New Years and Nothing!

It is new years eve and what do we have planned...nothing that is right nothing. Josh and I are having an engaged New Year with no plans expect to relax and rest! Wow so excited!! More to come!

PRAYER REQUEST

Please Pray for the current employment opportunity that has opened up!!!!

229, 230, 231...

231 and Counting...wow I did not even think I knew this many people! We are working to finish out wedding guest list and yeah it keeps on growing bigger and bigger and we have not added all of Josh's family yet! Crazy!

Ah Ha

Have you ever searched for something so hard and the whole time it was sitting right in front of you. Well yesterday and today I had the "ah ha" moment, for most of this semester I have been searching for my place and have been questioned on where do you want to serve or what do you want to do... On Sunday Pastor Steve talked about a man that went to a different country and was there for 7 years before he had one convert. I have been searching for the tangible evidence that I am changing hearts and effecting lives. I wanted something that mattered to me and made me feel "needed". When in reality God wants me here to listen and encourage to ladies, teach and grow the children, and to grow me spiritually teach me what He wants and show me that service and ministry is so much more that I have every envisioned. Last night while at the Kids Night we were watching the Veggie Tales and I was having a conversation with a high school girl, she was telling about the impact I had on her life "if you had not talked to me I don't know where I would be, You probably saved my life" and it really did not hit me there at all. We are Christians that is what God has called us to do, love and serve. But this whole time I have wanted to feel a part of something ...something that is visible and concrete. And I began to overlook my part of God divine plan. It kinda makes me sad to think back over the semester of all the time I spent searching and stressing over the what and the how, when I could be investing and loving.

A Poem

I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,
A church filled with family and friends.
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,
He said one that would make me his wife.
~Author Unknown

Bridge Thanksgiving Dinner!

Yum! and Holy Cow we had a lot of people there! It was a great turn out and a really good evening. We had probably 55-65 people there last night and most brought something to share.

Drama!

Well I really think it is somewhat funny how when you ask for God to show where you fit, he shows you where you don't. It is frustrating but somehow it is easier to see and understand. But I still lack the answer to my question, where do I fit? I know it is not here, there, this or that. In some ways I am not sure if there are too many options left. Currently my life is surrounded by drama (I work with college Kids) and I wish I could just scream get over it. In society and in the church we have become a people that are so over sensitive that when someone rebukes us and calls us out with the effort of sharpening us we become angry and bitter, or go and gossip because it hurt our feelings. Rather than evaluating the statement and working to resolve it with the person! Do I do this yes, I think we all do.

Baking Night Adventure

So tonight (last night) was the girls baking night!! Fun. Well it was eventually! First I was running a little late and once I got to the Bridge I was really trying to hurry! As I walked in the lights all went out. I thought the guys were playing a joke, no joke they blew a fuse. So the party that was suppose to begin at 6 started around 6:30 because we had to run to the grocery and get a new fuse. But once that was taken care of we were good! There were 8 girls there and we made lots of desserts and had a great night of giggles and bonding. There was only a small fire, lol.


After the girls night we had a staff night. Note to self it is way cold at Midnight and Ice cream is not a good idea! Well we were going to get ice cream per my suggestion but we did not! we went and got burritos instead! It was a decent time where we were able to hang out and goof around!

Are 5 hour meeting required? Really?

Staff meetings seem to be marathons why I am not really sure! Last night we met to discuss stuff for next semester and what should of been an hour meeting turned into a 5 hour meeting. We get things accomplished it is not like we goof off all that much but really they are forever long!! Oh well I guess it will have to do!

My Mind and Meeting Moments

So this weekend was suppose to be my "vacate Oxford" but in all reality it turned into a stressful day in the Ox Bubble! My morning began with me being started because my alarm was set but I did not know it was! It scared me. After the slight heart attack I began my day by running by Chad's to get the keys to the Association so I could print the bulletins for church. So I left to go print them and then I realized that I had misspelled a word and forgot an "a" so I turned around to go get it fixed. Then I had 2 more rounds of turn a-rounds because I forgot others things and stuff was not working properly. Once I finally got the things printed I was behind and had missed other things. I got to the church and folded the bulletins. My frustration level was a little higher than I would of liked. So I chose to be keep to myself and allow my frustration to erase. Only to be interrupted by a sorority who supposedly had the room reserved when we had it scheduled...Ahh I love Miamis Campus Scheduling!! So aside from the stress of the night my life has been interesting this weekend.

Now I sit in a room with my other coworkers or staff members. I sit here frustrated and holding my tongue because we are sitting here running in circles beating a dead horse. Where did we fail where did we fall? It is a slow fade. We as a staff sit hear grasping for straws. My heart is broken and at a loss. I want a spot I desire a place where I fit and to feel God has prepared me for that place. And right now I feel as if I am unprepared for everything. And as a staff we are so concerned with us accomplishing a task so it doesn't fail that we forget that we need to allow each other to breath and then to lead we have no desire any more. Right now I do what I do because they need to be done. So now what? where is my renewed heart how are we as a team working to build each other up, encourage each other, hold each other accountable or spur each other on.

-30 min later-

We all feel better!!! Bridge Break through! Yea!!

Wedding Web Page

Our wedding web page!
http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/AmandaCarpenter&Josh Parson

Yea! I got most of the information into the web page!

My Toes are Freezing

Yes this might be one of the most random titles but it is so true.

I am truly a unique creature, God made me and I wish he would at least let me in on the secrets of how my mind and emotions work. Because right now I am pretty lost. I hold every emotion in until a am about to explode...or I end up exploding usually on Josh, poor guy. Right now I sit here a I realize that all my frustrations are results of my own poor decisions or my own apathy and laziness towards life in general. I am searching for my "place" when all this time I have chosen to not have a place. And now I am frustrated about not having one...that doesn't make sense. We have been studying the gospels and I realized that I am so focus that fact that my house is crumbling in the rain and the sand, that I forgot that I pick to build it there. I want to blame others and point fingers to diminish my faults but in all reality I have fallen and it was by no choice but my own. I look back at the last 8 months of my life and am excited about how God has changed me and made me who I am. But I look over the last few weeks and I sob because I feel as if I have stopped, paused, sat down. What is the cause? My lips want to say I was tired of being rejected, but my heart is saying I just gave in. I went from serving the Lord to doing my jobs. I went from wanting more and seeking to being satisfied with nothing.

My other woe...since I am on a kick this week. Where is my balance? It is funny we played the wii fit tonight and to see how poorly you do after you have not played in a while made me thing. Is this what God sees me as? I was doing great for a moment but now I am a wobbly mess that can barley stay on the board. It is true it takes practice to balance life and work and ministry. But it seems to be harder than I thought or at least remember it to be. I desire to be a part but I am not sure what that looks like or what it should be right now. I feel like my days are filled with tasks and assignments.

