Busy, busy, busy!

Things are really starting to pick up for us here. Well, mostly Matt. He told me this morning that he has two eight page papers due next Thursday and then one 10 page paper due 2 weeks from today. He'll get them done. That just means that on top of reading and studying to stay up to date in class he will be spending much of his time writing papers. My new phrase I am living by when things are about to become overwhelming is: "It's why we're here."

We knew this time was going to be challenging and stretching and full of unknowns. Believe me, we've been on this journey for about 3 months and we've already hit the majority of those feelings. God has been faithful through it all and will continue to do so. "It's why we're here."

My life has been picking up as I have been offered more hours at my current part time job. It's not full time yet but I had a supervisor tell me that the best way to be considered to become full time is to have them see the need for me. Which means that I just need to be around and ask for ways to help and work the maximum hours they'll let me before giving in to giving me full time. Sounds like a deal.

I have been meditating on God's greatest commandment to us. "To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength. And then to love your neighbor as yourself."

There are so many commands Jesus gave us to live our lives by to be more like him. This surpasses all and I feel that if we can live to understand and really love God and our neighbors as ourselves then some other commands Jesus gave us will just fall into place. When God is the only thing that matters it will be natural to live more for others than yourself. Just a little of what I've been pondering lately.

I do know that God is good and He loves us.

Why We're Here:

Matt on his way to orientation :)

Today was orientation for new students at Denver Seminary. Although I am not currently a student, I was also invited to be a part of the festivities and was able to take part of a lunch that was for spouses of students. I had a good time having some free Chick-fil-a and getting to know some other women that have husbands entering into seminary.

Going to orientation was a bit overwhelming because it finally made it real that this is actually happening and Matt and I will now be entering into a season of life that is going to be difficult but should be very rewarding. Matt is also feeling overwhelmed and has began to see the reality that this program may take up to 3 1/2 years to complete instead of only 3.

We have found and settled between 2 churches to call our home and will visit them both this weekend one more time and will make the decision at the end of the weekend. The two we are choosing between are Greenwood Community Church or New Denver Church. Both are very different. The thing that draws us to New Denver is that they are a relatively new church and offer an internship program for students in seminary that may prove to be very flexible and helpful towards Matt during our time here.
This week we got a chance to go into the mountains with a friend and it was amazing. We found a nice picnic area that we would love to take friends and family to when they come to visit ;).

Yesterday we spent our last real day of "freedom" by going to out complex's pool two separate times. It was the perfect summer day.

You can see Matt swimming in the pic.

I've been working part time and am still pursuing other jobs that may be able to offer me full time. I have been working with those with disabilities as an employment consultant which means I supervise a group of people with disabilities at a work cite and help them to learn how to keep their job and do well in a work setting. It's a lot of fun but I really need it to be full time. I did get a phone call just today for a second organization that does employment consultation for disabilities that I will have an interview with next week. If they are only offering part time as well I may at least be able to work enough hours a week to equal or work a little more than full time. It's a start! :)

Anyway, we are nearly done with the sitting around part of us being in Denver, which is good. We have really enjoyed the last couple months out here though but have been itching to be busy again. Hoping that we can adjust to this new life quickly! :)

It's so hard to say goodbye...

Matt and I are headed out of state this coming Friday (we have one more full day left in Iowa). The excitement is getting to me. That and the fact that we really have most useful things packed which makes it very real that this is in fact happening. (this pic is to attempt to show how much of a disarray our current house is in).

Matt and I have lived in or around the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area for pretty much all of our lives. We are on our way to Littleton, Co so that Matt can attend seminary. I am hoping it is fairly quick and painless for me to find a sustainable job.

The things I will miss about Iowa:

Sweet Corn

Lightning bugs

Being close to both of our families

Long life friends

Not having emission checks on our vehicles

Accessibility to farmland

4th of July with family and friends

My nephews; Jacob, Gabe and Judah

Prairie Lakes Church

Boating on the Cedar River

And the list could go on...

There are however, things I will NOT miss about Iowa:

Getting my car egged while being parked on the street

Humid summers

Long, dreary winters with snow that never goes away

Having to travel to get to any major destination (Adventureland, decent malls etc.)

Yep, it's official, there's more I will miss than I won't. It's going to be hard to leave on Friday. This is all for what we believe to be a step that will equip us to better serve communities all around and share about the redeeming power of Jesus. Hope it's worth it! :)

We'll be back to visit. At least by Christmas. See you next time from Colorado!

New Addition...

