Ramblings of a Newlywed

Staying at home is my forte

2011-11-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

I have had 2 glorious months at home with my bundle of joy:

That first month was all about learning what to do with her, trying to get my daily things done like taking a shower for instance. Now I've pretty much got that all down pat, and I'm getting a few more things done. Before I had her I thought about all of the things I would have time to do by staying home....funny thing though...babies take a lot of time!
Here is what I have been able to do though:
First and foremost we used to be a poptart family. That's all we ate for breakfast, every.single.day. Not anymore though. I have been making some muffins, and breakfast sandwiches and breakfast cookies. I haven't bought poptarts in a long time. Yay for a healthier breakfast!
We have been cloth diapering as well. I was all about it at first....then when it came to actually using them I got really nervous. As it turns out it is a lot easier than I thought, and they are super cute. I decided to make my own detergent for them as well as my own detergent for our clothes.
I also intend to make my own face wash, dishwasher soap and handsoap. Yay for homemade!

She's Here!!

2011-09-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

And she is fabulous! Friday was one of the best days of my life. We went to the hospital at 6:30 am to be induced. I was dressed in my gown and hooked up to pitocin by 7:45. The doctor came in around 10 and broke my water and then we waited.
I started feeling contractions and thought hmm these aren't bad I could totally do this. Then by 2pm I was in pain and called a nurse in to check me. I thought surely I had progressed pretty far. NOPE I was at a 2. That's when I instantly knew I was getting an epidural. I was just praying that a 4 came soon so I could get one. By 4pm I was at a 4! And super pumped to get the meds. However they just changed my IV bag and I had to wait that out. Maggie warned me about this....but there was nothing I could do. So at 5:30 it was time for the epidural and it couldn't come soon enough I was in a lot of pain. I seriously have no idea how people do it without medication. So from about 2-5:30 was a little rough, but I made it.
Someone came in around 6 to check me and I was still at a 4, I was getting pretty discouraged. Kolby and I didn't bother sharing that lack of progress with anyone. Around 8:30 someone came back to check me and I was a 5. Again I was getting bummed, but trying to stay positive. At 9:30 a nurse came in because Evelyn's heart rate was going crazy. She wasn't going to check me since I had just been checked an hour earlier but did it just to see what was going on. I was a 9!!! Heck yes, best news I had heard all day. I was feeling a lot of pressure then. The doctor rolled in around 10:45 and I was pushing by 11. She was here by 11:38 pm.

I love my doctor, I loved my nurses. That hospital is seriously the best.

I also love my husband, he is so amazing. He was super supportive and so super sweet. I could not have done that without him.

And here is our little girl. She was 7lbs 6oz and 20 1/2 inches long and super cute!

Let's pretend

2011-09-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Let's pretend like my due date never got moved...That would mean THIS Sunday would be the big day, because she would arrive on time of course. She knows I'm a punctual person and hates being late, she is the same.

My Newborn Picture:

Based on the 3d ultrasound we have I think she may already have my nose.

Kolby's Newborn Picture:How cute is he????? I could just gobble up that cute little face, I hope she looks like him!

Full Term

2011-08-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'm officially full term. The Dr. has told me that at this point she would not stop labor. I am fully convinced that I am going early...might just be wishful thinking on my part though.
I've been pretty patient throughout this whole process and just enjoying pregnancy, but last week was really difficult. Three women I know had babies...all in the same week! One of those babies I have up close and personal time with because she is my beloved niece. Seeing her makes me anxious to meet Evie.
For the fun of it Kolby and I debate on what she'll look like. I think she'll have red hair and blue eyes, Kolby says she'll have blonde hair and blue eyes...we shall see!

Penelope Jane

2011-08-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Nieces are delightful! I am so excited that Penelope Jane is here, it feels like you wait forever and wonder what they are going to look like and then anxiously wait for momma to push her out and then wait longer for the Dr. to finish things up...and then almost get kicked out by the Nurse Nazi. What a fun night though, I enjoy the waiting with family and friends.

Penelope is perfect and beautiful, I can't wait to learn what her little personality will be like.

These two produce the cutest little fur ball babiesHolding a baby right after they are born is just a really cool feeling. And I must say this picture made me tear up a bit...actually all of the pictures where Kolby is adoringly staring at baby Penelope made me tear up. He loves his nieces like crazy and I can't wait to see him with our baby girl.

2 years quickly

2011-08-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

The girl went from this: To this:
How cute is my beautiful niece Caroline? At 2 she's a big girl now and soon to be a big sister. She'll probably be really bossy, I'm calling that right now. But along with the bossy, she'll be super sweet and protective I'm sure.
I love her to pieces and I hope she always calls me aunt TT...that's cute for a 14 year old right???

Beautiful Baby Shower

2011-08-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Maggie, the best sister in law ever, I had a fabulous baby shower on August 7th!
The baby shower decor was to-die-for. I was told it was the most beautiful and girlie shower that someone had ever been to. That made me smile, because that was the goal and Maggie pulled it off like a pro.

I had a lot of fun, I will admit it is awkward for me to be center of attention and it felt like all eyes and ears were on me forever because of the amount of gifts I had to open. Kolby and I have been seriously blessed with stuff for Evelyn. We have had stuff given to us, bought for us or sold to us for dirt cheap. She (and we) have everything we could possibly need. The only thing we have on our shopping list now is a baby book and diapers.
Caroline had fun helping me open a few gifts and just *new* that some of them were for her.

The cousins, all pregnant, at Meghan's shower

2 babies down, 2 to go!

Single Digits

2011-07-20T06:43:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! Only 9 weeks to go...or as I like to tell Kolby 9 weeks OR LESS :)
It could happen. I found out there is a full moon on September 12th, and my original due date was September 11th so I have a small glimmer of hope that I could meet Evie early! Part of me is thrilled about that prospect and the other part terrified. I don't really believe in that stuff, but it's kind of fun to think about.
The babies room is coming together quite nicely.
-We have the armiore finished..Kolby added another bar for clothes, fixed the top and the mirror
-Small dresser
-Rocking chair
-Crib mattress...but no crib yet
-Wall art, still need one more frame
I can't wait to post pictures of it all. I happen to think it is super adorable.

I keep looking at lists that other people have compiled of things they need to get done before baby arrives or things to pack in the diaper bag and hospital bag. I'll be very honest, those lists are very intimidating and overwhelming! I can't focus on them at all, it seems like too much. One thing I did accomplish as of yesterday though...I got all of the baby clothes washed in homemade detergent. We didn't have enough hangers for them all though, and I can't figure out what to hang up, what to fold, and where the folded clothes should go :/

Working Out

2011-06-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

That's right, I've started working out...

I have not worked out this entire pregnancy...except for that one day when I tried that really lame yoga video and hated it. Now this is nothing out of the ordinary for me. Pre-pregnancy I was not an avid exerciser either. I would get inspired and try something new every once in a while, but I never stuck with it. Last night I felt the urge to get my body ready for delivery and I am totally starting to feel this weight gain ( 28 pounds in 28 weeks...but who's counting right?)
I found some videos on youtube, there are 5 of them. They are each 10 minutes in length and work different parts of the body. I love it! It's pilates, which has always been my preferred method of working out. It didn't feel like too much, but felt like a great workout. I hope I stick with it!

It's Official

2011-06-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in my 3rd trimester! Woohoo

I have mixed emotions. I want to meet Evelyn sooooooo bad, but I think I'll be sad not to be pregnant anymore. I have had a very easy pregnancy which is why I can say that (praise Jesus). But I really like having her all to myself and feeling her move around. Oh and she doesn't require diaper changes or late night feedings ;)
I am anxious though to see what being a mom is all about. I get sick of people complaining about their kids and talking to me like I should expect to hate my life after she is born...ummm I'm sure it's not easy, but come on??
I am also anxious to see what her little personality is going to be. I know I'll have a while even after she's born to discover that, but I hope I see it quickly. I pray she doesn't have a big mouth like me (Lord knows that's gotten me in trouble countless times and I'm still working on it), but she can have my sense of humor because I think I'm pretty hilarious...
I hope she is a ginger baby, is that bad to hope for such a vain thing on such a public forum? It's not like I won't love her if she's not a ginger baby, but OMG red hair and blue eyes would be SO cute. I'm hoping for at least one ginger baby in the family and Maggie and I pretty much have the same odds of getting one.

Surprise!

2011-06-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

Last time I saw the Dr. she said this to me "Next time you come in we'll schedule your glucose test". I go to the Dr. yesterday and the nurse is like, okay we're going to do your glucose test now! Ummmmmm normally this would not be a big deal, however yesterday was literally the worst possible day to get that test.
I had a chocolate poptart for breakfast, along with a banana (that's good right?). So that started my day in sugary goodness right there....and I swear I'm not craving sweet things at all, but there was a birthday in the office! What is a girl to do when there are chocolate covered strawberries, brownies and cookies??? I ate them all, and maybe had double portions but whateves.... Until I find out I'm taking a glucose test. CRAP, yes I failed it indeed. Going back in 2 weeks for a re-test. I shall be on my BEST behavior for this one.

Don't lie, you wouldn't be able to resist this either!

Love this song

2011-05-25T06:07:00.001-07:00

First of all Casting Crowns is pretty much amazing. They have great music out, but this song has really caught my attention lately. Just wanted to share.

Gender Reveal Party!!!

2011-05-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

Last night was awesome! At our last Dr. appointment she told us we could schedule our ultrasound. We didn't tell a soul...we decided from the start that we wanted to surprise everyone. We sent out casual invitations to a BBQ at our house for Friday night.

This greeted them as they walked in the door. Then they were badgering us to know right away! Pink and Blue!The secret is inside the cake! The Grandma's cutting the cake.The middle is PINK!We had so much fun last night! We were blessed to have our friends and family join us. Thank you :)I can't wait for Evelyn Grace to join us in September

Feelin It

2011-05-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday Kolby got to feel the baby move! I have been feeling the little movements every now and then from about 18 weeks, but it wasn't enough to convince me that was really what was happening. Saturday night however I felt a BIG movement and figured Kolby would be able to feel it too. That is a moment I probably will never forget, we both sat in amazement and didn't want the baby to stop moving all night :)
Since that day I have been able to feel considerable movement, but it's still not as regular as I would like. The nurses at my Dr's office are amazed at how much the red bean moves...When checking for a heartbeat they are seriously chasing him or her down.
And speaking of....I still have NO idea if I'm having a boy or a girl. This is about to kill me. The heart beat is 138/140 with most people guessing BOY, we shall see!

