Jenny's Blog

Silver Dollar City

2011-05-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

This past Friday Josh and I went to Silver Dollar City in Branson. I've been bugging him for about a year to do this and he finally agreed. I really enjoy amusement parks so I thought I would really enjoy this park. I had been seeing commercials on television saying that this park was currently having a world fest where performers from around the world came and did some shows. I thought it looked interesting so I convinced Josh to go now instead of later. We were originally supposed to go two Fridays ago but the rain changed our plans.

We got up early Friday morning and headed to the park. We got there about 8:30 and were one of the first peoples there. As we were walking up to the entrance some guy said "Hey do you need a ticket to get into the park?" He seemed like a nice enough guy but our first thought was that he was scalping tickets. Instead though it turns out that he wanted to give us a free ticket. I guess he has a season pass and every-so-often with those passes you get a free ticket to bring someone else and he gave us his free ticket. That was a blessing because now we only had to pay for one ticket to get in.

Once we got in we decided to eat breakfast and plan what we were going to do because the rides didn't actually open until 10:00. Our breakfast was the best I've ever eaten in an amusement park. It was a breakfast buffet with a bunch of home-cooked food. It was yummy!!

Once the rides opened the first thing we went into was this supposed house of wonders. As we were walking through I was thinking to myself this is kind of stupid. There is just some pictures on the wall that have lights flashing in them. As I was turning the corner though into another room I somehow got completely disoriented with my balance and about ran into the wall. I would take another step then and lose my balance and run into something else. It was kind of crazy. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the floor was slanted and that is probably why I was having so much trouble. Once I realized this I thought I would just adjust and not have any trouble walking but that was not the case. I was still having trouble standing up and not running into things. Josh thought that maybe the floor was moving. I'm not sure but that was weird.

The first show we went to was a Russian circus show. It was really good and pretty funny. My favorite act was this guy doing a bunch of acrobatics on a big circle thing. I thought it looked pretty fun.

Around lunch time we stopped and got a snack of homemade ice cream. Josh and I split a banana split. The ice cream was amazing. I don't really think you can beat homemade ice cream. YUMMY!!

The next show we went to was a group from Canada that was a bunch of fiddlers and tap dancers. That was pretty good also. I've always secretly thought it would be neat to be a good tap dancer. What good exercise too!

We went on a few rides throughout the day. My favorite rides are things that either swing you, spin you or turn you upside down. Josh is not a big fan of roller coasters (it's not because he's afraid of heights but he says he knows too much about mechanics and metal to feel comfortable on roller coasters) but I made him go on one with me. Unfortunately for both of us it was the worst roller coaster I've ever been on and I've been on quite a few. I was wondering why the line was so short when we got there and then I found out for myself. The only thing this coaster did was go upside down about 4 times right in a row. There were no big hills or turns it was just all upside down. I didn't like it because it bounced my head around too much and all the blood drains from my head when I'm constantly going upside down so much. Anyway after this fiasco Josh didn't want to go on any more. I can't blame him though because that one was bad.

Silver Dollar City is a little unique in the fact that they actually didn't have that many rides. They had a ton of shops and places where you could see skilled people making their crafts. We saw a blacksmith, a knife maker, glass blower and someone that worked with wood. It was all pretty neat watching them do there stuff. In the glass factory Josh bought be some hand-blown blue glass because I collect blue glass. This piece is actually one of my favorite pieces. The color is so dark blue and pretty. There is a picture of it below but I'm not sure the picture does it justice:

Here it is up on the shelf with some of my other pieces. I love it!!

I had a lot of fun with Josh on this day. It's a good park but like I said there isn't a lot of rides. It is somewhat surprising but this is the first park I've ever been in where older people (50 and over) outnumbered younger people. The older people seemed to really like going to the shows here. In fact the lines to get a seat in these shows were extremely long and most were older people. I would love to go again but I don't think Josh was as impressed as I was. Maybe we'll go again next year...

My Husband, the Carpenter

2011-04-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Since before we moved into this new house, Josh has been talking about building a large wooden box to use as our cat litter box. The reason for this is that this house has no real good spot to put the litter boxes so they are in the master bathroom. Unfortunately my cats can be messy and like to shovel the litter out of the box onto the floor. After awhile of stepping on this (despite it being swept up often) one starts to think of some way to fix this problem. Josh came up with a great idea that was really well thought out. He built a very large wooden box that is lined with FRP (not really sure what that is but it is waterproof. He then created an opening on one end and a carpeted ramp on that same end so that hopefully as the cats are walking out, the litter hits the carpet and none comes out of the box. This box looks really good with the trim and stain. I'm so proud of my husband. It makes me wish I new how to make things out of wood. Josh and I talk about getting a lathe someday to have fun with and to make things out of wood. Here are a couple pictures of this cat box:

"Jesus Paid it All"

2011-04-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe;
My sin had left this crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

It’s washed away
All my sin
And all my shame

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save,"
My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

O praise the One who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead

We’ll praise the One who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead

I love this song. It is so true. May we all remember the real celebration of Easter this year. Jesus conquered death and because of that I have the hope of eternal life. What better thing is there to celebrate then that? Thank you Jesus for loving me enough (the good, the bad and the ugly) to take my place on that cross. I'm the one who deserved death but you went through that for me. Thank you Jesus for rising from the dead. You are my real source of joy, peace and hope.

Revelation 1:17b-18 Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Boxes Unpacked (mostly)

2011-04-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since we moved into the new house and things have been pretty hectic here. We had to try to unpack this house and get our house in Huntsville ready to be rented out. If all works according to plan the house in Huntsville should be rented out by the end of this month (YEAH!!!). The move to Centerton has been a blessing in many ways. The mortgage is cheaper than in Huntsville and we are saving a ton on gas for our cars and time (which is something you can't ever get back). It's really been amazing to see the ways in which God has worked out the details of this house and the move. I'd be lying if I said that the few weeks prior to the move weren't extremely stressful with a lot of ups and downs but the interesting part is that God worked it all out (despite me worrying about it). This whole process has reinforced to me that I really struggle with worry and anxiety at times which is ridiculous because there has not been a single time in my entire life that God has not provided for me or taken care of me. Yes, life has not always gone the way I wanted it to but I can honestly say God's plan has always been better than mine.

Another reason I love living in Centerton is because we are so much closer to everything (restaurants, stores, church, etc.). When things slow down a little (which I think they will soon) I'm really looking forward to figuring out how Josh and I can get more connected to our community (whether that means meeting the neighbors or participating more in church activities) because we would love to have more friends.

Here are some pictures of the new house with most of the boxes unpacked:

Living room - I need help trying to figure out what to decorate the walls above the fireplace and t.v. with. I told Josh that we'll just have to have a few kids so that we can put their pictures up there. He laughed... :-)

Living room

The kitchen - I love the blue glass in here. I do think it looks better in person though. You can't see it very well but when we were moving in we had a little drama with the refrigerator. It didn't fit into the space by mere centimeters. Josh borrowed a hammer and screw driver from a friend and had to pry off the baseboard on the wall so the refrigerator would slide in. There is absolutely no extra room around the refrigerator but I'm glad it's in.

This is the formal dining room that we turned into the office. I'm so thankful to have a spot to put this stuff that isn't in a bedroom. Eventually we might get a different desk and filing cabinet but for now this works for us.

I just had to include this picture because I love the blue glass there.

Guest bedroom - still need to put the picture on the wall in there.

Guest bathroom - still more decorating to do in there.

Guest Bedroom

Dining room - It might be hard to see but I was trying to figure out where to put the words Live, Laugh, Love on the wall and Josh came up with putting them above the table. I think that's a great idea and that it looks great!

Master bedroom

Master bedroom

Master bath - the red doesn't really match in my opinion but that's what we had in the Huntsville house. I think eventually the colors will be a teal/aqua and brown in this bathroom. Hopefully that will make it feel and look more spa like.

I love my new house and I'm very thankful for it!

Happy Anniversary

2011-03-01T05:45:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday was Josh and I's 1 year anniversary. It's been a great year. I feel like we have both learned a lot about each other and what it means to be married. Josh is an amazing man and I love him a lot. He is not perfect (and neither am I) but he is perfect for me. I'm so blessed to have him as my husband.

This past weekend we decided to go to Petit Jean State Park because this is where we did most of our dating and we have a lot of great memories from this park. We went down on Friday and thought we would find a motel in the town of Morrilton (which is really close to the park). Unfortunately we did not anticipate that there would be a large church function there and all of the nonsmoking rooms at the motels would be taken. We even attempted to look into staying at the KOA campground in some rentable cabins but their office was closed. We ended up staying at a motel that was older that just didn't look quite so nice. The toilet in our room didn't work very well either so that was a bummer.

After getting a hotel room we went back to the park to cook some supper. Here is a picture of the picnic area that we have cooked our food at many times. This is also where we would spend a lot of time watching squirrels.

We had planned to grill hamburgers this first night and to also make some macaroni and cheese. When we started to get the stuff out to cook we realized we forgot to bring a spatula to turn the hamburgers. So, my amazing and talented husband did created his own spatula out of a stick he carved, a foil ball and some string:

Our food was amazing!! To top of the amazing food we had some cake that we saved from the wedding. Now, I've been looking forward to eating this cake for months and have had a count down going for when we get to eat it. I think the reason for this is that I really do love cake. However I have to admit that this cake isn't really that good (and I didn't think so at the wedding either). The icing is good but the actual chocolate cake is dry. The strawberry cake I had at the wedding was much better... Anyway, here is a picture of our cake:

On Saturday we were supposed to get up early to watch the sunrise. However, neither one of us had much sleep the night before due to an uncomfortable bed and noisy neighbors so we skipped that. However we did go hiking on one of the trails that we hadn't done yet (at least all of the trail - we had done parts of it). We had backpacks on and we hiked probably 8-10 miles. Afterwards I felt like I got hit by a truck and I still am very, very sore. Here are a few pictures though from our hike.

This was a pretty stream we crossed.

Same stream just the spot where we sat down for a minute.

Different stream

These are called "turtle rocks" obviously because they look like turtle shells. Some of these rocks even have algae and other green plant life on them.

Pretty cliffs

Neat-looking tree that was on a cliff

This is a "bridge" that we had to cross. It's actually the second time we've been across this bridge. The first time the water was a little higher so I was thankful that it was lower this time. There was one spot that my foot got a bit wet because the stones were a little too far apart and I had to put my foot down in the water but all in all it wasn't so bad.

Another scenic picture - I love this park!!

We had found out Friday that there was a cancellation on one of the duplex cabins so we decided to stay there Saturday night. Here is a picture of the inside of our cute cabin:

Nice cabin but the beds were extremely small so I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. If you go there and rent cabins I also would recommend spending the extra $20 to get a cabin by yourself instead of a duplex. Our neighbors were kind of loud and had small children...

After a really long, exhausting day here we are sitting on the porch swing on our cabin. I love this man and I'm looking forward to spending the next 50+ years with him.

New House

2011-02-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

Josh and I have been wanting to move closer to "town" for awhile now in an effort to save money which would hopefully allow him to get a job where he can be home at night. There have been many ups and downs with this process already but hopefully it is coming to a close.

We are currently under contract for the second time. The first house we were under contract with had a lot of features that were bonuses to us and I think that we kind of got side tracked by them. The house was built in 1975 and needed a lot of updating and some work just because it was that old. The owner of that house was not very willing to negotiate so that was a bummer. After the inspection on this house we decided to walk.

After we called our realtor about this we went looking at two more houses the next day and placed an offer on one of them. The house we are under contract with now is much, much nicer then the other place and is move-in-ready. One could possibly argue that it's got nicer features then any other house I've lived in. Here are a few pictures:

Formal dining room that will be the office because we don't need two eating areas :-)

Kitchen looking out into the eat in kitchen area

Eat in kitchen area - I love all of the lighting fixtures/fans in this house.

Living room - I hope they decide to leave the curtain on the door because I like it!

Fireplace - I'm not crazy about the black around the fireplace or that it's a gas fireplace but at least it's a fireplace.

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

Guest bathroom

Guest bedroom - Josh said he didn't like the fan in this room because it's a little girl's fan. I said to him, "Well, maybe it would be perfect if we had a little girl." He said, "No, we're only going to have boys." :-) I guess we'll see.

