Britt and Lauren

Retreat

2012-02-11T10:36:00.002-06:00

We had a retreat with our Leadership Team this past weekend. It was a great time to relax, fellowship, and get to know each other better!

A Group Picture is always a must!

We did a low ropes course. The students really had a great time!

Most of the girls. They didn't want to hide the baby! haha

Loved this picture!

We did so man fun things that weekend! We truly love the students that we work with and feel so blessed to be able to invest in their lives!

On the way home we made a stop at Pops on Rt. 66! It was the perfect way to end a great weekend!

Baby News

2012-02-07T10:46:00.000-06:00

This week my baby is about 10 1/2 inches long. That is almost a foot people! He weighs about 1 pound. In the height to weight ratio I would say that seems a little off but I know they grow long before the bulk up. *fingers crossed, praying for a chubby baby* I LOVE chubby babies!

I have felt baby move on and off for the past 5 or 6 weeks. In the past 3 weeks I have felt consistent movement. It is more like flipping and tumbling. But in the last few says I have felt full on kicks! It has been so much fun! I can't really feel the kicks with my hand yet, only once, and of course anytime I try to let Britt feel baby boy stops kicking instantly. Already so stubborn. Like his father I am sure. ;) hehe...

I hit 21 weeks this past Saturday. Britt and I were commenting on how 21 seems like so much more than 20. It is past the halfway mark and 6 weeks away form the third trimester. (or 7 depending on how you calculate but I am going with 6.)

It continually amazes me how in love I am with this little man and I can hardly imagine the love I will feel when he is actually here.

Some more crazy things/milestones include:

* I love, and when I say love I mean I would truly marry, 7-11 Icees. *heaven*
* Call me crazy but I think that I am going to use cloth diapers. Fuzzibunz looks like it may be the brand. It will be a $200-$300 investment but they are a one size diaper I can use on multiple kids. The savings will be in the thousands!! And the more I read about them the less time consuming and gross it is. Cloth has come a long way!
* I look pregnant. It is so much fun! I need to post a pic!
* I registered. Everyone goes crazy over little girl clothes but let me just say there is some stinkin' cute little boy things out there!
* Note: While registering I had a bonding moment with another mom. Pregnant women get emotional over silly things like clothes. It was cute.

So, is it June 16th yet? :)

My Week

2012-02-02T11:00:00.000-06:00

So many things have gone on in this past week I am not even sure where to start. My head is a mess with a brain just swishing around. Do you ever feel that way?

Friday the 27th - Britt and I are in staff meeting when we get a call - we thought Britt's dad was calling to tell us his grandfather passed away. We were surprised to hear that Britt's mom was in the Heart Hospital. We spend the rest of the day at the hospital. Britt's brother stays the night with us.

Saturday the 28th - We find out that it was not heart trouble. Praise the Lord! She goes home that afternoon. Britt's brother stays one more night. That evening through a serious of events and craziness (being up till 12am) the Lord begins to do a real work in Britt's brothers life. He is 13.

Sunday the 29th - We get a call at 6am. Britt's grandfather passed away. We go to church and pastor gives a great message. Britt's younger brother goes forward and gives his life to the Lord. An emotional day for sure. We spend a lot of the day with Britt's family and then we stay the night with my family.

Monday the 30th - Dr. Appointment for me. Shopping with my parent's, my Maw'Maw and Britt. Sometimes escaping it all is not a bad thing. Found out that Britt's other grandfather is having emergency heart surgery to put a pace make in Tuesday morning.

Tuesday the 31st - Work. Why can't you escape work on crazy weeks like this? Surgery goes well. We go to my older brothers house with several other couples to listen to a speaker talk about raising children. Home late. Bed.

Wednesday the 1st - Work. Clean house. Grocery shop. Britt's sisters come into town. One of them and her husband are staying with us. We actually go to bed a a decent time although I can't sleep. I am starving so I eat a bowl of cereal at 11. Bed.

Thursday today - Work till noon. Go grocery shopping for a retreat Britt and I are in charge of this weekend. Go see Britt's family. Go to a viewing of his grandfather.

Friday tomorrow - Go see the family, go to a lunch for the family, go to the funeral and graveside, jump in the car and leave for our retreat until Sunday afternoon.

Notes to self for today/this weekend:
- Take lots of deep breaths.
- Rely on the Lord knowing that His grace is sufficient and His joy is my strength.
- Remember what it means to celebrate a life well lived and that it is not goodbye.
- Be a support to my husband.
- Find the energy to give and invest where needed this weekend.
- Take more deep breaths and lean on my constant-one, Jesus Christ.

It's A..........

2012-01-24T11:26:00.000-06:00

If you didn't know.... It's a boy!!!

Brightson James Clay. Due to arrive June 16th.

Pictures form the party coming soon *cough, cough* Aunt Rachael *cough cough*. :)

In other news I am dead tired and going home early to take a nap.

Happy Tuesday!

God's Leading in Our Life

2012-01-19T09:24:00.001-06:00

‎‎"To change the world we must first change the way we see it; we must see it from a different perspective. A cultivated mind can see the universe in a falling leaf, an orchard in a seed, an ocean in a drop of water, eternity in a grain of sand. A cultivated mind produces more insight, possesses a richer sense of the world and enjoys a more attractive experience of reality." - Scripture By Heart - Joshua Choonmin Kang

Perspective. Seeing things differently.

God has brought Britt and I on an incredible journey over the last 2 ½ years that we have been married. He has taken us places and we have looked around saying “God, why here?” only to see His perfect plan unfold, to see how he uses where we are to take us where He wants us. He is still doing that in our life and I don’t anticipate it stopping anytime soon.

Faithfulness. Seeing God work through any circumstance.

The place God has brought us to for now is different than what I would have ever expected. If you asked me a year ago if we would be here I would look at you like you are crazy.

We are still, and continuing to, be at the OU BSU. That is a HUGE part of our life, and ministry. The biggest part in fact. But even through the big picture there are little details, circumstance, experience that truly make up the big picture. Without them the picture would be lacking.

Of course an obvious change to our BIG picture is parenthood. Wow! Will that change our lives? Truly I believe it will be only for the better. I cannot WAIT to hold my little man, my sweet Brightson James. A little guy that already amazes me and I have never even looked into his eyes. I cannot wait to look into those eye. Are they blue, brown, green, gray? I know they are beautiful.

Another change that many people don’t know about is our church. The body of saints that we are a part of. The place we go to be filled and to give equally. God brought Britt and I to River Church when we were a little less than 2 months away from marriage. We joined right after we were married and we have loved it ever since. The people, the vision, the purpose of that church are incredible. God used River to bring us on staff at the BSU, He used River to give us dear friends for life, He used River to help us grow.

Over the past few months God has strongly laid on our heart the possibility of going somewhere else. We didn’t know why God was calling us here. In fact, we did not even anticipate it. But He was without a doubt calling and we could not ignore it. I love that we were able to leave River just as encouraged as when we came and just as much, if not more, in support of what they do. No hard feelings. No hurt. Just gratitude.

God has brought us to Western Hills Church. I grew up there. I honestly never thought I would go back. We hesitated as God was leading. Wondering if we were thinking these things just because our families go there. We were able to answer that our reason for going, although it is a perk, was not our families. Why then? Why would God lead us there?

In short, you should read the quote at the top of this page again. Over the last three years the way I see the world has changed. The way that this church, this body of beliers, sees the world has truly changed. People are coming to know the Lord, lives are forever being changed, discipleship is key.

Those of you who are familiar with this church may know that at one time it was not always the most comfortable welcoming place. Now, I believe that anyone who walks through those doors is loved and not rejected. I brought a little girl from my neighborhood there last Sunday, she has hardly ever been in church, and she felt comfortable and loved. She was also taught truth. Truth from God’s word that I truly believe will not return void. I anticipate what God will do in her life.

So now, we find ourselves in a place we did not think we would be, excited to be there and anticipating how God will use us. It has taught me to not quit. Don’t stop praying for the lost yes, but to not stop praying that we, the body of Christ, will truly catch the vision of disciple making and make it happen. Although in most cases it does not, it CAN happen in the local church.

River has this vision. Western Hills has this vision. I have this vision.

Do you?

Are you willing to change the way that you see the world? To see it the way that Jesus does?

Cast Your Vote

2012-01-15T14:19:00.001-06:00

Britt and I will be going to the doctor tomorrow morning to find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl. The thing is that we won't actually find out then because the ultrasound technician will be writing it on a piece of paper and sealing it away in an envelope. We will then take said paper to my sister-in-love Rachael's house where she will make a cake. The inside will either be pink or blue depending on the result and we will cut into the cake Tuesday night with friends and family present to find out the gender!

The friends and family attending will come wearing pink or blue to cast their "vote" for the gender. Since all of the blogging world cannot come what is your vote?

The prize for guessing correctly? The pride of being right and my congratulations. :)

Happy voting!

A real post coming soon.... or at least before 2013

2012-01-12T13:38:00.002-06:00

When I try to think of what to update two things cross my min

1.) I have not pictures

2.) I have no news.

However, that will be changing in the near, near future. We found out if baby Clay is a boy or girls THIS Tuesday! We are having a gender reveal party and I am sure to have pictures form that event as well. So excited!

There is a lot that is about to happen in our lives and so we are soaking in the “not so much” at the moment. The things that are happening right now are plumbing problems at the house, work, and a VERY messy house. I feel busy and overwhelmed but not by anything that would interest the blogger reader type.

I ask myself… How does Pioneer Woman do it? That lady can write a blog post about anything and nothing at the same time and I am sucked right into the madness. That talent ship sailed right past this lady.

I have a post coming at some point on what God is doing in Britt and my life but I am still thinking about how to write it all out and share it. I am excited to share it for sure but it’s just one of those things that need thought.

Unlike this post, I am sure you can tell by now that there was no thought put into it, and it really doesn’t have any significance.

Like I said, the ship sailed on by.

I will however leave you with this because it made me laugh:

Do you see the "problem"? :)

Christmas Whirlwind

2011-12-23T19:37:00.001-06:00

I know, it's not even Christmas yet - What could possibly cause a whirlwind?

You see, Britt's family has a tradition of opening their gifts on Christmas Eve Morning. Why? Because they can of course. Britt and I always stay the night before and this year to be adventuresome and to stay the two nights before.

Yesterday evening we got a call from Britt's sister saying that her husband had been suddenly deployed and it gave her and the kiddos less that one hour to really say goodbye and no chance to be able to open gifts and celebrate together. It was quite tragic and just exactly the opposite way that anyone would want to spend Christmas.

Needless to say without hesitation plans were made to get her and her four little ones here by tonight! That may seem like no big deal to you except for the fact that she lives about 16 hours from here! So she spent yesterday evening packing and left her house by about 5am. Britt's dad, mom and younger sister got in the car at 3am this morning and started driving to meet her and help her get the rest of the way here.

We are now expecting them in a few hours. It it is so bitter sweet. We are so excited to see them but we just feel awful about the turn of advents that led us here. Our goal is, despite the circumstances, to make this a wonderful Christmas for her and the kids.

I spent the day, along with Britt and his little brother, cleaning the house and shopping as we prepare for their arrival. Cleaning someone else's house is always more fun than cleaning your own. ;)

All of this makes me thankful beyond words for family. But even more than that, at this moment, thankful beyond words for men like Britt's brother-n-law who truly has, and does, sacrifice so much for our country. It's also made me think of the MANY families who are unable to spend Christmas together.

So that leaves me thankful beyond words.

Merry Christmas!

A True Friend

2011-12-14T11:01:00.000-06:00

These ladies make my heart happy. We can go awhile without seeing each other and pick right up where we left off. We can laugh, talk, get mad and cry. We can be ourselves without fear and that is a true friend. I am so thankful for them and the many ways they encourage me and lift my spirits. I can hardly imagine life without them in it.

Love you three! It was great catching up last night!

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-13T15:12:00.001-06:00

I love this time of year. The chilly weather, the smell of fire places burning wood, the lights on the houses, the trees, the family, the hot chocolate, the memories... My list could go on and on.

It is always really fun to share favorite family traditions and memories and to hear other peoples as well. I thought that I would share a few of my favorites with you.

