That's Vegas, Baby!

I can't tell you how many times I heard people saying that phrase as we walked along the Las Vegas strip. We just got back this afternoon, and we will admit that although it was nice to get away, we didn't enjoy Las Vegas all that much. We are really glad that we went and saw the city with all its glitz and glamour. It is such a cultural icon. But we will be glad if we never go again. The accomodations were great (we stayed in the pyramid hotel, The Luxor). The lights were every bit as sparkly as you could imagine, and the strip was much larger than we expected. Yet we were overwhelmed by the decadence and beckoning to live lavishly which the city calls to all its visitors. But then again, "That's Vegas, Baby"! Recently we have begun to think very seriously about getting out of debt, all our debt (yup, even the monster school debts). So to be in a town that screams at you to spend your money on pleasure, we found ourselves becoming more and more excited about living simply and getting out of debt. Considering how much it sharpened our motivation, I guess you could say we went to Vegas at a good time.

One thing I did really enjoy visiting was the Bellagio Hotel, the one from the movie Ocean's 11. We walked through the hotel lobby and stared in wonder at the amazing decadence of it all. We also got to enjoy the fountain show out front (the fountains light up and are choreographed to songs from Celine Deon, Sinatra, and Pavaroti). That was incredible.

It was also interesting to go to the desert. It is sooo hot, as you might imagine. When we went to the Hoover Dam, it must have been 110-120 degrees. Being there made me really appreciate how much I am not in the desert here in Paso, no matter how brown it may appear to me. All in all, it was a good getaway, and we are glad to be back to our lives of healthy simplicity. I also start my new job on Monday...exciting! I'll leave you with some photos from the trip.

This picture is of the Paris Hotel and the Bally's Casino Hotel.

Here is Matt looking rather like the guys in Ocean 11 after they pull off the Bellagio heist.

Here we are at the Hoover Dam.

To give you some depth perspecitve, on the left hand side of the dam wall under the roof is where Matt took the picture of me. It's a big dam.

Leaving Las Vegas

Actually, we are leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow morning, bright and early at 5 am to make it through the desert before the afternoon heat hits. Matt and I are celebrating my last day at Starbucks today and my new job which begins on Monday. For those who haven't heard, I got a job doing social work. I found out a few weeks ago that I got the job and the last couple of weeks have been so full of peace and rest. Knowing that I have a job and don't have to continue looking, searching, interviewing, and stressing about the job search has been such a relief. Most of you know how difficult this job search has been, and I look back over the last 11 months and I wonder why God took me down this long and rough path. But I do see blessings in this difficult time I have been through. I stand in a position now of excitement and hope and eager motivation to begin my new job and to work hard at it. I know much of this attitude has been produced from the refinement of the last year of frustration. So here we go, Matt and I, embarking on a two income journey for a while. We are celebrating with our trip to Las Vegas, on a shoe-string budget. I hope to have fun pictures when we return. I am excited about the relaxation and the "get away". Off to the desert we go.

Father's Day, a little late

I meant to post this on Sunday, but had trouble uploading all of the pictures, but since today is my Dad's birthday I thought I would troubleshoot through the picture issues to bring you this post I began writing on Sunday.

"Sunday in church one of the elder's talked about Father's Day as a day that people feel one of three emotions: celebration, anger, or indifference. These emotions are in response to our relationship with our fathers, the earthly one. He spoke of these emotions in conjunction with forgiveness and asking God, our heavenly father, to give us forgiving hearts towards our fathers. I sat in church in a row with people who all feel a good bit of all three emotions towards their fathers, and I was moved to tears. I am thankful for my father, and although no relationship is perfect, and I am grateful for the man that God has made my father to be. One thing I love in particular about my father is that he prays for me every single day and he reminds me of that every time I speak with him. Thanks for your faithfulness, Dad. I love you.


