Hmm....

Walking Outside

Last week the weather was so beautiful Lilly and I took a lot of walks! This time I took my camera and we had a lot of fun being silly and taking pictures :)

Beautiful Sunset :)

We were on 28th Street the other night when we saw this beautiful sunset! Too pretty not to share :)

Falling on the Floor Laughing! :)

This picture cracks me up every time I see it! Lilly, Molly and I were playing downstairs when I snapped this picture by accident! I made Lilly and I laugh so hard we were both crying :) lol Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Fruit Snacks

Lilly loooooves fruit snacks! I try to limit her intake to a few times a week, but if she had her way she'd eat them 3 times a day everyday. Last week she was being so good that she asked for fruit snacks and I decided it was a good special treat! These pictures I took just messing around with my camera settings. I thought they were kinda cool so I posted them :)

Crayon Lessons

My friend Tori just send me this quote and I thought it was really cute!

"we could learn a lesson from crayons. sometimes theyre sharp and sometimes theyre beautiful. some have weird names and they are all different colors. and they all live in the same box."

Who knew you could learn from crayons? ;)

It is well...

These last few weeks have been very...stressful? Even though I love my new job, it's hard being away from my kids at Bear Hugs. And hard switching to something unfamiliar after almost 5 years! The Behl's are great. I really mean it, I couldn't have asked for a better family to nanny for! They have made this transition great. It's just still hard!

Something else that's not making this transition an easy one is "re-entry stress". It's one thing that I (and others who go on mission's trips) always struggle with when coming back from a trip. It's effected me differently every time I've gone to Haiti. Sometimes it lasts longer, sometimes it hits later. This time it hit much later. I'm dealing with a lot of it now. I hate it, I really do. But I wouldn't stop going on the trips because of it. Basically it's just a way that Satan tries to use the trip and take the glory of everything God did, and turn it sour. You have an overwhelming sense of feeling like an alien walking around in a foreign land. Not enjoying what you're doing here, because often times it feels so pointless. You feel disconnected from people that you love that don't get why you went or what you did, or the importance of it. I don't think I can properly explain it, and I don't think that I would get it unless I had experienced it myself. But I always find that in that time this song is so comforting! I love it. It completely and 100% humbles me, and comforts me. Brings me to my knees and God gives me such peace through it. I've been listening to it a lot lately :) lol.






"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

* Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul."

Going Batty!

Hey everyone! I hope that your weekends were wonderfully relaxing! These pictures are from last Friday. I wanted to post these sooner, but the weekend was crazy! Lilly and I made "Bat Hats" :) Her's was so cute that we also decided to make one for Molly! lol. They turned out pretty cute!

Both girls in their hats! Too cute!

Lilly and her hat... :)



Lilly checkin' herself out in the mirror ;) haha...



Molls and her hat...



I thought that they were cute! I promise I'll be posting more than just kid pics :) lol These are just easy! Hope everyone is well :) Have a blessed night!

Lilly's Many Faces! :)

This is a fun video I took last Friday of Lilly and I being silly! She's a very sweet little girl!



p.s.-don't mind my annoying voice in the background! lol :)

My New "Job"

Some of you know...not all of you...that I just recently quit my job at Bear Hugs. It's still crazy to think about! I was there just shy of 5 years. Those kids were like my kids. I miss not seeing them everyday!

Buuuuttt....I have a great new job :) I take care of these two lovely ladies! They are both dolls and we have a lot of fun together.

Molly is the easiest baby in the world! She is just about three months old and is just started to laugh and coo! This is Miss Molly...


Her favorite thing to do is sleep ;) hehe...I love, love this picture!


Lilly is fun and energetic and loves to giggle! Her and I have a lot of fun being silly and doing art projects together. She's quite hilarious :) This is Miss Lilly...

This is one of her various silly faces :)


The Behl's are a great family! I feel really blessed to have been given the opportunity to "work" for them (I don't feel like it's work lol) during this transition time in my life.

Oye...It's been a while!

I realized today that it's been a very long time since I've posted anything. I didn't realize how LONG it actually had been until I logged on. Holy smokes! A lot has happened since July 25th! A trip to Haiti, a wedding, a move and a new job. Guess I have lots of material for the next few days :) Anyway...hope everyone is well! I will be posting more tomorrow :)

Forever

My dad showed me this video last night and I thought it was awesome! Being in a wedding this summer and going to several more makes me think about how I want my wedding to be someday. I definitely want it to be fun like this! So creative! Hope you enjoy it like I do :)

Dirty Dancing?! :)

This weekend has been so busy, but so much fun! I went right from work on Friday to stay with my lovely friend Tori!