For all you readers out there don't worry I will make it I just need to rely on Christ and not myself because "myself" is what brought me here :( Oh and be glad I did not write this yesterday...It was before the realizations!

Good Bye Indian Summer! Hello Obama

So as much as I love this little Indian Summer I am way excited about the upcoming winter!! I love snow and scarves. The last few weeks have been well all about the election. It is funny to see how stressed the world gets surrounding one day. I mean it is important to vote and to support what you believe in. But the drama around it gets to be a little crazy. Because in the end God is in control and whether Obama, McCain, or Joe Nobody is in office God is still bigger and still holds the entire world in his hands! So as Christians and Americans we should not be pointing fingers and causing drama, but we should be praying for this new era and the new president to be...

The Kitty's Names

Well Krista deiced to keep the kitty... Josh and I named it Coda! But Krista has since then changed the name to Elle. She is cute and way cuddly but sometimes it is too much!! I need to get a pic of her!

E Session Pics!!!

Here our some of our 'E' Session Pics!!! I am so pleased with them!!!!

The Wedding Update

So far we are still getting married!! LOL... I mean I bought a dress so there is no turning back!

Well 1st Baptist Kettering is a NO, we can really afford what they are asking so it is in our best interest to look elsewhere.

We are planning on having a 1:30 wedding with a reception around 3:00 or 3:30!

I have the dress, and the girls dresses, we know who is hitching us and who is making the cake (I think) but that is the start of most of it !!

Baby Kitty

So tonight we went to the Oxford Baptist Trunk or Treat and as we are leaving there is a very small shivering kitty outside. it was way sad so we took it home with us. I am going to feed it and then take it to the shelter (not the humane society but a no kill shelter) but if anyone wants a cat please let me know!!! It is super cute!! all gray with a little white and black on it's face.

Flat Tire for Joshua

I think this is quite amusing and so does he...at least now he does! So yesterday Josh got a flat tire, that pretty much topped off his randomly extra busy day so he was o so thrilled!! When I got home from work I took him over to pick up his car and what was lodged in his tire oh the handle to a pair of finger nail clippers It was pretty random! But made us smile! Luckily he only had to pay $10 to get it fixed or we may not of been as smiley. After the car incident I made cookies with the intent of making his day a little better! PS I am so sure it worked... they were pretty much the best cookies ever!! I mean not to brag or anything :)

Bridesmaid Dresses!!!

So I bought my girls dresses yesterday!! Yea!! So most of them don't quite know it yet but it will be ok. I originally wanted to get pink dresses but I really did not want them to have to pay a ton! So We went to the mall and we found a ton of black dresses that were on sale so we searched the whole mall and found a dress that we liked and had the lady put them on hold because they only had three and I needed five so the next day I went to my JC Penny and found the other sizes I needed so we bought the dresses!!! YEA!! The ended up costing right at 70. I think that is was a great deal, they were originally 90! Plus the girls are probably more likely to re ware a black dress than a bright pink one!!

E Photos and Family Photos

Engagement Photo Session!! Thursday we went and had our photos taken! It is kinda weird and awkward but kinda fun all at the same time. We went to pyramid hill in Hamilton it was very pretty and kinda neat! Chad is our wonderful photographer.. We don't have the pics back yet but I will put some up as so as I get them.

Today we had Family Pics! It is always a crazy event when you put near 20 people together to take photos! But is was fun. I think the pics should look good! But I am for sure pictured out after this week... good thing the wedding is 5 months away! LOL!!

Ayla

It only took forever but here is Ayla

I love Photoshop!! Really I do.

So I started working on invitations...I figured it would be cheaper and still look nice if I did them myself. I absolutely love photoshop it made everything so easy!!

One thing down a few hundred to go!

So we went dress shopping again! We went to most of the stores in Dayton and to be quite honest I thought I was gonna have to give up and give into spending 800+. Lillians was the last shop of the day. It was such a great experience! They say they have a dress for every budget and they carry a wide assortment of types and styles of dresses. The fitting rooms were very very large. My Family (mom, grandmother, and 3 bridesmaids) all had a place to sit. My consultant was very personable and asked what I wanted to spend and she did not bring me a dress over my budget!! That was way impressive!! So I tried on a few and they were ok, then I tried one on that I liked but of course it was 800. and I pretty much added it to the list of "800 and I can't afford it list" that was forming in my head. Then she asked if I was going to wear the bright white or the ivory and I said ivory and then she thought she might have a smaller size for me. Now mind you I have been trying on dresses 8-12 nothing has fit at all. and she brings back a dress that almost perfectly fit me. then she said if I was interested in the dress it was a sample and they were having a sample sale. The dress was 500 off!!! so it was under 300. I was so a God thing. Plus I got the veil added to package for much cheaper too. So all in all it was a great day. I have a dress and we are getting closer to maids dresses. But now I have a ton of other things on my list of random to do!!

Long One

Ok friends this is gonna be a long post it has been a while since I was last on so here we go!!! I officially have my car back and it is pretty much like mine. It still has a different smell not really bad but not normal. I got it back last Saturday when I went home to go apple picking! Basically Josh and Chad had a meeting in Cambridge so they were driving right through Columbus so they dropped me off, or I dropped my self off and the took the car. I hung out with my family and went apple picking. We had tons of fun. And got tons of apples. I stayed at my parents until Sunday so that was a good break. Monday I had work and had a random night of baking with Krista. She has never made apple pies or such. So we made it a night. We made 2 large pies, 2 small pies, a crisp and turnovers. It was fun and crazy I will have to have Krista load the pics. Before our baking adventure we decided to go wash and clean Josh's car, not such a great idea. He was at Danny's watching his shows. I thought he was going to be there until 11:00 but it was until 10:00 and I was wrong. So we got the car and went to clean it then I received a not so happy call from Josh. So he was not very pleased with the whole situation!! Oops. Also we have been engaged for a month! Yea, for having nothing accomplished! Yesterday I went to Dayton and visited flower factor and a dress shop! I hate dress shops, because every dress I like is $800-$850 no fair! But I found a place that might work for the brides maid dresses. After that little bit of fun I had lunch with the in laws-to-be. After coming back to OX we had kids night and had 12 it was a pretty ok night for us. The kids did ok they seemed to have fun. We have been talking about moses. After Kids we had coffee house, it was pretty neat. Micha played a little concert, he is a newer addition to the Bridge Family and he writes his own music and plays guitar. And Andy had the whole Cafe' style set for the house and he played the host as normal. Today was well a day. At work we have been transiting, we have a new girl and we are looking to hire a another. Right now they are attempting to sort out the work and figure out who is going to do what and this means most of what I have been doing I am no longer doing! I deiced today that I need to start going in earlier so I can accomplish stuff before everyone is there and are distracting. After my 9 hours at work I went and hung out with Whitney! Yea! That was nice to have a bit of vent time. And to have someone that is sitting in my same shoes is helpful. Agenda for tonight: Watch Josh play video games and Family Night!!!

