Purpel Rock Farm

July 4th Weekend

2010-07-07T06:28:00.005-04:00

Our sons from Denmark have been visiting here at Purple Rock Farm. We spent the holiday weekend visiting family near Cincinnati, Ohio.

24 Hr Memphis Run Update and now from the Runner

2009-10-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

"stupid is as stupid does" and that is coming from a guy who "just loves to run" - we all understood Forest was different, me crazy different. I have done and NEVER IN MY LIFE WILL TRY ANOTHER 24 hour run or 100 miles. For those of you in the running club let me tell you, David Hughes needs a big, huge, award for running 13 100 miles in 12 months - something is really wrong with him. I am disappointed that I missed my first goal of 83 and I had time on the clock when I took myself out at 80 but I am not sure I had any brain power or tank power, literally I was numb at that point.

Just a few highlights - I went out too fast, no really it is hard to believe that I would do that but I did, I was suppose to maintain a 13 and some change pace. I was around 9:30's and 10:00's for too many miles, but I felt good "famous last words". When it got dark I noticed I my soreness more. I took some Alleve and that helped to some degree. My food of choice was plain cheese burgers from McDonald's I ate four of them over the course of 24 hours. I ate Chex Mix, Scoops, apples, some candy and my favorite drink sweet tea. I had water or gatorade about every mile. I had half a GU at the start and that was all I could take. The winning 9 year old girl ran 18 miles. She could have done more I know for a fact but at some point, no idea what time this may have been but she and her little friend past me (okay than that meant it was at least 7:00am) and they were almost to the lap recorder when they veried left for the play ground. I thought how wonderful to keep our priorities straight. I took some naps the first one was because I was literally falling asleep while running, that was sort of a strange feeling. I would wander right, then left and jump when a relay runner would pass me. Back at the site I told Trav I needed 30 minutes to sleep - heck I should have taken an hour but it was a hard core approach at mile 55. Then I went back around 62 and slept for three hours, my tank was empty and Trav was already asleep so that made it easy. I was up at 6:00am and it was freezing it was almost too cold to move but I knew that would be the only way to stay warm. Trav was cheering me to keep going. Then he told me he was going back to the hotel, I knew that was my chance to sleep again, wonderful sleep. When he got back to the camp site he had no idea I was snoozing in the tent. I was up at 7:00am I think, times were not easy to compute at that point (or really any point, Nicole is good at running and doing math). At that point I changed clothes for the third time and just wanted 80 miles and when 80 came, I went.
I was surprised to be the overall female winner, lucky year for me. I won some really cool things in a Haiti gift basket. This race went to support a medical mission in Haiti. What a blessing to run to the point of exhaustion for two good causes. I could have never done any of this if it were not for Trav taking care of me. When he was a round I would have my sweet tea poured into a cup for me to drink. When he was not around I drank straight from the jug. He would help me, motivate me, make me laugh and be the wonderful partner that he is to me, GOD has so blest me.
Upon returning to the hotel I almost pulled another stink and go to sleep moment (read the CKRR newsletter for October www.ckrr.us) I was tempted just to put on sweats and climb into bed - at that point I had been "up" for 33 hours. I went for the cold bath warm bath and thought before dozing off I should thank you all for your support and kindness.
In the quiet times when running I find myself closer to GOD and in HIS meditation, what a blessing.
Rest well my friends -
Gina

24 Hr Memphis Run Overall Female Winner

2009-10-03T16:53:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Gina

Overall Winner - All Females

Done! 80 miles

2009-10-03T15:24:00.000-04:00

Done! 80 Miles

I'm very proud of what she has done. She is fine, hungry and sleepy but OK.Thank you all for your support

24 Hr Marathon Update 12:35 PM

2009-10-03T12:20:00.000-04:00

I think we are to around 70 or so. she is to that no expression phase. normally each time she runs by, she waves and i get a smile. now, there is the zone factor. no expression, just a determined straight-ahead look. ...but she still going with about 4 hours to go. trav

24 Hr Marathon Update 9:30 AM

2009-10-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

I just came back to the hotel to get cleaned up. When I left she was on her 64th mile and doing much better. When I asked if she needed anything before I left, she replied, "a new body"...she's back in the game.
trav

24 Hr Marathon Update 7:06 AM

2009-10-03T07:06:00.000-04:00

This is not good. At 55 miles she began falling asleep while running. she then found herself back in the tent for a bit more rest. at about 6:45 she got up to hit the track again eventhough everything is hurting. trav