Master bathroom - fanciest bathroom I've ever had

Second part of master bathroom

Part of backyard. There is a funny iron gate that the owner put in at some point that I believe was to keep an animal on one side of the yard. The problem is that there is a riding lawn mower that is on one side of the house (in the back yard) that can't get out or get to the other side of the yard because of this gate. I wonder if that means we will get to keep the riding lawn mower...

Other part of back yard

Entry way and entrance to laundry room

Those are most of the pictures that I've taken so far of the house. Ironically I noticed this morning that I didn't take any pictures of the outside of the house. I guess I'll have to do that still.

Due to the crash of the housing market, Josh and I can't afford to sell the house in Huntsville so the plan is to rent it out. This is a somewhat scary idea for several reasons but we'll see what happens.

Snow

2011-02-09T06:13:00.001-08:00

This is a ridiculous amount of snow to have in Arkansas and it's still snowing. The super bad thing is that we don't even have a snow shovel. Josh has tried to go to a few different stores and they don't have them. On the upside my office is closed today. I'm hoping the snow stops and goes away quickly because I would really like to go to work tomorrow. :-)

Charlie

2011-01-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

Close to 1 month ago Charlie joined my household. He is quite the character. Sometimes I'm amazed at the places he finds to take a nap. Here is a picture of one such place:

Our bed has drawers under it where you can store things and Charlie has figured out a way to get in the drawers from underneath our bed. Sometimes when I walk into the room one of the drawers will be open which usually Charlie was in there and he opened the drawer in order to get out. If he gets scared then the odds are good that is where you will find him.

It's been fun to see how Oscar and him interact. They have been teaching each other some things (some bad habits but some good ones). For example, Oscar likes to drink water from the bathroom faucet and Charlie would get up there and just look at him. After a while Charlie finally wanted to try drinking out of the faucet. Here is a picture of Leo (my orange cat who died) getting a drink of water so you can see what it is supposed to look like:

At the beginning Charlie would get into the sink and bite at the water and swat the water with his paw. When this didn't seem to work well for him he now stands in the sink and drinks the water from the pool of water at the bottom of the sink. The problem with this is that the water is running and he basically just lets the stream of water pour down his head while he is drinking the water from the bottom of the sink. When he is down with his drink he is pretty wet and shakes himself off just like a dog would and sprays the water everywhere.

Charlie and Oscar are playing more together now which is great and slowly but surely I think Oscar is getting over being jealous of Charlie. To be fair, here is a cute picture of Oscar:

Oscar likes to get in bags especially if you are trying to pack a bag to go somewhere.

I love my cats!

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

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

One year ago today, my wonderful husband asked me to marry him. This was the start of a very amazing, life changing year for me. We got married just shy of 2 months later which was the best day of my life to date.

I moved to Northwest Arkansas which was a very positive move for me. I love it here because it really is beautiful and there is so much to do. I've been blessed this year to go on several "adventures" with Josh. Here is a picture of us (one of my absolute favorite pictures) on one of these adventures:

I got a job working in a Christian counseling agency which is really something I love. This really is one of the first jobs where I actually love what I'm doing. I've recently got another job that I'm really thankful for that I'm sure is going to stretch me in many ways. I'm a firm believer that God doesn't make mistakes so I know that he has me at these jobs for a reason.

I've learned a lot this past year mostly about marriage and my husband. It's had it's difficult moments but also it's wonderful moments. I've always known that marriage can be hard and takes work but I think I was surprised at just what parts would be the hardest. Is it worth it? Absolutely! I wouldn't change this past year (even the harder parts of it) because I've learned things through these things and feel like I'm trying to grow from them.

So, what's in store for 2011? I really have no idea. If I could pick I would chose that Josh gets a job where he can be home more, that he likes and that pays enough money to help us pay our bills. I would chose that we could move closer to town so that we could save money on a mortgage, gas for cars and time (I currently drive an hour to work one way everyday). I would probably also pick to start a family this year once some of the above listed things get worked out. Will these things work out the way I want them to? I don't know. What I do know is that I have a God who already has a plan set out for my life this year and I trust this His plan is better than mine. I have a husband who loves me and is my best friend. I have family and friends that I'm so thankful for. I'm blessed in so many ways (of which I don't deserve).

Happy New Year!

Catch Up

2010-12-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

Well, Again, I have not been so faithful with blogging. It just seems like I haven't had as much to say. Here are some pictures though that might get you caught up on what's going on with me:

A picture of my Christmas decorations.

Here is a picture with the Christmas lights on. I love Christmas lights. I'm looking forward to driving around and looking at all the pretty lights. Josh is not such a big fan of Christmas lights but that's okay... :-)

We have had several stray cats running around the neighborhood and so Josh decided to catch a few in a live trap (they don't get hurt). Well, the first cat he caught was a grey kitten that looked like it was very hungry. So, I let it come in the house and eat but then it got really upset with Oscar so we didn't keep it. That cat got taken to the animal shelter.

Next we caught a girl cat that looked an awful lot like Oscar. She was pretty cute and friendly too. I named her Lucy. The problem with Lucy was that she was the most annoying cat I've ever been around (and this comes from someone that loves cats). She would meow loudly all night and caused both Josh and I to lose sleep and would constantly walk in front of you to the point that you either accidentally kick her or trip over her. Needless to say she didn't stay long either.

So, I decided to look online at animal shelters in the area and I found a nice orange cat that I liked. He is fat (which just means there is more to hug) and friendly. I named him Charlie. Here are a few pictures:

Sticking his tongue out :-P

He has a funny expression in this photo. Charlie does resemble my last orange cat (Leo) quite a bit except that he is fatter. I've caught myself a few times thinking "Leo" instead of "Charlie" when I see him walking around the house.

It looks like he is playing football in this picture.

Oscar was not really a happy camper yesterday when I brought Charlie home. Here is a picture of Oscar yesterday:

Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I'm really looking forward to starting my own "family traditions" with Josh.

Ups and Downs of Life

2010-11-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

Life continues to go on with many ups and downs along the way. Josh has been busy some at work (gone for several days at a time) and then unexpectedly home for a week (up) and then gone again (down). He is currently gone but on vacation this time. Josh is at deer camp with his dad and some family friends (down). I'm hoping he gets a deer so we have some meat to eat (up). Hopefully I will get to join him in one week from today (up) because I really miss him. I think him being at deer camp is even harder then him working on the road. Part of the reason for this is that there is such bad cell phone reception there it's hard to have a reasonable conversation. You get so tired of repeating yourself that you just give up and either shorten what you were going to say or not say it at all (down). I thought I had a cat sitter all lined up for when Josh and I will be gone but that fell through (down). On a positive note I got a new somewhat part-time job that will help me get through my licensure faster and with some extra income with we need (up). I got an explanation of benefits from my insurance company saying they are not going to pay for my recent eye exam or glasses/contacts which is expensive(down). The weather outside is beautiful and I've gotten to enjoy several walks up and down the hills/streets in my neighborhood (up). Clients at my other job either not showing up or not paying for their session (down). My parents will be moving here next Friday (UP).

This is life the ups and downs. Some days I think it's much harder then I had anticipated to do life and I guess on those days I'm reminded of how much I really need God in my life on a day-to-day basis. I'm not made to do this alone and frankly it's frustrating that I forget this so often and try to do it on my own anyway. God knows all the details of my life and has promised to never leave me. I don't know how some of these downs in my life are going to get worked out but I'm trying to cast my cares on Him because he cares for me and therefore I don't need to worry about them.

Quilt

2010-10-13T12:44:00.001-07:00

So, after 3 months I have finally finished my quilt that I was making for our bed. When my mom was here in July, she helped me pick out the fabric. In May, when we were at Josh's mom's house I saw the sheets she had on her bed and decided I liked them enough to incorporate them into my quilt and to also buy a set for our bed. Picking the fabric out was harder than I thought it should be but we got it done. Here are a few pictures of the process along the way:

The quilt is made by sewing strips of different colors together.

There are 36 squares on this quilt plus the border. This was a very monotonous step and somehow (probably due to mistakes I made along the way) I kept running out of cut strips so I kept having to cut more cloth or sew scraps together. You can see that the center piece is from the sheets I bought and cut apart and again we have the same sheets on our bed.

Here is the finished product. When I originally started the quilt I thought Josh and I would be getting a King sized bed but then we ended up only getting a Queen sized bed so the quilt is really big.

I made tons of mistakes along the way and you can see most of them if you really look closely at the quilt. There are lots of squares that didn't match up nicely with the squares beside them and that caused problems. The batting also gave me some problems because the quilt is so big that I don't have a room in my house wide enough (unless I took out all the furniture)to lay it down without it bunching up. Eventually Josh helped me out by rigging up some rope thing in the garage to hang the quilt from so that I could pin the material in place. This helped some but again, if you looked closely at the quilt you would see that at some point during the sewing process the batting moved away from some of the edges.

This is the fourth quilt I've actually made. With this one I had thought about possibly having it machine stiched together like you see most quilts. The problem with this is that I don't have a sewing maching big enough to do this. I was excited when I found a place near here that offered to do this for you but then disappointed when I found out how much that would cost and how long it takes them to do it. So, I finished the quilt the same way I have done all the other ones by just tying all the pieces together with string. This also is a time consuming process especially on a quilt this large.

I'm happy with how it turned out (mistakes and all) and I like the nice touch it adds to the bedroom with the decorations I already have there.

Laughter

2010-10-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

So this weekend we went to Springfield, MO because we had tickets to go to a comedy show called Stand Up 4 Marriage. The show didn't start until 7:00 but we decided to go up a little early and just mess around. Springfield has a wonderful store called Mardels which I love. Basically it's like a discounted Christian book store. If you know me at all you know I love to read and I love getting books even more but hate paying full price for them. So, we went there for a little bit and I got some good deals.

After this we went to Bass Pro. Apparently Bass Pro's home office is in Springfield and this was the first time I had been to this particular store (I had been to the one in Branson once). I must say I was somewhat amazed at just the shear size of this store. Unfortunately for me there were not very many things in that store that interested me or that I would buy. Josh however liked this store more than me (however I think he still prefers Cabellas over Bass Pro).

We had a little time after this and before the show started so we got something to eat and then walked around a park some. It was a nice park and had a ton of squirrells that we enjoyed watching. Springfield is a college town (Missouri State Univ.) and overall I would say that I would not want to live in that town. It kind of looked run down (at least the parts we were in).

As I mentioned before the show didn't start to 7:00 pm but we got to the building about 6:30. We got a message that they weren't going to open the doors and let you sit down until 6:50 so there were a ton of people crammed into the hallways. It was a little crazy. Unfortunately our seats were about smack dab in the middle of a row (of 60 seats) so that was a bit of a pain to have to walk over so many people just to get to our seat.

One nice surprise (and maybe why the doors opened so late) was that there was a rose glued under the seat of every-other chair so that the husbands could give it to their wives. It was a nice surprise.

The first act was Yakov Smirnoff who also has his own theater in Branson. He was very funny and actually is the one who organized this whole night. He shared with the audience that he is very passionate about saving marriages because he actually had a marriage that failed. I thought that he did a really good job and I love the cause he is working for.

Mark Gungor was the second act of the night. He was funny but for me personally he didn't say very many things that I hadn't already heard before in school before. The third person to speak was good also but not quite as funny. His name is John Gray and he is the person who wrote the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus." His act went way over his allowed time but that was okay. The last comedian was Chonda Pierce. I love Chonda Pierce and this was my first time of seeing her in person. She was really funny and one thing I like about her is that she tells it like it is. At the very end we were in line to get a copy of the show on DVD and she walked right in front of me, not more than 2 feet away. That was neat too!

This night was really fun. I got to see Josh laugh harder than I've ever seen before. There is just something special about laughter and getting to experience it with someone you love. I think laughing together could help many couples feel closer to each other.

Sunday we had to make pumpkin cookies (wonderful recipe from my sister-in-law) to take to Community Group. Josh and I went to town and ate out and then went to a corn maze. I've been wanting to go to a corn maze for awhile but this is the first time it actually worked out. I must say I was a little disappointed because it was way too easy to find your way in the maze. Josh had a good point in that kids are going to be running around the maze and they can't make it too hard because of that. I kind of wish I had thought of that before we went. Oh well, you can't win them all.

After that we went to Bella Vista and walked around a lovely walking trail. I wish we lived a little closer to such a trail because it sure does beat walking around the same .21 mile track over and over again.

