That's right... Greg and Michelle are back in the world of Blogging! Except this time, we are sharing the responsibilities!
Admittedly, Greg and I have never been outstanding at keeping people "in the loop" with what is going on in our lives. Whether it be that we are busy, forgetful, or flat out lazy we are not entirely sure; however, that is hopefully going to change with our collaborative blog. This way, regardless of who authors the post, you will get the information!
Greg's sister, Sarah, made an interesting observation: it has been way too long since either of us has taken the time to catch people up with the new Mr. and Mrs. Therefore, we have decided to attribute the idea of catching up ("Ketchup") to the title of our Blog.
I have always liked to read stories or plays that begin in medias res (a fancy term for "in the middle of things"), so I'll just jump right in for the first post. Here goes...
Right now, I am sitting here with my husband of almost 6 months writing the first post to our brand new Blog. Excitingly, the first post is being typed up on the newest addition to our family (if you can call it that). Our first born: Mac- sorry Kristin! As luck would have it, we picked up Mac on Wednesday evening after Greg received a call informing us that he had in fact won a raffle that he had previously entered. The prize? A 21.5" i-Mac desktop computer. (Insert "Holy Crap" here). Needless to say, we were shocked and SUPER excited! It has been a challenge getting used to the new layout, but we fell in love with it instantly!
Aside from our miraculous inheritance, we have been through a whirlwind of craziness in the last 6 months. We have gotten married (FINALLY!) and moved into our first place. Both of these events have made us undoubtedly the two happiest clams in all the pond :-) Similarly, we have finally experienced living in the same town again- something that had not been the case for upwards of 3 years!
As if life couldn't get any better, I finally finished my internship and graduated from ECU! I am currently still waiting to receive my diploma and teaching license and oh yeah... a job. Even more excitingly, I joined First Baptist (probably the most reluctant I have ever been to walk up in front of a group of people, but I am so glad I did). And, I was baptized on April 4th (Easter Sunday).
Greg has experienced some monumental changes as well. He was let go from his job in May. Immediate response? Devastation. Regret. Worry. Fear. Reluctance. What changed? I suppose we would have to use our own true realization of a cliche- Our God truly works in mysterious ways! After conversations, tears, prayers, and a couple heaps of rationality, we realized that this could be a minor "set back" instead of a major catastrophe. So, we decided to revisit an idea that we had previously tossed around. As it turns out, this "set back" is going to in fact be a blessing (one that happened to be disguised in a really mean costume). Greg has decided to take on school full-time again in the fall and get his degree sooner than later. He will be completing the courses online through East Carolina, as well as a few more basic courses at CFCC. He has realized what it is that he wants to do, and he finally has the motivation and freedom he needs to do it. As I said, we had previously discussed this; however, if you know Greg Collins at all, then you know quitting is not something that comes easily for him, and it would have been extremely difficult for him to have given up his job voluntarily. Now, the choice was made for him, for us (Thanks, God!).
In an attempt to allow you time for all of this "ketchup" to sink in, I think I'll go ahead and call it quits for this post. Thanks for all of your love and support in the past few months. We hope you enjoy out new Blog, and that the upcoming posts can be a little easier to swallow!