Wedding Stress Moment!

So officially (well I might of had others but today was official) today was wedding stress day! Josh called Kettering to see if they had decided on if we were able to rent the church for the wedding. Which we are but they want $800 for the event. OK so that is not too bad considering other places cost much more. But we can not truly afford that. So we are back to the drawing board! So mostly piling everything that has happened over the last few days on has set me over the rim. I need to not focus on everything so much and let God piece things together. So right now we have no wedding location :( But hopefully we will soon. Because I need to know the where before I can decorate in my head.

Gross!

So my car returned today around 9pm ish. I was very gross for the most part. The inside was filled with random clothing and a strong odor of smoke. I cleaned out everything and pretty much went over the car with a fine tooth comb to ensure there was no other damage that might of been missed. But to my liking the car was in pretty great condition minus the personal artifacts that were no longer present in the vehicle, such as my "true love waits ring", my ds lite, the ds games, $130 and my insurance and registration. But most can be replaced. The outside of the car has a thick coating of dirt and grime it needs a bath or two!!. After a good vaccuming and a shampooing I think the car is pretty close to the same as it was before it was taken.!!!

Dress Shopping Day 1

So today my mother, older sister (MOH) , and I went dress shopping for the first time. I had prepared myself as much as possible. I expected it to be overwhelming and a lot to take in. And it was. I tried on so many different dresses because I had no clue what I liked or wanted. Finally I found a style of some sort that I preferred. (I am not going into too much detail b/c Josh does read my blog from time to time) We found a few that I like and of course they were in the $800 - $1000 range...which is way out of my desired budget. So I stressed a little. I really am not all that worried about the dress. But when everyone starts telling you that your going to have to get it ordered in and that could take up to 4 months and then if you need it atlered that is another 3-4 weeks that means I need to order a dress within the next month or two at the latest!! Ahh pause and breath! The day was lonog but semi productive.

Cheddar

Well over the weekend Monica called me and told me that Cheddar her cat was not doing so well, he has been sick for a few days and they did not think he was going to make it much longer. It was very sad to sit and talk with her about her poor little cat and how it would probably will not make it past the week. Well today I found out that he is no longer with us! So pray for Monica!

A day of Weddingness!

Yea for getting things semi accomplished! Today we went to Helzberg to look at rings for Josh and for my wedding band. Fun I think we found one that we like! Josh found one but we are gonna look online too! After the ring shopping' we headed church shopping' OK so really we only went to one place but it is all good! We really liked it and hopefully it will work out. If not God will provide another option! The Building would be great because it would be large enough to have the ceremony and the reception both there! After that we headed to lunch with Marie at Olive Garden!!! YUM!!! But with a mild amount of disappointment because Marie will be leaving soon to go to Brazil and may not be here for the wedding! Sad face for me! We then had other errands to run and a short meeting with the Mom -in-law to be. And then we headed back to the bubble (Oxford) for kids night and coffee house.

As I Sit

As I sit here thinking on the past 3 years I realize I am so different now compared to then. Which in many ways is great and encouraging. But in other ways scary. The realization that in 203 days I will be a wife. It is wild. So many emotions rush over me. I am excited and happy, nervous and scared, confused and anxious. My life is preparing to change and I am hopefully prepared. The one thing that comforts me is knowing that I am not "making" it on my own I have a saviour that has already made it for me, and He is always right beside me so regardless of how tough life seems I know He is here for me.

For me right now the fun part about the upcoming wedding is knowing that regardless of what I wear or who my bridesmaids are or what the cake tastes like(ok so Josh might care about the cake) I am still marring a wonderful guy whom I Love and what people remember about the wedding does not concern me all that much because at the end of the day it will all be over and I will be Mrs. Joshua Eric Parson. (well hopefully LOL)

Princess Party and Geek Night

Well from the title you might expect that we (The bridge) held separate events for the guys and girls this weekend...But really it is not as it seems. Friday night after all children had left and we wen home, Ricky, Christina, Andy, Phil and Alyssa decorated Josh's room in pink ribbon and streamers and tons more randomness. The princess theme began when Ricky went to purchase a cake mix for Josh's birthday(9/11 they were celebrating late bc of all the busyness) and he found a Pink confetti princess cake. So the theme continued and Josh room was transformed in to a 6 years old dream room! Now to the Geek Night. The guys and girls began geek night last year and have upheld the tradition. It usually starts around 3 and ends the next morning at some point. I usually do not attend because for the most part it is "not my cup of tea" according to Josh. But really I don't mind playing games but I tend to get frustrated because I don't know what I am doing most of the time, and instead of helping to explain, I either get transitioned out of the game or left feeling irritated because I can't learn while playing with others because stuff goes to fast for me to catch up. But all in all I had a good time. As of right now the night continues and I am doing laundry!!

Parents Night Out Round 1

Parents night out went great we had 4 kids(the regulars) but what I thought was the best part of the evening was when Mason and Brody's mom said "I have never left my children with anyone other that my mother-in-law" I was like wow! The boys are 4 and almost 3 that blew my mind. One on how much she trusted us and second on how much pressure that puts on them as a family. But the kids did great and all went well!! and I made yummy rice crispy treats.

Bring Back My Car! Please!

Well supposedly my car is riding on the back of a flatbed truck headed to Columbus but it is a 32 hour drive! After it arrives there are other details that we have to attend to such as getting it fixed! But time will tell...The boys found out some interesting stuff about what everything meant(the stuff that was written) but I am currently not gonna post it just for security reasons sorry!

Good Morning... We located your car.

