Eager Beavers

The time is ALMOST here!! Mack and I are planning to leave for Canada a bit earlier than planned but only to make it to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, Arizona! We leave May 15th!!

http://www.overlandexpo.com

So the route is about finished, back roads and highways, but we NEED YOUR HELP! Where are some Neat & Interesting places to visit, eat, etc. in the Western States?!?

36 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE EMBARK on OUR ADVENTURE!! God has TRULY BLESSED US! 

***Across America for Africa!!***

*UPDATE*

We have changed our donations organization! Our friend's The Ripley's family have an organization called Lighthouse for Christ! They are in Kenya and doing wonders through God's Guidance and Grace! 

ANY DONATION is GREAT!! You can go on their website BELOW to DONATE!

The needs are so great, but you can make a difference in Kenya and the East coast of Africa .Lighthouse provides world-class eye care to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. Over 80% of our the patients cannot afford eye care.Help restore sight to a blind man, woman or child today, both physically and spiritually. Give them back a quality of life that we take for granted.Giving has never been easier!

Fellowship of ChurchesThe "Church on the Roof" took this verse literally! The church work of the Lighthouse now consist of nearly 70 Bible-believing, growing churches which originally sprang from a small Sunday School started in 1969 by Dr. Bill Ghrist in his residence. In 1977 the Church on the Roof was built and since then a large fellowship of churches has developed.The fellowship is directed and led by local national pastors. Each year new churches are being started. The mission's main help now is with newly-started churches and the training of pastors. Our role is not to tell pastors what to do. It is to help them accomplish what they feel God wants done. Annually, we hold Pastor's and Pastor's Wives Conferences. Recently, we have extended these training seminars to all area pastors in Mombasa and the East Coast Province. We also help them with equipment and sponsoring of individual church events.

http://www.lighthouseforchrist.org/

CLOSING REMARKS

If you would also like to "Buy Mack and Lauren gasoline and a sandwich" we are accepting donations. We LOVE Visa cards (Early Birthday or Christmas present lol) 

THANKS & GIG 'EM!!

If you have any suggestions, questions or comments please let us know!! As we get ready for this journey, please pray for safe travels, guidance and the Lighthouse for Christ organization and everything they are doing!!

Onward Bound-

The McGowens

Across America for Africa

WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?

Well it's official! Mack and I are taking a trip across the western part of the United States. 2000+ miles of back roads through Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, up to Vancouver, Canada, down CR 101 along the coast of California, through Nevada, Arizona and then 40 days later BACK IN TEXAS. We have been talking about this trip ever since my husband bought his new Nissan Titan and transformed it into an office/home on wheels. He is the smarted man I know, prepared for everything and is always looking for the next, cool new camping gadget out there. 

We have our rig set up with a pop up shower, bathroom, changing room, covered awning to eat and hang out in and a camper shell where in every bin are the necessary items to live out of our truck for 40 days. The idea came about during our first year of dating during our trip to Big Bend for Spring Break. We took "Stella", Mack's Toyota Tundra on back roads and one major, Old Ore Road in Big Bend National Park where the adventures began! From there Mack explores every night on ExpeditionPortal.com where the wheels start turning.

WE HAVE DECIDED along our route we are going to stop at different charity organizations and volunteer in different cities to meet new people and give back on this trip that God has blessed us and allow us to take together.

WHERE DID OUR ADVENTURE NAME "ACROSS AMERICA FOR AFRICA" COME FROM?
There is an organization called "The Rafiki Foundation" which Mack has heard from in the past through BSF "Bible Study Fellowship" that we love and would like to support. Rafiki established ten Rafiki Training Villages within the African countries of Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. These Villages provide living, educational, and medical facilities through Rafiki’s four programs: Childcare, Education, Training, and Widows. The Rafiki Foundation sends out qualified professionals to work with African nationals to promote the physical, spiritual, educational, and social well-being of children and widows through its programs.

