Please Visist Our New Blog!

Thank you for visiting! As I am now a mother of a toddler, I can no longer keep up with two blogs. I started http://www.babykunes.blogspot.com/ when our son was conceived, and since he's now the most popular person in our family, so is his blog. So from now on, I will use that blog for all of our family news, which, let's face it, is mostly about him anyway!

So check it out: http://www.babykunes.blogspot.com/

R.I.P. Cole Cottage

Here's a picture of Cole Cottage that I found from our first trip ever to Nashotah House.

Cole Cottage Burns to the Ground

Historic Cole Cottage, on the Nashotah House campus, burned to the ground last night. Thank God that Father Henery and his family moved out last year! Nobody was currently living there. It was a really old, cool house, but it really was in disrepair. We used it for our rumage sale this past Fall, just after the Henery's moved out. As you can see from the picture, it was a raging fire. They have not found the cause, yet. Thank God that the firemen contained it and it did not spread to any of the other buildings near it!

Congratulations Rob!

Isn't this South Carolina Diocese flag the coolest ever! It was custom designed--the first of its kind--for us! Thank you so much to Rob's mom for arranging it all and giving it to us as a Christmas present. If you are interested in having one made for yourself, email me, and I will get you the details.

Congratulations to Rob who was recommended by the Commission on Ministry to be a Candidate for Holy Orders. This is a huge step in the process!

Zion Church, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Praise God! We have a church! Since Rob is in his Middler year, he does his field parish study at a local church, which means we can stop church-hopping and get plugged in somewhere! Yay! We loved Zion Church from the moment we first attended last year, and thankfully Rob was placed here for his field study. He will be mentored by the Rector, Fr. Thad Butcher, serve in various ways on Sun. morning, and help in any way needed throughout the year. This church is full of the Holy Spirit and growing. Fr. Thad is an awesome preacher; I really learn a lot from his sermons. He actually has a connection to South Carolina, too! His daughter is married to the Rev. Iain Boyd, Assistant Rector of Trinity Church Myrtle Beach. It just feels so good to attend a church that is similar to our home church, St. Michael's Charleston. Check out Zion's website if you get a chance: http://zionpoint.org/index.htm

I know I say this in every post, but it's true--Rob is busier than ever these days. His work in the chapel along with his schoolwork is exhausting. In the next week his chapel work includes a matriculation, ordination, convocation, and a graduation. And yes, he still has classes and schoolwork on top of being a part of organizing all of that. It's during these times that the "f-word" gets thrown around a lot here. No, not the one that immediately comes to mind. Rather, formation, formation, formation. Around here it's got the same reputation as that other word, but it is poignant and true to life here. Rob will be more than prepared to serve as a parish priest (Robert as a P.K. and I as a P.W.). I mean really, could it get any crazier?

Thank you for your prayers!

Study, Daddy, Study!!

Daddy is slowly but surely figuring out that it's not always either/or, it's sometimes both! You don't have to either be a daddy OR be a student, you can sometimes be both at the same time! This works until the baby wakes up and starts getting all wiggly. Somehow The Moral Vision of the New Testament doesn't make as much sense when holding a squirmy baby as it does when holding a sleeping baby! Thank God for grandmothers, though. "Nona" is here for a visit and ready to take Robert in any condition whatsoever!

School Has Started!

Rob heads off to his second day of school this morning. Yesterday went well, and he seems excited about the new semester. He is taking the following classes:

Old Testament 1
Greek 3
Hebrew 1
Systematic Theology
Parish Ministry 2
Ethics and Moral Theology

He also continues his positions as Chapel Scholar and as a member of the chapel work crew. As I mentioned before, all students are members of some kind of work crew (outside, library, classrooms, chapel, etc.), and most students have some sort of scholarship position (Chapel Scholar, Choir Scholar, Dish Scholar Library Scholar, etc.). These positions, along with class, chapel services, Bible study, and other meetings and such that seem to pop up, keep Rob very busy during the days. His study/reading time doesn't usually start until after supper. And now, Rob has also to find time to spend with his new son, not to mention his wife! Please keep Rob in your prayers as he prioritizes and works out his schedule.

