Life with the Abels

A New Little Puppy!!!

2008-03-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true the Abel's got a puppy. Marshall, our little Labradoodle, is about 8 weeks old and is great. As you can see he is pretty small right now, but don't worry he'll get bigger.

This is his new little dish and few toys.
Just a little guy!!

O Christmas Tree...

2007-12-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

This is our Christmas Tree at our new house. It makes our home feel warm and Christmas-y.
This pic was taken after Amber and I went to go see "The Nutcraker", always a Christmas favorite.

Hope the holidays are grand for you all and that you enjoy celebrating the birth of our Savior this season!!

Love to All,
Steve

Creative Christmas

2007-12-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

The Above is a picture of the stage, well, as much as I could fit. The big glowing thing is a large LED screen and the things off to the sides are trusses with 2-4 intelligent lights on them. There were three "thrusts" coming off the stage. You can see the center one in this picture. The band was split on the left and right of the center thrust.
This is where I lived for the majority of the show. I played two keyboards and piano. The three electric guitars and drums and bass were on my side. The other had the brass, strings and 3 other piano/keyboard set-ups like mine.
This pic is of me singing one of my two solos. It's pretty dark but its the right thrust. You can see my stand light over on the left.

These are my three guitarists. The guy on the left is one year younger than me and plays like Lincoln Brewster (if you know who that is). The man in the middle is my shredder, and the right most is my Clapton guy. A great bunch of guys.

Creative Christmas was a success and was a main reason this wasn't updated too much. Hopefully we'll do more in the future. (wink)

Love Ya All,
Steve

Main Floor

2007-10-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

So here it is...the first floor. First you see the entryway given an update of paint by the famous Dave Abel. Then we have the living room with the beautiful piano focal point, and original artwork by Amber on the wall. The single brown wall is a nice accent to the wood floors and TV (no flat screen yet...yet...). The dining room complete with counter-height black table that folds out to a square that will seat eight (but we only have 6 chairs at the moment, which we will remedy at some point). Finally the kitchen which is not too exciting aside from the nice dishwasher, which is a HUGE blessing.

As stated before, there are many rooms and plenty of space so stop on by (just call first) and we would love to hang with ya.

More Later,
Steve and Amber Abel

We Love Paint!!

2007-10-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, you can see the transformation of the dining room. Tan to Cubbies Blue. Crazy I know, but when you see the final product it looks pretty sweet.

The other photos are from when Thad (new friend here) and I decided to put in a shower door since our shower would let out a flow that makes the Mississippi jealous. As we put up the side rail we realized that the window sill was in the way. So what else to do but grab your friendly circular saw and drop cut in the sill till you remove what you need. Making sure to wear sweet protective eyeware of course. The last installment will have the main floor of the house, in a very close to completed form....the suspense...

House Work

2007-10-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry for the delay, but there was a lot of work to be done on the house. The pictures show the progression of stripping and staining the hardwood floors. After this we coated them with poly (a good number of coats). The next post will show more "finished product". The most drastic transformation would be the living room. But it is beginning to feel a lot like home...

Steve

more road trip photos

2007-09-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

highlights.... multanomah falls, oregon, space needle, first ever starbucks in pikes market, seattle

Road trip!

2007-09-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

So me (amber) and my best friend amanda south decided to go on a road trip. so we went 1400 miles from san franscico, ca to seattle, wa. we took windy highway 1 up the coast and we camped in the redwoods, we experienced the trendy,green, liberal city of portland, we froze our buts off at 6000 ft on crater lake in oregon, and ended up the space needle in seattle. and sleeping in a mustang convertible is not so comfortable even if it was a free upgrade because of our good looks! it was a sweet trip!! thanks for the great times southside!

what a day for a cubs game

2007-09-20T13:32:00.001-07:00

Cubs game with Steve's brother, Dave and his wife Greta. What a fun game but they lost. But they're still in the running for first place. Go cubs!

More House

2007-09-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Back yard, dining room, kitchen, living room, sun room. Furniture is not ours this is just pics from the selling website. Enjoy looking!

--Steve

New House!!!!

2007-09-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hey All--

Take a look at the Abels new abode...yes we own a house...well kinda we hope to close on the 28th of this month (September for you late readers).

Amber and I looked, and looked, and looked for houses. But finally Ambers dad found ths place on the internet and we (on the way to make an offer on a another house) stopped by this one and both said, "This is it!". A few hours later we wrote an offer and then a few hours after that they accepted!!!