Matt and I were in a celebratory mood on Sunday afternoon and so we took our only dependent (I can't quite cross the line to call her a child) to the beach and it was great fun! Matt and I joke about how Keller thinks she is the most important girl in Matt's life. I thought these were some fun pictures of Keller and her daddy. :-) P.S. I hope that posting all of these pictures of Keller doesn't cause me to cross the line into "doggy dork-dom"...you know, 'the speaking of one's pets as if they were beloved human children.' But....she is precious and maaaaaybe sometimes we wish she could talk to us. Yikes!

Can I get an Amen?!

Matt preached his first sermon this Sunday, and it went great. I was so proud of him being that it was his first sermon ever! There was a time not too long ago when Matt never wanted to work for a church again, much less be the guy up front preaching. He never considered preaching to be something he would be good at. But with some healing, a lot of work, and the Holy Spirit, Matt brought a message to the church this week. A lot of people had encouraging things to say to him afterwards. Today he received a postcard in the mail which said how much they were blessed by the sermon and can see how God has gifted him. I share this with you guys to share the amazing work of what God is doing in my husband's life. I prayed for years for healing and a sense of direction for Matt. We don't always see it happening, but it is beautiful when Jesus lets us watch that process. The picture above was taken on Sunday at a friend's house after the sermon.

Andrew's visit

It's been too long! No, really...we must catch up! The month of May goes on record as being a hard month in my books. I don't want to expound upon it much tonight as it is getting late and I am exhausted, but I did want to make a reappearance as a blogger. I find it impossible to blog when I am having a hard time, in part because I don't want to sound like Eyor (sp? the gloomy donkey on Winnie the Pooh) but also because I tend to feel very uninspired during hard times and I usually only write when I'm inspired. So here I go getting back on the blogging saddle again! I did want to post some pictures from my brother Andrew's visit to California. He has been here since Monday and is leaving on Saturday. It is nothing short of delicious to have family and old friends visit us all the way out here on the west coast, so I don't take these kind of visits for granted. I hope to write more about what is going on in our lives, but until then I wanted to leave you with these pictures of our week thus far. Have a great weekend.


Behold my California husband, donning his west coast tan and new glasses and new weight loss--he is awesome, dropping 15 lbs. in just one month.




I love this picture of Andrew and Matt looking out on Pacific together. The picture melts my heart! These are two very special boys in my life!

Path to Renewal

Tonight Matt, Keller, and I took a long walk around a beautiful path near our home. I love our nightly walks together. They have been one of the new steps we have taken towards living more healthy lives. I see much renewal going on in our hearts right now. In our sonship meeting last week with our pastor and his wife, Matt was struck by how much life is an adventure and we are beckoned to trust God and enjoy where he leads us. It is so wonderful to see Matt encouraged by these words, and we are spurring each other on to trust God and enjoy the journey together here in Paso Robles. These pictures are from our walk this evening.

Congratulations, Nurse Hansinger!

Jenny, my sister, graduated on Saturday from Florida Gulf Coast University with her B.S. in Nursing. She has worked very hard to achieve this, and I am so incredibly proud of her accomplishments. I love you, Jenny, for who you are...the nursing part is bonus! Here are a few pictures from the celebration (which I could not attend being all the way over on the other side of the world). My abuelita, aunt Alina, brother, and parents were there to ring in the new degree!

On birthdays and good friends

Saturday night went great. There were eight of us total sitting around my living room drinking moderately good green apple martinis (pictured to right) and chowing down on Thai coconut curry chicken while discussing life and getting to know one another. There were friends here who I have known anywhere from long time to some only a couple of months. It was so wonderful to sit there, talk, and laugh and enjoy the evening. One of my favorite things is watching my friends interact with each other. It was so enjoyable sit back, enjoy their company, and realize the blessing of friendship. Whether friendship be with a friend from childhood, high school, college, beyond college, mother, sister, or in-laws-- here is a toast (blog) to friendships.

Hello old friends...