We then went to church followed by community group. I'm sure glad that God connected us to this group of people. I love getting together with them and fellowshipping with them. I look forward to growing in these friendships and creating more.

All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm so thankful for the time and memories created...

Camping Trip

2010-10-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

For awhile now I've had the camping bug which if you knew me several years ago you would be surprised about. However, since I met Josh I have started to enjoy camping more as long as I don't run into snakes or many bugs. So, this weekend with the cooler weather Josh and I decided to go camping. We went to a national park named, Shores Lake. This is the place that we went last December when we went camping.

We left Huntsville Friday afternoon and it was about an hour to Shores Lake. The timing of this trip was actually good because this past weekend in NW Arkansas was a festival called bikes, blues and BBQ. This meant that thousands and thousands (more than I've ever seen before at one time) were driving all of NW Arkansas. I don't have anything against bike riders but it does present a bigger driving hazard for regular vehicles at times.

We got to the camping area and were somewhat surprised at how many people were already there setting up camp. We found a site that was pretty good and not directly by a bunch of other campers. It turns out that this weekend was the start of bow season for deer hunting which accounted for some of the campers there. Josh and I then cooked hot dogs over the fire and had smores for dessert. It was yummy.

On Saturday we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and onions and bacon. It was sooo good. We then attempted to go hiking on a trail at this park but a little ways into the trail you could tell that it had not been kept up and was completely over-grown. So Josh started walking across a creek and through woods that did not have a clear trail. This kind of hiking (without a clear, cut trail) makes me nervous but not because I think Josh will get us lost. Rather I get nervous because of my really big fear of anything other than cats. To me it just seems like you are more likely to run into animals I don't want to see if you walk where there is no trail. However, we made it safely on our little trek and made it back to camp. I was surprised because Josh bought me new hiking boots (my last pair my parents bought when I was 13) and they really were water proof. I walked through the creek and my feet didn't get wet. It was nice!

Later that day we decided to go to White Rock (another national park) and hike there since we were so disappointed with the trail at Shores Lake. This park we also visited in December and it has beautiful views. Unfortunately when we got there we soon realized that this park too had trails that were overgrown. I guess the government funding for keeping up federal parks has been cut or something. It's a shame...

When we got back to camp it turns out that even more people wanted to camp and we had two groups of people that were camping directly on either side of us. For supper we had hamburgers and baked potatoes cooked in the camp fire. They were the best potatoes I've ever eaten and if you know me you know I love potatoes and have eaten tons of them.

Unfortunately one set of our new neighbors were very loud and did not follow the posted rules that said you were supposed to be quiet between the house of 10 pm to 6 am. It was getting close to 1 am before they quieted down. I was really tired before 1 am and not able to sleep and after 1 am.

Sunday we got up (even though it was so cold I didn't want to get out of the sleeping bag) ate breakfast, relaxed a little and packed up and headed home. It was a good camping trip and I was so glad that I got to spend more time with Josh. I love sitting by a camp fire and eating "camping" food.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

View at White Rock

Another view at White Rock

The leaves have just started to change and that made me happy. I love Fall and the changing of the leaves. I can't wait to see more in the next few weeks.

This is a pretty butterfly we saw on one of our hikes.

Another pretty tree at White Rock.

Josh made some pine needle tea which he said wasn't as strong as some he has made in the past. I tasted a small sip and it wasn't that bad but I don't know that I would drink a bunch all at once.

Our tent

My wonderful husband and best friend. There is no one I'd rather go camping with.

Indiana

2010-09-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September through Labor Day Josh and I traveled to Indiana. I had been looking forward to this trip for awhile. This was the first time Josh had gotten to see where I grew up and he actually met my brother Ben for the first time.

On the way to Indiana we drove through St. Louis. It had been many years since I had been to downtown St. Louis.

When we were kids my parents took us to St. Louis a few times. One time we rode up into the top of the arch which was fun. There used to be a McDonalds that was right beside the arch that was a riverboat that we also ate at a few times. I just remember being excited about eating on the riverboat. Unfortunately the McDonalds is no longer there...

The drive up to Indiana was very rainy but other than that somewhat uneventful. On Thursday of our vacation I took Josh around and showed him all around town and different places that had certain memories for me. Thursday night we ate at one of my favorite restaurants called the Boat House. It is a great restaurant that sits right on Winona Lake. They have the best potato soup there...

On Friday Josh and I drove to Shipshewana which is an amish community that is very much geared towards tourists. It has a ton of various shops that you can visit and has the largest flea market in the Midwest (unfortunately the flea market was not open when we went). One reason I wanted to visit this place is because of the amazing food here of which we ate a lot... :-)

My birthday was in the middle of August and Josh still hadn't gotten me a present so I got to pick out my present. I found a lady at Shipshewana that painted beautiful pictures on slate. Here is what I got:

I just thought that this was a very pretty picture. I had her personalize it by putting Jeremiah 29:11 on it which is a verse that has always meant a lot to me. My plans for my life have not always been the same as Gods but even during the difficult times I can honestly say that his plans have been better. My God has definitely been faithful even in times when I have not. My original thought with this picture was that we could hang it outside once we get the landscaping done at the house. However, I kind of think its too pretty to put outside where I can't look at it all the time. So, I guess we'll see where it ends up. I absolutely love it though!!!

On Saturday we went to the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Indiana. It was nice to be back there because I used to work there and spent a lot of time near Plymouth. While we were at the festival I actually saw a few people that I knew. The festival was huge and usually has hundreds of thousands of people that go through there. It was the first festival that Josh and I had gone to together and it was great. The thing I look forward to the most though is blueberry donuts. They are absolutely amazing. My wonderful husband stood in line with me for 30 minutes (totally worth the wait) just so I could get some. I also enjoyed some yummy blueberry ice cream, a funnel cake and port-a-pit chicken. Josh had never had Port-a-pit so I got to show him how yummy those are too.

On Sunday we went to Grace Community Church in Goshen which is the church I used to go to when I lived in Indiana. I love this church and the sermon was great. It was one of those step on your toes kind of sermons that if you let it could change the way you live your life. This is one thing I loved about this church. I would go and every week there was a message that was challenging and convicting. It was awesome!

Towards the end of this trip I started to feel a little sad because my parents are moving to Arkansas (which is great) but that means that potentially this trip could have been my last trip to the home that I grew up in and the town that I spent the first 27 years of my life. It's difficult for me because at least in Indiana I'm known by so many different people and have acquaintances and friends that I've known for years. In Arkansas I still feel like I don't have many friends and it's just not the same.

Here is a picture of my backyard at my parent's house:

I'm a very sentimental person which makes this a little harder. I was standing with Josh looking at the back yard and pointed out that this backyard looks so much nicer and more inviting to me than the backyards I'm used to seeing lately. To me it seems that most yards in neighborhoods seem to have wooden, privacy fences and it just makes the yard seem less inviting to me. My parent's backyard is pretty private but just doesn't have the fences.

Another thing that Josh and I noticed about this trip was just the massive amounts of good food we ate. To me the best thing about a vacation is getting to enjoy food that you don't normally get. The weight I gained on this trip was totally worth it. I just gotta work on staying on a diet now... :-)

I loved my trip to Indiana and I'm glad that I got to share it with Josh.

New Bedroom

2010-08-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

This post has been a long time in the making. My bedroom is finally done enough to at least post pictures. As many of you know Josh's house was basically a blank slate when I got here with absolutely nothing done to any of the walls and nothing hanging on the walls. I have always wanted to decorate my own house and Josh's house represented my first real opportunity to do so. We have been working slowly through the house one room at a time and the bedroom is mostly done. Here are a few pictures:

This picture shows the new bed we just got (I love all of my new bedroom furniture) along with the walls (and Oscar). It is hard to tell (with the lighting in the room) but the wall with the pictures on it is painted a light brown color and the wall with the window is painted a slightly darker shade of brown. The opposite walls from these ones are painted the same shade. My favorite color is green but Josh was not in favor of an entire room painted green so I added a green stripe and will accent with green. Here are more pictures:

This is mostly a picture of Josh's dresser (sorry for the kitty butt -- he didn't want to move). When we got married Josh had no dresser. In fact most of the time he just would throw his clothes in these plastic tubs (unfolded of course). So, I'm really glad that Josh finally has a dresser and a nice place to put his clothes.

This is a picture of my dresser. The bed also has four drawers on it so we officially have plenty of storage and more drawers than we know what to do with (a good problem to have).

This picture shows just the top of the night stands we have. The bed we got is actually very tall and these nightstands are nice because they are equally tall. So, we don't have to reach way down to put things on the night stands...

Actually getting the bedroom furniture was quiet the ordeal. I never would have thought it would be so hard. At the store there were just a ton of options and then you factor in the prices and my goodness you can spend a lot of money quickly at those stores. At the time we purchased it they said it would be delivered in 7-10 days. So, getting close to the 10 day mark I called and they said that some of the items were not available but that they would come in the following Monday and I scheduled the deliver for the next Tuesday. This was my first disappointment because I was really looking forward to getting my new furniture and didn't want to wait any longer. Well, when Tuesday came they called to say my furniture was still not in and it would be the following Monday before they could get it in. I was irritated at this point because they had said it would be in 7-10 days and at this point it was going on three weeks. The other irritating thing was that I had rearranged my schedule to make sure I had the day off work so they could deliver my furniture. To make a long story short the following week came and they made a partial delivery of the bed and one dresser. This also irritated me though because it meant one more day of trying to accommodate and coordinate my schedule so they could deliver my furniture that they kept promising me. Finally last Monday all of the rest of the furniture was delivered. The unfortunate thing was that the dresser they delivered had three spots where the finish on the wood had been rubbed off. This was of course the icing on the cake. At that point I was done dealing with these people. I just wanted them to leave the furniture and I told them I would never shop at their store again. I paid a lot of money to have new furniture delivered when they said it would be delivered and it just didn't happen. If you live in NW Arkansas then I do not recommend shopping at Furniture Row... Okay, that is the story and I'm done venting. I am very happy and thankful to have my new furniture (I've never had such nice, matching furniture) but I just wish the whole process had been a little easier.

As far as the rest of the decorations, there will be a quilt on the bed eventually. It's only about 80% completed but I'm hoping to make some real progress on that this week (Josh is gone the entire week). There will probably be some green curtains of some sort and I'm thinking about getting some dark brown, vinyl lettering to put on the wall but need to figure out what I want it to say first. After I get this done then I believe the room will be complete.

Good Bye 20s

2010-08-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today is officially my last day as a 20 something. Tomorrow I will turn 30. For some reason that number feels big to me. I know logically that I won't feel or be any different tomorrow than I am today but it still just seems big.

I remember one year walking on a school side walk with my mom going to some pre-school year function and talking with her about how I thought being 12 was old. I think she told me I wasn't and the conversation ended. So now, here we are 18 years later...

I really loved being a kid. I remember running around and playing imaginary games like cops and robbers with my brothers (when we were getting along), being in elementary school and having friends and people to play with, being involved in sports, music stuff, plays, etc and all the memories those events create. I loved being a kid. I didn't have to many cares or responsibilities at that time.

As I got older life definitely got tougher in just about all areas of my life but even so I still had parents and friends who loved me and helped me get through those times.

My 20s has really had a lot of ups and downs. I officially moved out of my parents' house when I was 20 (after 1 year at college). I learned how to become an adult and all the responsibilities that being one entails. I went to school, picked a career, finished school, moved to Arkansas, started my career and got married all in my 20s. Life did not always go the way I wanted it to or planned it to in the past 10 years but looking back I can honestly say God used those times in my life to draw me closer to Him. He has taken care of me in so many amazing ways even in the times when it felt like I had no one who really understood. He has provided all that I needed (and sometimes even more) at just the right times.

I think one reason it just seems a little hard to say good bye to my 20s is because there has just been so much that has happened in my 20s. I am not the same person today that I was on my 20th birthday (thanks to God's strength and grace).

My friend Marti told me a few times something to the effect that your 20s are filled with so much work and struggle but that your 30s are when you get to enjoy the fruit of all the work/struggle you did in your 20s. I'm not sure what the next 10 years has in store for me. I guess with God's help I'll take it one day at a time and see what happens. Today though seems a little bittersweet to me.

Northwest Counseling, Inc.