My Steal of the Day

2011-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went shopping with some of my coworkers and I found this awesome rocking chair! I just had to share. It was a Goodwill find for $15. It is in perfect condition and I'm not changing anything about it. Can't beat that! So now I have two rocking chairs, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, I'm ready to rock baby red bean to sleep anywhere!

Oh these silly hormones

2011-04-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

I am not a crier. I hate crying, it makes me feel out of control and weak. I especially hate crying in front of people. I do not like the place of vulnerability that I'm suddenly thrust into. I still to this day would prefer not to cry in front of my husband. I don't even really like crying alone, although when necessary it feels good sometimes.
This pregnancy though is changing that a bit. I have cried 3 times over ridiculous things. It seems to happen while I'm in the car...let me explain.
The first time I cried it was literally over nothing...yes NOTHING. I was just driving down the road and started crying. It was out of nowhere and over nothing. I felt ridiculous and laughed at myself, while still crying.
The second time is hilarious. I was at a doctor's appointment that I knew would run late. I knew I would be hungry and I was in a town with a culver's, so I had a great plan. After my appointment I would grab my much loved culver's burger and head home. Well things went south when I turned in the opposite direction of the restaurant. I *thought* I turned the wrong way, but was holding out hope that maybe I didn't. When I realized I had indeed turned the wrong way I got really upset. I was really hungry and I was a pretty good distance towards home and I did not want to turn around. Needless to say I started bawling, called Kolby and explained everything. He was very kind and did not laugh (even though he wanted to) and told me to turn around. I refused though I was already in the direction of home and had something to get to. Ah crying over a burger...gotta love it!
The most recent cry I had was fresh. Just this morning actually. I was listening to Focus on the Family. It happened to be on the topic of being a new dad. It kinda freaked me out, and then when I was over that I threw myself a nice little pity party. Since I have the classic definition of a dysfunctional family I got a little bit bummed out about it, but then I got over that as well. All is good, hormones are in check....for now!

Not in the plan

2011-03-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

I got to visit my Dr. again...whom I absolutely LOVE by the way. This day was not as joyous as the rest though. Nothing terrible, but she moved my due date BACK. My days were on Sunday, every Sunday I was one week closer to meeting my baby, now I'm on Wednesday's but not as far as I thought I was. That was a bummer to me! And I don't know how to change any of the baby tickers I've done on this or on facebook, so it says I'm 16 weeks when really I won't be 15 weeks until this Wednesday. Eh nothing to complain about I know, I know. Kolby thinks I'm silly too. :)
So no, the baby is not an avocado it's still a lemon!

Yoga is not for me

2011-03-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

I decided last night that I needed to incorporate some sort of exercise to my routine for a few reasons. First I don't want to turn into a big blob, I want to have a fairly easy return to my pre-pregnancy size after baby is born and I want to prepare my body for delivery as much as possible. The weather is fickle and annoying going from 75 to 40 in a matter of one day so I can't trust that I'll be able to walk every night. Aside from that I think I need something a little more than walking. I don't want nor do I think I should do some high impact aerobics. So while on netflix I saw they had this:

Ugh about 10 minutes into it I was bored to tears. I decided I don't like yoga, it's to calm, too much stretching. (Not to mention it looks like early 90's, and they were all wearing belly shirts) It annoyed me. So I'm on the search for something else! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ultrasound

2011-02-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

FINALLY, we got to see our baby on Monday. It was ultra fabulous. Aside from the fact that I had a headache, threw up, and of course had to pee this was the best day ever. There is only one little red bean, goober, peanut, whatever you want to call the baby inside of me. The baby has so many names because Maggie's children are referred to as "bean" and now "pinto" so I thought it would be funny to reference mine as red bean. Then peanut came up and my mother in law fancies the term goober as another word for peanut :)
The baby is already taking after dad:
Can I just note that the length of Kolby's hair in this picture is RIDICULOUS....Maggie and Kylie wanted him to have his fro for their wedding, it's just so him, but I tried to tell them this was too long...no one would listen. Now looking back I was totally right ;)

Best Valentine's Day Ever

2011-02-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our first Dr. appointment. It was awesome. We are thrilled with our doctor and couldn't say enough good things about her. We have to wait another week to get and ultrasound, but we did get to hear the heartbeat. That was music to my ears! It was probably the coolest thing I've ever experienced thus far. I'm so excited for the ultrasound I can hardly stand it!

Faith

2011-02-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Just want to say congrats to the whole Reid and Fox family for the beautiful addition to their family. I told Maggie that I'm extremely jealous that I don't get to meet her in person yet, she just looks so huggable! Here is Annie's blog if you haven't been up to date on what is going on. Continue to pray for little Ollie.

http://housethatjadebuilt.blogspot.com/

Unstoppable

2011-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend we are taking the youth group to Youth Xplosion 2011. It's going to be amazing. The theme of the mini convention is Unstoppable. Meaning that this generation, when they fully give their heart to Jesus will be unstoppable. I feel like this is just the thing my group needs. So many of them are walking on the edge, they love God with all of their hearts, but they don't know how to live that out daily. This is just the push they need to live for Jesus 100%. Please be in prayer this weekend that lives are changed, I know they will be!

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. ~ 1 Timothy 4:12

Consuming thoughts

2011-01-28T07:54:00.001-08:00

So if you thought by chance that my morning sickness was curbing any sort of cravings, you were dead wrong. I feel hungry all the time, just with nausea on top of that. It seems like all I can think of is food, hence the reason for this blog post.
I am very excited about two upcoming meals. First is tonight's, just because I saw it on a commercial and it looks amazing:

And then for my birthday dinner, this has been planned for weeks!:

Hello Morning Sickness

2011-01-26T06:24:00.000-08:00

You greeted me just in time for week 7. I thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones, but I am not. However I am grateful because it's suppose to be a sign of a healthy pregnancy, and I no longer get the death glare when someone asks me how am feeling. Before when I said "oh I'm just fine" all mothers seemed to want to kill me with their eyes :) I haven't gotten sick sick, just nausea. Hopefully it will end before I start teaching again.

First doctors appointment is on Valentine's day. How sweet.

Extra Large Pea

2011-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

So the size of my baby is suppose to be like that of a pea...however based on how my pants are fitting I would say it feels more the size of a softball.
In other news, for some strange reason everyone is assuming we are having twins. I have had numerous people ask right away if we were expecting twins. .. and one person my husband works with had a dream a few months ago that when we got pregnant it would be with twins. Here's the thing, that doesn't run in our families. However I would be so thrilled and thus have started praying for just that. Call me crazy, but I think it would be so fun! Now I just have to wait a few more weeks to see!

Make it more real

2011-01-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

I had to wait a whole WEEK to tell family and friends that we are having a baby, and that seemed like an eternity. We wanted to do it in a cute way, so we ordered a dog shirt from Amazon that said "big sister". It cracked me up, it ended up being a muscle shirt, but it was too cute seeing everyone's reaction. Since that time I feel like time is still dragging. This is going to be a LONG 9 months, because I'm already too excited to meet this little baby....who has been nicknamed several things so far. One name for it is red bean (since Maggie's children have the "bean" theme) and the other is peanut...which my MIL likes to say goober instead.

Reason To Blog

2011-01-17T17:06:00.000-08:00

I'd say this is a justified reason to blog...I'M HAVING A BABY

People ask "Do you want a boy or girl" I've tried the politically correct answer and say "oh I don't care" but anyone that knows me very well at all knows I would LOVE to have a girl. However if I do have a boy I will of course be thrilled....and dress him in cute old man sweaters.
Okay something cute: The dear babies due date also happens to be my fathers birthday and a few days after my mother in laws birthday. I love that.
My sister in law is also pregnant, but this is her second :) I am excited that we will be having children so close together...in fact we are only 3 weeks apart!

I feel like there is SO much to do and not much is getting done. Every room upstairs needs to either be painted...or needs serious help. However we are at a stand still until it A) it gets heat or B) is spring time. I'm hoping to get heat up their asap though so I can start working. I'm a planner and need to get things done, so this is driving me a little crazy.

Can you say madness??

2010-08-24T10:55:00.001-07:00

That's what my life has been like lately...madness! Both in the good kind and the bad kind. However, God is so good and the good kind of madness prevails!
Let me leave you with my favorite verse before I continue...1 Thessalonians 5:16
The best part in all of this madness is the fact that I celebrated a birthday recently. One of my nieces turned one. She is so sweet in every sense of the word. I can't wait to see her grow up, but at the same time I want her to remain little forever.
Also another reason to celebrate...
This genius passed his CPA exams!!! Heck yes, no more studying!!!

We're Back!!!

2010-08-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've kind of forgotten about this whole blog thing. I read what others post but have failed to post my own, so here goes!
California was amazing. We were both ready to be home but extremely sad to leave. In all of my visits to Cali I have never been this sad to leave before. I cried for about 3 or 4 days in all, some before we left, some after we got home. I was just overwhelmed with sadness about leaving my family.
This time around my niece and nephews were older, and Emily I am happy to report was some what obsessed with me. No complaints here, I loved every minute of it! We did a lot, but I mostly wanted to just hang out with family, which was accomplished. Here are some pictures.

At the beach
My sister and her husband
More to follow :)

Cali here we come!

2010-07-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

I am so excited because Wednesday we will be leaving for California to see this family.
We have some great things planned. Since I was in High School I frequently visited my sister and would stay for as much as the summer as I could. I have made some lovely friends and have been to some fabulous places like Venice Beach, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Beverly Hills...This year we will possibly get to see Santa Barbara and Irvine. I love seeing new places! But most of all I love seeing my family. For living so far away Nicky and I are really close, and I love her cute little family. Here's to praying that they move closer!

