already begun and we got so excited about our first little camper that we took a picture!

On the right side you will see the head :)

We are SO excited about what God has done ..in HIS timing ;)

I will update more on my pregnancy stories soon...they are full of hormones and throwing up and made up words...enough of a cliff hanger for ya?

Love Love.

Grandpa Bob

After a really hard battle with lung cancer, one of the most treasured men in my life passed away today.

The story behind this picture reminds me of things I loved about him. My grandpa couldn't wait to see me get married. He loves Hunter and has told me over and over that he admires our relationship.

But first thing he said when I asked him to escort my mom down the aisle.. was a sweet and genuine question..." Do I have to wear a tie?"

"No grandpa, you wear whatever you want. :) " No tie it is. (What a handsome man!)

I loved this man like a father. When we were at the hospital around 2 am this morning, my amazing Uncle Kevin was intentional about discussing the things we adore about Grandpa Bob:

His laugh. As my cousin Bailey reminded us, his whole upper body shook when he laughed. It came from deep inside him. And he didn't laugh at just anything. He was very authentic when he laughed at something and it made you feel special when it was with you.

His hugs. Oh my gosh how that man could hug me. Honestly, sometimes I would have to hold my breath because my lungs were too squished. He showed his love through those hugs. And let me tell you, my grandpa loved the heck out of me.

His protectiveness. I went to Africa in the summer of '06 for 30 days. My grandpa worried constantly about me every single day. At the time there was a civil war going on around the area that I stayed and I know he watched every news clip there was and called my mom over and over to make sure I was alright. He would fight a bear...lion... or hormonal teenage boy for me or any of his grandchildren any day of the week.

His snarkyness. My grandpa was snarky until the very end. His entire left lung had collapsed and would make a little bit of a wheezing noise as he breathed. The doctors offered to give him medicine that would reduce the sound and classic Grandpa Bob responded: "Why? Does the sound bother you?"

He died about 24 hours later.

Grandpa Bob was extremely loved and respected. When we found out that he had cancer, the whole family put their game faces on. God knew the exact time to take him, and He did.

We love you, Grandpa, and we will miss you every day.

Summer in Corpus Christi

Well hello there blog. I never forgot you, but there were some things that were way more important than you that I had to get done first.

Now I have NOTHING to do...but this. :)

Hunter and I are in Corpus Christi for the summer to complete an internship for Hunter's school. The good news is we are staying with his most WONDERFUL Aunt Patty who gives us amazing company and a roof over our head...and most nights when we are lucky...she feeds us!

Also, Hunter is loving his internship! His patients and staff are loving him too!I can't tell you how good he is at being a PT...and he will graduate May 2011! 10 months!

The bad news is ...I am kinda homesick for Houston and our apartment. I am contemplating making a trip back that way soon just to have a change in scenery. Let me tell you... all the movie watching and book reading I have been doing in the same spot has been exhausting :)

Other than being done with my first year of teaching and being in Corpus...nothing too new to report.

Oh yeah, like the new blog-do?

Post? OK!

I am 100% not sure if anyone really cares...but I haven't blogged in FOREVER.

I haven't even told you where I work...what I am doing!

Well... I work at Katy High School and I teach IPC and Chemistry...which is basically 9-12 grade.

And it is amazing. I love my kids...there are some that are nuts and need....well I really can't publicly state what they need...but anyways...

Yay for blogs! I miss it! But I do not have time...I don't even have time to catch my breath 4 out of the 5 days of the week.

But know that I love it...and I love them...and I am SUPPOSED to be here with them...loving them and forgiving them...and being tough on them...and being empathetic to them...and most of all teaching them.

Miss Miss...Love Love!