2010-08-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time here at the office and since we recently moved to a new location/office I thought I would show off my new office a little. I think it has turned out pretty nice. It still needs a few minor things done (like curtains) but I still think it looks pretty good. Here is the lobby of my new office:

Here is one side of my office:

and the other side of my office:

I'm not a big fan of the love seat in my office but hopefully that will be changed soon. The sister of one of my coworkers is making some green curtains for my window so that will be a nice added touch to my office. I have to say I really like my office. I've never had chance to decorate my own office before so this was fun!

Here is the playroom where we do therapy with kids:

and the other side:

The playroom is not really complete yet. I would like to see some more kid-friendly chairs and more color in the room but it is a work in progress.

There are a few kinks we still need to work out like the door in my office doesn't shut nicely so it sounds like you are slamming it just to get it to shut. I used my office for the first time yesterday and had a hard time opening the door when the session was done. LOL

I really enjoy my job and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to work in a private practice (a lot less stress than community mental health) and it's a blessing to work again at a Christian company. I would highly recommend Northwest Counseling, Inc. to anyone needing counseling and I'm not just saying that because I work here. I think the other counselors here do a great job working with people.

Fun Weekend

2010-08-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Josh and I have been very busy lately and just felt like we needed to relax some. So, we decided to go to Petit Jean State Park again. This is the place that Josh and I did most of our dating. It had been about 8 months though since we had been there. I love this place. It really is soooo beautiful.

It was a very hot, hot day so we didn't do very much outside (no hiking for sure). We did look at a few overlooks but pretty much stayed in the air conditioned car.

This picture was taken by Josh and it is a neat picture with a great background. We should have tried to take a picture together here...

After we drove around a bit we started to think about where we wanted to stay that night. Our original idea had been to just get a motel room somewhere (I had already checked the lodge and cabins at the park and they were full - which I wasn't surprised about because they fill out several months in advance usually). Josh suggested we try to see if there is any openings in the lodge or cabins because he didn't know I had already checked on that. So I went ahead and checked just in case. Much to our surprise and happiness there was one cabin open for the night. The original cabin dwellers had left early (there loss was our gain in this case). So, we got to stay at a beautiful cabin that is located in just about the best place you could have a cabin. Here are some pictures of our cabin (with a great porch swing) and the view from our cabin:

View from outside our cabin by the porch swing:

View of the back of the cabin:

Sunset view from our cabin:

In the far left of the picture above you can see some giant rocks. Josh and I have sat on top of those rocks before and watched the sunset.

We ate supper at the Mathers Lodge (our first time eating here). Our table was right beside these huge windows with an amazing view. After we ordered our food I looked around at some other people's plates of food and the portions looked really big. Josh and I ordered a salad with our meal and you got to go to a salad bar and make your own. I was somewhat surprised and irritated that the vegetables (tomatoes, green peppers, green onions, okra) on their salad bar were not cut up very small. Sure I would like some green onion on my salad but not a whole one. The next disappointing thing was the actual food. I ordered a country fried steak, baked potatoe and house vegetable for the night. My country fried steak was very bland and really did not taste very good. My potatoe was good so I was happy about that. The house vegetable for the night (which I did not know when I ordered) was LIMA BEANS. Who has lima beans as the only vegetable they serve?? YUCK!! YUCK!! Josh had some fried catfish and he really was not impressed with his meal either. Josh had a good point about dinner. He said that there food really doesn't have to be that good because they really don't count on return customers very often which is probably true. They count on just getting a lot of different tourists in from all over the place. Despite the bad food I had a great view and wonderful company for my meal. :-)

I was really kind of sad to leave the cabin on Sunday morning. I think both Josh and I could have used another few days there to just relax and get away from everything. I think it would be amazing to have one of these cabins in the Fall when the weather is cooler and the leaves are changing. I'm looking forward to going back even if we don't get to stay at a cabin.

On Sunday we drove the long, round-about way home that included a few stops at the Buffalo National River to do some swimming. This was a fun experience and very interesting. At times it was somewhat challenging to swim against the current. I wish I would have thought to take some pictures because it really was a pretty river with beautiful scenery around it. Josh had some snorkling gear and so I had my first snorkling experience. It does take some getting used to.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I loved every minute of it!

Been Busy!

2010-07-16T15:42:00.001-07:00

This morning I had to get up really, really early in order to be in Bentonville, AR by 7:30 am (plus a stop to get Starbucks). On the drive there I was completely amazed at the beauty surrounding me. It had rained the previous night and there was a lot of fog in the valleys which just added to the normally beautiful scenery. As I was driving I looked to my right and there was a small rainbow. Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of it. The rainbow was in one of those valleys that had fog all around it. The sun rise this morning was beautiful. I love sunrises (although I rarely see one) and sun sets. The fields were painted in a beautiful golden light. On my car stereo there was a song about just how worthy God is of all of our praise and worship. It was just a neat moment for me, surrounded by God's beauty and listening to this song. I'm amazed because God continues to bless me with a wonderful life, family, a job, and the beauty of NW Arkansas. I have to admit I really love the part of Arkansas I live in now. I would be sad if I had to leave because it really is just soooo BEAUTIFUL! Okay, I know I used the word "beautiful" a lot in that paragraph but it was a very accurate description...

My work location will soon be moving to Bentonville, AR as my boss has signed a lease at a new location. This will be neat for me as it means that I get to pick out and decorate my own office for the first time in my career. The other places I have worked have already been decorated or had very minimal decorations. I really enjoy doing this type of thing. With the new building/lease my boss gets a cleaning lady to come in once a week and it sounds like I might get a free membership to a local gym. That will be nice if I have a gap between clients...

Life has been very busy lately. Josh's work has picked up quite a bit which is nice due to the money but not so nice because that means he is gone more. I'm not a big fan of Josh being away too much so it takes some getting used to. My parents were down here for about 10 days and that was nice. I hadn't gotten to see them since their quick trip for the wedding and it gave them a good chance to spend more time with Josh. There are some possibilities here that I have to admit I'm looking forward to if they work out. Josh's parents came down for a visit at the end of my parent's visiting. My good friend Marti and her parents came to visit the weekend after my parents left which was very nice. I sometimes really miss my life in Indiana so it was nice to catch up with Marti. Needless to say it just has been busy. This weekend we have plans to go to a pool party with our community group from church. I'm really looking forward to socializing with these people.

Blessings!

2010-06-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was one of the most busy, fun, craziest, but most productive weekends we have had in the past 3 months. It started on Friday when I got a call from the people who were supposed to clean our carpets. They informed me that they would not be moving practically any furniture in order to clean the carpets and that if we wanted the furniture moved we would have to do it prior to them coming. So, Josh and I emptied the entire house (at least where the carpets are) so that they could clean the carpets. It was practically like moving out of a house again and I'd have to say that I've done enough of that recently and don't want to do anymore. We really needed to have all of the carpets cleaned though because they really were a mess...

After we got this done, Josh and I had planned to go on a date night. It had been awhile since we just did something fun together. So, we headed to Springdale/Fayetteville and went out to eat at a restaurant called Noodles. It was obviously Italian food but I'd have to say we were not overly impressed. I did feel bad for our waitress though who seemed to be having a tough night. She was wearing a white dress shirt that was splattered with red dots... After dinner we went to a place called Locomotion which is a miniature golf place, arcade and go cart place. It was really fun. They had a really good mini golf course and it's always fun to do that with Josh. We also got a chance to play air hockey and I'd have to say that was fun too. I beat Josh on the first game we played but that was because he would accidentally get the air puck in his goal instead of mine... :-)

Saturday we got up early to get ready for the carpet cleaning guy and we were really impressed with how much better the carpets looked after this cleaning. There are still some stains on the carpet but they are much better than they used to be. Saturday afternoon we attempted to move a few items back into the house. Saturday night we went to church and then had community group. It has been really nice just to get to know people and get some connections. I really enjoy everyone in that group. After the lesson on Saturday we had a time of just socializing with them and I really enjoyed that. I feel like I have been missing that and it was just a blessing to have that experience.

Sunday we had a goal of getting the rest of the living room painted (we had one wall done from when we painted the kitchen). That was quiet the chore. The ceiling is 12 feet high which was a challenge. I'd have to say I'm not a fan of doing the edging work when the ceilings are that high. We ran out of paint at one point so I had to stop and drive the 25 miles to Fayetteville to get more paint. The good news is that it is finished and I am really glad about this. I like it a lot and think it makes the room look very different, more homey. Here are a few pictures before and after:

Here are the after shots:

Here is one picture with a little bit of furniture back in the room. I still have to put all the pictures back on the wall:

I am a blessed woman and so thankful to God for all the amazing things He has worked out in my life. I have an amazing husband who loves me and I love. There were many years that I really didn't think I would ever get married and I just feel so blessed that God put such an amazing, wonderful, perfect for me man in my life. I feel blessed that God knows what I need and provides it like being able to socialize with our community group and making some connections with others. I feel blessed that I have a house I can decorate any way I want to. This is something I have looked forward to doing for years. I just feel so blessed and thankful to God for what he has given to me. May I never take it for granted.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!

2010-04-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really fun day. It started off not so good due to our windows being open and our neighbor mowing his yard way too early in the morning. But my wonderful husband decided to take me out for breakfast which was a really nice treat. Josh has been cooped up in the house all week so he also wanted to get out and do something yesterday. Sometimes I feel like a dull person because I have a hard time coming up with stuff to do. So, our original plan was basically another road trip (just get in the car and drive). While running some errands in town first we remembered a couple things that we could do that we haven't done yet and a plan was formed.

Our first stop was at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue. This place is not very far from our house and prior to going there all I knew about it was that they had big cats there. This place was absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants to see big animals up close. All of the animals are in cages but the really neat thing is that you can get like 6 feet from the cages. I've been to a zoo before but in a zoo the big animals are always in these big glass exhibits so you can't get close to them. This place was so different. The other neat thing was that all of the animals here were rescued animals. I can't believe that sometimes private individuals try to raise/keep these wild animals. Here are some amazing pictures of the animals here:

Black Leopard

White Bengal Tiger named Zeus

This is another picture of Zeus. He was amazing and sooo big too. He didn't really cooperate so much with the picture taking but you should have seen his eyes...

African Lion named Willy. I could not believe how big he was and how close I got to get to him.

Willy again. He was amazing. At one point he rolled over, stretched and laid on his back. He's just a big, big, cat.

Harley is a black bear. Again, I was amazed at how close I was to a real, big bear.

There were a lot of tigers and I don't remember all of their names or how to tell them apart but the markings on them were beautiful.

Another tiger... One piece of advice that was given to us is that if the tiger raises it's tail you need to move quickly to the side instead of backing straight up. The reason for this is that some of the tigers like to spray and in fact, Josh's brother has been sprayed before when he came to this place. Luckily we didn't have any problems with that during our visit.

Another black leopard whose name I think was Vada. She was scratching her head on a post...

This was a caracal (I hadn't heard of them before) and boy do they have some crazy ears.

A leopard. His spots were sure pretty.

I was pretty blown away by this place and I'm looking forward to going back. When I go back I'll have to make sure it's closer to 5:00 pm which is supper time. At that time you are much more likely to see more cats and to hear them roar which I think would be neat. If you know me then you know that I love cats. I loved looking at the big cats and I'm even more thankful that God made little cats that I can pet and enjoy...

After this we went to War Eagle Mill which was also nice. It was a cute little place that has a really big craft fair in the fall which I will probably go back to. The craft fair supposedly has over 180,000 people come annually to it. This place also had a lot of ducks which Josh and I fed. The ducks made me a little nervous as one mean one kept hissing and they just didn't seem that friendly to me. They sure did look funny though. Here are a few pictures of the ducks and the mill:

Josh feeding a goose. This goose and his buddy were not nice in my opinion...

Crazy hairdo duck...

All the ducks looked so different.

Pretty duck...

The mill and the river beside it.

That's the end of my pictures and even though it seems like I posted a lot there are many I didn't. I had a wonderful day seeing new things and spending time with Josh.

Adventures of Josh and Jenny

2010-04-19T11:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my wonderful husband took me to Branson, MO for the day and I have to say I had a blast! The wonderful trip started with an amazing lunch at Fuddruckers. We were driving and happened to see a sign so we stopped. I have to say this was a wonderful surprise because we've been looking for one in NW Arkansas but haven't been able to find one. This place has absolutely amazing hamburgers. My husband successfully ate the 1 pound hamburger..... :-)

After lunch we went to Bass Pro shop. I had never been to one and my first impression was that wow, the parking lot is huge and the parking lot was absolutely full!! This shop and parking lot though is apparently smaller than most Bass Pro Shops according to Josh. It had it's own restaurant though and boat dock. When you went into the store there was a neat display of stuffed wild animals, a waterfall and flying ducks. Most of the store contained things that I don't normally shop for but it was still neat. I ended up getting a new pair of hiking boots (my last pair my parents bought for me when I was 13).

