Tuesday, August 24, 2010

My Mission Field

Most of you know this, but for the past year or so I've been involved with a Christian group on campus called, InterVarsity. I am technically the, large group coordinator (large group is the name of our event when we're all together. pretty simple), but you can call me Chief. or El Jefe. jk. Over the summer we met every Thursday to have worship, watch one of the Rob Bell Nooma videos, and have discussion about it. For the most part it was fabulous.

However, during the summer I was exhausted. I was burnt out with school, friends, church, InterVarsity, deployment woes--I was exhausted with life, basically. Even though I was in leadership, it was hard for me to see why I was involved with InterVarsity and how it was benefiting me. Wah, wah, wah...talk about selfish, right?

So I recently went on an InterVarsity leadership retreat that helped change my perspective towards being involved in this awesome group. We watched a video called, "ee-taow," which is the story of a missionary family that moved to Papua New Guinea and lived with the Mouk people, and brought the light of Christ to the province. One word: ama-za-zing!

The video was powerful to me because it was unlike any other missionary video i had seen prior. It showed what true discipleship is and that I can obtain that same transformation with the students at Weber State. You know why?! Because God is awesome! That's why! He used Mark (the missionary) and his family to reach the Mouk people and he can do the same with InterVarsity. Pretty sweet. I've always known that I could be part of God's plan for WSU but I guess I never truly believed it...until now. dun, dun, dun. :)

So what does this all mean?
I'm a senior now.
This is my 5th year at Weber.
I've been here every day for the past 4 years and....nothing.
I have done nothing to help make God's presence known on campus.
Now is the time.
I feel like I have finally understood my purpose. At least for these next two semesters. :)
I want to serve this campus.
I want to minister to new students and more specifically, to students that don't know Christ yet.
I want God to use my life as an example of his grace and power, and I want to grow closer to him and the IV community...they really are terrific people.

the leaders at our retreat after a hike.

The whole gang at Catalina

InterVarsity is the largest and only Christian club on campus right now. If not us then who? If God calls his people to share his love and I am one of his people, then I am part of this plan to bring his light to Weber!

I am so confident that something amazing will happen at Weber, and I feel completely humbled that God would want me to be part of it.

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me."
Isaiah 6

Monday, August 09, 2010

My 9/8c

For the past 10 weeks my 8pm time slot on Monday nights has been filled with laughing hysterically while watching Last Comic Standing. Have you seen in? If not then too bad! The finale was tonight and you missed it!...sucker.
But! on the off chance that you weren't offended by me calling you a loser, you should check it out next season and allow me to tell you about what you missed this season.
This season Filipe Esparza won.

Boo!
Tommy Johnigan should have won, but alas, he got second place.

My favorite part of the finale had nothing to do with the contest. Tom Papa was a guest performer and he made my parents and I laugh so hard. Some of you may know him as the host of the hilarious show, Marriage Ref.
Watch it. Laugh. Go. Now!
Last Comic Standing - Tom Papa's Stand-Up Performance - Video - NBC.com

Here's my favorite bit from Tommy Johnigan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXg2DhIqFcY

One of the reasons I love this show is because you get to hear a variety of comedians every week. Endless laughing! Also, when people get kicked off it's no big deal. Yeah, they're bummed, but it's completely different compared to watching someone get kicked off American Idol or SYTYCD. They play a video to "remember their journey" but it's happy, hilarious, and no one cries. Score. Oh yeah, did I mention Craig Robinson (Darrel from The Office) was the host? What a riot!
So there you have it. Hope that impacted your life in some way.
That is all.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

My Big Plans

I have a lot of thoughts in my mind and events I want to update you on, but for now I will just leave you with exciting news.

Gerald's deployment in Afghanistan is over in 2 1/2 weeks!!
Only 17 days left!

I can't believe it's already been a year (and I'll post on that later), but I am so ecstatic that it's almost over!

oh yeah, the other half of the good news is that I'm visiting Gerald over labor day weekend!

Did I mention Gerald and I, and some of our friends from N.C. are renting a beach house for the weekend?!

The house is located on a canal that filters into beach and I cannot wait to show you pictures.

Yeeeeessssssss.
Only 3 1/2 weeks to go!

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

My Stupid Plastic Bag

Come listen to my tale of how I lost (then quickly found) my sister's wedding veil.