So I think I am a master escape artist!...at least in the blogging world. It has been 21 days since I last wrote and so much has gone on. I had a great time in Baltimore with Peter, Erica, and Alina Beth. I felt like it was the first time I got to spend a good amount of time with Peter in many years. In fact, I don't feel like we have had that kind of quality time in 8 years or more. Once I left for college 12 hours away from home and then he went to college the next year 24 hours away from home, we began to develop bad habits of not keeping in touch very well. He began dating Erica his first year of college, and I did not get to spend good quality time with her either. On this trip I realized how much I like my brother and his wife, not to mention loving them. They are really fun and I enjoyed connecting with them and seeing their life as husband/wife and dad/mom.

And Alina Beth....seriously, she is such a beautiful child. She smiled the entire time I was there. I am not joking, she is the most contented baby ever, and she has a smile that makes you feel so special. I am excited about that little girl and her parents. I also had a good time with Andrew and Jenny and my mom. Between chilling on the couch and checking out the Baltimore sights, we had a great weekend. Praise Jesus for beautiful nieces like Alina Beth and Evie.

Since I got back I have been working 40 hours a week at Starbucks...and wondering what in the world I am doing with my time. I have not enjoyed Starbucks at 20 hours a week...you can imagine how it has felt at 40 hours a week. I applied at some temporary agencies to try to get some better part time work.

One great thing God has brought into my life recently has been a woman, Jan, who is a friend of a friend of mine. My friend hooked me up with Jan who, a lisenced counselor and professor at our local community college. I have a had a couple of conversations with Jan over the last couple of months which have been so encouraging of my counseling career. She has recently encouraged me to apply to teach at our community college in the family/human studies department...long story short, I am turning in the application to human resources tomorrow.

Ok, so you might be doing a double take at your screen and asking me (in your mind or under your breath "What?!?! Teaching at a community college?!?!") Yes. How weird...I never even considered teaching, but here I go turning in an application based on the encouragement of a woman I have never met face to face. Last week I found out our health insurance through starbucks is being dropped at the end of the week, and it is all due to my lack of administrative skills in keeping track of my hours. Major ooops! As I sat in my office in front of my computer hating myself and seriously doubting God, I decided to call a good friend in our church. She asked me what the messages were that I was telling myself. As I talked with her I began to really wonder what in the world was going on and would God ever open a door, especially one I want to walk through. After talking with her I called Jan, the women I mentioned earlier who I had only spoken with once before. I was ready to talk seriously with her about counseling (ready to take a risk). During that conversation she told me about the open teaching positions. She doesn't even know me...she is just going off of whatever my friend from church told her, yet I felt so enouraged. That day I downloaded the application and began dreaming about something I have never considered doing.

So that is a long and drawn out story...one that I really question even telling because I have no idea if anything will come of it. How hard it is to put your heart and desire into something that may not work out. But I am learning that that is what all of life is about. The only insurance policy we have is in God's love for us and His desire for our best. This step I am taking is a major step off a cliff, and I hoping the Lord will provide something for me when my feet come down. I still don't know what God's best looks like in terms of my career. But I did find a verse a couple of weeks ago that spoke to me about God's desire for my life in general (and in specific with whatever I say or do).
Psalm 16:5-11
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more."

I especially love the highlighted portion. I have stared at those words "my whole being rejoices" and wondered how that is possible and what it would feel like. I wrote those words down and put them in my starbucks barista apron, and they have burned a hole in my pocket while I have been at work (not rejoicing in my whole being but rather complaining and pouting that I have to do something I don't want or feel like doing at the moment). How do I rejoice when I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride of emotions? Better yet, how do I get off that roller coaster so that my joy is not dependent on what God is or is not doing that I have put on the agenda for "things to happen by age 27"? I am in the process of figuring out how to get off the ride. So here I go...teaching job or no teaching job, my flesh dwells secure...because in God's presence there is fullness of job (oops, total type-o but soooo ironic--I meant joy) and pleasures forevermore"!!