Baby, Baby, Baby

For those of you who have been diligently checking this blog for updates, thank you! I'm posting to tell you that this summer has been all about baby, baby, baby. SO, at least until school starts and we have non-baby related news, check the baby blog for current news.

Thank You!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! We are all safe and sound at home. Rob's done with his exams. The weather is beautiful. God is good!
For more info. on our recent happenings, consult the baby blog (link to the right). I'll put the whole story there.
We love y'all!

Spring is in the Air

It started gradually: a couple of warm days here and there, diminishing snow piles, once-needed layers of clothing remaining on the pegs, even a few days of shoes with no socks! And then, there were days when it was warm enough to open the windows to air out the musty, closed-up smell of the apartment. The dogs could lay out on the porch and bask in the sun with the door wide open. How refreshing!

And then, no more snow piles at all! That green grass was finally free. Yes, it remains green under all that snow, believe it or not. If I'm being honest, though, I have to admit that what also came out under all that snow was all the "stuff" that got snowed over: someone's old sweatshirt, old toys left on the lawn, some trash around the dumpster, bikes that got hit by the plow (oops!), lost sleds that didn't get taken in before the next snow, etc. So, there was definitely some cleaning up to do. But it got done, the picnic tables and fire pits are back out, and grilled meat is the most popular menu item any day of the week.

Sallie and Hazel are back to their favorite sport: swimming in the now-thawed lake. It's amazing to think that just a few weeks ago we were walking around on this lake with no fear of falling through the feet-thick ice. Sallie and Hazel didn't hesitate to dive right into the hypothermic water. We, however, will not be diving in anytime soon. It's too cold for even a big toe!

What I have loved most about Spring is watching the gradual awakening of the trees and flowers. It happens so fast in the South that we sometimes miss it. Here, as I walk to and from work each day, I notice the buds getting bigger and bigger on the trees. I get excited when I see the tiny leaves gradually poking out of the buds. Watching a tree unfold after a long winter is worth the wait. The bulbs in our garden have finally popped up and are budding. It's so beautiful! The "Spring" chapter in Thoreau's Walden never meant quite as much to me until now that I have experienced it for myself. It's funny that I never noticed it in New England, but I think I was too busy with school while we were there. It's such a blessing to have the leisure to see the beauty of Spring this year.

Three more weeks and counting until Rob's done with this semester--please keep praying!

P.S. Check out the Spring 2008 picture album in the column to the right under "Our Picture Albums"!

Crunch Time

I feel safe to say that it's finally Spring here, and I owe you some pictures. We've had a lot of rain in the past few days, but it should clear up this week, and I'll post some NO SNOW pictures soon!
Rob and I recently had a great trip to Charleston, complete with a baby shower graciously hosted by the Kunes and the Myers. It was so wonderful to see all of our friends and family both from Charleston and those who came from out of town. It was really hard to say goodbye all over again and to know that we won't see many of them again until Christmas time. It's really weird to think that the next time we go to Charleston we will have a 5-month old baby with us. Wow!
As soon as we got back to Nashotah House, Rob entered the end of the semester season that I like to call Crunch Time. He's got about 5 weeks of presentations, papers, and exams left, not to mention his regular responsiblities in the Chapel and around campus. I'm trying to keep busy with work and baby preparation stuff, but I have to admit that with Rob in the library so much, it's getting a little lonely around here. We could definitely use some strong prayer for the next few weeks.
We love y'all!

Experiencing Nashotah

I can't believe it's already been over a year since our first experience of Nashotah House at last year's Experience Nashotah. You can read all about that experience at the beginning of this blog. It was an amazing introduction to what would become our home. I spent a lot of time praying that this year's Experience Nashotah would be just as amazing for our visitors as it was for us, and I think it was! God was truly in charge as He pulled the community together despite fatigue and winter blues to welcome our guests with open arms. I am not saying this to pat us on the back but rather to give God the glory for what He did through our community. He is so alive here! Just when I think this community is in a real low valley place with sickness, fatigue, winter blues, negativity, etc., He lifts us up into a mountain place and refreshes us. The community was really lifted into that mountain place during this year's Experience Nashotah.

