Time to Write Again

Life Lately

2009-06-23T10:41:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to post a blog about our vacation to the Grand Canyon and Vegas, but now it's been three weeks and I don't care anymore. If you want to see the pictures, you can see them on my facebook :) It was fun! We had a blast and wore ourselves out, Vegas is dirty and we'll probably never go back and the Grand Canyon was beautiful, but too cold to camp in at night...we froze! It was fun to see my family and to spend time with them as well.

Eric went to a conference in Chicago called "Wonder" and he really enjoyed that. My parents stayed in town with me while he was gone, so I missed him, but at least I was able to sleep at night!

We have been really busy with work and just spending time with friends and what not, but things have been good. Our friends Courtney and DJ bought a house two streets over from us, so we're super excited about that! We have other friends that are having babies who will remain nameless because I'm not sure they want that posted on the internet yet...but it's exciting!

Besides all of that I have been learning a lot about my sin. It's been really good, I have just been praying that the Lord would continue to reveal sin to me and He has...it's funny how you can start to think you are doing "better" but really there's just a new sin that the Lord wants to work on that you don't realize yet. Couseling has been really good for me and for Eric and I am specifically learning a lot about my pride. I want things my way, right away, not to mention that I want everyone to like me and think I'm funny or good at what I do or whatever. I am constantly battling my flesh as I try to make myself look better...but at least the Lord is starting to reveal it to me and I'm not oblivious anymore right? But, really it has been good and I'm glad to know the Lord hasn't given up on me yet.

Anyways, that's the update...the next thing I am really excited about is Mute Math's new CD! They finally announced that they are going to release it on August 18 :) And they are coming to Dallas in October...when we will also be seeing U2 and Muse and going to Staff Retreat! What a great month!

Missouri Trip

2009-05-19T11:47:00.003-05:00

We just got back from Missouri...my nephew, Wes, graduated from High School, so Josh, Angela, Jillian and David went with us to see the sights :) We had so much fun! We had to take two cars, since there were so many of us, but we had a boy car and a girl car, which we decided is the best way to travel. You don't have to freeze because the boys are hot, or argue the whole time, or talk about dumb stuff...you can talk about cool stuff and be warm and make fun of the boys all day! But, we brough walkie talkies, so on the way up there, we made up a game where we each said things about somebody in the car and we had to guess who it was. The boys sucked at it, they don't know their wives very well...but it was fun.

We got in pretty late on Wednesday, but we stayed at my parents house, so they had our rooms ready for us. Thursday when we all woke up Eric had gone to McDonald's to download the season finale of Lost..and he had been gone for two hours. It's the only place in town that has wifi and my parents don't have internet :) So, the boys went over to hang out with him and the girls just lounged around the house and relaxed. After 4 hours they came home and we had lunch and then went to Mammoth Spring (I can't believe they actually have a web site for this) and walked around...this is one of our claims to fame. It's definitely beautiful and fun to walk around, they have a huge waterfall and a really really small aquarium. There has been a small alligator in the aquarium as long as I can remember, but I have never seen it move...until this trip. Eric kept ticking it off just by looking at it and it would jump around out of the water...it was awesome. We relaxed for a while that afternoon and then went out to my brother's house...he wasn't home, but we got our first ticks of the trip! Getting ticks is kind of a rite of passage when you visit my home town for the first time. Then we came home and watched The Office and 30 Rock and then played Catch Phrase...boys against girls. Of course the boys suck at that too, so we dominated :) Then, Josh, Angela, Eric and I watched Lost. It was awesome!!! One more year!

Friday we woke up and decided to go visit Grand Gulf (I also can't believe they have a web site)...our other claim to fame. We walked around and got more ticks...I had like 13 before it was all said and done. I've had lots of ticks in my day, so it doesn't really bother me, but Angela and Jillian were freaking out...it was hilarious. Angela had only had ticks the other time they visited MO with us and it was Jillian's first time...like I said, rite of passage. Anyways, we had a good time "hiking" at Grand Gulf and them came home and got ready for Wes' graduation. I can't believe my nieces and nephews are so grown up!

Saturday we went antique shopping at some of the local stores...Eric bought a Stryper CD, but nobody else got anything. It was a bust and then we celebrated my Dad's 66 birthday! I bought him overalls...that's what he wanted....weird. Then we played a few more rounds of Catch Phrase and watched "Taken." And that ended our trip..we left Sunday morning to come back home, but we had a blast! Some of my favorite moments on the trip:

1. Angela sang a song listing the names of the 12 disciples, the song ends with the line "And by him Jesus was betrayed."
2. My dad gives everyone nicknames...but the best was that David inherited the name "booger picker." It's a long story.
3. During catch phrase Josh had the word "lemon" and described it by saying "it's a type of cake."
4. Spending time with my family and getting lost behind the school with my dad after the graduation. While we were lost he said "see, now we know where they work on the buses, we never knew that before."
5. There are so many moments that I can't think of right now, but it was awesome! I love the Smiths and the Walkers and I'm glad we got to hang out in my home town together :)

I don't really know what to post....

2009-03-06T09:04:00.002-06:00

But, I feel compelled to write something...so I'm just going to start with an update...although there isn't much to update on. We did our taxes last night and are getting a great tax return since we bought a new house last year! So, we are going to pay off Eric's car and the amount we owe his school (which we just found out we owed because nobody ever told us). So, that's exciting...two less bills!

We helped out with Spin Weekend last weekend...it is basically a disciple now that we do at The Village every year for the Student Ministry. It was a blast! It was my first time to really do anything with the Student Ministry, so it was fun to see all the kids there and they were really involved. I found out later that most of the students that attend at The Village are not believers, so it was exciting to know so many are comoing and hearing the gospel every week. I know Blake and everybody in the student ministry love those kids so much, so it's just cool to know the Lord is moving in the ministry. Also, By the Tree came! So, I got to hang out with my sweet friends all weekend. Ben and Amy are starting a new band (with the drummer and guitarist that have been playing with By the Tree) and they will be known as "Davis"...so be on the look out for them...I'm sure their music will be awesome!

I wrote my life story along with Jillian and Angela and we have been sharing them with each for the past few weeks. It has been really encouraging for all 3 of us and I'm so glad we are going through the study that we are. I have just been really challenged to be more encouraging to people who play big roles in my life and to also be more obedient to every little thing I feel like the Lord is asking of me...instead of putting it off. Even if it's just an email or a phone call.

Anyways, that's really all there is to talk about. We have been really busy, but work and marriage have been good. We are learning a lot!

Update....

2009-02-16T22:00:00.003-06:00

Okay, so it's time to update. I kind of forgot I had a blog for a while...oops. Anyways, things are good....I like 2009. What has happened so far this year?
1. Eric and I are learning how selfish we are like every day. Counseling is still really great and John has been such an amazing encouragement to us. It's been so good for our marriage and our outside relationships. The biggest thing I'm learning is that communication is important, not only with my husband, but with our community. So, I'm learning how to be vulnerable to tell people what is going on with me...even if I don't think it's important. It's hard, but good.

2. We celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We went to The Inn on Lake Granbury and it was amazing! It was highly recommended by The Bleeckers and now we highly recommend it too! I can't believe we've been married for 3 years...it seems like only a few months still.

3. My boss went to Africa! Josh has been in Africa for the past 2 weeks with Jeremy Pace (Missions Pastor), Matt Elkins (Missions Associate), Dick McFarland (elder candidate), and John Wright (elder candidate and our home group leader). Vernon was with them while they were in Sudan as well, but he's back now. I thought I would be really bored while Josh is gone, but there has been plenty to do...although I really do miss him. I'm excited that they'll be back on Thursday, but I think everybody will be...we all miss him. The Village just isn't the same when he's gone :)

4. Eric tried to take me out on a surprise Valentine's date to Kobe Steaks, but they don't take reservations on the weekend. So, we got there only to find out we would have to wait for 4 hours to eat...I wasn't about to wait for 4 hours to eat! So, we tried the Magic Time Machine across the street, it was 2 1/2 hours. As we were driving towards home trying to figure out what to do, knowing that since we didn't have any reservations for anywhere it would be the same no matter where we went. Except Golden Corral...so we went to Golden Corral. It wasn't bad, but don't ever get steak there...it's not good. All in all, at least we had a good time and he got me a new Mute Math shirt!

5. Eric tried to amend our Valentine's dinner by taking me to Kobe Steaks the next day..it was a 2 1/2 hour weight...soooo we ate at Magic Time Machine. Cinderella was our waitress, it was fun! We will have to go to Kobe Steaks on a day that we can make a reservation.

6. Mute Math came out with a new EP! 3 of the songs are the same song, just different versions and there is one other song...but I still like it. They also launched a new web site.

7. The Village also launched the much anticipated new web site! It has changed my life.

8. We've gotten to hang out with lots of fun friends!

9. The new season of Lost started...it's amazing.

10. I was convicted to spend more time praying...so I have committed to pray at certain times of the day every day. I mean I always try to pray when I think of it, but I need to commit to spend more time in intentional prayer for every day things...not just big needs at the time. So, it's been good. Feel free to hold me accountable to this.

2008 has ended...

2009-01-02T10:53:00.006-06:00

Disclaimer: *I am kind of copying off Courtney right now, but it's true for me as well and I wanted to copy because it was a good post.*

I have had two years of my life that I have always said are "the best years ever." One was 2001...because I was a year into college and finally figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be...I became close with the friends I would walk deeply with for my entire college career...and longer...and I experienced the Lord in ways I had never experienced him before. Ways that shaped how I believe and changed how I lived. The other was 2005 because I started dating my husband out of nowhere that year and we also were engaged soon after...I started working at The Village, a place that I had already started serving with my whole heart for free and felt like I was supposed to be...and I was introduced to Mute Math's music....they are the best band ever, so it's only appropriate.

While those years are still considered "best years ever" I will now add 2008 to my list. 2008 was a year of transformation. Not only did the Lord teach me a LOT, but He changed me in several ways that I definitely could have never accomplished on my own. Our home group met soon after 2008 started and John Wright asked us what our 2008 resolutions were. I'm not a big resolution person because who ever keeps those? But, I did say that I felt like 2008 was going to be a year of growth in every area of my life...and it really has been. Not that I'm amazing and godly and without sin or anything, but there have just been subtle things that the Lord has asked me to give over to Him and He has helped me do just that...some of things include finances, health, my marriage, my time with Him, work and many other things. Trust me...He is still working in those areas and there are many more, but it's awesome to look back and at least see a small difference.

Another great thing about 2008 has been the deepening of friendships...this is the first year that we have a group of friends that are "our" friends...not just my friends, or his friends. It's awesome! We love all of the people the Lord has around us and it's been so cool to grow together and learn together.

On a less serious note...here are some of my favorite moments from 2008 (that I can remember right now), in no particular order:
1. playing catch phrase on new years eve with the smiths, the walkers and the fox's and josh walker saying "he is the guy who promotes those yellow arm bands" and all the boys yell "lance armstrong" and josh says "oh wait...he's the first man who walked on the moon"

2. portland with the warrens...voodoo donuts, arguing with john about EVERYTHING..especially by the tree, meeting john's family, et in the park, and just walking around the city talking

3. missouri and memphis with the walkers...the fact that they got ticks in my home town (everybody gets ticks on their first visit), the lady in the parking lot who took our picture and told us she thought "we was special," graceland, the fact that they actually wanted to go to my nephew's high school graduation, i wish david and jillian were there :)

4. our road trip to north carolina...seeing ben, amy and tyler in nashville, seeing my family in little rock and thayer, driving through some beautiful scenery, learning so much about our marriage at the marriage retreat, spending lots of quality time together

5. all the countless times i got to hang out with sarah (even though we just run errands together because we're boring grown ups now)

6. watching lost with the hofmanns...especially when the eye scared us and the girls screamed

7. when dj prayed for the scarecrow at babe's

8. i love my job...lunch with my lunch buddy...bex, working for josh and bleecker and having a good time while kicking butt, the fact that i love everyone i work with, staff retreat, crying with isaac, bleecker and john, mafia, pistols and pedals, anytime that we have worshipped together as a staff, getting to see weddings and babys being born all over the place

9. getting to know my husband more...being vulnerable, laughing, crying, and growing deeper in the Lord together

10. times with our home group

11. hanging out at the burger's house for all kinds of random occasions with sarah..playing catch phrase with vernon, hearing titus stories, seeing baby justus come into the world, laughing about stupid stuff we did in college or telling funny stories about people from college

12. staying up way too late just because we are talking with our friends

13. lunches with nat pat...watching lily grow up, telling nat embarassing things and not being embarassed, seeing baby luke join their family

i love my life...

a week in missouri

2008-12-29T12:57:00.002-06:00

We are on our way back from Missouri and I'm real bored...so I figured I would blog about our trip :) It wasn't very eventful, but it was fun and restful. We left last Monday and got there around 5:30 that evening. We just ate dinner and spent time talking to the family...I think we watched "A River Runs Through It" that night...it was my first time....it was boring.