Next on the agenda was going to play miniature golf. This is something I have looked forward to doing for awhile with Josh. We did this together the first time we met in person and it was really fun. The place we went this time was an inside place and didn't have a lot of variety on their holes but it was still fun to play with Josh. He beat me on both courses we played.

We were then going to go to this Amish store and look around but they were closed. That was a bit of a bummer because I was sort of looking forward to that. So, instead we continued to drive around and we happened to see this place were you could get a helicopter ride. When I was in 7th grade I made two silly life goals. One was to ride in a helicopter and the other was to ride a camel. Well, now I can say I've ridden a helicopter. It was a little expensive for what they said was a 7 minute ride (seemed much shorter) but it was still worth it. It was a very small helicopter and once we were up in the air I thought to myself, this was stupid because we didn't even ask the pilot how long he has been flying (he looked a little young to me). I also was a little nervous because the wind seemed a little strong at times especially when we were facing a certain direction and it seemed to cause the helicopter to jerk some. There was no door where the pilot was sitting and I was sitting behind him. Josh I don't think was nervous at all (I didn't really expect to be because usually I love wild rides and heights). Here are some pictures of our ride:

A picture of the control panel of the helicopter.

This is a picture of the helicopter we rode in. If you look closely you will notice that the pilot is texting on his phone...

I had a wonderful day and fun time with my husband. I love Branson and fun touristy towns like that. It was nice that there wasn't a lot of traffic and the temperature was nice. I'm looking forward to going back sometime with Josh... :-)

Painting Escapades

2010-04-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got around to painting the kitchen. The entire house will eventually be repainted but we are doing one room at a time. We have already painted the master bathroom but unless you knew what the color was before you really wouldn't think it was much different. Once I get the decorating all done I'll let you see what the finished product is but that might take a little while.

I was nervous about picking paint colors out at the beginning of this project and when thinking about an entire house it seemed a little overwhelming. One color that I've always thought would look nice especially in a kitchen is yellow because it's so cheery. Well, during many of my conversations with Josh about decorating and painting he told me several times he HATES yellow. So that was a little bit of a bummer at the time. When I went to Lowe's to pick out the paint I decided to get a yellow color to see what his thoughts were on the color. It turns out that Josh didn't mind that color and says he doesn't consider that color a real yellow color. That made me happy and it turns out we both like the new color in the kitchen.

My wonderful husband helped me paint which was great because the kitchen was really not very fun to paint. There were too many small places and things that had to be taped off. Yesterday was frustrating because when we pulled the tape off in several spots the paint came with it or the varnish on the wood trim came up. That though will be a problem to fix on another day. For now I'm going to focus on the fact that I love the color. One wall in the living room got painted along with the kitchen as the living room will eventually be the same color. Here are some before and after pictures:

Before:

After:

The color of the ceiling is the same color the walls used to be so you can see the big difference. I think it brightens up the place a little...

I was a little bummed because one of my favorite pictures ever broke when I tried to put it back on the wall by the dining room table. Several years ago my mom and me went out and bought/put together the frame for this picture (poster) and I guess it had just had enough of being moved around and broke. I'm kinda bummed about that.

(A picture of a helper who was at times trying to help too much while we were painting).

Road Trip

2010-04-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

So Josh and I decided to get out of the house this past weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather. We decided to go to Mt. Magazine State Park and to check it out. We got there and unfortunately were somewhat disappointed because it really doesn't compare to Petit Jean State Park. So, after driving around the park for a little bit we decided to go on a road trip to the Kiamichi Mountains in Oklahoma and those were amazingly beautiful. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

This was a neat looking tree we found at the state park.

Pretty flowers - I love Spring.

Pretty mountains!!

We watched a beautiful sunset at an appropriately named spot (Sunset Point Vista). It was a beautiful sight to see. What was really crazy is we got there and waited for maybe 20 minutes while the sun was going down. Once the sun actually got to the horizon it was amazing how fast it actually disappeared. If you had turned around for just a couple minutes you would have missed it because it was so fast.

This is the view from an amazing picnic spot that we found. Unfortunately we were not hungry at the time we found this spot.

Pretty flowers that my husband picked for me. He sure is a sweet guy! I'm a blessed girl to have him as my husband.

This is me and my amazing husband at the beautiful picnic spot we found. I sure do love this guy. He said the most amazing thing to me at this spot that I will treasure forever.

Faith Sees the Savior

2010-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was doing a devotional today and the book I've been using is one of Max Lucado's devotionals. He is amazing with his words and the pictures he paints with them. Below is an excerpt from the devotional that perfectly describes the struggle I've had at times with certain things and it describes what I've tried to write before in my blog. I just thought it was a great picture so now I will share it with you:

I stand a few feet from a mirror and see the face of a man who failed,... who failed his Maker. Again. I promised I wouldn't but I did. I was quiet when I should have been bold. I took a seat when I should have taken a stand.

If this were the first time, it would be different. But it isn't. How many times can one fall and expect to be caught?

Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure, a promise-breaker. But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face...

Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior.
Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees his blood.

(From the book When God Whispers Your Name)

Thank you God for the grace, mercy and forgiveness you have shown me.

Faithfulness

2010-04-01T05:58:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I seem to be getting worse about updating my blog on a somewhat regular basis. Sorry! I've been married just over 1 month now and still sometimes have trouble believing that I'm actually married. I wouldn't change it for anything though. I love Josh and I'm so thankful that God blessed me with him in my life.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about faithfulness. I'm amazed at God's faithfulness and sometimes my lack of faithfulness. I am not proud of this because it's not really what I want but there are days that I get busy doing other things and I don't talk to God the entire day (let alone spend time in His Word). I'll tell you I really can feel a difference on those days like I'm really missing something. Sometimes I get frustrated because I really do want a daily, personal relationship with God (I need it in my life) but I sometimes let other things get in the way. The thing that really amazes me though is that each time I finally start to include God in my life He is right there waiting on me. He never gives up on me and says, "I'm tired of her not consistently putting me first in her life." He is always right there to pick up our relationship right where I left it. On a human level, if I had a friend or family member treat me this way I don't think I would like it. I am so, so, so thankful for God's faithfulness. Honestly if I could have one goal for this year it would be that at the end of it I could say that I was more consistently faithful to God.

God has been taking care of me in so many ways and that is also something that amazes me because I really don't feel like I deserve it (mostly due to my lack of faithfulness at times). The week prior to getting married I had talked to a local community mental health center in the area and they basically said, call us back after the honeymoon and we have a job for you. So, after the honeymoon I called and to my surprise the lady I had talked to had been laid off and they were no longer hiring for the position I applied for. Okay, to me that really seems like God closing that door. Then I contacted this Christian counseling company in NW Arkansas and the owner basically says that he doesn't actually have any openings but he might in the near future. So, I go and talk to him and he actually hires me that day. I think this is neat because Christian counseling is always an area that I have wanted to be in. I thank God for opening this door for me. It's also a little intimidating because it is so different from what I've been doing for the last 3 years. I think it will be a good opportunity for God to use me and to teach me how to do Christian counseling. I feel a little out of my element so again that means I'll have to rely more on God to help me than on my own abilities (which is a good thing anyway). It's been a slow start with this counseling though because I only work when I have clients and so far I haven't had any. I know that God will provide though and I've decided to also look for another part time job to help with the income situation. Based on how God has worked in my life in the past I am confident that He will open up a job situation that He wants me to be in. He is faithful to always take care of me.

I'm thankful for God's faithfulness to always bring Spring and the changing of the seasons. My favorite seasons are Spring (because I love the flowers) and Fall (because I love the changing of the leaves). I'm excited to think about what this Spring might hold for me and the fun times I will get to have with my husband. This picture was taken from a park we took a walk in. One thing that will be happening this Spring is that the inside of my house will be painted (I know that sounds like a lot of fun -- the painting part more so than the preparing to paint part). I'll keep you posted on that. :-)

I'm Married!!

2010-03-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

February 27, 2010 was an important day for me. It was the day that I pledged to love, honor and cherish the man that I love till death parts us. Most little girls dream about their wedding and what it will be like. I remember doing that as a little girl also. As the years go on though that dream changes. My wedding day was amazing and I'm very happy with it. However, the biggest part that I'm happy about was that at the end of the day I was married to the man I love. I have in my mind and in pictures a day that I will never forget. More than this day though, I'm looking forward to what life will be like to share it with Josh. I'm sure there will be ups and downs in life but I'm comforted in the fact that I have a God who promises to never leave me and a man that is my teammate, biggest supporter, encourager and helpmate. Josh loves me for who I am and that is amazing. I'm so astonished that for some reason God chose to bless me with Josh. I'm looking forward to 50+ years from now when we can sit on a porch somewhere and talk about the memories we have of a life shared together. I'm so looking forward to sharing my life with my best friend. I love my husband and thank God for him everyday. Here are a few pictures of my wedding day:

Reasons for Joy

2010-02-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Are you so focused on what you don't have that you are blind to what you do? You have a ticket to heaven no thief can take, an eternal home no divorce can break. Every sin of your life has been cast to the sea. Every mistake you've made is nailed to the tree. You're blood-bought and heaven-made. A child of God--forever saved. So be greatful, joyful--for isn't it true? What you don't have is much less than what you do ~ by Max Lucado. Thank you God for what I do have!!!

Grace and Mercy

2010-02-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

I would be the first to tell you that I don't understand God's grace and mercy. I don't understand how or why he continues to love, he continues to want relationships with people who continually do things that hurt him. My brain for some reason cannot wrap itself around this concept. If I were God, the creator of the universe,
and someone had already had about 10 chances to turn things around or change things then after about the 11th or 12th time I would be like "enough is enough." In my pea-sized brain my concept of grace and mercy would be that I gave someone like 10 chances instead of zapping them the first time they did something wrong. Like I said I don't understand this concept from my human perspective but I'm extremely thankful for it. I need God's love, grace and mercy because without these things I am completely lost. The fact that God continues to show me grace and mercy (that I really, really don't deserve) proves how much he loves me. I wish everyone could understand how much God loves them and wants a relationship with them.

Psalm 139

2010-01-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

I love Psalm 139. It has been a favorite of mine for awhile. A friend of mine's pastor preached on this passage recently and he came up with a neat way to pray this passage:

God, You know what is going on.
God, You are here in my situation.
God, You have the power to handle this.
God, You will take care of me.
God, help me in my situation.
God, my heart is yours!

I want this to be how I pray...

Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

God's Amazing!!

2010-01-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed at how good God is. Over the last several months it has been very clear how God has been working in my life and in my relationship with Josh. Planning this wedding has been no different. It's amazing how many details God has worked out. When I first told people that I was getting married in two months, most reactions indicated that two months is a short time in order to get a wedding together. It's honestly been pretty okay though and I'm pretty sure I could have had it ready in about 4-5 weeks. The most stressful thing was setting the date and once that got set things have just seemed to fall into place.

There is no doubt in my mind that God's hand has been in the details of my life. Sometimes I wonder why God has been so good to me because I definitely don't deserve it. He has been faithful in times when I have not. He's been patiently waiting there in the moments when I have walked away. He has loved me unconditionally in the times when my actions aren't very loving towards Him. I would be the first to say I don't know why God has blessed me so much recently. I don't know why he blessed me with a future husband that is the perfect compliment to me, that loves me and loves God. I've had a job that has been a huge blessing to me (even on the stressful days). I've been blessed with parents that love me and would do anything for me.

If there is anything that could come out of all the ways God has been working in my life or all the details He has worked out I would hope it would be that others can see how good God really is. I could never have worked my life out by myself. At times in my life things have not gone how I wanted them to or planned them to and that was devastating in those moments. Despite this God was still there and He helped me through these times. If any of those things in my past were different than I might not be where or who I am today. If I had gone down a different path than I might not have Josh in my life. I'm thankful that God's plans for me are so much better than any I could ever come up with. No matter what the future holds, even if something does not go the way I want it to, I will choose to trust God because of all that he has brought me through. To God be the glory, honor and praise for anything good that comes from my life.