House Crazy

2010-06-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true I am dying to move! Our dreams are to build, however I think we are going to push that off so we can have kids sooner. Which sooner to us is not soon enough for most of our family! HA.There is actually a house that we love, we've seen it online and in person.
Here is what we love about it:
-The location is fabulous, while we would love to live out in the country that is hard to find so the next best thing is a subdivision. This subdivision has nothing but nice houses too!
-The yard is amazing. It sits on a double lot, totally fenced in and beautiful!
-It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths...exactly what we are looking for!
-It has special perks like wood floors, water softener etc.

The downside, or the things I would change if I could are:
- All three bedrooms are upstairs, that is fine for now and when we have smaller kids, but for some reason I think I would like the master bedroom to be downstairs.
-Small kitchen, and this one is sad to me. I love to cook, I love to have lots of counter space and this house just has a small kitchen! I think there is room to improve though.
-Architecturally it is not what I envision as my house on the outside. It's totally fine and up-to-date, but it's boring. It's basically a box. I love a house with a little more character going on.

Anyways we won't even consider buying until March so it could be that this house is gone and that's ok. We trust God has a fabulous house for us! In the meantime I keep looking at cute decor and dream!
How could you not love this kitchen? My favorite color combination is yellow and pink. Then with the gray cabinets, floral print chairs, vintage table...I'm drooling!

Dream Kitchen

2010-05-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

eclectic kitchen design

This has to be the most fabulous kitchen I've ever seen!
First let me explain this site that I've found. It's houzz.com, for anyone that loves decorating this is the site for you. They have thousands upon thousands of pictures. I found it all thanks to a fabulous blogger I follow Home&Harmony

Now back to this picture! How about that pantry door...a screen door in a fabulous color. Also the woodwork on the walls, the ceiling, and the cabinet doors, some people may see that as overkill but I see it as wonderful. Last but not least (because I could go on and on forever about this picture because it's perfect) but those counter tops! I'm in love...

Going Carbon Neutral

2010-05-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

1 blog, 1 tree....
That's right a tree will be planted to neutralize the carbon emissions this blog is putting off. You could do the same, it's easy! Follow this link to see how it's done.

Healthy Living

2010-05-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward to making homemade cleaning products! I read this fabulous blog: Making Chicken Salad. I always enjoy a new post from her and in this tutorial she not only gives you the recipe for some great cleaning products, but also some super cute labels. I made my way to Amish Country last Saturday and bought myself some of the ingredients I need to make these things.

Two years and counting...

2010-05-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Party

Yes my husband I are are celebrating two years of marriage today! So very exciting. I can still remember our wedding day vividly, how I felt, what I was thinking. It was so fun and exciting. Knowing that you are marrying your best friend is the greatest feeling in the world.
We are from a very small town and have always gone to school together, but I never knew he existed until I started going to his church. When I met him, I didn't like him. Not romantically, but not even as a friend. I started becoming better friends with his group of friends so we would hang out a lot. Then we became friends, naturally...I mean what's not to like about Kolby? Even in high school, being a big bad football player, popular etc etc he was always super nice. We were friends for a couple of years before we decided we liked each other.
The process it took to actually start dating was long and awkward but well worth it. I remember when went went from just friends to dating and how awkward we both felt because we were just best friends and now we can hold hands and kiss...weird...
Anyway, 4 years later we got married! I couldn't be happier with him, or our marriage.

Here is my handsome husband, this is the first time we saw each other that day.

I may have forgotten what the preacher asked me to repeat...Oops

We had a cotton candy machine, it was so fun!

Mother's Day Cupcake

2010-05-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am typically in charge of making dessert for special occasions. I love baking and I love trying new recipes. I was on the hunt for something low calorie and relatively healthy for a dessert because my mother in law in on a diet. I found these:
They are Angel Lush Cupcakes...So delicious! And of course they are easy to make, because that's my style.

1 pkg. (16 oz.) angel food cake mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cans (8 oz. each) DOLE Crushed Pineapple in Juice, undrained

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups assorted fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries)

Note: I only used strawberries, and they tasted fabulous

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

PREPARE cake batter as directed on package; pour into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake 12 to 15 min. or until tops are golden brown and cracks feel dry. (Note: If baking in batches, refrigerate remaining batter in bowl until ready to pour into lined muffin cups and bake.) Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

MIX dry pudding mix and pineapple in medium bowl. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; spread onto cupcakes.

TOP with berries.

Only 90 Calories! Thanks Kraft Foods.

If you haven't been to Kraft's website before you just have to check it out. They have the best recipes, and they are so easy to make. My husband never really cooked before, but I set him up with the ingredients and one of these recipes and he can produce a wonderful dinner.

They will give you a dinner list for a week including a shopping list. That for me has been the best way to stay on budget, and to try new things.

On our way

2010-04-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to a fabulous garden! I'm so excited, we got the garden tilled up and planted last weekend. It is over at our in-laws house due to a lack of space at our own. This is no small garden either. My goal is that we have plenty to last us this summer and then hopefully some to freeze for the winter time.
We planted broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, lettuce, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumber and zucchini. After the broccoli and cauliflower come up we might plans some more beans, I heard you can do that.

YUM>

Are you Looking?

2010-04-07T09:35:00.001-07:00

In my quest to get our youth to renew their minds and to follow a life that is pleasing to God I've been challenging them to find good music to listen too. I don't think they always have to listen to worship music, but I do think it's important that they are listening to bands that are Christian, and bands that don't glamorize a lifestyle opposite of what a Christian should be doing. This is a difficult task, and it's even taken me some time to see the importance of changing what I listen to.
There are so many challenges that a Christian faces today, and being a teenager only adds to that by about 1000 x's. All of the popular music today glorifies getting drunk, rebelling, sex outside of marriage, hooking up, chaotic relationships and the list goes on and on. Most teens, and people in general argue that they listen to music for the beat. They don't really care or even pay attention to the words. However, if you listen to a song even once how often does the chorus get stuck in your head? Or the next time you hear that song you can sing along to at least part of it? Even if you aren't "listening to the words" you are still hearing them.
I don't think that music is evil or that it necessarily causes people to do things (even though there are studies out there that say teens who are over exposed to sex in the media are more likely to become pregnant or get someone pregnant) but listening to that stuff desensitizes us to it, it starts to seem acceptable, normal and fun. This is no lie-sin is fun, and when we are listening to how fun it is, with no consequences we start to think we can do it too.
If we are one of the lucky few who do not feel we are influenced in that way it's still important to consider the music we listen to. Why? Because it makes our walk with God that much easier. I feel so much closer to God when I am reading my bible, praying and listening to Christian music.
I meant for this to be a much shorter post than what it's turning into. My goal is to leave you with some bands that you may fall in love with. Stop assuming all Christian music is like what you hear on Sunday mornings, if you like a certain genre search for the Christian version...I promise it's not all cheese :)
I have an eclectic taste in music but here is my very very short list, with some new people I've discovered: Paige Armstrong, Carlos Whittaker, Vicky Beeching, Anberlin, Family Force Five, Further Seems Forever, Underoath, Addison Road,Emery... There are way to many to list.

A Garden

2010-04-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to start planting a garden! It's been way too wet to get started, but I'm totally looking forward to seeing some of this:

I have helped with a few gardens before, but this will be my first time actually planting my own. I'm anxious to see how it's going to turn out, and I fully expect a couple mistakes to happen the first time around :)

Warms the heart

2010-03-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Youth group was so amazing last night. God is working in some powerful ways and I'm happy to report that the group is growing! It's not huge by any means, but it's a perfect size to work with. We are actually growing out of the small space we are in right now.
Last night we talked about what it means to be a Christian. What it means to live for God, not just believe in Him. I incorporated Cardboard Testimonies. I think these are so powerful, and I thought it went along with what we are talking about. Christians aren't perfect and we don't always have our lives together, but we put that all in God's hands. Here is the video I shared. And then afterward the teens made their own cardboard testimonies to share with everyone.

Warning: May Induce Tears.

School Lunch

2010-03-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

The documentary Food Inc has just been the beginning of this new food expedition for me. Now there is a new show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. He went to the unhealthiest city in America and is trying to show school's how they can improve their food. I think we can all recall the lunches served in school and how disgusting they were. He is out to prove that you can serve fresh, healthy ingredient that kids will eat and is cost effective.
Along with that I've run across two blogs that are very interesting. One is Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project. A teacher from IL is going undercover (for fear of losing her job) and blogging about the school food epidemic. How unhealthy, not to mention, unappetizing it is. There is also a student who is trying to do something similar. She's been trying to contact her school's food distributor just to get a simple ingredient list. That sounds harmless right? Well it's proving to be a very difficult task.
Here are their blogs you should check them out!
http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/
http://healthytara.blogspot.com/

Fruit Decor

2010-03-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

This is right up my alley! I shared my love of fake fruit around Christmas time. I love to decorate with brightly colored pears especially. Pink ones, glittery ones, red ones, you name it. I also have some glass fruit and bright yellow lemons for spring time. I ran across this flip book on Country Living's website. Enjoy!

Really blown away

2010-03-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Kolby and I have Netflix, which is totally fabulous. We don't have cable or bunny ears, or a box or anything so Netflix really comes to the rescue when we are bored. Now some people can't believe we don't have TV and are in shock and always ask what we do with our free time... There are plenty of things to do for sure, and with the money we are saving from not having cable we can afford to do them. My dad is one person that really gives us a hard time about not having TV, he just can't believe it.

Anyways, I heard about this very interesting documentary that I really wanted to check out so during my lunch breaks at work this week I've been watching Food Inc. In the process of watching Food Inc and sharing that online someone told me about The Business of Being Born. I had to check that out as well! They both really changed my perception of the food/baby industry. I loved the wealth of information they provided and I feel compelled to change some things.
I don't want to be looked at as a hippie or an environmentalist or a naturalist or anything else. I just think the things they were talking about made sense and now I want a garden, and locally grown meat and a midwife instead of a doctor someday. If placing a stereotype on those opinions helps someone understand it, then I guess it's okay. I'm just the type of person that when I have information, I can't ignore it. If the facts say one thing, then I can't ignore it. I would check them out if you get a chance!

