Merry Christmas, 2007, from those two traveling Twiggs!
Well, we hope this message finds you all doing well as we celebrate another Christmas - praise the Lord! Craig & Susie had a relatively calm year in 2007… relatively. We moved again. (Yes, big surprise, I know.) But do you actually think we’ll make it through a whole year in the same home? I mean, what would we do with ourselves in the same spot? (hee hee) But more of this when we get to July.
January 2007 was pretty tame. Craig still enjoyed his work at the state association office of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of VA (www.sbcv.org) and continued working toward his Master of Divinity degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (www.sebts.edu) in Wake Forest, NC. Susie still enjoyed her work with the East Asia office (www.imb.org/easia) at the International Mission Board (www.imb.org.) We started teaching a weekly Bible Study from the Crown Financial Ministries curriculum (www.crown.org) at our church, Swift Creek Baptist (www.swiftcreekbaptist.org.) Craig continued playing local community league volleyball with the Richmond Volleyball Club (www.rvc.net) and made a new year’s resolution to resume his running. More on that in March.
February was also tame. Aside from Susie’s birthday, the month was thankfully quiet. Susie’s sister, Penny, came to visit and attended the first of many meetings for the VA Geographic Alliance (www.cnr.vt.edu/geography/vga.) The sisters enjoy the fun excuse to have these mini slumber parties throughout the year. Craig likes it, too, because he is let off the hook from Susie’s “girl talk” when Penny comes to town! (Penny was even published this year; she had an article titled "Atlantic Canada in Review: Highlights of a Teacher's Trip with the Virginia Geographic Alliance," published in the October 2007 edition of The Geography Teacher. We tried to google her to find a link, but to no avail.) Craig’s class in the spring was an online Missions class, so thankfully we did not have to pay gas prices for seminary. Susie continued her yearly tradition of weekly “American Idol” email updates, but don’t look for it in 2008; Craig has a Tuesday night class in spring 2008!
March was more of the same. Work, Craig’s seminary class, and our weekly Bible Study took most of our attention. Craig began to run again and devised his own amateur training program at the nearby track because Richmond’s annual fundraising event, the 2007 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K (www.sportsbackers.org/10kmainpage.htm,) was held on March 31st. After almost 10 years of nothing, and 3 weeks of amateur training, Craig finished 7678th with a time of 01:00:20! Not too bad. He was re-hooked. His volleyball team adopted the VCU Massey Cancer Center (www.massey.vcu.edu) as their charity. He alone raised over $500. Don’t be surprised if he comes calling this year.
April brought us to Craig’s birthday. With work and classes, we just enjoyed the spring and looked forward to the end of the semester.
May came quickly, and we took our vacation in Gatlinburg, TN (www.gatlinburg.com.) Craig saw the Smokey Mts. for the first time (www.nps.gov/grsm,) and he was so funny. He would look around and exclaim, “these are pretty hills – they remind me of the pass at Mt. Hood!” (www.mthood.org) I asked him to avoid saying something like that to the locals, but he slipped once and the guy just stared at him like he was nuts. Yep…it was funny. We enjoyed the trip, went into NC and the Cherokee Indian reservation (www.cherokee-nc.com,) Mt. Airy (where ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ was aired, www.visitmayberry.com,) and just enjoyed the beauties of the east coast.
June ushered in our summer, class was over, and the summer rush began at work. Craig began competing in volleyball tournaments, so Susie brushed-up on her “pack the cooler” skills and cheerleading. A few sunburns, some fun times, and Craig’s sore muscles reminded us all the more how wonderful life can be! God is good!
July brought with it a flurry of events – our craziest month yet... We celebrated our wedding anniversary and then Independence Day. (Craig is now making jokes about the irony of this combination of dates after 8 years, but Susie actually thinks it’s too comical to be appalled.) Then, a lingering maintenance concern in our home was finally declared “un-solvable,” so the apartment complex allowed us to transfer to another unit in time for our trip to Oregon on July 14th. So we signed paperwork on July 9, moved our entire home after work each evening the 9th, 10th, and 11th… Dad & Shirley came to help the 3rd night, so that on the 12th Susie could just do the final vacuuming/etc., and turn in the keys on the 13th… only to fly out the next day for OR. And boy, did we need a vacation by the end of that week! This was our first time to see OR during the summer for 5yrs. We loved seeing family again, as well as Bend with leaves on the trees (www.visitbend.com.) We planned a day trip with Mama & Papa Twiggs to see Crater Lake National Park (www.nps.gov/crla) and picnicked on the rim. What a beautiful area – do look it up if you’re in that part of the country!
