needsalt
a well lived bland life
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eChristmas Newsletter
Where to start? The first four months of marriage have treated us excellently. We've enjoyed learning to live together and becoming our own family and starting our own traditions. We have already decided to create our own Christmas Eve tradition of going to our church service then spending the evening opening gifts from each other, eating a nice home-cooked meal, and peering out the window for Santa.
Last January Mark found his fifteen minutes of fame after tumbling down the side of a mountain chased by an avalanche. He appeared on Good Morning America and the Ellen DeGeneres Show later in the month. Ellen gave everyone a free seven-day cruise departing this February.
Last April we got engaged at McFarland Park (the same park we started dating at only five months and one day earlier). We planned our wedding in a whirlwind three and a half months and tied the knot on August 18. Our wedding was beautiful and many of our friends, family, and church family helped us celebrate at Oakwood Road Church in Ames, IA. We went to the Smokey Mountains for our honeymoon and enjoyed a luxurious cabin nestled in the mountains with a spectacular view.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our first few months of marriage. Mark loves providing for our family and is continually learning to be a wonderful husband. Anna is flexing her cooking, cleaning, decorating, and housekeeping muscles as she enjoys learning to be an excellent wife. She loves having her own kitchen, planning meals, and experimenting with new recipes. Some of our favorite pastimes to enjoy together are reading, watching movies, playing board games, and having people over to our cozy little home.
Anna has been battling reoccurring pain in her abdomen for over a year now. Anna underwent exploratory lapriscopic surgery in March which confirmed that there was nothing life-threatening. We got a break in May when a chiropractor found that her pelvis was rotated and was pinching nerves, causing nerve damage and muscle atrophy. The same was later confirmed by a physical therapist this fall. She's been strengthening her core through physical therapy exercises and continuing with the chiropractor in hopes of defeating the pain. So far, progress has been slow and unpredictable - some weeks seem to show significant improvement while others are very discouraging. We still hope for Anna's health to improve over time as she continues to work hard on her physical therapy.
We look forward to the day we can write a Christmas newsletter and include events in the lives of our children, but until then we look forward to just being married and doing a lot of traveling. Our travel plans include our Carribbean cruise this February, our annual Colorado ski trip in March with the Grootveld family, and hopefully a trip to Yellowstone next summer.
We would love for you to continue visiting our website to stay updated on our lives and keep in touch!
Have a Happy Christmas and a safe New Year!
In Christ,
The Blands
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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