We had a girls night, and just hung low! It was a lot of fun! She's currently got a really bad case of poison oak so I opted to not take pictures for her sake (not that she's not just as beautiful now) :)

From there on Saturday we had a baby shower to go to and then to a Graduation party....and here is where this post gets fun... :) haha

Meet my dear friend Brenda! Brenda and her husband Nate are one of the reasons I haven't lost my sanity over this last year or so. They are amazing friends and people. I really admire the ways that they allow God to use them. They are both so fun, and we get along so well :) But...enough bragging up my great friends ;D At the graduation party the graduate had been given this dancing grad bear that danced to music. Meet said bear...


While we were watching it and laughing at it Brenda did her own version of the dance! It was hilarious to say the least!!! Here is her version of the dance caught on camera (I have permission to post this by the way ;) lol)...



Quite funny...made us all laugh really hard :)

Weekend Visit!

Last weekend my aunt (who lives in North Carolina) surprised my mom by flying up to spend the weekend! She's like a big sister and a close friend of mine. I'm not sure I would have survived the last few years without her! Anyway, we were all very happy she flew up! If you know me, you know that I'm usually permanently attached to my camera! But I failed in that department this past weekend and didn't take hardly any pictures...I was bummed! Anyway, here's some pics of our fun :)

Hangin' Out! My Grandma, Aunt, & Mom

My cousin Ally! She loves trying on Aunt Debbie's Shoes ;) lol

Youngest cousin Abigail! :)

Then we all went down to my aunt and uncle's cabin in Hastings. We got rained out most of the weekend, but we still had fun playing games and hanging out!

Aunt Dawn, Doreen, and my Mamma
My Aunt Doreen was talking lol

Dawn and my Mom

My brother ran out of the cabin for a minute and got soaked! Tryin to dry off his sweatshirt!

hahaha!! No words! :) He was really wet! lol

...the little children...

"Red and Yellow, Black and White..."

Lazy Kitty Days

Meet "Kitty" :) She is an outdoor cat that was actually born in our barn. She's adopted us, and lives under our front porch. I'm really not a cat person at all, I much prefer dogs. However, this cat I don't mind for some reason.

Since it's started to warm up she's been spending a lot of time on the deck. It always cracks me up to see her lazying around (yes that's a word :P lol). Today I caught some of her laziness on camera. I thought it was kinda comical lol.

What Do I Know of Holy?

I am in love with this song by Addison Road. I had heard it once on the radio, but my friend Sara asked me about it today and we listened to it again. It instantly brought me back down to a place of being broken and humble. The lyrics are so true of my life. The last few weeks the group that I am going to Haiti with in July has been playing a question/answer game on facebook. It's been so much fun getting to know my teammates this way. I have a much better idea about each of them. Their hurts, struggles and pains and also their joys and strengths. It's been a great time! Anyway, the point of telling you that is not just to rub in how cool they are (which they are ;) lol) but to bring up last week's question. I still have not answered it, partially because I wasn't able to keep up with the thread as it became overwhelmingly large very quickly. And partially because I *didn't have to time to* (*=laaaame excuse). Here is the jist of the question for last week (asked by our leader)...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Forget everything I have told you. I still do not want you to have expectations on this trip, but be open to the Spirit's leading and understand it is God's agenda and not ours.
A. That being said, if you COULD determine the outcome of this trip, what would you consider a successful trip?
We all have expectations even though we don't usually verbally express them. So,
B. What are you hoping to accomplish on this trip. It may be something you want to do for the Haitians, it may be something you hope will happen in your life, or both. Be honest."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first part of the question I don't have trouble answering at all. I don't have expectations other than just building relationships with the Haitians and allowing those relationships to grow. That we will be able to share our faith and only source of joy and hope with them. That they will in turn cling to faith and grow in it, showing others (I guess that also answers the first part of the second question). But, for some reason the second part of the last question was harder for me to answer. Obviously I want it to affect me somehow. I honestly don't think you could take a trip there and not be affected by it in one way or another. But I still didn't have my answer, I wasn't sure what exactly to hope for or what I wanted to happen in my life. Each trip has been do different and affected me so differently. But, I knew when I heard this song and read the lyrics. So much of it brought me back down to a place of humility. I feel like it speaks exactly for me when answering the question what I hope to accomplish. Here are the lyrics...

What Do I Know of Holy? by Addison Road
I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

(CHORUS 2)
What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?


