1st Married Turkey Day!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Thanksgiving as a married couple this year! We spent the morning both working at the club. After work, we drove to Aurora to meet up with the rest of the Fam. After stuffing ourselves with yummy turkey dinner, we had delicious desserts! I made my first cheesecake, a pumpkin layer cheesecake. It was a little mooshy in the middle, but tasted amazing! After chatting and taking some family photos, we headed home. But, we ate lunch so early, we made a quick dash through Jack in the Box for dinner! It might become a tradition, lol.

So, here's the immediate fam: Kim and Tim Ludeman, Rian and Becky Merril, Dave and Cindy Ludeman

Home Owners!!!

Well, tomorrow is the big day!! We will sign our lives (and money) away to purchase our new home!! We are super excited, but nervous as well. I think it happened so fast, that our heads are still spinning! But, it has been an awesome process and we have Mellisa Reeves, our wonderful realator, to thank for that. She has done such an awesome job being on top of things that our most important job became sitting and praying, lol! We are so thrilled to have this incredible opportunity to build a new home together (hopefully roommate free for a little while!)

We have been so busy with packing and preparing, that not much else is really new. We're going to have a girls painting party @ the house early next week to take care of some of the colors in the rooms. This loft area will be a pale yellow to draw light in from the window and sky light.

This room will be a light lavender color to open up the room and soften it. This will be the upstairs master bedroom (for now, at least). This room will be painted the same as the downstairs master, a light lavender. And, this room will stay an office space for Tim. I'm still deciding if I want to change the colors in this room. If not, I will go will a green-blue-brown theme.

We are soo looking forward to being in our new home before Christmas! What a great blessing and thing to be thankful for!

Home Buying

Well, this has been quite a month, that's for sure. I think we will both be glad to move onto November, lol. Through a series of random events, we found this house via our friend Marcus. He actually took us on a tour of the one next door, but we decided to pursue this one instead. It's beautiful! Here's a website where you can check it out: http://www.cbbain.com/9069016

I am amazed at how much stuff we have acquired bth together and apart! Moving will be quite the adventure. We are currently waiting on the appraisal. When that comes in, we will enter into final negotiations and underwriting- then closing! So, we are holding our breath and hoping the appraisal comes in at a good amount.

So, please pray that everything with the appraisal goes quickly and smoothly as we are looking to close by November 20th!

Weekend Getaway!!!

My 25th birthday was September 28th. I can't believe that I am a quarter of a century old!! To celebrate this momentus occasion, Tim and I were able to take off Sunday and Monday and head to Ocean Shores in Washington. It was a beautiful thee hour drive to the coast. Fall is definitely here! We stayed at a World Mark hotel called the Mariner Inn right on the beach! This is a pciture of sunset from our room, well, right outside of it really.

Our little condo was great! It had a fire place and everything. We ordered in pizza for dinner and gorged ourselves on salt water taffy! It was so nice to be able to relax and just be together.

On October 4th, we celebrated our six month anniversary!! We are looking forward to using our free flight to take off for our one year anniversary in April. Can you belive how fast time flies??

Co-Workers!!!!

It's official: Tim and I are not only husband and wife, but coworkers too!! I have accepted a position in part time membership/group fitness class instructor/fitness motivator @ the Gresham Cascade Athletic Club!! We had our first all club meeting last night and it was so cool to be Team Ludeman, lol. I'll have to post pictures of our matching shirts! I am excited to start this new chapter in my career as a trainer and look forward to when a position for PT opens up.

Tim started back up @ Multnomah this month. With the students back on campus, it's keeping him pretty busy. He does a great job working with the students and is becoming more involved in reaching out to new incoming students (even though some are typical freshman and forget their appointments). Tim's gearing up to really promote his private practice (http://www.lighthousecounselingpdx.com/) and work on some marketing. Go baby go!

We are looking forward to celebrating my birthday (the 28th) and our 6 month anniversary on the 4th of October. We are exctied to see what this fall season has in store for us!!

Whew!!!

This summer has gone by sooo fast!!! As we entered into our fifth month of marriage, we faced a lot of new changes and adventures. I took the NASM CPT exam and passed!! I am officially a certifed personal trainer! Woo hoo! I also recieved my CPR/AED certification this month as well. Tim has been such a great encouragement through this whole process- I coudln't have done it without him! I was also "Bar Certified" at Peet's, which means I am officially a Barista!
Today, I had my first interview for a personal training position at Cascade Athletic Club! I am waiting to hear back if I get a second interview- I'll keep you posted! Lastly, I am super excited to be running in this years Nike Hood to Coast relay! It's a week from today! The gala @ Peet's! It's been a blessing to work with such awesome people!