I'm Getting Married!!!!

2010-01-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

The biggest news in my life right now is that Josh and I are getting married. He asked me to marry him on New Years Day and I of course, said "YES!" So, we are getting married in about 2 months. I cannot wait! I know I've said this a million times and I'm sure that some people might get tired of hearing it but Josh really is an amazing guy. We are so perfect for each other in so many ways. It really seems like God picked him out for me because he knew exactly the type of guy that I needed to marry. There are so many times when God has seemed to support/encourage this relationship and I am so thankful that God put him in my life. I love Josh with all my heart.

I'm so excited about sharing the rest of my life with Josh. He is my best friend. I have learned a lot from Josh and he has inspired me to try to be a better person. Through loving Josh I have learned more about what it means to love God and to serve Him. Josh is my living, breathing, walking Ebenezer stone (symbol of God's faithfulness and what he has done in my life).

I'm not sure what the future holds for me and Josh but I do know that with God in our lives and in our relationship, I'm sure we can handle whatever comes. One of my many goals for the next two months is not to let the craziness of planning a wedding and moving my life to NW Arkansas crowd out the time I need to spend with God. I need/want God in my life and I know that I can't do this life on my own (on any good day let alone adding in all the craziness of the next two months). One of my many prayers is that God would teach me how to love more, trust him and now how to become a good wife.

4 Amazing Days

2009-12-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

I got to spend 4 amazing days with Josh this past weekend. We decided to go camping for the first few days. I never thought that I would be camping a few days before Christmas but I did it and it was fun. It really wasn't too cold. At night we had an electric heater that helped take the edge off how cold it was. On Sunday we went to a park (whose name I forget) and walked around a mountain. It was pretty. Here are a few pictures:

I think it would be neat to come back and see this park when there are leaves on the trees and especially during the Fall season.

I loved getting to spend so much time with Josh and I can't wait until I get to spend more time with him. Again, I am so very blessed that he is part of my life now. This Christmas season I have so much to be thankful for!

Friday Funnies

2009-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

I love to laugh and think that laughter is one of God's gifts to people. It's a great stress reliever and just makes you feel better. Enjoy!!

Mute Monks

2009-12-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

Very creative rendition of the Hallelujah chorus. This Christmas season seems a little bit more busy than previous ones and I've had a hard time trying to figure out what to get everyone for Christmas. Despite all the craziness of this season I don't want to forget what the real meaning of Christmas is. I don't want to forget that this is a time to celebrate Jesus, the hope of the world's birth. Without him we would all be lost. He is the true source of all Joy, Peace and Love. What an incredible gift God gave us with his son.

I've had another wonderful gift this season and that is getting to spend time with an amazing man and to make it even better this amazing man cares about me (quirks and all). :-) He puts a smile on my face and makes me really happy just because he is who he is. I love him just the way he is and I wouldn't change anything about him. He is God's gift to me this Christmas season.

Northwest Arkansas

2009-11-29T11:02:00.001-08:00

This weekend I made my way to Northwest Arkansas (Springdale, Fayetteville area) with my parents. On the way we stopped in Little Rock at Mardel (love that bookstore) to look at some books and then went on to Petit Jean State park so that I could show my parents where I have been spending a lot of time. It was again beautiful (as it always is). I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing it. I must admit though that this week when I went it looked a lot different because the trees don't have any leaves on them. Here are yet again, a few more pictures from the park.

I like it when the camera focus on something close but then you can also see something beautiful in the background.

I love the blue sky in this picture...

I just love this view. It's amazing to me though how different it looks this time of year.

I took this picture because I absolutely love red and orange leaves. There aren't a lot of trees I've seen this year with these colors but I absolutely love them. I don't know much about science and I know there is probably some good technical explanation for this but I'm just amazed that God created a process whereby green leaves can change into such beautiful colors. I thank God a lot that he allows me to enjoy looking at beautiful things he has created.

What is wrong with this picture? We were coming back from the Cedar Creek Falls and my dad immediately noticed that we had a very flat tire. This nice guy came along though and helped my dad by letting him borrow his heavy duty jack and then basically changing the tire for us. I know about the concept of changing a car tire but have never done so. I actually learned two important things from this: 1) You should put the emergency break on the car before starting to jack the car up. 2) You should loosen the lug nuts some before jacking the car up. Both of these things seem like good things to know that I didn't know before. :-) I am thankful that this guy came to help us as I'm 100% sure that this process went a lot smoother than it would have if he hadn't helped. I'm also thankful that I have roadside assistance and can call them if this ever happens to me so that I don't have to try to do this by myself.

My parents wanted to visit Bentonville which is where Walmart started. So, this is a picture of the first store that is now a museum. It was a little bit more interesting than I thought it would be. The thing I was most struck by is how down-to-earth Sam Walton was. This guy was filthy rich but it didn't seem to get to his head.

Today at church there was a good sermon on anxiety/stress and what you and God can do about it. There is a passage in Philippians 4 that addresses this issue. Sometimes I get stressed out when I think about all I have to do or the responsibilities I feel like I have and I think at those times it's when I forget that I don't have to do life on my own. I have God and I know that my God is big enough to handle whatever stressors I have in my life. I just need to let Him have those situations instead of trying to handle everything on my own. Another point that is in this passage that I actually mentioned on my last post is to give thanks to God in everything. I might not like what is going on or I might be in the midst of a terribly trying time but there are still things to be thankful for in those moments. Above all I can be thankful that I don't have to go through those times by myself. I have a God who loves me and will hold my hand through anything. I love that this passage says that if we give our worries to God the result is that we will have peace. Isn't that what we all want anyway? It makes me wonder though why sometimes I fight so hard to hold on to these stressors/worries instead of giving them to God in the first place. I believe in Jeremiah 29:11 that says God has a plan for my life and I trust His plan even if it doesn't match my plan. We sang this song in church today and it has been playing over and over in my head:

You are my strength when I am weak

You are the treasure that I seek

You are my all in all

Seeking You as a precious jewel

Lord, to give up I'd be a fool

You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God

Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God

Worthy is Your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame

Rising up again I bless Your name

You are my all in all

When I fall down You pick me up

When I am dry You fill my cup

You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God

Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God

Worthy is Your name

This song is so true...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for so many things this year. Most of all I'm thankful for God and what he has done for me and in my life. He is the ultimate source of love, joy, peace and hope. I'm thankful as I've said before that He loves me and persues a relationship with me (even though He knows me completely, He still thinks I'm worth having a relationship with). God is amanzing! I'm thankful for the Bible and the fact that I can read it whenever I want to and I can learn more about God. I love the Bible! I'm very thankful for other people who study the Bible and then write books to help me learn and understand different things about the Bible.

I'm thankful for so many other things. I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful that my mom has so wonderfully come to visit me and helped with the cooking and cleaning. It's been wonderful to get a little break from that. As I mentioned in my last post I'm very thankful for Josh and the impact he has had on my life. I thank God everyday for him. I'm extremely thankful for the days that I get to spend time with him and I'm thankful for cell phones for the days in between.

I'm very thankful for my job. I don't think community mental health is a job I want to do forever and it can be very stressful at times but I think I currently work for a great company and have a good boss. That helps a lot with making my job bearable. I also am thankful for a great work schedule. Most days I don't have to be there until 9:00 and I usually leave any time between 5:00 and 5:30 plus I usually get an hour lunch. I also don't have to take my work home to finish it. This is a lot different than how things were in my last two jobs. I again am very thankful for my job.

I've been blessed with an apartment to live in, food to eat (plenty of it) and financial security at this point in my life. God has been good to me more than I deserve.

I'm thankful for beautiful weather and blue sky days. Lately, I've gotten to see some beautiful things that are part of God's creation and I am very thankful for that. I am thankful for my health and ability to exercise (if I ever chose to) :-). I'm thankful for my cats which might sound weird but they have been faithful companions especially over the last 1.5 years. They greet me at the door each night and are happy to see me. I'm glad I don't have to come home to an empty apartment.

There are so many other things that I could list here. In grad school I once had an assignment from a professor where we had to write down 10 things each week throughout the semester that we were thankful for and we couldn't repeat any. It was a good assignment (I'll admit that sometimes I thought it was somewhat challenging to think of new things) because it helped me to redirect my attention and to stop and notice some of the good things that I have in my life. I think sometimes everyone (including me) can get stuck in a rut and tends to dwell on the negative things going on in the world or their life and that in turns tends to reinforce the negative feelings people have. I would say I'm usually pretty thankful for the things I've been blessed with but I could work some at focusing more attention on these things and thanking God for them. I don't want to take things for granted ever. I completely understand that not everyone has the same blessings in life that I do and I completely understand that these blessings could be taken away at any time. If that were to happen you know what, it would be okay. The one thing that can never be taken away is God and His love for me and through whatever comes in my future I will chose to trust Him and cling to His love. He is what I need more than anything else from my list. I chose to be thankful for what I've been blessed with.

Happiness

2009-11-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

I love it when I think about something and whatever I'm thinking about causes me to smile or laugh. I've been doing that a lot lately. I'm happier and more content now than I have been in a long time (if ever). I know I say this a lot but I'm amazed at how God has taken care of me and worked throughout my life. He has brought me so far on this journey called life. I am so thankful that He didn't leave me where I was.

I'm thankful for Josh. He is an amazing person who I can't imagine not having in my life. He is the source of most of my smiles lately. :-) I find myself thinking about something he said or something he did and it will just cause me to smile. One of the funny things that I've thought about recently that makes me smile (because I like them) are the noises he makes when he is telling a story to help illustrate the story. I think I'm more self-conscious about making noise illustrations like that because what if the noise I make sounds nothing like what the noise really is. It's kind of like singing in front of people. I know this makes me sound weird. I love to listen to the stories he tells. I love how considerate he is towards me and what I want. I have found someone who I absolutely love to spend time with. Tonight, after work, I was walking to my car and I thought to myself how much I would love it if Josh were there and I got to walk with him or spend time with him. Again, this thought made me smile. I love how different we are but so alike on certain things. I love all the little bits of random trivia that he knows. I love the way his brain works. Most times he can't see me when he is telling me this trivia but it usually puts a smile on my face when he says it because I'm just amazed. He's got a great sense of humor and I love his laugh. I love it when he holds my hand or puts his arm around me. I love his heart for God and how he wants to live his life in a way that would honor God. I admire Josh for so many reasons. I've really missed Josh these past two weeks (has it only been two weeks it seems like at least a month). He surprised me by calling tonight (I wasn't expecting him to call until tomorrow) which makes me happy. I can't wait until the next time I get to spend time with Josh. As I said before he is amazing! :-) Josh is definitely a blessing to me in so many ways. I'm so thankful that God allowed us to meet.

Good Day in Arkansas...

2009-11-14T17:11:00.000-08:00

I have done a lot of traveling in the last 7 days and today was no different. It started with me and my mom driving to Pine Bluff so that I could go to a eye doctor's appointment. This was my first visit with an eye doctor in Arkansas. It was quite the experience. After waiting 45 minutes to get in to see the doctor, he didn't spend as much time examining my eyes as most eye doctors usually do. Then we head to this other room with a bunch of contact stuff (which is great because that's why I went to this appointment - - to get more contacts). He tells me that my eyes are not getting enough oxygen and that I need to do a few things about this. First, I need to not buy the cheap contact solution because I have such fair skin that most any chemical will just absorb into me and could cause problems for my eyes (I had no idea that my fair skin had anything to do with that). Then he said that I need to wear my contacts less (which I'm not a huge fan of this idea because I don't like wearing glasses). The last idea he said (which is about the craziest sounding thing I've heard lately) is that at least once a week I need to put my contacts in a small bowl of baking soda in order to get oil off them which will help get more oxygen to my eye. This doctor said a lot of things and at times he seemed to say contradictory things. At one point I kinda wished someone else were in the room with me so that they could hear what he was saying too. He said so much that I'm not even sure I remember it all... It ended with me saying that the new contacts he had me put in weren't working because things were blurry still. He told me that I should walk around the store for 15 minutes and he would check my eyes again. I walked around, he checked my eyes, I told him things were still blurry and he didn't change the prescription. I'm going to give these contacts a week and see how they turn out.

After this my mom and me were in a rush to Little Rock. The goal was to get there before the early bird sales got done. We went to JCPenney first and unfortunately only had about 20-25 minutes to shop before the big sale was over. I did manage to get a nice sweater so that made me happy.