Enjoy the pictures from the weekend in Baltimore. Also, thank you for all the birthday wishes! I felt so loved as I rounded the corner to hit 27. Crazy...um, dare I say I am an adult?! I am having a girls' night on Saturday for a belated party where I will be serving green apple and raspberry martinis along with my favorite coconut curry chicken. Yum yum!

What a great picture of uncle Andrew and Alina Beth...I love this picture and can't wait to frame it in my home!

Adorable, right?

These next few pictures are pictures from our trip to the chesapeake bay...it was a beautiful day!

I love these duck prints left in the sand.

After walking along the shoreline we went and had some amazing Maryland crab cakes at a seafood restaurant.

Baltimore bound

I am really excited because on Thursday morning I am boarding a plane headed for Baltimore where I will get to meet my neice for the very first time. Alina Beth Hansinger is about 6 months old, and we have yet to be introduced. I think it is high time I get to meet the precious little one who took my maiden name! I am also so excited to see my brother Peter and his beautiful wife Erica. So with my suitcases only two weeks rested from the last trip back East, I pack my bags for a wonderful reunion/introduction. Thank you Jesus for airplanes!

A rainbow after the storm

So far, March has held the "least hours blogged award". It is so hard to believe that March is almost over. The first two weeks were spent in Florida with family and friends, and the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of events. The lack of internet on my personal computer has contributed greatly to my lack of blogging activity. Let me start by saying how much I love my husband!! I came home from work today to the usual--a very happy and loving husband so excited to see me. This is standard in our relationship--Matt is always excited when I walk through the door. I have really come to appreciate the even-tempered and always content attitude of my husband. I have been so blessed by his love and support lately. What made coming home to him even more grand was that he had fixed my internet which has not worked for the last month. I am a happy girl!

Lately God has been really pursuing me...and when I say pursue I mean he has thrown down seemingly all obstacles in the way that keep my heart from clinging to Him. I am realizing how I look to people, events, jobs, conversations, relationships, and other things in my life to fill me. I am on a desparate search for that thing that will fill me, meet my needs, or to put it more simply, identify me. I have become aware of how I have struggled with this for many years now. I think the challenges that we faced in Saint Louis without friends and family around really highlighted this growing desire to be rescued by something. Instead of looking to God to be my identity and rescuer, I became good at identifying myself by my "counseling student" status. It was also easy for me to blame all my discontentedness on a lack of church family. Now that we are at "home" here in California and I have amazing friends around, I still have that incredible yearning to be completed and fulfilled. For instance, I have been searching for a job. The job I wrote about in the last two entries was slated in my mind to be that big thing that would fulfill my desires, time, and need for an identity. I could be a working woman. As my desire for the job grew, so did my expectation that the job would be perfect for my life. Therefore when I found out I didn't get the job...I was crushed. I couldn't believe it, and I was left feeling very tired with no job prospects on the horizon to give me hope. It has been in my exhaustion and frustration this last week that my eyes have begun to open to the severe mercy of God in His plan. I don't fully understand, but what I do believe is that God has torn down a huge idol. My eyes are open to how much I worship that which will give me an identity...two years ago it was my counseling degree and a church family and in the last month, a full time job. I will admit, I really do not know what it looks like to have my identity be in Christ alone. But I want to know, and that is where I start....the best place to start!

Jessica came to visit Brooke and I this past week. I have so been looking forward to her trip, and I feel like every day spent with her is precious. Although I was struggling with a cold and the flu throughout her visit, I was so blessed by her company. Many other people around Brooke and I were blessed to. When Brooke and I took her to the airport yesterday, it was a sad goodbye but also a hopeful one too. It was raining during our drive to the airport. We were driving through a beautiful area in Pismo Beach and the sun had begun to shine through the rain clouds and golden lining around the horizon. As the rain lifted we looked ahead of us and in a large farm field we saw an entire rainbow, end to end. It literally was sitting there in its huge entirety in this field bright and beautiful. We pulled over and sat there thinking about God's promises to us in this life and the life to come. He loves us and is for us!