Love it...

2010-03-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

I love Spring fashion! I love dresses and skirts and I especially love floral print. I've always adored floral print but I would typically shy away from it because I don't consider myself to be girlie enough I suppose. This year will be different. Aside from the fact that we are currently not spending any money, when I do break I want something floral.

Here are some lovely things I would like to own:
I love purple, this dress is so casual and cute! The flowers are not over-kill.This one is more formal, I love the length of the sleeves and the shape of the dress.Perfect top to pair with cropped jeans and flats.This tank makes me happy...It's very subtle and beautiful.

Spring!

2010-03-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

I'm getting more and more excited about spring! I've been impatiently awaiting it's arrival for a while now. Then the weather has been looking more and more fabulous. The sun is shining brightly and it's slowly warming up. And as I've been catching up in the blogging world a lot of them are about the anticipation of spring.I'm completely looking forward to packing up all of my sweaters and busting out the flip flops. The warmth of the sun makes me so happy. Just the thought of being able to go outside without a jacket on makes me smile!
In other news the youth group is working on a fundraiser. Or at least they are suppose to be working on a fundraiser. They have been warned that if zero effort is put into this, they will never see another one coming from me. We are selling personalized kitchen ware. I personally have received two of these as gifts, one for my bridal shower and one for Christmas. I think they are perfect as Mother's Day gifts, and wedding gifts.

Ack! What am I getting myself into?

2010-02-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

My youth group needs to grow! From the day I took over I decided I didn't care about the quantity as much as the quality. If I only have 5 kids, but they are solid God loving people then that's great!
For the past few weeks though we have been talking about witnessing to friends. This is one of the last things Jesus told the church to do before He went to Heaven. He told us to go make disciples who make disciples. It's so very important that we all do that, but I also know how terrifying that can be for not only an adult, but for an insecure teenager.
So I'm putting our lessons into action and we are having a "fun night". Not your typical Wednesday night youth group service, but a night to just play games and relax. This is also a super easy way for the teens to invite their friends to church. I hope it will all come together, we are suppose to have Wii's, Xbox's etc hooked up and ready to go as well as board games available.

Verbal Beating

2010-02-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading a book called Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs. At times it can be a verbal beating, but the information in it is pretty amazing. Now, I think my husband and I have an amazing relationship. He was my best friend for 2 years before we decided to date, we dated for 4 years before we got married, and we are working on our 2nd year of marriage as we speak. I don't read these books so I can fix a strained marriage, but I read them to try and become the best wife I can be and to try and prevent anything major from happening.(This was on our way to Florida for our honeymoon!)

The book talks about how woman have this deep desire for love. If you are a woman reading that you are probably thinking, duh yeah... Well then it goes on to say how men have a deep desire for respect. When I started reading this book I thought to myself "well I want to be respected too." What women don't understand is that men need the respect like we need to be loved, it' s on another level for them.
I'm not able to explain as well as this author does, but I would encourage any wife to check it out. It has so much insight and I'm thankful to be reading it.

I'm melting

2010-02-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

I discovered this website yesterday from a friend/co-worker Missy. She posted a fabulous recipe and I had to check it out. I've spent a good part of my day already just browsing the recipes and they are to-die-for. I want to make everything! I keep thinking to myself I can't wait until I'm a stay at home mom and can make homemade breads and other goodies. I've decided it's silly to wait! I want to bake more, this site has inspired me. Check it out if you get a chance.
Here are just a few of must tries!

Chicago style pizza....YUMHomemade wheat bread!Who doesn't just love this picture? Brownie Pudding!

Inspiration

2010-02-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of things that inspire me. And they all inspire me in different ways, they are people, things, words etc. I was thinking about some of those things yesterday on my drive home.
I decided sunshine inspires me. We have gotten our fair share of snow these last few weeks and I'm begging for some sunshine. It puts me in a good mood and makes me cheery. I'm more motivated to do things and not just stay inside because of the weather. So sunshine, if you are out there, please come out soon!

It is Patient

2010-02-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

Oh how I dread praying for patience. You just know something is bound to happen that will test you in some way! To start off my Love Challenge I am focusing on each one individually. The first one on the list is Love is Patient. Could we be off to a more difficult start here?

Here is how I see this Love Challenge working:
1) Focus on one part of 1 Corinthians 13 at a time. The list includes: is patient, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs.
2) Pray about it daily
3) Try to act this out, consciously working on this. My focus will be on one at a time, if I don't feel like I'm ready to move on from that one, I'll keep it for a while. My goal is to work on them for a week.

It may seem silly, but I really want to do this.

L-O-V-E

2010-02-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not a Valentine fanatic at all, the day is cute and I love a reason to decorate in pink though! Our church service was all about the Love chapter in Corinthians today, it was a great chapter and had me convicted for sure. While at first I have to fight the pain of "oh crap God is totally talking to me today" I really enjoyed it and was able to laugh at myself.
This will not come as a shock to anyone that really knows me, but I struggle with this. For some people it comes so easily, for some reason it's different with me. I could go into sappy details about my childhood, but the bottom line is when I became saved Jesus gave me new life and I should be focused on that now.
I have been giving this a lot more thought lately, even before the sermon today. I know that Jesus was love, is love, shows us love. He showed the ultimate love for us, it's the least we could do to show love to others. It also says in the Bible that they will know we are Christians by our love. It's also not about loving those that are easy to love. Oh no way, if it were that easy I would be pretty decent at it. God wants us to love everyone, the people that hurt you, the people that are weird etc etc.
In our society we have no clue what love is. We think it's buying presents for someone, or being nice to their face but "venting" to someone else when they aren't looking. It's all very silly (And I'm pointing the fingers at myself here)
I thought about making a Love Challenge for myself. I need to think about how this will manifest it's self. You can read 1 Corinthians 13 here.

Here is a heart for you on Valentine's day.

A new task

2010-02-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

I'm learning how to knit! It's pretty fun, and pretty funny to see how uncoordinated my hands can be. I've been wanting to learn for a while now. My good friend Corrie is teaching me! I'm still in the process of learning how to hold the needle and not letting it slip out of my hand when I'm concentrating on something else. I can cast on, and knit a few rows. It's not beautiful yet but I hope to make cute things like these someday:

I know I don't have any kids, but I think Caroline would look fabulous in them! And what about this fabulous piece of work?? I don't drink coffee, but my hot tea would appreciate this. Be prepared to receive fabulous homemade gifts next year family and friends!

Sometimes you feel like a nut

2010-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

And sometimes you feel like a librarian... My schools were canceled today. I was all prepared to talk to 6th graders about the joy of abstinence when my plans were canceled by snow. I am wearing an over sized brown sweater and my hair is frizzy and dry because I wore a hat so it's pulled back in a low pony.
I'm a site for sore eyes, that's for sure! I am comfy and out of the snow though, so it's all good. I'm excited to get home and start cooking dinner. On the menu tonight is gumbo! It's only suppose to take 30 minutes, who can beat that?

The Bogart

2010-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

This is called The Bogart.
It means you're really going places, Baby.
You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now,
and I'll still be reading them.

The Rules:
Link back to the blogger who sent you the award.
Post where you would like to be in 10 years.
Pass this on to 10 other special bloggers.

I was tagged by my friend Elise! from Elise is...Content.

I think this is really fun to think about. There are so many changes I would like to see in my life and some of them are BIG and exciting to think about!

First and foremost would love to have our house built! We are saving saving saving right now in hopes to have a huge down payment.I would also like to start a family. I hope that will happen around the same time we start building. Anyone who's heard me talking about wanting kids would know that I desperately want a girl, but I don't know God's plan for my life.My hope is also that the youth group has grown tremendously. I don't mean in quantity as much as quality. I want the kids to have such a desire to seek God that it's contagious and they change their whole high school.

I want to find a passion. I have typically described myself as a person without a passion. I like a lot of things, but I'm not sure if I'm passionate about anything. I want a to find some secret talent to tap into.

College may also be in my future. For the moment I am an abstinence educator but I think this is only for a season. I feel like it's much more effective because I'm young, and students can easier relate to me, once I get older I don't see it having the same effect, I'll have to pass it on to someone much cooler and younger than my 10 years older self.

A visit to Hawaii is totally in my future. If in 10 years I have never been there will someone please take pity on me and fly me there?I can't even imagine what my marriage will look like in 10 years. I don't know how it can get any better but I know we will be even closer than we are today and I can't wait.I want to be even closer with God, my relationship with Him is always challenging and growing. I better not be in the same place 10 years from now!

Health, wellness, exercising. These are all things I want to get better at. To have those things come naturally would be amazing.

Last but not least I would love to have an opportunity to do some charity work, whether it be working with little kids, cleaning up a community. I want it to be something that will be very beneficial to someone else.

Here are the 10 people I tag:
Nicky (as always, even though you "hate" them)
Denise
Amanda
Missy

I know there are some others, but I don't want to tag them all, I'll leave them for someone else to tag since a lot of us have mutual friends :)

Habits

2010-02-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

On my way to work I listen to a morning radio show. I probably look like a crazy woman in the car, just laughing away with no one sitting next to me. I don't care though, it really makes my morning. It's called Kidd Kraddick in The Morning, locally it's on 93.1 or 104.3. Well, they have this segment called Does That Make Me Crazy. They have listeners call in and talk about those cooky, silly habits people have. It always makes me think about those silly things I do.

I realized this summer that I have this habit of counting peoples toes to make sure they only have 5. For some reason at first glance I always think I see an extra toe! Is anyone else with me on this one??

How are you doing?

2010-02-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

I want to stay on top of my goals this year. It was never my intention to make a New Year's resolution and then never stick to it. So far I think I'm doing really well! My goals were this:

1) To work out more. I want to be healthy and I don't want working out to be a chore. I want to enjoy it. It took me a little while to get this started and to get myself into a routine. I have an exercise ball and some 20 minute workouts I started with. Those are not very challenging though. I try to only do those as a last minute resort when I'm feeling lazy. I also have a Jillian Micheal's Shape Up Front workout DVD. It's about 30 minutes long and still kicks my butt. It's cardio and strength training combined and I feel like throwing up every time I'm finished. So my new workout goal is to get through that DVD without feeling sick!