Tuesday we woke up to ice covering everything...so I didn't feel like I needed to take a shower since we weren't going anywhere. We watched Lost Season 4 all day with my parents. We got them addicted last year...especially my Mom (which is crazy because she NEVER watches TV or movies and if she does, she doesn't care about them so she doesn't sit through the whole thing)...she LOVES it and then it started clearing up so my sister and her family came over for dinner.

Wednesday the weather was back to normal completely...so Mom, Sis and I went for a walk...then that night we ate dinner together again...I think...then we went to a town called Wirth, AR where there is a family that goes all out decorating with lights and checked it out. Oh and also it's tradition for me and my parents to open presents on Christmas Eve...so we did that too. We got them an indoor/outdoor themometer and some moon pies (dad really likes moon pies) and I got a target gift card and ipod cover and Eric got a Lowe's gift card and Iron Man on bluray.

Thursday was Christmas! The whole fam...my brothers family and my sisters family all came over and had breakfast. We draw names so we exchanged gifts and just sat around and played games and talked. Mom, sis and I went walking again...to work off the breakfast. Then we all went to the movies...we ended up going to see all different movies, but Eric and I went with mom and dad to see Seven Pounds. I liked it...Eric didn't. Everybody else split up between Marley and Me, Yes Man, and that Benjamin Button movie.

Friday Mom, Eric and I went to Springfield...which is about 2 1/2 hours from Thayer. We went shopping...had to spend those gift cards. Then had lunch with one of my great friends and old roomates from college...Kristin and her new roomate. It was great to see her...by the time we left the mall...we were exhausted though and headed back home. We finished watching Lost...I can't wait until Season 5...January 21!!! Party at our house

Anyways...back on track. Saturday we didn't do anything..we just relaxed and rented a bunch of movies. We watched "Ghostown" "Eagle Eye" and "Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia)". Ghostown was excellent...Eagle Eye was good, but stressful. Prince Caspian was boring.

Sunday, we went to church. Had lunch with the family, took naps, and then we went to dinner with Mom and Dad .

Monday morning we left at 7:34 and we are on our way home. I'm excited because I miss Lenny and Pedro...I miss our house and our friends and especially The Village. It'll be good to be home...only 2 hours to go!

Christmas is here!

2008-12-19T10:57:00.002-06:00

Angela and Jillian wanted me to post a story about getting angry at Kroger the other day at a guy that looked like Harry Potter. But, I'm over it, so I don't want to bring up any bitter feelings :) Instead I'm going to update on what's been going down lately in my life.

Things are great! We are still going to counseling. I've been learning a lot about trusting the Lord. Mostly I've just been praying for more faith and trust lately. I realized I've been walking in a lot of fear, which means I've really been walking in a lot of pride and there's no reason. I should be walking in freedom because Christ has set me free...but for some reason I think I need to be in control, which is scary, which is where the fear comes in. So, it's been an interesting journey, but good.

Looking back on this year is exciting. At the beginning of the year my hope for the year was to spend time growing in every area of my life...health, marriage, work, even all the little things that I used to think were not a big deal. The Lord has definiately been gracious to bring things in those various areas to light and to help me desire change. Of course there are still several areas that will be a continuous work, but I'm glad to know that the Lord hasn't given up on me and never will.

This year has also been a great year of building relationships. We have formed deeper relationships with several friends and are excited to see these relationships continue to grow...we feel like family and it's a great feeling to have those types of relationships. Of course the staff has grown closer as well and I am thankful to say I still love my job and the people I work with...it is a huge blessing.

All that to say...2008 was a good year...I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring. I do know we will at least be bringing in the New Year with some fun friends...so that means 2009 will definiately start out great!

As far as the holiday season goes, we will be celebrating with Eric's family tonight and then heading to Missouri to spend time with my family next week. It will be a nice break and hopefully an encouraging and restful time. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Jillian is making me fill this out :)

2008-12-08T13:11:00.002-06:00

Jillian tagged me to fill this out and I'm at the front desk answering phones and bored....so here goes!

8 Shows I love to watch

1) Lost
2) The Office
3) Friends
4) Arrested Development
5) Everybody Loves Raymond
6) I used to like Heroes, but it sucks now
7) I don't really watch TV very often, I only watch DVDs of TV Shows
8) The Cosby Show

8 Favorite Restaurants
1) Buck N Loons
2) Bennigans
3) Carino's
4) BJ's
5) Olive Garden
6) Snuffer's
7) Panera Bread Co.
8) Dairy Queen

8 Things that happened today
1) Woke up late
2) Talked to my Mom on the phone
3) Came to work
4) Had a meeting with Josh Patterson
5) Ate some corn chex for lunch
6) Worked on the Staff Christmas Party (which is tonight!)
7) Answered phones
8) Responded to A LOT of emails and it's only 1:14

8 Things I look forward to
1) STaff Christmas Party tonight!!!
2) Christmas....I love Christmas!
3) Going to MO to be with my family
4) By the Tree coming to play at The village in February!
5) Date Night...who knows what we'll do this week, but it's always fun
6) "Bible Study" with Angela and Jillian
7) Hanging out with Sarah this weekend
8) Did I mention Christmas?

8 Things on my wish list
1) I wish that I was a godly person.
2) I wish that everything was free and we never had to spend money on getting things fixed.
3) I wish that I was a bette wife.
4) I wish that I was an amazing cook and could just make up recipes.
5) I wish that I wasn't scared to sing in front of people.
6) I wish that I were more motivated to work out. (good one Jillian)
7) I wish that I were more motivated to eat better all the time.
8) I wish that I was more friendly and outgoing.

8 People I tag (Let's see... Do I even know 8 people with blogs??)
1) Angela Walker
2) Natalie Patterson
3) Amber Burger
4) Courtney Hofmann
5) Lauren Williams
6) Tarrah Lancaster
7) I can't think of anybody else
8) that might actually do this...

Pistols and Pedals Pics

2008-12-02T11:58:00.006-06:00

The long awaited photos of Pistols and Pedals from Staff Retreat:

Thanksgiving Vacation

2008-11-30T11:16:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving was awesome this year...Eric and I took off two extra days on top of our two days we already get for Thanksgiving. It's been very relaxing and fun, but I'm definitely ready to get back to work. I think I have bed sores from sleeping in and watching movies all day :) But, we also got a lot of stuff done.

1. We put our Christmas Decorations!

2. We cleaned the house, we had Thanksgiving Dinner here with Eric's parents. I made my first Turkey..and it tasted good! Eric was proud.

3. We went Christmas Shopping and got almost all of our families' gifts and wrapped them.

4. We watched a bunch of movies that we rented from the library. I watched two more discs of Lost Season 2 (I'm rewatching them again so I can be ready for Season 5 in January) and ordered Lost Season 4 which will be here December 9!

5. We spent some good quality time together.

6. We went to our 2nd counseling session at c3. At that counseling session I learned that I am fearful and that fear makes me controlling and that controlling makes me angry when it doesn't go my way. Oops. But, it was good and I'm excited to keep learning because I want to be a better wife and I want to learn how to be a godly woman.

7. We did a lot of updating to our new ipods and our computer. We had to make some changes because our music was taking up the whole hard drive. But, since we have a lot of the same stuff we combined our itunes and made two different playlists, one for me and one for Eric so that we can add other stuff that the other person doesn't want.

8. I had "Bible Study" with Angela and Jillian and we listened to Rock Ballads and sang along :)

9. Jillian and David came over for dinner and we watched "Tommy Boy" (neither of them had ever seen it, so we had to put our friendship on hold until they watched it with us) and played lots of Wii.

10. We sold our mineral rights and made some money to help pay off our cars!

So, see, it wasn't all that lazy I guess :) I hope everyone's holiday was as fun and restful as ours. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Update

2008-11-04T16:15:00.002-06:00

So these are some of the things that have been fun and some things I have learned in the past month:

1. Eric and I went on vacation/to a marriage retreat! We got to see some great friends in Nashville, family in Little Rock and Missouri and spend lots of quality time together in beautiful Ashville, NC. The biggest thing we learned was how to communicate better, i.e. to start having a "conference" with each other every week and ask the questions:
a. What concerns you?
b. What are your hopes/dreams?
c. What are you willing to do?

2. We went to Staff Retreat (see previous post for all of the details on that one)

3. We went camping with some friends, The Walkers, The Sandlins, The Smiths and we met new friends as well...Chad and Ashley and Mark and Sarah. We played lots of Mafia and had lots of good camping talks....and we saw two skunks. I love my friends.

4. I got a new car...a Pontiac Vibe...it's Mystic Blue and I love it.

5. I've been learning to pray for my family more, for salvation for those who don't know Jesus specifically. The Lord has been teaching me to trust Him in this and allow Him to move even if I think it's hopeless...it's not hopeless.

6. Fear comes from the enemy and faith comes from God.

7. Home Group and my Bible Study are great! It's been fun going deeper and having accountability close by. Fun, and hard all at the same time.

8. We have been having Staff/Elder Dessert Nights once a month with The Pattersons. We are taking turns at our houses.

9. Mute Math came out with a new song today. It's on the Twilight Soundtrack. You can listen to it here.

10. This is my favorite time of year! I love Christmas and I love decorating and buying presents and spending time with family! My parents will be here visiting soon, then we are going to Missouri for Christmas vacation. I love it!

Staff Retreat

2008-10-29T16:38:00.002-05:00

As usual a lot of stuff has happened since I last blogged, but Staff Retreat was by far, the biggest and funnest thing :) This is one of my favorite times of the year and this year was no different...even though I had to plan it this time, I still had a fun time even doing that part! We spent a week at Pine Cove Woods Retreat Center in Tyler. It was beautiful...overlooking the lake in the woods kinda place. The rooms were nice, the food was good and the best part...we didn't have to cook or clean at all! At the old place we went to we had to cook our own food and clean up after ourselves...we loved that place, but this was way better. Anyways, this was the BEST staff retreat I have been on and I have been on all of them. The theme for the week was "encouragment" so we spent a lot of time building each other up and loving on each other. We had a night where we split up into departments and were able to love on our team...I went with the Worship Department and we all ended up crying together....I love those guys...Isaac, John and Bleecker, they are all so sweet and always so encouraging, but it was an extremely sweet time for all 4 of us. That was my favorite night, but every night during worship time was AMAZING. The Lord was moving so deeply, I was moved to tears every single night...and that's not a normal thing for me. There is just something about the staff being in a room together and worshipping...the spirit is always obvious in a huge way when that happens. It's extremely moving. We got to hear some different staff members' testimonies and again got to hear the Lord's grace through story. I love to hear the stories of our staff and our church body. I just was reminded so much of the grace the Lord has extended to me and was just encouraged to reach out to our staff more and build them up on a more intentional basis.

Of course we also had so much fun...we stayed up playing Mafia every night...sometimes until 2 AM. Ridiculous. We had a Talent Show...Chilli and Joe did a hilarious skit, as well as Chilli and Carl. Kendall did a rap...I mean SoulHood...not Kendall. 3105 made a collaboration of rap songs and dance....Mallery, Jill, Deedra, and Brittany...they were the runners up. The winners are known as Pistols and Pedals...a Guns and Roses cover band consisting of Josh "Axel" Patterson (lead vocals), John Warren (drums), Adam Lancaster (rhythm guitar), Isaac Wimberley (bass), Michael Bleecker (keys) and Eric Bowman (lead guitar). Let's just say, John ended up shirtless by the end of the set and Josh screamed so loud he almost lost his voice. I will post some pictures soon :)

The whole week really just made me extremely grateful. I LOVE where I am. The Lord has given me the greatest job in the world, an amazing husband, and great friends. I can't believe I get to be on staff with these people that I love so much. He continues to show us all grace by letting us grow together and strive together, always working in us to reveal how we can get more of Him. I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest person alive.

I suck at blogging

2008-09-11T12:49:00.003-05:00

Remember how I started blogging and I was going to be so diligent to update and bare my struggles and joys? Well, apparantly I was a lot of talk because I have a hard time keeping up with my blog these days :) Anyways, the past month has been a good month...I'll try to update you as best as I can...here are some fun things that have happened:

1. I have gotten to Harry Potter book # 6 and am still loving it. We watched all of the movies (there are only 5 so far) over labor day weekend and book 6 is proving to be my favorite so far, since there is no movie yet and I have no idea what to expect...but EVERYONE says book 7 is the best, so we'll see :)

2. Eric turned 26 on August 13. We had a fun day with his family and a great dinner with The Walkers, Sandlins and Smiths...our closest couple friends :)

3. The Walkers decided to adobt a little girl...Selena from Guatemala. I know that's not about us, but since they are such good friends, it is still exciting! Pray for them though because they won't be able to go through the actual adoption process for a long time because Guatemala can't get their act together. But, they are visiting her often and she's so cute! We hope to visit her with them one day in the near future.

4. Work has been busier than normal because of budget season and staff retreat planning, but I like to be busy. Bleecker is in Sudan right now, so it's a good time for me to get caught up on Staff Retreat...which is right around the corner in October!

