Saturday: Wow! The weather today was so nice—much warmer than when we were in Florida! The guys all got together in the parking lot where my trailer is parked to wash the vehicles. While they were doing that, Miss Reba and Miss Caroline picked up me, Anna Grace, Lilly, and Ella to take us shoe shopping. We started off with lunch at Panera—I loved getting my peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over Miss Reba. Then we hit about six stores looking for shoes I could wear with my flower girl dress for Uncle Josh’s wedding. It took so much out of us that we just HAD to stop at Miss Reba’s favorite place—Starbucks. Anna and Lilly ordered smoothies, and the nice man working there said there was some left over, so he gave me my own cup. It was a fun day!
Sunday: We went to church with Miss Caroline at Hampton Park. I really only got to see the nursery. Mom and Dad said they really enjoyed the preaching and seeing all their friends there! We went back on Sunday night too. That night, we had all the team members, current and future, fiancés, and even Grandma!, come to a pizza party. We prayed through the texts of the songs and heard some of the instrumentals that we’ve never heard before. I got to play with Ella and David in the room next door—we had a screaming competition cause the room echoed so nicely, until Daddy came and said we had to be quieter.
Monday: Today Mom and Dad have started something called “recording. . ."
After driving from Pensacola to Greenville, South Carolina, the team was more than ready for a week of relaxation. The Galkin and Coffey families parked their trailers at Faith Baptist Church where there is plenty of room for the kids to play. The singles all dispersed to different locations, to stay with friends and family in the Greenville area. Elise and Josh especially enjoyed the extra time in Greenville, as they got to see their fiancés.
The team also did some shopping, but Reba came away with the big purchase of the week. She bought the team a double bass! It arrived just in time to begin rehearsals for the new recording.
The team is thankful for the week off, and will be rested and ready to go after our new recording.
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The morning started off amazing. Why? Because we all got to sleep in. ☺ So with bright faces, we met at church to start our adventure. Our first stop was Subway. You see, we needed sustenance for our adventure. I was so excited! We were going to an island to have a picnic.
We arrived at the beach, and the first group piled into the boat, while the rest of us stayed behind. About 20 minutes later, Pastor Gotcher and Jared were back to pick us up. It was cloudy and windy, but the ride to the island was smooth and quite enjoyable. Upon arrival, we noticed something very different about the rest of the team that had been on the first boat ride. They were soaking wet! Apparently, they had taken a different course to the island that had involved a few more waves. But luckily, we had brought extra towels and jackets.
We had a great time on the island making a fire, playing bocci ball, getting our feet wet, and enjoying our picnic lunch. We also did some exploring. It was great to get some Florida sand under our toes.
As the afternoon wore on, the wind started picking up, and it starting sprinkling. We decided that we should probably start heading back to shore. As we all piled into the boat, the rain began to come. When we stepped foot on the pier, we were all a little wet. Happily, there was time to get ready before the service.
Our day was packed full of adventure and fun, and it will never be forgotten under the Florida sun.
It all started on the road, as most good love stories do. I was
traveling for the '08-'09 school year with Bro. Will and his team. I
took a year off of school at Bob Jones University, packed up my cello
and (rather large) suitcases, and headed on the road with the Galkins,
Coffeys, and two other "singles", Reba Snyder and Josh Roland.
I learned so much on the road--but second semester, something scary
started to happen: I found myself falling for one of the guys that I
travelled with. As you can quickly deduce, that person was Josh
Roland.
I don't know if it was the smile, the guitar playing, or his
great impression of Naaman in the children's program--but I was in
love! I was able to keep my feelings to myself...well, mostly. The
Lord taught me SO much during that time--that He alone can be my hope
and satisfaction. By the time May rolled around, I was thankful that
God had kindly kept me from spilling my feelings to Josh, and I was
definitely ready for a break before camp, if only to get control of my
feelings! It took a few days at camp before Josh informed me of a most
pleasant surprise! He had also been falling in love with someone on
the team over the whole semester--and that person was me!!
With team travels being finished for the holidays, I was looking forward to spending time with my family and my boyfriend. I went home for a week, and then was flying out to Chicago for Thanksgiving (Kristopher was going to be there visiting with relatives.). I finally told Kristopher of my plans a week before I was supposed to meet him in Chicago. I knew something was up. There were little things that were not quite making sense. Like my Mom offering to go get a manicure/pedicure with me the day I was leaving for Chicago, or how Kristopher's phone died Tuesday morning and could not talk to me (and he has 2 phones!!!). I was pretty sure that Kristopher knew about my journey to the Windy City long before I told him. I was excited/anxious of what would take place. Tuesday morning, the day of my flight, I received a bouquet of 11 red roses at my door. Eleven..... strange. Something was really up. About 4:30 p.m., Kristopher showed up on my doorstep with a single red rose. I was not going to Chicago after all.
I was thrilled to see him. It had been 3 months! He told me to get dressed up because we were going out. After getting ready, we got into the car and drove to the Hyatt in downtown Denver. We ate at a restaurant on the 27th floor. Kristopher had dropped off pictures and a candle earlier in the day, and the view was gorgeous! We enjoyed some amazing food that night! But there was another stop to be made. We started driving to Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder. On the way, Kristopher popped in a CD of some of our favorite songs. By the time we reached our viewpoint on the mountain, our favorite song began to play. It was the John Rutter arrangement of For the Beauty of the Earth. After the song was finished, Kristopher began his "engagement speech". Soon afterwards he got on one knee and pulled out a beautiful engagement ring. The rest is history.
Kristopher and I are planning to be married in my hometown of Fort Collins, CO on June 4th.