At this point I was starving and my mom mentioned that she saw a certain, sit-down restaurant that she likes that has decent prices. Sounded good to me as I hadn't eaten in one of these restaurants in several years. All was good while we were looking at the menus and deciding what to eat. We ordered the food and then my mom went to the restroom. This left me by myself (which is not a huge deal in itself). The table behind me made a comment (I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but it was hard not to hear this) about a lizard on the wall. This of course caught my attention and I looked at the wall that was on the other side of this divider thing and sure enough there was a fairly large lizard on the wall (biggest one I've seen that was not in a zoo). My first thought was that is a poor choice of decorations to have in a restaurant. My second thought that I actually said out loud was, "It's real!!!" About that time my mom comes back and I immediately tell her that there is a lizard on the wall not more than 10 feet from us. The waitress was told about this in a timely fashion by the table behind me and then the manager. Next thing I know the manager is there saying out loud to a guy that the lizard has to go. He cannot stay (which is okay with me cause I didn't want him there). The guy worker says out loud that he knows these lizards are very fast and if he swats it to the floor that it will run fast. This immediately has me concerned because I don't want anything running towards me. After about a minute I've decided that maybe I don't want to sit here anymore and start scooting to the edge of my booth. Next thing I know there is a commotion and the guy has hit the lizard onto the floor. I immediately am thinking that this fast lizard is going to come get me now (and I start to panic a little). I could have sworn that someone said something about the guy beating the lizard with a broom to kill it (which is also not something I want to hear or see at a place where I'm going to be eating food). My mom said though that he was just standing on the broom to kill it. Either way at that point I had seen/heard enough and was literally getting ready to stand up and go somewhere else but the waitress brings the food at that exact moment. She makes a comment about not being able to handle lizards either and asks me if I was okay (which was nice of her). I did freak out a little but I'm just glad I didn't scream. Some might think this is extreme for just a lizard but I really don't like any kind of reptile, bug, amphibian or fish (if I have to touch it). I'm okay with being labeled a wimp.

After this we did manage to hit two more stores and I got some good deals on clothes. It was nice to go shopping with my mom as I haven't done this in a long time. We don't always like the same style of clothes but it's nice to have someones second opinion about how something looks sometimes.

On the way home I convinced my mom to drive some (as I was getting tired). We decided to stop at this little shopping village in Star City because I had decided to take my mom there to eat for her birthday. We went tonight just to see where it was, what was available and the hours of operation. It was a nice little shopping village. It really surprised me to find this type of a place in Star City. They had a bakery there and we picked up some goodies that I'm looking forward to eating. Plus we still get to go back and eat some yummy food next weekend for my mom's birthday.

All in all, it was a good day filled with some surprises. :-) I'm glad I got to spend the day with my mom.

Encouragement

2009-11-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day at a counseling conference. The keynote speaker today was amazing. He spent a lot of time talking about how important encouragement is. He also emphasized something that I'm passionate about and that is how much potential kids/teens have. I love seeing the good in kids and trying my best to encourage them to make good choices for themselves and their future. With several of the sessions today I was reminded of how much I love working with kids. I'm not sure what the future holds but no matter what job I'm doing professionally I really would like to get involved with reaching out to teens in some way (maybe mentoring). The title of this conference is "Facing the Giants" which is my absolute favorite movie partly because of the faith messages throughout it but also because of the impact adults had in the lives of the teens. I know that I would not be where I am today without my friend Marti coming along beside me and helping me get through my teenage years. I'm so thankful for her.

Encouragement is something I want to work on. I know that I respond better to encouragement rather than other forms of communication. At the end the keynote speaker told a touching story of how he took the advice of a 92 year old man and applied the golden rule to his relationship with his wife. The 92 year old man pointed out that if we all treated others the way we want to be treated then there would be a lot less divorce or other problems. This 92 year old man walked the talk. He spent 20 years taking care of his wife (by himself) who had Alzheimer's. It was just a really touching story...

I'm looking forward to the next 1.5 days of my conference!

Gifts

2009-11-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

This was taken from a scenic overlook at Petit Jean State Park. It was absolutely beautiful. This picture does not really do it justice.

These two pictures were taken at sunset and again the pictures don't completely capture what it really looked like. I love it when the sun casts a golden light on things.

I have really been blessed lately and I'm just amazed at it. God has allowed me to enjoy beautiful things lately like the sunset above, the changing leaves and shooting stars. I have been extremely blessed to have met someone who loves God, loves others, laughs a lot and has a kind heart. He makes me smile all the time and makes me happy. He truely is a gift from God. Again, I'm amazed at how God has blessed me. I truely don't deserve it.

I am blessed that I get to spend a few weeks with my mom, just the two of us. We have never spent so much time together by ourselves. My mom is an amazing mom. She has done so much for me. As we grew up she gave of herself unselfishly to take care of us. She attended all of my school functions, cleaned up after us and was the taxi cab driver all over town. Sometimes I'm amazed at how she managed to juggle it all. She did a lot for us without much gratitude at the time. I love my mom and think she's the best in the whole world. I thank God for her in my life.

I'm blessed to have God in my life. If I had nothing else except Him I would be good but for some reason He has given me so much more. God knows me completely, loves me and sent His only son to pay the price that I deserve to pay for my sins. There is no bigger blessing than that. I love God and I'm also thankful that I can have a relationship with Him. He is my hope and strength and source of peace and joy. I would be lost without Him.

Indescribable

2009-10-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin

From the highest of heights
to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings

All exclaiming Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

These are a few more picture from Petit Jean State Park. To see this park in person is much better than seeing it in pictures. The beauty of God's creation points to an amazing creator. As the song above says, He placed the stars in the sky and He knows them all by name. He sees the depth of my heart and yet He still loves me. The God of the universe loves me and you. There really is nothing else that compares to this.

I love Fall. It's actually my favorite of the four seasons. I have really had the chance this Fall to get out and enjoy the weather and the beauty of God's creation. I'm thankful that God gives us little moments or pieces of time that we can just enjoy beauty (a sunset, a flower, a smile, the changing of leaves, shooting stars, etc.), life and laughter. Sometimes I wonder if God's looking down from heaven and enjoying these little moments also.

God has really changed things in my life recently. Again, I'm struck by how awesome God's plans are for me compared to anything I could come up with on my own. He has provided something that I've spent years praying about. If you completely understood what I was talking about you would be just as amazed at God and how He works. No one knows the future but I can tell you by seeing my present situation and my past that there is a God who loves me and has taken care of me in so many ways. I don't deserve this love but I'm so thankful for it. To God be all the glory, honor and praise for anything good that comes out of my life.

What a Day!

2009-10-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started bright and early for me in Little Rock. I participated in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5K run. I've been training for this run for the past 9 weeks because I wanted to be able to jog most of this as opposed to walking my last one. I got to downtown Little Rock about 6:30 am and boy was in freezing! The next big thing that hit me was just how many thousands of people were at this event. I walked up to one long line at one point and asked someone what the line was for and she said, "yogurt." There were tons of vendors giving away free stuff and yogurt was one of them. I however was not going to stand in a very long line just for yogurt. I was actually one of the first people at the starting line. I wanted to do this because I wanted to be able to jog this race so I didn't want to be stuck behind people walking. However, by the time the race started it was crazy how many people were around me. It litterally was wall-to-wall people. If you were standing straight and leaned over just a little in any direction you would bump into someone else.

I thought the race went pretty good (especially for the first one I jogged). However I did have a wardrobe problem that caused problems throughout the race. I learned several weeks ago that when I am jogging I can't have anything in my pockets because the weight and bouncing tends to pull my pants down so I would constantly have to keep tugging at them to stay up. Well, yesterday I had taken off my sweatshirt before I started jogging and tied it around my waist. Unfortunately the weight of this heavy sweatshirt was having the same effect as if I had stuff in my pockets. It was kind of an annoying thing to have to deal with throughout the race but I managed (but might have looked a little funny doing it). :-) There were tons of people lining the race route and that was actually interesting. I've always thought I wouldn't want to exercise in front of too many people (and still don't really) but these people were cheering and encouraging everyone who jogged by them. It actually kind of helped in my opinion. It was neat!

I read on the Arkansas news station's website that there were 45,000 people who walked/jogged this race. That is a ton of people. Supposedly last year's Arkansas' race was the 4th largest in the entire world. I finished the race in 33 minutes and 50 seconds. That's not bad for my first time. I had to stop twice to tie my shoe, once to try to do something with my sweatshirt and pants and I walked 1-2 minutes up part of the third hill. I think I would do it again. It was a good experience and for a good cause.

After this I went pack to Petit Jean State Park and got to see some things that I didn't see the last time. Here are a few pictures:

This picture is from the Petit Jean overlook that is by her gravesite.

This is another one of the same place just a different spot.

This was taken at a different overlook and I just thought the rocks were neat.

This was a neat place that looks like a cave but really was more like a rock shelter. There are indian drawings on the wall but they were a little hard to identify.

This I believe is called "Davies Bridge." It was made by 15-20 men and is one of only 8 remaining masonry bridges in Arkansas (if I remember correctly what the sign said). It was pretty. I love the color of those stones.

This is a picture of Cedar Falls which is the tallest waterfall in Arkansas (see picture on previous post) from a different, much higher perspective.

This is part of a rock grouping called Bear Cave Trail. It was also pretty neat and had amazing views on top of some of the big rocks.

Here is one of those amazing views from the rocks. Can you imagine in a week or so when all the leaves are changing how incredible this view would be. I took a ton more photos and had a hard time picking which ones to put on here. I just really love this park and think that it should be something people take the time to see. It's amazing!

Me and my friend Josh posing for a picture. Again, can you imagine this picture in a week or so when more of the leaves have changed??? Amazing!

To end this eventful and fun day I got to sit and relax for awhile and watch the stars. In fact I saw two shooting stars and that was the first time I had even seen any shooting stars. It was also pretty neat. Unfortunately my day ended all too soon. I had a wonderful day, got to spend time with a great guy and I'm really thankful for it.

I'm amazed at the way God has taken care of me the last several months. I'm thankful that He put a person in my life when I needed someone. I'm thankful that I got to participate in a 5K (jogging no less). If anyone knows me they would know that prior to training for this, the most I had ever jogged was one mile and that was in PE class when I was a freshmen in high school!!! I'm thankful that God let's me enjoy the beauty of His creation. There really is nothing that compares to it. I'm thankful for the Bible and that I have it. I really do love that book. I'm most thankful that the God of the universe knows me completely and He still loves me. That kind of love is priceless. I would be lost without it. I have no idea what the future holds (good or bad) but I know someone who will be with me through it all and for that I am also extremely thankful.

Okay - I've gone on and on and this is a really long post. I'm done for now! :-)

Petit Jean State Park

2009-10-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I had a really fun day at Petit Jean State Park. Here are a few pictures from my trip:

This is a picture of the largest waterfall in Arkansas. It was very pretty...

This is a view from an overlook before we started the hike to the waterfall. The building behind this (that I didn't take a picture of) was very beautiful also. It was the kind of place you would love to just sit and enjoy for awhile.

This is a picture of a natural (I think but maybe not) stone bridge. It was pretty cool. This was towards the end of a 4.5 mile hike through the woods though so we didn't spend much time and I was kind of tired...

This is something called a grotto (might have spelled that wrong). It's kind of like half a cave with a pool of water in it.

As mentioned before, I had a really good time at this park. There was something called the Petit Jean overlook that was extremely beautiful. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car on that one. It definitely warranted some pictures though. Maybe on my next trip I'll get some photos of that spot. On our hikes we ran into a long green snake, an unidentifiable black snake and a tarantula. If you know me at all you would know that I'm petrified of snakes and really don't like spiders either. I'm also not what most people would call an outdoorsy type person but I honestly had more fun then I've had on any other outdoors adventure I've been on. It might have had something to do with the company I went with though... :-) My favorite part of the day was actually relaxing and looking at the stars at night. I love stars!

After getting back I was very sore. I actually cannot believe how many leg muscles you use when you walk through the woods as opposed to just walking normally. It made me smile though for the next few days because I was walking like an old woman. It wasn't so bad once I got going, but standing up and walking or going up/down a stair really hurt. It made me wonder if other people noticed me walking funny... LOL! :-)

Labor Day weekend

2009-09-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sam and Lisa got married this weekend so I went home. It was a very nice wedding and I really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures from this weekend:

This is a picture of my hair. My mom curled it for me and I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. With the help of a TON of hair spray it actually stayed fairly curly for most of the day.