5. Eric and I planned a road trip and we will leave September 27. Our destination is Asheville, NC where we will be attending a Marrige Retreat for couples in ministry. We are way pumped! Anyways, we will be staying the night in Little Rock one night, heading to Nashville to visit some friends for 2 nights, then head to NC and then back through MO to visit my family.

6. We've gotten several opportunities to hang out with various members of our home group, I love everyone in our group...so that's been fun!

7. I turned 27 on September 8! For my birthday Eric planned a surprise day at the zoo with friends and family...he got me my favorite ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and then we had dinner at my favorite restaurant...Buck N Loons. It was great and I got lots of fun gifts too :)

8. My Mom, my sister and my niece Leslie are coming into town tomorrow for the weekend. Too bad Hurrican Ike is visiting for the weekend too...we don't get to do any of the fun outdoor stuff I had planned :(

9. I started a new bible study with Jillian and Angela (of the Smiths and the Walkers that I mentioned earlier) and am really excited about it!

10. Eric is almost done with school! Just 2 more weeks...

So many books so little time....

2008-08-07T14:54:00.004-05:00

I am on a book reading frenzy, for some reason lately all I have wanted to do it read. I keep finding more and more books that sound interesting and adding them to my list. So, if you're looking to read a little before summer is over, here are a couple that I just finished:

And three I'm reading currently:

This one is about dying to self...something I can always learn more about.

This one is about being a great admin...which I want to know more about.

Pedro

2008-08-05T15:59:00.004-05:00

So...for all of you that have heard that Pedro sleeps on my pillow every night, here is the proof. Eric took these the night we got back from Portland. As you can see, I was out. Normally he also has his paw on my face just to make sure I'm there, I guess being close was enough on this night.

Portland & Seattle Trip

2008-08-01T10:18:00.009-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I updated, but July was so busy! My parents were in town for the first half and then Eric and I went to Portland, OR with the Warrens...we also venture over to Seattle for a night while we were close by. Here are some fun pics from our trip:

John and Nat at the Rose Gardens

People live here

Look at this HUGE pigeon!

Eric and a pig

Pike's Place Market in Seattle is so cool

The Space Needle in Seattle

part of downtown Seattle

The Gorge in Portland

Me & Nat

Update

2008-06-12T11:00:00.002-05:00

So...once again there is a lot to update on...it's been a busy couple of weeks, but mostly because we've been updating our house! We were able to get in last week...so we've been putting up walls, scraping off popcorn and painting for the last week and a half. It's been soooo tiring! We finally moved our stuff in yesterday, but we still have a couple of rooms to paint and touchups everywhere. But, the main rooms are done at least! I love our new house! It's just been a lot of work, but not as much as some houses, so I'm thankful for that! Anyways, I will post some pictures soon when we finally get everything finished.

Besides that I've been learning a lot...especially about how much of a sinner I am. I mean I knew that, but the Lord has just been revealing it more and more. But, it's cool because otherwise I would continue to think I'm great and keep on sinning in my little imaginary world. Anyways, I've realized that I have a passive heart and tend to blame my feelings and my sin on my circumstances or other people...which is not good. So instead of dealing with my issues I just keep blaming others or my circumstances and continue to fall into my same sin. It's ridiculous. So I'm trying to deal with that...when situations arise that my anger comes out I just try to remember that I'm angry because of my sin and I need to deal with it and move on. It's been extremely eye opening!

That's my update! I guess there's not really a lot at all..it just seems like a lot because we've been so busy with the house. But, hopefully we will get to relax again soon :)

Memphis Trip

2008-05-23T11:34:00.005-05:00

Our trip to Memphis/Missouri was awesome! We had so much fun with Josh and Angela...and the best part is, we're still friends even after spending that much time together and them experiencing my home town :) We left on Wednesday afternoon last week and drove straight through to Memphis...we got there around 12:30 AM. We stayed at the Hyatt...it was really nice! They room was super cool and it had a big screen TV...we had rooms next door to each other that were identical. Thursday morning we woke up and went to Gibson's Dounuts (owned by Bleecker's cousin). We tried to take a group picture with the sign in the background...as you can see it didn't go so well.

A lady named Teresa pulled into the parking lot rolled down her window laughing and asked if we were trying to take a group picture. She said "I thought ya'll was handicapped" and offered to take a real picture for us. As you can see, she stood about 4 miles away from us to make sure she got the whole sign in the picture :)

After Gibson's we headed to Graceland. It was pretty cool! We had fun, and it was interesting to hear more about Elvis' life. I didn't know very much.

Next we went to lunch at The Rum Boogey Cafe...we had some good BBQ there and took a picture on their stage...the guy told us to look like rockstars...as you can see...I didn't really know what was going on, so I just looked normal.

We walked around downtown...it was cool, there was live music and lots of BBQ joints everywhere!

After that we went to Sun Studios...which to me was the coolest part of the trip. Because Elvis, U2, Johnny Cash and many others recorded in the very room we were standing in. We were literally standing right next to the drums that Adam Clayton played whey U2 recorded Rattle and Hum. So weird! It was cool, unfortunately we forgot to bring our camera in....lame.

It started to rain while we were in the studios, so we decided to grab some more BBQ and just hang out at our hotel. We watched The Office and Lost.

Friday we woke up and enjoyed a nice relaxing breakfast in the hotel lobby and then headed to my parent's house in MO. We stopped at a few antique shops on the way and ended up buying some reall cool stuff...since both couples are buying houses really soon, we had a good time picking out new stuff. The sad part is, we had to leave it with my parents so they can bring it when they come in July because we couldn't fit everything in our car :) Anyways, we had my Dad's Birthday Party Friday night...then Saturday we spent the day "seeing the sights of Thayer." Don't blink you might miss them. We went to Mammoth Spring State Park and to Grand Gulf State Park. It was a beautiful day! This is where I grew up!

My nephew graduated from High School Saturday night and we saw some old friends that I graduated with as well. Then, Sunday morning we headed back home. It was the greatest trip ever!

lots to update on

2008-04-29T10:50:00.002-05:00

Okay...so I have a lot to update, but instead of going with the normal incredibly long post with every detail of my life...I will just do the highlights :)

1. We are buying a house!! We close May 28 and will move in at the beginning of June...if you want to help us move and paint and remove popcorn...let me know :)

2. We had dessert night with The Hofmann's April 18...actually it was going to be movie night, but I changed the name to dessert night because we went to two places for dessert :) Pokey O's and Sprinkles in Dallas...but we did see "Expelled" at the Angelika and it was great!

3. Lost started again last week. The Office started again on April 10.

4. Mack and Dustin came over for dinner last Thursday.

5. We've hung out with The Walkers and The Smiths a lot...The Walkers put an offer in on a house 5 minutes from ours :)

6. We had dinner with the Nadwodny's.

7. I get free massages at my chiropracter.

8. Wednesday was Administrative Assistant's Day...Josh and Bleecker took me to Patrizio's for lunch...in my "limo" (which was really just Bleecker's car) and they got me a sweet card and Target gift card to buy stuff for our house...I have the best bosses ever

9. May is going to be really cool because all kinds of fun things are happening!

The Patriarch of The Village Church

2008-04-24T08:26:00.004-05:00

Mr. Delmus Steele - April 30, 1932 - April 23, 2008

After over 6 months of battling with pancreatic cancer this dear man has gone home to be with his Lord. He has touched the lives of the entire staff and every member of The Village Church, even the lives of those he had never formally met. He loved this church and had been praying that the Lord would do something great here for years. He was so happy that he was able to see his prayers come to life before his death.

Del was one of the most humble, gentle and unselfish people I have ever met. He and his wife Gerry spent their afternoons cleaning up and reorganizing the Sanctuary at the church. He was the Chairman of the Elders and an encouragement to the staff. He never complained, the closest I ever heard him come to complaining was one Sunday morning when he told me that sometimes the music was so loud in the sanctuary it made his pacemaker vibrate, he said he wasn't a fan of the music, but if it brought people to know Christ than who was he to complain. He loved Jesus with all of his heart and it was evident through his service and love.

I love him and will miss him and I hope that I can grow up to be just like him one day. His funeral is Sunday, April 27 at 2 PM in the Highland Village Sanctuary. Instead of flowers he has asked that everyone donate money to the Flower Mound Expansion. Be in prayer for his wife Gerry, his two sons Doug and Steve and their families.

Del and his beautiful wife Gerry

okay okay...

2008-03-31T19:21:00.002-05:00

I'm finally posting...after like 20 requests from the Hofmann's :) It's just been a long time because there has been a lot going on at work and that's usually when I post....oops. Anyways, things are going well. I am learning so much! We have been doing a money study with Josh Patterson and a bunch of staff members and it has been great! We have totally redone how we do our finances. We have changed over the cash system...which means we use cash for most things, food, entertainment, groceries, that sort of thing. Everything else we use our credit card, bills, gas, bigger purchases and pay it off every month. We already had a budget, but we have re-worked a lot of things...like how we do our savings and what we use cash for and what we use the card for. It's been awesome! It's been incredibly freeing for me because I tend to not want to do anything fun, but put every penny in savings. Eric is the opposite because he wants to have fun and save moderately....so instead of me saying no to him every time he wants to do something fun we just check the cash and see if we have enough. It's great! I have even gotten some new clothes without feeling guilty! Amazing! So, that's been great...thanks Josh and Nat and Bleecker and Faith for all you've taught us and everyone else in the study who have been going through this with us. I think we've all gotten a lot out of it.

I'm still meeting with Katherine occasionally and she has brought a lot of issues to the surface and taught me a lot. I've really enjoyed going deeper with her. The biggest thing that I have been dealing with lately is confession...there have been times that I have felt the need to confess and I have...it's been really good because I want to ignore the need to confess and just keep it to myself or just between me and Katherine or me and Eric, but I know I need to be more open about where I am with my community, so that's what I'm learning and it's been great!

We have planned our vacations for the summer! We are going to Graceland and Thayer, MO with Josh and Angela Walker. Eric has always wanted to go to Graceland, so we decided to go up to Thayer for my nephews graduation in May and stop through Memphis on the way. The Walkers will get to see my home town...they are so lucky :) So that will be fun! We are also going to Portland with John and Natalee Warren in July! That's where John is from and he's been telling us how great it is, so we are excited to hang out. We don't know for sure what we're doing while we're there yet, but we might go camping and maybe to Seattle because it's only 3 hours away. Either way both trips are going to be a blast! It's also really encouraging to us that we are making couple friends! It's just been awesome how the Lord has brought us together with so many couples from the Village, through our home group and the staff and even the worship band...it's so great.

Welp....that's my update. I will try to update again before next month!

Survey Thingy

2008-02-29T12:24:00.004-06:00

I was tagged by Bex to fill this thing out. So here goes:

10 years ago:
-I was 16 and stupid
-probably skipping school with half of my class (we were slackers)
-a junior
-really into dc Talk....ha

Things on my to-do list today:
-workout
-buy groceries
-read my book
-give Bex piano lessons
-maybe go to Culture and Theology

What would I do if I suddenly became a Billionaire?
-pay for the Flower Mound Campus (formerly known as the Albertsons) renovations
-go to all the places Eric and I have always wanted to go
-hopefully give a lot away to people in need
-buy lots of shoes for myself and electronic toys for Eric
-help my friends and family get out of debt, and pay off our school loans
-buy a house
-save and invest in some stock or something

Three of my bad habits:
1. Believing lies about myself instead of listening to truth
2. I'm really nosy
3. After cooking dinner, washing the dishes while my food gets cold and Eric gets mad

Five jobs I have had:
-the SBU Post Office (I was cool)
-the SBU gym maintenance crew
-delivering flowers for Thayer Florist
-Barnes and Noble
-The Village Church (greatest job ever)

Five things people don't know about me:
1. My senior year in the "Who's Who" part of the Thayer High School Yearbook...Brad Haney and I were voted "Most Talkative" in the entire school...not as a joke, but because we really were the most talkative kids in school
2. I got in trouble in school A LOT...not huge trouble, but trouble where I had to sit in the hall or go to the principal's office to get paddled...mostly for talking too much or talking back (one time for making sheep sounds when I was supposed to be listening? what was wrong with me?)
3. One time I put a fake roach in my 5th grade teacher's desk because she was deathly afraid of bugs...it scared her so bad she fell out of her chair. I didn't get in trouble because it was so funny, but she kept my fake roach (at least until I stole it out of her desk later that year)
4. My Mom used to tell me that if you swallowed watermelon seeds you would grow one in your stomach and I didn't realize that probably wasn't true until last year
5. I am obsessed with Super Mario Bros.

I tag Courtney Hofmann, Amber Burger, and Andrea Lewis

finally

2008-02-25T11:53:00.003-06:00

Okay...I'm finally updating. I know it's been a while. I just feel like I don't have much to say...I mean other than surfacy stuff. We have been real busy the past few weeks, but life has been good! Valentine's Day was awesome...Eric surprised me all day. In the morning I got in my car to go to work and there were some chocolates, a card (that he made himself) and a rose in my car seat. The card said to prepare for an overnight stay. So I got off work a little early and packed my backpack. He took me to Hotel Lawrence and Spaghetti Warehouse...this is what we did on our wedding night! It was very sweet and it was a nice little get away.

