Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Now that the cat's out of the bag and I'm living the "retired" life (see photo, although the piles of stuff in my formerly empty back room would say otherwise...) I'm going to do my best to fill in as many of the gaps as possible for you, Q&A-style. 

Q: When are you leaving the DR? 

A: Josh & I will fly to St. Louis together on Monday, April 13. 

Q: When and where are you getting married? 

A: October 3, 2026, at my home church, St. Paul's in Des Peres, MO. Get all the deetz on our wedding website. 

Q: What's left in terms of Josh's studies? 

A: He has one more year of classroom learning, which will begin in mid-August. Lord willing, he'll graduate in May 2027 and "walk" with the class behind him (since international vicarages are 2 years). 

Q: What are your summer plans?

A: Wedding planning! No but actually...dress shopping, suit shopping, cake tasting, and more. Boring stuff: physicals, dentist appointments. Hopefully buying a car! We'll enjoy Mackenzie family time for about a month before we hit the road in mid-May and return ~6 weeks later after lots of Wareham family time in GA, a jaunt down to FL, and 4th of July weekend in MT. 

Q: Will you live in your house when you get married? 

A: No. While it's true I own a home in south St. Louis city, I've had the same tenants for ~6 years, and I'd rather not upset the apple cart. We've tentatively secured a 1-bedroom apartment within walking distance of campus and are excited about immersing ourselves in the seminary community. Josh will likely move in a couple months before the wedding to avoid "iso" (single student on-campus housing). 

Q: Will you keep your current job? 

A: No. After a period of transition, I'll stay on with the LCMS part-time (four days/week: three at the International Center + one remote) as part of a team tackling a developing CRM (Constituent Relationship Management) project. What exactly my day-to-day will look like solidifies a little more with each conversation, but I can say for sure that I'll be using the knowledge and skills I've gleaned in my years overseas to better connect US individuals and congregations with what God is doing internationally. 

Q: Are you headed back to the mission field post-graduation? 

A: We are open to going wherever we can best serve the Lord and His Church, be that domestically or internationally. 

Q: Will you keep blogging? 

A: No. This has been a treasured forum for me to process and share my very much "not normal" missionary life, but it's not something I can commit to keeping up with as a sem wife. I'm not going to be that person, though; expect an intentional farewell post (c.f. this one, from the end of my GEO term in El Paso, TX) on April 13 or thereabouts. 

What did I miss? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, blessings in Christ!