The joys of homeownership and the money that it takes is quite overwhelming, but there is something about it being yours that is difficult to describe. We love it and pray that it will be used as a safe place for whomever and a place of love. If your in the area let us know and you can stay for a night (it has 4 bedrooms...plently of room).

I, Steve, also had my first day at work at Heritage today, well half of it was at our home inspection but they gave me grace... I am so very excited to step into this next peice of life that God has for me.

Amber is gearing up for a trip to CA later this month for a time of roadtripping fun with one of her good friends.

So as you can see, plenty is going on and life is flying by. I am reminded to stop and thank God for all that HE has blessed us with, we pray that we can be a blessing to others.

Hey to all of you Sidney-ites, love you and miss you all! Make sure you comment!

Steve

Long Time....a whole lot going on...

2007-08-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well for those of you who check back here now and again...I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our snowstorm. Life has taken a drastically different turn that changes everything for us right now...

No, we are not pregnant.

I, Steve, have accepted a new job as the Worship Pastor at Heritage Wesleyan Church in Rock Island, IL.

The process was a long one, about 6 months, but was good. When we were approached to send in my resume and information, we were a bit hesitant. The church at Sidney has been so good to us and we have some great friends, who felt more like family. We were not sure what to do. In the end we decided to walk this path as long as God decided to take us. For the first four months we had no idea where were would go if the opportunity presented itself.

Fast forward through three visits, leading two weekends worth of services they offered me the job and I accepted.

My final date at Sidney, OH is August 26th. Then shortly thereafter we will be moving into the sweet basement of Dale and Marie (Amber's Parents) as we look for houses and such.

I start at Heritage on September 10th. It's pretty exciting, we really pumped to be closer to family.

Hopefully with this move our blogging will increase as our need to keep communication and pictures flowing back to Sidney. So be looking for more postings from the Abels!!

Love You All,
Steve

Blizzard '07

2007-03-04T15:46:00.003-08:00

Sorry it's sideways but I am not the best at setting it all up. You can see that the snow came up to my knees and you couldn't see where our street was. It was just a flat sheet of snow. This is out our front door becasue I couldn't get out of the back door becasue the drift stopping the door from opening.

Now it's 50 degrees outside. Gotta Love the Midwest!!

Steve

The New Addition

2007-03-04T15:46:00.002-08:00

Hey everyone- Sorry for the lax-ness in the updating but I have no excuse.

Above you get to see a gift from God. This is our new car that was given to us. A fellow Christian knew that we had a need and God told him to buy us a car. So we went at the end of December (like I said long time no update), we went and got this little beauty. At the time it had 11,000 miles and is an '05. Pretty unheard of, but when God wants to do something He really does it.

The story gets better, when I called Amber to tell her about the news, she was a little quiet. She informed me that God had been telling her to give our car to girl at her school who didn't have one and needed to rely on the government for a taxi and that service was ending soon. She said to herself "we can't do this unless we get a new car", then I called her and told her we got one.

God works in mysterious ways. So we cleaned up the blue bomber (steve's old buick) and gave it to her and her little daughter. It was a really, really cool day.

God moves and God blesses so that we can be blessings to others. All Glory to Him!!

You can also see the huge amount of snow in one of the pictures, that was when we had a blizzard and were stuck in our house for two days before we got dug out. THe pictures are obviously after we were dug out. I'll put a few others pics on of the big snow.

Steve

2007-03-04T15:46:00.001-08:00

Okay, so really.. what's going on with the Abels?
Steve's still loving his job and I (Amber) am almost done with Beauty School! Yeah! I have 220 hours left, out of 1800! I should graduate the first or second weekend of April! then it's off to visit the family in Illinois. I am missing my little Seth so bad! And then I'm making Steve take me on a graduation trip to Flordia sometime in May! I am interning at a salon right now, but do not now where I want to work when I am done. I have some options but no guidance to where I should go. so pray for me. I cant think of much more now, so see ya later

2007-03-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

I just wrote to tell everyone how much I love my sister and brother-in-law!! And since I don't want to go crazy hearing them talk about my unupdated blog, I am writing this little ditty. Love you sis!

Marathon Finisher's

2006-11-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

Well after the long wait for many of you I am posting the results of the marathon so you may see if you are correct in your votes!!

First Place - Steve, 3:50:26 finishing 8732 out of 33,633 participants. 8:47 average mile pace.
Second Place - Dave, 4:19:27 finshing 16392 out of 33,633 participants. 9:53 avarge mile pace.

This photo was before the race started, we didn't look so happy at the end.