ON OUR PAGE:
We will have a link you can donate to The Rafiki Foundation. OR we will also have a Mile Donation, where you can donate any amount per mile to also give to The Rafiki Foundation. There will also be a link to the foundation's store if you would like to purchase any of their products.

The Rafiki Exchange is located at the Home Office in Florida and is the retail outlet for items produced by the Widows Program—a program designed to give African widows and impoverished women of the church a means of employment and artistic expression through the making of handcrafts. The Exchange displays products fashioned by the widows from both West and East Africa.

WE WOULD LOVE YOUR SUPPORT!!

PLEASE FOLLOW US NOW and THIS SUMMER ON OUR BLOG "McGowens on The Move" to see what God has in store!

Across America For Africa,
Mack and Lauren

http://www.rafikifoundation.org/

Christmas Family Fun

Well folks another Christmas came and went. What joy it was to spend so much time with family and friends this CHRISTmas season! This year we had 5 Christmas'. 1 with my family, 2 with my dad's side, 1 with my mom's side and 1 with Mack's side of the family. Tyler to Wills Point, to Tyler to Frisco to Bullard to HOME! We were busy bees. It was so much fun!! This season it did not snow that 2 years ago in Frisco but we had fun and so did the dogs.

Mack and I had a fun time putting up our Christmas tree and making our tree skirt (Thank you Pinterest!) we still have our decorations up lol!

Our dog Gerdie That morning Mack and I did our Christmas together. He opened a knife set, candy, movies, a fishing pole & paddle lamp, a jacket and other fun goodies. I got an awesome pair of black UGG boots that I had wanted, an awesome camera holder with arms so I can take pictures from anywhere and other fun goodies! Thanks hubby!

Mack and his Nerf gun!

This picture was at our work Christmas party!! It was all a SURPRISE! So fun! We went to TJC and watched the "Story of the Christmas Star" then went to Showguns and went back to open our presents, these awesome BGCET Ski jackets in the picture!!

We then headed to Wills Point for the Burnett family Christmas! Good food, visiting with family (Caleb & Ari are getting so big!) and opened presents. Before that PAPA (Yes, My grandpa!) came out in a hula skirt & coconut bra from their trip to Hawaii!! It was SOOO Funny! Justin also brought a NEW ADDITION to the family, a SUPER CUTE aussie named BOSKO! He is so cute and Cheyanne had a BLAST playing with him! They ran around at Papa and Gigi's house all morning, got dirty in the mud and chased the horses! It was a fun sight to see!

Mack's family does a White elephant Christmas, Christmas day and it was exciting! The 20 or so family members all picked a number and the games began! One steal after the other, trying to be nice but really we all wanted to steal each others presents lol Mack ended up with a SWEET flashlight that Uncle Hank had brought (thanks to Cousin Jenny!) and I ended up with 2 Mackenzie Childs black and white dog bowls (Stolen from Aunt Mary-sorry Collin) also thanks to Cousin Lizzie! We had fun eating and spending time with each other that Christmas afternoon.

Since then we have been working, playing with the dogs and getting a new one!! She is so cute and tiny! Black, about 4 lbs and a daucshund. We also went to a wedding in Longview for our good friends Courtney & Ben De La Rosa now!! it was so beautiful and fun seeing great friends we hadn't seen in a while!

My Best Friend, Marissa also got married to Jody Lopez! The wedding was at Event 1013 where Marissa works. It was beautiful!! Great to see her family that I haven't seen in a while and good to catch up with them and friends from church in McKinney! We had breakfast that morning, got our make-up done in Frisco at MAC then our hair done back in the Bridal Suite, hung out, got dressed in our beautiful black dresses and Marissa finished getting ready in her Beautiful bridal gown! We took pictures and danced the night away! It was a fun filled night when we sent them away in a white limo to lights from the many sparklers! So thankful Mack got to come and experience this with me also! What a BLAST!!