Other than that we've been hanging out with various friends and just having fun! Lately we've gotten to play with the Warren's, the Bleecker's, the Hofmann's, Mack and Sara, and Steve and Janet Chandler. It's been fun.

Saturday I went to see "Definitely Maybe" with Sarah and I loved it! You should go see it, if you like girl movies (which I don't usually), so maybe go see it anyway. I almost cried like 4 times.

Anyways, that's what's been going on socially :) Spiritually, things have been really challenging lately...but in a good way. I'm meeting with Katherine again on Wednesday and I'm really excited. I've just been learning a lot about dying to myself and trying to be less selfish. It's definitely easier said than done...but I can at least tell the Lord is showing me times that I am selfish so I can work on doing the opposite...which is annoying, but I'm learning to listen! My big thing right now is just trying to be honest about my situation. I don't really know what I'm dealing with so that's why it's hard to communicate what I'm learning sometimes...so I'm learning that if I just ask God to reveal things to me, he will. And he definitely has! Funny how that works. So, once he reveals those things to me, it's up to me to do the right thing with them...so that's the challenging part. Another thing I've learned though...if I just ask for the strength to do it...he'll walk me through it. So, I guess I'm realizing I don't have to just try to work it out by myself, he's waiting to hold my hand through whatever if I just ask him and then let him. It's great! I'm excited to meet with Katherine so I can tell her what I've actually learned and we can go deeper to find more stuff in there. More sin to work through....yesssss.

Oh and on a completely different subject...we bought a new entertainment center, TV, and blu ray player! And...the best thing...we bought a Wii!!! That's my favorite part. We've been saving up for a while so we can "upgrade" which I care nothing about, but Eric really wanted to...and it looks good. I love the Wii though...I'm addicted. Anyways...that's all. Have a great week!

update

2008-02-06T08:25:00.000-06:00

Well, Monday was our 2 year anniversary (and Sarah's birthday)! Can you believe it? We've been married for 2 whole years...it's gone by fast.

For those of you who don't know, Sarah is my BFF and she was my maid of honor...on her birthday!! Talk about self sacrifice...what a lame birthday present. So, I always tell her that we're celebrating her birthday, not our anniversary.

Anyways, this past weekend we celebrated her birthday by heading to the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas for 2 nights...it was fabulous! I forgot to take pictures of our room, but if you want to see what it looks like here are some pictures:
http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll/qscr=dspv/htid=282336/crti=4/hotel-pictures
Anyways, while we were downtown we went to the 6th floor museum (JFK) and we went to the Aquarium and we had a blast! We had cookies and milk at night, free drinks and breakfast brought to our room in the mornings. But, for real...happy birthday Sarah! I'm glad you're my BFF....we should FOR REAL celebrate your birthday real soon :)

Besides that, we have been running around like crazy...this is going to be a busy month. My Mom was here a couple of weeks ago staying with us, then home group on Mondays, Venture on Wednesdays, Lost on Thursdays :)...well that was just last week. But we are going to continue our Lost party every week so whoever wants to come can come watch it with us. Courtney and DJ are coming back this week....also we are having dinner with the newly engaged Kent and Kristen! Friday is Cassie's wedding (one of my old roomates and also a co-worker) and Saturday we are doing dinner and a concert with Josh and Angela Walker, Michael and Faith Bleecker, and John and Natalee Warren in Dallas. It's been really fun though.

I've been learning a lot still. Monday we had Restore for the TVC Staff. It was excellent! Beau led it, he had us read 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1 individually for 30 minutes and write down any thoughts we had while reading. Then, we broke up into groups and shared our thoughts and then prayed over each other. It was very encouraging. It was funny how each of us was talking about what we got out of the text and it just happened to coincide with whatever God had been teaching us as individuals. So, my thoughts were a lot about letting go of selfishness and trying to focus on the glory of God and serving others. I've been pretty selfish my whole life and now I've realized it's gone so far I don't even realize it. For instance, if someone needs help around me, instead of just ignoring them purposefully I don't even notice their need. It's like a subconscious ignoring I guess. I don't want to do that...I want to serve the people around me. I talked to Katherine (that wise lady I was talking about in a previous post) about it and she just said..."well, all you have to do is, when you feel a selfish thought or action coming on, just do the opposite!" Sounds easy right? Well, it's not, but I'm trying to work on it :) I've just been praying a lot for awareness and that anything else that is causing sin inside me would come to the surface. So, it's been good and stretching.

Anyways, that's what's going on in my world.

LOST

2008-01-31T10:50:00.000-06:00

There are two things I am constantly plugging in my life. One is the band Mute Math (check them out, they are freaking amazing) and the other is the hit show on ABC "Lost"

Okay, okay I know I have made fun of a few people like Bex for being obsessed with the show "24," but if you know me at all, you know that I am just as obsessed or more with Lost...and it's coming back tonight!!!

We are having a party for all of our equally obsessed friends tonight, so if you watch lost you can come! But, you can't talk or someone might kill you...sounds fun doesn't it? If you've never seen the show...you have to watch it, it seriously is the best show on television. Check out the trailer for the new season:

If you want to catch up, go to the Lost website and click on the video called "Lost Recap in 8 minutes and 15 seconds."

the foo

2008-01-24T10:43:00.000-06:00

So...things are going well and I'm still learning a lot, but I am going to dedicate this post to the Foo Fighters. We went and saw them last night. They are doing an "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" Tour. Some crappy band and Jimmy Eat World opened up. Jimmy Eat World was good, the sound quality wasn't that great, but I liked their set and I like them. But, the Foo Fighters definitely stole the show (of course!)! Dave Grohl is freaking hilarious...even though he cusses a lot....he had the crowd rolling all night. Anyways, they came out and did a couple of new songs, a couple of old songs and then they lowered a smaller stage from the ceiling into the middle of the room and they came down a huge runway and did an accoustic set. Most of the time when bands do accoustic sets I get bored...but not with the foo. They are amazing at accoustic! There were 7 people on stage for that part, including a pianist, a violinist, a percussionist, a guy playing an acordian, Pat Smear on guitar (the origianl guitarist for foo fighters) plus the regular 4 members (Dave on vocals, Nate on bass, Chris on lead guitar and Taylor Hawkins on drums). Anyways, they did "My Hero" which I love in accoustic (and also rocking), but my favorite part was when they did "Everlong" because everyone else left the little stage and Dave Grohl did almost the entire song just him and his guitar...then at the very end he ran back to the big stage and the band rocked out the ending. I tried to video it on my phone for you guys, but the sound sucked! So...here is a real recording of pretty much exactly what we saw...except the stage was farther out and he ran back onto the big stage for the rock part...but the quality is way better! Enjoy!

growth

2008-01-15T12:38:00.000-06:00

I met with a godly woman, who I believe hears the Lord yesterday. Here are some things I learned from her (some of them I already knew, but kinda forgot or something):

1) I have two tanks inside of me, one is the flesh and one is the spirit. I am not how I feel, so when I don't feel like doing things or acting a certain way that I know the Lord wants me to act then all I have to do is take some of the spirit from the other tank and God will give me the strength to be obedient...even in small things like cleaning house or encouraging Eric.

2) I am not who people tell me I am, or who the enemy tells me I am. I am a daughter of the King and he loves me no matter what I do or how I react. I don't have to believe the lies, only the truth. I just have to learn how to discern between the two.

3) I am free and I have chosen not to walk in that freedom. The Lord has given me freedom, but I have not accepted it yet. I want to accept it, but I don't think I know how to fully walk in it right now.

It was a good meeting.

Prayer

2008-01-14T07:44:00.001-06:00

So today I realized I am holding onto something, but I'm not sure what it is. Actually I've known that for a while, but today I realized I'm scared to give it up...whatever it is. Maybe I'm afraid that it'll hurt or something, but I want to give it up. So I'm praying that God would reveal what it is, so that I can be changed. I don't want to keep holding onto something that keeps me from Him. So please pray that I will die to myself and be obedient.

christmas

2007-12-31T12:11:00.000-06:00

Welp...Christmas is over, it was a good year. I can't believe 2008 starts tomorrow! We had a great Christmas...we got to spend time with both of our families and we got to spend a lot of time with each other. The staff party was a blast and very encouraging and our home group sweater party was very memorable :)

I think the biggest theme of the past couple of weeks has been me realizing I'm not okay. I don't know what's going on really, but somewhere in the past few months or years or whatever I have just stopped communicating. I'm scared to let people know who I am and I hate crying in front of people so I feel like if I open up too much the tears will come. So, I just hide it. I'm not really sure what I'm hiding, but I hope to find out. Matt's sermon on Sunday was a great reminder to ask "how?" as well as Lauren's blog you should check out the blog and listen to the podcast to hear the sermon! Anyways...pray for me if you think about it.

On a lighter note...I am finally going to post some pictures from the past few weeks!

Lenny's favorite spot at Christmas time

Eric's Mom and Dad at our house for Christmas

A cute picture of my Dad at their house on Christmas day

The sign for my home town

The church I grew up in...Thayer First Baptist

Adam and Kimbo at our Home Group Christmas Sweater Party

John and Natalie

I just glued ugly Christmas ornaments to a red sweater

I love Christmas!

2007-12-06T13:45:00.001-06:00

This is my favorite time of year! I love buying gifts and having parties and putting up decorations and everything that goes along with it. We have been making plans for our Christmas and I'm really excited. We are having the Bowman family over to our house on Friday before Christmas, then leaving Saturday for Missouri and our friend James Crabtree is going with us! We will be there until Thursday probably...it'll be nice to go home for a few days, even though it only takes like one hour before we're bored and ready to leave...it's still fun to see my family!

Anyways...the past week has been good...just shopping a lot mostly. We finished our Christmas shopping! I'm so glad...I love getting done early and knowing it's all taken care of.

Our tree has been up since Thanksgiving and it has been knocked over by Lenny (the cat) a total of 3 times...I mean Pedro (the other cat) could have done it...but let's face it, it's Lenny...she's the crazy one. She likes to get up as high as she can and try to reach an ornament she likes and then she tackles the tree. She finally got her favorite ornament off and hid it under the couch (it's a stuffed stripped cat that looks a lot like Pedro with a scarf...I don't know if she has anger issues because it looks like Pedro and not her or what). But, we found it...we decided not to put that one back on there to see if that would calm the tree tackling down.

I got a new phone! I love it! Isn't it cute?

I'm still watching Lost a lot! Season 3 comes out Tuesday!! Don't buy it for me for Christmas because I'm going to buy it before then :) I have to re-watch it before Season 4 starts of course!

Anyways...that's what's been going on. I hope everyone is having a good week!

Part of the Story

2007-11-28T09:26:00.000-06:00

Last night Matt and Lauren Chandler came over for dinner and Lauren asked me a question I get asked often since I am from Missouri..."How did you end up in Texas?" I answered like I usually answer and briefly told the story of God changing my heart and leading me here instead of the places I thought I wanted to go. After they went home we decided to drive out to Dallas for a Chris Megert (or Chris August whatever his name is now) late show because we hadn't seen him in a while, it was free, and we wanted to get a copy of his new CD. I kept thinking about that question and I realized I had been leaving out a part of the story that means a lot to me...that I will never forget. I kept thinking about it all night and how I still think about it often, but for some reason leave it out when I tell the story. So I thought I would just go ahead and tell it to my blog, but I guess I kinda have to tell the whole story:

I was in my Junior Year of College at SBU...planning on graduating in December. I was moving to Nashville and extremely pumped about it! For the summer I was planning on an internship and I had about 5 to choose from. All of them were festivals or labels or something of that sort. The problem was I knew I was called to ministry and I thought that working at a "christian label" was just that. I mean I had it all planned out...I was moving in with a friend for the summer and hoping the label or whatever would hire me on after the internship was over. I would come back to school for a semester and then move to Nashville permanently...I knew a lot of people in the industry so I knew I could easily get a great job (it's all in who you know for sure).

Then the day came when the Lord changed my heart. I was getting really close to having to decide on what internship I was going to take and I had no idea...I kept going over the different possibilities and I could not make a decision. Finally one Sunday I was at church...Springhill Baptist...it was a normal day...nothing out of the ordinary and I just heard the Lord. I knew he was telling me that I wasn't supposed to be in Nashville and ministry for me was definitely not having a successful career in the entertainment industry and I finally listened. So as you can imagine...it's a month before I'm supposed to move and not only do I not know what I am going to do for the summer...I have no idea where I'm even going to live! I didn't want to go home...I had already devoted the summer to training for my future and I knew I couldn't find that in Thayer, MO. So I pretty much had a nervous breakdown right in front of Bob Caldwell.