It was one of the greatest, and longest, expeirences of my life. It gives a whole new meaning to the scripture, run the race as to win. I have never been so tired, but at the same time had a weird feeling. This large huge thing that I have trained for so such a long amount of time was now at an end. i was warned about this but you never think you will feel this way, post-marathon depression. So the cure.....? run another race of course.

Dave, Greta, Amber, and I are running in a "Turkey Trot" 5K on Thanksgiving day. This gives me an oppurtunity to use the peak condition of my body for another race before winter hibernation.

The other question that I get asked a lot is, "So are you going to do another one?" The answer at this point is yes, I would like to really run one real hard and see if I could qualify for Boston (3:10:00). This race was all about expeireince and being able to run with my brother. I was so pround of him. He's a little older and has alittle more going on in life with a baby and stuff, but he did it and did it well.

After the next marathon and Boston if I qualify, Dave and I really want to look into Triathelons. The ironman would be cool but I don't think we're anyway near that right now.

Right now, Amber and I are on vacation (allowing for this rather large post) for Thanksgiving and hanging out with all our family. It will be a great time.

Enjoy your Turkey or choice of festive bird and we pray you are all doing well!!

Steve

2006-10-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

Our other adorable nephew, Wesley!! What a cutie! He loves his aunt amber and uncle steve!!

2006-10-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

Seth is Adorable!!!

Half Way There

2006-10-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah the pics are a little small but they get the point across. The 1/2 marathon was great. I placed 81st out of 1507 people, not too bad I guess. The Marathon is approaching quickly (OCT.22!!). So Sunday morning when you in church sitting in your comfortable seat/pew/whatever toss a quick prayer up for Steve and Dave.

More Later>Abel

The Running Man

2006-09-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I continue to run even though the days are getting a little colder. The picture is from a 5K that I ran in our town. I finished 2nd overall in a time of 18 min. 5k is about 3.3 miles for those unclear on metric conversion. The people in the picture are all people from my church. The two on the ends won the men's and women's walk. The guy behind me won his age group (even though after they age graded it he ran a faster time than me). If you look closely you will find that the slower people got bigger trophies than the faster people. Life's Crazy....

This past weekend I ran a Half-Marathon which is 13+ miles. I ran that in an hour and a half, which I was pretty happy with. (Dave ran it in 2 hours 10 min.) So if any of you want to change predictions you may.;)

Seriously though it was a great experience to run that race. Everyone is so encouraging and supportive and the food afterward is great. I see why people get hooked on this. It's an expensive hobby but a great one. After the marathon I am going to look into Triathelons. Could be fun, but probably only to us weird people who enjoy beating up our bodies.

Hope all of you are doing well and life is treating you great.

--Steve

More Adventures!!

2006-08-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Camping!

2006-08-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Steve and I had a blast camping! We had a teeny, tiny tent, borrowed camp fire wood, burnt bacon, and the possibility of a tornado. It was a blast!!!!

2006-08-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

Seth as a duck after I gave him a bath!!

It All Comes Out in the Wash....ington DC....

2006-07-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a few photos of the trip to Washington. For those of you who don't know. The pictures include Seth, Heather, and Scott Karl, Marie Howard (Amber's Mom). The Lincoln Memorial (go Illinois!!)

Also, incase you don't get it, a picture of Uranus and few other...um....behinds (Scott and Steve's to be exact).

Their may be other pictures added in the future but that's what I got for now. Hope you all are well.

Steve and Amber

Seth Brose Karl

2006-07-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here's the little man. Isn't He So Cute!?!?!

He's a pretty good baby. He like to eat and sleep, and let me tell you, the boy can pee up a storm. Almost all of us have experienced the "stream" of joy:) More Later,

The Abels

College Girl Reunion

2006-07-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

Fun times visiting with Jess, Emily, and Julie in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Thanks for the good times girls!!

--Amber

NEW BABY!!!!!!!!

2006-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Heather (my sister) and Scott Karl welcomed their brand new baby boy on Tuesday, June 28th!!!!! His name is Seth Brose Karl and he weighed 7 pounds 4oz and was 20 inches long. We are going to see him tommorrow! Then we will have lots of pictures to share. He's very healthy and doing good and so is Heather!

One Year...

2006-06-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it!! We made it a year!! Here's a couple shots of the weekend. That's a crab that Amber's standing by, and a fish or shark of some sort over Steve's head, and Us at a Cubs game which they won!! (in case you were wondering).

I know this is a little late but hey, who has time just to post stuff all the time.

I am grooving to the sweet sounds of United: United We Stand. A Sweet album that will change your life after hearing it. Pick it up and watch the DVD when you can really hang in the presence of GOD!!!