24 Hr Memphis Run Update 4:52 AM

2009-10-03T04:52:00.000-04:00

okay, 50 in now! yep, half way to the goal of 100. she just slid in for a quick nap. 30 minutes she says. it's one hour behind down here so I'll wake her at about 1:30 am. trav

Memphis 24 hour run, Update 11:30 pm

2009-10-02T23:54:00.002-04:00

Well; she is at thirty something. that means she is over one third complete. she has stopped by the tent a couple of times to carb up- then off again. i'm going to take a nap so that I can get up later when she might need aome encouragement. it might be a very long night. Trav

24 hour marathon pictures

2009-10-02T23:22:00.008-04:00

Travis hard at work

cheering Gina on -

Gina this afternoon

24 Hour Run Update from Travis 6:31pm

2009-10-02T18:31:00.002-04:00

me again! she is at 15 and still looking good. just think- only 22 more hours to go. ...what am i going to have for supper? oh, never mind, you're not interested in that. more later, maybe after i eat something...I'm really grtting hungry. Trav

24 Hour Run Update from Travis

2009-10-02T17:08:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Gina is on mile 6 and I must say she looks pretty good. I am lounging and enjoying the beautiful day. Oh, and I am also doing my job- you know cheering and such and of course, guarding our camp site. I'm e-mailing from a blackberry so please excuse the quality of these messages- I have a hard time with technology. More to come later. Trav

UPDATE FROM MEMPHIS--24 HOUR RUN NEWS

2009-10-02T15:28:00.002-04:00

FROM GINA, FRIDAY AT 1:53 PM--

Hey there, it is a beautiful day in Memphis. Lovely, better than expected. Trav and I went out and set up the tent. We got a nice place right on the course so I will be able to access food, shoes, clothes and anything else I need rather quickly. While I did not want to add one more mile, the course from what I heard looks nice but there appears to be some incline to it. I will be whining about that around the 10th hour and, I'm sure, from then until 3 PM tomorrow. Memphis is on "slow time," as my granny would say, which means we are one hour behind you. Here shortly we will leave to set up my table and my own little aid station. The highlight for my aid will be nutter butters and sweet tea. I was all ready to open the nutter butters and begin fueling 4 hours early! Thanks for everyone's kind support and positive reinforcement leading up to today. I am good to go. Easy pace. I hopt to have 100 miles in by 1 PM tomorrow. The course record is 108 miles for female, but I am not going for that, believe it or not. I am just excited to be here and I will have plenty of time to think about the Vietnam trip and the many needs our global brother and sisters have. Can you imagine living in fear of your life because you are a Christian? Can you imagine not having the comforts of your church because you are a Christian? Those thoughts and many more will keep me putting one foot in front of the other. Forward motion and it is all good. Trav will email out an update or two. Take care my friends. I will be thinking of you and praying for you.
Happy Day--Gina

A Letter from Gina---24 Hour Run for Mission Support

2009-09-10T21:42:00.003-04:00

Gina Sheets
2282 East County Road 250 North
Frankfort IN 46041 sheets.gina@yahoo.com

Greetings Friends –

I am writing this letter to ask you for your financial support so that I may travel to Vietnam with World Mission Builders January 17th – 30th, 2010. This is a monumental event in church building in Vietnam and World Mission Builders. Over the past several years World Mission Builders has been communicating with the Vietnamese government and they have now authorized World Mission Builders (WMB) to build a church. WMB is working with a full time pastor in Vietnam who for his protection will remain unnamed. As you can tell while WMB is allowed to build the church they have been instructed to not evangelize and minister outside of the church congregation. The door to Christianity is opening very cautiously and we will take precautions to abide by the government request so the door will remain open to share the Gospel.
As you know Trav is a full time missionary with WMB and this means he raises all of his own support to travel and build churches in other countries. I have never traveled with Trav on his trips as we believe it is his job to build churches and share the Gospel, not worry about my protection in some times hostile areas. This chance to go to Vietnam I see may be once in a lifetime. I do not want to diminish the need for the continued support of Trav’s work, so I have created a plan to raise funds for my participation to Vietnam.
Starting at 3:00pm Friday October 2nd and concluding at 3:00pm Saturday October 3rd is the 24 hour Tour d”Esprit in Memphis Tennessee. This is a 24 hour run that I will be participating in to raise funds for my Vietnam trip but my participation has a second good cause to it. My entry fee that I have paid is going to support the Haiti Medical Missions of Memphis, there are two winning countries – Haiti and Vietnam, how awesome is that!
I have never ran a 24 hour race, I have ran an 8 hour race which has similar logistics, an approximate one mile loop course in a park, with timers, a place to set up a tent, restrooms close by and an aid station. I have ran 50 mile events on trail that took me over 10 hours to finish. You can say the farthest I have ran has been 62 miles and the longest I have ran has been over 10 hours. Running 24 hours has been a goal of mine for the past two years and now seems to be the time to attempt that goal.
I am looking for per mile sponsors. For every mile I run would you be so kind to pledge so much per mile? Or you can always donate a flat amount but it is more of challenge to me to run farther if it means more support, right?
Your contribution is tax deductible as WMB is a 501c3. Please complete the attached pledge form and return back to me as soon as you. If you want Trav to send out updates via email while I am out running be sure to include your email address.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Name:___________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

