late march

if i didn't have stupid dial-up i would post more i promise (not that im not praising Jesus for the dial-up...its just...yeah).

right now, im at naomi's house and she and scott are watching a movie called Jesus camp--its pretty...strange. im not real sure. andy is in michigan.

we have teenage mutant ninja turtles at the meadowview..so its busy...and its super fun.

I've joined a Bible study with some girls from church...its been terrific. its relaxing to not have to be in charge and to be able to talk about Jesus. I've never really had a group of primarily christian friends. i mean, yes-i've had christian friends...and there was that time at olivet...but i mean in real life...its just kinda cool to see other people honestly trying to get closer to Jesus.

i worked at the paramount one week. WOW.

we put a bid in on another house...the other one had super termites and whatnot..so we decided to start over. so yeah. i'll keep you posted, one way or the other.

congrats to all the pregnant folks, engaged folks and otherwise.
congrats to naomi and myself for not being pregnant.

now the movie is over and we're having a deep discussion. by deep, i mean, they are discussing and i am interjecting with my random blog comments instead of talking about the actual movie. Personally--i got more out of Saved! but seriously--that mandy moore can act.

my job has been crazy stressful, but thats the nature of child welfare..i just wish i could get things back to a little calmer...ya know...and go to quiz practice instead of doing paperwork until 8 pm. i did get to have lunch with some of the lutheran folks on thursday when i had to attend a termination hearing in danville..which is part of why i was stressed...because i had so much to do this week.

Are you serious?

So I totally didn't post the ENTIRE month of January. The sadder part of that being that I don't have any excuse..except of course the dial-up. So here's whats happening in my life (if anyone in existence still reads blogs, as I refuse to put whole posts up on myspace because its a cluttery jumbly mess).

New Years Eve-went to Mel's for a bit, then andy and naomi's it was ok. pretty mellow way to welcome in 2007.

Rachel and joel arrived January...3rd I think. So that was some fun times. We almost bought this house in kankakee while they were here, but it didnt work out.

The district gameworks lock-in was Jan 5-6 and it was a pretty good time. I rode up and back with our youth pastor and the youth pastor at college church, and it was pretty good times...it was funny when they tried to include me :) Also, I became the district NYI secretary, primarily because i crave organization

Then we went to St. Louis (straight from the lock-in--which has been a trend!) and hung out with scotts family. it was good times. we went out for chinese on saturday, and then went to the mall with rachel and joel. we went to sunday school and church with scotts family, and then over to Erica and Chris' house for presents. It was fun. They had kittens, but we couldn't get them home to keep. Then we went to the old spaghetti factory for lunch, then to see Evan, Liz and Merideth...then home.

Rachel and Joel stayed until thursday, so there were other good times playing games and hanging out. i miss those kids.

Umm..then it was the district quiz...Lydia reynolds came, so that was good times-- but things were quite disorganized, which stressed me out early on...and the first time we ran a quiz without Bill there for support..but it got better (we had Barry after all!). then we went for chinese with college church, naperville, and danville and the ottingers too!

umm...then we had a weekend off--two in fact...but we were still busy with church (i was teaching 1st grade for january on wednesdays) and i had to work late quite a few days. and scott started playing frisbee in the mornings again.

THEN WE FOUND A HOUSE--a way better house than the one we found in early january. If I haven't told you that yet--you need to know. We're buying a house in Bradley--we're closing officially the 28th..and planning on moving March 11, so you should help us. we'll buy dinner. Thats really the biggest news.

Then this girl scott works with talked to her Bible study, and they're going to help me go to the womens retreat in shaumburg the weekend of my birthday. then my family will celebrate when i get home on sunday.

then the next weekend is girl weekend in OHIO...so that's good times too (but i'll probably be really anxious about not being at my new house getting it ready to move in).

Last weekend we helped Melanie move into her very own apartment which was fun and tiring all at the same time, primarily because everything happens at once for us.
Scott had gotten tickets to 12 angry men for christmas from my mom, and so we went to the city to see the play, did a little shopping, and then returned to melanies, had dinner with ryan, john, melanie and aidan, then back to melanies for more cleaning, unpacking and building ikea furniture. overall, it was a good time. sunday naomi and melanie went with me to the superbowl party at church, which was umm..kinda boring, but i think everyone had a pretty good time, and naomi and melanie got to talk a lot..and that made me happy :)

i think thats it. its a really long post, and i promise i'll try to do better!

Happy Holidays.

Hey everybody. I just want you to know that we have an AMAZING GOD. And I'm never thankful enough. I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas and is looking forward to the coming new year!

quiz practice.

i'm supposed to be at practice right now--scott is there, and the kids are getting ready for st. louis..so its kind of an important practice. but today at work, things were kinda stressful. im used to moving fast--thats what i learned casework was all about...but everyone at work is a little older, and used to moving much slower..which is amazing since they used to have 3 times the caseloads we have now. how did they do it? who knows. but its frustrating when there are lots of things going on, and everything moves slowly. sometimes maybe life moves too fast. there are so many things i could post about--but my husband brought me home donuts last night-and thats enough.

i listened to part of a david crowder interview today as part of the 20 days of world changers thingy...and he's just really cool. i love that the band still makes every effort to get home for sunday services at their home church-because its a priority. i feel like so many people aren't committed to their priorities anymore--and they get shoved aside when things get busy. like friendship. or writing a book. or taking time to retreat, or time for family. for example--i need to go to practice..because its a priority--beyond a committment. i love those students. they're funny, and amazing, and well...they brighten my week. but i just didnt want to go into practice with the frustration of my day. so now, im going to go. and hopefully they'll play some crowder on my way across town!

NYWC

well, im here at the national youth workers convention. its funny how some of the greatest friends i have i only see once a year. its so good to be among friends, and enjoying time with God. It's like camp--and going home depresses me. Glenn said he can't contract karen and me at the price we want..so i guess home is where we have to go-but not until tuesday. this week is so long..and so tiring, and in all of that, its energizing. its so cool to be a part of all of this. i love it.

we're in the general session right now, listening to the skit guys. jars of clay just got done playing, and soon it will be starfield. right now, im glad the store is in the general session. tonite, during the toby mac concert, i wont be so happy-but thats alright. i probably should go do the returns while the store is more empty. hope all is well with everyone!