Here are some pictures of our visit together. Glad to be blogging again, and hopefully it won't be so long before I blog again!

Hmmm....

Ok, I will completely admit I have no idea what God is up to. I talked with the head of human resources for the job I told you guys about, and she told me I "wasn't advancing to the next step" in the job selection process (or something that sounded like that). I won't pretend that I am ok with this. I am really disappointed (and angry), to be honest. Again, I have no idea what God is up to. The last few weeks Matt and I have been training our dog Keller to walk a few steps behind us because it teaches her submission to our lead. As I have taken her on walks this week I have found the profound connection between Keller submitting to my lead and my need to trust where the Lord is leading me. The one in the lead has can see the full view ahead, and often this is the hard part for me. I want to see the view ahead, the full panoramic view. I want to know where I am headed and I even want to choose what direction I am headed in. But God is leading me, and I ask for your prayers as I learn to trust His lead. Also please pray that I will be encouraged to continue this job search. I do think this disappointment can strengthen my resolve to find a job.

East Coast Travels

In reference to title of my blog, Matt and I have made the journey "from coast to coast" in these past two weeks. We have been touring our great home state of Florida. We began our time in Jacksonville to be with Matt's parents, grandmothers, and brother's family and then we made our way down to Orlando to visit Matt's sister and her husband. We are now vacationing in sunny southwest Florida with my parents and sister. We have so enjoyed the retreat from our normal routine in California, and we have appreciated the time to reconnect with family and friends we don't get to see but once a year, if that. Living a bi-coastal life is a hard one, and I am reminded of that. I am growing to love my California home more and more and I feel that that is absolutely where we belong, but my heart also longs to be in a more regular relationship with those back on the east coast. But have no fear, you west-coasters, trips like this back to Florida only cement in our minds just how much we feel called to live in California. So, until our families decide to uproot and join us in the fabulous west, we are left to be trailblazers facing the setting sun with longing hearts for those behind us.

Today we had a wonderful adventure touring some islands off the coast of the southwest cape coral region. I have included some shots from today's adventure. Pray for safety for the rest of our trip. Also, exciting news!!!!......please pray for me tomorrow, Friday, at 12 noon eastern time and 9 am pacific time. I have an interview with an organization for a coordinator position that I absolutely would looooove to get. I haven't mentioned it before on the blog because my heart has been too excited and hesitant to even bring it up. But I am asking you all to pray for me that the phone interview will go well tomorrow, and if the Lord wills, that I will get this job. I will tell you all more about the position later...especially if I get it. Enjoy the pictures!

my vanity and counseling addicts

I don't have anything in particular to share in this post, but I just couldn't stand that "frump-ish" picture of myself staring at me everytime that I opened up my internet...putting a new picture is my main reason for posting this entry. I can share, however, that I had a job interview for a part-time addictions counselor for the Public Health Department yesterday. I found out about the job two days ago from somebody and I immediately called and landed an interview...I thought it went well but time will tell if I get a call back. I'll be honest, this whole job thing has me really, really down. It is hard to put my hope or confidence in much at this point. But I also find myself not caring too much either...and that part I dislike the most. I know I am still in the palm of God's hand, and I am safe and cared for there. God is using this time to teach me some stuff, hard stuff like repentance (and not just the kind that follows one or two sins...it's the kind where you realize your heart and life is bent and is in dire need of Jesus).

Here is a better picture for me and you all to look at whenever you log into my blog.

Countdown until I go "home": 4 days!!!! (Kelly, you referenced the quotes around home in one of your comments, and I wanted to explain that I put the quotes around home because I still want to call my parent's home "home" even though I am clearly a resident of my home in California with my loving husband and precious dog...when will the child in me grow up?!)