One Year

I’ll start with the most important event …

SEA WORLD…I mean um… our one YEAR anniversary…

It was a shocking realization that a year had passed that quickly…

I think the past year was amazing!! Honestly, it was way easier than I expected. I have posted previously how everytime I talked to older married folks, they would always ask me for an update, and wait with their faces distorted, ready for me to tell them how awful marriage is. It was so bizarre. I kept expecting it to get harder and harder. But it did not!

Don't get me wrong, sharing of vows does not instantly make you perfectly perfect for your spouse...you are still two broken sinful people who live in a confined space (atleast we did...in 777sq ft...sick) ...but its how you handle the miscommunications, the bumps, the moods, the circumstances of life...that makes marriage AWESOME.

We learned a TON about each other…it was a wonderful foundational year …We learned that we are very different…(lets be real, we already knew it, but we actually lived it out… )

Hunter is naturally very hospitable, I try, but I am not.
Hunter likes to try new things, I would prefer to not.
Hunter is pretty spontaneous, I am not.
He is an introvert, I am an extrovert.
I am fascinated by social interactions, he could care less.
I think/analyze until my brain short circuits, he can't even comprehend that, let alone do it.
I multitask, he cannot.
I am always looking forward, he is perfectly content with the present.

This is just the beginning.

Luckily, we learned that we are way similar too…

We have the exact same sense of humor. We have laughed until we almost peed... a lot in the past year.
We are both very clean.
We both are super frugal.
We both like to be listened to.
We have the exact same views on Christianity and apologetics…kind of bizarre if you think about how many ideas there are floating around.
We are both very low key.
We are both very compassionate people towards our respective causes.

It is such a blessing to have someone 100% on your team…who would fight for anything you wanted, simply because you want it. He has lived out what a best friend truly is. He has actively pursued me like Christ does his church. (Ephesians 5:23) He constantly seeks for peace in our home (Psalm 34:14)

The point is…my husband pursues Christ daily and lives it out in our marriage. That is why the past year has been strong.

We really try to constantly examine how to improve and grow in areas that are weak.

Let me tell you…it is WAY easy to be careless about weak areas in a marriage. Just living day in and day out…getting by. Or just being passive, not even realizing you’re upset until you blow up with 6 things on your mind that piled up over the last month. Passive people! How do you do it! Being passive is not found in my gene pool. Us Witthuhn’s, we’ll let you know when we are upset, immediately.

If that happens, you will be halted by a much bigger problem before too long. I gag at the thought of that.

So basically, I am pumped about the next 60+ years...my husband is the sweetest most servant hearted man in the world. I can't wait to be like the old people on UP!...so preshy.

Finally settling down...

This is so me.

The last couple months have been nuts.

Total crazy town

Hunter and I celebrated one year of oneness, we went to SEA WORLD in Florida and had the time of our lives, we both turned 23, I chopped off 8 inches of my hair, I became certified as a teacher by going to 12 hours of class a week, I took my huge teacher test, I got a JOB as a teacher, AND we moved!

UGH.

What were we thinking!!

Now the good news is, well all of the above.

So I am going to back track and post my thoughts on all of the above...because I have time now. and I literally did not until just now.

YAY!

Birday..(Ya, I meant to spell it like that)

Have ya'll given up on me yet?

Like life has taken over and I am just a passenger...and I am NOT ok with it.

I reallllllllly have a TON of exciting things to rant and rave about...but where the flip does time GO. It's like you add 12 hours of class onto your already full time job and marriage..and boom..before I know it...it's MID JUNE.

So...its my birthday. Or Birday, as Hunter and Erin say it :) And I am one year closer to babies. Seriously, that's how I gauge my life progression...I can't help it.

And for some reason, I really want a princess cake. Actually, I want a princess party.

Tomorrow, my fam and Hunter's fam are getting together to celebrate...and I kind of want them to dress up in prince and princess costumes...and I am really not kidding.

Maybe it's my unconscious really sick way of holding on to my youth...

Being realistic, I know that will not fly...with the men...surely they'd turn that idea down...so maybe I can just settle on a princess cake...