Tradition #1

Decoration the tree:

Whether it is the tree at Britt and my house, my parents or his parents it is so much fun! We love the time spent with family decorating the tree - and in reality the whole house - as we celebrate together. I will never grow tired of this!

Tradition #2

"Christmas Eve Gift":

This is one of my most favorite and beloved traditions of all. It all started with my Great Grandmother (Nanny). This tradition has gone on as long as I can remember. Here is how it works:

The goal is to be the first one to say, "Christmas Eve Gift" to another family member. This can be in person or through a phone call. The game starts and ends on Christmas Eve. I will spend the day answering my phone "Christmas Eve Gift" even if it is not family calling, knowing that a family member may borrow another phone to call. (There is a lot of strategy) I am careful to answer the phone and the best is to get one of the said family members in person. The glory of the victory is so much greater!

The idea is that whoever says "Christmas Eve Gift" first the other person must buy them a Christmas Eve Gift. Now, the buying and gift giving never actually happens but the competition itself, and of course the victory, is a gift within itself. And if you know my family at all, we are only slightly competitive! :)

Disclaimer: Texting, email., messages on cars, messages in the sky, non participating messengers, etc... do not qualify.

Tradition #3

Christmas Eve Movie:

Well, I guess my family has a lot of Christmas Eve traditions! But this one is also a classic. After the candlelight service at my parents church my family will go out to dinner and then we go and see a Christmas Eve movie. It is normally a Christmas Movie and these days a cartoon since little children are back in the picture but we love going to the theater that night to watch a movie, any movie, just for traditions sake.

Memory #1

McDonald's Drive-In

When I was probably 3 and Brandon, my brother, was 5 mom and dad bought us a McDonald's Drive-In for Christmas. It looked something like this:

We loved, loved, loved this gift!!!! (Girl not included).

Memory #2:

Big Wheels

I think most of these revolve around gifts but one Christmas I got one of these:

Brandon and Jon got these:

And then we rode them in the freezing cold for hours. it was heaven on earth.

I am pretty sure I could go on with the reminiscing for hours upon hours but I will stop here.

I will leave you with what I looked like in most of my growing up Christmas-Morning-Pictures:

Okay - Maybe not the face mask but the sponge rollers were a must. I had an obsession with looking like Shirley Temple or something.

What is your favorite Tradition and Memory???

Life and Death

2011-12-09T12:23:00.002-06:00

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Philippians 4:11

Contentment. No matter where I am being content.

“ Indeed I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8

Death. I need nothing a part form Christ. It He was all I had, would it be enough? I want to answer that question with a confident, “Yes!”.

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3 10-11

Life. To share in Christ death would mean that I suffer for Him. To give everything for Him. But death in Christ is not the end because along with it comes the most abundant life there is, resurrection!

Last night I heard a speaker talk on some of these points. It hit me hard and this morning I have been allowing it to sink in.

Am I content?

Is Christ enough?

Am I truly willing to die?

Have a tasted true resurrection?

Baby News

2011-12-07T13:27:00.003-06:00

I am 12 1/2 weeks right now. Almost into my third trimester and already about 3 months along. I may seem like it has gone by fast but.... it hasn't.

Not at all.

Apparently I am heading out of the sick and tired stage and that is good because I am sick and tired of it. Ready to feel a little better.

Beside the sick thing I am thrilled beyond anything to be pregnant. I think the problem right now is that most of the time it does not feel real. I am sick and tired a lot but other than that nothing much has changed. I am JUST now starting to feel my clothes get a tad snug but I imagine I will still be in them into January. I am okay with that though.

I think that one of the few things that makes the process seem 'real' are the weekly updates I get form Baby Center. I look forward to every Tuesday morning when I can read the latest update. Here is a bit of last weeks:

“The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.”

Your baby at 12 weeks

Synapses are forming in your baby's brain.

I also love the way that they compare the baby to different food items. It really cracks me up! I was talking about this with a friend the other day and the things they choose to compare sometimes are hilarious and even worse when I 'cheat' and look ahead it really does not make sense. I will not go into everything but if you want to have a look at what I mean check THIS out! And tell me, does it make since to you how it can go from a spaghetti squash to a mango???

"Ah! My baby is shrinking!!!" hahahaha

We go in for our next appointment this coming Monday and I am ready! Ready to hear that sweet heart beat again and know everything is going well.

Is it June 23rd yet???? :D

Christmas at the Clay's

2011-12-03T17:00:00.002-06:00

As promised, here are some actual pictures of our house this Christmas Season.

The tree...

The details...

The dog... (she is realllly camera shy, if you noticed.)

Merry Christmas!!!

'Tis The Season...

2011-11-27T15:05:00.000-06:00

The Holiday season is here and I LOVE it! Christmas music is all I play, we eat things we probably never should and our house smells like pine. *heaven*

I am having a lazy Sunday afternoon, watching While You Were Sleeping and checking up on the world. Online that is.

Our thanksgiving was wonderful and busy! That is how we like o celebrate around here, no stopping. But it was wonderful all the same. We had two students form the BSU with us all week who were unable to go home and we had lots and lots of time with family and friends.

We also decorated our house, inside and out and it is wonderful! I attempted to take pictures and my battery dies. The three I got did not turn out well but I will post them anyway with the hope of posting more once my batteries finish charging!

Chloe love Christmas time too. She may not look like it, but trust me on this one.

Tis the season!!!

What's been going on...

2011-11-13T18:15:00.000-06:00

And why I have not updated....

This is what my life consists of...

Plus...

Which makes me.....

Such is the life of this mommy to be. So, therefore my lack of posting is due to a lack of anything interesting in the least. Here's to hoping that changes soon!!!

Surprise!

2011-10-27T15:35:00.002-05:00

True story.

We are pretty excited and hoping the next 7 1/2 months fly so that we can soon see the face of this babe.

Fun Facts

2011-10-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

I was recently told by a student that I work with that I am full of fun/helpful facts. She says that I know "everything" and I joke with her that when she gets married she will wake up knowing "everything" too. haha! She also gave me the idea to post fun facts on my blog so I am going to give it a try and see how it goes!

Fun/helpful fact of the day:

Finger nail polish remover can take finger nail polish out of material without ruining the material. (This is the case with most materials some are subject to *disclaimer). It really does work! I have tried it personally on my couch and it took out RED polish (the devil of all polishes in my opinion.)

*Disclaimer - If said polish ruins your furniture, clothes, carpet, etc... I am not help liable and will not replace said item.

Happy nail painting!

2011-10-10T13:34:00.000-05:00

A hidden treasure.

A wonder.

Delicious.

Something you have to try.

That is what THIS Banana Bread is. Try it. You won't be sorry.

Oh, I can already smell the goodnes.

In other news the "nothing weekend" was a real success. I have nothing to report..... *crickets*

Everytime I try to think of something creative to write I get a little writters block because I see in big, bold letters flash acrose emy mind the word FLORDIA. You see, I am heading there for a friends wedding in a few weeks and I am giddy excited for many reasons.

I love weddings.

I love my friend.

I love the fact that she is getting married!

I am thrilled about a vacation.

First "real" vacation since Britt and my honeymoon.

I can already smell the salt and hear the waves crashing.

So, now you can see why everything else seems minute. Hopefully something will come to me soon and if not I will just have to write an amazing post about Flordia.

Too long

2011-10-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

Too long.

That's what it has been. I have never been a good, consistent blog writer. I go through seasons, some seasons are much, much longer than others but nevertheless the season comes to an end.

Off-season.

It has been one really long off-season.

So here I am. Back trying the whole blogging thing again and not going to even bother trying to "catch up". It's just been that long.

I am overwhelmingly excited about the coming weekend!

You might be thinking it's because of the upcoming OU game. Although that is great the answer is - no.

Maybe because of the nicer weather we are having. Once again - no.

DETAILS

TonightOct 5

Thu6

Fri7

Sat8

Sun9


Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Isolated T-Storms	Scattered T-Storms
--High	87°High	85°High	82°High	76°High
61°Low	65°Low	64°Low	61°Low	55°Low
Chance of Rain: 10%	Chance of Rain: 20%	Chance of Rain: 20%	Chance of Rain: 30%	Chance of Rain: 40%

Details

Next 5 Days

The reason I am thrilled because our trip to the lake was cancelled! Now, that in itself was not the exciting news. I am somewhat sad that we cannot go, and will miss spending the weekend with Britt's family. But because of the recent cancellation I have a weekend now full of basically NOTHING! We are going to watch the game at my parents on Saturday and that is about it.

So happy. :)

I hope to come with a great update for my said weekend. I imagine it will include watching a movie. Reading a book. Doing some yard work (I like yard work). And maybe buying a pumpkin or two.

In closing news. Check out this cute face!

my brand-spankin'-new nephew who is pretty darn cute if you ask me. This weekend will also include some holding of this kid.

Happy sigh. :)

Mexican Fiesta - Denver, CO [Part 5]

2011-07-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

We had a Mexican Fiesta with the students this past week and it was so much fun! The point of these parties is to have a wonderful time of fellowship and to have an opportunity to bring co-workers to minister to them. The party was so wonderful! We had homemade EVERYTHING! Tamales, enchiladas, salsa, queso, and sopapilla cheese cake. We also played lots of different games. We had a tortilla toss, played musical chairs and had a pinata.

The picture to the left makes me laugh every time! This is Shaley. Her and Heather (The other older girl in the picture) provided our music for musical chairs. It was all impromptu and rather funny.

A trip to the zoo

2011-07-06T14:21:00.002-05:00

Last Friday Britt and I made a special trip to Colorado Springs because not only does his sister Becky live there but his sister Beth (who lives in Georgia) was visiting with her husband and kiddos. We all went to the CO, Springs Zoo that day (Which is an amazing zoo!), went swimming for almost 3 hours, and then grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a great day!

Our youngest nephew, James. He has the best smile and is such a happy baby!

Kinley. It can be quiet the challenge to get this little one to smile but when she does it is totally worth getting a picture of!

A woman after my own heart. She loved my Camelback water bottle!

My favorite animal picture of the day. This fellow was posing for us!

See what I mean about the water bottle!

Uncle Britt is great at giving back rides!

Those kiddos were so tired after a fun busy day!

See what I mean? :)

Luau - Denver, CO [part 4]

2011-06-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

We had a Luau Party for the students this past weekend. It was an opportunity for them to fellowship with each other as well as have an event that they could invite their coworkers to. We had several students bring guest who were lost and it was exciting to see them minister to them! It was just a really great evening with lots of fun. By the time the night was over my feet were killing me but it was totally worth it!

Makinze and Heather.

Collin and Crash "Ryan".

The guy leaders did a skip for us.

Lots of people and lots of food!

Phone and Josh. Their outfits were cracking me up!

These three should have won some kind of an award for the three craziest shirts!

Joe and Derek. And Derek's chicken finger.

Joe and Britt.

Ricky and Jessy.

Britt and I.

One thing that I do not have pictures of is at the end all of the staff and leaders attacked everyone else with water baloons! (We had 500!) Since I was a part of the attack I decided to place my camera inside to keep it safe. :)

Playing Catch Up - Denver, CO [part 3]

2011-06-13T23:36:00.001-05:00

Here is a little update on some things that have been going on.

They surprised me with a birthday party the first week we were here. It was so much fun!

The cupcakes were so cute!!

Job searching. Sitting in the food court at the mall filling out applications.

Making new friends!

Notice the mirror man!

This guy would be totally still until you put some money in his bucket and then he would dance and sing.

On our ladies retreat weekend we went to Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. It was so much fun!

We are loving every moment here. At the moment we are a little tired but it has been so good. We have really been able to build some good relationships with students and already we have had opportunities to speak truth into their lives. God is really working!

Several students still need jobs by this Friday so please continue to pray that God will provide and that they will continue working hard. As you can imagine it is difficult for them at this point to not get discouraged but we are just trying to remind them that God is faithful to provide for our needs and he is in control.

Denver Colorado [second update]

2011-06-05T17:27:00.001-05:00

Things that I have learned about Denver:

- It is not humid and you don't get as "sticky". PLUS!

- Most people don't put cheese on their hot dogs.

- You are a whole lot closer to the sun and you burn a lot easier.
I think it has something to do with the thin air too.

- The air is thin and even when you think you are used to it you may not be.

