Pink????

Those of you who know me well know that I really hate the color pink. I've never wanted to wear pink and would never think of decorating in pink!! BUT, haha, my mom got me a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens for Christmas and every month, I've picked up some great ideas. This month? You got it...pink! Soooooo, I decided, why not? I'll try it, maybe I'll actually like it. So, I bought some hot pink flowers yesterday...my eyes were blinded every time I looked at them in the store, but what do you know....when I got them home and put them on the table with a green napkin underneath, it looked just like the Better Homes and Gardens cover! haha! So, maybe pink will grow on me :)

This is a part of our dining room...it certainly looks bright, pink, and spring-y! :)

The Lord's Prayer

It's so cool how God works! I mean, He is truly amazing! Lately, the Lord's Prayer has really been on my heart and often at night, I would find myself praying it...letting the part of "Thy will be done" really sink in. I like to plan and know what is happening next in life, but it is much better to surrender to what God's plans for my life are...they are WAY better than my own! Anyway, so it had really been on my heart and then yesterday at church, we said The Lord's Prayer together as a congregation. Even more fun than that, though, is last night in our Bible Study, what else did we study but...The Lord's Prayer :) And, the speaker on the DVD we watched had a great idea. He encouraged us to pray the Lord's Prayer over others...use it as a guide for when we pray for others. He had some other great ideas, but that was a really great one! So, I wanted to write out the Lord's Prayer as a prayer to our Heavenly Father tonight:

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory forever and ever. Amen."

Last Two Weekends

We've had some really fun weekends, but we haven't had a chance to write about them yet! So......

Two weeks ago, we had the awesome privilege to go to Hidden Acres for Winter Blast with our junior high kids. Wow, I know the kids had a great time, but I especially loved it...I hadn't been to Hidden Acres since I was a counselor there, almost 3 years ago! It was such a blast and I was in awe of the new Family Life Center they built! I couldn't stop talking about camp memories it felt like, but I don't think the students minded! Some of the boys went on the tobaggan run which I guess was soooo fun! We girls decided to play games in our room and talk! It was such a great weekend and I'm looking forward to going to Hidden Acres again soon!

Then, last weekend, my former roommate and friend, Sarah Selby, and her boyfriend, John Lawrey (who is now our friend, too!) came to visit us!

First, we played Carcassonne...it is such a fun game that resembles Settlers. I think John won...beginner's luck! I think Aaron was next, and I was definitely last place!

Next, we watched LOST! We are addicted to LOST and found out that they love it too...so we watched an episode or two!


And, what is a weekend without a little Wii? :) We bowled a little bit, but spent a bit of time playing Guitar Hero! If you've never tried it, it is sooo fun and you're welcome to try it at our house anytime! Again, we LOVE visitors!

Finally, we said goodbye and had a picture together! It was such a fun weekend!!

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day and love all of you who read our blog! :) Aaron and I had a great V-Day yesterday! Even though I still wasn't feeling the greatest,we still had a GREAT day! Let me tell you the details :)


First, I had wrapped up presents for Aaron to open every hour! They were new and old things...Hershey's kisses, a poem, coupon for a backrub (and, I accidentally didn't put a limit on the times he can use it..so I truly think he believes he will get a backrub every night now! haha! I'm going to have strong hands!) and the most fun one was a puzzle I ordered from York Photo with a picture of us on it. I went to school as usual and he went to work when all of a sudden, a storm blew through and school let out at 11:00!! Aaron picked me up from work at 12:30 and when I got home, I had the most incredible surprise waiting for me at the table. A dozen red roses!! They are BEAUTIFUL and I was sooo surprised! I love my husband! He is too good to me!


Next, we had our meal! Aaron and I LOVE to dress up so we made a meal~French Dips, crockpot corn (the best corn in the world! I got the recipe from my mom and it is incredible!),sparkling grape juice, and cherry cheesecake~and then dressed up! Even though we were too stuffed to eat the cheesecake, it was still fun to have a candlelight dinner!

Finally, Aaron opened up his gift from me, the puzzle. He loved it! We put in our favorite chick flick "Return to Me" and put the puzzle together. :) It was such a fun Valentine's Day!

The funniest part was, I was sooo tired that I went to bed at 8:00 last night!! And, didn't get up until 7:00 this morning! Wow!! But it was a wonderful day to reflect upon love and what true love really is. So often we think that love is just a feeling, an emotion that will never go away. This year, I have seen true love in an incredible way. It started with my grandpa's death in October when my dad and his siblings talked about my grandpa's love for God. They talked about how my grandpa kept God FIRST in his life, and all others were second. I was struck on the head as I started thinking about who was first in my life. I thought about how my grandpa loved the Lord...it wasn't a feeling he had..it was his COMMITMENT to the Lord that deepened his true love for him. THAT is what true love is...a commitment to be faithful and...act upon that commitment by being intentional. Aaron and I have started to be more intentional: with our relationship with God, our relationship with one another, our relationships with our family, our friends, and with the students we work with. It has been life changing to say the least and I have felt my heart full of love lately for those closest to me and for those in need of the Lord...my challenge to you: Be Intentional today!

