And We're On the Road Again in 2008!!!

Hi Friend's & Family!

CHELSA : We had genuine intentions of sending out a Christmas 2007 update to you all, really, seriously we did. For those of you who braved trying to keep track of us and even sent us your Christmas letters in the mail....THANKYOU we loved getting them!!! I know we've passed out too many addresses in the past 6 months to keep track of......sooner than later we'll have a more permanent (we use that term lightly) one YAY!!!!! Today we are packing up and are ready to "pop smoke" (I think that's army lingo for leaving here). But Ben - being the great guy he is - had you in mind first! He said we couldn't get on the road until we first did this update :)

BEN : I guess when I said, "We can't leave until we do an update" I meant, "We can't leave until you do an update." Alas, I am finally writing on the blog.
After a long hard drive to Iowa from Texas we were finally ready to have some R and R over the Christmas break. We spent Christmas at my families house and enjoyed every minute with my Mom, Dad, Siri, Jeff (her boyfriend), Jocelyn, Gilby, Danny, and Samson (Gilby and Jocelyn's dog). We also had guest appearances from my Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle David, Aunt Nancy, and her two daughters.
Heading into the New Year I was a groomsman at Brian and Kate's wedding. Their wedding was awesome and was a great chance to see all my friends one last time before Chels and I leave for the NC. (look for their pictures soon on Sacred Moments!)

CHELSA : The above picture is of us & Danny in the middle of dancing, hence the crazy lights and even a bit of sweat on Danny's brow....Kate and Brian your wedding rocked our socks off!!

BEN : And that brings us to today. We are leaving for NC and we won't be back for awhile. It is exciting and scary at the same time... mostly we can't wait to be there.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year. Until next time...

Sea World San Antonio in December !

Hi Everyone!!!

Wow, Christmas is coming up SO fast! This year Ben & I will be sharing the holidays with the his side in Iowa (and with my side over the phone!) . We are so excited and looking forward to seeing our friends and family so soon, it is so nice that we are able to go there before we keep moving on to the East Coast.

Ben really wanted to write the update this time, but he has been pretty busy with finishing up here at Ft. Sam Houston so he'll get the honours of giving our 2007 Christmas update :) I just want to tell you about Sea World!

Yep, last weekend we took a trip to Sea World San Antonio. And although today is chilly, it wasn't all last week! It was really warm (I am trying to mentally prepare for the weather in Iowa). I have it in my head that maybe Zoo's and Sea World's aren't exactly what the Lord had in mind when He gave Adam dominion over the earth...so I don't get really excited about them. But we decided to go and check it out, and it was a really fun day. We ran from show to show to try and catch each of them in time, and the animals really look like they are having the time of their lives...and so do the trainers! I mean, most of the trainers are there because of childhood dreams, so they must treat those animals like kings and queens right?!!

Here are a few pics from the day, Ben took the one of Shamu and it is SO GOOD!! I actually have to say that the Barnyard Animal show was my favourite. Those dogs, cats and geese were SOOO smart and so funny! We also rode the crazy roller coaster and were pretty proud of ourselves.

Anyway! Keep in touch!

Ben and Chelsa

The Infamous www.benandchels.com

Hey Ya'll from big 'ol Texas! Check out our website for our photo albums and past updates....but know that we are slowly going to switch it all over to using this blogspot, and there will come a day when www.benandchels.com no longer exists. Sad, we know. It's been fun. Well, not always....We have to admit at times it was a lot of frustration - a love-hate relationship with technology. This just simplifies things. Right now we are having trouble getting on there to update it, so we will be doing it here. The the nice thing is that we will be updating this more frequently (maybe we'll even keep up with all moving we do!)....So bookmark this address and check it out once in a while would ya!?!
And P.S. : these photos are actually from our camping trip in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (beginning of October) - pretty crazy historic town! The country side of it is amazing and gorgeous in the fall.
We hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Corpus Christi