Bob was travelling and speaking all over the country at the time and I had met him when I was in 9th grade. He had witnessed a lot of growth in my life and actually been a big part of that growth through the Houston Project. Springhill was his home church and he was just back with his wife Joy and his kids to visit. He walked up to say hi and asked me how I was doing and I just started bawling. I couldn't control it! And just let me clear something up...I do NOT like crying in public.

He sat down next to me and hugged me and asked if I was okay. I began to tell him what was going on in my life at that moment. He already knew of my plans and I believe somehow knew it wasn't what I was meant to do...but never said anything. I just kept saying "I don't know what I am supposed to do now? This is supposed to be a life changing moment in my life and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

After I explained my situation he said this...and I will never forget it. He said, "When my family travels...Joy packs several suitcases for the trip. She will pack small ones for overnight stays, medium ones for a few day stays, and huge ones for weeks or longer stays. Do you know why she does that? Because when we are travelling, a lot of times we will stop and have shorter stays on our way to places we know we will be longer. She just unpacks a little each day until we eventually reach our destination and can open the huge suitcase." Of course by now I'm sure you know where this story is going. I'm still bawling and he puts his arm around me and says "Sweetie, you don't have to unpack anything today...all you have to unpack today is what the Lord wants for you today and it looks like you're already working on that."

So...I bawled some more and felt a lot better. It may seem like a churchy answer to some...but it was exactly what I needed to hear. After that I went to my favorite Barnes and Noble with either Kayla or Sarah...or both probably :) and we did our normal Sunday afternoon thing...we would read, talk, and drink coffee at Barnes and Noble. I decided to call Jeremy...one of my good friends because he had been helping me through the decision. I told him I had decided not to move to Nashville and I told him it was because I knew it wasn't ministry. As I shared he told me..."you have to call our manager, Tony." Jeremy was in a band I toured with throughout my first year of college and I had met their manager 2 times...because he lived in Sherman, TX and didn't get to come up much. I said "why?" and he said " just call him...here's his #...tell him what you just told me."

So...there I was in Barnes and Noble calling Tony Brown, who I barely knew and telling him my life story. He actually answered...which now I know is a miracle because he NEVER answers his phone...just kiddin Tony! I told him what I had just told Jeremy and he said..."well, let me tell you where I am." He told me about The Underground...a club he had started in Sherman that was known for being the greatest venue in the area. It was growing like crazy and he was looking for some help on some new projects he was hoping to start up....which is also really funny now that I know Tony. He is ALWAYS working on a new project :) It just so happens...Tony's vision for The Underground was "ministry over industry" and he was looking for an intern.

A month later I was moving to Sherman for the summer. I'm going to end the story here because there is a whole other chapter starting at this point. I just felt like I should share that moment in time, since I seem to leave it out when I tell my story all too often.

Anyways...thanks Lauren for asking me that question and reminding me of God's sovereignty in my life!

Yay!

2007-11-20T13:30:00.000-06:00

My parents are on their way to Texas as we speak...they should be getting close to the border right now. I'm excited to see them! It's weird how that changes the older you get. Anyways...we are going to Babe's tonight! My dad is obsessed with chicken fried steak...so the second I told him about Babe's he started dreaming about coming when they came to town. I at first said we could go tomorrow night since they would just be getting in today...and he called me and said "what? why can't we go Tuesday? and again on Wednesday?" so needless to say we are going tonight instead :) The Walkers and The Warrens are going with us....John and Natalee have never been...they are in for a treat :) Anyways...it should be a good time.

In other news we went to Houston for a couple of days this past weekend. We went to my friend Josh's wedding in the Woodlands...it was beautiful! It was very fall oriented and formal. Then we went to hang out with my friend Carrie Cochran! I love her! Then we met up with The Walkers because they were also in town...and Josh W. was playing with a band that night...so we went with them. The main band was great! Homer Hiccolm and the Rocket Boys...you should check them out. Sunday we went to Houston's First Baptist and saw some more friends...Carrie, James Crabtree and Becky Parker. That was fun...then we headed home.

Last night we had home group and we talked a lot about dispensationalism (not sure if I spelled that right) it was intense...but a good conversation. Of course we had a great dinner made by Ann Wright and laughed a lot as well.

Anyways...that's the update! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

mute math, catch phrase and the goonies

2007-11-12T16:33:00.000-06:00

Okay...I'm trying to get better at updating more often. So here I am. Can I just tell you how great my weekend was?

It was kicked off with a tradition..."Mack, Mal and Andrea's Friday lunch with Bari's hamburger pizza and ranch" yes that's the official name! We were celebrating Mallery Quon's 21st birthday (which was actually on Halloween) by enjoying a tradition we used to have every week back in the day when our staff was small. It was a good time...little Mal is growing up! I met her when she was 16...so crazy.

Anyways...Friday night Eric and I headed out to Fort Worth to Amber and Vernon Burger's house!! Amber and I went to SBU together...we go way back. Anyways...Sarah came over too and Amber and Vern's roomate Robin was there as well and of course little Titus. Caroline (Amber's cousin) came for a little bit. We enjoyed a great meal together and then we just got a chance to sit around and catch up. We also played "catch phrase" which is my favorite game! It is even more my favorite game when Vernon plays. Me and Sarah always try to get him to play with us because it's way funner! He just yells a lot and gets really excited...you just have to see it. I was on Vernon and Robin's team and we won! Vernon was exhausted from yelling and everyone else was exhausted from laughing at Vernon after that first game...it was worth it though. I love my friends!

Saturday we went to see Mute Math!!! We were on the front row and they rocked our faces off. Paul (the lead singer) did a front flip over his keyboard and then a back flip back over. It was so cool! They did great and they ended up doing a 3 song encore...they usually just do one song. They played all my favorite songs and it was of course the best show I've ever seen! We got to see our friends Bob and Mati and Mel Kidd there...so we went to a nearby diner afterwards to hang out.

Sunday Josh and Natalie Drew came over to hang out and we watched "The Goonies" because Josh Drew had NEVER SEEN IT! Can you believe it? It was a good time of fellowship...we just sat around a talked the rest of the day.

This is a busy week. Tonight we have home group, Wednesday Adam and Tarrah Lancaster are coming over. Thursday Justin Hines and his girlfried Lindsay are coming over and Friday night Tim and Dee Dee Wint are coming over. Dee Dee is a home ec teacher and was my mentor for the first couple of years that I moved here...so she is going to teach me how to make something cool for dinner. I'm excited! I mean eventually we're going to have people over for a second time and ya'll may not want to have "Chicken Surprise" every single time :)

Welp that's the update! I'm getting better see?

Lately...

2007-11-06T16:44:00.000-06:00

I suck at blogging. I was waiting until I could post some pictures of New York, but it's taking to long...I'll have to do a picture post later. So I'm finally updating!

Welp...we went to New York and it was so fun! We did some touristy stuff like The Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building...which were cool...not exciting, but cool. We went to Ground Zero...but they were just rebuilding, so there wasn't much to look at or reflect on or anything. We did see a stature/sculpture thing that was damaged in 9/11, but was the only thing still standing...it stands for peace...that was pretty cool.

The first night we went into Times Square (which we loved) and walked around...we ate at this restaurant called "Carmines" it was AMAZING! That was a great introduction to the city!

We stayed in Brooklyn with our friend Mia...so we got to ride the Subway a lot and it wasn't scary like the movies make it out to be.

We went to the firehouse from Ghostbusters...Eric was so excited! We went to the outside of the apartments from Friends and I was excited about that :) We also went to the outside of the Cosby house.

We went to a place called Magnolia Bakery that Bleecker recommended and we ate at a pizza place called Rays that Justin Brooks recommended...we ate there twice in fact :) It was dang good!

The best night by far was when we went to the Conan O'Brien show! It was so much fun! The guests were Anthony Hopkins, Joe Buck and freakin Mute Math! (disclaimer: I have started refering to Mute Math as freakin Mute Math because they are just absolutely freakin amazing) You can watch their performance here (it doesn't sound as great as it does live and it's kind of dark, but you get the idea):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClPkSWO89mc
We are going to see them Saturday at the House of Blues! Everyone should go...you can get your tickets on ticketmaster. They are freakin amazing!

So New York was good...it was the most exhausting trip I've ever been on..but luckily we got to go to Staff Retreat the next week and do absolutely nothing! Staff Retreat was awesome too of course. It was fun to play games and hang out and get to know everyone better. We played Mafia A LOT and I read A LOT. There was also a lot of silliness...like anytime Josh Patterson would get ahold of a microphone...I'm sure you can all imagine.

We also had some really good times of worship and good talks about the future of The Village. Steve Hardin came and spoke one night and it was really challenging to everyone. And one night we just prayed a lot. It was much needed for us all!

Besides those trips we have not been doing too much. I started re-watching Lost so that I can prepare for Season 4 which starts in January! I'm excited! We've been hanging out with lots of great friends and our home group has been so fun! The past couple of months have definitely been months of deepening friendships and I love it.

So yeah...that's my update! Sorry there aren't pictures yet.

Update:

2007-10-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

Well...I haven't gotten to update in a while. Not much to update! We have been having lots of fun...since the last time I've written.

We got play Mafia all night at Beau's Birthday Party...I was the mafia 3 times! Apparantly I'm a pretty good liar sometimes...but not really...you just have to be the right amount of quiet and accusatory and you win. I actually was accused a lot of times though!

Anyways...we also go to go see Bleecker and J Drew play at a pub, which was way fun because lots of our friends were there and they did great!

We got to go to an Office Watching Party at The Pattersons for the season premier! It was fun and I went to Sarah's to watch it last night and she got me an office basket for my birthday! I got pens and post its and mugs and all kinds of fun stuff...plus an I tunes gift card. Thanks Sarah!!

We got to go to Arkansas with Rhythm and my parents came. It was good to see them and my niece Les.

I can't remember what else...but we're going to New York in 1 week and 3 days!!! We are way pumped about that!

Anyways...this is a lame update...but I hope you like it anyway :)

Natalie Tagged Me...

2007-10-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

1. Who is your man? Eric Michael Wayne Bowman
2. How long have you been together? 2 1/2 years...only married for 1 year and 8 months
3. How long dated? 11 months
4. How old is your man? 25
5. Who eats more? Eric...unless it's fries because I eat his too! I just can't help myself
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did...he just me down when I was driving away from his house and pulled me out of the car and told me...it was so sweet!
7. Who is taller? Eric
8. Who sings better? I would say him, he would say me...but it's him
9. Who is smarter? Me...just kidding! Neither one of us are very smart
10. Whose temper is worse? We both have anger issues
11. Who does the laundry? I do mostly, but he does sometimes too
12. Who takes out the garbage? Eric
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? This question is apparantly too confusing for me because I don't know...I think I do?
14. Who pays the bills? Me
15. Who is better with the computer? Definately my husband the graphic artist and mac snob (that was for you Nat)
16. Who mows the lawn? the landscaping company our apartment complex hired
17. Who cooks dinner? I do...but Eric can make eggs and he recently learned how to make macaroni and cheese!
18. Who drives when you are together? Eric
19. Who pays when you go out? It all comes from the same place
20. Who is most stubborn? that would be me probably
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? probably Eric...that's where I get stubborn
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Eric's because mine live 10 hours away
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me
24. Who asked who out? Well...that's complicated, because this is what happened:
Eric (at 2 AM in the morning after a Rhythm show): so what are doingn right now?
Andrea: going home and going to bed, what are you doing?
Eric (awkwardly standing and shifting around): I don't know....just....i don't want to go home yet, so I don't know....
Andrea: do you want to do something?
Eric: YEAH! WANNA GO GET SHAKES?
I mean he was trying to ask me..but he was scared and nervous, so I just helped him out a little
25. Who proposed? Eric
26. Who is more sensitive? I don't know...Eric is pretty much the girl in our relationship
27. Who has more friends? I mean pretty much all of our friends are both of our friends....we both know a lot of people! I probably keep in touch with more people from my past than he does...but I don't know if that means anything
28. Who has more siblings? Me
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Eric...he may seem like a pushover, but he's not...trust me I've tried!

I'm tagging Amber B., Courtney H., Jen A., and Andrea Hughes

My Color...

2007-09-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

Bex did this personality test on her blog and so I did it too...I love doing these things! This is my color (according to the test http://www.thecolorcode.com):

WHITES are motivated by PEACE. They seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good is more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for their strength because they don't easily reveal their feelings. WHITES are even-tempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason; but can also be indecisive, unexpressive, and silently stubborn. When others interact with you, as a WHITE you respond to them best if they are kind, accepting and supporting of your individuality, and if they look for non-verbal clues to understand your feelings.

I think this is partly right....but the questions were all...when you were a child and I've changed a lot since then and I think I'm more like this:

BLUES are motivated by INTIMACY. They seek to genuinely connect with others, and need to be understood and appreciated. Everything they do is quality-based. They are loyal friends, employers, and employees. Whatever or whomever they commit to is their sole (and soul) focus. They love to serve and give themselves freely in order to nurture others' lives.