These are just a few of my lessons here in Denver.

As far as student work things are going great! 22 of the 44 students have jobs which is great considering the fact that they have only been job hunting 3 days so far. Please pray that the other 22 will find jobs soon!

We are starting to kick off the teaching a evening events. A big part of my "job" this week will be planning a ladies retreat for all of the girls this weekend. It should be a great time of fun and fellowship as well as digging in the word together.

This last Saturday was a "free" day in a sense. All of the students had things planned so Britt and I went to downtown Denver with one of the staff families. We were searching out free things to do. I am SOOO sad I forgot my camera but I snagged a few pictures off of the Internet.

This is a park in downtown Denver. You can get in this River and ride the rapids down on a tube or something like that. We did that and it was a blast! Freezing, but a blast! Britt was commenting on how we sure don't have anything like this in Oklahoma. That would be true.

We also went to 16th street mall. It is SO much fun and a really cool experience. It is literally on 16th street in Denver but it is blocked off so that only the tram (that you see in the picture) can drive and the rest is just shopping, dinning and entertainment.

We are loving it in Denver but most of all we are truly loving the opportunity to spend everyday with these students that we are growing to love more and more. It is a wonderful experience to do life-on-life with them in a setting like this. We appreciate all of your support and prayers more than you will ever know. God is so faithful to meet all of our needs and we truly feel the support of the body of Christ around us as we serve these college students and work to make an investment in their lives that will cause them to serve Christ more fully. We are so thankful that the Lord has given us this opportunity and we know apart from Him we can do nothing. Please continue to pray for us!

We Made It!

2011-05-29T14:09:00.001-05:00

We made it to Beautiful Colorado and we are so glad to be here! So far 10 student leaders have joined us and tomorrow the other 34 students will be here. We are so excited! Here are a few pictures of our journey so far!

The car!

Totally not edited!!

Our front door.

Our living room

Dining room and kitchen.

Office area in living room.

Bedroom

What the outside of the door looks like. Every dorm is named and ours is the "Ghetto".

It is so fun to be here and to start settling in. Please pray for us as the summer starts off and the students arrive. Also please pray that all of the students find jobs soon.

Colorado Bound! (Kind of!)

2011-05-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

So - I have this list, it's long' and it is everything that we have to pack for our trip to Colorado. Have you ever seen our car? It looks like this:

It's really not that big. And we have to fit our lives for the next two months in it. We are moving into some dorms and they are "apartment" style. They will have a bed, a table with a few chairs, a couch and a chair. It has a kitchen, but nothing in it. Guess who brings the kitchen stuff? *Raises Hand* Yap, we do!

So now I have the task of packing what I think we will need and use the most because I think that I can confidently say I am not fitting all of my kitchen things in that car. And on top of the task of packing the question of "When?" hangs over my head. You see, since I am only packing the things we need/use the most when do I start packing them? We still need to live our lives here and I am not fond of the idea of eating out ever meal or drying off with tea towels because we already packed our bath towels (Yes, we have to bring towels and sheets and EVERYTHING).

I just realized that it may sound like I am not excited to go this summer. I am SOOO excited I am just trying to figure out how Britt, myself and all of out stuff is going to get there. It WILL happen though. If things are packed all the way to the car roof with a little hole for Britt to see out of the rear-view mirror so be it. We are getting what we need there. I may have to ride on top of the trunk to hold it down but it's going to happen!

I may not be able to update as much this next week. With all of the packing and preparations for the trip going on. But hang in there with me because I hope to blog a lot this summer with updates on our trip.

Wish me happy packing! :)

Mom's Garden

2011-05-16T11:51:00.003-05:00

Britt and I were over at my mom and dad's house yesterday so I wanted to play around with my camera and I took some pictures of my moms garden. Here are just a few...

I was also playing around with some B&W and Sepia color setting on the camera and took this of Justin. He is quite the poser. I also have a setting that picks one color and puts the rest in B&W. I like the setting but I am still working on it. It seems like I can only pick up yellows and greens so I need to do some more reading on this one.

They are both pretty good looking men though! :)

And then these little ladies stopped by with their mama and I had to grab a shot.

They are just way to cute!

First Photo Shoot

2011-05-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I got my camera and Chloe was my first subject to shoot. It was actually pretty difficult because she is very active and still VERY puppy. Plus the shutter sound freaked her out so every time I got the camera focused she would move but I got a couple of decent shots and I thought I would share! Plus, I think she is pretty darn cute, under bit and all!

The Spider Meets the Mop

2011-05-12T11:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a terrible encounter with what was one of the LARGEST spiders I have ever personally seen or killed. It was

Big.

Brown.

And Freaky.

For the record, I hate, hate, hate, hate spiders and if you call me a wimp I will agree and say I don't care. They are freaky, jumpy, unpredictable little devils AND they bite!

Well, yesterday I was cleaning a house for my boss that they are trying to rent and I was looking for the mop. I went and opened the pantry door, checking to see if it was in there and I did not find the mop. Instead, I found this little (or not so little) guy!

At that point I was officially weirded out and I did what any normal human would do. I slammed the door TRYING to pretend I did not see that nasty thing and hoping that it would not get out of there.

I continued in my cleaning but no matter how hard I would try that little spider haunted me. I can relate with Taylor Swifts lyrics from the song Haunted:

"I know, I know

I just know

you're not gone

You can't be gone".

I don't think that she meant for the lyrics to be interpreted that way but it fit and that's how I felt. That little spider was sitting in there haunting me. Plus, I looked down and saw there was a pretty big gap between the bottom of the pantry door and the floor and I just knew if I didn't do something that little guy would come out and attack me! Because we all know that spiders plan attack strategies to bite humans. If you didn't know that you can now consider yourself warned!

So I did the only logical thing. I grabbed my spider killing weapon.....

....and I went to attack.

As I approached the pantry door I had crossed the line of no return. I HAD to go through with it. If I didn't go through with it I would have had a difficult time cleaning the whole house from on top of the kitchen counter.

So I opened the door and there it was, sitting there looking at me. I grabbed my weapon and I began hitting the little thing over and over again. THE THING WOULD NOT DIE! It took like 8 hits and 5 screams of terror for the thing to FINALLY die.

Once all of this was over, and the guts were all over my once clean floor, I had to stop because it sounded like I had just ran a marathon. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would explode. It wasn't from the swinging of the mop that made my heart pump a little more quickly. Oh no, it was because I was terrified and my adrenaline was pumping like crazy.

So, that is my story. I lived to tell it and I am not sad to say that Mr. Spider is not here to hear my story. He is dead, his guts are cleaned up and I can breath in a normal rhythm now.

Mary Kay

2011-05-11T10:59:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know by now that I am a Mary Kay Consultant. I have really enjoyed the product in the past and they have even made some GREAT changes. It is so trendy now and it is a really, really good product and I feel like skin is a great thing to invest in!

I will be making a order this Saturday evening and I have a giveaway!!!

If you purchase something for $20 or more by this Saturday I will enter your name in a drawing to win a free Lip Gloss of your color choice! That is a $13 value!

Every $20 you spend gets you one entree! So if you spend $40 you get two entrees, $60 three entrees and so on!

So email me at: laurenclay09@marykay.com with your order. Or you can email me a request for my phone # and I will give it.

You can go Here to see a list of our best sellers.

You can go Here to have a virtual makeover and see what products look good on you!

You can go Here to see the online catalog.

Now go and win that free lip gloss!!!

Soul Surfer

2011-05-11T07:58:00.000-05:00

I went and saw this movie with my parents about a month ago and I have been meaning to do a post about it since. I was a little sceptical going to see it, knowing it was a good story line but fearing a lot of corny. I was pleasantly surprised with the majority of the acting and the story line outweighed anything corny. The OBVIOUS christian values that the family posses came clearly through the story which I really appreciated. Sometimes in "true" stories it can be really, really watered down. I am sure they left out some thing but I was grateful for what they put in there. It was not a question whether or not this family trusted God.

I personally just really enjoyed the story too. It was an encouraging and inspiring story and the trials they went through and worked through really tugged at my heart. I don't normally recommend movies but I do this one. It was great!

The forgotten mother

2011-05-09T20:13:00.001-05:00

I have debated writing this post. Wondering if it was really worth it. Not wanting any attention but wanting people to know at the same time. Wanting to minister where and however I can.
Wanting people to know they are not alone.

Britt and I recently lost a baby. That sentence seems so abrupt. It was and has been by far one of the greatest if not the greatest losses of my life.
People say that you don’t understand the feeling until it happens to you. That is the true.

I debated sharing my story because I wondered if it matters. But I know that even though he/she never lived on this earth my baby’s life mattered. That sentence is far from what would be considered
“politically correct” but it’s true.

Thoughts of that precious life have been swimming in my head this past weekend and today.
As you all know yesterday was Mother’s Day and

I was a silent mother.

I was a hurting mother.

I was the mother most did not know about.

I was hesitant to share this but than I began to think of the other women out there who were not able to celebrate mothers day with a child that they lost. The pain I feel for those mothers is deep
within my soul. I hurt with them.

But more than anything I want to tell those mothers that they ARE mothers. Despite the greatest pain and confusion you can face God is good. I can say that because despite what my circumstances say I know what I know to be true and that is that God is always good.

I know that in my time of hurting I wanted to talk to someone who knew what I was feeling. If I don't share what happened I can't be that person to someone else.

Two people who knew about what happened told me happy mothers day and I thought that it would hurt too much to hear but when I read the words they sent me I felt so loved and I knew I was a mother.

And so for those mothers out there who lost a baby I want to say Happy Mothers Day to you.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

The No Surprise Gift

2011-05-09T09:07:00.000-05:00

So my Birthday is coming up soon and I have really been wanting a nicer camera. Not like a "I am going to be the next big photographer and open my own business camera" but I nicer "point and shoot" camera that actually took decent pictures. As you should know by now Britt and I will be spending the summer in Colorado and I would love to have a better camera for our stay there and just life in general.

So, without anymore delay, here it is, my soon to be Birthday gift!

Truth be told I absolutely love it even though I do not yet have the luxury of holding it in my hands. I can imagine it in my hands....

"Man, my fingernails looks bad..."

Anyway, I can imagine and it looks good! :)

Even though the gift is not a surprise, I don't care. The anticipation of having it is killing me! I love it! sometimes anticipation beats the feeling of surprise, in my opinion. I love both feelings but for right now I will live in the feeling of anticipation. :)

Happy Monday

Celebrating a Great Year!

2011-05-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

This past Friday night we had the BSU end of the year Spring Banquet. It was a great time to celebrate the end of the year and to honor all of the seniors that have served in the ministry.

These are the four guys that Britt meets with. They are crazy, goofy guys and we love them. Despite their goofiness they all four are really godly men who love the Lord and desire to make His name known. They have committed their college years and life to making disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a part of that process and watching them grow as been an amazing privilege. We will have the opportunity to work with a few of them next year but some of them are moving on and we will miss them so much but it is exciting to send them out knowing the impact they will have in their work places and one day with a family.

These are the girls that I was able to meet with this last year. It was an honor to get to know each of them better. All four of these girls are so different and I love them each for their unique qualities and abilities. Despite their difference we all share a common love for the Lord and to watch that love and relationship unfold in their lives has been incredible. I have seen each one of them grow in ways that have molded them more into the image of our Lord and I know they love Him dearly. They love the younger girls on our campus and they are committed to making disciples. It has been amazing meeting with them and watching them grow! Two of them will be moving on and I will miss them so, so, so much!

This past year at the BSU has been one of the most difficult and challenging years of Britt and my life. From work and the crazy schedule of college ministry to personal life, family and marriage it has been a whirlwind. We are tired but it is a really good tired! We have loved this year and all that it has brought, even the challenges, because despite whatever has come the Lord has allowed us to be a part of investing in the lives of these students and others and we wouldn't trade it for anything.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to invest in students this summer and the school year to come. God has lots in store and we know He has big plans for our ministry at OU and we can't wait!

End of the year picnic

2011-05-05T19:13:00.000-05:00

We love, love, love the students that we work with! We have several different areas that we lead in at the Baptist Student Union and one of those is Leadership Team (LT). These are Juniors and Seniors who are leaders in our ministry. I meet with 4 of the girls (One missing from the pictures) and Britt meets with 4 of the guys (A few missing from the picture) on a weekly basis. We also have these students in our home every Wednesday night for team meeting.

