Winter, finally!

At the end of our January blog post, I mentioned how we were so thankful for being blessed with mild weather and good health. Unfortunately, February changed both of those things for us here in the Duerr household!  

February finally brought the winter we’ve been expecting for months! We’ve actually had a few snows that leave more than just a dusting on the ground, and it’s been cold enough that there are piles of snow sitting around, still there after several weeks. It’s been quite the adventure for us! Fortunately, we are still both in love with the snow, and every time there is a snowfall, it’s hard to pull us away from the window. It just would have been nice to have this back in December when we wanted it, not so much now when we want to look ahead to spring! We are also fortunate that the snow has not brought any bad driving conditions for us so far!

February also unfortunately has been a month of sickness in our house. I (Mikaela) came down with strep throat early in February, and I had to take my first sick day of the school year. Thankfully, a trip to urgent care and some antibiotics helped me get back on my feet quickly and in time for my parents’ visit. Unfortunately, a few days after I finished those antibiotics, I started getting sick again. A few days later, Nick ended up really sick as well, so we both made a trip into urgent care, and both tested positive for strep. So we were administered a different kind of antibiotics, and we both took two days off work this week and just stayed home and rested! We are both feeling much better now, and hopefully it stays that way this time!

Thankfully, Nick stayed healthy until after finals week was over. He spent several weeks this month working non-stop on papers and tests, and was very glad for the end of the quarter to come. He gets one more week of break this upcoming week, and then he will be starting his spring quarter! Spring quarter will bring some great classes like Homiletics (after which, he will be able to preach!), and Exodus and the Torah. My month in my classroom has been equally crazy, between several sick days, a field trip, Valentine’s Day, a Kindergarten preview night for prospective students and their parents, and many, many days that have been too cold or wet to take the kids outside to play. I’m looking forward to the days when we go outside more often than we stay in.

A big event for us in February was when my parents came out for a visit! They made the long drive first from California to South Carolina, to visit my younger sister in college there, and then stopped by St. Louis on the way back for a week-long visit. Well, that was the plan anyway! One normal Sunday morning, Nick and I went to church, and since he was doing liturgy at both services, I went down to my classroom during the morning service to get some work done in my classroom (that’s the life of a first year teacher!). I walked up to the church just in time for the late service, and when I opened the door to the narthex, to my surprise, there were my mom and dad standing there! Since I hadn’t seen them since July when we left California, it was a very exciting and emotional moment. They attended church with us, took us out to lunch, and then were on their way to South Carolina to surprise my sister in time for her birthday! (She expected them to arrive several days later). About a week later, they returned to St. Louis (to stay for a while this time!). We had so much fun just hanging out with them and showing them our life here in St. Louis. It was fun for us to show them our apartment, to cook dinners for them, and show them what we’ve accomplished and how we’ve grown up in the last six months. My mom, being a former Kindergarten teacher, loved being in my classroom, and she even came and helped with our Valentine’s Day party and taught my kids some songs and read some fun books to them. Their departure was scheduled for President’s Day, and then a snowstorm came in, so they ended up staying an extra day, which worked out great, because Nick got a snow day off of school, so we had a fun extra day to spend some time with them! They left the next day, leaving our refrigerator and freezer full of food and meals ready to put in the crock pot – such a blessing for us! It was a fun visit, and we look forward to the next time they come!

Another really exciting event for this month was just a few days ago, when we booked our plane tickets to visit California for two weeks this summer! We haven’t been able to afford a trip back since moving here in July, and so over the last few months, we’ve saved as much Christmas money as we could, and any extra money we’ve had left over at the end of the month. We finally saved up enough to purchase the plane tickets! We are looking forward especially to seeing friends and family, going to my cousin’s wedding, throwing my sister a baby shower, and of course, spending some quality time at the beach and eating some In-N-Out!

All dressed up at an Oscar-themed birthday party for a friend! 

In the name of Christ our savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr

Month of Mayhem

Can you believe how quickly January seemed to fly by? It’s amazing how quickly the weeks go when we are so busy with work and school!

Nick has kept extremely busy with school, as most of the winter quarter happens in the month of January. He spent most nights in the first week after break staying up until midnight (or later!) working on assignments and reading. This quarter, Nick has been going to a retirement home once a week as part of his coursework. He spends his time there talking with the residents, many of whom don’t have family nearby to visit them. He enjoys talking to them and hearing their stories, and about their families – especially their grandchildren!

Mikaela jumped right back into work right away in January, putting in some hours in the classroom even before break was over. It was hard to keep up with all the extras that come in the month of January – report cards, school fundraisers, open house, National Lutheran School’s Week, and the 100^th Day of School (which is a big deal in Kindergarten!) – all on top of the normal planning, prep work, and teaching that comes with the job! She came home many evenings in those first weeks back with several more hours of work to do before going to bed. One small luxury for her was having a day off of school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The seminary did not take that day as a holiday, and so while Nick went to school, Mikaela spent a relaxing day at home, and joined him at the seminary for a picnic lunch, enjoying a beautiful day in this mild winter!    

Despite the full days and the long to-do lists, we have enjoyed so many blessings in this past month.

First of all, some of the hectic craziness in our schedules comes from the fact that we get to spend our weekends with wonderful friends! We feel so fortunate to have people here at seminary that we have met and befriended, especially after making such a long move away from friendships we had been developing for years at college. We are blessed to spend time with other couples our age, playing games, watching movies, snacking on good food, and just having good conversation, getting to know each other better.

Secondly, January 12 marked six months of marriage for us! Thanks to gift cards that we have received, we were able to enjoy a nice dinner out at Elephant Bar to celebrate. Once again, time flies doesn’t it? It’s amazing how quickly six months have gone by, and yet we can look back and see how much we have grown together and learned about each other and about living life on our own as grown-ups. (One of these days, we’ll give you some of our “First Year of Marriage Fails” stories.)

We were also blessed financially once again, with God showing us how He is working in our lives over and over! The week before Nick’s seminary tuition payment was due, a check came in that was $14 over what we owed, allowing us to go another quarter without having to take out loans to pay for his schooling. This is a huge blessing to us, allowing us to focus on paying off Mikaela’s student loans, rather than accruing more debt. We continue to be amazed at the way that God’s people show us His love through their generous support of Nick’s ministry, and we want to thank you all for your support, both financially and through prayer!

Lastly, we have been blessed with good health and mild weather, neither of which are to be taken for granted! Mikaela has managed to keep away from most of the illnesses that her Kindergarteners spread around, and when she has gotten sick, they’ve been short illnesses contained in a weekend. And Nick has managed to keep away from the illnesses that Mikaela brings home! We have been grateful for dry, clear days as well, keeping us from having to drive on dangerous, icy roads. Although we wouldn’t mind seeing some more snow (it is still our first year out of California, you know!), we know that we have been blessed with the mild weather that we’ve had so far this winter.

As we go into this next month, we look forward to a visit from Mikaela’s mom and dad, the start of spring break for Nick, the start of the Lenten season, and some good times with friends. We are so thankful for the blessings that God has granted us, and we thank you for being God’s blessing in our lives, whether through financial support, prayers, or friendship.

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr

Picnic Lunch at the Seminary