So a random discovery was made this morning at 2:55 am... yes while I was fast asleep in my cozy bed. I received a call on my cell regarding my car! They found it Albuquerque, New Mexico! Only 1379.14 mile away form the location of which it was stolen. A mere 23 hour drive.... But it gets better...really. The phone number that the officer called me from was a Wright Patt Air force Research number, so I called it back and spoke with a guy that probably thought I was nuts (one because I called at 3:30am and second because I was calling a research lab about a stolen car) He was very nice he said "well I am very sorry about your car but there must be some misunderstanding we have not called you." At this point I am stressed and worried and frustrated. So I find the paperwork that the Police Officer gave me when we filed the complaint. So again at 3:30 or 4:00 am I call the Montgomery Police Department to see if this is real or just a hoax. The dispatcher explained that someone had called and it was correct they had found the car in the New Mexico area. She gave me the tow company's number and told me to call them. So I called them and got another dispatcher. He kindly explained that he was unaware of what cars he had because he was just the dispatcher so I needed to call once they opened which was at 8am. So I deiced it would be best to get some sleep if I could. I woke up at 8 so I could call the tow company back and hopefully get more information. But what did I forget? THAT NEW MEXICO IS 2 HOURS BEHIND US!!!! So the poor guy had to deal with me again before they opened. So instead I called my insurance guy and talked to him about all the randomness and gave him an update. He informed me that he would take care of the rest for now!

Today was a crazy day finding out more information little by little. For the most part my car is in great condition minus a dent in the back side panel, a busted headlight, 2 extra bags full of clothes?, random marker writing in the inside like "I love Daddy, B-U-S-T-I-C, etc., and an extra 2000 miles!

Car News :(

So in order to have my car issue resolved I must wait 30 days after the date it was stolen!! so really when the lady asked what day was it stolen I should of said last night not this morning! Bummer! Well insurance is an amazing thing to have but they can be a pain! So as for now we (josh and I) are sharing a car and attempting to use his Granny's Truck... but what happens the truck is not working for some reason. AHHH I love cars! really!

Our Officiant

We have an official officiant!! Yea! We had lunch with Ken Dillard today and he has agreed to marry us! So now I check another thing off my list!! Yea for wedding planning! I really like to call him our Officiant because all the wedding books call them that but really he is a pastor so he is even more official!! LOL

PS How much do we pay an officiant?

Bridal EXPO!!

Well yesterday after my crazy morning my mother, sister and I went to the Dayton Bridal Expo! It was a lot overwhelming. There were lots vendors and tons of dresses. It was good to see some of the ideas and how things were put together but frustrating how pushy some people were. and the Comment "hunny you better hurry April is not far off" made me a little nervous. But it will work out and as for now it is a no stress deal!!!

Dude where is my Car?

OK so that was not quite my reaction this morning as I awoke to my mother-in-law to be in a slight panic. Why was she panicking well because my 2004 Honda accord was missing. Yes missing! Not in the driveway where it was left the evening before. Someone stole my car just in case you are confused by my babbling. So our morning consisted of police reports and insurance conversations. I am however grateful that there was nothing of too much value in the car. The only things that were important were... my true love waits ring(i have had it a while like 6years I am a little attached) money from Ruby Tuesday about 130 :(. and well the car of course!

Let the planning begin!!!

Well we have started planning and it is just a little crazy... ok more than a little!! This week has flown by and with the realization that we only have X amount of days until I am MRS. JOSHUA PARSON. That sounds so weird! But in a good way. Here is a recap of my last few days...

We have played Ultimate Frisbee 3 times this week that is ridiculous!!

Last night Whitney, Chad, Josh and I went to the melting pot YUM!!! it was a great time.

I started a favorites list and it was kinda fun:
Fruit – pomegranate
Ice Cream – Mint Chocolate Chip (the green kind it taste better)
Or a hot fudge Sunday not chocolate syrup it has to be fudge!!
Dinner - pasta with Alfredo
Vegetable: celery (a like most) raw!
Drink - Lemon Aid without Ice
To play: Probably Softball… but I like volleyball and am starting to like Ultimate now that I am not really bad anymore.
To Watch - Soccer, even though I usually don't know what all is going on. Or Hockey it is fun to watch too.
I like to clean when I am frustrated – my outlet
Favorite chores – Laundry
Color – pink and brown, but I like most
Candy: Sweet tarts(chewy) laffy taffy the big one not the small ones
Restaurant-Olive Garden/melting pot
Season - early summer late spring
Reading in the afternoon when it is sunny and warm but not too hot
Shoes – flip flops and flats
Snack – pretzels and animal crackers

Ring Pics

Sorry to all who have asked I meant to post these the other day but life has been interfering with my blog! How dare it, I know! LOL!









A little information about the ring... it is white gold and is a three stone set. The center diamond is larger than the two on either side, and they (the diamonds) are from one of my grandmother's (my mom's mom) rings.

Sorry for the blurry pics... it is hard to take a picture when the thing will not stop shining!! LOL!!

Happy Day!

So as I sit at work on my lunch break the realization has hit me that I am getting married!!! We are past the Oh My I am Engaged to Um I have 200 and few Days to Plan a wedding! I am so excited and not overwhelmed quite yet! (OK a little) The only complete decision that has been made is the City: Dayton! oh and the Month: April!!

The girls at work were thrilled about the news. It has been a crazy busy day but full of excitement!

Let there be light

I have power!!!! it came back on around 8pm!!!

Hello IKE

After a wonderful and crazy weekend Josh and I traveled back to maimisburg to visit his family. With the warning of the arrival of IKE we left earlier to get to Oxford before the weather got bad. So we ventured out into the crazy wind. With 2 detours and driving under a giant tree that was laying onto a power line. There were so many tree limbs and power lines down. These are some pictures of the mess in Oxford.

Once we got into town we were welcomed by a lovely town of no electricity. With church in less than two hours we had lots of decisions to make. We decided to have service on a very simple scale. We had the piano and the small drum. It was pretty cool. We did not expect to have very many people but God had bigger plans we had 30+ people and still had our 3 kids! So it was pretty neat to have service without electricity.

After church the real journey began. We were all very hungry and there was no power anywhere in town so we began a drive to find something with power and with food. So We found an IHOP. I have never been to an IHOP before but this was not the most wonderful experience. We waited 1 hour to be seated and another hour to be served our food. So the whole thing took forever and was pretty crazy.

After a night of craziness the town is still out of power. When Monday arrived school was closed and my work had closed so it turned into a wonderful day of rest and running. If that makes any sense at all. LOL We had a pretty released morning. Then at lunch time we deiced that 1. we needed to cook the meat that was in our fridge so it would not spoil. 2. that we should cook out in the trailer park. It was pretty cool we fed many of the children and families in the trailer park with hamburgers and hot dogs. Then we got some chicken. Subway donated their bread and the lettuce. Later a woman brought us some apples and a watermelon. It was wonderful just to see different people come together to help serve and feed those who could not cook because of the power outage.

Lion King and My Ring!!!

