Tuesday, May 18, 2010

so stinkin' excited

Typically when I know something big is about to happen, I can't sleep. I stay up with anticipation like I'm 5 years old on Christmas eve all over again. I think through how wonderful whatever 'it' will be & think about the possibilities. I allow myself to dream big dreams about whatever thing has me excited. Last night it was my niece Jasmine.

Today after work, I'm headed to the state line to pick her up. She gets to stay with me through Monday. I've thought through some of the things we'll be doing...I even have a welcome gift for her. I can't wait to have her here!

No doubt we'll have tons of pictures taken..and tons of silly stories from the weekend. :-)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Chris Rocks Friday...on a Monday

I haven't done this type of post in ages. It's not because Chris went on a hiatus of not rocking. No, no my friends. Chris still rocks. Chris still knows how to be awesome. After all, I seriously doubt that's something one forgets. :-)

So what reason will I give for Chris rocking this particular post? Will it have to do with work? Will it have to do with volunteering? Will it involve hobbies? What will be the reason? *drum roll please*

Chris just might be the most supportive guy ever.

Yesterday we had a cookout for my volunteer team after services. Chris came to meet my team. Chris lugged tables, chairs, coolers to wherever they needed to go without complaint. Chris sanitized the tables after too. He did all of this is hot, humid weather with a good attitude.

We're playing church league softball. I think I'm going to be horrific at it. Chris helped me pick out a good glove & played catch with me yesterday afternoon. He gave me pointers on how to improve. He gave encouragement. He believed in me and now I'm not concerned about how poorly I'll play this Friday.

He set up a dinner date with some friends for last night too. We had homemade pizza, great conversation and went to Tappy's for dessert.

Talk about a supportive guy & that's just one day that he shows how much he loves me. Just one. I'm a very blessed lady to have someone who loves me so much--Chris rocks.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

blowin up huge

My old boss was in a fantasy football league & would say, 'planet m is blowin up huge!' whenever his team would do particularly well. Around the office we will occasionally say this if an event was going smoothly. 'camp registration is blowin up huge!' 'volunteerism is blowin up huge!'

My love of shoes is blowin up huge as of late. These are my two latest purchases:

Close to total opposites but both make me so incredibly excited. The boots just make me smile. I look at them & ask myself if it's possible to wear them with every single item in my closet. They sparkle. They are not something you see everyday. They remind me of the journey I'm on thanks to the Flavour conference in April. I love these boots.

The gorilla looking shoes are vibram five fingers sprint. These are part of the barefoot running movement. Apparently they strengthen your feet and calves. Wearing these shoes completely change your gait & make it easier to run longer (you use less energy to make your strides). I picked these bad boys up during lunch.

Slipping out of 3.5 inch stilettos and into these felt just a wee bit different. A good different. My arches are so happy right now. I am so pumped these shoes feel so good! I can't wait to go for a run in them in the morning.

I've missed running a lot. I'm so out of shape now which makes me not want to run which makes me more of out shape....you see the vicious cycle. I loved running and with my weird looking barefoot shoes, I'm hoping my love of running returns--especially since I have softball starting up on Sunday night.

Hopefully my love of fitness will be blowin up huge too...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

BABIES!

I don't know if it's because I work in the preschool now, because the new documentary is out on 4 babies from around the world or because some precious friends are expecting but I've come to the realization I LOVE BABIES!

Saturday we had Parent Child Dedication & I got to announce the families. I can't tell you how incredibly excited I was to be around all of those babies. Just looking at them & realizing the untapped potential in each of their lives blew me away! To think God not only created each one of them to be unique but also has a plan for their lives that is greater than I could imagine makes me want to dance.

I'm keeping my new found love of babies under wraps so I won't scare Chris. I know I don't want to be a mom any time soon. I don't think I could handle the responsibility right now(seriously, you are accountable for your child & how you train, teach, love and guide him).

I'm hoping that my baby love doesn't turn into baby fever....

Thursday, May 6, 2010

WHOO HOO!

