A Day of Thought

Today it was freezing and snowing so we called off school. It was incredible to have the day off...catch up on laundry, play with my dog, spend time in the Word, and think. I have been thinking so much today about living for eternity and the ways to change my perspective on life.

A while ago, I got the NWC alumni catalog in the mail and had fun reading up on what all my classmates were now doing with their lives. But then, it struck me...I began getting so discouraged because I started comparing myself to everyone else and thought to myself, "I didn't do anything outstanding after college...I just teach preschool in a small town in Iowa." I was truly down as I kept reading about the awards and things everyone else had done. But then, through my husband and the Holy Spirit, I realized that God uses ordinary people in ordinary ways to do extraordinary things. I started thinking about eternity more and remembered that we don't take awards and degrees with us to heaven...but we can lead people to Christ who we will see in heaven. Although it's still a struggle not to compare, my focus has changed...yesterday at work I looked at those dear kids in a new light. My lead teacher and I are perhaps the only Bible that they will read...and if just one of them comes to Christ because of the love I show them or the patience I have with them, then it will all be worth it.

Just realizing that gives me a purpose, but more so, a motivation to pray more for the people I come in contact with and be more bold about being a Christian.

"Contentment comes when God’s will is more important than our wants." -Taken from "Our Daily Bread"

Freddy the Snowman

Due to the crazy amount of snow we've been getting, we had another sledding party last Sunday, this time with senior high. I haven't made a snowman for a long time, so we decided to create Freddy the Snowman. So much fun! He survived a whole 10 minutes before my dog stole its scarf and eventually somehow pushed his head off! Haha! My dog is a thief! It was a great time...I love the students we get to hang out with...they truly brighten my days!

Kelsey, Emily, and I with our finished snowman. We couldn't find charcoal for it's mouth and eyes, so we improvised with leaves and a candycane :)


The thief!



If you haven't been sledding this year, definitely go sledding! I forgot how much fun it was and how bonding it can be :) We have a great hill to sled on and we LOVE having company! *hint, hint* :)

Decorating Attempt? :)

I am very much an idea person, so many times I have millions of ideas and nothing ever gets done! We've lived in our house for 7 months now and I'm finally trying to pick some ideas and run with them so my house can finally be decorated! :) One of Aaron's high school friends is coming to visit us today so I decided today was my chance to get motivated! Last night I was pounding away and trying to make it look like a home. haha! I love bargain shopping so alot of the things are bargain finds or random things I got from other people that just happened to go well together! Aaron thinks I'm crazy but likes it when I run with my ideas and make things happen! :) So, this is my attempt at my living room :) Maybe I'll keep learning new tricks from the experts in my family :)


Front door and the piano I learned on (aka my parents' old piano:)




I love this wall...entertainment center made by my grandpa and the quilt rack was made my Aaron.

I'll update more when I have more ideas and get more bargains!

Gotta love this life!! :)

Our backyard is incredible and has an awesome sledding hill!!! We had the junior high kids over and went sledding last weekend! Seriously, soooo much fun! You can see how huge our backyard is!!

Ice Cream Trip!

Tuesday was our 1 1/2 year anniversary so we decided to do something special for it! There aren't alot of options when you live in small town Iowa :)...but the Blue Bunny ice cream capital is in LeMars...not too far away from us. It was way fun, but since it was like negative 10 out that night, we were the only people there! Haha! Gotta love winter in Iowa!! We had fun though! I can't believe we've been married that long! Crazy!

Sadie

Here are some pics of our adorable dog!!

Late Starts

I've been wanting to start a blog forever but always found something else to do with my time. Finally, this morning, I woke up, ready to teach preschool, when I got a call saying there was a late start. Thus, finally a time to start a blog came!

I started thinking about late starts and the rarity of them in Minneaoplis. I remember last year when it was blizzarding in Minneapolis and it seemed like the schools would never close down! I love living in a smaller town because if there is snow on the ground and it's freezing, they actually start late or cancel school altogether! And that is a wonderful thing when you're a teacher! Also, you gotta love the holidays...I never remember getting Martin Luther King day off, but it was incredible to have a day off yesterday! Life is good and I'm loving my new job! God has truly blessed Aaron and I!