"...we drove all night to get to Corpus Christi ..." (Sugarland) . Not really, but it is fun to go to all these places that some of my favourite country singers sing about! This Veteran's Day long weekend Ben & I drove to Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico. The winds were pretty high, so we decided to make it only a 1 night trip. Our first night we toured the Lexington and watched to "Fighter Pilot" IMAX on it. The next day we walked around all morning trying to find a decent place for Sunday brunch, and it was SO hot & windy out that by the time we found something we were kind of exhausted and ready to go back to San Antonio. But we decided to take ourselves on a driving tour of the 3 Islands off of Corpus Christi before we called it quits. And it was SOOO worth it. Once we got out of the city, with all the different roads, highways, and exits to wear us out, we just followed one road from island to island and it was SO relaxing and peaceful. There were old beach towns to gated beachfront communities that showed off such a colourful array of homes (we're talkin yellows, pinks, purples, greens & blues!). Of course we stopped to put our feet in the ocean and enjoy the sun, but I'm glad we didn't grab our swimsuits and go swimming because the other day someone told me that there are bull-sharks in there.....yikes. We didn't see any of those but we were pretty excited to see a dolphin on our little ferry ride!

Oklahoma Days

Ben left for Ft. Sill, Oklahoma on September 1st to begin the first of two Basic Officer Leadership Courses. After one day of considering my options - and a few encouraging phone calls from my sister and a friend - I decided that this was one of those times you’ve gotta fight for your man and your heart. Three days of packing, and a sweet spontaneous 1 day visit from my sister, Taylor, later, I hit the road.

The drive to Oklahoma from Washington state was so beautiful. After driving through a part of Oregon, I headed into Idaho and spent the first night at Hostel Boise. It was on the outskirts of town and I had the quiet little country place to myself. Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado. It was so nice to stop and see Gilby & Jocie (Ben’s brother-in-law & sister) and spend the night at their place in Denver. The next day I knew i would see Ben and that definitely pushed me on....Colorado, the west corner of Oklahoma, Texas - right through Amarillo - and then Ft. Sill.

So here we both are. There was this woman in Australia who prayed for me once when I was there in 2005, and the words God spoke to me through her prayers keep coming back to me. He said that i would have a network of fiery friends. Every day that i wake up here, and also when we were in Washington this summer, my heart is overwhelmed by the faithfulness of the Lord God to fulfill His promises. My close friend Hannah lives here in Tulsa with her husband. We were room mates in Hawaii in 2006 during our counseling school at the U of N. Both her and her parents (who only live 2 hours from Ft. Sill - where Ben is training) have opened up their homes to me for the time that we are here. And they haven’t only been sharing their homes with us, they have been sharing their lives.

Being with my husband means more than anything to me, and we are taking this journey as it comes.

This weekend is the Oklahoma State Fair....maybe we’ll live it up and ride the ferris wheel, catch a country concert and heck, maybe even a pig race. Next time I will have to share about the cool little country town of Guthrie where Hannah’s parents live. It is definitely a slow-paced country town with loads of good ‘ol western history. I’m trying to catch up on the classic western movies - like Tombstone and The Quick & The Dead - while we’re here. (We’ve also got hooked on Arrested Development....so not western at all.)

Bless you all this fall....may it be the start of many new and exciting things in your life!!!

With Love,

Ben and Chelsa

Life In Washington

This summer has been a time of firsts for Chelsa and I and July is no different.

We recently flew to Des Moines for a marriage interview so that Chels would have the chance to be a permanent resident. After a long flight and a short interview, it was granted. For the two days we were in Iowa we had the opportunity to see a lot of friends with a BBQ in the backyard of Ross and Amber’s new house. (Thanks again you two. you made it easy on us and we had a great time staying with you). My mom and dad took us out for dinner one night and it was great to catch up with them and pick up the last of our wedding gifts.

We flew home early on Friday and Saturday I participated in my first sprint triathlon. In less than an hour and a half I was humbled in the water, on my bike and thankful for Chelsa’s cousin Derek whom I bought the bike from, and finally running the pavement thinking of the old high school days of cross country. It was a fantastic experience and maybe with a little more training, especially in the water, I will have a better showing.