As for Tim, he started back @ Multnomah this week, getting ready for the start of the new school year. The counseling department has been going through some changes, and Tim is excited to see how this will play out with new students and staff. Tim and I have been doing Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred workout and diet plan. Tim is down ten pounds and doing amazing at working out. I couldn't be more proud!!

We have enjoyed spending a lot more time together, as his summer schedule was a little more flexible than during the school year. We used our new fire pit (thanks to Becky and Rian!!) for the first time! Soo fun! We've gone hiking with friends, learning to cook nutritious meals and spending lots of time in the gym!

We also went to our friend Kristin's wedding (well, the end of it actually, since I had to work). It was so fun to see our friends so happy. Tim and I hit the dance floor and had a great time!

Well, thats about it for now. I will keep you posted on the job and Hood to Coast!

Family Dinner!

Tim and I being silly, as usual.

The fam: Dave & Cindy, Vic & Carolyn, Rian & Becky, Victor & Jeanah, Beth and Tim & I.

A couple of weeks ago, we got the opportunity to spend some time with our family and have some sweet mexican @ Cha Cha Chas! After dinner, we went to Rian and Becky's new house for smores in the back yard! It was so fun! Tim got a fire pit from the Merrills for his birthday! Guess this means our house is next for a summer bbq!

Bye bye car....

This is what was left of my car. A week ago, a guy driving down the street hit it while it was parked outside the house. It rolled 250 and came to rest three houses down. The insurance company isn't giving us very much for it, so we are definitely on the look out for a good deal! Praise the Lord no one was hurt and that we have rental coverage.

House Hunting

Last week, we had the opportunity to sit down with a mortgage broker and talk shop. We talked through all things fiscal, financial and frightening. We are still waiting on a pre-approval, and are hopeful to start looking sometime this fall. We were slightly overwhelmed, but definitely excited to take this next step!

As neither of us have purchased anything bigger than a used car, we are a little apprehensive about diving into home owners debt. We would appreciate your prayers as we begin this journey toward home ownership. We want to be sure and follow the Lord's leading through all of this, evey step surrendered to Him.

We will keep you updated as we continue on in the fun!

Tim's 28th Birthday!!!

on July 2nd, Tim celebrated his 28th birthday!! I sent him to work with chocolate cupcakes for his co-workers @ Cascade (who eats a cupcake @ 9 am?? Should've made muffins....) Then, I made him a special birthday lunch (all his faves) and he opened his presents. He got a few new shirts and a sweet card from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bruce. After lunch, we wandered down to Peet's on Hawthorne to do a little reading. Then it was off to Than Thai for dinner.

After dinner, we headed out to McMenamins Edgefield in Gresham for a birthday party with the other birthday boy, Brian Cheney. A lot of friends came out to celebrate and join in on a pint or two. I had made cakes for each of the guys, which created quite the plume of smoke once they were blown out! These guys are gettin old!

After pints and tots, we headed home. I'd say it was a pretty special day! Happy Birthday, Tim!

Reading and studying

So, our lates "date time" activity has been studying/reading in coffee shops. This is a most favorite pastime of Tim's, one which he has been missing as of late. So, when we have the morning or afternoon off together, we pack up our backpacks (don't worry, they're not matching) and drive to a coffee shop.

This has been a great way to get to know our neighborhood a little better and to branch out from Peet's & Starbucks. This is the Daily Cafe, famous for their child friendly atmosphere and great Stumptown brew.

We try not to spend all of our time loafing around on couches and chairs, but are finding this to be a great way for Tim to read and for me to study. Studying can sometimes be a little tough in a place with a louder atmosphere (note the face of struggle below). But, it provides us with an opportunity to grow in both book knowledge and a deeper understanding of each other.

Summer Update

We've started summer 2009 with a bang!