Rob and I (with all the other SC folks here) hosted a prospective student and his wife from Conway, SC. We enjoyed getting to know them, and all of us hope and pray that God is leading them to Nashotah House.

Of all the Nashotah House activities, the favorite is the talent show. Here are some video clips of the talent show. Check them out!

These first two clips are of seminarians who recently returned from a mission trip to Peru. You can learn more about their trip by visiting the Jackson Kemper Missionary Society blog.

1.) Peru Song A video clip of some of the seminarians and spouses who attended the mission trip singing a song they learned in Peru.

2.) "Future Star...the Mancub" The March 10th posting on a seminarian's blog. It's a video of the seminarian and his son rocking out to a song he learned in Peru.

3.) Plainsong Chant A brief clip of the Nashotah House choral scholars performing a unique plainsong chant of the library's general information on collections, information which is stated on the library's homepage. Unfortunately, this is only a clip and cuts off halfway through the chant. The whole thing was a complete riot! Last year they did a plainsong chant of the preface to the 1040 tax form, which was equally hilarious.

These are only a few clips of some of the skits. It was such a fun night!

I've been making a special point to pray for those who are discerning a call to the ministry and/or getting ready for seminary in the Fall. I invite you to join me in these prayers--that God will give them wisdom and guidance and give them peace as He works out all the details of their futures.

Squirrel Feeder

I wish I could say that I have something more exciting to report than a squirrel on our bird feeder, but I don't. This was kind of a fun sight, though. Rob recently hung a bird feeder out back, and we've been feeding some really cool birds--like the one you see in the right hand corner of this picture. However, it seems we've also been feeding some acrobatic black squirrels. For those of you who haven't ever seen a black squirrel (I hadn't before we moved to Nashotah House), they are much larger than grey squirrels. The kids around here joke that the black squirrels here at Nashotah House are really the daytime embodiment of the infamous black monk, who is said to roam around our campus graveyard at night. While I'm not sure about all of that, I do agree that they are kind of creepy.

Rob is well into Easter term, now. He's been studying in the classrooms almost every school night. It's just too cold to use his office in our basement. Coldness is pretty much what's been going on around here lately. They say that this is one of the worst winters in Wisconsin, and I believe them. While the snow is beautiful, I have to admit that I'm quite over the cold weather. I'm sick of putting on a face mask every time I leave the house, and I'm especially sick of walking really slowly to avoid slipping on the ice, which would not be good at this stage in the pregnancy. I just want to break out into a full run through a grassy field, and by the time I can do that, I'll be too big to run very fast! At any rate, I am trying to stay positive about the weather and to enjoy the beauty of the snow. And believe me, there's plenty to enjoy.

May God bless you all!

P.S. I put some more snow/dog pictures up. Check out the link called "Snow and Dogs" under Our Picture Albums to the right.

Winter Break is Finally Over!

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. All of you loyal blog readers must be so annoyed! Though it was technically a winter "break," it hasn't been that much of a break for either of us. As I mentioned in my last posting, Rob's been busy in the chapel. For the past two weeks, he's also been taking a January term liturgy class. He had a lot of fun in this class, which may as well have been called "Dress Up and Play Church 101." Basically, the class was split into groups, and each group chose and compiled a special mass. Each group wrote a bulletin and choreographed the mass. Then, the class got together and practiced each mass. Rob's group did Candlemass, which is actually going to be celebrated next week with the whole community. Pictured above is Rob all decked out in a lace surplice that they found in the chapel attic. He was the thurifer for another group's mass. He's standing in the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Milwaukee, which is where they practiced one of the group's masses. I've never seen him in so much lace before, and frankly, it would be just fine if I never saw him in that much again! It's a little creepy if you ask me.

