Freshman Dinner Weekend #1

It is crazy to think another year has already began and it reminds me

Welcome back to church

Crazy Day #1 officially! We had church this morning in the Trailer park and were blessed to have those who were there. Though it has been a slow growth I really think we as a church are starting to reach and make a difference in the lives of the families in this small community. After church we had the uptown fair where the students handed out cups and Bridge information to all the new freshmen. After the fair was over we headed to OBF to set up for our evening service. God is so great we had a wonderful turn out and what was even more crazy was the 60 students that met us at the house after church to hang out and eat pizza! One week down, a semester or two to goJ.

Happy Birthday to the Crew

We celebrated Mark, Dustin, Jamey and Tracy’s Birthdays today at Mom’s it was a nice relaxing party! Much needed after this past week.

Concert

Uptown concert and Ultimate Frisbee…we had a pretty big game going. Lots of new students playing…we have a great feeling about this year!

The Freshmen are Coming, the freshmen

Each year I am still amazed by the craziness that surround move in and school starting. You would think I would be used to it by now...well I am not!

Health Fair and Sanding

We had our health screening today at work; I was pretty excited since I HDL (good Cholesterol) had went up a decent amount! Then after work I headed over to Dawns to help her sand those lovely walls. Oh so much dust!

Strange to be home on a Tuesday

With the students arriving my/our schedules have been all mixed up. There was no Clubhouse tonight so Josh and I were both home it is really quite odd. Welcome to August I suppose.

Ready or not here come the students…or just the foundation team J

Home at last

So I headed to Huber to pick up my husband! So very glad he is home at last…well for a few days before things get crazy with school starting.

Quarter Auction

Another auction but we were not nearly as successful as last time…you win some and loose some…maybe next time will be better!

Ready for my husband to be home 

I know it is only Thursday but I am ready for my husband to be home…

Dinner with an old friend!

So on my week to myself I scheduled a date with an old friend. Jess (not my cousin). I had dinner with her, her husband and their daughter; it is amazing how even after a few years of not seeing each other it is so easy to reconnect! God has really blessed them and I am so happy for them!

Visit from my Cousin!

So with all the craziness with people leaving my cousin Jess decided to come and visit…she is from Alaska so it is kind of a far trip. It was fun seeing her for a day or two. It had been a while since we had last seen each other.

More family heading out

Ok so not only has my husband, parents and sisters left town, but my brother-in-law and father-in-law are gone too! Good thing I am house sitting at least they have cats J

Wishing Stars

Today I learnt how to making wishing stars. They are small origami stars that start as a strip of simple paper. They can be made from pretty much anything, newspaper, straws and other things. When in Asia we were given some of these and really did not know the meaning behind them. But through a little research I found out what the mean or what some use them as. There are called wishing stars. Typically you write down a wish or a hope you have and then wrap it up very tight and put it in a jar. After reading this I started thinking about how silly that seemed, but the more I thought the more I realized that is what we do so often. Maybe not with a symbolic paper star but without hearts and minds. We pray that God will grant us this or that, we ask our hearts desires. But when we are not answer in our timing we fold up our request and toss it into a jar that was filled with past requests. When we do this we tend to forget what was written on that paper. We forget what we begged for. And if or when God grants us our plea we have long forgotten we even asked. Though this may be a stretch for some us to relate to, it is a reality in my life. I ask God and I ask God, then I assume that my prayers are as purposely as if I were wishing on a star. They are just dreams that I would like to see happen but somehow give up on. Many know my story and where I am within this mess of driving and home sharing. But few know my heart. Few know how it is hard to be hopeful when every other time it falls through. I stopped telling people when I had applied because they were excited and had hope, and I could not have hope because I was attempting survive. If I had to through another wish in a jar I was not sure I would have anything left. But God never asked me to throw away my hopes and dream he only asked me to be patient.

Load em up and head out

well with half my family gone you would think no big deal well today JP and the mission team from Oxford headed to Detroit for the week! Yes I know it is gonna be a quiet week L.

Family Vacation without me

It is always interesting when your family has a “family” vacation and you cannot go. But when it all comes down to it I am not super bummed just a little. I have the vacation time at work but with East Asia approaching again, I really need to save all the time I can and I cannot justify using it for vacation and then coming up short for the mission trip. But it will all work out in the end…So for now good bye family have fun in the islands!!

Cards and Cookies…they are not meat

The guys came over and I was working on cookies…ok so the cookie dough looks a little like meat…or a lot but they are so yummy they are red velvet cookies! So good.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 12-15 cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red food coloring

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in red food coloring. Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt until just combined, scraping down the sides when needed. Fold in chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of dough and set on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes

Good Bye UPS

Though I am super excited that JP is able to work full time in ministry it completely terrifies me that we are going to attempt to survive on my income and mine alone. I know God will provide and that is what we are leaning on! Please pray for us enter into this new phase of our lives.

Dinner with the Cargles

I really love any date where we go out to Olive Garden!

Gross

That is how I felt after our running extravaganza or so it was really just a run to the end of the road and back but with the heat and humidity it was no fun…whose idea was it to run in 85 degree weather…oh that would be me.