This last Wednesday was out last LT meeting of the year. We celebrated by going to the park and cooking hot dogs, having a watermelon spitting contest, and just spending some quality time together since some are graduating and our team will be new next year.

The girls!

Me, Gaby, Mary, Stephanie, Susie and Alia.

We were missing Amanda that night.

Love, love, love these girls!

The guys!

Bryan, Luke, Shane (staff), Aaron, Britt, Trevor, Trey and Jessy.

Tom and Barrett were missing that night.

We are SO thankful for this past year and we can hardly believe that it is here and gone. We have out final event for the school year tomorrow and Britt will have state meetings all week next week and then we will be done in Norman until August. However we are far from done because from May 27 to August 2 we will be in Denver, CO working with 19 students from OU and about 30 other students from 5 different universities around the nation. We are so excited about the opportunity and can't wait to keep you updated on all that God is doing!

A goal of mine is to get back into the blogging grove again and I think that I am off to a good start. Two post in one day! :)

Blessings

2011-05-05T10:35:00.002-05:00

"Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise"

Blessings by: Laura Story

In the past year I have experienced rain drops. through my dads accident, daily trials, the loss of a life, financial struggle, and fear. The list sounds bad. Maybe not as bad as yours but for me it has been the most difficult year of my life.

But those raindrops in my life, those tears, those sleepless nights have brought more blessing than ever. My dependence on the Lord is stronger, my ability to identify with His suffering is more real and my compassion for the hurting is more present than ever.

Last night I was so overwhelmed. Feelings sneak up on you and they always feel so unwanted but sometimes they are necessary. I tell myself more than ever that it is okay to cry. I sat there and I told Britt and I don't know if I can handle anymore. I feel like I am drowning and I finally reach the top for air and something else comes and pulls me under. I felt defeated and cast down.

This morning I woke up and I was so lovingly reminded by my heavenly father that "His Mercy is new ever morning." Lamentations 3:22-24 Hallelujah!

I was reminded that His blessing come through raindrops sometimes. I was reminded that I am being formed more into His image. Although the process may be painful the pain will end when I leave this world and the result will be worth every raindrop.

the faith to let go

2011-04-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Britt and I were riding in the car and we were listening to the Prince of Egypt sound track. We both love soundtracks and especially that one. The song "Hush Now My Baby" came on. It is a song where Moses' mother places him in the river in an attempt to save his life from this massive murders of babies that was taking place.

As we were driving down the road tears came down my face as I thought of the love that mother had. Yes, love for her child but even greater a love for the Lord. The faith that she took hold of puts my faith to shame. She held on to the hope of what she KNEW God could do. When I am asked to let go of things, not even close to the importance of my own child, I cling to them so tightly afraid of what will happen if I let go.

This woman's faith struck me hard. It told me of the freedom and reward that comes from letting go. She didn't see the result for years. Moses was the one who came to deliver her and her people but she waiting for many years. If I don't see results will I still trust? If I don't understand why or what God is doing will I still let go? I know that I want to. I want her kind of faith.

Catching Up!

2011-04-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

As many of you know Britt and I recently went on a spring break trip with students from the OU BSU to Glen Eyrie, Colorado for a Discipleship Training Conference week. It was an AMAZING week full of great opportunities and amazing fellowship! Here are some pictures from the week...

First Sign of mountains.

This is where the conferences were

Good friends and fellow staff members Rita and Jenny.

Some students that we get to work with.

The guys love Britt!

All of the students packed in for our large group setting.

This is where Britt and I stayed. "The Pink House" rightfully names. :)

After the Spring Break week was over Britt and I were able to stay in Colorado Spring with Britt's sister and brother-in-law for about 4 days. It was WONDERFUL to be able to spend time with them and just relax. We did so many fun things. Two of our favorite things were going to the local zoo and to the Olympic Village. Here are some pictures to "document" those events. :)

The zoo had this REALLY COOL area where you could feed giraffes. Here is Britt handing over some food.

I quickly made a friend. He actually let me pet him and it was a great Profile Picture opt. :)

The zoo works its way up the side of a mountain and here we are at the highest point.

The next day or so we went to the Olympic Village where athletes train and had a look around. We had a great time looking and things but mostly goofing off and taking pictures. Although trying to find the place was a bit of a pain and I ended up getting a little *cough cough* grouchy (Who me??) We finally found it and it was a great day full of making memories.

I immediately saw this and thought it would be a wonderful picture opportunity.

Britt tries to be cool like me. :) Just kidding, I tell him all the time that he is a cool guy or I would not have married him.

Champion!

GOLD!

Well, hello!

Our trip was great! We came home and hit the ground running which is why I am just now getting around to updating this. Student ministry doesn't leave a lot of extra time to write on blogs but I wouldn't trade what we do for anything. It is the greatest job ever to be a part of changing the lives of students and passing on a vision of discipleship.

Day Trip to Dallas

2011-01-17T21:56:00.000-06:00

Britt, my friend Rachel and myself took a day trip to Dallas this last Saturday. Our purpose was to go and see my friend Amy, her husband Jon and their daughter Ella (who has a heart condition and had just had her third open heart surgery.) It was WONDERFUL to get to see them since they have had to stay at home the last five months and not see anyone to protect Ella from getting sick (She can't get sick with her condition).

Of course while we were down there we went to the Grapevine outlet mall, ate some Chinese food and also visited the biggest Salvation Army I have ever seen. (Yes, I like salvation Army).

-Apparently I am trying to see how many times I can use parentheses in this post. :)

Here I am, excited to be on the road! Even if it was only for a day I was happy to be going somewhere!

Group photo!

Getting Closer!

I was bored. And attempting to be "artsy". :)

Texas! I put an exlamation point because:

1.) We were there.

2.) They have nice malls

3.).....I will get back to you on this one....

See. Smelling Texas. Not cool.

We thought this was pretty funny!

Rachel and I!

Another group photo! We are thankful for Britt's long arms.

Just one of the many reasons I married him. :) haha

O.K.L.A.H.O.M.A. OK!

I don't have to plug my nose for this state line crossing.

Classic looking Oklahoma.

And THIS is how I knew that we were really almost home.... :p

We really had a fun time. It was a quick trip but we enjoyed the new sites, going somewhere different and seeing Amy, Jon and Ella. So thankful for the miricle that she is! If you don't know her story you should check out her Blog Here.

Ella Dawn

2011-01-13T09:01:00.000-06:00

It just take a moment to stop and pray for this beautiful Little Girl.

Will you give two minutes for this?

PLEASE PRAY!!!

Faithful and the Same

2011-01-10T09:42:00.000-06:00

He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

I keep reminding myself of this ever comforting truth. I am so thankful that even when things in life are crazy and feel as though they are changing more quickly than I can handle I can remind myself that HE never changes.

This past year, 2010, could be marked as a “dark” year for me. Many people would ask, “Where was God?” I don’t want to think of 2010 like that. When I think of 2010 I want to remember that He is always the same. He is faithful.

Just within the past few weeks I had my grandmother break her arm in 2 places, a dear friend’s grandmother passed away, my cousin who was only 46 dies unexpectedly. That could be enough to make someone question Gods faithfulness. However, I believe that such a reaction would be faithless.

I want to be like Job. I want to say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. BLESSED be the name of the Lord.”

I want to be like Abraham and what he was called in Hebrews. Righteous. Why was he called righteous? Because his FAITH was credited to him as righteousness. I want that kind of faith.

There are so many things in this life that I do not understand. Why would my dad almost die and then live to never be the same. Why would a sweet, perfect looking baby girl be born with a horrible heart condition? Why would the elderly loose their ability to think and do for their own and still live? Why would a family loose their father without even being able to say goodbye? Why? The thing is that I don’t know and if I did faith would be unnecessary.

We cannot even begin to know the thoughts of our creator but we are promised that He is always the same. We are promised that He is always faithful. We are promised that all things work for our good.

THAT is something that I can put my faith in.

A Tour of our Home...

2011-01-07T16:21:00.001-06:00

I know it has been a long time coming but I am finally posting pictures of our new home. We moved in this past November and we are loving every moment of being here. I most definitely feels like home.

Come on in!....

View walking inside... (Hi Britt!)

Entering the kitchen...

The kitchen!

More of the kitchen....

And some more...

Guest bedroom (Still a work in progress but coming)...

More...

Some of my projects...

I painted this shelf. It was black iron. This doll was my grandma's doll when she was a little girl.

This is a random assortment of frames that I took the glass and backs out of and painted white. The lamp is an old lamp from a garage sale that I bought a new shade for.

This mirror was a goldish bronze color that I painted white.

The hall...

The door to the right is the "third bedroom". We have not done anything to this room yet.

Hall looking at the bathroom and our bedroom...

Bathroom...

Bedroom...

More...

And more...

Hall from the bedroom....

Living room from the hall...

More of the living room...

More....

A little more....

And some more! :)

Thanks for "visiting" our home! :) We are so thankful for the Lord's provision through this home and we can't wait to use it to serve Him. Hope you enjoyed "the tour". :)

He is there

2010-12-13T13:06:00.000-06:00

It feels as though during this season of life I am faced with more questions than I am answers. More confusion than understanding. More tears than laughter.

This is when I have to remind myself that God is in control.

People wonder how believers can follow a God who allows bad things to happen to them. They say, “If God is loving and merciful why would He allow this to happen to you?” I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. I am not to the point where I can look back and see why God allowed or is allowing certain things to happen. But one thing that I know with out a doubt is that I would WAY rather walk through this time with God instead of without Him.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t sit down and just cry wondering why. This doesn’t mean that there are never times that I wish it all away or that I wonder what on earth God is doing. It doesn’t take away those feelings. But one thing that it does is help me choose how to handle those feelings.

I have to stop and give it to God.

Although I may not understand, although it appears at the time to be more for my harm than my good, I have to give it to Him knowing He is in control.

He loves me. What more do I need?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know it has been awhile since I last updated. I know there are still promised pictures of our house to be posted. We don't have internet at our house right now and it makes things difficult. Hopefully next month we will have it and those pictures will be put up. For today, this is what you get. :)

Christmas Photo Shoot

2010-11-27T20:15:00.000-06:00

Coming soon - to a Christmas Card near you....

Thank you so much to Britt's sister Brooke for taking these. It was so much fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that a lot of people have asked me about pictures of our house. I really am working on them. We still do not have internet set up so my access is limited but I hope to have some soon!

Ella Dawn

2010-11-18T09:09:00.000-06:00

Please be praying for This Little Girl. She has been on a difficult journey the first 3 months of her life but has done so well considering her situation. Things are not looking great right now though so please, please keep her in your prayers as the Lord bring her and her parents to mind. This is my best friends first baby and my heart breaks for them but I know that we serve a faithful loving God who is in control.

Moving like crazy!

2010-11-04T15:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a while.

Things are crazy.

My living room looks like this:

Okay - it's not quite like that, this may or may not be my living room. ;) But trust me! It. Is. Bad. And the white walls with nothing on them are just sad to look at.

Question of the day: How do you pack all of your things when you STILL have to LIVE?

Getting a new house = AWESOME! Packing to get there = LAME.

Despite the craziness of life with packing on top of it all I am so excited! One week from tomorrow and the moving process will begin. By November the 13th I will be sleeping in my new home. So happy! :)

I hope to have more picture coming with the move! I also have a lot of decorating things ahead of me and plan to have Before and After pictures with instructions on what I did. So hopefully that is something to look forward to. In the mean time, hang in there with me through this move.

*Deep Breath* :)

Tonight I...

2010-10-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

-Made a really yummy Omelet with green peppers, onion, fresh mushroom, tomato and turkey bacon. It was good!

-Watched a movie.

-Painted my toenails and fingernails

-Took my dog on a walk

-And now I a about to watch something else and take a bubble bath.

I needed tonight!

Now to tackle the rest of this crazy week. :p

2010-10-23T16:38:00.000-05:00

Britt and I spent part of the day together at Frontier City last weekend. It was beautiful weather and even better company! :) We had a really great time being together, ridding rides and screaming at the top of our lungs (ok, maybe that was just me). :)

Here we are about to ride the "Eruption" for the first time that day.