Suzy had borrowed Amy's veil for her wedding in June (and looked smashing with it on), and last week I went to pick it up. The veil was inside one of those thin, plastic, dress bags that usually hold dresses (duh!), but today the bag was my enemy. I was driving home on the highway, going about 55mph, with my front two windows down and I hear the bag rustling in the back seat. Just as I decide to roll up the windows because something could fly out, that stupid plastic bag flys out the window. awesome.
So obviously I had to go back and look for it. The journey begins. I guessed on where the bag may have landed and searched everywhere on the south side of the Weber river. Everywhere! I probably looked like a crazy lady to people driving by, but what's so crazy about walking through weeds and sifting through garbage? jk. Towards the end of my search I'm talking to myself and can't do anything but mutter, "why isn't it stuck on the fence!" There was a fence next to the highway and everyone knows that every bag that blows around will eventually get stuck on a fence. Like so.....

Well, the bag was not stuck on the fence! I was losing my mind. My mom told me to search on the other side of the river and as I'm turning around to get there I am trying to figure out why this is happening. I'm pretty strong in believing everything happens for a reason, but what could possibly be the reason for losing a wedding veil?! There is no lesson I could learn from this. It's not like I was irresponsible and didn't make the plastic bag wear a seat belt!
I start looking on the north side of the river, which looks like a plastic bag graveyard, and as I'm about to scream to the sky, "WHY?!" I see the bag. That stupid plastic bag...

So there you have it. Still have no clue why it happened. Maybe sometimes there is no reason for things happening in our lives...either way, I'm not letting a plastic bag make me search my soul for unknown answers...I will however, let it lead me to find this...

looks like something off a Project Runway challenge.

Kind of cool.
That is all.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

My Wasatch Front

Reason #172 why Utah is awesome:

One of the many great things about living in Ogden is that I can hike...in Ogden. I don't have to travel far to climb the mountains I love and they're always there when I look out my window.

Allyse and I have been hiking at least once a week, and it has been wonderful. Lately we've only been doing waterfall canyon and would love your trail suggestions.

We tell ourselves hiking is our training for the big hike at Catalina next year. We don't want to die like we did last time, and this is our way of changing it. In all honesty, we just love hiking. Who doesn't!?

Plus, it's more fun than going to the gym--sorry to all you gym people out there, but climbing a mountain is waaaay cooler.

Also! There's a big benefit of finding a waterfall at the top!




You're welcome to join us if you want to come!

"Naaaatuuuureee!!!

Goulet."

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

My Gal Pals

The history of my gal pals: a 13 year journey of friendship

1997
I was 8 or 9 years old (about third grade) and my family had started attending Washington Heights. Stacy Simpson enters the scene! I don't remember anything other than we started playing. a lot. She would come over to my house and visa versa. Our specialties were barbies, dress up, tea parties, and trying to get our older sisters to play with us. No success. When we did finally have success Amy and Emily tricked us into playing a game where they were the queens and we were the servants....yep. Sadly, we went along with it.

Stacy and I were best friends instantly. One day I got my hair cut and apparently Stacy liked it, because the next time I saw her, her hair was cut too. When possible (at the time, I lived in bountiful and she was in ogden), we did everything together. It was also nice for our parents since Stacy had 2 older siblings (Emily and Tommy) the same age as my two siblings. So when we got together the whole gang did too. It was fantastic.

1998
Stacy and I were in 4th grade and a new girl from Oregon was introduced to our Wednesday night church class. Once again, instant best friends, and Stacy and I added Christina Merrigan to our gang. At the time (2nd to 6th grade) I was home schooled, and so was Tina. Our parents set up a home school group with a couple other families from church about once a week for "extracurricular activities." It was basically a giant play date. We did, however, learn to play the recorder and held a recital for everyone. We also learned the Olympic art of curling...I probably could've gone pro...jk

So during the week Tina and I would do home school stuff, her and Stacy started taking tumbling classes together, Wednesday nights we all did stuff at church, and then Sunday after church we always tried to play. Tina also had 3 older brothers, and John became friends with Craig. Once again, it was fantastic.

1999
Stacy, Tina, and I were in 5th grade and on Wednesday nights at church they started mixing the 4th and 5th graders together during craft time. This is when we first met Suzy Madigan, but the first time I did anything with Suzy is because my friend Rebekah invited her to a sleep over.

Even though Suzy was a year younger than the rest of us, she still became part of the gang. Probably because she's awesome...I remember thinking that Suzy was the most interesting girl I had ever met. She always had a different way of doing things, even as a 4th grader, and I love that about her. Suzy's older brother, Matt, became great friends with Tommy, John, and Craig, and my parents instantly clicked with hers.

So we became the four amigos.