2) I want to read the Bible everyday and get through it in a year. So far I'm doing really well with that. I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it. It's only 20 minutes out of the day and that is nothing really. I prayed about this one for a long time. I asked God for motivation and desire to read the Bible and I finally have that!

3) Not to focus on me. I knew this one would not happen over night. With any self changing desire, it's a process. I'm still working on it though.

Did anyone else set goals for themselves? How are they going?

Am I missing something?

2010-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

When I was a teenager everyone was striving to be in their 20's. That was THE goal. Whether you wanted to be 21 so you could drink legally, be 22 ish so you're finished with school, this is the age when most people get married, start having kids. I guess you become a "real" adult. Now as a twenty something I hear people older than me talk about wanting to be a twenty something again. Am I missing something here?? It seems as if being in your twenty's is suppose to be something magical. I've reached all of the adult things, except for having kids so what am I missing. Why is being in your twenties so special?
I want to be someone who ages gracefully. By that I not only mean in appearance but I want to be excited about getting older. I know getting older has some benefits and positives and I want to focus on those things. I don't want to be the stereotypical woman that is brought to tears at the thought of getting older and can't stand it when someone asks her age. I want to be proud of my age. So far I'm not doing very well at this. I'm 24 now and I was really bummed thinking about it last night. I know I know I know that 24 is not old, but I guess it's the thought of being older that bothers me. That and the fact that I am currently a twenty something, reaching the half way point and I feel like I'm missing something. I feel like I have a great life, and there are certainly no complaints, but why are the twenties suppose to be so awesome? Someone fill me in...

Woohoo!

2010-01-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

So not too long ago I blogged about how Kolby has all these tests to take and how we just can't wait to be finished. We saw some light at the end of the tunnel and got amazing news! I will now spend some time bragging about him.
He got TWO test results back (finally!) and PASSED both of them! These tests are extremely difficult and only have a 40% pass rate...that's right 40%. He is so smart, I knew he could do it! I really was very confident that he would pass these tests on the first try, but was also praying big time. Those are not cheap, and are very time consuming. He totally deserved that news and I think that was just what he needed to finish up these last few weeks of studying.
As a side not I donated blood yesterday. I knew it had been a while, but they informed me it had been 3 years since I last gave blood. Geez that is way too long. I had a bad experience, not that it's an excuse, but it did turn me off to donating for a while. Last night was just fine even though it took me an hour and a half and the nurse squirted blood all over my sweater, and they had to turn the needle three times and then hold it against my vein....haha. It is so needed right now since all of the devastation in Haiti has happened. I want to be more on the ball though, no more waiting 3 years to donate blood! If you've never given blood I recommed that you try it at least once, it is not bad at all.

Testing Testing...

2010-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

So my dear sweet husband is STILL studying and taking tests. He is working on becoming a CPA. In order to do that you need 150 hours of college credits (he did that in 4 years!). You also have to take a CPA exam. This is not just one test though. There are four different tests. The first one was 2 1/2 hours longs, the second was 3 hours, the third is 4 hours and the last one is 4 1/2 hours long. He studies about 3 hours every night and has been doing this since July or August. I feel bad for him. When you graduate college it's such a great feeling of accomplishment and freedom! For those of you who worked at all in college understand what a task that was to go to class all day, work all night, try to fit in studying and then some time for yourself not to mention time for the person you're dating. He only got to experience that freedom for about a month.
I'm so proud of him for being on top of things. There is no way I would be disciplined enough to study that often. I usually try to jam-pack my schedule so I'm not bothering him. I can't stand it when we are both together and we can't talk! So I try to make sure that I either am out of the house or have something else to work on. His last test is February 27th. Then we will have to wait 4-6 weeks for the test results. If we find out he passed them all then it's party time! So please say a quick prayer for him if he crosses your mind at some point!

Award Time

2010-01-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Maggie passed on the torch. The deal is that I share 10 honest things about myself with you. Then I get to tag 5 lucky readers to do the same!

1) I love love love to eat out. It may in fact be one of my favorite things to do. Especially when I'm on vacation. I love to try out new restaurants. I think it's fun to try new foods. Not only that but who doesn't love to eat a great meal, not have to cook it, or clean up the dishes?!?! This is a no brainer for me. If only it were less expensive I would do it all of the time. Anytime my husband and I are going out of town I look forward to picking out the restaurant we'll be dining at.

2) I am not a fan of jokes. This may sound a little funny at first, but let me explain. I love to laugh, seriously love it. I also love to joke around. When it comes to actual planned jokes, like a knock knock joke, or a blonde joke etc. I dread it. The reason? I'm afraid I won't get it! No joke. I am afraid I won't get even the most simple joke and then feel like a fool so I would just rather save myself the embarrassment! Silly, I know.

3) My mouth gets me in trouble. I am honest to a fault. I was raised in an environment where it was funny to have an attitude and just tell people what you think. I now live and am surrounded by people who get seriously offended by that. It is something I would like to change about myself and I'm working on it. Not that I will probably ever become the type of person to always tell you what you want to hear. I do however want to be the person that doesn't always have to give my opinoin.

4) This one is a silly dream of mine that I don't think I've shared with anyone. Ever since I was little I've practiced doing this in my kitchen. I would love to be a host on a cooking show. I would set up my kitchen as if I were in fact the host and have all of my ingrediants in cute little dishes. I think it would be so fun! I love to cook, I love to be in front of people, so why not combine the two!

5) Oh boy, this one goes against my own gender I think. I can not do a cart wheel to save my life. I have never learned how and I think at this point my body just refuses to learn.

6) My job for half of high school and part of college was working at Subway. I worked there for about 4 years. I loved that job and would totally go back if it paid more than minimum wage. It was easy, fun at times, not greasy. I've always told Kolby that if I got fired or laid off I would just work at Subway!

7) I am some what afraid of getting older. I used to be really bad, but it's subsided somewhat. There is so much uncertainty with getting older. You hear people complain about it all the time, why would I want it to happen? Some of it is vanity, I don't want the wrinkles or the over abundance of spider veins. Some of it is the uncertainty of it all, where will I be, what will I be doing? It will inevitably happen, I just hope I can enjoy the ride and not be one of those complaining citizens I'm talking about now.

8) Mayo is my enemy. I don't care if you call it Mayoniase or Salad Dressing. It's all the same and I find it repulsive. I know probably 60% of it is a mental thing but I cannot eat it. I haven't liked it since I was little. I can't even try it though to comment on the flavor. Something about the jiggly consistency, the smell, the fact that it's made of oil and eggs. I just can't do it. I got a sandwich in drive-thru and forgot to get it with no mayo once. I thought well no big deal, surely I can scrape it off and eat it anyways. You could hardly see the mayo after I teadiously worked my napkins on the bun. I got the sandwich to my lip....and started gagging. Pathetic but true.

9) I love to sleep. First, it's extremly easy for me to fall asleep. Watch out commercial's, if the show has not caught my attention, or I'm just a little bit tired, all it takes is one or two commercial's and I'm gone. I could also sleep from the time I get off work to the next morning I'm pretty sure. Recently I fell asleep around 6pm, woke up at 9pm and fell back asleep around 10pm until my alarm went off the next morning. I cherish my sleep.

10) I have 19 nieces and nephews. That's right 1-9. This happened because I have 1 sister, 2 half sisters, 2 step sisters, 1 step brother and a sister in law. My little sister has a son, one of my half sisters has 3 kids, the other half sister has 6, one step sister has 2 girls, the other has 4 kids, my step brother has 2 boys and my sister in law just had a baby girl. That's a lot of Christmas presents to buy!

Now it's your turn!
Nicky
Denise
Amanda
Shanna
Missy

2010-01-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

I made an Elmo cake this weekend. It was my nephew's first birthday, he loves Elmo so I volunteered to make him a cake. I realize this is not the most complex design but I'm very proud of the way it turned out. I did not have a mold to work with, so I was so excited when it turned out!

I'm learning!

2010-01-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

I seriously started to freak out my last few weeks in college. I never thought that would happen either. I was pumped to be finished with school. I had always worked a full time job on top of having a full load of classes. I couldn't wait to start a "real" life. Then I had this fear that my brain would turn to mush. I realized that my whole life I had been learning, learning, learning. Now it was just going to stop abruptly...what would happen to my brain?!?! Well a couple of years later and I'm OK! Woohoo. My brain did not turn to mush...yet.
I have this urge recently to try new things. My latest project...

That's right. I'm learning to play bass. It started out because we had a need in our church. Now I'm actually having fun with it!

Bake crazy Saturday

2010-01-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

I was a baking fool today. I only add the fool part in there because I normally don't bake all that much. I love to bake, and I love to eat the finished product but it can be time consuming. I was inspired to bake because of a recipe I found online. The name alone would cause anyone to drool. ...ready for it?? Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies. That's right not only is it an individual sized brownie, but it's topped with peanut butter and then frosting too! Yes they were very delicious.

Here's how you make them!

INGREDIENTS

1	(19.5-oz.) box Pillsbury Brownie Classics Traditional Fudge Brownie Mix
1/4	cup butter or margarine, melted
4	oz. cream cheese (from 8-oz. pkg.), softened
1	egg
1	cup powdered sugar
1	cup creamy peanut butter
1/2	(16-oz.) can chocolate fudge ready-to-spread frosting

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, beat brownie mix, melted butter, cream cheese and egg 50 strokes with spoon until well blended (dough will be sticky).
2.	Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets to make 24 cookies; smooth edge of each to form round cookie.
3.	In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and peanut butter with spoon until mixture forms a ball. With hands, roll rounded teaspoonfuls peanut butter mixture into 24 balls. Lightly press 1 ball into center of each ball of dough.
4.	Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on cookie sheets at least 30 minutes.
5.	Remove from cookie sheets. Spread thin layer of frosting over peanut butter portion of each cooled cookie.