August meant school was approaching and this time Craig started his year of Biblical Greek. It’s a night class every Tuesday. We arranged our work schedules to get off early, Susie drives while Craig reads or rests, she drops him off and goes shopping, and Craig drives us home in time for Letterman. This works pretty well for us.
September brought the last of the summer volleyball tournaments. Thankfully, Craig had very few injuries this year. (We’re not spring chickens anymore, you know?) We were pleased to see extended family during Labor Day weekend’s Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon at VA Beach (www.rnrhalf.com,) in which Susie’s cousin, Marty, ran. He & his family live in TN, and came up for the event. Craig is hoping to run in that next year. The NFL season was back in full swing, and with a 3-0 start for the Steelers (www.steelers.com,) there was peace in the land.
In October, things became relatively quiet again. We enjoyed our weekly trips to NC. Work got busier for Craig as planning for the state annual meeting in November was under way. The Steelers started losing, and so went our cheery dispositions!
By November, Craig traveled to Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, VA, which hosted the annual SBCV event. Susie was unable (again) to accompany Craig on this business trip. She was lonely, but survived. On Nov. 10th, Craig ran in Richmond’s annual NTelos 8K (www.richmondmarathon.com) and placed 2669th with a time of 49:53:00. Again, not too bad… especially considering that he fell off the wagon over the summer and only played volleyball. No running since March 31st, and he still met his goal with a cold jog. (Grrr!) Craig promptly bought the SunTrust Marathon t-shirt and declared to run that in 2008. He’s decided to joint the Richmond Road Runners Club to focus his efforts (www.rrrc.org.) We’ll keep you posted!
December has been busy as we decorate for Christmas and wrap up year-end work load at our jobs. Craig’s class finished for the semester and we prepare to fly again to OR this Christmas. We look forward to seeing the west coast family once again. All but one of Craig’s immediate family is in OR, along with all but one of the nieces/nephews. The “Grandparents Twiggs” enjoy having so many nearby! All but one of Susie’s immediate family is in VA, along with all but two of the nieces/nephews. Susie’s step-brother & family moved to NC this past year and took the two nephews with them. The “Grandparents Anderson” have more driving to do now! We already celebrated Christmas dinner and gift exchange with the Fredericksburg, VA, family, and recognized yet again how much God has blessed us all! You can visit Susie’s sister’s website for more on the east coast family: www.tonianderson.com.
So this brings us to you – we do wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
:) :)
Well, we hope this message finds you all doing well as we celebrate another Christmas - praise the Lord! Craig & Susie had a relatively calm year in 2007… relatively. We moved again. (Yes, big surprise, I know.) But do you actually think we’ll make it through a whole year in the same home? I mean, what would we do with ourselves in the same spot? (hee hee) But more of this when we get to July.
January 2007 was pretty tame. Craig still enjoyed his work at the state association office of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of VA (www.sbcv.org) and continued working toward his Master of Divinity degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (www.sebts.edu) in Wake Forest, NC. Susie still enjoyed her work with the East Asia office (www.imb.org/easia) at the International Mission Board (www.imb.org.) We started teaching a weekly Bible Study from the Crown Financial Ministries curriculum (www.crown.org) at our church, Swift Creek Baptist (www.swiftcreekbaptist.org.) Craig continued playing local community league volleyball with the Richmond Volleyball Club (www.rvc.net) and made a new year’s resolution to resume his running. More on that in March.
February was also tame. Aside from Susie’s birthday, the month was thankfully quiet. Susie’s sister, Penny, came to visit and attended the first of many meetings for the VA Geographic Alliance (www.cnr.vt.edu/geography/vga.) The sisters enjoy the fun excuse to have these mini slumber parties throughout the year. Craig likes it, too, because he is let off the hook from Susie’s “girl talk” when Penny comes to town! (Penny was even published this year; she had an article titled "Atlantic Canada in Review: Highlights of a Teacher's Trip with the Virginia Geographic Alliance," published in the October 2007 edition of The Geography Teacher. We tried to google her to find a link, but to no avail.) Craig’s class in the spring was an online Missions class, so thankfully we did not have to pay gas prices for seminary. Susie continued her yearly tradition of weekly “American Idol” email updates, but don’t look for it in 2008; Craig has a Tuesday night class in spring 2008!
March was more of the same. Work, Craig’s seminary class, and our weekly Bible Study took most of our attention. Craig began to run again and devised his own amateur training program at the nearby track because Richmond’s annual fundraising event, the 2007 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K (www.sportsbackers.org/10kmainpage.htm,) was held on March 31st. After almost 10 years of nothing, and 3 weeks of amateur training, Craig finished 7678th with a time of 01:00:20! Not too bad. He was re-hooked. His volleyball team adopted the VCU Massey Cancer Center (www.massey.vcu.edu) as their charity. He alone raised over $500. Don’t be surprised if he comes calling this year.