Tim is on summer break from Multnomah, which provides more time to focus on his private practice, Lighthouse Counseling. (http://www.lighthousecounselingpdx.com/) He is currently working on meeting up with pastors and churches in the Portland/Vancouver area to get his name out there. He recently taught a guest lecture class on marriage at Mountain Park Church in Lake Oswego. There were about 12 people ages 35 to 60+. No challenge there! But of course, he did a great job in sharing his passion for healthy relationships and working hard to serve your spouse. He used some great examples from John Gottman, Rob Bell and others. I am sooo proud! He's also picked up a couple of days @ Cascade, so if you need a gym membership, be sure to ask him!

We attended the 4th annual Pearl Church retreat @ Canby Grove Conference Center in April. It was a lot of fun connecting with old friends and making new ones. We kick major booty in NERTS! We are looking forawrd to a weekend in Seattle for a 2 day Personal Training workshop that I will be attending in early July. I will be taking the NASM Personal Training Certification test in mid-September- Ahhh! Tim has been absolutely amazing in the role of cheerleader! It's really neat to be able to encourage one another to pursue our dreams and goals. How cool!

Well, that's it for now!

Shred It with Jillian Michaels

My dear friend, Andrea, was the one who started it. She kept telling me about this workout dvd she does at home since she doesn't really like the gym. So, one night while we were hanging out at her house, I insisted (despite the approaching bed time hour) that we try it out. After ten minutes, I was swetting like crazy! What was this magical video? Who is Jillian Michaels??

So, I set out to find out for myself. I purchased the dvd from Target (thank you Target gift cards!) and brought it home. I tried level 1 and decided then and there that this was the one. Yes, Jillian and I would become good friends. And of course, like the loving wife that I am, I asked Tim to do it with me (or he was an amazing husband and volunteered...but I digress). He, like me, struggled through the first level. However, together, we laugh and giggle our way through twenty minutes of cardio/strength/core torture.

So, I just wanted to give kudos to Andrea, Tim and everyone at Peet's for encouraging me in this pursuit of glory with Jilian Michaels. You should definitely buy it (we'd let you borrow it, but we're addicted- sorry!).

Mother's Day

Mothers Day was so fun! We had a great time having a Saturday morning brunch with Cindy, Dave, Becky and Rian at Veritable Quandry. It was soo nice to be able to relax and enjoy each others company and honor such a wonderful mom and woman!

Cindy has been so wonderful through this whole time of dating, engagement and marriage. Tim and I are both blessed to have her as a part of our lives!

Thank You Notes

Well, our "Thank You" note postcards arrived yesterday! I have 10 out of 100 done- yay 10%! It has been great writing them so far. Sooo many people blessed us not only with gifts, but with their time, money and talents. It makes me smile to think back (o so far!) on how people went out of their way to make sure we felt loved. What a special blessing! Anyways, check your mailbox because you will probably be the recipient of this little token of our extreme grattitude!!!

Now and Then

December 11th, 2007, is a day that will go down in infamy! That was the day of our first date. Hard to believe how time flies by so quickly, yet so slowly at the same time! May 11th will mark our 15th month of being together! I have been so blessed to get to know this man and to learn how to love him more each day. I was looking through my pictures last night and came upon this one, taken near the end of December. We don't look much different, but our lives have certainly changed since then!

I have married my best friend. It is the best feeling in the entire world! I cannot explain how surreal it still feels, but it is such a relief to not have to say goodbye anymore!

So, we are seeking prayer for job stuff. Tim wont be back @ Multnomah until the end of August, so we are seeking prayer for new clients and possibly a summer position.

I am looking into personal training more deeply and would love prayer for finances and time.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! God bless!!!

Our First Blog!

Well, we have been married for 32 days. It's flown by! We both are enjoying married life when we can in between work, church and homegroup. But, somehow we manage. We finally unpacked all of our new toys (thank you to all who blessed us with gifts- thank you cards are on the way, I promise!) and are getting settled. Yesterday was the battle of the bed frame. We finally have our room done!

Tim is wrapping up the semester @ Multnomah. Students will be leaving for the summer next week, which means Tim gets the summer off. He is working on building up his private practice, Lighthouse Counseling, and sees clients on Mondays at his office in Clackamas. He is also doing Membership shifts @ Cascade Athletic Club which is nice (free gym memberships!).

I am still slinging beans @ Peet's Coffee in Lake Oswego, but am looking at possibly going back to Costco while I pursue my certification in Personal Training. It's a slow process, but I am looking forward to finally doing what I am passionate about!

Well, that's about all for this first blog. If you would like to see pictures from the dating/engagement/wedding/honeymoon periods, check out our online albums at

More to come!