Josh and I went to Lion King! We went to see it at the at the Ohio theater. The Ohio Theater is a small theater that was built in 1928 as a orchestra theater and now it is used as a play theater and has old movies during the summer. The theater is located downtown across from the State House building in Columbus. It was amazing. The costumes and actors were crazy. I can't believe how intricate and elaborate the outfits were. CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE.

After the show we went to walk to the car and there was tons of people. So we crossed the street and I began to tell him about the state house and about where my mom works (across from the state house) and so we decided to walk up and wait until some of the traffic was gone so we were not sitting in a car for forever. Little did I know that was not the real reason. We walked up to a small little court yard where there were trees and a few benches. After talking about the show and other things that I can't even remember, probably because it all is still a little bit of a blur. Standing there walking in circles. Josh started to get a little nervous about something. By the time I had realized what he was nervous about he was on one knee holding my hand and a ring! And what do I say "Are you serious?" followed by "Um that's the wrong hand" he was holding my right hand. His response was "regardless" and I said "YES" but if you ask him he was say "it was basically a run of the mill proposal and she said I guess so!" But that is his exaggeration. It was wonderful and more than I could of ever imagined. So as of now Josh and I are engaged and we are looking to get married next Spring so YEA!!! I will be posting pics of the ring soon.

Wonderful Weekend

So this weekend was amazing!!! Josh and I went to Columbus to semi celebrate his birthday. We got in late Friday night. And we got up around 7:30am on Saturday, to drop off my car to be checked because the maintenance light was on. So what we expected to be a quick take a look and nothing was wrong, turned into a crazy $430.00 bill! I was so beyond upset. No one told me that is was gonna cost anything!! Not that I was completely right because I signed the maintenance agreement and did not ask how much it should cost. We know one of the Sales managers and he was able to help us out! Thank you and Praise the Lord! After that we headed to do a few errands. And then to Tracey's House (my sister) for Grandparents day and to hang out. After that we went to Lion King!! Read on......

Cookies!

So Krista(my roommate) has never, ever baked cookies in her 20 years of life, she has never baked cookies. Wow I can't imagine to have never baked cookies. So after work we baked some very yummy cookies.

Ultimate and Happy Birthday to my BF!

Happy Birthday to Josh!! Yea! My boyfriend is getting old! LOL. Today Josh turned 23. After I got off work. I went to and had a discipleship meeting with Kaitlyn!! Then I headed to the Boys house to bake a cake and have dinner with Josh. Then we went and played Ultimate Frisbee. It was hot and sticky but super fun!!

Rest and Know that I am God!!

Well life after Momentum is pretty nice. I have been able to refocus and allow myself to take a moment to breathe!! Last week might of been one of my worst weeks ever, not because of everything that was going on, but because of how I allowed frustration to control my attitude and my actions. God is beyond amazing though because when you least expect it he allows people to step into you life and say things that will remind you that despite our downfalls and short comings he is in control and when we take our eyes off ourselves and fix them on Him we will succeed!

Kid's Night Mayhem

Kids night was crazy! It was hard to help be in control when I had my focus in so many different places. Kristi came and we were able to talk and work on homework. But while trying to deal with her I miss/lacked in my helping with the kids, which is the reason we are there primarily.

random side not : "Across the Universe is a Very odd movie!!

Momentum

Yea Momentum is OVER!!!! Here is a recap of the weekend...

Friday- We had a crazy day with the planning and preparation for the evening. I had to get the food confirmed and pick up the keys for the hotels. Decorate the room and load in the sound equipment, and other things that I am surely overlooking. We had about 50-60 people there it was smaller than we had expected but ultimately it was what God wanted and that is what matters. Adam spoke on Apologetics it was a good but I had heard some of the stuff that was presented. Our Pizza was gross!!! The Cookies and Brownies were great! We have tons left over yum. After dinner we had the scavenger hunt! Fun stuff the teams did pretty well it was pretty funny watching and judging the pics. The upper class teams dominated.

Side note I hate Drama!!!! We have great leaders and some that are ready to serve and lead but we have some that I honestly don't think they all have grown up...I hope they will soon!

Saturday- The staff slept in later than the Community Leaders. This might of been a first! We got to the session and had most of the people return from the night before. It was good. Lunch was super fun. We had hot dogs and hamburgers. And played wacky Olympics they were great fun!! Sorry Betsy. We got into a flower fight after the games. Then we had our final session. After our session we had ice cream and brownies on cook field and a great time playing Ultimate Frisbee!

Sunday- We had a good morning session with Adam and Andi before they headed home.

Tonight was our 3rd service! we had 94 people. Last week we had 67 and the first week we had 127!!

Update: On Kristi

So Kristi has called me a few times this week. It has been a great opportunity for me to share with her. She is seeking and really confused by the social influences that are being pressed upon her. She has been calling to confess, and in some ways I feel she is looking for a response (something negative or a huge criticism) but I have given advice and helped her to reason why and what she is doing or headed. I am excited to be able to share with her and that she is willing to open up and share, but I am nervous because she is headed down a rough path of disappointment and disaster if she does not realize who is actually in control.

Interview #3

So I had my interview today and it was forever long!!! I was there for 2 hours. Which I guess is a good thing because they probably would of not kept me there that long if I was having a bad interview. Because my interview was 2 hours I ended up being late to work (Ruby Tuesday) and upon arrival I was informed that I was waiting on our District, Regional and Assistant Regional Manager! Yea for craziness! So of all days for me to have to wait on them it had to be the day that I was late and not with it at all. I was a mess really but it is life. The whole thing went fine but I was just flustered and felt like I was not keeping up at all.

After Work we (the guys and I) did pancakes at Morris hall which is a dorm on campus. It went ok for the most part, ok minus the part where we pretty much got kicked off. In order to do things in the dorm area you have to go through an adviser... news to us oh well! Now we know.

YEA! A Phone Call

So innomark called again to day and I have another interview!!!

Finaces and His Provision

So I got my bank statement the other day and relized that I really was cutting it pretty close since I had not worked in a while. I got a little stressed when I relized I had to make 173 at Ruby Tuesday. When I got to work yesterday we were so slow. But God somehow allowed me to make 182! Thank You!!!

A Somewhat FREE Friday!

So it was amazing I did not work a double at Ruby Tuesday, Friday. I worked at the B&B. I went in at 8 and was off at 2 so josh and I could drive up to Miamisburg to go eat dinner with Angie (his almost kinda might as well be sister) Well on my way from work to OX I got pulled over for going 8 over the speed limit:( Very Sad Face. The office however gave me a ticket for seat belt violation instead. I was wearing my seat belt but he said it would be better for me because it would not give me points etc. So I was a little flustered. Then it took forever to get to Miamisburg. But we made it. We had dinner at O'Charleys. After that I took Josh to work and had errands to run. Hung out with his mom for a bit then we went and picked him up and headed to the half price book store! Fun I bought Kids books!!! and some Women's min stuff.

