3.30.2008

nothing new

so i don't know why i'm posting except for the fact that i feel like a complete slacker in the posting arena. i feel like i'm at a standstill in life right now. In my pursuit of finding a new job i find myself acting like a maniac applying and putting my info out there and still nothing happens. so, i wait. i am waiting on the Lord's timing and yet feeling the need to do everything in my power to secure a job NOW. God knows our needs and promises to provide. i know this, but i find myself worrying that it won't look like what i want. so, here i am, nothing new to report except that i hope Brandon doesn't disown me in my "tunnelvision".
oh, and we are reading "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas. Unbelieveable. We love it and are soaking up everything that he has to say.

3.23.2008

He is risen....He is risen, indeed!

Happy Easter! Easter in Portland is definitely different than most Easter's I remember in Colorado. We woke up this morning to a cold rainy day, i.e. the usual drizzle. But, by the time we arrived at church to do our 'greeting' duty it was really coming down. Quite different than the sunny days of Colorado. Part of the reason I mention this is because this week is 'Spring Vacation' for me at school. They don't call it spring break, because really there is no break in grad school. They just give you a vacation from classes and assign extra homework. The forecast, for my wonderful spring vacation, is pouring rain all week. Oh well, I will probably be inside reading the entire time anyway. I just need to think of it as a fellow Mosaic-ite said today "Rain is just liquid sunshine."

March Madness has been exciting (for those of you who are not into basketball). Life has been so busy lately; as most of you can tell by checking the date of our last post. Thus, I did not get a chance to really watch the last few weeks of basketball and really get an idea of what teams were good and could go the distance. I went ahead and filled out my bracket because I am in a pool with Callie's family and with my family. Needless to say, I have already lost in my family's pool, and am pretty far behind in Callie's family's pool with my only hope being Kansas winning it all. Despite my losses, it is still exciting to watch the tourney because anyone can win anyday if they come to play. Who would have thought that 2 #2 seeds would be out of the tourney already.

There has been a lot of change going on in Callie's life and mine. Since we last posted, Callie was notified at work that the family she is currently nannying for is going to go down to part time. The mom has decided that she wants to work from home more and spend a few more days with Mo. This is an extremely exciting thing yet a bummer for us. We are so excited that the mom wants to be with her child, but we were hoping that this job was going to be long-term. Thus, Callie is on the job hunt again for a full-time nannying job. We recently also found out that the family that Callie originally nannyed for once we got here to Portland may be looking for a full-time nanny starting in mid-August. Thus, if Callie could find a summer nannying job, then she could go back and nanny for Addy. We'll see what works itself out in the next month or so. We need to find this full-time job by May, so keep us in your prayers.

As for me, I found out this past week that my boss and other 'ministry degrees' enrollment counselor has taken a position full-time at his church. Which again is really exciting for him, but it means change for us at work. We are going to need to hire another person to fill his spot. The nature of my job is always going to be change because all of us are students, but it's tough to have positions changing all the time. Plus, Dave was a great spiritual leader and will be missed. Thus, it looks like I am the 'veteran' on the team now. Out of the 4 enrollment counselors that we have I have been there the longest with 8 months. The other tough part that we've been having to deal with is that Western is growing a lot and unfortunately we have not been able to keep up with the growth. I feel quite overwhelmed sometimes with how many people I am trying to connect with and answer their questions about the school. The good thing about all of this though is that my hours will be increasing to 25 a week which will provide for us a little more money. Thank God for that. I was hoping to go to 30 hours starting July if we were able to add more hours into next years budget and I was going to decrease a few hours at school, but since all of this is happening now, we will not be adding hours at budget time and I have to take on 25 hours starting next week while doing 11 credit hours. I still think I can manage but I could use your prayers for this as well.

So that is life in a nutshell. A lot going on and change around every corner. We trust in the Lord that he has a plan for us because he did call us out here and has given great evidence for that. We trust that Jesus is alive and working in this world as well! Thus in times that are tough we can know that we have a great high priest that understands. Thanks be to Jesus for his wonderful gift that he gave for us! One thing is for sure, we will praise him during the sunny days and during the rainy, cloudy days. Sorry for the late post...we hope to keep you updated a little more often from here on out. But, I am saying hopefully...

One last note...this blog is for you Kyle! SEE, I blog!

3.11.2008

Amazing Vacation!!

Last weekend we went to Las Vegas for a national convention with our new business. It was the first time for me and third for Brandon to be in Vegas. The best part was that my family is also involved with us in the business and flew there as well! We had a lot of fun and are writing off our entire trip!! here are a few pictures of our last day there...









3.04.2008

interesting

Psychoanalyze Yourself; Don't read ahead, just copy and paste the following into a NEW bulletin BEFORE you read my answers. Then answer the following questions one at a time WITHOUT LOOKING AHEAD with the first thought that comes to mind. Then read what each answer means at the end.


1. You are walking in the woods. You are not alone. Who's with you?

Brandon


2. You are walking in the woods. You see an animal. What kind of animal?

a bear

3. What interaction takes place between you and the animal?


it walks on by


4. You walk deeper in the woods. You enter a clearing, and before you is your dream house...


a cute little bungalow painted a bright and cheery color with a striking front door
5. Is your dream house surrounded by a fence?

no


6. You enter the house. You walk into the dining room and see the dining table is covered with?

cute table setting and a vase full of fresh daisies


7. You exit the house and a cup is on the ground, what kind is it?

a blue cup (like the one in my cupboard)


8. What do you do with the cup?

look inside to see if there is anything to drink


9. You walk to the edge of the property where you find yourself standing at a body of water; what kind is it?

a bubbling brook with a swing to get across and a lot of big, old trees on either side


10. How do you cross that body of water?

on the swing, of course











The ANSWERS

1. The person who you are walking in the woods with is the most important to you.

2. The size of the animal is representative of your perception of the size of your problems in your life.

3. The severity of the interaction you have with the animal is representative of how you deal with your problems.

4. The size of your dream home is representative of the size of your ambition.

5. A lack of a fence is indicative of an open personality. People are welcome at all times. The presence of a fence indicates a closed personality. You'd prefer people not drop by unannounced.

6. If your answer did NOT include food, flowers, or people, then you are generally unhappy.

7. The durability of the material with the cup is representative of the perceived durability of your relationship.

8. What you did with the cup is representative of your attitude.

9. The size of the body of water is representative of the size of your relationships.

10. The way you cross the water is representative to how easy or hard you expect your life to be



...a bunch of crap?? most likely:)

3.02.2008

almost 26

having a husband stretches my comfort zone/abilities almost daily. this last week, i was very aware of it:) about a month ago i decided that it would be fun to surprise brandon for his 26th birthday with having several of our friends over for games/food. i ignored the fact that i hate planning things, trying to contact various people, and always feel very inadequate in the "hosting" part of things. trying to get all of this done PLUS keeping it all a secret from brandon was very hard and i'm glad it is all over now:) i did pull off the art of surprise with the help of our friends who were willing to lie for me (thanks jen and cory). here are a couple of pictures from the night!

(Corey, Jen, and Julie)

(Steve, Lyndsey, and Brandon)

(Ryan, Jodie, Nate, and Corey)

...by the way, Brandon's actual birthday is March 6th...i was a little early.