April brought us to Craig’s birthday. With work and classes, we just enjoyed the spring and looked forward to the end of the semester.
May came quickly, and we took our vacation in Gatlinburg, TN (www.gatlinburg.com.) Craig saw the Smokey Mts. for the first time (www.nps.gov/grsm,) and he was so funny. He would look around and exclaim, “these are pretty hills – they remind me of the pass at Mt. Hood!” (www.mthood.org) I asked him to avoid saying something like that to the locals, but he slipped once and the guy just stared at him like he was nuts. Yep…it was funny. We enjoyed the trip, went into NC and the Cherokee Indian reservation (www.cherokee-nc.com,) Mt. Airy (where ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ was aired, www.visitmayberry.com,) and just enjoyed the beauties of the east coast.
June ushered in our summer, class was over, and the summer rush began at work. Craig began competing in volleyball tournaments, so Susie brushed-up on her “pack the cooler” skills and cheerleading. A few sunburns, some fun times, and Craig’s sore muscles reminded us all the more how wonderful life can be! God is good!
July brought with it a flurry of events – our craziest month yet... We celebrated our wedding anniversary and then Independence Day. (Craig is now making jokes about the irony of this combination of dates after 8 years, but Susie actually thinks it’s too comical to be appalled.) Then, a lingering maintenance concern in our home was finally declared “un-solvable,” so the apartment complex allowed us to transfer to another unit in time for our trip to Oregon on July 14th. So we signed paperwork on July 9, moved our entire home after work each evening the 9th, 10th, and 11th… Dad & Shirley came to help the 3rd night, so that on the 12th Susie could just do the final vacuuming/etc., and turn in the keys on the 13th… only to fly out the next day for OR. And boy, did we need a vacation by the end of that week! This was our first time to see OR during the summer for 5yrs. We loved seeing family again, as well as Bend with leaves on the trees (www.visitbend.com.) We planned a day trip with Mama & Papa Twiggs to see Crater Lake National Park (www.nps.gov/crla) and picnicked on the rim. What a beautiful area – do look it up if you’re in that part of the country!
August meant school was approaching and this time Craig started his year of Biblical Greek. It’s a night class every Tuesday. We arranged our work schedules to get off early, Susie drives while Craig reads or rests, she drops him off and goes shopping, and Craig drives us home in time for Letterman. This works pretty well for us.
September brought the last of the summer volleyball tournaments. Thankfully, Craig had very few injuries this year. (We’re not spring chickens anymore, you know?) We were pleased to see extended family during Labor Day weekend’s Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon at VA Beach (www.rnrhalf.com,) in which Susie’s cousin, Marty, ran. He & his family live in TN, and came up for the event. Craig is hoping to run in that next year. The NFL season was back in full swing, and with a 3-0 start for the Steelers (www.steelers.com,) there was peace in the land.
In October, things became relatively quiet again. We enjoyed our weekly trips to NC. Work got busier for Craig as planning for the state annual meeting in November was under way. The Steelers started losing, and so went our cheery dispositions!
By November, Craig traveled to Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, VA, which hosted the annual SBCV event. Susie was unable (again) to accompany Craig on this business trip. She was lonely, but survived. On Nov. 10th, Craig ran in Richmond’s annual NTelos 8K (www.richmondmarathon.com) and placed 2669th with a time of 49:53:00. Again, not too bad… especially considering that he fell off the wagon over the summer and only played volleyball. No running since March 31st, and he still met his goal with a cold jog. (Grrr!) Craig promptly bought the SunTrust Marathon t-shirt and declared to run that in 2008. He’s decided to joint the Richmond Road Runners Club to focus his efforts (www.rrrc.org.) We’ll keep you posted!
December has been busy as we decorate for Christmas and wrap up year-end work load at our jobs. Craig’s class finished for the semester and we prepare to fly again to OR this Christmas. We look forward to seeing the west coast family once again. All but one of Craig’s immediate family is in OR, along with all but one of the nieces/nephews. The “Grandparents Twiggs” enjoy having so many nearby! All but one of Susie’s immediate family is in VA, along with all but two of the nieces/nephews. Susie’s step-brother & family moved to NC this past year and took the two nephews with them. The “Grandparents Anderson” have more driving to do now! We already celebrated Christmas dinner and gift exchange with the Fredericksburg, VA, family, and recognized yet again how much God has blessed us all! You can visit Susie’s sister’s website for more on the east coast family: www.tonianderson.com.
So this brings us to you – we do wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
:) :)
posted by Craig and Susie at 5:11 PM
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