Hey everyone, things have been crazy around here as we wrap up another semester. Just a couple weeks left! Time sure flies.

We just wanted to let you know that we have our official assignment! We’ll be working in Eastern Europe, based in Sofia, Bulgaria initially. We’re so excited to have some direction and a destination. We’ll be updating our travels here, but if you would like to learn more about the work we’ll be doing, please email us at one of the addresses on the side here.

Game plan as of now:
-Benjamin Owen will be arriving somewhere around the 25th of January! Here’s a nice profile shot of him at 27 weeks.

-Beth will be done with school at the end of this semester but I’ll take one more class in January and we’ll be leaving Dallas around Feb. 12th.
-We’ll move in with Beth’s family in Pineville, LA for a little while and then to Longview with my family.
-During that time we’ll be visiting our partners, families and friends, finishing a Perspectives course online, applying for visas, and hopefully getting a head start on learning Bulgarian!

That’s all we have for now. We’ll update after the semester is over. Gotta finish strong! Have a Merry Christmas!

-Justin and Beth and Benjamin*

Hey, everyone! Here's what we've been up to this past month.

We're taking two classes right now: Research Methods in Performing Arts and Expressive Form Analysis. In these classes we learn to research different art forms, analyze them, and perform them. Though the work load is really challenging at times, we are loving it! Here are some pictures of us in action.

This first one is of the whole class getting ready to play metal anklungs from Indonesia.

The artist who taught our Visual Arts module in class commissioned Beth and me to create this piece. It was based on a tradition in Africa where instead of wearing wedding rings, the wives wear large metal things around their necks. We made one of our own that held special meaning to our lives. This exercise gave us insight into how artists can apply meaning to every aspect of their art and how we as researchers need to be sensitive to that.

Our friend, Jenny, came back to town to play some concerts in honor of the release of a CD by herself and others. Beth and I recorded a song on the cd as well and got to perform in some of the concerts promoting the cd. If you're interested in getting the CD, let us know and we can make it happen. In the meantime, you can go here to listen to some samples- The Bleatniks. Our song can be heard here- House of God, Forever.

While Jenny was here, she offered her beautiful harmonies on a song that Beth and I wrote last year, a rendition of Psalm 34. Be on the lookout for that this winter. Some of our musician friends will be dubbing some other parts later.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to participate in leading worship at a Korean missions conference involving three Korean congregations. We were specifically asked to "perform" multi-cultural worship pieces. We learned lots of ethnic worship songs from around the world and taught them to the attendants. It was awesome! We had a blast doing it and will have a couple more opportunities this semester to do similar things. Praise the Lord!

Most recently, Beth's parents came to visit and spent the weekend with us. We visited the planetarium and a Butterfly House in Fair Park. We had so much fun with them! Thank you for coming Pop and Sweetie!!!



As you can see, we've been keeping busy. Only a few more months until our boy arrives!

We miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

-Justin, Beth, and baby Benjamin

Another session done.

Hey everyone, here's what we've been up to this past month.

We've been taking a class called Audio and Video Techniques for fieldworkers. It teaches us how to take good recordings in the field that will be usable and sustainable. Here we are doing some recordings in various environments...

This assignment was an outdoor interview.

This one was a radio drama. We recorded a scene from our brother-in-law's original Christmas musical, "The Gift".

Our final project was to record with video and audio a musical performance inside a Native American eepee. The teepee is part of an exhibit at the International Museum of Cultures on campus.



If any of you were following the blog the past couple years, you'll remember we went to a recruiting event in Orlando over New Years 2008. This was very influential in taking us on the path we're on now. We got to help out with a similar recruiting event here on center recently by doing music in the mornings as well as talk with the participants and answer any of their questions. It was great fun to meet and hang out with a great group of interested people.


We also had a BBQ at our apartments to welcome newcomers.


Lastly, we celebrated our 4 year anniversary on August 6!

That's it for now. Thanks for checking in.

Our baby!

Here's our first home video of our baby at 11 weeks! Enjoy!

Announcement!

Announcement!

We're having a baby! We found out last month that we are pregnant. We went to the doctor last week, and he said it looks perfect and the due date is set at January 25, 2010. We're so excited and blessed to have this gift. It really is the Lord's perfect timing. Please be praying for a healthy development and for Beth, too, as she's going through these changes to carry it. Here's a little snapshot of the baby.