I love answered prayers...and answered prayers that come with a yes not a no or a wait. I don't really love the no or the wait response but the yes, oh how I love the yes! It seems that recently I'm getting more yeses than I can remember ever receiving and I am loving this!

I have been praying for my precious 10 year old niece to be able to attend Allaso Ranch this summer with Chris & me. We'll be volunteering and after two summers of being out there, I can't express just how awesome this camp is. No offense Falls Creek but Allaso Ranch is flipping amazing. Last night I spoke with my sister & Jasmine gets to come to camp with us! YES!!!! Thank You God!

Now this may not seem like such a big deal but let's look at the back story: Jasmine and I have a special connection. She just might be my mini-me....except way taller than I ever was. Seriously this girl will be taller than I am by the beginning of the school year. She's my amazon mini-me. Two summers ago, God allowed me to share the gospel with her & she became a Christian! WHOA!!!

My sister isn't a Christian & until recently hasn't really wanted anything to do with God. With the custody arrangement, my sister has her for 6 months during the week & the other 6 months during the weekends. My mom tries to take Jasmine to church either on Wednesdays or Sundays depending on the time of the year. This precious girl loves God and really enjoys church but doesn't get the opportunity to go as often as she'd like.

So I've been praying that God would place people on Jasmine's path to encourage her, show her Who He is, love her and help her spiritually mature. She comes and stays with me whenever the custody arrangement allows--this is typically a few days each summer.

Jasmine made the choice to not live with her dad & only see him sometimes rather than on a consistent basis. This means I can let her stay with me more often...I can pour into her more, she can spend more time with Chris and she gets to come to church on a consistent basis! This is a huge blessing.

I know it might sound odd to be rejoicing about lack of contact with her dad, but I'm praying for him. He's not a Christian. He's mean. He's judgmental. He is hurtful to his children and continually breaks promises. I pray for his salvation. I pray for life change. I pray he experiences the abundant life Christ talks about in John 10. He is lost and without hope. All I can do is pray for him & show him God's love/grace whenever I'm around him.

My precious baby amazon niece is coming to church camp. I see such potential in her & I can't wait to see what Christ does in her life!

Thank YOU God!

Monday, May 3, 2010

No Sleep Weekend

What a weekend!

Friday
Chris & I volunteered at our church's 3-5th grade lock-in. We had just shy of 500 kids attend. It was so much fun to see how excited they were to be there. Preston gave a great message, Matt & Kenneth led the kids in some minute to win it games and the Cloud 9 concert was fantastic! Then I had a flash back to my teaching days as we loaded up school buses to go to Speedzone. I had 70 people on my bus. The kids loved Speedzone...and I ended up with a baseball sized bruise on my shoulder blade. When racing go carts, make sure to properly adjust your buckle. It should be snug and secure...unless you want a really large bruise. :-) When everyone returned to church, I made a giant pot of coffee and headed home to catch about 4.5 hours of sleep.

Saturday
I got up, prettied up, and headed out to Amanda's wedding. Do you ever go to a wedding and you can tell it's everything the couple wanted? Yep that was the Dearing wedding! So Congrats A-town! Unfortunately Chris & I couldn't stay for the reception since it was my first weekend in my new role. Everything looked beautiful & I heard the cake was awesome.

Service was very fast-paced and I felt like I learned a lot in a short amount of time. Now I know I still have a lot to learn...a lot. I look forward to being stretched in this new role. I look forward to being challenged. :-)

After Saturday service, I met up with Connie & the Sweeneys for dinner. A short, three hour dinner was a fantastic way to top off a busy Saturday. I really wish there were a way to be able to just stop by Connie's house after work for tea and Gilmore Girls like senior year at college.

Sunday
After services, Chris & I chilled out before going to see a movie. After the lack of sleep from the previous day, it was fitting to see "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Having never watched the Nightmares from the 80s, I was so surprised that I really hated Freddy. Then we had some good time talking about the future on a beautiful night. Ahhh...love that!

For those of you who prayed I'd get through the weekend, thank you! I slept for about 9 or 10 hours today so I should be good to go for the rest of the week. :-)