Work and Dinner at My Place

I worked both jobs today, this week has been a little bit crazy trying to fit two works schedules together in a somewhat orderly way. It was funny though because I went to work then I had to go grocery shopping (yea for cheap Aldi) and be home so I could cook dinner for the guys and the roommate. I felt like a grown up! Fun a little crazy but fun!

Add on

Oh I forgot we had a cook out last night too! It was fun to sit and talk with some of the kids that were here last year and to see some of the new faces!!

Good Bye Control!! Yea!!

Last night was my last night "leading" the kids nights. I have enjoyed doing them this summer but with all that is going on right now I feel that is more important that my time is focused elsewhere. And Ali is capable of helping so I think it will work well.

This morning I drove to Innomark to take this test. To be real honest the test was like a 5th grade proficiency test, but only Math and English. No science! But I should be expecting a call!

New Job and the other...

So as I talked about before I was offered a job on Tuesday of last week at Bed and Breakfast Property Management. I deiced it was in my best interest to take the job that God was providing. So I started the job today. It was pretty crazy for the most part, the couple that own/manages the business were out of the office because the guy had broken his leg and was gonna have surgery. Not good. I basically am a receptionist and work on applications. So far not too bad!

Oh the other thing so during my first day on the job Innomark Communications called and wanted me to come in to take a test and further process my application. AHHHHHH

Kick off Service

Wow the summer went super fast it is crazy. Today was our first service. We had 127 people (students, community families ect.) I was downstairs with the kids this week and we had a blast. oh if interested in the sermon you can view the podcast at the website www.bridgeoxford.com they are updated each week. Back to the kids, we had three this week Brody, Mason and AvaGrace. They were tons of fun, each very different. Ava is 3 and is a huge talker and loves to tell stories, she has a purse and cell phone of course. Mason is 2 and is allergic to many things this makes it a slight challenge but he has a great smile. Brody the youngest is Mason's little bro he is 1 and loves to laugh. This week we talked about the sower(parable) we trough wads of paper to indicate seeds onto different surfaces and checked to see where it would grow best.

Crazy Friday and a More Crazy Saturday!

Well yesterday, Chad and I worked on all the Bridge publications: Fliers, Visitor Cards, Bulletins, and other stuff. I had done most of the stuff earlier this week but it was not all completed yet. Nor was it proofed. So we finished it and went to go print it all and what did we forget? To PROOF it! So minus a few misspelled words it is all finished. Hey I can't spell, and I am over it. I mean really if you were to look at this page while I was typing you would see lots of red, I misspelled "misspelled" Crazy I know. We started after lunch and went until 8pm! Ahhh.

After we got back Courtney Beatty(except it is no longer Beatty) came over to hang out fun fun fun.

Saturday:

I had a crazy morning. Working on cookies, preprations for this weekend, shopping for floss, and more than I want to remember. I drove to west chester, hamilton, fairfield and oxford. After that I worked on Kid stuff for Sunday! Tonight we have the concert and then a drive to columbus!

No naps!

Welcome Class of 2012

Today was our Freshman Move in day at Miamis. The Bridge helped hand out water bottles on campus to the families, students and workers. We had a great time the weather was wonderful, not too hot. We were out from 8:30 - 2:30. My group was on South Quad we had 6 dorms that we were in charge of. The day went really well we had great conversations with bunches of people. I had a little friend named Steven (he was a sophomore) who was helping pass out water for me it was pretty cool.

Tonight we are going to the Pig Roast Uptown Yum!!. Right now everyone is napping.

Good Morning Freshmen!!

It is 8am and we(the bridge Family) has been awake since 6:15am and we are all a little slap happy! We are all up to go out to the campus to hand out water to all the new freshman as the move in. But as we are setting here we realized that the move in does not begin until 9am rather than the assumed 8am so we are chilling! I need a nap!

ICE need I say more

Crazy day for most of us! Josh and Mark went to Kettering to Get Ice from the church. You see they have this horse trough that was used as a baptismal. So they loaded it into the trailer and we on a mission to fill the thing with ice. So the went. Then they had other running to do in that area.
I worked on publications and fliers and cards and more.! Then when the guys got back we went to Kroger and talked with Abe about more ice. Thank you Kroger! The donated almost 9 buckets of ice it was so great! Chad started school today so he headed down to KY to go to southern seminary. He had to leave at 4am. After the fun with Ice, school and computer work we all had our leadership orientation. It went very well. I am so excited about this semester, I can't wait to see how God is going to use each of us and them.

The day ended with brownies and Ice cream. YUM!

Water and Ice, Ice and Water

Last night we finished the last of the labeling of crazy 3000+ water bottles. Finally it is over. Well at least one part is, now we have to pass them all out!! Today Mark and Josh headed to Dayton to fill up a huge water trough with ice. Their adventure began at Kettering and finished at Kroger

Open Doors

I am so excited God is so great! Today we had our typical kids night with our 12 or so kids. But this night ended a little differently. We were divided into groups for our activities, the kids played the bible game on the xbox. They loved it. But aside from that Kristi came tonight. Let me fill you in a little about Kristi. She and I met early on this summer at Oxford Baptist Church's Feed the Hungry Event. She was very closed and pretty confident that she had her life worked out just how she wanted it. From the first time I met her she was a burden on my heart! I began to pray for her as often as I would remember her. We would see each other every once in a while. But she never really wanted to talk. Even though the offer was always there. But tonight this sophomore in high school showed up to a children event because she had no where else to turn. She sat in one of the pews and I took my seat a bit away ready to listen without pushing. Her eyes glazed with the tears that she'd been fighting. So we moved to a smaller room to talk. Life hurts and so often we thing we have it under control but we are so fooled. She has made many mistakes but she as dug a hole so deep she that she has lost sight of any of the light that ever existed in her life. She has no one who is honest with her and she has no one that she is honest with. God has opened a door. And I am so thankful! Nervous! And ready! Thank you Lord. Thank you.

Why today?

So as I explained last week I had an interview last Tuesday well I had one today as well. The one today was with a company called Innomak Communications, Sena, Daniel's wife works there and she helped me to get the interview. But the job and the interview left me with a good feeling. After my interview I headed back to oxford to go to lunch with the guys, Kara and Ali. We all went to the dinner cuz Josh has wanted it for like the last month. While at lunch the Reality Company called to offer me the job. Are you kidding they were suppost to call by Friday but that did not happen. And now I am at a crossroad, do I take it or do I pass? Well I am taking it for now at least. If the other job is offered I will most likely take it.