The recipe is from pillsbury

I am in the process of finishing up some cake balls now. If you have not tried those I insist you make some. Once again I'm putting in a plug for Bakerella!

Christmas can't be over yet!

2009-12-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

I just found the most fabulous looking Christmas tree! It is so over the top and fun. I must remember this for next year. This is not a very good picture. To get a better idea take a look at this blog! I love Bakerella.

Inspiration for today

2009-12-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

This is pretty lengthy, but so worth reading. During prayer time this morning at work one of my co-workers shared this with us. I felt like it was written just for me, but I wanted to share in case someone else needed it as well.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28 (KJV)

Recently I had an ah-ha moment as I was reading Acts 9. At first, the familiar story seemed dull. You know how it is when you've read or heard the same story over and over. Then a new revelation merged from the content. In my minds-eye I began to see the word "rejection," although it was not in written form. Perhaps I saw what I was feeling that day—rejected.

I was at the part of the story where Saul, a murderer, had just been transformed into Paul, a disciple of Christ. Even though Paul was a changed person, many rejected him because of his past reputation as a murderer. This was only the beginning of Paul's trouble. Throughout his ministry, Paul not only experienced rejection, but great suffering and harassment too. For a changed man, his adversity seemed unfair.

Paul was devoted to serving Christ. He sacrificed his education, his life, and remained single so he could better serve the Lord. And yet, he was shipwrecked on several occasions, falsely accused, and thrown into prison more than once. Doesn't that seem odd for a man called of God? Wouldn't God's favor protect him from such adversity?

I thought about an illness that lingered with me all summer. It was so severe I was all but bed-ridden for months, unable to do life and ministry. I began to feel rejected by God. It didn't make sense. I was serving God in more ways than I could count. Then, without warning, strong winds blew in. Clouds hung overhead and it began to storm. Before I knew it I was "shipwrecked." You've been there, too.

Some of us have been rejected by family, friends, and co-workers. Others have been falsely accused. Some are imprisoned by finances, or blown around by the consequences of someone else's sin. It seems so unfair. You've tried to live right. You walk in obedience the best you can. You take God at His Word and trust in His promises. Shouldn't faith like this call for smooth sailing, instead of stormy, shipwrecking seas?

Isaiah reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts and plans are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8; paraphrased). It's tough to figure God out when He doesn't play by our rules or have the same agenda we have. We forget that God sees a much bigger picture.

If we follow Paul's journey, we find God working through the rejection, the trials, the prison time, and the shipwrecks. God used these hardships to position Paul. Not for fame, but to increase the Kingdom of God. Paul witnessed to the Pharisees through his rejection and imprisonment. People saw God's power at work when Paul survived the storms, when the snake bite didn't kill him, and when the jail shook, opening the doors and loosing chains. The Lord used these difficulties so others would witness His power and believe.

Paul allowed God to use him as a vessel. He didn't sit on the sidelines, full of self-pity and doubt. Instead, as Acts 16:22-31 tells us, after being stripped, beaten, severely flogged, thrown in the inner cell of a prison and his feet in stocks, Paul prayed and sang hymns to God. Others around him were listening. The power of God came in such a way, that the prison guard begged Paul to tell him, "What must I do to be saved?" He replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus" (NIV).

God doesn't waste our pain, our rejection or our "shipwrecks." He uses them to bring about His plan—to position us so that others can see His transforming power at work in our lives and believe in the living God.

If that's true, and it is, then our challenge is to rise from the wreckage, like Paul, so that our lives will give testimony that draws others to the Master. Today I will no longer sit on the sidelines of life full of self-pity. I choose to rise, pray and praise, so that God can position me to shine for His glory, and so that others will believe.

Dear Lord, forgive me for wallowing in self-pity and rejection. I trust that You see the bigger picture. I believe there is a purpose for my pain. Strengthen me to rise from my ashes so that others will see You are my help and my salvation. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

this was taken from Proverb 31 Ministries:
http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2009/12/arise-from-wreckage.html
written by: Micca Monda Campbell

(my personal reflection)
If anyone has ever felt "shipwrecked" you can totally relate to this. I think when we become Christians we do just assume that God will protect us from everything that is bad. Then when something happens we are so quick to question Him and ask why me?? We forget that God truly wants what is best for us and we fail to take responsibility for our own actions. It's usually not God leading us to these "bad" things, it's us ignoring God's plan, doing our own thing and then when it turns sour that's when we turn to God. I truly believe if that's the only time we are coming to God, when things go wrong, then He will allow that to happen just to get a chance to talk to us.

California here we come

2009-12-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

Kolby and I have decided to go to California this summer! I do believe the last time we were there was 2006 so it's long overdue! My sister,her husband and 3 kids live there. When I was in High School I went as often as possible, and stayed for as long as I could in the summertime. Throughout my visits I managed to make a lot of friends. I have convinced one to move here already, and one is considering it! I don't know why they want to move from sunny California to cold boring Illinois, but they do!

Anyways, I was skyping with my sister and her husband on Christmas and they mentioned that they would have some vaction time coming up so it sounded like a perfect time to go. We are so looking forward to it! They are generous enough to let us crash at their place which means a free place to stay and more time with them. My niece has been looking forward to another sleepover since they came out for my wedding.

Here is the beautiful family we are looking forward to see!

So this is the New Year

2009-12-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

This may be a little premature but I am looking forward to a new year. 2009 was by no means a bad year at all but I actually have some new year resolutions!

This one feels so cliche to say but I really do want to start working out. Not to help my figure, but my health overall. For being thinner I am not very healthy. On top of that I've been told that I have a heart like a little kid. I got an EKG a few weeks ago, nothing really came of it but my doctor said working out would help my heart...and that's a good thing! To explain a little bit further I was at the chiropractors this summer and he said he heard something so I should mention it to my Dr. When I saw her she said it was not an arrhythmia but when I inhaled and exhaled it went either too fast or too slow (I really can't remember what she said) but she said it was common in children but adults grow out of it....not me though! So that's that!

I would also like to read the whole Bible. I have been a christian for 9 years and I have never read the whole thing. I feel terrible saying that but it's the truth and the first step to changing I think is admitting faults. A few weeks ago I started the read the Bible in a year (http://www.christadelphia.org/readplan.htm). This reading plan is actually really great, it takes me exactly 20 minutes every morning. That is really no time at all. However, I got out of the habit. January first I am determined to start it up again!

Another goal I have is to stop focusing on me. This one is very personal and something I'll probably have to work on and pray about daily but will be well worth it.

I would love to hear what everyone else has planned for their New Year resolutions!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas story 2009

Kolby and I woke up bright and early this morning to open gifts. It was not planned but we woke up around 6:30. That is about the time I get up every morning so it's difficult to sleep in. We didn't lay in bed long because we were too excited and wanted to open gifts! Kolby is great at buying me things, so I of course loved everything I got. After that we got cleaned up and headed over to the in-laws house. There we ate a fabulous breakfast and opened gifts again. At noon it was time to go to my parents house where we ate again and opened presents again! Now we have the rest of the evening to relax. I thought I would share pictures of my Christmas decorations before they have to come down.

My favorite thing has to be fake fruit. Glittery, shiney fake pears are my favorite. I have a pretty good collection going. For Christmas I also love small trees, any size really, the more unique the better.This was my niece Caroline's and my nephew Dante's first Christmas!

Coats

2009-12-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

I LOVE coats. Currently I own 6 of them....That is a pretty ridiculous number I know. It is time to retire some of them though. I am a bargain shopper so I haven't paid more than $40.00 for any of them, which is why I can justify having 6 of them. Also, many of these coats I've had since high school, hence the reason why they need to be retired.

Since I am retiring most of them I thought it was only fitting to buy a new one!
This was another steal! I got it from Charlotte Russe and I love it. Now I'm on the look out for a coat that will go with my brown wardrobe.

2009-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

Missy tagged me a while ago to blog about 5 obsessions. As she stated it's hard to come up with 5 things that I'm "obsessed" with. I've never thought of myself as a very passionate person either. Sometimes this bothers me. I wish I was more passionate about something, a hobby, learning a new skill....I don't know, just something. Missy's obsession's, or things that make her happy were a lot more ummmmm poetic I guess, for lack of a better phrase. And also some things are obvious, like Jesus and my family etc.

"So onto things that inspire me and make me happy that yes, I do tend to obsess over:"

My dog Olive. It's true, she's pretty much amazing. I honestly miss her if we've been gone for a while, however pathetic that may sound. She is well trained and hilarious. She is just the right mix of hyper/playful and a snuggle bug.

My hair. I love doing different things with it. I love to cut it pretty short, but I also love it when it's long enough to put in a pony tail. I have naturally curly hair, and I like the way it looks when it's put up. Kolby likes my short hairstyles, but he is also a big fan of long hair so I'm growing it out for him. In all honesty it won't look good much longer than it is now. Since it's naturally curly it's naturally dry...not to mention it's super thin on top of that! I posted this picture because I love this haircut! I saw it at target and decided when I want to cut it short again, which is inevitable, this is how I want to cut it. I texted Maggie asap.

Food blogs. I was going to put cooking, or baking. I'm far to lazy and unmotivated to actually cook gourmet or bake something extravagant. However, I love too look at food blogs. I love to see the creativity, the delicious food, dreaming of having a huge kitchen and plenty of time to experiment. I would also some day love to have my own cupcake bakery.

This is starting to turn into a food obsession! I sound like I may possibly be very overweight they way I'm rambling on and on about food! So I just admitted that I'm typically pretty lazy and unmotivated when it comes to baking. However, when I do bake my favorite part is making it look pretty. Of course I want it to taste good, but more importantly I want it to look fabulous!

My current obsession is my future. I am at that point in my life where it's time to think about babies, and living arrangements etc. etc.