I am pledging _______________ for every mile completed. Or I am donating ________________ .

Yes I want to updated during the run my email is _____________________________________

Please return this pledge sheet or your donation to:
World Mission Builders
2282 East County Road 250 North, Frankfort IN, 46041

***If you are reading this on the blog and wish to have a copy of the pledge sheet above, simply click and drag over the area you wish to copy. Once it is highlighted, push the Control key and the "C" key (Command and "C" for Mac users) to copy. Navigate to Microsoft Word, or wherever you want and push Control and the "V" key (Command and "V" for Mac) to paste what you have highlighted. Then save and print. Print several copies to share with friends!!***

2009 Summer Picnic Slides

2009-08-13T16:52:00.002-04:00

http://purplerockfarm.com/videos/2009picnic.wmv

Turn up your volume. Give the show plenty of time to load, it's a large file.

See you next year!

MISSIONARY TRAVEL, VIETNAM, JANUARY 2010

2009-08-04T17:28:00.003-04:00

Gina and Travis will be traveling with a missionary group to Vietnam in January of 2010. Please keep the group in your prayers as they finalize their travel plans and raise money for the trip.

Gina Says Goodbye

2009-08-02T22:18:00.001-04:00

http://www.ftimes.com/articles/2009/08/04/news/local_news/doc4a733e36416da720111405.img

In case you haven't heard, Gina's last day with the local Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development was this past Friday. She has accepted the position of Assistant Director of Economic Development with the State of Indiana Agriculture Department. Gina's new gig begins on August 10th and will take her throughout the state as she works to further the best interests of our agriculture communities.

Mikkel and Mauricio

2009-06-01T22:31:00.003-04:00

It's the end of the school year and our boys will be leaving soon. Time for one last gathering of friends and family at the lake to celebrate their year with us and Mauricio's graduation from Clinton Central. It's been a year filled with memories. Trips to Arizona, Michigan, Florida. Football games, wrestling matches and track meets. Girls. Teenaged boys everywhere. Girls. New foods, new words, new experiences. For us as well as the boys. Butter packages with deceptive pictures of cookies. Facebook on our computer and smelly socks left on the floor.

It's been the best year.

ONE MORE FAMILY PHOTO

2009-05-31T07:50:00.001-04:00

One of our last family photos before the boys return to Brazil and Denmark.

SUNDAY VISIT

2009-04-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

Travis spoke at Community Christian Church today. Perhaps you would like to hear him preach and speak about the impact of the mission work many of you generously support in his name.

http://www.frankfortccc.com/media/media/mediaplayer.php?id=2009042601042050BE13

BOSTON STATS

2009-04-20T15:00:00.001-04:00

The official stats page from the Boston Marathon website.

Click on the image to the right for a larger, scrollable version.

Boston Update

2009-04-20T14:39:00.000-04:00

Gina has finished the race. Looked a little dicey on Saturday evening after she arrived in Boston and realized she was sick. She was out there running today though with a 10:30 AM start. Interesting little side note...her start time offset was 0:01:59, meaning it took one minute and fifty-nine seconds for her to cross the start line once the race began. Bit of a crowd there at the beginning.

Race stats:

Total Race Field: 26,331 Entrants
Time: 3:47:17
Overall Placing: 12,187
Women's Placing: 3,559
Age Division Placing: 617

Way to go, Gina!!

BOSTON BOUND

2009-04-17T16:42:00.000-04:00

This one's for Gina who will be running the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, 2009.

Gina did her first mini-marathon in 2004 in Indianapolis and has been non-stop since. She's run marathons and 50 mile cross country races all over the United States. Qualifying for Boston was a big goal for her and the whole family is outrageously proud of her.