Happy Birthday to the Bridge!

So yesterday we celebrated the Bridge turned 1! We had some of the key people that have helped to mold and make the Bridge what it is today come out and spend time with us. We had a cook out and played games till the evening hours.

Today we had the 2nd what seems to be annual marathon staff meeting. It was a good meeting but it was again very long. And has made us all ready for this week to be over because of the amount of work still needed to be accomplished.

Jessica Ross

Jess got married in 20 min!! It was the shortest wedding I have ever attended! After the wedding we went home and hung out with the family and the kids.

Ruby T and Dani

The guys had a lunch meeting at Ruby Tuesdays today! And the had the best waitress ever!! It is true ask them if you don't believe me. No but really they came to visit me and have there meeting. While I was the bartender.

After work I went to have dinner with Dani. She is doing much better. I had to play the bad cop a lot. She is struggling with a lot and really is struggling with discerning whether she should act from her heart or from her head.

Dinner with Two Good Men

Today was filled with water bottles and labels. I did however sleep in a bit before the fun began. Since we have been getting closer to the move in of our students we have also been getting closer to the celebration of our 1year! We have been in church planting and leading for over a year. So to somewhat celebrate Josh, Chad and I went out to dinner at Pappadaeux (a seafood/Cajun restaurant). It was very good. After dinner we went to see the Dark Knight. A good movie. So the evening was full of good food, good entertainment, and great company.

City Fun

So on Monday the city of Oxford received a complaint about the house. Basically there was a sign out and the people thought that we were using the house as 'the church' and thought that there was no one living here. Well the boys live here and the church meets in SES Chapel. Satan is defiantly showing himself this semester.

Tuesday We hung our house sign up and that night we had someone stop by and take pictures of the house.

Today the guy stopped by again to inform us that the sign was a banner and that we needed to remove our sign and such. But we have not removed it because we see no current violations.

So as for now we have a sign up and are waiting to see where the city thinks we are at fault.

Job interview and Water Balloons

I went to a job interview with a small business in Hamilton. The office works with repossessed and foreclosed houses. They recondition them and rent/lease them out. I would be doing admin work. The interview was interesting, there were 2 large dogs in the office, I had an oral interview, a typing test, a copy test and internet test. I feel I did alright but I am not exactly sure what they were looking for. But anyway I should know by Friday!

Tuesday night with the munchkins, we played with water balloons and learned about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. We had 9 after Payton showed up.(he got home later) Next week is our last "summer kids thing" so we are still praying to figure out what to do during school.

A Brand New Room

Chad and I (with the assistance of Josh's decorative touch) redesigned the garage into a sweet new game and hang out room. We covered the walls with $1 fabric from walmart. We went with a steel gray and black for the one wall, and a black and burnt orange for the other. It looks pretty great. Now we are looking for something to cover the washer and dryer with. Any Ideas? Did I mention the Zebra rug?

Water

3,500 Bottles of Water Arrived today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh the memories.

Today was the "official report day." We had a staff meeting today the lasted 4 hours!! Oh my heavens. It was good though. We were able to work through a lot of things.

All Report Day!

All staff report day! It is official we are back and ready to go, I hope. Well today our staff meeting went for like 6 hours. AHHHHHH! But really it is great. We are so pumped and ready to go. I ended up calling off work. Because of the meeting and the fact that there was some important information that we needed to talk about and I needed to be there. Since I was calling off my manager threatened to write me up, OVER a MONDAY MORNING! Have no fear, all was forgotten after we had a heart to heart.

Well the day was pretty much a day of conversations and conversations, with a side of conversation! My head hurts a lot.

Today is such a better day in many ways but in other a more frustration. I was able to communicate in whole words and without tears...big accomplishment.

Welcome back Ali

Ali is back. She rejoined us this week. Ali was a summer missionary with us last summer. She is from Florida, and is a freshman in college. While here she will be taking classes online and helping Josh and Kara with the community/trailer park ministry.

NO more Water Bottles for 1 year!!

I think that is the End! Yes We have finished every last bottle! YEA!

La La La

Well I woke up around 8:15am this morning to drive to Miamisburg because I was the girlfriend of their vocalist today! Fun day! All went well there the guys did good. Now I am sitting here talking to Dani who called to inform me that she was no longer engaged. WOW! Long story short it is better off for her. But sad face for her.

Wedding in KY

Sarah Wyncoop and Aaron Kersey got married today. They are pretty cool people. I met Sarah when Josh, Nathan, Erika, Kelly, Andy and I went to Florida in 05. And Aaron I met at Nathan and Erika's wedding over the summer. But the wedding was in ky basically a 2.5 hour drive there and back. I however did not have to drive thanks to my Mr. Wonderful! Thanks Babe. But wearing a dress while riding in a car for that long is really no fun at all. Even though the dress is way cute! And I was way cute too! (Josh was pretty hansome as well) The wedding was fine and the reception was fun, Sarah loves candy so there was a candy table set up so you could go and fill up a bag for your favor. And now we have arrived back home and are super exausted. But the weekend doesn't end there tomorrow Josh is singing at Miamisburg. And then Staff stuff begins at the bridge! Oh and did I mention I might have an interview! Yep definatly maybe do! Will fill in later.

Yea! For Kings Island. Boo! For Long days.

Well I Wednesday morning and headed to Kings Island with Josh and Phil for the evening. After 5pm tickets are only $15! We met up with Rachel at the park after she got off work. We rod a good amount of rides! Had a pretty good time. One super cool ride was the Firehawk it is a ride that you are laying down on you back and stomach for the ride it was amazing!! The night was long but it was good.

Now for the long days I worked doubles on Thursday and Friday. Not so exciting. Friday was a good day I worked with Kandy in the bar and realized that rater I was a server or a CEO of some fancy company I still needed to remember that God has placed me in that position for a reason and a season so though I am still looking and hoping for a job, I am a little more OK with my situation.

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies! They are great fun and yummy too. but a word to the wise they are not a good idea for hot sunny days with 14 crazy kids!! We had 14 that is great but when we have more kids we have more craziness... Rachel came and helped this week it was great! Josh taught about Jonathan and the armor bearer. And we played games and ate giant monster cookies.

The Monster Cookie Recipe:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 pound (2 1/4 cups) brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds Skippy* creamy peanut butter
6 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
4 teaspoons baking soda
10 cups regular oatmeal
1 pound M&M’s candies
12 ounces chocolate chips

1. Combine first 7 ingredients.
2. Mix very well.
3. Add M&M’s and chocolate chips.
4. Add oatmeal 1 cup at a time.
5. Store in refrigerator for several hours.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, depending on size of the cookie.
7. Dough freezes well and keeps well in refrigerator.