If there's one thing that I have learned after a year of marriage is that it is not by our strength or love that we can do anything, it is CHRISTS Love and Strength, that is why we are new creations in Him. So be encouraged, you don't have to do it alone because you are not alone.

Hope You all are well, be sure to leave a comment or two (Barton). Love Ya All. Stambeaver :)

The Message

2006-06-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, for the three of you that read our blog. The message went great! I got a lot of comliments and people said it was clear and insightful. It's really cool that when you get to speak the same message three times in a row how it grows and changes as you yourself make more connections while you are preaching. It's cool seeing how God continues to give the message to you as you are giving the message. I am sure you other preachers know what I am talking about. So my job is still intact, the lead pastor said I did a great job so that is good. So maybe in another year I be ready to give another one....

Here's the last bit of the manuscript for you three....enjoy

The woman’s worship was wasteful, unprudent, and careless in the eyes of everyone else, but it was exactly what Jesus wanted. Her “waste” was a beautiful thing that became her legacy. Worship isn’t always supposed to make sense or be reasonable. It is supposed to be an abandoned wasteful expression of who God is…a beautiful thing.

This gives us an example of worship that requires something of us. Her sacrifice was expensive, it was costly, it required much. It is any surprise that directly after this meeting, Judas went to the leading priests to sell Jesus? The cost for Him was too great, it required too much of him so he took instead 30 pieces of silver.

How much is Jesus worth to you?

Pictures, Pictures....

2006-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Steve with Christian and Justine, kids of friends of ours.
Steve with "Mini-Me" Jackson Courter (liking the hair!)

Amber's Small Group

Amber's Newest Hair Doo!!
She's looking hot, hot, hot!!!

Hope you have enjoyed the pictures, just a couple of fun ones so you can see the "life of the Abels" If any of you read this before 5-28-06 remember to pray for me since I am preaching my first sermon at church this week!! And if you read this after that date pray that my job is still intact :) Hope you all have or had a great Memorial day weekend!!

Steve

Check Out the Poll!

2006-05-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone who gets to stop by the blog...vote for your winner.

The Latest....

2006-05-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to put up a little update for all of you who are saying, "Amber, Steve, please update your blog."

Here's whats up in our lives. Amber is now on the "floor" at school meaning she is cutting hair and shampooing and all the other cosmo stuff (she will explain more fully later, I am sure). She recently did her first mullet! That was a day of much rejoicing. Her hair continues to change every week but I will try and get a picture of that up here soon. We are bad at having our camera with us.

I, Steve, have decided that I am going to run a marathon. My older brother, Dave, and I have registered and printed off our training schedule. The Date is October 22 in Chicago IL. This is one of those things that I have always wanted to do and to get to do it with my older borother is even better. Maybe we'll have a vote to who you think will win.

We just got back from a little mini vacation up to Toledo, we were givin a nights stay at Great Wolf Lodge, nice and big, indoor water park, but we felt a little young with all the families, we still had a great time though, yeah for a whirlpool in the room! After this we went to the Toldeo Zoo. Again Good times seeing all sorts of great animals including a "baby" elephant (weight 250 pounds at birth!)

All in all life is going great, the days are getting longer and warmer, summer is finally here. For all of you who don't have summer plans give us a call and stop by for a visit!

Steve and Am

Tradition Isn't So Bad After All

2006-04-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

This is not a normal life update post but more a musing, so read on at your own discretion...

Just last night I had the great experience of the Tenebrae Service in my church. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the Service of Darkness. During this service we read though the prophecies of Christ's coming, the Calling of the Disciples, the demands of discipleship, Jesus' prayers, the betrayal of Jesus and the Crucifixion. Through out the service we had 14 candles in front of the altar representing the 12 Disciples, the people, and Christ. They were lit as we read about each group. Then as Judas Betrayed, his candle was extinguished, when the disciples fled, the people cried for him to be crucified, their candles were extinguished. A short message was given in the light of the lone Christ candle with all other lights in the building being out. After the message the Christ candle is extinguished, leaving the sanctuary in complete darkness and a organ plays a funeral dirge. After which we all leave the sanctuary in silence.

This was my first time at a Tenebrae service. My church tried to stay away from some of the more "traditional" elements. And in my own life and thoughts I admit that I was indoctrinated with the college mentality that tradition is bad and progression is king. After planning, and being involved in this service, I realized that what we really were doing was not the "ritual". We were telling first part of the story before Easter. Easter without this would almost be like buying a book then reading the last chapter, you know the end but you are not engaged in the story, you haven't been brought to a place where you understand the weight of the final sentences.