Now that I have been working here for over a month, and have received TWO paychecks, I want to let you in on what I do. Having just commissioned into the Army from the ROTC program, I am here at Ft. Lewis helping to evaluate the leadership of Cadets who will commission next May from their respective Universities and ROTC programs. I am on the best committee here, the Field Leaders Reaction Course (FLRC for short). We evaluate Cadets on their ability to lead eleven of their peers while negotiating an obstacle course. While on the committee I have held numerous positions, timekeeper, safety officer, the morning safety briefer, an evaluator, the scanner, and the JPSC in-putter. Let me tell you every one of those jobs is just as flashy as it sounds.

While I am away at FT. Lewis Chels has been working herself into the ground not only making our apartment our first home, but also developing a business model to be a photographer. She has produced a web site, started the process of marketing herself, and getting all of the last minute equipment she needs to be successful. Some nights I come home and she is more tired than me with all that she has been doing.

Last Saturday my schedule worked out so that I was able to attend New Song Church with Chelsa. New Song is the church Chels has attended since we have lived here. It has a beautiful congregation who are so energetic about the Lord, prayer, and anyone who might step through their doors. Last week alone we had numerous invitations to meet with couples throughout the church and to even go camping. Attending New Song is giving us a great opportunity to grow into our roles as husband and wife as well as renewing our faith in Jesus as the Lord of our lives.

Well that is enough out of me for now. We again want to thank all of our friends and family, it has been awesome to have your support in all that we do.

Afterthoughts

(First thought : this will be a bit of a fast forward “play by play”, mostly for you mom’s out there, we know how you like to stay informed... )

It was amazing. This is amazing. We have been SOOOO blessed beyond measure. There are too many “Thank You’s” we want to say to so many people, that we would run out of room here! Ultimately we want to say “Thank You” to the Lord God for putting so many amazing people in our lives, and that so many of those people would travel by plane, bus, and car across boarders to witness and celebrate our wedding day up in Canada! It was more special and beautiful than we could have imagined our wedding day to be, and the celebration after the ceremony was incredible! We loved it and loved seeing our friends and family there with us!

One of the things we loved about our wedding was that we were able to visit with so many of you in the few days before the wedding, as well as a couple days after as you were getting ready to go home. We took advantage of the beautiful Okanagon weather and stayed there for a week after the wedding. Then we flew to Red Deer, Alberta (Chelsa’s home town) to go to the big Lykal open house (were we were able to visit with lot’s of Chelsa’s family and friends again!), get in some Kallis family time, watch Carson play golf, and of course....take a visit to Calgary Cycle where Derek and Karyse (Chelsa’s cousins) helped us make the best choices on our brand new bikes....... which we LOVE!

By May 30th we were back in Kelowna, BC, rented a U-Haul, attached it to our brand new hitch, loaded it up, and began our search for a place to “hang our hats” (as Grandma Kallis would say). First stop (after a few washroom breaks, but I - Chelsa - don’t count those), US Customs boarder crossing. That took forever. They made us come inside. And wait. It was late. The immigration officer could not be found. Can you blame him? Once they found him, we were outta there and Tacoma, Washington bound!

After a goodnight’s rest, we began our hunt and found an apartment in Lakewood, WA, not too far from Ft. Lewis, where Ben is working this summer, in fact he just reported there today. Which means, 1. Ben can cycle to work, he has a sweet bike to do it on. And 2. Since he only just reported, we had some SWEET one on one time!!!! We enjoyed every minute hanging out, taking trips (ie. we left our car in Port Angeles, WA and took our bikes with us on the ferry to Victoria, BC Canada where we had a blast with Lindsay (Chelsa’s older sis), and learning our way around Lakewood and Tacoma by trying to find grocery stores (especially Natural Health food stores so we can get some almond butter), and places to get household items...we now have an air mattress and 2 bar stools for furniture. It’s really starting to feel like home :) Visit anytime!
We very seriously want to thank each and every person who blessed our socks off with wedding and shower gifts. We honestly can’t thank you enough, it all is wonderful and we are so grateful!