I got back on Monday from a visit with my family in Atlanta. I had a wonderful time seeing my sister and her family and my mom and dad. My niece and nephew are getting big so fast; it's hard only getting to see them once or twice a year. My nephew was excited that his Aunt Jewey has a baby in her tummy that will come out and "play wiff Ty." It may be time for a science lesson, though, because he can't seem to grasp how food goes in our tummies as well as babies. He asked my sister if Aunt Jewey ate the baby to get it in her tummy. He's a smart little 3-year old!

So we are finally ready to get back into the swing of a new semester. Classes start on Tuesday. Please keep Rob in your prayers as he starts his classes and begins to hunker down for another few months of academics. Please also pray that the Lord will warm both our hearts and bodies as we endure another few months of winter weather.

Thank you for all of your letters, phones calls, emails, financial support, and especially your prayers so far this year. We would not be here and could not make it if it were not for the power of the Holy Spirit working through our brothers and sisters to touch our lives. We love you and miss you dearly.

Merry Christmas!

We made it through one semester! We are now well into Christmas break and loving it. We missed our family and friends on Christmas Day, but we managed to have a wonderful time nonetheless. We were invited to Christmas dinner with a family of 4 kids, so we had fun checking out their new toys. Thanks to our parents and the wonderful US postal service, we got plenty of gifts of our own to play with, too. We've been watching our new DVDs and playing games everyday. We didn't have fresh snow on Christmas Day, but it has been snowing all day today. We should get about 8 inches or so before tomorrow. We took the dogs out in it, but our camera needed recharging, so we didn't get any good pictures, yet. We'll go again tomorrow.

Just to really see who's checking this blog, we thought we'd make a little announcement and see if we get any responses. Our most treasured Christmas present came early. We found out the week before Thanksgiving that we are expecting a baby in July. I've decided to start a new blog entitled Baby Kunes to post all things baby-related. You'll see a link to it under Our Links to the right. If you want to read all about how the pregnancy is going, check that blog. I'm not promising lots of pictures until I start actually looking pregnant and not just chubby, which is how I look now!

We love you all and thank you for your prayers!

One More Week and Counting!

Well, there has been more snow. Lots and lots of snow. I've lost count of how many inches there are on the ground right now--over a foot at least. It's truly beautiful here. Can you believe the size of the icicles on our building? They're like North Pole icicles or something! I took some pictures on my walk to work the other day, so check out the link called Winter 2007 on the bar to the right.

Rob is on his last week of work for the semester. Classes ended last week, and this week he'll be taking exams and finishing papers. We can't wait until all of the work is done because then we'll finally decorate for Christmas! I think this is the latest we've ever waited to put up a Christmas tree. We tried to play it off like we were just celebrating Advent and waiting until Christmas to celebrate Christmas, but really we have been just too busy to decorate. Rob will be done Friday, and I have all next week off, so the fun will really begin then. We can't wait to spend the week relaxing together. Maybe we'll finally get some good pictures of the dogs actually playing in the snow!

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas!

Our First Wisconsin Snow

Yesterday was the Kunes' family first Wisconsin snowstorm. I think the hype leading up to the snowstorm was almost more exciting than the actual storm itself. The weather channels had been predicting snow of various amounts and consistencies for about a week. One would think that with all the cold weather and snow they get here the people of Wisconsin would be pretty laid back about a few inches of snow or even grumpy about the start of another winter, but they seemed pretty excited about it. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. We got a few inches of snow, but I guess it was a bit too warm to get the predicted 1/2 inch of ice on top of the snow. I was looking forward to seeing that! I guess I'll have many more chances in the months to come.

Hazel was dying to get out in the snow. She whined at the back door until we let her go out on the patio to watch to snow come down. She really loves the snow. We'll take more pictures of her playing in the snow another time. In fact, by the end of winter, you'll probably get sick of all our snow pictures!


Pe-Snow Patio

Post-Snow Patio (See--just a few inches)

A Frenzy of Fall Fun

I know we have been busy before, but I have to say that I cannot remember the last time that we've been this busy! The past three weeks have been absolutely nonstop. Don't get me wrong, though, it's a good busy. It's a busy that is the result of huge blessings.

