In June I was able to attend our Beach Camp! It was a great time. Our worship band was amazing! They sang a couple songs I just loved. I only remember them singing "Christ has Risen" once. I didn't think much of it, because I didn't know it. I have since added all the songs from camp to my ipod. And this one has become a new favorite. I have been listening to it over and over and over again. So, I thought I would share it with you.
Christ has Risen by Matt Maher
Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but heaven's will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead
He's alive! He's alive!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Springfield Trip
I am a blogger slacker. At least on this blog! But we have been BUSY! I feel like summer is flying by. I cannot believe we are already in the middle of July. I must confess, I am ready for fall. This 90 degree + weather is driving me nuts. I have never liked the heat, then you add humidity. Yeah, that's fun. I am more thankful for AC than ever before!
Back in June we were able to go visit our good friends Dennis and Katie! They moved to Springfield in May. We were so excited to see them and experience their life. Boy, we had a great time. We ate a lot, drove a lot, and played a lot! We spent a day in Branson. Oh my! So fun! We are so blessed to have these friends in our life! Here are a few photos from our trip to see them:
Ryan and I at the Fantastic Caverns
Inside the Fantastic Caverns
Katie and I at Ripleys. Largest ball of string.
Riding the Ducks!
Ryan with his quacker...annoying!
The Duck in the water...scared me!
Katie!
Lunch in Branson. It was awesome.
Thank you again Dennis and Katie for such a fun trip! We can't wait for our next adventure! :)
Back in June we were able to go visit our good friends Dennis and Katie! They moved to Springfield in May. We were so excited to see them and experience their life. Boy, we had a great time. We ate a lot, drove a lot, and played a lot! We spent a day in Branson. Oh my! So fun! We are so blessed to have these friends in our life! Here are a few photos from our trip to see them:
Ryan and I at the Fantastic Caverns
Inside the Fantastic Caverns
Katie and I at Ripleys. Largest ball of string.
Riding the Ducks!
Ryan with his quacker...annoying!
The Duck in the water...scared me!
Katie!
Lunch in Branson. It was awesome.
Thank you again Dennis and Katie for such a fun trip! We can't wait for our next adventure! :)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Singleness
I know, I am married. Why am I writing about singleness? Because, I once was single. For the past few years, the majority of my friends have been married people. But now, I am friends with some non-marrieds. And I love that. But it has got me thinking about a time in my life where I struggled. Where I thought I would never meet "the one". And when I learned and grew so much through that struggle.
I was one of those girls who had so many married friends around her, telling her they understood the struggle. I never believed them, they were after all, already married. But for me, I still remember. It was only 4 short years ago, I was struggling with being single.
I remember four or five years ago sitting with a friend talking about contentment while being single. She asked me how it was that I was ok with it, knowing my desire to be a wife. I told her, "I bought a bed".
I can explain. But first, let me go back a little ways. I never really dated. I had one or two "boyfriends" that never lasted more than a couple weeks. I liked a lot of boys. But that was it. None of them liked me back. So when I left for college, I thought that maybe, I would meet someone. I was after all attending Multnomah "Bridal" College. Where the saying was "ring by spring, or your money back". Or instead of "if it's Bible you want, then you want Multnomah" it was "if its a bride you want, then you want Multnomah". I thought surely I would meet him at school. Well, five (I did go to grad school there) springs came and went, with no ring. And I am still waiting for that money! :) My Senior year, one of my good friends was in a pretty serious relationship. I remember talking to her about this struggle of contentment in singleness. She told me to focus on Truth. You know the verse that says, "Whatever is true...pure..noble...think on these things" (Phil. 4:8). So I did. I started focusing on truth in relationships, and on the truth of my relationship with Christ.
For the next year or so I really began to ponder these things. To ponder singleness. I began to change my mind set. Instead of worrying if I would ever find that guy, I began living my life. I made some choices. I decided I was going to go to Grad. School. I was going to work at a church. I was going to buy a bed.
(Here's the bed story: see I had always thought, that when I got married is when I was going to get a "big" bed, so buying a new bed, a big bed, meant I was thinking I may never get married) I began to live my life as if I was going to be single for a long time. Sure, I had hard days. Being a bridesmaid 5 times is not easy when you have a strong desire to be the bride. But it worked. I was loving life. I was happy. Content.
So much so, that when my friend Kristine first suggested four years ago, that I go on a blind date. I almost said no. I knew I might be moving "home". I was happy. Like I said, I ALMOST said no. I am glad I didn't. Because it was four years ago when Ryan and I first started thinking of going on a blind date. It was in July that we finally started emailing. And in August, I met him for the first time.
I don't want to say that when you are finally content being single, God will bring a man (or woman) into your life. I don't think there is a formula. I just know that for me, I needed that time of singleness. I had to walk that journey. I had to learn to Love God first, and trust in His Truth before I was the one ready for Ryan.