BLUES have distinct preferences and have the most controlling personality. Their personal code of ethics is remarkably strong and they expect others to live honest, committed lives as well. They enjoy meaningful moments in conversation as well as paying close attention to special life events (e.g. birthdays and anniversaries). BLUES are dependable, thoughtful, and analytical; but can also be self-righteous, worry-prone, and moody. They are "sainted pit-bulls" who never let go of something or someone, once they are committed. When you deal with a BLUE, be sincere and make a genuine effort to understand and appreciate them.

I took a test like this in college and it said I was blue. Probably I'm a mixture of blue and white, or as Bex would say I'm skyblue. What do you guys think?

Best Birthday Ever! (So Far)

2007-09-07T08:49:00.001-05:00

So...in case you are not away birthdays last a week before and a week after the actual date you are born...at least my birthdays do. And although I haven't actual turned a year older just yet (tomorrow is my actual date of birth) I have been celebrating it all week! It has been soooo fun!

It started out last week when Mackenzie and Mallery took me to Bari's for lunch...man we love Bari's! We got some hamburger pizza and ranch and salads and free cheesecake cause it was my birthday! We used to have Friday lunches every week when only like 5 people used to be on staff and we would often order in Bari's....so it's like a tradition!

Since Eric has two Rhythm shows this weekend...we decided to celebrate my birthday last weekend as well! He gave me an "all about me day" where I could pick what I wanted to do and what I wanted him to buy me...it was like the best day ever!! He got paid for some Rhythm shows and normally we use every ounce of money we get to pay bills...but he said "this check is for your birthday and we can use for presents or going out to eat or going anywhere you want" so I chose Target....of course! He got me some new earrings, a new shirt, a new jacket, The Office Season 3 (complete with my very own Dundie Award) and a new bag! Then he also bought me a CD I really wanted on Itunes (because they don't sell it in stores) and then took me out to eat at Olive Garden! Our friends Josh and Angela Walker went with us...along with our new friends, Chris and Carlos. And then we went over The Walkers house afterwards to hang out.

Sunday we went to Josh and Natalie Drew's wedding! It wasn't for my birthday, but it was still fun and very beautiful!

Monday we met up with Dustin and Candie Sandlin and The Walkers again and went to Southlake Town Center to hang out. We ate at Snuffers...which is so good...and then just walked around the stores and got ice cream!

Tuesday we watched The Office all night.

Wednesday we went to Group Connect Training and the Robbie Seay Concert.

Thrusday I had a girls night out! Natalie Patterson thought it would be fun to take a group of girls to my favorite restaraunt...Buck N Loons. So we all met at my apartment and loaded up to drive to Arlington! It was a fun night with my friends Amber, Sarah, Maggie, Nat, Mackenzie, Lauren, Rebekah, Deedra, and Andrea L! We ate lots of food and of course they gave me free ice cream for my birthday :) It was so fun to hang out and talk with some of my greatest friends in the world all at the same time!

Tonight and tomorrow night Eric has Rhythm shows...so we will be going to those. Tonight they are playing at Maxamedia Studios in Las Colinas and tomorrow they are playing at Andy's in Denton...so if anyone wants to come and hang out on my birthday you should!!

Next week will be fun too I'm sure. I know we are having lunch with the new members in Denton on Sunday to celebrate their covenant signing. I also know that next Saturday 2 of my favorite people will be in town because By the Tree is coming!!! So I'll get to see sweet little Benny and Aaron and I'm so pumped about that!

Let's just say...this is the best birthday ever!

8 random facts...

2007-08-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Yes...I have been tagged to do the 8 random facts thing by Lauren Williams. I'm supposed to write all the rules first, but who cares...whoever I tag has to do it too...that's close enough.

1. I always eat my fruit candies in the order of my least favorite color to my favorite color (example: i eat skittles in this order - yellow, green, organge, purple, red)...in fact I always save my favorite part of everything for last...like the middle of the hamburger.

2. I loved Joey Lawrence when I was in 7th grace and I had his self titled tape (yes I said tape), which was my favorite! Eric found the CD at half priced books for $1 a few months ago and bought it for me as a joke...but I listen to it sometimes and I still know all the words! (I'm really embarassed that I just wrote that for the world to see)

3. I think feet are so gross! I hate it when people touch me with their feet...especially if it's close to my face and I don't like to wear sandals because I don't like the way my feet look and I don't want anyone to see them. Especially people with weird foot fetishes like Josh Patterson who has brought up the fact that I never wear sandals twice in the last 2 weeks! Good thing is wife is normal....love you Nat!

4. I choose my favorite restaurants based on the sauces that they have to dip stuff in. I have no idea why...anyone who has ever eaten out with me knows this! For instance...Bucks N Loons is my FAVORITE! because they have the greatest Honey BBQ sauce...I really like Red Robin's ranch and Bennigan's Honey Dijon.

5. I won 2nd place in our town's talent show for singing "Undo Me" by Jennifer Knapp in high school....I used to love her. And I was in Audition Choir!

6. Sometimes I think that Lenny (one of our cats) can talk...but really it's just her body language and the noises she makes. I swear she is communicating...she's really smart! Eric gets embarassed when I tell people.

7. I love Disney movies! Everyone probably already knows that...but it's a weird obsession for me. I have a whole bunch and I even have some of the Mickey cartoons that I used to watch when I was little.

8. I was obsessed with dc Talk all through junior high and high school. I wrote them lots of letters and I had all of their videos and CDs. I had dreams about meeting them and then one day I did and they weren't that cool! Sad isn't it?

I'm tagging: Amber Burger, Sarah Barnes (yes you have to do it and post it on my comments!), Vernon (and you better do it...I know where you live), Kristen Hawkins and Eric (ha!)

Good News!

2007-08-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't heard...Eric got offered a job as a Graphic Artist at The Village! We will be on staff together starting September 17....except he will be in Denton and I will be in HV. We are super excited and I'm extremely proud of Eric because he has worked really hard in school and has learned a lot in just the few short months he has been helping Adam and going to school. Anyways...it's a great opportunity for him! And...we get to share a room at Staff Retreat!

Besides that Eric also turned 25 yesterday! I got him a case for his guitar cab and a trip to New York! I found some really cheap tickets to fly and we are staying with our great friend Mia. We are going October 15-18...we are pumped! I can't believe I have been able to keep this a secret for over a month...I mean I told like everyone, except Eric! I'm pretty proud of myself because I usually can't wait.

Also for his birthday his family took us to Babe's for dinner...we love Babe's.

Besides that nothing else that cool is really going on...we have a Staff Pool Party on Friday! Should be fun! And today at Staff meeting we had a really good time of prayer and worship. I love everyone I work for.

Hope you are all doing great! Any suggestions for fun things to do in New York would be much appreciated!

so busy!

2007-08-03T17:17:00.001-05:00

Hey Everyone...
Life seems to be so busy lately! I guess we can all say that thought...right? I keep wanting to blog every day, but I don't ever have time! So I'll try to sum up some up the last week and 1/2 in 20 fun things (in no particular order).

1. We went to "The Dump" for the firs time and we saw a few cute things, but the only thing that we really really wanted was a comforter set, which they do not sell, but it is on all their beds. It's brown on one side and blue on one side and it's corduroy! I asked them where they got it and I've searched all over the internet and can't find it:(

2. We went to a New York pizza place in Addison called "Pastazios" it was excellent! The rumor is they ship water from New York to make their pizza so good.

3. We watched "The Simpsons Movie"...it was hilarious!! They definately did some things that they could never get away with on TV...I'm sure they've been saving those up for a while...still hilarious.

4. The Village is trying to buy Albertson's! It would be amazing if the Lord would work out all things so that we could. So far it's going good..but it could be stopped at any minute, we definately want what the Lord wants though, so if it stops it'll be Him...not us.

5. I started a new book that Josh Patterson gave me..."Simple Church" it's really good so far.

6. My friends Dave and Chaim from Soulsoak came to visit! They aren't "from Soulsoak" anymore, but I still say that...now they are pastors in Sherman, TX and they met with Josh for some ideas yesterday. They also took me and Eric to lunch at Red Robin...my love language.

7. My sister gave me $20 for my birthday (which is not still not until September...as you can see my family like to be early gifters) so I bought a new outfit and a new pair of shoes!! I had to spend $5 of my own money...but that's pretty good right?

8. Sarah came to play! I like her.

9. Our friend gave us free surround sound! He is now Eric's favorite person in the world. We are extremely grateful.

10. Our friend who put us on his VIP movie tickets list quit, but then another friend put us on his. So, we lost and gained back free movie tickets in the same day!

11. We've had more people over in the 3 weeks we've lived here than in the last year and 1/2 of our marriage, because now we live by the church :)

12. Tomorrow is our official year and 1/2 anniversary!! Babe...can we go to Buck N Loons?

13. We had Venture at the church Wednesday night and got to pray with our friends Josh and Angela Walker. It was a great night! Afterwards we also go to go to Chili's with Dustin, Hiroko, Chad, David, Daniel and Jesse.

14. I went to Chili's twice this week and I didn't hate it.

15. We finally got to hang out with Beau and Kimbo and we want to go on a 2nd date!

16. We are having Staff Fun Day on Monday and watching Jason Bourne movies all day. We're starting off in the sanctuary complete with surround sound, popcorn, candy and soda with "Bourne Identity" and "Bourne Supremacy." Then eating lunch together and heading to see "Bourne Ultimatum!" This is going to be the best Staff Fun Day ever!

17. Eric's birthday is in 1 1/2 weeks!! He'll be 25 on August 13!

18. Pedro hasn't peed on anything since we've moved...that we know of. Believe me...this is an accomplishment! I don't want to take him back to the cat orphanage.

19. I still love my job and it's getting funner every day!

20. Eric has an A in his class and he only has 2 weeks to go!

family reunions aren't as bad as you think

2007-07-25T16:48:00.000-05:00

We just got back from mine and it was actually a good time! Of course the drive to Hannibal MO was a beating and a half, but the one whole day we got to spend there was worth it :) We left on Thursday evening when we both got off work and picked my cousin Brieta up at her house in Sherman and proceeded to drive until 2 AM in the morning to Springfield MO (which is an 8 hour drive) to stay with Brieta's parents...my Uncle George and Aunt Dona. The drive was pretty uneventful except for we got to catch up with Brieta and Eric was doing homework on his laptop and lost power so for like an hour we had to stop at every restaurant to find a plug for him to finish up. But, we finally got there and went straight to bed of course!

The next morning we got up around 10 and headed to Hannibal around 11...which was another 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive. We stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch and did NOT have a good experience! The girl never even brought Eric his drink and then tried to charge us for it! We just shared one glass of water the whole time and the pizza wasn't that good. Remember when Pizza Hut was so cool and good? Did you guys ever do those "Book It" things where you read books in school and get free pizza? That was awesome!! Anyways...not as cool anymore. So...we finally got to Hannibal around 4 PM. We saw my nephew first and he told us where my Dad and Mom were parked with their RV...so we found my Dad, my brother and my brother in law sitting outside smoking and making fun of their wives for being "the welcome committee" so we definately joined in on that! They were running around trying to greet and help every single family member carry their luggage and stuff in...but I think they were mostly scaring people by being too excited!

We stayed on the river (I think it was the Mississippi) so there were cabins and campers and tent spaces. We stayed in a tent thing that rolls out from my parents RV...it's supposed to be like for an extra hang out room to keep chairs and stuff, but it worked perfectly for a bed too and we had air conditioning! It was freezing though, so we didn't really need it, but my Dad and Eric had to have it anyway!

The first night we just got to relax and hang out. We got to see everyone, but we had dinner with my immediate family (Mom and Dad, Sis and her family and my brother and his family) and then we went over to Uncle George's families cabin for smores!

The next day we just sort of sat around and talked and ate...which is what we do as a family usually. Eric and I got bored to we took my niece Les and headed to town to just eat and check out the Mark Twain crap. Then we got to see my friend Tessa and met her sweet little baby boy! He's almost 9 months old and I had never gotten to meet him. For those of you who were at our wedding Tessa was the 2nd bridesmaid. So that was super fun to meet little Cooper and hang out with Tessa and Tyler for bit. Then we went back to the river for a big family dinner and family church.

Now...I was really sceptical about family church, but it actually turned out to be fun! My Uncle (who is a baptist preacher) spoke and my cousin led us in some hymns, but we started out sharing about my Memaw and Papaw. They are the way we are all connected and how we were even born! So we shared memories and traits we had gotten from them and stuff. It was really funny and sometimes kind of emotional (by the way, they both passed away while I was in college). Then another cousin played "Amazing Grace" which was of course Memaw's favorite on the violin. So it was real fun!

Sunday we left pretty early and took the whole 12 hour drive back and made it home about 9 PM. But it was good to see my family and laugh and share memories and eat A LOT of good food!

we moved!!!!

2007-07-17T15:17:00.000-05:00

We finally live in Flower Mound...and we LOVE our new apartment! I especially love that I woke up at 7 this morning...got ready and still had 20 minutes to spare! Amen! Anyways...everyone is invited over to dinner...so whenever you want to come...let us know. We want to make up for lost time of living in the middle of nowhere for a year...a few of our friends ventured out to the deserted land of Roanoke...but not many! So come over! We want to have parties every day!