During high school we started an accountability group. At first, a woman from church named Marlee was our leader for about 6 or so months. She had to stop after that :( but then we all met Sabrina Moulding! Sabrina lead our group through a couple of relationship books, helped us tackle our high school drama, and showed us how to put God first in everything by being an amazing role model. Eventually, Sabrina turned into more than just our leader that met with us once a week. She was our friend, mentor, confidant, and everything else in between.

Over this past weekend I had the honor of being part of Suzy's wedding. David and Suzy chose to have the person in their lives who most influenced them be part of the ceremony as well. It hit me, watching Suzy and Sabrina hug, what being a disciple of God is about, and that I want to influence and lead people like Sabrina has lead me. She's poured out her heart to us girls and was dedicated to our group. She is obedient to God's call in her life and I pray the Spirit will lead me to do the same.

2010
Obviously life has changed a lot since 1997.
Stacy married Jeremy and they have an adorable little boy, Roman. Stacy is just as passionate and full of love as she was when I first met her, and her and Jeremy together are an amazingly Godly couple. I honestly believe God is going to use them to bring His love to Ogden.

I have enjoyed watching Tina and Dave grow together over the years and through their marriage, and seeing them follow God by being true servants. Tina is one of the hardest working girls I know. She's full of determination, drive, and persistence, but she's also the sweetest person you'll ever meet.

and most recently, Suzy and David got married over the weekend! Congrats you two! Suzy is an amazingly strong and genuine woman. Even though I'm sad they're moving to Florida, I know God has a huge plan to use the way they pour their hearts into the lives of the people around them.

I've already told you about the fabulous person Sabrina is but let me add on that her and Travis are an incredible couple. They're always striving to know more about God and live for him. Ok, that should do it :)


So that's that :)
I know this post was extremely long but I write about what I love, and I do love my gal pals.

"Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Christ, who is the mystery of God." Colossians 2:2

Monday, May 31, 2010

My Wild Weekend

This past weekend my mom, dad, and I went up to my grandparent's cabin, by Park City, to work on some stuff and to just have a relaxing weekend in one of my favorite places of all time.


There were a few things this weekend that threw me off guard and I thought, "did that really just happen!?" OK, here we go.

1) I have seen about 5 moose (moosen? jk) in my lifetime that I can actually remember. When you visit the cabin you always see deer. Always. But I have deer living in the field behind my house. They're everywhere. They're like squirrels. So this cabin trip I was determined to see something awesome. Like a porcupine. jk. Like a MOOSE! I wrote Allyse a text telling her I wanted to see a moose, hit send, looked up, and freakin' saw a MOOSE!!! Now, I understand that a moose is not as awesome as I am making it sound, but you cannot deny how crazy that timing was! I mean come on, did that really just happen!?

2) So, just when I thought I was satisfied with my wildlife sightings, mother nature blew my mind again. Mom, dad, and I were driving to a home depot in Park City to grab some stuff. Getting off the exit I hear, "is that a buffalo!?" two seconds later, "Ah! is that a zebra!?" ...what?! That's right folks. In what looks like a beautiful, normal Park City neighborhood is a backyard, home to a BUFFALO, ZEBRA, and a donkey (he's not as cool as the other two so he doesn't get to be upper cased). We tried to come up with reasons why/how a person could have 3 completely different wild animals (ok, a donkey isn't wild but go with it) in their yard, in a neighborhood (not a farm), in Park City. All I could think was, holy crap, did that really just happen!? ...mind...blown...
Behold, the buffalo and the zebra. This is a picture of a picture. My cell phone isn't as cool as yours probably is, so I can't skip the middle man and upload it onto here....I feel no shame...


3) One of the things I love about my mom is her love for hosting parties. If someone could be a professional "hostess of parties," it would be Jan Massie. The cabin was no exception. She packed a whole box of alcohol and we boozed it up every night. KIDDING! We don't do that. But we did make some yummy cocktails. I was telling them that I don't get the point of cocktails that taste like normal fruit juice. I don't really like juice so why am I drinking this cocktail? because it has alcohol in it, so it's different? I don't get it. Anyway! I was telling them all of this and how my drink only tastes like cranberry juice when my mom yells from down the hall, "just put more vodka in it!"
This moves us into a new blog section I like to call, "hilarious things my mom says."
1) "Milkyway Bars...I could take a bath in them."

2) "just put more vodka in it!"

3) and my personal favorite, "oooh! look how pretty that dirt is!" ...I had no idea a mound of fresh dirt could be pretty.