That's about what it looked like when we were waaaay up there!

We are on the "Old Time Cars Here. I wasn't watching the road very well... haha

Still not really watching the road....

NOW... I want to show you some sneak peak pictures of our house. The thing is that when I took these it was not "ours" yet. I guess it sill isn't officially ours ever since we are renting but it feels like it's close enough and it sure beats our one bedroom apartment.

Now: Please understand that when I took these pictures the guy that has been living there was still in the process of moving out so there is random stuff in the pictures. Once we actually move in and set things up of course I will post more pictures!

The house!

The living room when you walk in. To the right is the kitchen, straight ahead a bedroom and to the left down the hall 2 more bedrooms and a bathroom.

The living room looking the other way. I LOVE the floors!

The first half of the kitchen...

The other half of the kitchen.

I don't have pics of the bedrooms yet but once we get things set up I will put them on here. It will probably be a month or so (at least) but, it will happen!

We are sooooo excited about having a house. We really love it and God has provided in SO many ways already!

For what it's worth...

2010-10-19T20:15:00.000-05:00

I am trying out the whole blog thing again. In all honesty

Since I don't have a lot of time and I have the worlds most crappy Internet connection I am not sure why, but here I am anyway.

Catch up ='s
- No longer working at the Capitol
- Britt is no Longer at Hobby Lobby Corporate.
- We are a "Staff Couple" at the University of Oklahoma Baptist Student Union.
- I also am a financial secretary on the side and Britt is doing some grounds work at a retreat center.
- This year ='s the most crazy, hard, exciting, testing, faith building year of my life. Period.

This year, with everything that has gone on with my dad to starting a whole new adventure of going into student ministry has been a whirlwind. I am happy to report that I am still alive and here although sometimes I feel like I am hardly alive and here.

Never the less, I am grateful for everything that has happened this year. This Song has been really good for me throughout these past few months. I sing it. A lot. But the lyrics are so true, He is always faithful.

As the post title says, "for what it's worth..." I am back, at least to try this whole blogging thing again. I can't promise on what it will look like but here I am.

I am off now. We have a bible study tonight (at 9pm - College life!)

Goodbye for now...

He is always faithful

2010-08-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

If I have learned anything of importance this year it is how precious life is and that everyday we have is a gift.

On April the 10th my dad was in a car accident that would change my families’ life forever.

On August 9th my best friend gave birth to a precious baby girl who has 2 rare heart conditions and is currently fighting for her life.

Everyday is without doubt a gift and we never know when life will end but that each day is a privilege.

I see pictures of my dad today, or talk to him on the phone, or go to his house and see him. I have tears in my eyes with gratefulness to the Lord that He spared my dad’s life.

I was able to go see baby Ella at the hospital on Tuesday and hold her little hand and see her fighting for life. I put tears in my eyes.

The one thing that continued to go through my head after my dads wreck was what my dad always says “The Lord is always faithful”.

Now, as I watch sweet baby Ella on this journey I remind myself again of those words, “The Lord is always faithful”. We don’t understand it, we can’t see what He is doing, but He is faithful. God does not force the bad things on us, He is just there for us to walk through them.

Britt’s dad reminded me of a wonderful truth. He said, “Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes he calms the child.” I think that most of the things I have walked through this year the Lord has not chosen to calm the storm, He hasn’t taken away the circumstance but He has calmed the child. I have experienced peace that surpasses all understanding.

He is always faithful!

I don't know what to call this.

2010-08-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

I would be VERY surprised if anyone reads this thing anymore. I didn't even bother to look at what day I last posted because it is pathetic. Here I am though. Pretending to get back into it all. The truth of the matter is that it is a slim to none chance that I am "back in it". Life is taking a HUGE turn and giving us less hours in the day. Not REALLY less hours but I know that it will feel that way. Britt and I will both be working part-time jobs and working part-time at the Baptist Student Union at OU. This is an exciting adventure that is going to be amazing and probably kick our butts too. The truth is that I couldn't care less. I finally feel like we are moving in the direction of what we want to do and it thrills me!!!

I hope that all of you (the blogging world) are doing well. In my lack of blogging I have also neglected reading other blogs. That however, is one thing that I plan on fixing. Even though I may not update as often I hope to keep updated on your life. And who knows, maybe I will have more time to update then I think.

The summer has been VERY full with job preparations, my dads accident and recovery, church, current jobs, new puppy dogs, Britt being out of town most of the month of July, etc...

Sad thing is that I don't have pictures to prove it so you will just have to take me word for it! :)

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Trying it out!

2010-07-03T17:47:00.002-05:00

Britt and I just purchase a new computer today. We love it!!! There is this program on the computer that allows me to update my blog, add pictures and make changes and then it will publish it to the blog. Do any of you use this? If so, do you like it better or worse? I am testing it out right now so we will see how it goes!

Hopefully sometime soon I will have some kind of a real post since it has been way too long! Britt has been out of town though and he is home now so my attention is his (Sorry blogging world). :)

Hope you all have a happy and safe 4th!!!

Chloe

2010-06-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

Meet the new addition to our family. Chloe!

We got her this past Saturday and we are loving her! She has a great personality and is so fun! Obviously the worst part is potty training but HOPEFULLY she gets it down soon. It is too hot to stand outside hoping she will go! lol

Potty Training or not you just can't deny a sweet face like that! :)

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Is it just me or does it seem WAY too hot WAY too soon here this year? I mean, it is only June and it already feels like that "it is so hot I can't breath weather". I was not prepared for this.

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Not a lot to say right now. My life is potty training Chloe and work. :) Hope you all had a great Fathers Day weekend though and are having a great week so far!

Seems like all I do on here is catch up.

2010-06-17T10:01:00.001-05:00

This past weekend Britt and I had another celebration of our "1 Year" together. You see, the place that we purchased our wedding cake from has this deal where on your 1 year anniversary you can come back with a picture of your cake and they will make an exact replica of your cake topper for $10. That a way you still get to have the tradition of the "Eat your cake topper on your 1 year" and have good cake too! Basically, 'You get to have your cake and eat it too.' ;) Pun intended!

Here is what our actual cake looked like! :)

Here is the cake topper!

Not too bad! It was a lot of fun to eat and talk about the past year.

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Other than eating cake our weekend and life in general has been filled with a lot! A few weekends ago my little brother Justin came to stay with us and it was a great time! the week following that I had work and Western Hills was having their VBS which they call "Character Week". I helped out with that some too and it was fun because it was like the 'old times'.

This week has been full! Britt found out that next Wednesday is his last day at Hobby Lobby *happy dance* and he will finally start his new part-time job. He is going to be working for a guy in our church who has a roofing company. The hours will work out great with everything going on at the BSU. This summer, until school starts, he will be able to work full-time which is great too! Although, he is going to be out of town for 2 weeks coming up because they have a work project in Tulsa. So, if anyone wants to hang out PLEASE let me know! :) And then after he gets home just a little while later he will be going to CA for some BSU training. Like I said, if you want to hang out.... :) I am available!

For those of you who did not know I am working as a nanny for a family in Norman. They have three little girls. Two identical twins who are 18 months and a newborn that is about 8 weeks. They keep me on my toes for sure but the job is a really blessing and will work out great with my hours at the BSU too! The Lord has really provided some great jobs for Britt and I both and we are so excited to began doing the work that we know God is calling us to. Our next big step is raising our support. It is not going to be an easy task but the Lord has already proved so faithful in this I am excited to see all that He will do!

Well, Happy Thursday to you all! I hope your weekend is going well and cheers to an "almost here weekend!" :)

Happy Birthday Dad

2010-06-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my dad. I have never been so thankful for my dad and his life like I am today. I am thankful that he is here. The "odds" would say that he should not be but by God's merciful grace He is and for that I am so thankful.

I am thankful for the man that my dad is. The man that gets on his face before the Lord, the man who I personally saw many times in the mornings in the word, the man I know prays for me daily.

I am so thankful for my dads example. The life he leads. Forsaking everything for the sake of the gospel. Leading many people to the Lord. Acting out his faith on a daily basis, even now, lying in a hospital bed, living out that faith!

I am thankful that I am like my dad. I have three brothers and out of the four fo us I am the most like my dad. When I was younger it would frustrate me because being a girl and having a strong personality was difficult but I have learned how to use it for the Lords glory and now, looking back on my life and looking forward to the road ahead, I am so grateful and blesses to be like my dad.

My dad is one of my biggest hero's and one of my biggest fans. I am his only daughter and I love it! :) My dad was the keeper of my heart for so many years. He was my protector, provider and the person I could lean on. Even though I am married I know that he will never stop being there for me when I need him. Even now, as he lays in a hospital bed fighting everyday to get better, without fail every time I see him he asks, "How are you?"

Daddy, I love you so much and I pray for you daily! I am hoping and resting in the Lord during this stage of life and I can hear the words you always say over and over in my head, "He is always faithful!" I know that is true and I am so thankful for the legacy of faith that you passed down to me and that I will pass down to my children. I love you daddy!

Christmas 2010

Africa 2007

Wedding day, 2009

Update on the month of May

2010-06-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

Wow! Life has been CRAZY and has not slowed down. I think that I am finally in the clear and might be able to actually take a breath here and there for the next few weeks.

We have been out of town the last 2 weekends and we were busy both weekends before that as well. That has taken up a lot of time not to mention everything that we have done in-between.

I am home though and able to actually update the blog.

Here is a picture of Britt and his two best friends from the second week in May. I just had to put them up here, I think they are really good pics!

I don’t have a lot of pictures from our trips but will post the few I have. Our first trip was to Dallas, TX and we celebrated my birthday and our 1 year anniversary. My birthday is on the 29th and our anniversary the 30th but we decided to celebrate a week early. While we were there we mostly swam, ate and shopped. It was nice to just relax and have a good time together. :)

Britt in the car on the way there...and half of me. :)

Here I am! haha

And again. :)

Our room! I loved the bedding!

Another view...

The bathroom...

The outside. - I did not have a picture of the outside so this is from the hotels website. :)

The swimming pool. Once again thank you to the Hotel website.

Downown Dallas.

I love this building!

This past weekend we went to St. Louis, MO to see Britt’s best friend Todd. We brought Todd’s girlfriend with us and had a great time hanging out and just having fun. Todd is leaving to go to North Africa for the summer so it was good to see him before he left.

Britt and I at Crown Candy. GREAT place to eat! :)

Katie and Todd!

The counter! haha

The outside.

Again.

I did not take many pictures this trip other than this day. We were really busy the whole time and since we had been to St. Louis before we didn't do a lot of the "tourist" things.

Now we are home and it is good to just take a deep breath, let it out and then of course tackle the massive pile of laundry. ;) Seriously though, this week SHOULD slow down a bit and it will be nice.

The main thing going on this week is that my little brother, Justin, is coming to stay with us for a few days. It should still be pretty chill though. If you did not know Justin was in the car accident with my dad and busted up his right ankle, right shoulder and two fingers on his right hand pretty bad. He has been in a wheelchair since the wreck but last week he was able to graduate to a pair of crutches so he is now able to climb the stairs at our apartment. We are going to have some fun this weekend but with his injuries most activities will be pretty calm so I think we will be hanging out by the pool, going to see a movie and eating lots of yummy sno-cones! It should be relaxing and I am looking forward to it!

I am going to jump back a moment here and talk a little more about Britt and my One Year Anniversary. I would have really liked to write a post on the day of our anniversary but we were out of town and it would have been crazy so consider part of this post the “One Year Tribute”! :)

When I look back over the past year it has FLOWN by. I never knew time could go so quickly. People always tell us, “Wow! You made it through the first year; it is always the most difficult year!” If that is truly the case then I am excited beyond words because this first year of marriage has been a joy and not even close to a struggle! I personally believe that marriage will get more difficult when kids come into the picture but for whatever reason a lot of people say it is the first year and that was just not the case for us.

It is probably because I married one amazing man! Seriously! He is so great and I am beyond blessed to have Britt as my husband. Until you are married and actually share your life with someone it is hard to understand exactly what people mean when they say they love their husband/wife more and more everyday. I can truly say that I love Britt at LEAST 365 times more then I did last year at this time. ;) So it is true, you do love the person more and more each day. Is marriage always perfect? No, in fact it can be quite difficult. Am I always an angel as a wife and Britt always a Saint of a husband? No, not quite. But the thing is that the Lord is the center of our relationship and because of that we have a great marriage that is full of lots of love, laughter and fun! I am so thankful to be married and there is no doubt in my mind, in fact one year later I know even more, that I married the perfect man for me.