A picture of the beautiful bride and groom.

This is a family photo with Lisa and Claire...

This picture was taken at the reception. The location was beautiful and this is my favorite photo of the scenery.

Okay, this is a picture of me all dressed up. If you look closely you can see the mirror to the right and the shoes I was wearing. Perhaps the miracle of the night was that I didn't trip and fall while wearing these shoes... :-)

On Sunday I got to go to Grace Community church. I love that church and every time I go I am challenged in some way. Sunday was no different. You can go to http://thebrownbytes.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to "Holy Hunger" to see the video that played during the service. It's worth it...

Then I got to visit my friend Marti. It has been one year since I had seen her and it was great to catch up with her. I miss her a lot...

The last thought of this blog is a statement that my friend Josh made the other day. We were talking on the phone and he mentioned that "God will never take you farther than your knees." What a true statement. Sometimes I get so caught up or overwhelmed with stuff going on in my life and in reality I just need to get on my knees and give it to God. This prayer issue was also emphasized on Sunday. Prayer is a powerful weapon that we have to fight Satan. We (I) need to be on my knees more praying for people I know, the Church, the lost people, etc. I can't remember if this was part of my conversation with Josh or church on Sunday (maybe both) but I want Satan to be scared when I get out of bed in the morning. If things in life are going well and/or we aren't struggling with sin/temptation then that might not be a good thing. If Satan isn't worried about you as a Christian what does that say about you? I want to have a passion for the lost, for prayer, for increasing my faith, love and trust in God. I want more of God. I want people to look at me and notice that there is something different in me. I want God's light to shine through me brighter than anything else in my life. This is my prayer.

5K

2009-08-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I participated in my first 5K. I have no real interest in walking/jogging for long periods of time because that's just not the type of exercise I enjoy. However, this was a good opportunity to interact with others at a time when I really needed some social interaction. So, when Karen (my boss who I did this with) first told me about it I thought that there would be a lot of people participating so it wouldn't be too hard to get lost in the crowd. It turns out that there were only 6 people participating in the 5K walk (there were more people who participated in the 5K run). I have never really enjoyed walking fast and if I have to I just think it's easier to jog than to walk fast for long periods of time. My goal going into this was to not be last as I thought that would be embarrassing. Unfortunately when there are only 6 people participating it is a lot easier to be last... Here is a picture taken by someone at the very beginning of the race. I am smiling in this picture because I can tell already that this was not going to go well.

Karen is walking right beside me. Beside her is a friend of Karen's but not someone we knew was walking this race. The person on the far end from me is Karen's sister-in-law (Leslie) and the lady in the blue shorts is her mom. Leslie has been walking with me and Karen to get ready for this. Prior to this race she already told us that she was going to be keeping up with her mom and that they are both fast walkers. So, we were prepared for Leslie and her mom to not stay with us (Karen and I are both somewhat slower walkers).

Again, I could tell right at the beginning that this wasn't going to go well and I was laughing (nervous laughter) because I could tell this. After a minute Karen's sister-in-law and mother were already way ahead of us. After a couple more minutes Karen's friend asked us if it was okay if she went on ahead... :-) There is a guy who was also walking this that brought his 3-4 year old daughter with him. He is not in this picture because his daughter started the race running so he jogged to keep up with her. After Karen's friend walked ahead of us it was just me and Karen at the end of the line. One of the funny things was that the ambulance was creeping behind us. Every once in awhile we could hear the driver push on the accelarator and it seemed like they were telling us to go faster. This made me laugh. At one point we were very far behind everyone else and Karen suggested we jog to keep up. My reply was to ask if that was cheating because we signed up to walk... In any event we ended up jogging to catch up more with the others. Once we started walking though the other walkers would pass us again. This happened a few times. To make this even more sad the guy who was walking with his daughter ended up carrying her on his shoulders most of the way and he was still faster than us... :-) When I was walking it felt like I was walking fast but I guess other people just walk faster. Another funny part was that since there were only 6 people participating we all got a medal. I actually got 2nd place in my age group. LOL Here is a picture at the finish line with all of the walker/joggers who participated. The picture isn't very clear but you get the idea. Notice the bright yellow tshirt that the guy is holding. That is the tshirt I got for participating. Unfortunately I'm not really into yellow tshirts... :-)

It was still a fun experience and I'm thinking about training for a half-marathon with Karen and Leslie. We'll see if that happens though... :-)

What to do, What to do...

2009-08-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those situations where you never been in that situation before and you don't know what to do? I've been in one of those situations for the past few weeks. It's a situation that I think most people would not want to admit that they don't know what to do so they keep quiet, which is exactly what I plan to do. In these situations though I am again completely reminded of how much I need God. He knows what this situation is and He knows that I need help. I'm so thankful that He doesn't get tired of hearing me say how much I need His help (cause I say it a lot). I think I've said this before but I just would be so, so, so lost without God in my life and it really makes me wonder how other people get by without God.

This song has been in my head the past few days and it won't come out:

Lord reign in me, Reign in your power, Over all my DREAMS, In my darkest hour, You are the Lord of ALL I am, So won't you reign in me again...

Over every THOUGHT, Over every WORD, May my life REFLECT the beauty of my Lord, 'Cause you mean MORE to me than any earthly thing, So won't you reign in me again....

In spite of the fact that I don't know what to do this has been my prayer. I want God to be God over all my dreams, over all my thoughts, over all my words and I most of all want my life to reflect the beauty of my Lord. I'm trusting God that He will work things out or show me what to do...

Jesus Wants you to Know

2009-07-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

If You never felt pain,
Then how would you know that I’m a Healer?
If you never went through addiction,
How would you know that I’m a deliverer?
If you never had a trial,
How could you call yourself an overcomer?
If you never felt sadness,
How would you know that I’m a Comforter?
If you never mad a mistake,
How would you know that I’m forgiving?
If you knew all,
How would you know that I will answer your questions?
If you never were in trouble,
How would you know that I will come to your rescue?
If you never were broken
Then how would you know that I can make you whole?
If you never had a problem,
How would you know that I can solve them?
If you never had any suffering,
Then how would you know what I went through?
If you never went through the fire,
Then how would you become pure?
If I never corrected you,
How would you know that I love you?
If you had all power,
Then how would you learn to depend on Me?
If you life was perfect,
Then what would you need Me for?
I never said it would be easy,
I only said it would be worth it.

I am not sure who wrote this but I really like it. This week has not been a good one for me and all I can seem to say is "God help." Daily I'm reminded of how much I need God but on the hard days or tough situations I find myself in it really is God that gets me through. I'm not sure how people make it through life without God. Trusting God is definitely not an easy thing to do. I know in my head that each time in my life that things haven't gone how I wanted them to that God's plan was so much better than mine but it really doesn't make going through those situations any easier or hurt any less. Today in church we sang the song, "I Surrender All" and my eyes were definitely watering during that song. It's easy to sing the words but it's so much harder to mean them.

Here is the first verse and chorus:

All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

God, help me mean the words to this song...

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Because He Lives

God sent His son,
they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives.
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!

~ William and Gloria Gaither ~

Thank you God for what you did on the cross for me. Thank you for not staying in the grave. I am not worthy of your love but an so thankful that I have it. My hope is truly and only in You. May others know this same hope and love in their own lives. May the words I speak and the things I do bring honor and glory to Your name for You are most worthy of praise!

Heaven

2009-03-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

So I just started reading "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn. This book answers all types of questions about heaven. I remember being in Sunday School as a young child and hearing about heaven and angels and the harp music. As I've gotten older I've always wanted to go to heaven but every once-in-awhile a thought comes to me wondering if maybe heaven would be a little boring if all we every do is sing and listen to harp music. Within the first chapter of this book this very thought was mentioned as a myth. Heaven is going to be full of so much more. Reading this book makes me long for heaven so much more than I did before. The logic he uses to explain the bible references makes me wonder why you never hear pastors preach on heaven this way.

I think it's fun to try to imagine what heaven might be like. All I know for sure is that it's where I really want to be and where I hope all my friends/family will be. This world isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm so thankful for the promise and hope of heaven.

Struggles

2009-03-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

So I get soooo frustrated at times with myself. I seem to struggle with the same set of sins over and over again. Each time I go back to God and say, "You and I have been here before many times but I still need to ask for forgiveness for this same sin." Sometimes I wonder why God is so willing to forgive me when I so easily fall back into the same sin. I know God has forgiven me and I am soooo thankful for that but sometimes my mind can't comprehend why he does when I continue to commit the same sins (although I don't mean to).

Singleness

2009-02-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

So, I was talking to my friend about how hard it is to be single in a church because churches are set up for families and how much it can hurt at times because of the thoughtless comments people say and/or their actions. She has struggled with this issue a lot over the years and had a good point in this: At some point I think you have to be able to say "This is how it is, and it hurts, but God loves me enough to cover this hurt." She then sent me an email with the interview below and together they help me put into perspective my situation (not saying I'm complete there with being single and dealing with the church but I want to get there). Okay, I'm done rambling and will let you get to the interview:

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife nowhaving cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is anabsolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:People ask me, What is the purpose of life?And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We werenot made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since Istarted the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free. We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Times are Changing

2009-01-29T19:22:00.001-08:00

So, I started a new job right before Christmas and this new job is so much better than my last one. To me it finally seems like things are changing. I don't hate my job (in fact most days I actually like it). I get to have more time not working. Most days I don't leave my apartment until 8:15 am. I also get an hour lunch. The best part is that most days I'm done working by 5:30 or 6:00 and I have a 5 minute drive home. When I get home I don't have to spend any time on paperwork. On my weekends, I don't have to spend hours planning for the next week. All in all, it is a much better experience.

My new job has also opened the door for new friends. I'm most excited about this. For 7 months I've been here with no friends and it has been very hard. I don't fit in at my church because I'm the only single person who is above college age. I'm in a Sunday School class with young married couples who all get together with each other and talk to each other throughout the week but not with me. The kicker was at Christmas when they would all give Christmas cards to each other but none to me. That was awkward. I have really missed Marti and the rest of my friends in Indiana. Needless to say this has been a very hard, lonely time that is finally beginning to change.

God, thank you for caring about me. Thank you for providing what I need, when I need it. Thank you for being here with me when I had no one else. You are my rock and fortress. You know how many times I have prayed and cried about my situation and you listened each time. More than anything else (including a good job or friends) I need you. Thank you God for my new job and the new friends I am making. May I never forget all that You have done for me or how much I will always need you. Amen.

Faith

2009-01-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've recently started reading other people's blogs and have decided that it might be fun to at least have an outlet for my thoughts even if no one else reads this. Yesterday I spent a couple hours reading the blog of the wife of a member of Selah (a Christian singing group). This couple found out about 1 year ago that there were complications with the baby (Audrey) that this woman was carrying. It went through the next several months of doctor appointments and the ups and downs of knowing that the baby she was carrying would not live. I cried for a couple hours straight as I was reading this blog. I not only thought it was sad but I was also touched by the faith that this family had. Throughout the whole experience they never doubted God's plan. Oh, they prayed for a miracle but they accepted the fact that if that miracle never happened, God was the same today that he was the day before they found out about these complications. She quoted lyrics from another Christian song ("Bring the Rain") that says, "I know there will be days when this life brings me pain but if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus bring the rain." I want this kind of faith in my life. I want to say to God, "God, even if this life doesn't turn out how I want, I still have faith in You and trust Your plan for my life." This is a lot easier to say then to actually mean with my whole heart. I want to mean it but I also want certain things for my life. For example, I long for a husband. Someone to share my life with and I want friends here in Arkansas like I had in Indiana. I do chose to trust God with these things but it's just hard when God's plan and timing for things in my life doesn't match mine.

God, please help me. I need you more than anything else. I want to trust you with everything including my future and where I am now. Help me God. Thanks God for all you have done for me. I know without a shadow of doubt that you have been here with me and helped me through so much all ready. Knowing this it makes me ashamed that I would ever doubt Your plan for me or not trust You. Please forgive me God for my weaknesses and the times when I have failed or dissappointed you. Draw me closer to you everyday God. Help me love you more each day. Thanks God for caring about me and listening to me.