Oh mom, you're so cool, but did that really just happen? :)


So it was a pretty exciting weekend to say the least.
I had a blast with the parents and Kellie (the dog), and I hope your weekend was fun too.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

My past 7 days

I wouldn't say a lot has happened this week but I thought I would fill you in anyway.

Sunday May 16
--I played frisbee golf for the first time this "season." I did okay. Not my best but it was my first time.
--Today was also my friend Tina & Dave's first anniversary. Hooray! that's awesome.


Monday May 17
--Every week I'm going to help my grandparent's around the house. This week I mowed the lawn and did some other small things. Next week will probably be about the same.


...pretty exciting week so far, right?

Tuesday May 18
--Allyse (Gerald's sister) and I drove down to draper to visit her family. Her cousin Julia graduated high school this year, so we went to congratulate her and say hi to her aunt Nancy, visiting from N.C.

--Had coffee with a friend from Intervarsity before heading up to Amy's to practice for worship this Sunday. I call our group of girls, "girl band," and man, do I love girl band!

Wednesday May 19
--Intervarsity events during the summer have kept me pretty busy since I have a lot to prepare for our little gatherings on Thursdays.
--After that I headed up to church to help out with the highway cleanup we do every year. I picked up plenty of trash and saw a dead raccoon and a deer skeleton. I am woman. Hear me roar.

Thursday May 20
--For our summer plans in intervarsity we're watching some of the Nooma videos by Rob Bell. I have seen most of them before hand (and preparing for the videos means I watch them at least 2 more times), but from what i've heard no one else in our group has seen them. It's been great to see how everyone reacts the videos, but I do have a little anxiety every week since I lead everyone through the discussion. I just want the videos/discussion to be beneficial to everyone that comes, so I put a lot of pressure on myself. Probably shouldn't do that...
--Today was Gerald's 22nd birthday! Hooray! Happy Birthday! I can't wait until next year because we can celebrate it in Utah when he's home for good! yessssss.


Friday May 21
--Tina and I have been working out 3 times a week at Weber's gym. Most of the time we just walk around the track and stretch, but at least it gets me up and out of the house.
--Headed to Holbrook's house to watch Luke and Anasten, which is what I do every Friday. Anasten is 5 and says the funniest things. Today while we were "fighting monsters," I could hear her whispering "lets get this party started" to the monster she was fighting. Smack talk! love it!

Anasten & Luke

--After that I did some more babysitting with a 5 year old named Will. Will is also a character. I call him "the world war 2 expert," because he is! They own an old black and white WW2 documentary called, Victory at Sea, and Will knows every scene! It's a bit scary...He also knows a lot about Star Wars so we have had some fun conversations about that galaxy far, far, away.

Saturday May 22
--Woke up this morning with a rash on the left side of my face. Awesome. I went to the Dr and nothing happened. Super. Gerald thinks it's an allergic reaction and not a rash, so I took some benadryl and I'm waiting to see what happens. Until then, I look like Quasimodo (minus the hunchback), or at least feel like him. Not cool.

--That night I did some more babysitting with two kids, Katie (10) and Beck (7), or as Gerald puts it, "Beck and Beck's sister." crazy Gerald. Before bedtime we read a book about sharks and found out great white sharks can have over 3,000 teeth. Katie said, "Ewww!" and Beck turned to her and said, very matter-of-factly, "Katie it's not Ewww!...It's Wow!" Kids crack me up.

Sunday May 23
--Girl band played the music at church today and it was great. It was Suzy's last sunday playing with us before she gets married and moves away in June :( it's going to suck...I don't want to talk about it.

--After that we had a bridal shower for Suzy. Food, presents, girl talk...ya know, the usual. It was great.

Also throughout the week i've been finishing up 2 Thessalonians. For my new years resolution I made a list of books of the bible that I've never read before and I'm plowing through them. Next up on the list is Acts.

So that's my week. A little more detailed than I bet you had hoped ;)
How was yours?

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

My Reappearing Friends

It's summer time!
Technically it's not summer until June. However, I am out of school which means it's summer vacation, and the buds on the trees have finally turned to leaves. Therefore--summer time!

Since it's summer it's time for a new background. Right now I'll use this one, but I might change it later on since the summer months always seem longer, and there are so many summer pics to choose from.

Today was such a beautiful day. Here's some pics for you.
The trees are finally green!

"what are you looking at?"



side note: I'm on the hunt to see my first butterfly of the season.

I can't wait to see one!

I love summer!
Mainly because I love foliage (who doesn't?!) and the greener the better! so I was so happy to see all the leaves on the trees today. It's like they finally decided to pop out and say hi.
Welcome back friends!