Here’s to another year and then 60+ more!

Quicky

2010-05-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

It's been way to long since my last update. I have been way to busy to even think about updating. I am back though, at least for a little while.

Britt and I went out of town this past weekend to celebrate our 1 year anniversary a little early. Our anniversary is not technically until the 30th but we will be out of town in St. Louis that weekend seeing a friend and his family and so this past week was out celebration! :) We had a great time and I hope to post pictures soon. I really don't have that many pictures of our trip at all but I will post what I have when I have a chance.

Random Question: Has anyone ever read the book "The Glass Castle"? Really just curious.

Happy Monday!

Random Monday's

2010-05-17T13:42:00.001-05:00

I love summer.

Two things that I really love about summer that are not your cliché (“Swimming”, “Vacation”, “Being Tan”, etc…) are:

*Flip Flops

*Green Tea

*Flip Flops – I love them. I live for them. I pray for warmer weather so that I can wear them. In turn, I think that flip flop tan lines are an adorable mark that summer has finally arrived.

*Green Tea – Iced that is. It is so refreshing. There are lots of flavors. It is simply wonderful! Try one of my fav’s: Starbucks – Ice Green Tea (Venti) with 2 splenda and some raspberry flavoring. It is wonderful! I also love Starbucks Lemonade-Green-Tea. YUM!

I am a summer girl. That’s just the way it is. I love summer!

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Happy News!

* I am going to be an Aunt again! Britt’s sister Beth is expecting her 4th child! We are so exited about this! This will make me an Aunt 6 times and counting. I just love it!

*I leave for Dallas in t-minus 101 hours and counting!
I. Need. A. Vacation.
No matter how short, this is needed. And people – I have birthday money and I am going to shop, shop, shop!

*I am going out with Hannah on Wednesday to celebrate “Our Birthday”. We share May 29th as a birthday and so it is fun to celebrate together, exchange gifts, etc… I am SO thankful for wonderful friends like her!

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Prayer!

*Yesterday was a little more difficult of a day concerning dad. He did not have one of his best days. There are always ups and downs but I ask that you please continue to pray for him!

*I have a prospect for a part-time job! It would be such a blessing. I have been looking for a part-time job since Britt and I will be working part-time at the BSU (Baptist Student Union) at OU and so I need something else to do.

*Please continue to pray for my dear friend Amy and her precious baby Ella. Pray for God’s perfect will. Pray that He chooses to spare Ella’s life and allows her to have some time here on the earth. Pray for Amy and that she will have a peace that passes ALL understanding. – Side note: I don’t think I ever understood the “passes all understanding part” until I was in a horrible situation. There truly is such a peace though!

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I hope that you all had a marvelous weekend and a wonderful start to this new week. Enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

Happy Monday!

It's so hard

2010-05-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Last night Britt and I went to go see my dad. It was encouraging and hard at the same time. Encouraging because he had the talking device in his trach and we were able to talk to him some. Hard because now that he can talk some we can see how difficult and painful this is for him.

There are still many times he cannot talk or is not “there” enough to talk; but the times that he can it are good.

Mom said that the other day he said something like, “This is so hard” and she replied saying, “Yes, but we have to trust the Lord.” “Sometimes it is so hard to trust the Lord” dad said, and mom replied, “Yes, sometimes it is really hard, but do you trust him?” “Yes” dad said.

That whole conversation was difficult and challenging for me to hear as mom relayed it to me. It was hard to hear my dad’s inward struggle spoken out loud. I have always viewed my dad as the strongest person I know. He is so strong and I know that He will fight this. What he said, “Sometimes it is hard to trust the Lord” is something that ALL of us feel at times. I appreciate the honesty in what he said.

After we got home from visiting dad I felt so “heavy” inside. I felt overwhelmed with everything going on around me. My dad in the hospital, all that we have to do in the next few weeks, my dear friend Amy and the difficult situation she is facing with her precious baby Ella and her heart condition, all of the change coming our way, etc… The list could go on and on. Some things are so good and other are difficult but the culmination of it all had me feeling so overwhelmed.

I began to feel like my dad. I began to feel like it was SO HARD to trust the Lord. I was telling Britt this and I told him, “I just don’t understand God. I don’t understand why He would do this to our family. I don’t understand why He would do this to Amy.” I wanted to lift my hands to the sky, throw my head in the air and say, “God, I don’t understand you!” Then, Britt reminded me that even when things seem so good it is still SO HARD to understand God.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8

It is not that I don’t trust the Lord. I know that He is in control, He love us and wants the best for us. I just don’t understand. Someday I may look back and understand, and then again I may not know until I am I heaven. I will continue to trust, despite my lack of understanding.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Amen!

Oklahoma Weather

2010-05-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

Last night was eventful. It is Tornado Season in Oklahoma. That is ALWAYS eventful. Funny thing is, that when you are actually FROM Oklahoma, sometimes it is hard to take tornados as seriously. Funny thing is, I have never taken them serious enough until now. Now I live in an apartment building and that makes tornados a little scarier. I don’t feel QUITE as safe and sound.

As a result, when tornados started to randomly hit around us (within 2-5 miles) we decided it was time to go somewhere that we would not be blown away. We went to the OU dorms and it was....fun…? I don’t really know what it was, I guess it was safe. You feel kind of silly, making sure your tennis shoes are on, grabbing 1 or 2 things that are important for you, knowing that the likely hood of you being the one hit is not that great. But the thing is that it will hit someone and it COULD be you whether likely or not.

In the end we were fine, no damage to our apartment or cars.

We (Britt and two good friends who live in our complex) decided to go and “celebrate” our “survival” with some Passion Berri. ;) It was delicious and a great way to end that evenings excitement.

My heart does go out for the families who had fatalities. There were 4 reported as of this morning and multiple injuries. I am thankful to live in Oklahoma though because people will help people. I remember when the May 3 tornado hit my family volunteered with the Salvation Army for a few days. We were all younger but it was a great experience. I know that will happen again too, people will help. I love Oklahoma!

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Sometimes I have this feeling like, “Does anyone even read my blog”. Then, I will be talking to someone and they will say, “I just love reading your blog” or something like that and it shocks me that they even know about it. Blogs are funny things. Most people don’t comment so you really never know who is reading, if anyone. It is easy to feel like you are just writing to cyberspace but I don’t think that is the case.

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I hate the feeling of coming to work in the morning and being hungry almost right away. I ate breakfast and yet I feel like my stomach is eating itself. Dumb.

I guess that is enough randomness for today. I am running on a lack of sleep and need to stop here because I cannot be held accountable for what I say. ;)

Happy Tuesday!

PS – Excuse any typos, I am too lazy to go back and check them right now.

Say what?

2010-05-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

I changed my blog look.... again. I know, I know, I just love change! :)

I am going to be buuuuusy this rest of week/weekend. Actually, I have already been busy this week. :p

For the rest of this week we have:

*Mothers day dinner tonight at our place for Britt's mom.

*Going to Starbucks on campus corner to meet the manager, suck up a little and pray I get a job there.

*Go see Amy! :)

*Come home.....Get ready for Spring Banquet.....Go to Spring Banquet.

*Go get stuff ready for Garage Sale

*Go to Bryce's birthday party.

*Go spend time with Katie!

*Go to Hospital

*Go to church

*Go to mothers day dinner with my mom.

Eh! It is scary when I type it all out. Needless to say life is busy right now. It is ok, we are going to celebrate our anniversary weekend May 22nd and it will be a WONDERFUL escape.

….wait. Did I just say I was going to celebrate my anniversary weekend soon? That means I have almost been married for 1 year. People, this is CRAZY!

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You might be interested to know:

1.) I plan to take pictures this weekend.
2.) I plan (hope!) to post them on here at some point. We all know people like pictures!
3.) Since I do not have a picture to post of my own I thought that I would share this one....

Ok... and maybe this one too....

Happy Thursday! :)

Anchored. Needy. Motivated.

2010-05-03T10:10:00.001-05:00

Two post in one day, I know… A miracle for me right now…

I was reading a blog this morning and it really began to stir a lot of things within me. Sometimes I feel so stuck. It seems like most of the time I see or hear about two types of people: 1. The worldly 2. The conservative.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with conservative values… I guess it just depends on what extent you call something conservative. Legalism may me a better word.

I want to have conservative values but I don’t want to be caught in a way of thinking that could keep me from following things the Lord is calling and leading me to.

Here are a few things from Alyssa's Blog that really stuck out to me…

“In my head I know what the truth is. I've got to be anchored. Set firm. Held to. Being held by... God. - to the very greatest and most secure foundation ever: Jesus Christ. That is the only way to not live out of reaction and fall into a ditch living lifestyle.”

“This whole thing keeps me broken within. It keeps me coming back and tearing down the walls I've built up around myself so quickly. It keeps me SO needy. At the same time, it really gets me excited. It motivates me and drives me every morning I wake up to seek God more. It keeps me on my toes spiritually. It causes me to evaluate my motives, my heart. It makes me question things instead of just following blindly behind the blind.”

I want to be in a place of knowing where I am anchored, staying needy (knowing I cannot do it alone) and at the same time being motivated to do something!

Go Here to read the whole post. It is challenging and encouraging. I really admire her.

Once again, Happy Monday! :)

Busy

2010-05-03T09:19:00.000-05:00

...that is what Britt and I have been. Busy. Life has been a little crazy this past week and in some ways it does not look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. I do enjoy the busy times. It is fun to be active and have lots to do. Although it does help me appreciate the slower seasons too.

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Church was challenging for me last night. it challenged me to think about what my walk with the Lord looks like right now and the time I am spending in the word. This is something that I know I can always be challenged in.

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It is May. I can hardly believe it! May is the month that:

* I will work my last day at the Capitol.
* I turn 22.
* I have been married 1 year.
* We say goodbyes to a good friend for awhile.
* Busy, busy, busy!
* We get to use our White Water Bay Season passes for the first time!

There is more to but I can not a.) think of it right now or b.) don't want to.

Did I mention I am tired? Because I am. Britt and I plan to go to bed EARLY tonight.

I really don't have much more to say so Happy Monday!

Baptist Student Union (BSU)

2010-04-29T15:50:00.002-05:00

A lot of people have been praying for Britt and I as we make some “decisions”. The thing is that we could not tell anyone what that “decision” was…..until now. :)

Britt and I have been praying and meeting with John Kelsey who is the director of the OU Baptist Student Union (BSU) for quite some time now about the possibility of coming on as staff members. I am thrilled to announce that the decision has been made and we will be going on as staff with the BSU this coming fall! We are thrilled beyond words and really looking forward to all that God has in store for us. This is going to be a BIG change in our life but we are ready!

The logistical side (i.e. what we will be doing exactly) is still undecided because they have not made all of the “final” decisions as to the functionality and programs for the BSU next year. Once that is decided we will be told what area of the ministry we will be specifically helping with. Although we do not know the logistics we do know that we will have MANY opportunities to meet with and grow relationships with college students and be able to be a part of making disciples! This is Britt and my heart and we are so excited to be able to take part in this ministry!

If you could pray for us during this new season we would REALLY appreciate it. I think for right now the biggest prayer request is that we both have to find part-time jobs. We will be working part-time and raising the rest of our money through support. We are praying that God would provide the perfect job to help work with the BSU schedule and give us opportunities to minister to people who work with us.

We really are so excited and ready to see all that the Lord has in store!

No title

2010-04-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

I feel like I need to update more. Ever since dad and Justin's car accident I have really been out of the "flow" of things. There is a point when "normal life" has to set back in and I think that it is. I am grateful for "normal life" setting back in but at the same time it sucks. I feel like I should not move on with my life when my dad is lying in a hospital bed totally unconscious.

I got a text from mom that said dad's temperature was at 102.2 and was pretty high all night long. Please pray for that to go down.