So I started this joke with Matt around my birthday. He was out of town with his parents visiting Dan and Shannon in Kansas City. I had to work so I was way bummed I couldn't go. Anyway, I randomly/jokingly sent him a text message joking that he could get me a puppy or kitty for my birthday. Matt latched onto the idea of having a pet and we found a family at our church that had a litter of 10 week old kittens that was giving them away...

It was a bit impulsive on our part to get a kitten when we have plans to be moving across the country in a short amount of time. But the kitty is so worth it... sometimes. When it snuggles with you and doesn't bite your feet as your walking around the house :)

We named it Ginny (I am not giving the kitty a gender because we aren't sure if it's a girl or boy. We took it from it's previous home thinking it was a girl but it is maybe starting to look like a boy. We are hoping to get it into the vet next week and will know for sure then). After a character in Harry Potter because I left the naming up to Matt since he absolutely loves having a kitten. No joke. Anyway Ginny is all kitten and is very playful. I have plenty of scratches to prove it.

Here's our new kitty:

Crafty Things

I've been attempting to break out the sewing machine lately and improve my craft skills. I got a couple great books from my sister-in-law Amy for my birthday: One Yard Wonders and One Skein Wonders. I haven't used the One Skein Wonders book yet but have used the One Yard Wonders book for two projects now. I've really impressed myself with how easy some of the projects are and how great they look when they're done.

In addition to sewing I took up knitting over the winter months and completed a couple dish rags that I use as potholders. I am also into making special bridal shower gifts... there are pictures to follow:

This is a towel cake I made for my cousin's fiancee for her wedding shower. I got tons of compliments. My grandma walked into the basement and thought it was actually a real cake to eat. How cute! This gave them a full set of towels and you can't have too many towels! :)

The sewing machine cover is my first successful project from the book "One Yard Wonders". It turned out really nice.
This is the first potholder I made and kept for myself. I made a set of three for my sister-in-law Emma for Christmas which I saw her using over Easter weekend to clean up Judah.
My most recent project I just finished today (and I made 2 in under 2 hours!) is from "One Yard Wonders." It's a tactile blanket that I will be giving to some friends that are having baby boys within the next month. So excited for them to get these. I love making projects that I can give away. It adds a special element to the gift when you've spent extra time on it. Anyway those are my projects for now! Hopefully there will be more to come! :)

Spring is here!!

I LOVE this time of year! Although this picture is from last spring looking at it makes me excited for the things to come this year! I can't believe it is almost April though. Matt and I, like always, are preparing to go through another major transition this fall. We are planning for him to attend Denver Seminary in Denver Colorado starting in August.

This is exciting and scary at the same time. For the last part of 2009 and beginning of 2010 we were sure we were staying in the Cedar Falls Waterloo area and were going to take part in the awesome things God is doing right here in our midst. When Matt's job changed from full time to very part time because he was replaced (He had actually resigned in June of 2009) and there were not any immediate opportunities for us here we started exploring things out of this area again. We landed on seminary as the most viable option for us because it's going to equip us with the tools to ultimately lead others to Christ.

What will I do while he's in seminary? Good question. I plan to get a job that will be sufficient income for us during this time... Easier said than done. I've been doing research online and will start putting my resume out within the next couple weeks. So far the things I've seen have wanted more education than I have or way more experience than I have So, it's really up to God to lead us out there and take care of us.

In my mind I have 2 options of timing; 1 we can move out to Denver mid June. This gives us enough time to get settled and to be in Cedar Falls for all the weddings we have over the summer. Option 2 is that we quit our current jobs July 1st take some time to go to Disney world and the big family trip to Canada and then move to Denver around the first of August. Option 1 would only make sense if I have a job lined up and would also help if I didn't because then I could be in the same community that I'm looking for a job in which I have found could be helpful. Option 2 makes no sense but it's a dream I have :).

Ok. so much more to say but this is getting long. Will leave you with the picture and it should explain itself:

(matt's new job while we are in this transition period)

HAPPY EASTER!! Jesus is risen!

Onto the next year... 2010!!!

Well the holidays are over! That's always a good feeling and a bad feeling for me. Especially this last Christmas. It was really relaxing and we were able to celebrate with family and friends over a spread of four days. It was so much fun! I really had a goal of focusing on the reason for the season (JESUS!) and wanted to take in all the time with family and savor the season. I feel like that was accomplished fully.

Now, back to the daily grind of winter in Iowa. We are in a winter storm warning this evening. I was thinking this would be the first week in 3 or 4 weeks that I will have all of my clients at their normal times... Tomorrow may be snowed in. It's a welcome break already :).

Here's some pics from the holidays... None from New Year's Eve... we actually didn't take any pics and we left our camera in Iowa City by accident so wouldn't have them uploaded yet anyway :)