I know I say this a lot, but I really can't say it enough. The community at Nashotah House is amazing! We have been in full swing this Fall. The weekend Rob went to the RICM retreat, the community had the annual Fall Festival. The picture above shows all of our cute children dressed up in their costumes. First, we had a carnival where each residential building created a booth for the children. Our building did a bean bag toss. There was also a face painting booth, a balloon animal booth, a nerf dart gun booth, and more. After the carnival, we had a big community cookout. Then, they loaded the kids up for a hayride around campus. They trick-or-treated at the faculty houses, and then, at the end of the hayride, they got out and trick-or-treated at the student houses. The evening ended with a big bonfire. What a fun day!

While I was gorging myself on candy all weekend, Rob was having an amazing time at the RICM retreat. He came home absolutely glowing with the Holy Spirit. He had wonderful things to say about Fr. Gary Delmasso and his wife, Judith, and their ministry. I was a little disappointed that I missed it, but I'm sure that his relationship with them will continue and that I will get to spend time with them, too. The weekend got him even more excited about starting an Order of St. Luke on campus. He spoke to Fr. McGlynn when he got back, and they scheduled the first meeting this coming Tuesday. Since that weekend, Rob has also been given the Dean's blessing to offer healing prayer after the Contemporary Service here at Nashotah House on Sundays. The Dean and others here on campus have been praying for a healing ministry to blossom, and Rob is so grateful for the awesome training he received at St. Michael's so that he can be a part of bringing it to Nashotah House. He is completely humbled and thankful that God has seen fit to use him in this way.

In the midst of all of this excitement, Rob finished his midterms, we hosted my parents the following weekend, we celebrated my 30th birthday, and Bishop Salmon and Fr. Dow Sanderson came to Nashotah for the Trustees meeting. They spoiled all the SC seminarians and spouses by taking us to Milwaukee for a fancy German dinner at Mader's. Wow! So, as you can see, we've been busy. I wouldn't trade any of it in for the world. However, now that things have begun to wind down this weekend, I'm playing catch-up. The dust bunnies under the table will be finally swept, the dogs will be washed, the bills will be paid, thank you notes will be written, food will be cooked (believe it or not but we've been living on leftovers from all the festivities for two weeks now), and last but not least, books that I started weeks ago will be joyfully read, and my feet will be propped up. And Rob will be writing papers, in case you were wondering.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

Fall at Nashotah House

Fall has officially arrived. Well, it's been here for a while, but the leaves are finally beginning to really change. Today was absolutely beautiful and quite warm actually, so I took a walk and snapped some pictures. You can see them if you click on "Fall 2007" under Our Picture Albums to the right. We are so blessed to live in such a unique and beautiful place.


Lately I have been overwhelmingly thankful to the Lord for taking such good care of us here at Nashotah House. We have a large circle of friends and are beginning to develop that special inner circle of friends that is so important. In particular, I have found a few women with whom I have much in common and can really connect. We have gotten beyond those trivial, "getting to know you" conversations and are really beginning to open up to each other. It is such an answered prayer to be forming friendships like this here. I am also overwhelmingly blessed by a Bible study that I'm in. We're using an Inductive Study of Colossians, by Kay Arthur. I love the way it makes me dig deeply into the Word, searching every nuance and meaning. The Lord is speaking to me so much in this study. It is by far the best Bible time that I've ever experienced.


Rob is still studying for midterms. He has moments of complete clarity and peace and moments of complete confusion and stress. It's hard to watch him go through the stress and to feel helpless, but the peaceful moments always come just when we need them. I've been so proud of his diligence and endurance. His faith is stronger than ever, and I know the Lord is blessing that. He has found some great friends with whom to study and to pray. He's actually going with some of them to a Renewal in Christ Ministries retreat next weekend, which should be awesome. Here's a link to their website: http://www.ricm.org/. He is also going to be helping to organize a chapter of The Order of St. Luke here at Nashotah House! He is so excited!


We're busy but blessed. Thank you so much for your continued prayer and support.

Comic Relief

As I promised, this post was removed for posterity's sake. Feel free to email me if you missed it.