There is the place... the place of not loosing hope for his full recovery but also at the same time preparing myself that he may not fully recover. It is not like I think he is going to die, although it could happen, I just don't know if he will ever be himself again which is so hard to wrap my mind around. Don't get me wrong, I am not loosing faith that God could totally heal my dad but the longer he is "out" the more and more difficult it becomes. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control and I trust Him but I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around this situation and understand Him. This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever done.

When I think about mom and what she must be going through I cannot help but have tears fill my eyes. Then, if I start to put myself in her situation I loose it. My heart hurts so bad for her. I am praying with every fiber in my being that God would restore my dad to his original health and state of mind. I know that the Lord is enough for my mom, for me, for our family. I know that He will provide and meet all of our needs. But at the same time there is a reason that the Lord gave dad to all of us.

I told Britt I don't even know what would be better. Well, other then the obvious total recovery. But if dad wakes up with brain damage or if the Lord takes him home; I can't even begin to think about either one. I like to just think about recovery, but like I said it gets difficult. Not that hope is lost just that sometimes I feel like I am to the end.

This post was not supposed to be about all of this. I guess you can see what is on my mind though. I just want dad to wake up! He is starting to look so thin and weak. It is so weird to see my big, strong dad that way; helpless, in a hospital bed. I know that he is fighting. Sometimes I just want to go in his hospital room and yell at the top of my lungs, like it might wake him up or something. I know that sounds stupid but it is the way I feel.

Please continue to pray for our family. It has been a very long two weeks and this is going to be a VERY long journey. We need the Lords strength to sustain us because we are going to get very tired.

I have been reading in the Psalms lately and it is so encouraging to my Spirit. I am so grateful for that book of the bible right now.

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In other news….

Like I said, life has to go on… And tonight Britt and I have a meeting and some decisions to make that are going to help in deciding what our future is going to look like. We are praying and seeking the Lord. I just want the Lord’s best and I want to make sure that we make the right decision. Prayers appreciated!

Britt and I have been staying at mom and dad’s house. It has been good for us to be there to help but I think that it is time to go home. We are ready. I think that tomorrow night we will pack up and head home. I cannot even begin to tell you how very ready I am to sleep in my own bed!!

Like I said earlier, please continue to pray for our family. Your prayers are so appreciated!

Hope you all have a good start (and finish!) to your week!

Mind distractions

2010-04-21T15:40:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. Life has been a little crazy to say the least......

People keep asking me how I am doing with the whole situation regarding dad. Most of the time I say, "Ok" although I really don't have a real answer. I guess if depends on the day. Any day I could be: happy, sad, confused, angry or even a little of everything. Most days I honestly don't even know how I am.

I was telling a friend about these feelings and how hard it is. The thing is that I trust God and I know that He is in-control but that does not mean I understand Him. In my head right now this does NOT make sense. Why is my dad laying on a hospital bed unconscious for 1 1/2 weeks now? I don't know if I will ever fully understand that. All I know is that right now, it sucks. I also know that I have to continue trusting and leaning on God because it is my only hope.

So - right now I pray for dad, mom and everyone else. I pray God gives us the grace and strength we need on a daily basis. I often (basically every night) go to the hospital and wait, hoping to hear good news and then cry on my way home. Today I have just tried to distract my mind from all of this. To think about things other then hospitals, tubes, comas, surgeries, etc... So, today I started to think of things that I am looking forward to. Things like:

* Going to the Arts Festival for a little while with my hubby tonight. We need some time together!

* Going to hear Hillsong United this Friday night.

* Going out with good friends this weekend.

* Church on Sunday

* The Jefferson Carnival

* Being Home

* Using our White Water Bay Season Passes!

* Laying out by our pool and getting tan

* Going to Dallas for our one year anniversary.

Sometimes it just helps to think about things like this. But I can't help but think that the thing I am looking forward to the most is talking to my dad and feeling like he is going to be ok, that he will be his normal self again. Please keep praying for my dad. It is what he needs the most.

Trust

2010-04-14T15:10:00.000-05:00

When you go through trials there are times when your heart hurts. It can hurt so badly. Not because you lost someone but because you realize how easy you could loose them.

The thing is, the battle with my dad is not over. There are still so many hurtles to overcome and sometimes it hurts to think about. Even though he is here still there are times it does not feel that way because he is lying on a bed and can't do anything on his own. That hurts.

It hurts because I almost picked up my phone to call him and ask him a question. Sometimes reality hurts.

--------

Then - through all the hurt you find a blessing.

A blessing - I found out that my mom had her purse in hand, ready to go with dad and Justin and at the last minute changed her mind. That is a blessing.

It is little things like that they make your heart SO thankful. It doesn’t wash away the hurt but it sure does help.

--------

Something ironic is that this past week the Lord has been teaching me a LOT about trust. Trusting Him no matter what.

I used to always say that something would come along with an opportunity to trust the Lord, it would be difficult but I would learn and come to the place of trusting Him. Then, right when I think I learned the "lesson" another opportunity to trust would come along. It made me want to look up and say, "Um, God... Didn't I JUST learn this lesson; didn't you JUST bring an opportunity for me to learn to trust?" As I was thinking about this I realized that trusting the Lord is not a "lesson" that we learn. Trusting the Lord is a daily practice; daily surrendering ourselves to the Lords will and completely trusting Him.

Wow - Am I ever able to practice this now or what.

I guess when I really think about the fact that God was teaching me this last week it is not so ironic. Things with God never are. He knew what would happen and He knew that I needed to finally learn what Trust looks like. A daily surrender.

Faithful

2010-04-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

It is so amazing to think back to this past Saturday afternoon and how quickly my life changed.

My dad called Britt and I Saturday morning and asked us to go get breakfast with him. It ended up being just dad, Britt and I and it was a wonderful time of talking and catching up. As I look back on it I am so thankful for that special time that we had. I also found out that my older brother Brandon, his wife Rachael and their two girls were able to go to lunch with my dad. That is something out of the ordinary but God knew that it was something needed and I am so grateful for it.

I want to tell you again that the best place to go for updates is at my brother’s blog: brandonandrachael.blogspot.com. We are directing everyone there.

I wanted to take a moment on my blog though to testify to the faithfulness of God! He has been so faithful to me and my family. We have seen His blessing and provision in so many ways already and I know it is not over. "What satin means for evil, God means for good". I keep saying this verse in my head over and over again.

I know that when my dad is well he will be the first to say, "To God be the glory!"

I have had so many people tell me they are so grateful for the witness of my family during this time and I say "Amen!" God is faithful and good!

Thank you for your prayers and support to our family during this time. It will be a long road ahead but the Lord is a faithful, loving Father who provides for ALL His children’s needs.

Update on Dad and Brother:

2010-04-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

It is so funny how quickly things change. Yesterday morning Britt and I went to breakfast with my dad and now I am sitting in a hospital with my dad in ICU as well as my youngest brother Justin. They were in a serious car accident yesterday afternoon at about 2:45pm and we have been here since.

The initial report about my dad was not good at all. Since then things have been a lot better. He had emergency surgery and they were able to stop all internal bleeding which is a huge praise the Lord! He also had bleeding and swelling on his brain but and initially it did not look good but every time they look at it the swelling and bleeding is less and less. He is doing better. The report this morning is that if he was not on such heavy medication they think that he would be awake. He has started to respond in some ways which is such a comfort. My dad is one of the strongest people I know and he is such a fighter. I know that he will fight so hard.

Justin is doing much better as well. He is pretty beat up with a broken ankle, hurt arm (still not sure if it is broken), he had some problems with fingers and bone being exposed but they were able to file it down and had to trim the bone on one finger. Initially we thought they might have to amputate it but they did not so that is another huge praise the Lord.

Please pray for my mom during this time. She has health problems of her own and we are praying that her pain levels stay down during this time of caring for my dad and brother. It is hard for all of us to find time to sleep but we know it is important so please pray that we will know when to sleep and to br wise with our own health so that we can have the strength to support my dad and brother.

Our family has been so loved through all of this and we are so thankful for everyone’s prayers and support. My brother Brandon is trying to regularly update his blog anytime we hear new reports so you can look at that for more information: brandonandrachael.blogspot.com

Thank you again for your prayers!

Just so you know...

2010-04-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

Lauren's hair looks great!

Woot, woot Wednesday! - And your opinion.

2010-04-07T08:56:00.001-05:00

*Woot, woot* Wednesday!

*Woot, woot*

It's not as windy/cold as they said it would be!

*Woot, woot*

I get to eat Indian food tonight with friends!

*Woot, woot*

I got a good 8 hours of sleep!

*Woot, woot*

Tomorrow we are staying home and just resting!

So needed!

*Woot, woot*

We are buying our White Water Bay Season Passes this week!

Summer is coming people!

*Woot, woot*

I get my hair done this Friday!

What is your *Woot, woot*?

Speaking of getting my hair done....

I am planning to go in for a highlight which I DESPERATLY need. Other than a highlight my plan was to go in for just a trim. Then I saw a picture that I LOVE of a hairstyle that I LOVE and I am trying to decide if I will still LOVE it if I cut my hair like the picture. I love having long hair (and this pic is still "longish" just not long like it is now) and I can't decide if it would look good on me. SO.... I am asking your opinion. Check it out!

Here is my hair now:

Front -

Back...

(Ignore the need for a trim and color) ;)

And HERE is what I am thinking about doing...

What do you think? Yes, no, maybe? (Except don't say "maybe" because I need to make a decision here people and time is of the essence since I am getting it cut in 2 days!)

So, lay it on me, the brutal truth, do you think it will look good?

Thoughts!

Catching up...

2010-04-05T22:03:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I last updated. It is time for me to catch up. A lot has happened recently and I will fill you in on bits and pieces of it.

Britt got his Diploma in the mail! It was a happy day! :) He has been done with school since December but it felt so official to receive that piece of paper. The little piece of cardstock cost a pretty penny. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend before last Britt and I had a "Get-a-way" weekend just spending time together. We decided to get a hotel room for one night in Bricktown and it was so much fun!

Here is Britt in the complementary shuttle which happened to be a limo! It was so much fun!

And here I am in the limo!

We went to Zio's for dinner and afterwards we waiting outside for the limo. It was a rainy cold day but we didn't care and it didn't stop is from having a great weekend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past weekend we celebrated Easter together. Saturday we spent the day just hanging out together and having a GREAT time! Sunday we went to church with my parents, lunch at their house and then to our church that night. It was a great time with family and friends celebrating what Jesus did on the cross and the glorious resurrection!

Britt bought me a purse and an umbrella for my "Easter Gift". He surprised me and it was so much fun! I love them both!

I decided that Britt needed a "Easter Gift" too and so we went to a local consignment shop and found him two polos and a pair of shorts! We also went to Academy to get him a pair of new shoes because his other ones were just too worn out. He walks 18 miles a day and that can make a person go through shoes so fast!

We also got some plants for our patio! I love them and I am also hoping to get a hanging tomato plant! Thought it might be fun to try and I LOVE home-grown tomatoes! *Yum!* We are really enjoying our flowers though and the bright color they bring to our patio. I just love spring/summer!

Saturday night we relaxed and ate some yummy homemade pizza and drank some Raspberry Ice Tea. It was a great day having fun and spending time together. I love making memories like that together and can't wait to make many more!

I hope that all of you had a happy easter with family and friends!

Woot, woot Wednesday!

2010-03-31T10:10:00.002-05:00

Here is another addition of:

*Woot, woot* Wednesday!

*Woot, woot*

AMAZING weather!

*Woot, woot*

Dinner, coffee, and pictures with a good friend!

*Woot, woot*

Family time!

*Woot, woot*

Easter!

*Woot, woot*

Hair appointment scheduled!

*Woot, woot*

BLT for lunch!

*Woot, woot*

An amazingly, wonderful, supportive husband!

*Woot, woot*

Sweet Tea!

What is your *Woot, woot* for today?

.Yesterday.

2010-03-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

...I went to work. It was Monday but it was a good Monday. I slept well the night before, had a good hair day and the sun was shinning promising a beautiful day!

After work I met Britt at home and we prepared to go on a date. Tea Cafe on campus corner was the destination and delicious food and some of the best tea around was the result!

Tea Cafe is located in Norman Oklahoma and they have two locations. Britt and I went to the Campus Corner Location but there is also a Tea Cafe on 1241 Alameda Street in Norman.

