March for life and Sledding day

We have been busy as usual! Aidan and I attended the March for Life. What an experience. It was cold! It even snowed during the March. Unfortunately, there wasn't accurate media coverage of the March with a general failure to acknowledge numbers. There was, however, a vast amount of people there. When the March began we were separated from our group. I rushed with Aidan up the sidewalk to get to the very front of the March to find our group, but didn't see them. I moved to the sidewalk and stood on a barricade looking for the banner of our group. I stood for an hour and ten minutes before I saw the banner! Here's a video of the crowd that passed us as we waited:

A few numbers have been thrown out by religious media sources ranging from an estimated 400,000 to 650,000 people for the march. What an experience. I was especially proud that our Metropolitan and Hierarchs from our Holy Synod marched with us.

We do have a little fun around here!

Sledding day!
I was excited to take the boys out and they were excited to go! We gathered with seminarian friends, it was a blast! Here's some great photos from that day:

Aidan ridin' the ice solo!!!

Isaak after a trip, trying to squeeze some extra sledding into a ride!

BEHOLD, FROST-BEARD!!!

Poor guys all tuckered out after a day of sledding!

One of the questions I am asked about seminary life is “What do you guys need?” First of all, we need prayers! It is a busy schedule here and we do get emotionally and physically drained. Your prayers help so much more than you can imagine! In our practical day to day lives, we also need financial support. There have been so many people who have been generous in donating to our expenses. Veronika was able to work the first couple of semesters and it was a great help. Although Alexis and Veronika work around 35 hours a week together cooking at the Seminary, it is a challenge to meet all of the basic costs required. We have relied on a variety of donations both from family and others in the Church to meet our costs. Below is a rough outline of the Financial Aspects and Costs for us:

Rough Budget for our Monthly Costs :

Rent: 600

Utilities: 150

Car Payment: 250

Alexis Credit Card: 150

Veronika Credit Card: 180

Car Insurance: 125

Normal Household Stuff: 50

Student Loan Payment: 125

Cell Phone Bill: 50

Internet: 50

Gas: 100

Total Cost: 1830

Please, if you feel encouraged to help us out with monthly costs and you are able to, click on the paypal link to do so. If you would prefer to send us a check in the mail, here is our address: 131 Lake Quinn Rd, Waymart, PA, 18472. Also, there is no such thing as “a little help”. Any amount of financial help is a huge blessing. Whether it is to pick up a few items at the store, get some gas, or help pay for a bill, any financial support is a huge help! Even if you are not able to help out financially, please, pray for us! If you have any prayer requests for anyone or for anything, please share them with us.

In Christ,
The Baldwins
Alexis, Veronika, Aidan, Isaak, and little one on the way

The first of many (We hope) videos about our kitchen cooking experience at St. Tikhon's.

                              We celebrated the annual St. Tatiana's Day Luncheon hosted by the St. Tikhon's century association.

                                Behold! My favorite dessert of the annual luncheon (provided by one of the century association members). 

First Post

     Welcome to a journal of experiences of our final semester at St. Tikhon's seminary. We have been here two and half years. Aidan was one year old when we came and Isaak will be two soon. We have a little on the way, due in April. We can't believe it's almost finished, though. One. Semester. left. !!! We are already a week and a half into the last semester. It is busy. Veronika and I spend our mornings working in the kitchen, while the boys are playing within our sight. I get lunch ready while attending classes too! Quite a schedule.
     We are thankful to be able to go to Divine Services at the Monastery of St. Tikhon, which is next to the Seminary. It is such a blessing to be immersed in the spiritual life of the Church while being here at Seminary. The Monastery offers a full schedule of services every single day, Monastic hours, Vespers, Matins, Divine Liturgy. As seminarians, we are readers at the services. We sing in the Choir and have various assigned services to participate in. It has been an amazing experience to participate in the services with my fellow seminarians.
     I hope to post quite frequently, sharing our experiences this last semester as we go along and also to share some of the wonderful experiences we had in our time here.

The Baldwins
Alexis, Veronika, Aidan, Isaak