Now it's time to tag people! Maggie, Annie, Amanda, Denise

I've been told

2009-12-10T13:42:00.000-08:00

I have been told that I look like all three of these women. I don't see it at all, I think I just look like me. But I guess to other people I resemble either a (possible) pot smoking adolescent, an older looking woman or a cougar....LOL
I thought I would share because I was just two times today that I look like Bella! hahaha

The land we love so much

2009-12-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

When Kolby and I seriously started considering building a house we started looking for a place to build. We have always wanted to live out of town, but not too far. The idea of living out in the country is just so appealing to us. Not to mention we've been looking at houses for sale for a while now and can't find anything we like.
While browsing the reality websites we found a piece of land that we l-o-v-e-d! It's out in the country but in this little up and coming subdivision, the other houses are so cute too! I thought for sure this would be the place. On Monday I contacted the reality office to find out more information about it. The website said there were some restrictions, so I needed more details. I figured since it was in a subdivision it would have to meet some sort of size requirements etc. What I found out though really blew me away! There were multiple pages of restrictions...here are some of them:

- No more than three vehicles may be parked outside of the garage
- Must have at least 3 trees with trunk diameter not exceeding 2 inches, must be planted in the front
- All planning including landscaping must be approved by a board
- You may only have up to 2 domestic animals and non for breeding purposes

I mean the list goes on and on and on....I think it's a little overboard with some of the things. It's definitely not a right fit for us. I don't want to feel like I'm renting when I've purchased that land and built the house myself.
So the search continues!

More to love

2009-12-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the house that we love. This will show the floor plans. http://www.globalhouseplans.com/plan_details.asp?id=16842

I really love how pretty much the whole downstairs is open. Then the upstairs is open to below...another feature that I love. Kolby and I have talked about making the rooms upstairs bigger and putting that bonus room in the basement. This could all change though. In fact Maggie is also building a house and her sister Annie built a house so they are also finding houses for me to look at. Just today Annie sent me a house that I love....oh the decisions. Thankfully I have a while before I have to decide.

My future looks bright

2009-11-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

I have yet to take pictures of my Christmas decorations...in all honesty I could probably just repost what I put in this blog last year because it's basically the same. I have a few additions, the lay out is different and I have new furniture....but all in all it looks pretty similar. However, I think I'll post pictures anyways, but that's not today.
Today though I am so excited about my future plans. Kolby and I have decided to build a house. This is still about 3 years away, but we are so excited. We have a piece of land that we are also excited about and want to purchase right away. Hopefully they will call me back today. There are some restrictions to what you can build, so as soon as we get that figured out, hopefully it will be ours. If not though, that will not put a damper in our plans, we'll just look for a new spot. We've been looking at floor plans all weekend and think we've found the perfect one for us. And last night we spent a lot of time talking about finances and deciding what the best plan of action would be. Start now, borrow a big chunk of money with low interest rates. Or start a littler later, borrow a little smaller chunk of money with possibly higher interest rates..it was all very confusing. I think we are making the best decision for us though!

Now here is what we fell in love with. The picture makes it look like a mansion, but it is actually a nice modest house just right for us.
Oh I also want to add that while we are totally in love with this house....haha plans change so don't hold me to this!

I love Christmas

2009-11-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Pictures will be coming soon, but I totally decorated for Christmas. I just could not help myself. I have been excited for Christmas for months now and decided weeks ago that I would be decorating before Thanksgiving this year. For a lot of people, especially in my family it is very Taboo to decorate this early. OH WELL.
It's done now, and I love it!

New Moon

2009-11-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

That's right people, the picture says everything. I am very excited that tonight at 7pm I will be watching this movie. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm equally as excited as most of my students.

These will be the death of me...

2009-11-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

Camel crickets, cave crickets....whatever you want to call them. I hate these things more than anything. They are so so so scary. My first encounter with one of them was in the shower...there it was just sitting on the side of the tub, ready to attack. If you've never seen one you have to understand that they are actually crickets, which no harm done right? Crickets aren't scary. These crickets however LOOK like SPIDERS....BIG spiders BUT they JUMP like crickets. Not only do they jump which is bad enough but they jump AT you. So just imagine a fairly large looking spider jumping towards you.
So after that terrible morning in the shower I have had to move my shower curtain every single morning to look and make sure one is not in there. This has been months now and I still do this every morning. My fear does not stop there though. Kolby ran to the store one morning to get some milk for breakfast and I was going to take that time to once again take a shower. This time Olive found it...thankfully she killed it for me, but I was still terrified. She found it behind the toilet and drug it out. I leaped onto the bathroom counter wishing that Kolby was home so he could dispose of the body...Since he was away I covered it with a towel and decided to get in the shower. So now before I walk into my bathroom I have to stand outside of the door, flip the light on, look everywhere on the floor, again look in the shower and NOW before I can go to the bathroom I lift up the toilet seat to see if one crawled into it...
I know this is making me sound patetic, maybe even crazy but these things FREAK me out! I have been gone a lot recently because of the fundraising I'm helping with. Kolby told that he's seen a couple more, this time one was in the hall way and one was in the living room....THE LIVING ROOM! So I have decided I have to get rid of them...I just have to. So this morning I go online to try and find natural ways to kill them. I come across this story: http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Crickets/Cave_Crickets.shtml. Which the picture alone is enough to make my heart start pounding. The story was fine, I'm glad to know someone else has my same strong dislike and fear of these creatures. I should have stopped at the end of the story...but NO crazy me wanted to look at the comments. To the first person who decided to comment, you call yourself Shaun. I would just like you to know that I am now afraid to not only shower, but also sleep at night. Thank you...

Hot cocoa

2009-11-16T09:15:00.001-08:00

I'm currently drinking hot cocoa hoping that will be a substitute to caffeine. I need some sort of sugar in my body to make sure I'm going to make it through the day! I took the youth group 2 1/2 hours away to see the bands that played at convention. I think it was a good time to reminisce about convention and remember those feelings and commitments we made.
Honestly I did not want to go. I have been so busy lately that I really wanted a day to rest, not to mention this week is going to be insane trying to get everything organized for the rummage sale/silent auction. I went anyways and I just decided that instead of thinking about how much I'd rather be at home, with my husband and in bed at a decent hour I was determined to have a great time. With a little prayer and determination it happened!
We saw Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli and Leeland. I totally love Fran, she has been a favorite of mine for a while now. I also like Brandon Heath, I had only heard his stuff on the radio, but his lyrics are amazing. The first time I heard of Leeland was at convention. I love them! They are so catchy and fun. I really want to buy their cd! check them out if you get a chance
http://www.myspace.com/leelandmusic

Heavy

2009-11-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

I have a heavy heart today. My life is currently consumed with my church youth group, not in a bad way, but it is tiresome sometimes. Things seem to be going so well and then drama ensues. I know God is still moving in their lives and big things are happening, but Satan is also creeping his ugly nose into it.
For teenagers, and even adults it is hard to look past sin and love the person for who they really are. 1 John 4:7&8 says: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
I believe this is so important to follow I mean just look at verse 8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God IS love." I am not perfect at it, but in the past few months I have been working hard at loving people. Everyone has faults and everyone messes up, it's not our business to rub that in their face.
If you could just take a second to pray for me to have wisdom in this current situation among my youth group, and pray that they keep moving forward. Thanks!

Another Blog to Share!

2009-11-12T12:45:00.001-08:00

For a while I was sharing with you all of my talented friends blogs/business's. I have another one to add to the list. This is a three in one! It's Ethel Edith, they are sisters, Annie, Abbie and Maggie who share a love of crafting, making pillows, painting...you name it.
visit them! http://www.etheledith.com/

Youth Group Update

2009-11-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

Okay so in my last post I explained how God is totally moving and how we pledged to raise over $7,000 in only 4 weeks. I just wanted to take a second to give an update. Often times when teens come back from a church camp or convention the passion or fire tends to dwindle down. It's happened to all of us I'm sure.
I think because of this goal we have set it has really helped our group to keep up the passion and fire for God. They have been working their tails off to raise this money. We are doing something almost every night either in preparation for or actually raising money. They have been raking leaves, baby sitting, sorting through rummage sale donations, collecting donations for the silent auction, passing out fliers. It's been so great to see them grow as Christians.
I would like to remind you to continue to pray though. They are still in high school, there is still some drama. I just pray everyday that there is no dissension among the group and that they just focus on Jesus.

God is moving

2009-11-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

God is totally moving in our youth group! We took a group of kids to Momentum Youth Convention and they are so on fire for God. One girl immediately deleted all of her "bad" ringtones from her phone. Then when she came back home she deleted all but 7 songs on her ipod and gave it to Kolby to add new christian songs to it. They are all encouraging each other at school and really showing their love of Jesus. I've seen facebook comments on their walls from other kids at school saying how cool it is that they are Jesus freaks, and showing it!
I'm so so so proud of them. I know how hard it can be to get back in the daily grind and just kind of forget about what happened at church camp, or convention. It's so easy to worship and be on fire for God when you are surrounded by people your age doing the same thing. I know there are still a couple of kids that are struggling and the transition to change complelty and let go of the wordly things is more of a struggle then they anticipated especially when it's coming easier for some. I know they can do it though! If you remember please keep them in your prayers this week.
We are meeting early on Wednesday because the youth are overflowing with ideas. I want our youth group to grow, and if not in numbers then I want them to grow in their love for Jesus. I can't wait to see what's in store for our youth group!

Brrrr

2009-10-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

This weather is such a bummer. I can't remember the last time we haven't had rain. It usually rains at some point during the night, then it's drizzling at the very least most of the day.
I need a pick-me-up so I'm going to think positive and remind myself of all the things I love about fall.

The leaves changing colors

hot tea

cute scarves

dressing up my dog

Tiny Treasures

2009-10-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

Look for Casey on Etsy! She sells super cute necklaces and hair flowers.

