“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…”  Jeremiah 29:11

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last three years, it’s that God’s plans are not our own.  So all we can do is buckle our seatbelts, hang on tight, and follow where He leads.

This year, God led us to Chicagoland.  Ryan was accepted into the MBA program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, so In July, we packed up all our earthly belongings and moved east.  After a three-day drive with my mom & dad and our two dogs, we arrived in Aurora, Illinois (a small suburb about an hour from downtown Chicago).  We’re finally feeling a little more settled (thanks to the help of our parents!) and are beginning to explore all this “village” and the surrounding areas have to offer.  The dogs are really enjoying the size of their new backyard… but we’ll see how long that lasts once the snow starts piling up!

Ryan is almost finished with his first quarter, and has enjoyed the process thus far.  While he’s still connected to Gallo’s International Forecasting team through weekly phone meetings, he is also working in the regional sales office near our home.

I sold my Stroller Strides franchise and ended my short stint as a teacher at the Sylvan Learning Center, and have become thoroughly entrenched in my new career as a stay-at-home mommy (more on that later!).

The Lord also led us to a new home church.  After attending a couple of other churches, we decided to call Community Christian Church our home.  We wasted no time getting plugged in… Ryan is playing drums with the band, we’re involved in a small group Bible study, and soon I’ll become a teacher in the Kids’ City children’s ministry, and audition for the worship team.

This year wasn’t all about work though.  God led us on some fun outings as well.  In May, Ryan’s sister Heather and her then-fiancé Jacob joined us for a relaxing week at an all-inclusive resort in Cabo.  We toured a glass factory, went shopping, played cards, lounged by the pool, and ate… a LOT!  Then in June, we got to celebrate with Heather and Jake as they said “I do” in Seattle.

And finally, our Faith ful Father led us into parenthood! Ryder Harrison Barr was born at 10:03pm on Friday, September 12th, which also happens to be his Great-Grandpa Barr’s birthday!  He weighed 8lbs, 3oz. and was 19 ½ inches long.  He was welcomed by Grandma and Grandpa Barr, and Grammy and Poppa Jackson who were able to be here to celebrate his life.  After experiencing three heartbreaking losses, we truly understand what a miracle children are, and feel incredibly blessed to have this sweet boy here with us.  We’re also grateful that he was born so healthy… Between a stressful move (at 32 weeks pregnant), and Mommy contracting West Nile Virus (at 33 weeks pregnant), the odds were against him.  But God is good all the time, and He carried Ryder through it all.

So as we prepare for wherever the Lord may lead us in 2009, we wish each of you the peace and joy that only He can bring.

All our love,
Ryan, Megan, and Ryder Barr…
and Nikki & Toby too!

In case you’ve already thrown your envelope away, our new address is
528 Ryegrass Court, Aurora, IL 60504.
And you can keep up with what’s happening with our family on our website: www.ryanbarr.com

Ryan and I traveled to Chicago last week to accomplish several things. 1) I had never been there. And if I’m gonna live there for a few years, I gotta make sure I like it! 2) Ryan had an interview at Kellogg. 3) He also attended one class at GSB and another class at Kellogg to see which school he liked better. 4) We had the opportunity to meet the guys in the Gallo office.

I’m not a big-city type of gal, so I definitely had my reservations. But truthfully, it wasn’t really all that bad. It appeared to me to be cleaner than San Francisco. It’s also brighter because the streets are wider. And there are less homeless people… That may change once the weather gets warmer, but it was still nice. Our first full day there, we rented a car and drove through a whole bunch of suburbs to get a feel for where we might live, how long the commute to school might be, etc. We liked a lot of the areas we saw… but of course, the farther we got from the city, the more comfortable with the area I became. I came with the expectation that it would be COLD, so the weather was no surprise to me. It wasn’t really as bad as I thought it would be. We were prepared for it, and once you reach your destination, the insides of all the buildings are very warm (sometimes too warm!) so it doesn’t take long to thaw out. One night, we were sitting at dinner in PF Chang’s, and it was lightly snowing outside… very romantic! We also got to walk down to Navy Pier (practically a ghost town during the winter), and I got to walk around downtown Naperville while Ryan was meeting with Gallo. It’s a really cute little area… the first “downtown” I’ve been to with free parking!

Ryan’s Kellogg interview went very well. The admissions gal was very impressed with him, and he came home feeling very confident that he’d be accepted. He really enjoyed the class he sat in on at Kellogg, but the same cannot be said for the class he experienced at GSB. Apparently the professor was great, but the student body was not what he would prefer to be a part of. That kind of sealed the deal for him, and helped him make a decision between the two schools (which previously was quite difficult). All he had to do was wait to hear the results of his application… But he didn’t have to wait long! By the end of the week, he learned that he’d been accepted. Yay!

His meeting with Gallo was also successful. He feels like he’ll get along great with everyone there. The building there in is literally right off the freeway, and it’s beautiful! There’s even a gym and cafeteria on-site, which is quite a plus. After talking with the guys there, we’ve kind of narrowed our living area down to a couple of villages (yes, I said villages!). We’re looking at east Aurora or West Naperville. They butt right up against each other, and are an easy 10-15 minute commute to Gallo, and about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. There’s a church in the area that we’re interested in trying out, as well as a couple of dance studios and a Stroller Strides. So other than getting used to a new climate, I think we’ll manage to feel right at home.