I was one of those girls who had so many married friends around her, telling her they understood the struggle. I never believed them, they were after all, already married. But for me, I still remember. It was only 4 short years ago, I was struggling with being single.
I remember four or five years ago sitting with a friend talking about contentment while being single. She asked me how it was that I was ok with it, knowing my desire to be a wife. I told her, "I bought a bed".
I can explain. But first, let me go back a little ways. I never really dated. I had one or two "boyfriends" that never lasted more than a couple weeks. I liked a lot of boys. But that was it. None of them liked me back. So when I left for college, I thought that maybe, I would meet someone. I was after all attending Multnomah "Bridal" College. Where the saying was "ring by spring, or your money back". Or instead of "if it's Bible you want, then you want Multnomah" it was "if its a bride you want, then you want Multnomah". I thought surely I would meet him at school. Well, five (I did go to grad school there) springs came and went, with no ring. And I am still waiting for that money! :) My Senior year, one of my good friends was in a pretty serious relationship. I remember talking to her about this struggle of contentment in singleness. She told me to focus on Truth. You know the verse that says, "Whatever is true...pure..noble...think on these things" (Phil. 4:8). So I did. I started focusing on truth in relationships, and on the truth of my relationship with Christ.
For the next year or so I really began to ponder these things. To ponder singleness. I began to change my mind set. Instead of worrying if I would ever find that guy, I began living my life. I made some choices. I decided I was going to go to Grad. School. I was going to work at a church. I was going to buy a bed.
(Here's the bed story: see I had always thought, that when I got married is when I was going to get a "big" bed, so buying a new bed, a big bed, meant I was thinking I may never get married) I began to live my life as if I was going to be single for a long time. Sure, I had hard days. Being a bridesmaid 5 times is not easy when you have a strong desire to be the bride. But it worked. I was loving life. I was happy. Content.
So much so, that when my friend Kristine first suggested four years ago, that I go on a blind date. I almost said no. I knew I might be moving "home". I was happy. Like I said, I ALMOST said no. I am glad I didn't. Because it was four years ago when Ryan and I first started thinking of going on a blind date. It was in July that we finally started emailing. And in August, I met him for the first time.
I don't want to say that when you are finally content being single, God will bring a man (or woman) into your life. I don't think there is a formula. I just know that for me, I needed that time of singleness. I had to walk that journey. I had to learn to Love God first, and trust in His Truth before I was the one ready for Ryan.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Some going ons.
I love my job. I love the students (the few I know). I love what I do. It's truly a great fit for me.
There are a few reasons I love(well, that's a strong word, ENJOY) living in the South. Sweet tea. Southern Accents. Chick-fil-a. The history. Our church. Our friends. And a few reasons I don't. Storms. Storms. Storms. Humidity. Heat. Bugs. Cicadas. Storms. No Mountains. Far from our Families...especially the kiddos. The Oregon Coast.
We have made some good friends living here. Dennis and Katie. Wes and Abby. And others in our Sunday School class. Dennis and Katie just moved. To Missouri. Counting the days until June when we get to go visit.
Wes and Abby just had a baby a few weeks ago. He is precious. And tiny. And cute.
I miss our friends in the NW. Kat and Jeff, they had a baby in February and I still haven't met him. That makes me sad.
Meow has hit the terrible twos. He just cries. For. No. Reason. Then jumps on the bathroom counter. Then he cries. So, I gp in and he jumps off. He just wants attention.
My niece and nephew are growing like weeds. I wish I could see that.
The cicada bugs are gross. They are loud. Almost like the sound of a distant weed eater. Or a giant rain stick. And they are UGLY. Big black. Long wings. Red eyes. One jumped at me today. I screamed. My poor neighbors.
We had our Sr. recognition on Sunday. Then it hit me...my small group from Westwood are all graduating this year. I am sad to miss that. I miss those girls.
We went and saw Les Miserables this weekend. It was great! I hadn't seen it in 11 years I think. I enjoyed it. Ryan even liked it. Looking forward to convincing Ryan to take me to Wicked this fall, and The Addams Family next year.
Can't wait to see the new Pirates movie. Saw the first one 6 times in the theater, the second 4, and the third twice. We were going to go opening weekend, but I got sick.
We went to the AP awards a little over a week ago. My favorite part was watching other wives show their pride for their husbands who won awards. So proud of my hubby and the hard worker he is.
I feel like we are finally adjusting to being here. Finally feeling settled. And hopefully this summer, my family will get to come visit.
For now, that's it.