I want to come out of this trip more broken than I was going in. To be so much in awe of Him. I see so much beauty in the Haitians, Christ's love for them. But still, so much of my life is lived out like the first part of the second verse. Sometimes I think I have Him figured out. I know what to talk about, and can sing about how He is might to save. But what do I really know about that? If I think I have it all figured out, then they are empty words, they're not His words, but my words. If He tried to speak through someone else in Haiti to me, would I recognize it? This last year I feel like I have been so stretched in my faith and grown so much, but I've allowed myself to become arrogant in that. To the point where I allow myself to think I know the answers, but like she says, "What Do I Know of Holy?" Nothing! I feel like I can't even express my answer to the question completely...but that these lyrics speak them for me. I hope that this makes sense! At this point I feel like I'm just rambling! Hope you enjoy the song and that it speaks to you.

Morning Surprise

These pictures are actually from a few weeks ago, but I still had to post them :) I had picked up a later shift at work for a friend, so I didn't have to be in until 10am, which was soooo nice compared to my 5am! So, I got up and let the dog out, and stumbled into the bathroom when I heard her got nuts. I ran back out into the kitchen to see what her deal was and when I looked at her she had her back to the front door, all the hair on her back was standing up and she was barking like crazy. I followed her gaze out into the woods beyond our yard and there were literally 15-20 deer standing there. It was AWESOME! No wonder the dog was going crazy! lol I quietly let her in and then ran to get my camera. By that time all but 1 or 2 had left, but I was still able to get a few quick pictures of them. It was such a cool reminder that morning of God's awesome creations! I don't think I've ever seen that many deer together other than on a deer farm. Very cool :)

Back on the Bandwagon!

It's been soooo long since I've blogged anything. Not cool :) But, I've decided that I'm back on the bandwagon and will be blogging regularly again! Not that it really makes that big of a deal to you lol, just thought I'd let you all know! I hope you are all well! Now it's time to catch up on reading blogs! Yeah...big job a head of me lol ;)

Peace out bean sprout(s)!

Haiti Trip Theme Song???

Hey my fellow July 2009 trippers (and those who are not on the trip!) I was listening to this song today and decided it should be our trip theme song :) I loooooove the lyrics, and really pray that this is how I represent Christ in Haiti. Just a random thought! Listen to it!




Go Hard Lyrics:
Hook:
Go Hard or Go Home(2xs)
Lord Use Me Up(2xs)

Verse 1:
(Lecrae)
Lord kill me If I don't preach the gospel
I'm still in my 20's- but I'll die if I got to
Already dead- so forget my flesh
I done been crossed over see the full court press
I'm a full court mess if the Lord don't use me/
Running from my trials thinkin everythangs groovy
If the Cross don't move me then I don't wanna breath no mo/
If I aint seeing Christ potna I dont wanna see no mo
Rep every day withouth worrying about bruising
I been to china mayne I seen some real persecution
If U didn't know em would ya life look the same
Can they tell you value Jesus by the way you rep his name?
man what's the point of living if Im living for myself
Lord empty out my life before I put you on the shelf So for God I got Hard I dont' wanna die tonight/ It's too many people living who aint heard about my Christ
Go Hard or Go Home(2xs)
Lord Use Me Up(2xs)

Verse 2:
(Lecrae)
Went to Asia had to duck and hide-for Sharin my faith
They tell me water it downwhen I get back to states
[ Lecrae Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
They say tone the music down you might sell a lot a records
But it's people out here dying and none of em heard the message
Took my wifey on mission trip - central america
Shared her testimony 40 people stood and stared at her
When she said Jesus shoulda seen it was insane cause 40 out of 40 never heard of Jesus name/ Aw mayne we aint focused on the war we just kickin it/ worried bout our image and our space up on the internet// take me out the game coach/ I don't wanna play no mo/ If cant give it all I got and leave it out there on the court/ Thank you for the Grace for the will and the desire/ got me living for your glory stead of living to retire/ But I pray I'll never tire of Going hard for Messiah/I don't need no motivation You the reason I'm inspired.

Verse 3:
(Tedashii)
Go Hard/Go Home, Go Hard/ Go Home/
That's what that is baby/that what that mean/that what that mean/
That what That is baby/That what that mean/that what that mean/
Wha-What that mean?/
That mean that we, should be out up in ok streets/
Not just in houses with our bible's summrizing what we read/
Man this aint deep (man this aint deep)/why we aint doing what we read/
Its like we sleep (its like we sleep)/
But sinners sleepwalk when they sleep/
So why can't we (so why can't we)/the redeemed of the LORD/
Act out, what He said/and make a scene for the LORD/
Action-cut, say what, like we was the director/
But you better get a Grip like movie sets, and get to stepping/(Martin)
I know you done it/da-done it, da-done-and heard it all
You was going hard for the Lord before you heard this song/
But don't play yourself to save ya self/and walk in fear/
Scripture's like a mirror/the truth is closer than it appears/

Even here at home...Go Hard...Lord USE ME UP!