Fall is a time of carving pumpkins, racing through corn mazes, and raking colorful leaves. For the Galkin Team, Fall is a time for a mad candy hunt, Buffalo Wild Wings, and a little game we call “Pop it, Do it, Win it.”
On Tuesday night we gathered together in the trailer for our annual harvest party. Joining our team for the week was Matt Reid, who fit right in, especially during our crazy game. The rules of “Pop it, Do it, Win it” are simple: choose a balloon with a piece of paper inside, pop the balloon, do what is written on the paper, win a prize! We all laughed till we cried at some of the embarrassing requests on the papers, but (sorry to say), what happens during Harvest Party in the trailer, stays in the trailer.
We had the opportunity to join in on the weekly events with Red Rocks Baptist Church this past week. The team performed some folk and sacred music at the ladies fellowship, and Will was able to wrap it up with a gospel message. In this new episode of Galkin Digital Shorts, Christy Galkin gives a wrap up of the ladies fellowship; how "it gave the ladies a chance to bring their friends and have another way to share the gospel with their friends, and [how] it also was an encouragment to the ladies that were saved so they could fellowship together."
Click on the picture to view the video of the ladies fellowship.
This week the team had a sweet reunion with Aaron Coffey! He and his wife, Stephanie were out this semester taking care of their new baby, Asher. Aaron had no problem adjusting to the new team. He got right back into the swing of things by squashing the team men in a tough game of Ticket to Ride at our pizza fellowship with Pastor Clark’s family. The Galkin kids were excited that the Clark’s Wii was the main feature of the night. The kids and the team got to play Mario Cart, bowling, and other fun games on the Wii. It was a great night of competition!
Back when Will Galkin traveled with the Pettit Team, one game brought Stephen Pettit and Will to the tight bond they are at today.
Fifa Soccer.
Since we had a half-week in Grand Junction, we decided to have some team bonding time equipped with two tournaments: Ticket to Ride, and Fifa Soccer.
The girls played Ticket to Ride (a board game in which the object of the game is to conquer as much land as you can with specific train routes), and Laura came out victorious, scoring nearly three points under the highest score on the US map, which is held by Josh Roland.
The boys played Fifa Soccer on the PC in the Galkin trailer. The victor of this game was disputed by a few goals between Will and Stephen, but in the end, the one with the most hours of practice (700 hours?) won the tournament. Stephen Pettit.
This
past weekend, we drove from Elko, NV to Grand Junction, CO.Because we left Elko on Friday, we were
able to take a whole day of rest on Saturday.We didn’t schedule any specific activities, but most of the
team ended up at the Colorado National Monument.
The
monument is a red rocks canyon with many buttes and drop-offs.We enjoyed hiking along the ridge and
climbing the canyon walls.The
view was breathtaking.We could
see the whole valley of Grand Junction.We could also see the Colorado River flowing amidst the fall-changing
yellow trees.
After 8 weeks on the road traveling over 2500 miles, it was time to scrub down the Galkin Trailer. Watch this video to get a glimpse into team life and to see just how big this trailer really is.
Also view our first Galkin Digital Short video, Arctic Circle Concert, on the same page!
This last week we were able to celebrate the birthdays of Reba, Laura, and Stephen. Birthday parties are always a special time on the Galkin Team. They always involve three things: crazy games, tons of presents, and Buffalo Wild Wings. However, there was a small glitch in the plan this time around. There was not a Buffalo Wild Wings anywhere near Idaho Falls! But the party must go on. So we decided to try the wings from Wing Street. We had a great time voicing our opinions over whose wings were better. After much deliberation, it was decided that Buffalo Wild Wings would remain king.
We also had a great time dressing up in costumes while playing charades. Then the competition really started to heat up as the girls and guys vied for domination in the game four on a couch. The party came to a culmination as we thanked God for the lives of Reba, Laura, and Stephen. We look forward to the many birthday celebrations to come!
Saturday: Wow! The weather today was so nice—much warmer than when we were in Florida! The guys all got together in the parking lot where my trailer is parked to wash the vehicles. While they were doing that, Miss Reba and Miss Caroline picked up me, Anna Grace, Lilly, and Ella to take us shoe shopping. We started off with lunch at Panera—I loved getting my peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over Miss Reba. Then we hit about six stores looking for shoes I could wear with my flower girl dress for Uncle Josh’s wedding. It took so much out of us that we just HAD to stop at Miss Reba’s favorite place—Starbucks. Anna and Lilly ordered smoothies, and the nice man working there said there was some left over, so he gave me my own cup. It was a fun day!
After driving from Pensacola to Greenville, South Carolina, the team was more than ready for a week of relaxation. The Galkin and Coffey families parked their trailers at Faith Baptist Church where there is plenty of room for the kids to play. The singles all dispersed to different locations, to stay with friends and family in the Greenville area. Elise and Josh especially enjoyed the extra time in Greenville, as they got to see their fiancés.
It was Friday, and we were going on a boat ride.
Back when Will Galkin traveled with the Pettit Team, one game brought Stephen Pettit and Will to the tight bond they are at today.
This last week we were able to celebrate the birthdays of Reba, Laura, and Stephen. Birthday parties are always a special time on the Galkin Team. They always involve three things: crazy games, tons of presents, and Buffalo Wild Wings. However, there was a small glitch in the plan this time around. There was not a Buffalo Wild Wings anywhere near Idaho Falls! But the party must go on. So we decided to try the wings from Wing Street. We had a great time voicing our opinions over whose wings were better. After much deliberation, it was decided that Buffalo Wild Wings would remain king.