Wichita Update,

Hey family! Work and classes are going well, I'm definitely keeping busy. Ashley has been under the weather for the past month or so. She met with an infectious disease specialist today - after an hour and a half of examination the doc stated the following: I need a new chest x-ray and ct scan of lungs, heart, throat and sinuses, I will be getting a set of booster shots, I will be receiving another pertussis vaccine and a pneumonia vaccine, a lung specialist will likely be performing a bronchoscopy, 12 blood samples were taken to test for tuberculosis, insufficient antibodies, autoimmune disorders ect. I should be hearing within the week when all of these tests will be ran (except the blood that was drawn today) and shots will be given. I see this specialist again on Nov. 13. In the mean time she has asked that I take it easy and leave work when necessary. My boss will be helping me submit FMLA paperwork in case I end up missing more work, my job will still be safe. Sorry to not have better news, but this a more attention then I have been given in the past and I am hopeful. She said that once she has a better idea, I will likely go on some medicines to try to help relieve the pains and cough.

We definitely appreciate your prayers and look forward to hopefully learning more in the days and weeks to come.

Love you guys!

Jonathan & Ashley

Christmas Lists

Jonathan: Chipotle and Barnes & Noble gift cards, Wine :)
Ashley: Starbucks & Maurice's gift cards, Reeses, Scarfs

Houston Rivers Update

Hello Family,

We are finally getting back into the swing of things and wanted to take time to update everyone on life. Here is the latest and greatest:

• Traveled to Europe the last few weeks of September. We had a blast in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest seeing the sites, eating great food and of course we had to make time for a bit of shopping. We will post pictures soon. There are a few on Facebook.
• Traveled to Cincinnati, OH for a business conference with our team.
• Lee continues traveling to do some outreach at universities across the country. He actually visited Kenyon College this past week (Harrison's old school) and was able to go to a restaurant that the family had eaten at years ago when everyone visited Harry.
• Lee has the following trips coming up: Raleigh, NC; NYC; Grand Rapids, MI
• Q has been invited to give presentations and speeches at some of the local colleges and chemical plants and is leading a peer therapy group in the evenings.
• We are going to travel to Greensboro, NC for a Men & Women's Leadership event with our Amway team. We are so excited and blessed for this opportunity!!
• Two weeks ago, Lee was followed home from the ATM and robbed outside of our condo, so please pray that the court proceedings would go smoothly and that the charges are not lessened. It is possible that the current charges (aggravated robbery) could be dropped down to just robbery. While we want justice to be served, we also want those involved to know they are forgiven and come to know God (if they don't already). We are grateful that God kept Lee save and that Houston PD responded so quickly and was able to recover all stolen goods.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone next month. We love you all and pray God's continued favor upon your lives.

Have a great week,

~ Lee & Q

Generation Study Abroad

Minnesota Update

Dear family,

I'm writing to you from New York City.
From Frederick Cafe, to be exact, in the heart of Harlem--my old stomping ground.
I depart at 2PM
But am using this, my last morning (a cool gray day--my favorite), to get some writing done.

It has been a good five days.
A productive fun-filled visit.

Monday night's concert was a success.
People seem excited by FIVE POINTS
(by the IDEA of FIVE POINTS)
And I'm already feeling the "finish it already" pressure from my agent/collaborators/NYC theater community.

Rehearsals for AND SHE WOULD STAND LIKE THIS were wonderful.
It is ALWAYS a pleasure to be in the rehearsal room with David and Deadria--my absolute favorite director and producer.
The presentation next Thursday should be OUTSTANDING.

My bags are packed.
Stuffed to the brim with WINTER WEAR.
Coat, hats, gloves, scarves and sweaters.
I will certainly have to invest in MORE, but it's a good start.

Thank you so much for your continued support
Especially in this my ADVENTURE year
My throw caution to the wind year
My GAME CHANGING year
Your words of encouragement
Your prayers
Are appreciated.

Much love to you all,
H

Christmas Wish List

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We have two months until the families get together and sometimes getting the shopping done early is nice. Can everyone post their wishes and wants in the comment section or in a new post? Thanks in advance, we love you all.

~ Lee and Q

the D.A.D. phone

DAD has been having some problems with texts.
He has not been able to send text messages.
since this has happened, he is feeling out of touch with you guys. phone calls are not always returned so text messaging has been great for him.
if you can, please call him with updates, so he won't drive me crazy! 
THANKS!!!!!

Minnesota Update

Morning!

So the next few weeks are going to be a bit of a whirlwind for me.

I fly out tomorrow (Friday) evening to NYC for a four-day workshop of my play, AND SHE WOULD STAND LIKE THIS, which is being performed on October 9th at CUNY as part of PRELUDE 2014 (http://preludenyc.org/).

I will be staying with Daveed and Sherri (respectively) and taking meetings/hanging out with friends while I'm there.

I'm back to Minneapolis next Wednesday and then BACK to NYC the week after that for the presentation. 

An excerpt from my play, THE SALVAGERS, will be read as part of PlayLabs at the Playwrights' Center on October 26th (http://www.pwcenter.org/playlabs.php) and I'll be workshopping my one man play, TAKE CARE OF YR BLESSINGS (in which I will be both playwright AND ACTOR) at the PWC November 3rd-5th.

Backtracking for a moment, I had a GREAT time in Texas two weeks ago. It was WONDERFUL to hang with Lee and Q in Houston and the Black & Latino Playwrights' Conference turned out to be an AWESOME/FRUITFUL experience. I definitely want to go back!

Love you all and hope that you are well.

H