Hope you're all having blessed days!

Fire Engines

It seems that all of my good stories lately are from work. Hmm...I wonder what this says?? I have a boring life?? lol maybe... ;) Anyway, the other day at work we were doing our morning circle time when suddenly there was a rush of sirens. They literally seemed to be coming from every direction on the road in front of the daycare. The kids all ran to the big window to watch the fire engines drive by, when to our surprise they stopped right in front of the center! We were a little concerned, but mostly confused because we couldn't see any proof of a fire or anything anywhere. But, firefighters went running into one of the houses across the road with hoses and everything. The kids LOVED it! They all had their faces pressed up against the windows (luckily we have some big windows right up front lol) and we opened the front door so that they could hear everything.



It was funny so see all of the neighbors out front in their lawns too, confused as to what was going on. The weird part was that the fire engines just kept coming, along with a water truck, two ambulances and a few cop cars. I tried to capture them all, but didn't really get to. All in all there were at least 10 emergency vehicles and we never even saw smoke! It was kind of crazy, but the kids loved it! One of the fire engines directly in front of the big window blew his horn for the kids, they thought it was great! Needless to say it made for an interesting morning :)

True Talent

So this past weekend my dear brother was here which I truly enjoy :) We were hanging out on Friday and talking when he was suddenly like Ooh I have to show this to you! When he showed me I was completely blown away! I'm not really even sure how to describe this...so I'm not even gonna try! You're just going to have to experience it for yourself!



Pretty insane isn't it??? I won't say I wish I could sing like this...but it truly is talent! And yes...it is a man :) lol

Hope all of you are having blessed days!!

Theme Song

This is my theme song today :) I heard it on the way to work and have been singing ever since, just thought I'd share! It's not a new song, but it's catchy lol. Hope you like it as much as me!!


Brand New Lecrae - Live Free - Rebel - The most amazing home videos are here

Here are the lyrics!

80's Dance Party!

Holy cow it's been a long time! I didn't mean to wait this long to post again, but I haven't been feeling very "bloggy" (yes that's a word :) lol). I don't have much to post about life in general, but some cute work things! I figure that's better than nothing :)

Today at work one of the girls I work with brought in an 80's dance party remix CD and we had the kiddos rockin out to it. It was hilarious to see the kids reaction to the different songs some of them even broke out with a "ooh I love this song!!!". It cracked us up. Here is a video of the fun!



I especially love the one in the black's dancing :) Can we say elbows??? lol :) I love them!

Day 6....

Today was the day I was most nervous about/not looking forward to. I have to work later in the afternoon on Thursdays. Translation: I'm not here when the kids get off the bus. I know that they are fine on their own for a little bit with Nik, but it's still makes me nervous. I left my numbers for them and called them to check in. They of course were fine :) While I was at work and the kids were at school Nate's dad came to start painting the great room! I had no idea that he was coming, so it was a surprise to all of us! Here are some pics for you N & B!




The doors are in as in they "came in" but aren't in the wall yet (they're in a box in the garage!). So, I'm thinking they'll go in tomorrow?? I'm not sure, the builder was here and gone before anyone saw him. I'll post pics as soon as it's up! It's exciting to see paint on the walls though, it looks great!

After I got back from work, Nik helped me make dinner. We had spaghetti (you all wanted to know that right?? lol). It was fun, Nik and I had a lot of fun laughing at each other and being goofy. He's a good kid and has been a huge help :)



Tori came over later and hung out again :) It's been fun seeing her so much lol! Her and I had a spatula fight with Caleb and Nik lol. Translation: Running around like fools smacking each other with spatulas lol :) Well...Tori, Nik and I had spatulas...Caleb had a big plastic spoon that hurt really bad lol. No major injuries occured, although I'm pretty postive that Tori and I are going to have some bruises tomorrow! haha. I'm guessing that a few of you are now thinking that you will never let me babysit lol :) Here are some pics of the craziness!

Caleb's ready!

Tori getting attacked lol

haha :)

Stupid fun calls for a stupid picture!

It's been a great and tiring day! Keep N & B in your prayers. God is doing amazing things and has even more in store! Love!