Thanks to my friends the move went great! Shout out to Sarah, Vernon, JP, Beau, Kimbo, J Drew, Angie and that guy named Jeff that I just met. They were awesome! They totally just ran with it...I felt like I hardly did anything! So they got the job done quickly and by the time Eric got home we were completely done and I had already put most of the stuff away! So he was way excited and surprised. We got everything else done and we are ready for friends to come over :)

Anyways...that's the update! Thanks to everyone who helped us and we hope to see you at our house soon!

Fun times!

2007-07-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks due to packing and friends in town and Eric out of town and what not. It's been fun though! I'll just start with te activities of the 4th of July and work my way to this week :)

So on the 4th of July we went to Eric's brothers house for a BBQ with his fam. After that we went to nerdville...AKA the Star Wars exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science. It was pretty fun...Eric loved it, but he's nerdy like that. All in all it was a good day! Oh and I forgot to mention on Tuesday night we went to see "Transformers" with our friends Justin and Loni and it was excellent and I like them.

Moving on...Friday we packed, Saturday we packed and then went to see "Live Free or Die Hard" it was good too, but not as good as "Transformers."

Sunday we had a great time with our friends! We went over to Amber and Vernon's house in the early afternoon and got to see our great friends who are in town from Missouri...Tessa and Tyler. Sarah, Allison, Justin and Caroline were also there, so it was a great fun party! We ate lunch together and then just talked all afternoon, then made dinner and ate dinner together and finally Eric and I left around 9 so he could pack for his trip this week. It was great to see everyone and just to be together with such great friends. That's probably my favorite pastime in the world...just hanging out with friends!

Monday Eric left for Kansas with Rhythm...he also started a new class at school...so he's had a pretty busy week! He's having fun though, but I miss him :(

Also Monday Sarah stayed the night with me! Our friend Holly is in town...she's also from MO, but now lives in California. So her and her friend Amy came over and went to eat at Snuffers and then watched a movie at my trashed out with boxes apartment.

Tuesday my Mom came into town from MO and stayed with me....Texas is getting a lot of Missouri action this week. She is in town for a conference, but she came a day early to hang out with me. So guess what...I made her clean my oven so I didn't have to! Actually I didn't make her, but I asked her how to get it clean and so she just started doing it...nice! And she bought me an ipod for my birthday...what a good mom! My birthday is in September, but she likes to get things out of the way...especially since I won't see her on my birthday. I packed pretty much all night last night, but there is still a lot to do! It's crazy.

Today I'm just planning on meeting my Mom for dinner and hopefully getting some more packing done. Tomorrow I'm going to pack more and Friday we're moving!!! Can you believe it? It's finally here! We can live close to something for once!

Anyways, that's the past week in a nutshell. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I have! If you want to help us move you just let me know ;)

Birthdays and Best Friends

2007-07-02T16:26:00.001-05:00

Hey Everyone...
I hope your weekend was fun! Ours was...Eric and I went on a date...which we don't get to do often...to my favorite restaurant....which is definately NOT Eric's favorite....Buck N Loons. It's my favorite restaurant because I judge a restaurant by it's dipping sauces and they have the best Honey Barbeque and guess what! They sell it now, so I bought a little tuperware bowl of it for $2.50...I'm going to eat it every day! Anyways, it was nice to go out and be with my husband...most of the time if we go out it's with friends...which is fun too, but sometimes it's nice to just be with Eric!

Saturday I spent pretty much the whole day with Sarah! We didn't do much really...just did some grocery shopping (since she was in London she didn't have any food), sat around and talked and watched The Cosby Show, then we went to church Saturday night. It was a celebration service...I love it when we have those! It's basically when we baptize a bunch of people and sing worship and take communion...also Josh Patterson and Michael Bleecker talked at this one. Josh talked about Acts 16 and about just the different people that were changed by God and their different stories...then Bleecker shared his story. So it was just a really great time to reflect on what God did in each of our lives to change us. Eric was playing, so after church me and Sarah went to Red Robin with Eric and Dustin Hamilton.

Sunday I slept in until about 9....since Eric had to go play again and then I got up and spent some time with Jesus and worked out and ran some errands before he got home...I felt really accomplished. After lunch Eric and I just sort of watched movies and talked. When he left to go play worship again Sarah came over and got me and we went to Titus' 3rd Birthday Party! It was pretty fun...we got to see Amber and Vernon and Titus got some great presents! He was REALLY excited about opening presents...I think more than about the presents himself...but I guess that's pretty normal for a 3 year old. But, it was funny.

Anyways...that's my weekend! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! This week there isn't much going on....Josh Patterson turned 30 today, so I decorated his office with tons of stuff with the help of some of the admins and Natalie got us these great embarassing pictures which we made copies of and pasted all over the office. It was pretty funny. Thursday I'm getting my permanent crowns at the dentist...that's pretty exciting...or not at all. This weekend Rhythm is playing at Nokia Live! That should be fun...but that's about it. Talk to you all soon hopefully!

Welp....

2007-06-29T11:59:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm not as good as blogging as I thought because it's been two weeks and I still don't feel like I have anything to say! I did good at first...but then I just sort of forgot about this thing. So I feel compelled to update...even though there isn't much to update on!

Eric and I are moving in two weeks!! It's just creeping by isn't it? I can't wait though and we are going to have a big party at our new apartment in Flower Mound and you are all invited! Finally we will live close to my job and most of our friends! I know Sarah...we will be so far away from each other, but I'll be saving so much gas driving to work I can spend it all on coming to visit you and The Burgers! It'll be so great! So we are moving on July 14 and need lots of help if anyone is available!!

Last week I got to go to Houston with Rhythm...it was awesome! They played at Houston's First Baptist, I have some very beautiful memories of that place and I thouroughly enjoyed getting to walk through the building and sit in some of the classrooms and just remember my sweet friends I've made there and the wonderful things God has shown me in that place. Of course I visited "prom hair Jesus" and told him hi for everyone :) Anyways...it was a blessing to be there and it was so fun because I got to play with Carrie Cochran!!! I also go to see James and Becky too. And Afshin was the speaker...so that made it extra fun! We all had a great time. It was real weird being there with Rhythm, but it was fun to show Eric around and finally introduce him to phj. So....good times!

Other than that, there really hasn't been that much going on besides being busy at work! There is so much to do these days, but it's so exciting, so sometimes I get a little stressed, but in the end it'll be worth it.

Sarah came back! I wish she had a blog so she could tell everyone all the funny stories about her trip (hint hint) I for one would love to read it every day! Just saying...

2 of our great friends are coming into town next week...Tessa and Holly Schmerner (that's not her real name) and I can't wait to see them!! We are going to have a party!

Okay this blog is just random...I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to hear from you all soon!

What a week!

2007-06-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

This week has been so great...as far as learning experiences go. Eric is in Colorado with Bleecker, Dustin Hamilton, Dustin Sandlin, and Josh Walker leading worship for The Village students and I miss him dearly! I didn't really know what to expect...because to be honest, I don't think we've been away from each other this long in our entire dating career (which is only 2 years, but still!) the most we've been away is 4 days. To make it even harder...his phone doesn't work and everyone else's phones only work in town...which is a 15 minute drive. So needless to say...we've barely even gotten to talk :( I was kind of worried that I'd be scared while I was home alone, because I have a very vivid imagination and the slightest sound (or made up sound) can lead to a killer under my bed ready to strike...ridiculous, I know! But, it actually hasn't been that bad! I've been praying a lot that I would feel God's presence and not feel fear, so when my mind goes there I'm trying to put into practice the "take captive every thought" thing and it has definately helped!

The thing I didn't expect was that I would get soooo much done and actually enjoy my time alone a little. I've been able to prepare for our move by cleaning out all the closests and going through all our CDs and stuff and just getting rid of things that I've been holding onto...that I don't use or need. I mean it wasn't much, but it felt good to get rid of a few things...plus our house is so clean and organized right now...I just hope it can stay that way until we move on July 13!

I've also been able to read more and just enjoy silence. I'm still reading "Money, Sex and Power" and it is so far really challenging me and actually leading me closer to Jesus and I love it!

Before Eric left we got to have some really good and much needed conversations, so it's also been a good week just to reflect on our marriage and how I can become a better wife. I'm so freaking prideful and selfish...I really need God's help on being a good wife and I have to be reminded of it daily.

Another cool thing that has happened was on Monday night I was driving home and I felt like the Lord spoke to my heart and asked me specifically to obey...I argued, but in the end I did obey and in the end the Lord totally blessed me! It was extremely encouraging for my soul and it's been a while since I felt that clear of a command and was able to immediately obey.

Anyways...so it's been great! I've gotten a little girl time in there too. I went to Sarah's on Sunday and we got to run some errands for her trip to London and also watch some Office episodes....she has tivo :) Sarah I miss you already! Come back!! And tonight I'm staying with Nat because Josh is also at the camp with Eric...so we're going to have a slumber party...just me, Nat and Lily. So it'll be great!

But...I cannont wait until Eric comes home on Friday! I cried a little after I talked to him yesterday and I don't even know why. I guess I'm turning into more a girl than I thought I was...any of you who have known me since college are laughing right now :) But...whatever I'm not ashamed...okay maybe a little, but I'm letting my pride down to tell you guys that I cried. Whatever...if anyone wants to hang out in the next two days give me a call!! I feel like I could write a lot more...but it would be rambling because I'm not sure how to word all that the Lord has done in my heart lately. So...I'll leave it at this. Thanks for reading!

Money

2007-06-04T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's funny that Chandler read Matthew 6 this week, because that is exactly what I have been learning and struggling with lately. We have had sooo much random stuff to pay for and we have been living paycheck to paycheck the past few weeks and I have been a little frustrated to say the least. Some days I will be feeling great, trusting God and knowing that He is in control...but some days I am definately struggling.

This week is good so far...also so far we haven't had any unexpected expenses this week...so that always makes it easier! It just has seemed like lately we have had everything in the world go wrong with our cars and all of our huge bills are coming due, like Eric's school, apartment deposits that come with the move...not to mention my Dentist bills that we haven't even begun to think about paying!

I'm learning it's okay though. There have been little mini blessings in between...for instance we are getting a refund on one of my Dentist bills because the insurance paid more than we initially thought...so that will help pay off part of those bills ($400 is quite a nice refund!) and last week we went out to eat at Olive Garden for Eric's nieces graduation (her choice...obviously we would have picked McDonald's if we were choosing because it's cheap) and unexpectedly somebody covered the bill for the entire table...which had to be well over $100, ours wasn't too expensive because we shared something, but it's always a nice blessing to expect to pay money for something and then not have to :)

But, even if we didn't receive the mini blessings I'm still thankful that God is trying to teach me to trust Him. I go through this about every few weeks when I get stressed about our money and our bills, but it's always a nice reminder! I don't know why I can't just get it! This time God is even bringing it up in my quiet time and in the book I'm reading "Money, Sex and Power" by Richard Foster and now in Matt's sermons. He's really ready for me to get it! I'm really ready for me to get it too!

Why do we remain unmoved?

2007-05-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

Chandler brought up this question this weekend and it has been haunting me ever since...which is exactly what he wanted that little stinker. Anyways...I have thought about it often times before, but I seem to all to easily forget. Eric and I have been talking about it a lot and it just makes me wonder what others are thinking about it. I want to be moved...I want to desire God and I want to know him more...but most of the time I do little to accomplish that. Sometimes I'm afraid that I will be one of those that makes it to see his face and he says he doesn't know me...which is so scary...but honestly I'm not sure if it's scary for the right reasons for me. I want to love him more than anything, but my heart is so easily swayed, which I hate...but most of the time don't even realize my idols until it's been an idol for a log time. I think that my two biggest idols are easily my husband...obviously...and my job. I love these two things more than life itself and would do anything for anyone on staff or for Eric if they only asked. I think I tend to get prideful in both of them, but mostly in my job. I don't mean to and in my head I don't think I'm cool because I'm on staff or anything, but some of the things I might say or do may seem like that. Eric actually called me out on something I said...which I didn't mean in a prideful way at all, but to "an outsider" it could potentially sound that way. I was glad he told me because I hadn't really ever thought about how I say things before. I am extremely grateful that God has allowed me to be on staff here and I don't think I'm here for any reason except that he has allowed me to be..definately not of my own efforts. But, it's easy, especially in comparing our church to other churches I've been involved in to be prideful in the fact that we are "different." If that makes any sense at all! I feel like I'm kind of rambling at this point...so all I can say is please pray for me. Please pray against any idol I might have in my life and also that I would deeply desire God above all things. I want to be annoying like Paul in my love for Christ, but I don't even know what that looks like in this culture and this time. I pray that we would all think about our idols and think of where we are unmoved and desire to love God more with our whole hearts.

It has been a good week...