The Great Pumpkin

This is late..but what a great Halloween we had in Tyler. I was sick that night but the weekend before Mack and I went to the Tyler Pumpkin Patch, rode the hayride and picked pumpkins. Yes I am still a little kid and since we don't have any kids to play with yet, I have to make Mack come along with me (which he sometimes enjoys lol)

We are having a blast living at the Lake next door to Mimi & Grandaddy, which is such a blessing to have this help while we are looking for a place of our own. In the meantime we have just been hanging out together and enjoying this time being married and not having a house payment to worry about while we finish off our "rent" at our house in Minnesota. But it has been great being so close to both sides of the family and getting to see them whenever we please ;] This will be Mack and I's 3rd Halloween together! I still can't believe how fast everything has been changing but I am loving every minute! God has truly blessed us and we can't wait to see what's next.

God is Good!

Well Folks, we're living in Tyler now! Oh, what a joy it was driving into my hometown, getting to see my parents, then coming to Tyler to see Mack's family. It really is great to be back home, even though we loved MINNESOTA! A lot of things have been happening lately..the move to Texas, living at the lake house until we can find a house of our own, Mack starting a new job "Top Drive Communications" and me hanging out with friends and family to keep myself busy while Mack is at work. But doesn't the Lord always take care of you, it is just wonderful. Diane knew a lady in her book club, who has a friend that works for the Boys & Girls Club of East Texas and told her they were hiring. It was great, the next day I called to see if I could come in to talk with someone, that Tuesday i had an interview, Friday I got called back to come in for a second interview that afternoon, and I got it! Monday I started my new job as Manager of Guest and Public Relations! It is great. Great benefits, wonderful people and a new friend who also graduated Texas A&M the same semester as I did, her minor was my major!! Funny how that works and we both got hired on the same day! It is so much fun. Since last Monday it has been training, answering phones, mani pedis with Miss Katie Moss and now taking part in BSF "Bible Study Fellowship" which Diane is the head of. It is great seeing God work in her like that and being able to teach in front of a hundred women. This has also been a great new experience for me, meeting new girls and being in the word everyday has also really helped my relationship with God and Mack. This new life in Tyler may turn out better than I thought. God is good.

Do not be discouraged, but pray to the Lord for strength.

One more thing completed!

This past weekend we took a random trip up north to Ely, MN. Friday I called Mack and told him that we had nothing to do this weekend, so after I got off work Saturday afternoon we should drive up to Ely, go camping and get Cheyanne a dog sledding harness. So that is what we did. While I was at work Saturday, Mack packed up the truck, got all the camping gear and food ready and when I got home we were off to Ely. The first time we took this trip was last winter, after Christmas. There was snow on the ground but no snow fall at least for that weekend. The trip is 4.5 hrs. long so Mack made me mack sure there wasn't going to be a blizzard that weekend. I checked the weather and it was fine. BUT, by the time Mack got home from work that day, it started snowing. The weather man said the snow will turn into a blizzard and by the time we got on the road, that's what it became. A trip in a blizzard, the 4.5 hours become 7. So this time around it was going to be a whole different experience. The sun is shining, everything is green, not to mention the 67-75* weather we had ALL weekend. Yes, Minnesota, you will be missed (in the summer) when we move to TX. Even though, I will miss the snow too. But the weekend was great, and beautiful. We camped in the tent that we put in the back on Mack's truck bed, which was so fun. Mack got great steaks and mac-n-cheese, which I cooked in the dark and they turned out better than I thought. Then, the next morning we got up at 6, yes I was the 1st one awake, I still can't believe it. Mack started a fire, we ate breakfast (great again!) Pancakes, bacon and eggs with a glass of milk, then we packed up and headed to get Cheyanne's harness. After we went into town, got hot chocolate, then went to the North American bear exhibit. It was pretty neat, but Mack really wanted to see bears fighting lol. After that, we walked around town a bit then made the long drive home, which became an extra 2 hours because of road construction, yuck. But what a fun weekend we had, and one more thing completed on our "MN Check List" before our move to TX at the end of the month.

More pictures of the furry creatures.