There are a few reasons I love(well, that's a strong word, ENJOY) living in the South. Sweet tea. Southern Accents. Chick-fil-a. The history. Our church. Our friends. And a few reasons I don't. Storms. Storms. Storms. Humidity. Heat. Bugs. Cicadas. Storms. No Mountains. Far from our Families...especially the kiddos. The Oregon Coast.
We have made some good friends living here. Dennis and Katie. Wes and Abby. And others in our Sunday School class. Dennis and Katie just moved. To Missouri. Counting the days until June when we get to go visit.
Wes and Abby just had a baby a few weeks ago. He is precious. And tiny. And cute.
I miss our friends in the NW. Kat and Jeff, they had a baby in February and I still haven't met him. That makes me sad.
Meow has hit the terrible twos. He just cries. For. No. Reason. Then jumps on the bathroom counter. Then he cries. So, I gp in and he jumps off. He just wants attention.
My niece and nephew are growing like weeds. I wish I could see that.
The cicada bugs are gross. They are loud. Almost like the sound of a distant weed eater. Or a giant rain stick. And they are UGLY. Big black. Long wings. Red eyes. One jumped at me today. I screamed. My poor neighbors.
We had our Sr. recognition on Sunday. Then it hit me...my small group from Westwood are all graduating this year. I am sad to miss that. I miss those girls.
We went and saw Les Miserables this weekend. It was great! I hadn't seen it in 11 years I think. I enjoyed it. Ryan even liked it. Looking forward to convincing Ryan to take me to Wicked this fall, and The Addams Family next year.
Can't wait to see the new Pirates movie. Saw the first one 6 times in the theater, the second 4, and the third twice. We were going to go opening weekend, but I got sick.
We went to the AP awards a little over a week ago. My favorite part was watching other wives show their pride for their husbands who won awards. So proud of my hubby and the hard worker he is.
I feel like we are finally adjusting to being here. Finally feeling settled. And hopefully this summer, my family will get to come visit.
For now, that's it.
Friday, May 20, 2011
My View
Hardly a week goes by when someone doesn't ask me what I do for a living. Sometimes the question is a form of "small talk" sometimes people are actually curious. On a busy Thursday afternoon, I thought I would share with you "what I do" or at least what I have done today.
I sit behind a brown desk - constantly looking at my computer monitor. Above my door which opens to the newsroom, three monitors where I monitor my competition all day long. Truth be told, I sit in here as little as I can. I am constantly checking a computer program we have that provides us with content from the Associated Press. I am a curious person so I check often - every time I sit at my desk. I check Twitter regularly, Facebook as well. I'm always looking at CNN.com and a handful of other websites to see if there is news I don't know about. At the same time, I am answering my phone. Sometimes it's people wanting a job, sometimes it's people wanting me to buy a subscription to their random news service. I get calls about various groups asking us to sponsor them and I get calls from viewers angry about stories we covered. While answering calls, I typically respond to emails. I get between 400 and 600 a day. I'm also looking into the newsroom watching our Assignment Desk. It's amazing how I can tell if something big is happening by body language alone. I look at "producer row" - as our producers scramble to put their shows together. In the time it took me to write that last sentence, someone came into my office to tell me his story fell through. I gave him another idea and he's off and working on it. I worry about our ratings (and they're good right now) - wondering what we can do to get them higher, I am thinking about our open positions - wishing the right people would apply so I can get some of my employees the newsroom the relief they need. I just changed a couple of schedules in anticipation of a new newscast we start soon. I put the paper work together for an employee that starts soon, heard about an employee's dog that has some issues and changed our 6pm lead.
That's my view of the past five minutes and that's what I do...a lot of stuff involving a lot of people and a lot of things which is exactly how I like it.
-Ryan
I sit behind a brown desk - constantly looking at my computer monitor. Above my door which opens to the newsroom, three monitors where I monitor my competition all day long. Truth be told, I sit in here as little as I can. I am constantly checking a computer program we have that provides us with content from the Associated Press. I am a curious person so I check often - every time I sit at my desk. I check Twitter regularly, Facebook as well. I'm always looking at CNN.com and a handful of other websites to see if there is news I don't know about. At the same time, I am answering my phone. Sometimes it's people wanting a job, sometimes it's people wanting me to buy a subscription to their random news service. I get calls about various groups asking us to sponsor them and I get calls from viewers angry about stories we covered. While answering calls, I typically respond to emails. I get between 400 and 600 a day. I'm also looking into the newsroom watching our Assignment Desk. It's amazing how I can tell if something big is happening by body language alone. I look at "producer row" - as our producers scramble to put their shows together. In the time it took me to write that last sentence, someone came into my office to tell me his story fell through. I gave him another idea and he's off and working on it. I worry about our ratings (and they're good right now) - wondering what we can do to get them higher, I am thinking about our open positions - wishing the right people would apply so I can get some of my employees the newsroom the relief they need. I just changed a couple of schedules in anticipation of a new newscast we start soon. I put the paper work together for an employee that starts soon, heard about an employee's dog that has some issues and changed our 6pm lead.