Tradition may not be so bad after all...have I/we continually looked for the next thing, the best new progressive idea that we have missed the story that engages us and calls us to a new place with God. We are called to make disciples. They followed Jesus through His ministry and saw the betrayal, they FELT the hurt of seeing Judas kiss Jesus, they cried as they ran away, but they rejoiced more than anyone when they realized that He was no longer dead. This is what a disciple is, one who followed Jesus, one who knew and lived the story of His life then committed their entire lives to it. The tradition has to be there, it is a piece that we cannot ignore, it isn't so bad...

Steve

2006-04-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Steve and I on Valentine's Day. Enjoying married life!

2006-04-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the picture. Yeah, that's the t5 and thats also Amber and I's favorite leather chair(we were given it for free!) Good times...

The NEW Life

2006-04-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hey All-

The NEW life. It strikes me that life really has continued to go by very quickly. If I really look at it. We are at spring once again and it has almost been an entire year since I graduated from IWU. I am fully enjoying my (or should I say "our") new life. This church, Sidney First UMC, is an amazing place for me to start out. We hold three services every Sunday starting with a "spirited traditional" service, then the "JAM" contemporary service, then the Celebration/Blended service. Needless to say, I keep pretty busy trying to juggle the four choirs, a bell choir, two contemporary teams, a blended team and all the other oppourtinities that come my way.

The leadership is amazing and the lay leadership is the best that I have seen at any church, EVER. The lay people decided that they wanted the churches mission to continue no matter if the pastor was the next John Maxwell or not. We are starting this Sunday a capital campaign to retire the debt on the existing building, remodel the current facility, and buy land for another site. Not to leave our existing site but to move in to the multi-site facility era. New territory for all of us here but very exciting. It great to see what God is doing.

Marriage life is great, highly recommended. I have been learning a lot about how bad a communicator I really am (and I thought I was pretty good for a guy). That is all part of the growing process. I really have come to understand how much you really have to learn how to love. You can have great feelings but that is just the beginning of learing really HOW to love. This I am sure could be an entire post and maybe I will delve into it more later. This is a lot for a first post.

Hope all of you that are reading this are doing well and that you would enjoy hearing about our life. I know I enjoy poking around all of yours and hearing your thoughts and musings.

Also as a side note, for those of you guitar players...I finally got another guitar!! The Talyor T5. Its pretty sweet. To go from aacoustic sounds then flip a switch and some smoot distortion is giving me even more musical freedom and creativity. If we learn how to post pictures, I'll try and put some on.

Much Love To You All,
Abel

2006-04-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

This whole blog thing is hard. I just keep waiting to update until I can get pics and stuff on, but since I just can't get that together now, I'm just going to simply update you all, nothing fancy.
Life is good. School is so fun! We just got done with facials week and next week is body massage! And then I'm down to the floor to do real costumers!!! I love experimenting with everything. The other day I had extensions in, and now I have fake nails and fake eyelashes! It's so fun and creative!

The best news this week is UNTIED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Steve and I and a group from our church are going to see Hillsong's youth band, United!! They are our favorite worship band and they hardly ever get this close. They are going to be in Munster, Indiana this Sunday night! We are so excited! They also came out with a brand new c.d, United We Stand, which came out April 4th. If you're close to Munster you better get there because it's going to be an awesome concert!!!

BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUT

2006-02-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't drop out! But for those who didn't know- I, Amber, have started Cosmetology school and I LOVE IT!!! The school is called Ohio State Beauty Academy. The school is in Lima, Ohio, which is a half hour to forty minute commute each way. I'm a freshman right now. It's so funny to be a freshman again. I have about 10 other girls and 1 guy in my class. I've been in school for 6 weeks now. I've learned about haircuts, hair and scalp analysis, shampoos, aids, chemistry and electricity, the structure and parts of hair, and much more. This week is hair coloring which I'm very excited about!
The girls in my class are great they call me the "preacher's wife" sometimes. They think I'm a strange brand (which I am). I don't think they've ever meet anyone like me or Steve. Somedays are harder than others. Sometimes it's pretty lonely, the girls love to cuss, drink, and smoke and I just don't. They are all nice to me but we just don't have a lot in common. So prayer would be very welcome. But I'm loving what I'm learning. So anyone want to come visit for a free haircut??

Trying this...

2006-02-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've decided it would be a wondeful idea to have a blog. I love looking at other friend's blogs. And it really helps you keep up each other's lives. I can't promise much because we are so busy. But here goes nothing!