This is long enough!!!!!!!! Keep in touch! Check out our WEDDING ALBUM

May 18th 2007

Bride & Groom : Chelsa Kallis of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada & Ben Schaefer of Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA.
Wedding Date : May 18, 2007
Wedding Place : Harvest Golf Course, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

May 18, 2007 couldn’t have been a more beautiful day in the Okanagon Valley. The weather was perfect for the outdoor ceremony and we were surrounded by close friends and family who had gathered together to celebrate with us.

Check out our Wedding Album : Chelsa designed our wedding album this summer, it has a gorgeous italian green leather cover & hand bound flush mount pages! If you want to view it online - it is at her photography website under the “gallery” option!! www.chelsaschaeferphotography.com

My School of Photography

My time in Hawaii at the School of Photography was incredible. I came away with quality friendships, memories, teaching, & experience with my camera. I am so thankful I went and feel that it was such a treat from the Lord to me. I am excited to see where He brings me with it in the future! While our website - www.benandchels.com - is still up and running, you can go to the link called "Chelsa's Photography" and see some of the work I did while I was there this January - March. Otherwise, check out this Portraits album that I designed!

Together Again in Ames

Well, I finished my School of Photography in Kona, Hawaii last week. My class worked so hard to get everything ready to display at the exhibition & it was amazing. The whole day i just couldn’t believe that i was there, & that i had finally completed the SOP 1. I love photography & i want nothing more than for it to bless God and bless people.

As some of you know, i am here in Ames, Iowa for the month of April. The long & the short of it is that right now i must to stay in the USA while we get the proper legal requirements fulfilled so that i can come back into the USA after our wedding this May. I wish you all could have been in Hawaii with us last month (Ben flew out for a week to get some paper work filled out with me) to have seen the amazing miracles that God pulled off on our behalf! Things that normally take months to do took us a week with a lot of prayer. Important places that were booked for a month got us in a day after we called. Papers that should take weeks if not months to receive came in the mail that week. Amazing. Amazing God. With every new legal challenge came another opportunity for God to take control & show us just how big He really is. I am SO thankful to all of my friends in Hawaii who really supported us as the body of Christ, not to mention all of our friends & family back home who were also lifting us up in prayers! God hears! He is SO GOOD! Not just for what He does for us, but because that is the very truth of His character, He is GOOD all the time! We felt SO humbled & in awe of His power & His grace in our lives. He is MORE than enough for every need that we will ever have.
If you do not know the realness of this awesome living God in your life, or you write Him off as though He does not exist, stop for a second. Listen. Not to your mind. Not to unbelief. Or skepticism. Or pride, or false intellectualism. But to your conscious. What is your conscience saying to you. If you ask Him if He is real, to show Himself to you, and you mean it, there is no way that He will hide. Why? Because He is GOOD. All of the time. Even in the darkest night of your life. Listen.

I had planned on being home to help with the preparations this month, however God is just totally blessing this time together & i have an amazing mom and dad who are doing a fabulous job with the wedding preps in Canada!!!
Just this past Saturday, Ben had his last Military Ball for the ROTC program at Iowa State University. It was SO special that i was able to be his date, and also to see his mom and dad. I am SO proud to be able to call this man my husband. He deserves every bit of recognition that he gets, because his desire is truly to lead by serving.

Next week we’ll be on opposite sides of the USA! I am flying to Washington state to visit some close friends of mine (the Harness’ & Boltons)...also to do the fabulous final wedding dress fitting with Linda who is making the dress!
Ben will be flying to Virginia, this is one award that he earned in the ROTC, to discuss current events with other scholarship winners from other universities.

wow. long update. still missing OH SO much. like how good looking Ben is in his army blues. (the mil ball suit...maybe i can track down a photo :) okay he is probably going to make me erase that. unless i can upload it without his help..meaning if you read this, then props to me , i figured it out!