I had the "Ice Peach Green Tea with Boba" (aka - little tapioca balls that are really good!) And Britt had the "Ice Milk, Carmel Black Tea with Boba". There are so many options to choose from it will make your head spin; but don't worry, you can ALWAYS come back and you will because it is that good!

After eating our Chinese food and drinking the wonderful tea we headed to Salvation Army to find "something". You never know what you are going to get at Salvation Army Stores. However, they were closed, so we decided to try "Daisy Exchange" a consignment shop that I love and alas, they were closed as well. Instead we headed to Good Will. They were open! We had a fun time looking even though we did not find anything. Sometimes you score big and sometimes you don't. Just be patient and you will eventually find the prize! ;)

After that we went to my mom and dads house to watch the latest episode of 24! It was epic! This season started out a little rough but Jack Bauer is back in full form and ready to kick some major butt! I love it!

That was my Monday. It was good, relaxing and full of lots of laughs with My Love! Can't really ask for a lot more!

Tonight after work I am going home to make delicious Chicken Parmesan and then we are off to Community Group.

Happy Tuesday to you all!

"Peace, punch, Captain Crunch"

2010-03-29T14:48:00.002-05:00

I have had this stuck in my head:

"Brick walls, water falls, girl you think you know it all. You don't, I do; so boom with the attitude! Peace, punch, Captain Crunch, I've got something you can't touch. Boom, boom cho-cho train, wind me up I do my thing. reeses peices, 7-up, mess with me I mess you up!"
(Said with as much attitude as possible)

Yes - that is one of "those" stupid cheers that I learned in middle school and for whatever reason it is ringing in my head today. Maybe I need to go beat someone up!

.....nah.

I bet you didn’t know:

I would rather use a lamp instead of a ceiling light anyday.

I hate cold weather with a passion

I have never gone to the ocean on vacation.

I say the words: Salsa, Idea, Saw, and Both incorrectly.

People:

Think I am a snob when they first meet me. (I have no clue why. I have tried to change that but I don’t know how.) Really people, I AM NOT A SNOB. I LOVE YOU!

Drive like idiots more often than not and I tend to tell them, loudly, as I am driving down the road; like they can hear me or something.

I wish I could:

Go to the beach. TOMORROW.

Each Chinese food all the time!

Go to Passion Berri!

I am:

Getting a nose ring in May!

Wearing a skirt/dress everyday to work this week. I heart this weather!

Going to have a good week! (It’s a decision people!)

Dreaming of the future and trying to trust the Lord with it.

I often dream:

Of life overseas.

That I am a lot taller than I am. – Seriously, when I sleep at night and dream I am always really tall in my dreams. Wishful thinking?

Of being a mom.

Sometimes I fear:

Making new friends.

Loosing old friends

Spiders!

Being rejected.

Finances.

I am trying:

To get my cute, vintage bike fixed soon! Also putting a cute basket on it so that I can ride it to the store!

To learn to trust God more in the big AND little things.

To ride my workout bike at least 4 times a week.

I love:

Britt! We have been married 10 months tomorrow!

My French Dip sandwhiches.

Flip Flop tan lines!

Laying by the pool.

Basically summer!!

I can’t wait:

Until we get our White Water Bay passes!

For Britt to find a job he loves!

Summer!

My Birthday! (I want new clothes! Haha)

You should know:

The Lord loves you and wants to call you His own.

I love you!

I have pictures from out “Get-Away” weekend coming soon!

You are awesome!

Loving no matter what

2010-03-25T13:13:00.001-05:00

I didn’t post yesterday. The first time I have missed *Woot,woot* Wednesday. To my dear readers, I am so sorry. Basically, I was swamped at work and when I got home I was equally as swamped. Today is still busy but better. I have enough time to sit down and post.

As I was thinking what to post about I remember something that was discussed in our community group this past Tuesday that has really stuck with me….

A guy in our group said that he was talking with a friend he used to go to school with. The friend is not a believer; in fact he is an atheist. He does not like anything that has anything to do with religion. However, he is a very smart young man who enjoys any form of intellectual conversation and is willing to discus all realms of religion. Well, the guy in my group was talking with him about Christianity and his friend told him, “The problem with Christians is that they are too mission oriented. They talk about the love of God but their main goal is converts not loving others.” The guy in my community group said that really stuck with him.

Food for thought:

Jesus fed the 5000 knowing that they were there to be fed. Period. He loved them all the same even though He knew that possibly all they would walk away with his food in their belly. The thing is that there is a balance. We need to be consistent in our love for others. We should not show them love when we are only trying to “win” them and then, whether or not they receive, just stop when the “job” is done.

Not exactly sure what I think about it but it did make me think.

Back to the grind

2010-03-23T14:31:00.000-05:00

* I am back at work and "real life" today after being sick on the couch for the majority of yesterday and the night before. 24 hour stomach bugs are far from cool. In fact, they suck. For the most part I am ready to take on the week except for being a little more tired then normal the stomach yuckiness is all gone.

* People, enjoy the weather while you can. The next few days are going to be cold and rainy. Agh.

* This weekend is our get-away weekend!!! So ready! So excited! So needed!

* Not to freak all of you out but somehow I have contacted a case of contact dermatitis - that's a fancy word for a rash caused by something that you use. I normally use BenGay when my back hurts but we were at Britt’s parents house this weekend and I used IcyHot, the result (Or at least I am blaming the IcyHot) is a rash on part of my back that is terribly annoying. I have had contact dermatitis before because I have super sensitive skin but this is just horrible. At first I thought it had something to do with my stomach bug but after research online I am sure that it is some sort of allergic reaction to something that I came into contact with and IcyHot is the only thing I can pin point. Rashes freak me out. Agh, again.

* Our car is in the shop. We are about to be $700 less rich.

I. Hate. Cars.
Minus the whole getting you places part they are retarded.

* This is turning out to be a relatively depressing post. I am going to stop now because I just realized I don't have a lot of happy information to share right now. Check back tomorrow for *Woot, woot* Wednesday. It tends to be more upbeat.

Pioneer Woman - In Hollywood!

2010-03-19T09:29:00.001-05:00

Ok People, I don't know how many of you read Pioneer Womans Blog but if you have not:

1.) You totally should!!! Hilarious, practical and just fun!

2.) Next you should read her Love Story. It is wonderful! Seriously Wonderful!

3.) Then you need to check out This Post because people, they are making a movie out of her love story!

I am seriously so excited about this and will be there to see that movie. Not only that, they are going to possibly cast Reese Witherspoon as her which makes me beyond happy!

So now, this weekend, you need to go read that love story. It is a bit long but totally worth it! Trust me.

The Truth:

2010-03-18T09:45:00.002-05:00

....'nough said.

Woot, woot Wednesday!

2010-03-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

*Woot, woot*

Tonight I get to eat Chick-Fil-A!

I am seriously obsessed with that place.

*Woot, woot*

I actually got more than 4 hours of sleep last night!

*Woot, woot*

Tomorrow there is a SOUTH wind, not a north wind.

I cannot even tell you how ready I am for summer!

*Woot, woot*

I remembered to wear green!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

*Woot, woot*

I actually look ok in green!

*Woot, woot*

I am 1/2 way through my work week.

*Woot, woot*

I am blessed!

What is your *Woot, woot*?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Something that I am continually learning, the kind of think that you say, "Ah! I got it! I learned my lesson", and then a WHOLE new opportunity to learn it come along. What is it, you say? T.R.U.S.T. Trusting God to be specific. Britt and I have a new opportunity to learn it. Again. It is good though, it stretches you and grows you into someone who is more like the Lord and for that I am so grateful.

* The weekend after next Britt and I are having a get-away weekend. Nothing fancy and we are only going downtown for the night but it is still a get-away and it is needed. 2 days set aside that we say no to everyone else and just spend time together relaxing and having a good time. Sometimes even going to a hotel in the city you live in can feel like a vacation. Plus, if I stay at a hotel in my state I get a government employee discount! :)

* Did you get your Census in the mail? If so, what do you think about the part that says, "You are required by law to fill this out and turn it in"? Sometimes it scares me when I think about the direction of our government. Some people decided that they just aren't going to think about it but I have decided I can't be that person. I want to be informed, know all I can and do something when I can.

PS - If Texas succeeds I am moving there. ;) lol

Voting on Health care bill - Or not!

2010-03-16T13:13:00.000-05:00

Check out this link.

All I can say is:

Dear Ms. Pelosi,

Can you please tell me when you elected yourself to be God? Because I am pretty darn sure no one would have elected you, you would have had to use this so called "self -executing rule" and elected yourself.

Sincerely,

Lauren

Every Couple is their own Couple.

2010-03-16T10:01:00.000-05:00

If I was to give someone marriage advice, in my not so expert opinion, I would tell them:

“Don’t think you will look like me or any other couple. You are your own person, your husband is his own person and together you are your own couple. You are unique and that is OK”.

Throughout my married life, ~~as short as it has been,~~ I have learned and battled with not comparing myself to other couples. There are ALL sorts of “couples” out there.

The serious
The giddy
The romantic
The affectionate
The lovable
The crazy
The weird
The loud
The quiet
The touchy feely
The not so touchy feely
The……. You name it!

What I am trying to say is that no one couple is alike and no matter how hard you try you will never be exactly alike. We can learn and gleam from one another’s wisdom and experience but we should learn what it looks like for us to be a couple that brings the Lord the most glory.

Sometimes I feel like couples will look at other couples and think “Wow – They never show affection in public, they must not love each other as much as I love my husband/wife” or “Wow – My husband takes me on a date night every week and her's does not, they must not love each other like we do” maybe “Wow – they are so giddy all the time, eventually it is going to wear off and they will realize they don’t have anything serious in common like we do”. Basically the list could go on and on…

I would like to say for the record:

1.) I love my husband with every fiber of my being. I would do ANYTHING for him, I love him more and more everyday and will until the day I die. I am hopelessly in love with him and I am a hopeless romantic.

2.) Just because I am not like you does not mean you are more happy or more in love. That is just a lie.

So – For those of you who feel the way I do, don’t let other people tell you, whether with words or actions, that you have to be like them to be happy. Yes, learn from others and soak in the wisdom of those who have gone before you; but don’t think you have to live a life of comparing yourself to others.

And if you are not married you can still think about this. Look at other couples, find out what you like and don't like and learn from it.

Britt and Lauren

Retreat

Baby News

My Week

It's A..........

God's Leading in Our Life

Cast Your Vote

A real post coming soon.... or at least before 2013

Christmas Whirlwind

A True Friend

Christmas Traditions

Life and Death

Baby News

Christmas at the Clay's

'Tis The Season...

What's been going on...

Surprise!

Fun Facts

Too long

Mexican Fiesta - Denver, CO [Part 5]

A trip to the zoo

Luau - Denver, CO [part 4]

Playing Catch Up - Denver, CO [part 3]

Denver Colorado [second update]

We Made It!

Colorado Bound! (Kind of!)

Mom's Garden

First Photo Shoot

The Spider Meets the Mop

Mary Kay

Soul Surfer

The forgotten mother

The No Surprise Gift

Celebrating a Great Year!

End of the year picnic

Blessings

the faith to let go

Catching Up!

Day Trip to Dallas

Ella Dawn

Faithful and the Same

A Tour of our Home...

He is there

Christmas Photo Shoot

Ella Dawn

Moving like crazy!

Tonight I...

For what it's worth...

He is always faithful

I don't know what to call this.

Trying it out!

Chloe

Seems like all I do on here is catch up.

Happy Birthday Dad

Update on the month of May

Quicky

Random Monday's

It's so hard

Oklahoma Weather

Say what?

Anchored. Needy. Motivated.

Busy

Baptist Student Union (BSU)

No title

Mind distractions

Trust

Faithful

Update on Dad and Brother:

Just so you know...

*Woot, woot* Wednesday! - And your opinion.

Catching up...

*Woot, woot* Wednesday!

.Yesterday.

"Peace, punch, Captain Crunch"

Loving no matter what

Back to the grind

Pioneer Woman - In Hollywood!

The Truth:

*Woot, woot* Wednesday!

Voting on Health care bill - Or not!

Woot, woot Wednesday! - And your opinion.

Woot, woot Wednesday!

Woot, woot Wednesday!