firsts and lasts

This was a week of firsts and lasts. Thursday was my first official day working at the Life Choices Pregnancy Center, my first visit to Kearney's airport (which consists of one biulding), and my first dinner meeting with the staff at Life Choices! Friday was my last day at Cabelas and Saturday I tweeted for the first time on Twitter! After my social media meeting on Friday, "Twitter Guru" was added to my job description....which means I'm on TWITTER now (@AmandaMFries)! Please let me know if you are a "tweeter" so that we can get connected! I have been a facebooker for years so I am enjoying learning the lingo and layout of Twitter!

Nathan and I had a blast hanging out with friends in Sidney, NE! It was quite relaxing which was something we needed after a busy couple of weeks! Monday and Tuesday of this week I will be at the Center and then Wednesday I head back to the GI area to hang out with some of my girlfriends. Thursday morning my best friend Chelsea and I....



....are flying to California to visit my best friend Dani...



...I have been to California to see Dani several times since we met back in 2006 but Chelsea has never been to California AND Chelsea and I have never gone a big trip together. SO, needless to say we are super psyched to see Dani, California, and WARM WEATHER! We will be there Thursday March, 11 through Tuesday, March 16th! I had already planned this trip prior to getting my job offer so I will start consistently working at the Center after I return from CA on March 17th!

Getting Settled in Kearney, NE......

Hello! It has been awhile since our last post and for that I apologize! Nathan and I are getting settled into our apartment in Kearney!

Nathan loves his new job. He is a design engineer for Orthman Manufactoring on their conveying systems. He drives about 40 minutes to work each morning but he really enjoys it. There are a few guys from the company who also live in Kearney so they sometimes ride to work together.

I (Amanda) have been working at the Cabelas Call Center since September 2007 and was able to transfer to the center located in Kearney when we moved. I believe I shared with you about my internship at the Lincoln Crisis Pregnancy Center last semester and how much I loved it. Well, after my internship was finished, the Lincoln Center was prepared to offer me a position if we did not move. Well, after Nathan got his job, it was clear that we were going to be moving form Lincoln. It was hard for me to leave the Lincoln Center as the staff there had been so encouraging and I really felt like the Lord was building a passion in my heart for crisis pregnancy ministry. Even though I was sad to leave Lincoln, I was so excited that we were headed to Kearney because my director in Lincoln had given me the contact information for a Christ centered pregnancy center in Kearney called Life Choices. A few weeks after we moved, I contacted Life Choices about becoming a volunteer. A week after the phone call, I arrived at the center to get a tour and afterward found myself sharing my heart with the director and other staff member. The following week I spent a few days volunteering at the office and found myself conversing with the director about the need for a new staff member. She then asked me how I would feel about meeting with the board about the possibility of filling that position.

I was in shock. Our Lord is so good! Nathan came with me to meet the board and after sharing my heart with them, they offered me a position on the leadership staff! I joyfully accepted and start in mid-March! My official title is Client Relations & Abstinence Education Coordinator. I will seated at the front desk of the office and will be answering the hotline calls, scheduling appointments, and greeting anyone who comes through our doors! The second portion of my position will be coordinating the abstinence education presentations that are made by volunteers in the Kearney area public schools. It is a very unique presentation that allows teens to understand that they do have the potential to have a wonderful marriage someday and that the decisions they choose to make now will have a direct affecton their future goals.

This is a job that I have dreamed about for a long time and the Lord is so good to provide! I will be finishing my final two weeks at Cabelas and then transitioning to my new job at Life Choices Pregnancy Center in March!

Nathan and I have found a great church here in Kearney called Cornerstone Berean. We have joined a Life Group of other young married couples and enjoy meeting every Thursday night for food and fellowship. We are also helping out with the high school youth group and are looking forward to building relationships and making an impact on the kids there.

Another new development is that Nathan bought me a bow for Valentines Day! It is a PSE Pink Chaos and it is awesome! He is almost more excited than I am for me to start target shooting with him. I also plan on trying for a turkey this spring! We hope that you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Nathan & Amanda Fries

Praise the Lord!

We are so blessed! Nathan has accepted a job offer for a design engineering position in Lexington, Nebraska. We will be moving to Kearney, Nebraska (about 45 minutes from where our parents live) as soon as we find a place to live! He will have about a 30 minute commute. We are VERY excited since we will be close to both of our parents. Since Cabelas has call center in Kearney, I will be able to transfer my job. I am planning on job searching once we get settled into social work or something in child development. There is a Christian crisis pregnancy center in Kearney so I will hopefully be volunteering there!

We are currently enjoying being home for Christmas! Holden and Rachel are home with us and Riah is adorable! I will be keeping you posted on all of our updates in the next few weeks!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!