Merry Christmas from the Stilers 2006
Family & Friends -
And so it’s Christmas. Another letter has arrived in your hands, and in 1,000 words or less I am going to attempt to tell you about our year. This will not be an easy feat, after all I am married to Danny Stiller. I could use 1,000 words just to tell you what we did yesterday morning. He makes life fun, exciting and full of Christ.
In January Laura was enjoying her job at Starbucks and trying not to hurt the 25 little rascals she tutored after school, and Danny was wondering how long he was really going to have to sell insurance. After traveling to New York for Christmas, we then traveled to Dallas, and back again to New York, at the passing of Danny’s father.
February found us paying off Laura’s car and rejoicing with student loans being the only debt left to tackle. The end was in sight. Laura tried to win the “Coolest Wife” award by taking Danny to Freestyle Motorcross for Valentine’s Day, and Danny melted Laura’s heart with a homemade shower curtain. By the end of the month we were off to Dallas to celebrate our mother’s birthdays.
In March we were exploring the parks, hiking trails and hot spots of Greenville, SC. Laura left Danny alone for an entire week to go back to Bryan, TX to help with Camp Agape. She ended up crashing, sick at Susan Lee’s house, but still managed to get in a few shaving cream fights, Bible studies, hot dog lunches and hugs from her favorite kids in TruLife. We scurried away to Charleston, SC at the end of March for our second Quarterly Review and could not get enough of the beaches, old homes and fresh seafood.
April brought winds of change as we planned to move to Columbia, SC. Danny took a job change from Humana to Instil (a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of SC). This time we hired movers, rented a first-floor apartment and Laura did not break down in tears. It was a much more pleasant experience than the move to Greenville, which included too many heavy couches, too many stairs and one too many roaches. We also visited Nan & Poppi Morse in NY for a weekend to record their family history, take pictures and capture video clips of them telling childhood stories. It was a memorable trip. On the way home we decided to drive by the White House and ended up spending over six hours exploring D.C. on foot.
By May we became official South Carolinians when we changed our licenses plates. Laura still proudly displays her “Texas A&M Association of Former Students” sticker though, in hopes that people will realize where their true allegiance lies. We then flew to Texas for Jonathan’s (Laura’s little brother) homeschool, high school graduation. It was then into the car for a 12 hour drive with the Reeder’s to Pensacola, FL to watch Jonathan play in the Homeschool World Series. Beaches and baseball, what more could we want for a summer vacation?
June found us canoeing the Carolina rivers, painting a house and celebrating nine months of marriage. By this time Laura had started, and within two weeks quit, working at a bank and was beginning her job as a proofreader at BlueCross BlueShield. She discovered that she would rather play with words than with numbers.
We joined Shandon Baptist Church in July and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know other young couples in the newlywed class. Laura read tons of books by the pool, while working part-time at BlueCross Blue Shield, and Danny still didn’t like selling insurance, so he changed jobs. He became the Program Manager for a non-profit organization, City Year, that focuses on leadership development, civic engagement, tutoring and mentoring.
We spent August traveling to Texas and back for weddings. We also ate our year-old cake topper, started teaching 9th grade Sunday School, helped Jonathan move to Chattanooga, TN and went to Boston, MA to celebrate one year of crazy wedded bliss. During our fourth Quarterly Review in Boston we enjoyed a friend’s wedding, fabulous food, taking pictures, learning the history and walking all over the city. Upon returning from Boston we received an acceptance letter from Dallas Theological Seminary. Danny will start online classes in January, and we will be moving to Dallas in July. Next year’s letter should include all the juicy details from that adventure.
Come September, South Carolina was finally feeling like home, and we were reveling in all of the outdoor activities it had to offer – like rivers, bike trails, beaches, mountains, and more. This was the first month in our marriage that we didn’t get on a plane or a car to travel out of town.
By October Danny and Laura were both involved in men’s/women’s weekly Bible studies through their newlywed class at Shandon. The leaves were changing colors and to our surprise we could not walk down the street without them falling all around us. We went camping in North Carolina with another brave couple, and despite the frigid nighttime temperatures, we loved the fellowship, fresh air and food (when else do you get to eat s’mores and trail mix). We also went to the State Fair and vowed never to get on another fair ride after eating Fried Snickers again!
In November we both turned another year older. Laura’s now halfway to 50, and Danny’s closer to 30 than he is to 20. (Meaning we’re 25 and 26 years old, respectively.) Laura went to Cove Camp with the Shandon youth group in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and then we both flew out to AZ for Papa Gus’ funeral and to visit Danny’s brother, Chris. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with Danny’s side of the family in Columbia.
December has arrived. We sawed down our own Christmas tree this year and are looking forward to the Christmas parties, since we actually have friends to celebrate with this year. We anxiously anticipate going home to celebrate Christmas with Laura’s family in Dallas. Danny will be breaking out the hunting gear while Laura stocks up on girl movies to watch with her mom.
It has been a year of great change and great blessing. The Lord has provided things we were praying for last year (non-insurance jobs, friends, fellowship, a church home, growth in our marriage and more). We look forward to telling you more of His goodness in the year to come.
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