2007-05-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

Busy, but good. I don't feel as if I have a whole lot to say, but I will say that God is doing a lot of work on my heart. I pray that it will continue and that I will accept it and be able to apply what I'm learning. One thing that was really good for me this week was staff meeting. It was good because I was able to voice some of the things I have been struggling with as a staff member, as was everyone else and we were able to pray in groups together about our struggles and about things that we are gifted in, but want to get better at. I was able to pray with Jamie and Adam...and confess that I struggle with what people think of me and if I fit in and that I want to get better at my job by learning how I can help Josh, Bleecker and Beau do their jobs better. It was really great because in our praying and sharing and talking we discovered we feel a lot of the same feelings of inadequecy, which are all lies from the enemy. Overall it was a good meeting...we all want to grow in the gifts God has given us, pray for each other in our struggles and learn how to be more encouraging. Have I mentioned how blessed I am to be on staff with so many amazing people?

Please pray for the staff when you think about it...God is doing a lot of great things in all of us and Satan doesn't like it. There is a lot going on and it would be easier for everyone to just give in to temptation, but we need to be accountable and trust the Lord with the future of the church.

What a Great Weekend!

2007-05-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

As most of you know one of my bff from SBU, Kristin, came into town this weekend to visit and it was awesome! She got here Thursday morning...so I picked her up and she had to go to work with me...I'm sure she was extremely bored but it was fun for me! We got to eat lunch for free at Red Robin for their grand opening...free lunch is always great and then I got to take off on Friday to hang out with her. We stayed all weekend at my Best Friend's House...Sarah Barnes...and we went to eat at Italian Inn, fun atmosphere...not so great food. Then to Starbucks just to hang out. Friday Sarah had to work, so Kristin and I went shopping in Dallas and she is wanting to go to DBU...so we went there for a visit. After that Sarah was off work, so we all met up with our friends Amber and Vernon and their little boy Titus...they live here too, but we haven't gotten to hang out in a long time due to busy schedules. It was so fun! All of us girls went to college together and Amber and Vernon were dating in college so we all go way back...we ate at Pei Wei and just had fun hanging out and updating each other on life. Then we went over to Amber and Vernon's house to eat brownies and ice cream, by that time Eric was off work so he brought our niece Lexi over and we all got to hang out. It was great fun! We laughed and talked and traded funny You Tube videos until about midnight...then Eric took Lexi home and went to our house all by himself...Sarah, Kristin and I went back to Sarah's. Saturday we slept in and relaxed around the house for the morning...then we went to Central Market and to downtown Fort Worth to hang out and show Kristin around. We took some pictures and had lunch and by then it was time to take Kristin to the airport :( Sarah and I dropped her off and then we went our seperate ways. It was really fun to catch up with old friends and just spend time with people who know me really well, especially 4 people that have been some of my closest friends since college (even though Vernon didn't actually go to our college...it felt like it:)).

After all that Eric and I got to just hang out and get some stuff done. We had a good Saturday and Sunday just being together and running errands and catching up. He's a good husband to let me play with my friends for a few days. I mean he probably just didn't want all of us staying at our house...but that's okay too :)

I'm Learning...

2007-05-09T16:00:00.000-05:00

A LOT, it seems like. I met with Natalie Patterson today just to talk, pray, hold each other accountable and it was sooo good! We've been hanging out weekly for probably about 7 months? I can't remember when we started, but it's been a while and it's cool because we have gotten to see how the Lord is moving in our lives and how much we've grown in the past months, some days we just chill, some days we play with Lily, some days we laugh and tell stories and some days we have deep, enriching conversation and today was one of those days. We just started talking about things we're struggling with and things we're learning and things we're convicted about and it was just really encouraging. So...thanks Nat...I love you!

I wanted to write some of the things I'm learning because 1) it helps me to remember them and continue to work on them and 2) because it makes me accountable when it's out there for everyone to see. So...here goes:

#1 I feel like I am good at managing money and like most couples Eric and I have great times where we are paying normal bills, with no "bad" debt and we can go out to eat and not have a panic attack when we get our receipts (by the way when I say go out to eat...I mean like Bennigans...I would have a panic attack under any circumstance if our meal price was more than $25...sad I know) which is great...but we also have times when we have A LOT to pay for and we feel like it's never ending and we don't know where the money is going to come from...that is this month. It's just been one thing after another, medical bills, car problems, normal every day occurances, school stuff, etc. I was getting a little worried about how we were going to pay for everything...but this morning I just realized that I am not trusting the Lord with this area and I need to. So, I prayed about it a lot and I feel peace today...who knows about tomorrow, but I'm just going to keep praying! It's always a revelation to me that I can trust God and He'll take care of stuff instead of me freaking out and trying to do it myself...I don't know why because He's taught me that about 700 times.

#2 I'm learning how to replace bad thoughts with thoughts of the Lord and His Word. Ben talked about it this weekend. I let lies fill my head and then let them rule my day instead of just taking them captive and thinking on Truth. I have been praying through some of those lies in the last couple of weeks and I feel so much better...it's just a matter of keeping it up.

#3 Eric and I have been busy and have been having a hard time finding time to spend one on one. Sometimes we forget we need one on one time and spend time with other people or doing things for the church or whatever...which are also great, but we're missing out on a lot with each other. Natalie encouraged me to talk to him about setting boundaries and making time every day for each other. We are starting with trying to have dinner together, talking, not watching TV or being distracted, but just being together and if we can't have dinner together for some reason we need to make a time where we can talk that day. Natalie also encouraged me to be better at talking to him about what I'm learning and being open with him...not because I'm afraid to share with him or anything...mostly because I just forget and it's easy to talk about normal life and work. So I'm excited about learning together how to share more!

#4 This one I talked about in my first blog...but just to reiterate I want to be better at being a part of a community. Being open and honest about where I am and going deeper with people. Just since I started this blog I feel like the Lord has been working on me and making me less afraid of what people think and more willing to confess and be honest about who I am. But, I still want to find couple friends or a home group where Eric and I can both find community and share in that.

#5 Yesterday we had a Staff Leadership Lunch, which is where we meet once a month and eat together and learn about leadership qualities. We learned about being ourselves yesterday and it was another revelation to me...it's funny how the simplest things that we hear all the time can suddenly be revelations. We just talked about how we try so hard to be someone we aren't when all the while it's okay to be us because that's who God made us to be. Yesterday I realized...it's okay that I'm not big on being the center of attention, because God made me a behind the scenes person and it's okay that I'm not artistic in art or writing because I am gifted in administration and organization. There are things that are weaknesses that we can change, but the things that are just not who we are...are okay. I'm always trying to become someone else...but I want to learn how to be me and be okay with it. I have the perfect job to do that because I get to us my gifts and it's completely in line with who God made me...but sometimes I still try to change who I am.

#6 This is another one that I posted in my blog on Monday...but I just wanted to give you an update that I have read my Bible and spent time with Lord every morning this week so far and it has been awesome! Probably a huge reason why the Lord is moving and growing me so much this week. I hope that I can continue to do so and not get distracted.

Anyways...that's all for now. This is so long...but I felt like I needed to get it out there. Thank you for reading and for all your comments...I can't tell you how encouraging reading your blogs and hearing from you has been.

Conviction

2007-05-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone got to listen to Ben Stuart this weekend. He's been speaking at The Village for the past 3 weekends and he's done a great job! If you didn't get a chance to attend then definately listen to the podcast. I was particularly affected by this weekend's message because I just have had a really hard time being in the Word lately. I mean I do read it ocassionaly, but I don't make the time to read every day like I used to and I miss it. I can tell by who I am and the sin that I let live in me that I don't read it every day. The problem has been that I haven't found a great time during the day that will work for every day. Early morning is no good because I can't wake up and since I'm not drinking caffeine all the time anymore...I can't use coffee to help! After work is not good because A: it's time to start making dinner B: I want to hang out with my husband because I haven't seen him all day and C: I'm tired and I go to bed at like 9:00...so it stinks because I'm not really a morning or a night person. So I'm just going to come to work in the morning and before I turn on my computer I'm going to spend some time with the Lord. I started today, so hopefully this will work out. If you see me...you have permission to ask if I have read my Bible today. I don't want to miss out on such a special gift by just being too busy. This is a plus of working in full time ministry!

Mute Math

2007-05-05T10:17:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to tell you about the concert last night real quick! We had a great spot and could see really well for the first time ever at a Mute Math concert (both times I'd seen them before they were at gypsey). I mean they are good...everyone knows they are my favorite band...but last night I seriously felt moved by their music. Their music and lyrics make me feel so close to the Lord and there were points in the show where I had to fight to not cry because I felt his presence so thick. It was crazy! Not many things move me that way...but certain music does and I wish I could experience it every day. Anyways...so needless to say they did amazing! They put on the best show I've seen in a long time and they're music is just freakin good...I could listen to their CD over and over for the rest of my life and not get tired of it! So...it ended up being a great night...lots of friends were there, we all got to get nice and sweaty together singing ever single word. Good times. Everyone should do everything possible to be able to see this band soon.

Staff Dinner Party

2007-05-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

so...last night this home group in our church invited us all to their house for an amazing dinner party! it was so much fun! they had Hors D'oeuvres there for us when we walked in and like 6 tables set up. you determine where you are sitting by picking a glass from the table. we picked the blue table and ended up sitting with adam and tarrah lancaster, dustin hamilton, mackenzie martin, kristen tonne, and matt mccauley. it was a great table...we had a blast! so while we were enjoying Hors D'oeuvres we just got to walk around downstairs and talk to everyone for about an hour and then dinner was served. we got our plates and got to choose from 2 kinds of lasagna, 2 kinds of salad, bread and mozerella and tomatoes. the food was great! so we got to have great food and great fellowship at our little table. the home group became our waiters...getting us whatever we needed. anyways....after we had the main course we had a game of chinese gift exchange....they had bought a whole bunch of gifts for us and we drew numbers and could either pick a gift or steal from someone else. if you know our staff at all...you know most of us stole from each other...most everyone is extremely competitive...so it made for a good laugh. sara duran and i were one of the last two people to choose so we plotted what we were stealing the whole time...it was great! eric and i each ended up with target gift cards....yessss! so after that we had desert...there were like 5 to choose from...i of course went for the chocolate cake. things wound down and we left around 10 PM. needless to say it was a wonderful evening! thank you pearce home group for loving us and being such gracious hosts!

this weekend is going to be busy, but good! tonight is mute math!! i can't wait...they are seriously the best band i have seen live and i've seen a lot of bands...so i'm excited and lots of our friends are going so it'll be fun! tomorrow morning we have a "how to study the bible" seminar at church and then eric is playing worship this weekend and our zone gathering is sunday afternoon...so we'll just be living at the church all weekend basically. but it'll be great! i'll let you know how it goes!

My First Real Blog

2007-05-03T13:20:00.000-05:00

Welp...this is my first blog. My friend Natalie encouraged me to start blogging because I haven't done it in a while and I need to be more open and honest. Plus it helps me to write and get things out.

So...here goes nothing. I have been struggling with self doubt and the feeling that I don't fit in or that I don't have friends. Which I know I do and I've never really struggled with that before, so I know it's Satan trying to get his foot in the door and make me doubt that I'm where God wants me. I've always had low self esteem issues, but I've always had a lot of great friends and have always known I could turn to any one of them when I felt sad or needed someone to talk to. Anyways...so it's just a weird place, but I have been praying a lot that God would take it away and keep Satan from clouding my mind with lies. This week has been better though, just have to keep fighting! Also...I really am longing for community. We don't have a home group right now and we're having a hard time finding one because of our busy schedule. I mean I have friends I talk to regularly like Natalie, Dee Dee and Sarah and some of my co-workers, but it's getting easier and easier for me to just talk about surface stuff and leave off the stuff deep down, so I need to be held accountable for that. If you want to be friends...I'm needing some more friends to have a deep relationship with. I miss going to lunch with people or having dinners...so let's hang out!

Update on life:

Eric, my husband and I have been BUSY! He is doing school online at the Art Institute to get his graphics and web design degree and he loves it! He's working part time with his brother doing landscaping and also still doing Rhythm...who are trying to come up with a new name....and playing worship at The Village. I work at The Village...I am an assistant to Josh Patterson (staff development), Josh Drew (worship) and Michael Bleecker (worship) and have been for 4 months...and now I am also an assistant to Beau Hughes (college) which I started this week. I LOVE my job! I love my bosses....each one of them is different in a very unique way, but great fun to work for! I am learning so much! Work is busy and fast paced, but I love it and I want to stay here forever.

So church functions, staff functions, homework, work and music is keeping us busy, but we're having a great time! Side Note: WE ARE GOING TO SEE MY FAVORITE BAND...MUTE MATH FRIDAY NIGHT!!! Also right now we live in Roanoke TX which is far away from EVERYTHING, but July 13 we are moving to Flower Mound! So I will be close to work again for the first time in a year and a 1/2! So also...if you want to be our friends and help us move...we're looking for help :) Anyways...thanks for reading, please comment!

Welp...see ya around.