That's my view of the past five minutes and that's what I do...a lot of stuff involving a lot of people and a lot of things which is exactly how I like it.
-Ryan
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday Funny
When I saw this on the Today Show, well, today. I laughed. Then I found the video. And laughed some more. Only because of how Willard says what he does. Cracks. Me. Up. Well, see for yourself (sorry if you get a commercial first).
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Friday, May 6, 2011
I like Mom.
Mother's day is coming up! What a great day...we get to celebrate the woman in our life who well, gave us life! I am super lucky that I have a lot of great Mom's in my life.
First you have all the grandmas! My grandma is still alive. And when I married Ryan, I got a Nana, and another grandma! What a blessing!
Then there are the adopted ones, like ZoeAnne Pilger, Una Stonehocker and the newest, Reba Johnson. Two of these women loved Ryan like he was their own son, and me by default! But they truly care for us. We have lived with ZoeAnne. We have laughed with Una. We have been welcomed by Reba. We are so thankful to have these women in our lives.
Of course, there are those women who have been mentors to me. Mom's in a way. Shannon, Mariah, Bri. These women impacted me more than they may ever know. They taught me much about loving the Lord, leadership, and ministry.
But there are three women I especially think about on Mother's day. My Mom. My MIL. And my sis-in-law.
I will start with Shelly! I am super thankful that I have a sister!! She has become a dear friend to me. And she is a wonderful mother to my favorite two kiddos. I love how she keeps us involved in their lives. She's the best "sister"!
Then I have my MIL. Judy. I am pretty lucky. I don't think a lot of people can say that they like their MIL. Let alone, have a relationship with her. The first day I met Judy, I knew I had a new friend. We chatted about books, life and her son! :) Our relationship has grown so much and I am so blessed to have this Godly woman has my Mother-in-Law. She raised two great kids. Of course, I am very partial to one! She raised him to work hard, care for others, and be very generous. She loves people well, takes care of them, and sacrifices for her family. She loves me like I was her own flesh and blood.
And of course there is my Mom. My best friend. I don't know where I would be without her. I learned to be a woman from her. I learned to be a friend. I learned to be a wife. And someday, a mother myself. She has been there for me through everything, and has been a constant support. She has the most gentle spirit. Everyone who meets her knows just how sweet and kind she is. She loves everyone she is contact with, and is slow to judge. She gives of herself. She loves the Lord. And she loves her family.
I couldn't be more blessed. So many amazing women in my life. So many who have been mentors and friends to me.
So, to all the "Mom's" in my life, Happy Mother's Day! I am a better woman because of you.
First you have all the grandmas! My grandma is still alive. And when I married Ryan, I got a Nana, and another grandma! What a blessing!
Then there are the adopted ones, like ZoeAnne Pilger, Una Stonehocker and the newest, Reba Johnson. Two of these women loved Ryan like he was their own son, and me by default! But they truly care for us. We have lived with ZoeAnne. We have laughed with Una. We have been welcomed by Reba. We are so thankful to have these women in our lives.
Of course, there are those women who have been mentors to me. Mom's in a way. Shannon, Mariah, Bri. These women impacted me more than they may ever know. They taught me much about loving the Lord, leadership, and ministry.
But there are three women I especially think about on Mother's day. My Mom. My MIL. And my sis-in-law.
I will start with Shelly! I am super thankful that I have a sister!! She has become a dear friend to me. And she is a wonderful mother to my favorite two kiddos. I love how she keeps us involved in their lives. She's the best "sister"!
Then I have my MIL. Judy. I am pretty lucky. I don't think a lot of people can say that they like their MIL. Let alone, have a relationship with her. The first day I met Judy, I knew I had a new friend. We chatted about books, life and her son! :) Our relationship has grown so much and I am so blessed to have this Godly woman has my Mother-in-Law. She raised two great kids. Of course, I am very partial to one! She raised him to work hard, care for others, and be very generous. She loves people well, takes care of them, and sacrifices for her family. She loves me like I was her own flesh and blood.
And of course there is my Mom. My best friend. I don't know where I would be without her. I learned to be a woman from her. I learned to be a friend. I learned to be a wife. And someday, a mother myself. She has been there for me through everything, and has been a constant support. She has the most gentle spirit. Everyone who meets her knows just how sweet and kind she is. She loves everyone she is contact with, and is slow to judge. She gives of herself. She loves the Lord. And she loves her family.
I couldn't be more blessed. So many amazing women in my life. So many who have been mentors and friends to me.
So, to all the "Mom's" in my life, Happy Mother's Day! I am a better woman because of you.
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