A couple of years ago she was an alternate for the Blue Planet Run, an organized global run to promote awareness of the need for clean drinking water.So she's not just a good runner. She's a good person who's a good runner.

The weather forecast for Monday is mid 40s and cloudy which should make for good running conditions. Support Gina by viewing the race live online Monday

http://www.universalsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=&SPID=13048&SPSID=105671

Mission Photos

2009-04-07T10:53:00.003-04:00

Greetings -
Trav would never say this but I wanted you to see these pictures of the first church of two, that Travis and Bob (I "demanded" that this time Trav not be the only American on the advanced party) were to oversee that the site was prepped and ready for the mission team that arrives after Easter. You can clearly see that this church is almost complete! While I often sit amazed at how GOD has moved Travis to this occupation, I understand why - his heart is in this work. Trav and Bob did this work along with what locals were there in less than one week. Remember he had trouble with lost luggage and extra days in the airport because of missing connecting flights to the next island, but to accomplish so much is incredible. (Now I fully expect that my "honey do" list which I myself have been putting together will get complete equally as quickly when Trav returns - ha!).
I know he was up very early and worked long hours to see this church was about done so he could get to the next one and get it started plus see about the parsonage that will be built.

Thanks so much for your prayers, and friendship -
Happy day -
Gina

Spiderman Visits Mexico

2009-02-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

Check out Spiderman's visit to the church site in Mexico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecR9HGLDiz0

A Glimpse of Christmas

2008-12-28T13:39:00.000-05:00

A few glimpses of Christmas Eve at the farm.

Gina's sister and brother-in-law, Kevin and Lorri, came over along with one of their daughters, Paige, her son Joshua and her boyfriend, Rob. A friend of the boys from school also came over for a last visit before he returns to Brazil.

It was another day of feasting, family and fun with the Wii game. We exchanged some gifts and followed our tradition of reading a Christmas Eve story. Gina read one of Josh's favorites this year, Auntie Claus, as well as the very traditional Night Before Christmas.

Mauricio said he had never heard either story before and Mikkel said he is familiar with The Night Before Christmas. It was fun to share these parts of Christmas with them.

On Christmas Day we gathered with Travis's family on his dad's side and then headed to the airport in Indianapolis for a visit with Gina's parents in Arizona. We'll get some photos up soon from that trip. For now, enjoy a look at our Christmas Eve and know we wish you a blessed and peaceful New Year.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

2008-11-30T22:30:00.013-05:00

The end of a long holiday weekend. We wanted Mikkel and Mauricio to experience a traditional Thanksgiving with lots of family, food and fun. I think we accomplished our goal.

Kevin and Lorri came in on Wednesday afternoon, the evening before Thanksgiving, and spent the night at the farm. Early Thursday morning, Gina and the boys were joined by Paige and Josh for an early run in Kokomo. Kevin and Lorri went to church in Lafayette while Travis took on the task of getting the turkey started. He had already cooked a goose after shooting it (yes, shooting it himself) out at the lake.

By early afternoon the house was filled with the addition of Kelly and Tejas from Michigan and Kate and James from Lafayette, Indiana. James mother, Carol, one of his brothers and his brother's girlfriend also joined us. There were 15 of us for dinner this year and we sat down to what looked like a mountain of food. Goose, turkey, potatoes, noodles, dressing, cranberry salad, macaroni and cheese, brocolli and rice. And that was just for supper. Earlier we snacked our way through spring rolls, shrimp, dips and a lot of other things.

Kelly, Gina's niece, took a turn holding one of our birds. He's usually pretty feisty; maybe the sight of his distant kin on the carving board subdued him!

We played the Wii game off and on throughout the day and after supper we all sat and played a game together. Everyone had a lot of fun and the women beat the men in multiple rounds.

Friday afternoon we met again at a waterpark hotel near Cincinnati, Ohio. It's not far from where Kevin and Lorri live so they came over for the afternoon and evening but did not spend the night. Our niece, Madison, came along too. Waterslides, wave pools, a lazy river and a lot of water basketball left everyone ready for a deep night's sleep. Each family indulged in a little of the US day after Thanksgiving past-time---shopping---on Friday and Saturday.

We'll ask the boys later to tell us what they thought of their first Thanksgiving. We're hoping to get our Christmas tree up soon too.

SUMMER PICNIC

2008-08-29T22:04:00.004-04:00

Summer picnic at the lake on Purple Rock Farm.