This year's halloween costume

Never let me hear any of you say I can't laugh at myself! This post is sure to split you readers into two camps--those who think I am crazy and those who are proud of my boldness/humility to post this picture Matt took of me last night. As some of you former roommates and hallmates know, I have a horrible habit of wearing the worst possible combination of clothes to bed. I don't know what my problem is, but I tend to always, without fail, pull out the most worn, ugly, unmatching items out and wear them around my house at night. Matt, of course, hates this habit, and he has gone so far as buy me nice pajamas that are warm and comfortable, leaving no room for me to go back to my old ways. But, sure enough, I find my way back to that old and tattered pair of plaid flannel shorts that someone was going to throw away at the end of my junior year of college that I rescued from certain death. Funny thing is they were horrible then so you can imagine them now! So with that introduction I give you this most recent atrocity...but let me explain. The pants are cute and fine, on their own. The genie shoes were the only slip on shoes I could find in my closet. The sweater is one of Matt's because I couldn't locate one of mine, and the tie around my waist is to simply keep the sweater wrapped around my body in the way that I wanted it to be while I was washing dishes. So, you see, everything has a purpose, but it was when I walked by a mirror and caught a glimpse of all of the items together as an outfit (dishwashing gloves on and all) that I realized the gigantic error of my ways. I am sorry to all you roommates who have endured this awful habit. I am sorry to myself for giving all my roommates the opportunity to laugh at my nighttime wardrobe handicap. And I am sorry most of all to Matt...enough said.

my favorite things!

I have spent the last week compiling a mental list of some of my favorite things in life. Now, I have to give you my exact definition of a "favorite thing". I narrowed down and crafted the definition to "something that makes me literally or mentally clasp my hands together and exclaim in an excited voice something like this, 'I absolutely love [xyz]'." On top of that I am also taken to a place in my heart and mind where I am longing for heaven while also enjoying my journey here on earth with [xyz]. I want to eventually have a column in my sidebar where I update my favorite things list, but I do not know how to add to my sidebar (any of you fellow bloggers have an tutorials you could provide?).

Here goes.......In random order, some of my favorite things!

1. Dog, The Bounty Hunter-(Not recommended for children) First of all, I must start with my recent addiction to the t.v. show "Dog, the bounty hunter." Check out their website www.dogthebountyhunter.com. This show is not for the faint of heart or "curse word, outward vice sensitive" viewer. The show documents a bounty hunting family that lives on Hawaii and tracks down criminals who have skipped out on their court appearance. It is the most radically redemptive show on television right now, while also being incredible offensive in so many ways. The husband, wife, and adult children are all in on the bounty hunting, but the husband and wife in particular are so committed to the redemption of hardened, drug-addicted criminals theyhunt. They pray to Jesus before their hunts and with their criminals after they are caught. Amidst all of the junk of the show, it seems really apparent to me that they are in love with Jesus. I am addicted. (no pun intended)

2. Irish Music-(Don't try this at home) The second favorite thing I have just been able to put into words in the last week. I love Irish music, of any kind. I was listening to an irish music mix last week. The slow ballads are so mournful and capture the sorrow and groaning on this earth , and through this I am driven to dwell on the glory that will one day destroy all sorrow. I love the fast ballads which make me dance a jig during my daily chores because it is the music I picture we will all dance to in heaven. By the way, I tend to love most music that comes out of the British Isles (whether it be British, Irish, or Scottish). Check out K.T. Tunstall, a new scottish folk singer...very fun and "make you want to dance!"