We Changed the Recipe a little bit, I allowed the kids to pick what kind of candies went into the cookies, we used white chocolate chips, m&ms, chocolate chips and Reese pieces.

The Kids

The kids we minister to... It is so neat to see how the kids are learning, and how they are getting more comfortable with us each day. I spoke with the Pastor's wife (of Oxford Baptist Church) she is a wonderful lady, but we were talking about many things and how we are dealing with the kids. This made me think of how we are able to plant seeds in each child that we have had made contact with. Some of them were more of a challenge than others but still the love that we attempt to show, I pray it is a start in a change in there lives.

Many of these kids are un-churched and undisciplined. But many of them know the bible stories better than some churched kids. How? I have no clue. The stories are there but the understanding and belief is not. We are working with these kids and attempting to show them that God loves them and that God has something great for them beyond the circumstances of their lives.

Thank you Google!

Today was another lovely Sunday here at the Bridge! I would just like to say thank you to Google and the internet in general. We have brunch at the Bridge right now on sundays, it is held at the guys house (which is 221 west withrow, just incase you would like to join us sometime). Usally we have 4,1, or 7. Yes the number changes every week. Today however was a surprise day. We had Rachel join us. Rachel will be a student at Miami Middletown (a sub campus of Miami) she lives in West Chester and Lives in Hamilton. Neat girl. The other visitors we had were Cobrin and his family (mom dad and little brother) he has just moved here for an internship with Miami. Cool his dad looked us up on the internet!! Yea google. We spent the day hanging out with Rachel and then we went to the Block Party that was going on at the Oxford Baptist Church, where we met back up with Corbin. We all hung out and we went back to the house to play cards and chill! Good day! It was a nice break.

www.bridgeoxford.com

The Count Down!

Ok there are 18 days till move in and my life is getting far from simple. I have picked up some extra sifts at works so I can get some extra cash. but anyway here is a brief run down of the next few weeks just to let you all know how these crazy next couple of weeks are.

August 4th (10-4 work)
August 5th (10 am Meeting with Catering, 11-4 work, 6-8 Kids Night)
August 6th, 7th, 8th (10-4 Work)
August 9th (Sara's Wedding in KY)(and Ali moves back)
August 10th (Josh Sings at Miamisburg and All Staff report day)
August 11th (10am Staff meeting, 11-4 work)
August 12th (11-4 Work, 6-8 Kids night)
August 14th, 15th (work 11-9)
August 16th (Jess' Wedding in Cbus)
August 17th (Church with the Family)
August 18th, 19th (11-4 work, pass out flyiers and lable water)
August 20th (Plan for tomorrow!)
August 21st (they arrive today!!)

And that is just the next two weeks ahhh! You see there is Jamey, Tracy, Mark, and Dustin's Birthday Party. School starting and other things I am forgetting right now.

The Irony of the Job

So I am a waitress, and now my manager has asked me to to be a Bartender. You see it is kinda random and odd. I have helped cover bar shifts in the past but it is still strange for me to be an actual bartender. In all honesty I could careless about bar tending, I don't enjoy selling alcohol and I have no clue what any of the stuff really is because I don't drink nor have I drank in the past. So I am suppose to start training this week. I guess it is all fine and dandy but I really want out of the restaurant business!!! Anyone know of a good company in the Oxford, Cincinnati area that is hiring a recent college grad with little to no experience please send them my way!!

Rent! Car! Insurance! Oil Change! Cat! Job? Everything!

It is amazing how everything comes crashing on top of us all at one time. It is the first of the month and life has come screaming my way. Today I have to pay my rent bill. It is funny how I really love my apartment, until today. Don't worry tomorrow I will love it again. But the same thing happens each month with my car. Well you see growing up and into my high school years I had no debt I bough my first car with cash and now it seems like my life revolves around bills and payments. Ok I am pretty sure it does. Not to mention I am a worrier by nature. Just ask Josh, He will agree!

Ayla and Bandit

Yesterday Krista (my roommate) brought her cat home with her. Bandit is a two year old camouflaged black cat. She for the most part is calm and friendly, oh did I mention she hates Ayla! Or is terrified of her. Either way it is pretty funny, cuz you see Ayla is a little kitty but she is not afraid of any big cats or anything really. But the whole night was filled with hissing and Bandit running and hiding.

Oh on another note still with the cats but way cool. We made a hidden litter box. I was online researching how/where to put my litter box because the apartment/bathroom is pretty small and there is no real place to put it. Well online they had an idea but is cost like 200-300 dollars and lets be completely honest I am poor! So Josh suggested that we take part of the back off of a cabin/hutch thing that was donated to us. It works amazingly. The cats walk in and out of the back of the cabinet and you can't smell it!! Yea! Plus it gives me an extra table to sit things.

Scavenger Hunt and A Wacky Wardrobe

So tonight we had the "Armor of God" Scavenger hunt! We were suppose to do this last week but with the key complications we postponed it until this week. The kids loved it. The teams were divided boys vs girls and there were random pieces of "armor" basically crazy stuff. The list is as follows: Belts from robe, dress shoes, coyboy hat, apron, foam noddle sword, paper shield. It was lots of fun. Each clue was a riddle, some were easy and others were a little more of a challenge for the kids. After each team collected each of the items they chose a solider and dress him/her in the armor and then attached the titles to the articles (belt of "righteousness") We had some great outfils and once finished with the lesson the kids took most of the armor and played with it out side! Jeff was great he had the sword and was running around shouting "I will cut your lies Satan" and other similar sayings.

Ayla has arrived!!

Ayla is my (and Josh's) new kitty. Ayla is about 9 weeks old and has a yellow and white coat. She is super cute and tons of fun. Josh and I got back to Columbus around 2pm on Sunday. We were greeted by our new kitty! ~Background on Ayla's week: She arrived at my parents house on Tuesday, covered with dirt and fleas. She was found outside and was super bony. My parents gave her a flea bath and fed her. The first night my mom was not sure she was gonna make it, because she just laid there not really moving or eating. But by Thursday she was running, playing and eating very well. ~ I left for the Bridal shower and Josh took a nap. He was really not feeling well. We played with the kids and the kitty Sunday night. Monday we drove back to oxford. That was a fun trip with a kitty that wants to climb under your feet that whole trip. After we got back Josh and I had a meeting to go to and some shopping that needed to get done. After all that we came back to play with Ayla. She had been sleeping all day and really did not want to play. We while I was typing she began to trow up! No good. Well now she is kinda laying around but acts like she feels a little better!