Mikkel and Mauricio had the chance to meet many of our friends this weekend when we hosted our annual picnic out at the lake here on Purple Rock Farm. It was a glorious sunny day; brilliant blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.

Swimming, fishing, canoeing and plenty of good food and conversation.

Check out our slideshow:
http://www.purplerockfarm.com/pic/summerpicnic.wmv

Wind Turbine Update

2008-08-29T14:33:00.003-04:00

Thought you would want to see some photos of our wind turbine on the farm. It is placed in the field next to our house with the electricity buried underground to the house.

We're excited about this new landmark on our property! Be sure to email or phone us if you're interested in information about installing a personal wind turbine on your own property!

We would love to talk with you about it!

Wind Turbine Is Running

2008-08-22T15:38:00.003-04:00

Our personal wind turbine is up and running here on Purple Rock Farm. We'll post more soon about our reasons and realities of adding some "green " into our electrical usage.

Contact Travis or Gina at PRF for information about the benfit of adding a personal wind turbine on your property.

wmbtrav@yahoo.com

For now, check out this short video feed about us from TV 18.

http://www.wlfi.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?clipId1=2828043&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Clinton+County+family+harnessing+wind+energy&d1=124567&redirUrl=www.wlfi.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv&rnd=88180609

Welcome To Our Family!

2008-08-20T16:33:00.005-04:00

There are two new members in our Purple Rock Farm family. We are happy to welcome Mikkel and Mauricio to our home. Mikkel joins us from Denmark, Mauricio from Brazil.

The boys have joined us as exchange students for the coming school year.

We are very excited to be parents again in this wonderful way.

You can briefly meet the boys here, County Couple Hosts Exchange Students From Different Worlds , in an article from the Frankfort Times. We will be posting pictures and family updates soon!

Rudy Is Leaving The Farm

2008-05-26T18:40:00.002-04:00

A funny thing happened on the farm, and so will begin my first attempt at blogging.
12:30am Monday morning the door bell rings. The dogs are doing their upmost professional guard dog bark and thus the stranger is standing not on the porch but on the top step. Trav opens the door and the stranger announces you have two cows out down the road.
Great. Off we go to block our county road from traffic until we assess how many more cows are out and hiding. Fortunately our cows are pastured so that means they are given corn only as a treat and usually that treat comes during the escape and herd effort. Trav headed out on the six wheeler and I in the truck, Trav had the "sugar bucket" filled with corn in hand. Trav arrived at the scene of the crime first there was significant evidence of the premeditated escape route. The fence was completely lifted up and bent. Around the corner there stood Rudy, sire of the herd, leader of his family, setting a horrible example by being out in the middle of county road 250 at 12:40am. I was taken back as Rudy has only escaped once in three years, and that occured two months ago at a more appropriate hour, 3:00pm in the afternoon. I was eventually able to lure Rudy back in the fence by shaking the sugar bucket and a smack in the rear. Rudy is not trust worthy, besides being the sire, the king, the dude of the herd his registered name is WARLORD and at times that is exactly what he is, ready to conduct battle. So imagine my dismay to see Rudy out of the fence who may or may not cooperate. It took Trav about thirty seconds to open the fence, two seconds to shake the sugar bucket and Rudy dutifully went back in the fence and a wayward female quickly followed. That heifer and I need to talk about who she follows around and at what hour. Apparently no one has ever told her nothing good happens after midnight.
It took about eight hours before Rudy and six of his herd were listed for sale, punishment can be swift and quick on the farm. I know one of the six that will join Rudy, she has no name, I quit naming after we consumed Jack Frost, the first calf born on our farm. She is going because she too went after the greener or at least taller grass on the other side of fence. This was noticed as we pulled into the driveway after attending church on Sunday as she was almost on the bridge with the potential to bring more cows with her. She was a little more reluctant to herd back inside the fence. She was also hoping we would not notice her escape route and she stood by until the entire fence was repaired, oh yeah she is definitely leaving. Being too smart for her own good.
So that was our immediate past week of adventures on the farm just too name two out of about 20 more, our life is never without amusement and certainly blessed with joy.

Welcome to Purple Rock Farm Blog Site!

2008-05-25T23:10:00.002-04:00

We're new to this blogging effort so bear with us with patience and charity--a few prayers might not hurt either!

Over the coming days I'll get in the groove as I build this blog into a site that can keep you updated on farm news, including available products, and mission happenings.

Until then, thank you for your support and your continued prayers for us as we live this mission we call life on Purple Rock Farm!