She works really hard at making her stuff look great, support her if you can :)

Featuring

2009-09-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hattie!
First let me start by saying I have never met this girl, but we pretty much know each other :). She lives in Cali with my sister. Through different conversations, facebook, and blogs we pretty much know each other or at least feel like we do.
If you have a pet, you have to check out her Etsy shop.

http://SpecialtyCollars.etsy.com

Etsy

2009-09-24T07:26:00.001-07:00

I have a few friends or at least people I'm acquainted with who have an Etsy account with super cute things. I want to feature them on my blog to

A) drive more business to them
B) drive more business to home made crafty items

I think this will be fun! Since this blog is inspired by one of my Etsy friends I will feature her first. Her name is Jillian http://www.jillianpye.etsy.com
Here is a sample of the cute things she makes
And here is something exciting! You can win a personalized hair clip from her! Visit her blog to find out more info! http://www.jillianisinlove.blogspot.com/

Caroline JoAnn

2009-08-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Born at 1:19 AM Thursday, 8lbs 8 oz. and 21 inches long
She's perfect. Maggie worked so hard! They got to the hospital at 7am on Tuesday and Caroline was here at 1:19 on Thursday. I was tired just staying up to see her be born, I can't imagine how Maggie and Kylie felt.
She has a case of the jaundice so unfortunately they can't come home today like planned. The pediatrician is off on the weekends so in order to monitor her they are keeping her over night again. We are so fortunate to be able to see her again tonight though!

ReL8 connections

2009-08-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

I work for ReL8, I know I've mentioned this before. Recently I have been trying to get our name and program out into the community. Today I had two speaking presentations and they were a lot of fun. I met with the Kiwanis club at noon, ate lunch and then talked to them about what I'm doing in their community. I was a little nervous, it was a room full of forty strangers. As much as I try not to get nervous and pray about it I still get a knot in my gut. As soon as I start talking that feeling goes away, but I started to trip over a few of my words and that throws me off a bit. The director of my cpc said she didn't even notice, you are your worst critic I suppose.
After that I got a chance to speak at a local radio station. The interview was very short and to the point, but so much fun. He is also going to write up a story in the local paper once schools start again.
Hopefully with more time I'll get better and ReL8's message will be all over the state!

What a week

2009-08-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

This week started out terrible (due to some crazy girl emotions) but is ending very well. Kolby and I have decided once again to be more active. We have either walked, played racquetball or rode bikes every night this week. It always feels good when you get out of the house and do something, even better if that something is benefiting your health.
Some other exciting news: We have a new restaurant in town! That's right, for you big city folk, this is nothing and not as exciting. However, I come from a small town that has thus far only offered us DQ, Subway, McDonald's, 3 small hometown cafe's, 3 Pizza joints and one Chinese restaurant. Now we have a fabulous Mexican restaurant. Kolby and I have already eaten there 2 times. It is yummy, and fairly cheap!
Also, this week I have had the task of trying to put together a picture slideshow for my church's 35th anniversary. At first, it was no problem, it was actually a breeze scanning in the 500 pictures (for real, it was easy and painless). When it came to putting it all together....UGH...frustration set in. I have an older laptop and it kept freezing, wouldn't save my work etc. Finally though I got it finsihed and I'm so relieved.
And in other news....I'll be a local celeb next week. That's right....more to come

Don't Judge My Hair

2009-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

Much like awkward family photos, don't judge my hair is a must see blog. I can't believe that some of these are real.

My new obsession

2009-08-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Food blogs. I love to find new food blogs and try to recreate the cuteness. That is my thing, not so much the food, but the cuteness. I love to throw dinner parties for the sake of getting out cute plates, and decorating and making a cute dinner. Sounds silly to some, but its fun to me. I don't do it as often as I would like because

1) I live in a very small rental
2) I don't even have a set of plates yet, like a real set. I just can't decide what I want. Do I want something colorful? Something white? Something square? Something round? Something trendy...
3) Time, oh of course I could make more time for what I love but I haven't committed myself yet.

A few things I want to try:

Changed Girl

2009-07-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

I have changed my layout! This is only the second time I have done this and I was having a little difficulty with it. I had to make my layout go back to a very basic one provided from blogger and then add the new layout. Not too bad, I think I'll keep this one for a while.
In other news, I had to change my profile picture on facebook. I kept getting random congratulation messages. I had a picture of me, Kolby and baby Audrey up there, apparently you can't hold another person's baby LOL. Eh, oh well.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-07-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love cupcakes! I really really do, I love to make them, eat them, wear them(...that doesn't sound right). I love to see little girls that have cupcakes on their outfits and I love cupcake decorations. So naturally when I ran across this website I fell in love! It combines a couple of my two favorite things cupcakes and babies!

www.cupcakesforlife.org
Please visit this website and get involved.

Arkansas

2009-07-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

Kolby and I went to Arkansas with his parents. We left on Wednesday and got back Monday night. It's not the typical hot spot for a vacation, but we try to go at least every other year. His family has a reunion there, most of the people we know and talk to are actually from Illinois, but it's still fun!
We always spend most of our time swimming at Big Creek...how very country of us right?!? This year was no different. We spent a few days at Big Creek, one day we floated down the river and one day we took a 4 hour canoe trip. That was so fun. We went with two people who had no experience canoeing....which makes the trip more exciting. They were paddling from bank to bank for a while, flipped twice....very entertaining. Pictures will be coming soon!

Audrey Juliet

2009-07-01T06:42:00.001-07:00

This girl is the love of my life right now. She is so precious.
This process has been so amazing and I'm really thankful I was able to be a part of it. I never fully understood how adoptions worked. I mean I had the same basic understanding as everyone else did, someone gives their baby to another family, period. This was so much more than that.

Brad and Nicole are a couple of my best friends and they deserved to be blessed with this perfect baby.

New Car!

2009-05-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yes!!! Kolby and I have driven around beaten up, hardly working cars for years now. My car is the one that we got rid of. I bought this car about 5 years ago, it only cost about $1,000. It had been wrecked, no air bags with the console hot glued together, a cracked front bumper, lost a hub cap recently, broken down a number of times....It was pretty embarrassing to drive around but it got me where I needed to be (90% of the time).
Also, Kolby and I are all about having no payments and paying cash for the things we need (thanks Dave Ramsey). So it took us a while to save up money for a car, but we finally did it! I get to drive it most of the time :)...poor Kolbs, but YAY me. It has been wonderful to drive around, but I'm so nervous! Like I said, we have only ever driven cars that are just plain crappy. I kick my door shut, drive without a care etc. Now I drive like a slow poke and I think I'll cry when it gets scratched the first time. I'm sure I'll get over that, I'm just so glad to have a reliable car...and it is my dream car! Here it is, but we removed those tires and replaced them with something that was more our style (regular ones).

ONE year

2009-05-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Kolby and I have officially been married for ONE whole year! We celebrated with a cookout at my dad's house on Sunday. We are so awful at making and finalizing plans, we were going to go to a national park and stay at a bed and breakfast, but I think that is going to be pushed off until next month....but we will see! I'm fine with not doing anything huge, that's not really our thing anyways.
Our first year of marriage was a dream! So many people told us that the first year of marriage is so difficult, and I believe them, but that wasn't the case for us. I know we aren't perfect, and we did have our disagreements, but our whole situation was just different. We were best friends in high school, dated for four years after that and then got married. I'm so lucky to have him :)

Ack!

2009-03-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have been tempted to blog a few times but have refrained. Everything I feel like talking about is in regards to a particular hardship that I am facing right now. I don't feel like just leaving angsty blogs all over the net so I have opted to post nothing.
I do have exciting things to talk about though! I found out that I will be going to Puerto Rico in June for my job. We are staying at this amazing resort and going to workshops...maybe I'll throw a fun party in my hotel room (like Micheal Scott from The Office, LOL). I really can't wait to go, I love the co workers that will be attending it with me as well, so that makes for an extra great trip!
The other great thing I have to share is also regarding work...I finished my first high school class! I feel like I accomplished something. I have been teaching at a few different schools over this past semester and I finally finished one today.

march already?

2009-03-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have really slacked on the whole blog thing...
Anyways, I am very excited about a few things:
1) I will be finding out the gender of a few new babies in my life, that is always so exciting. As soon as you find out the gender you can start painting and planning and most importantly buying super cute outfits. As much as I love children and desire to have my own someday...the emphasis is on someday. Kolby and I are so happy with our lives right now, but we are really dedicated to building our relationship as solid as possible before we even think about kids. Kolby is also the type to be very nervous about finances. If we did happen to accidentally become pregnant I have no doubt in my mind that we would be fabulous parents, and even finacially capabale of raising a child, but that is not what we want. We have so many goals in mind, we want most importantly for me to be a stay at home mom, we will go to great lengths to make sure that happens, which means waiting. I am very happy with our plan, but it makes the waiting easier and more enjoyable when people around me are having babies.
2)Peronal relationships have be flourishing. I have really found great friends that love me for me and I love them for who they are. It is a really good feeling to find people that challenge you, that you love to hang out with, that you don't have to make formal plans to hang out you can simply hang out. Along with that I have been making it my personal mission to patch up past failed relationships that I have not yet asked for forgivness. Actually, God has made it so very clear with one particular person that I need to take initive. I am actually content with the way things are now, but as I said, God is making it hard to ignore :).

Things are just going very well right now. Kolby is on spring break and I'm so happy for him because school can be overwhelming at times. He will graduate in May!!! We both are so excited for that to happen.
Also, last night I went to the local Crisis Pregnancy Center banquet, it was amazing. I am really praying that they will be fincially supported over and beyond what they could ever imagine.

So True

2009-02-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
—1 John 1:7

I like the last part of this verse which speaks of the blood of Jesus cleansing us from sin and all of its forms and manifestations. Let me give you an example of how this works in our everyday lives. If there is something rotten in your refrigerator, you will know it is there every time you open the door because you will smell it. You may not know what it is or exactly where it is located, but you can be sure that it is in there somewhere.

I believe our lives are like that. If there is something rotten within us, those who come in close contact with us are going to perceive it, whether they know what it is or why it is there. They will "smell" it or sense it. In 2 Corinthians 2:15 the apostle Paul tells us that as believers "we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." Unfortunately, it also works in the opposite way.

When there is something within us that has been shut away and become rotten and spoiled, it gives off a totally different aroma—detectable by everyone. That's why we must open up ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to come in and cleanse our hearts and remove whatever is causing us to give off a foul stench. When we open ourselves to the Lord and let Him begin to cleanse and heal us from within, we will find ourselves coming into better and better fellowship with all those around us. It won't happen overnight, because it is a process. But it will begin to take place, one step at a time.

From the book New Day, New You: 365 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2007 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

http://www.joycemeyer.org/