No Appendicitis!!! :)

Just a quick update! Praise the Lord that I don't have appendicitis...I'm feeling WAY better and even went to work for an hour for a meeting today! :) Yea! God is good! Also, I thought of even BETTER ideas for V-day to make it easier on myself...God has definitely blessed me today! :) Thank you soooo much for your prayers! :)

My First Trip to the Hospital

Well, I have finally had my first trip to a hospital. Not to visit anyone else, not to Christmas carol for those who are sick...it was because I was sick! I had the flu last week and never really got over part of it. Although I went to work yesterday and I even played dodgeball with junior high kids on Saturday afternoon, I had been feeling sick and I felt sooooo sick last night that Aaron and I were concerned it was appendicitis! I could barely walk and felt terrible!! Finally, Aaron convinced me to go to the hospital and get checked out. After taking alot of tests and getting a great warm blanket every hour it seemed!!, they finally found an infection in my digestive system. Not fun! I could have made it a true hospital trip by spending the night and having an IV but since we live super close to the hospital, my doctor ordered me to not eat or drink ANYTHING until I see him today, take antibiotics, and sleep! Although I felt terrible still last night, I do feel better today and I'm glad that my first trip to the hospital wasn't for anything more serious! :) I am also thankful for an incredibly loving and supportive husband who waited by my side, calming me down! I could definitely still use alot of prayer....

Prayer for:
1) An absolute healing! I haven't been able to eat normally since last Wednesday.
2) My doctor said there is a slight chance it still could be appendicitis. Pray that as I see him today, it would not be appendicitis!
3) The infection would go away so I can go back to work...
4) I would have energy to finish my Valentine's cards...I know it sounds silly, but I had such great ideas, but I haven't felt good enough to get them done and am a little discouraged knowing it is only two days away...pray that I can so I can let people know how much I love them :)

Thanks so much! I'll keep you posted!

I love my job :)

Just wanted to write a little blog for everyone who might be wondering how my new job is going!! I absolutely LOVE it!! Every day there is a new adventure and I really love waking up in the morning and going to work! Even the days when a child spills milk all over my new pants or when they wet their pants and I help them clean it up... haha :) It has been such a blessing in my life to work there and I really enjoy preschoolers :) Plus, it's great practice for when I have....nieces and nephews (*hint to Luke and Monica and soon Matt and Lindsay* ha!) :)...or kids of my own :) God sure has mine and Aaron's life planned out well and it's been fun to trust Him and see all the surprises He has for us! I know that He was preparing me to teach preschool WAY before I even thought about it! Wow, our God is truly amazing! :)

If you can't beat it, join it!

On Sunday, Aaron and I were talking about how much we want spring to come!! We were going to write a list of the top ten things we can't wait to do when spring comes when all of a sudden, it snowed once again last night! However, I finally decided...if we can't beat the snow away, we might as well enjoy it! So, while Aaron was out to supper with a junior higher, I had the ultimate snow evening...I put on some instrumental music, made a HUGE cup of hot chocolate, and crocheted while I watched the snow fall on the ground outside! It was sooooo fun and incredibly relaxing! So, maybe I still like snow after all...I always love it until about February but maybe I'll enjoy these snowy days after all!!


In other news, Aaron and I have started a huge project that may take up alot of our time...our basement is in need of major construction and we now have the energy and motivation to fix it up! We bought all the lumber so we can start our big project! We can finally get rid of the ugly turquoise walls it has right now! Maybe I'll get some pictures up in the near future! :)

Super Bowl Update

I think I forgot how competitive I really am when I wrote my last blog! Yesterday we had the Super Bowl party...we took our youth kids over to another church to watch the game and it was really fun!! They had a Wii set up, boxing in a huge air thing, coffee and snacks, and a really big tent where you could go and watch the game. I didn't even know who was playing but when I got there, I decided I wasn't going to go for a team and then I couldn't lose!! :) But, as the game went into the second quarter, I was leaning towards the underdogs as I always do and started cheering for the Giants. Wow, what a game!!! I was glued to the TV and even decided not to try karaoke because I was so into the game! I was so pumped when the Giants took the win with what 1 minute left? Beautiful...simply beautiful!! :)

In other news, I feel like a proud parent because of our dog! Aaron and I have been trying to get our dog to let us know when she needs to go outside and she finally goes over to the door and cries once to let us know! I'm taking all the credit :) Besides that, we had a really relaxing weekend and an incredible communion service at church on Sunday. This week looks cold and snowy once again with no sign of spring yet!

I LOVE Fridays!!!

Friday has always been my favorite day of the week, but it is especially my favorite day now because it is both mine and Aaron's day off!! I love sleeping in until 8:00 (I know, I bet you can't believe it that I don't sleep in later! I think I'm growing up...I used to be able to sleep in until noon! But, not anymore!)and spending time with Aaron! A few times we've gone shopping and I've bargain shopped (love doing that! A hint for anyone who loves a good deal...go to Hobby Lobby a few days after the holidays and everything is 90% off! You would not believe everything I bought this year and I spent less than $10...awww..pure joy in bargain shopping!) but today was a relaxing and productive day!

Today I was completely overwhelmed by God's provision for Aaron and I! I was cleaning our house and I started realizing how good we have it and how much God has blessed us! My former pastor's wife encouraged me to keep a blessings book in ministry and write about the ways in which God provides for us. It has been incredibly encouraging to do so and it has helped me count my blessings as I've looked back and seen how God has worked things out in our life and has taken care of us when we needed it the most!

Well, I'm off to bed and getting ready for the Super Bowl party we have this weekend. Honestly, I've decided that I really don't like the Super Bowl...I like the socializing at Super Bowl parties!! but who really watches the game anyways?? I don't even know who is playing!! haha! :) Sorry for all you Super Bowl fans! :)