3. The Moon- (Recommended for children, although they might already be in bed when it is out) My next favorite thing is something I have had a lunar crush on for most of my life. I can remember in high school looking up in the sky and being mezmerized by the different phases of the moon. I am always struck by the moon and left gazing at it longer than anyone else around me. I am always shocked how whenever I tell people to "check out the cool moon" they casually glance and show little interest. I have realized that this is because the moon is not one their favorite things, as it is mine. My favorite type of moon is the low-hanging, orange moon, which some call a harvest moon. (point of interest, the other night Matt and I were outside with Keller and there was a circle around the moon with a rainbow hue. It was very cool and I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out.) This picture posted here is one of the moon rising above the oak tree on the hill behind our house...it didn't quite turn out but I still kind of like it in its blurred beauty.

4. Good photography-(Recommended for children of all ages) My last favorite thing I am going to share is that of good photography. I love to check out photographers websites, particularly really good ones. I have two favorite local ones right now--www.ingallsphotography.com and www.saraheinrichphotography.com. Check them out...I think they are really amazing local photographers. It is inspiriting to see how other photographers look at the world and the beauty that they capture through their equipment. And here I must thank many of you guys for sharing your photography on your blogs--Ande, Matt and Amy Claire, Maryanne and Pat!! Do you guys have any cool websites to share?

Thanks for hanging with me on my version of "These are a few of my favorite things!"

Home again!

Whew! We've packed up our snow boots for the winter, not to be used again until next winter's youth snow trips. It is nice to be home again! We had another great trip this weekend, though this trip was different than the senior high trip. I was in a much better place emotionally and spiritually, therefore I was able to get outside of my mind and my own world to care for the kids and be intentional with them. I think I also can relate more to the junior high stage of life...(don't tell anyone, but I sometimes feel like an awkward junior high girl!) It was great to watch Matt lead on this trip and really neat to see how important it is that I and the other leaders follow his vision. Being in ministry is so interesting-at times both wonderful and angering. It is easy to follow a leader when you like where they are taking you and how they plan on taking you there. But I myself know first hand that it is easy to jump ship when you don't like the leader's ideas. On this trip, I found myself seeing through Matt's eyes how important the support of the leaders is. I think in my life I have always questioned other's authority. Watching some of the disagreements this weekend helped me to see how I am commanded to trust my authority and vision that they have. This is once again another reminder that all of life is not about me and my ideas of what would be best for my life.

Countdown til going "home":
15 days!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!


Here Matt is posing with his new-found snowboarder's attitude. He tried snow boarding for the first time this trip with the youth, and he loved it.

Catching up with you

I imagine I am sitting with each of you over a cup of tea catching you up with everything that has been going on the last few weeks. It is going to be a short recap because I still have a lot to do in the next few hours before we head off for the junior high ski trip.

The Last few weeks have been such a humbling time for me...God has been taking me back to the basics of what it means to be a person who is kind and humble. Ordinarily simple enough concepts...sort of. But for me these last two weeks, I have been anything but kind and humble, especially to Matt. But in God's goodness he is teaching me these truths fresh and once again, as if I had never learned them before.

Last weekend Jocelyn and Matthew stopped by for a few days in their travels on the west coast. It was fantastic, and we had a great time together. In preparation for their arrival, I finished up a few tasks around the house, one in particular worth noting. I finally came up with an idea for above my bed. I had been wanting to do an art project, nothing too elaborate but just simple and original. I snapped a few shots of the results, and I am pretty happy with it for now.

I have been really indulging my creativity lately, I can't believe how natural and fulfilling it is for me to do things like take pictures and paint and create my new photography website. I am really feeling so content with these new pursuits. Here are a few shots I took this morning. The picture of the blossoms at the top are from a tree outside of my office. I passed by the window the other day and I noticed, to my great joy, spring peaking through the bare branches! Enjoy these shots, and pray for this weekend that we will be a blessing to the kids and that we leaders will be blessed by being with them.

New Endeavor!

I have created a temporary website for my photography. After much dreaming and encouragement from you all, I am embarking on this scary journey called a photography business. It is what I will use while I am building a real site with Matt. I still have a lot of work and tweaking to do on it, but this way I at least have an online portfolio I can suggest to potential clients.