Kayla's Confirmation.

This weekend was good- it was one of the only weekends in awhile that we weren't/won't be traveling, so it was nice to be home, even though it was full! I have been feeling like we have had and have full weekends for awhile, but we can't complain because it's all great things!

Friday we had our friends, Dave and Lindsay, over for dinner/games. They are the couple we colead our small group at church, so it was fun to hang out and talk about church stuff. A great time! This was also the first time we used our grill this year- grilled pork chops. :)

This weekend was my youngest sister, Kayla's, confirmation. At their church, the eighth graders go through a whole year of "confirmation" and at the end they stand up in front of the whole congregation and make their profession of faith- saying yes to Jesus. We are so proud of her! What an important decision and a great reason to celebrate! My parent's had a few friends and family over. Both sets of grandparents, my brother and sister, and my uncle were home, so it was awesome!

Here is Kayla opening some of her gifts.

Here is a beauty I captured and had to share. I think it's hilarious, because Kley loves Daisy, but it's more of a tolerating love. Daisy is very spoiled by every girl in the family and is the most girly dog. Probably ever. Daisy somehow senses Kley's true feelings, and she loves to taunt him about it. Whenever we go over, she tries to sit by him, stepping on him- as if on purpose- to find the most comfortable position. So I had to take a picture of this. :)

Me and the special girl!

Sunday morning at church- the whole gang.

My amazing family!

 Congratulations Kayla! We love you and are so proud! 

How blessed am I.

This weekend we spent most of our time in Omaha, seeing Kley's family. It was a great time. Most of the women on Kley's side make a Saturday shopping trip twice a year (since the OC malls are nonexistent :) We went up on Friday night to celebrate Elizabeth's (my sister-in-law) birthday. We went to this fun Italian restaurant and had a good time catching up. We stayed in a hotel, ordered room service in the morning, and felt like we were living in luxury. :) We went shopping on Saturday, while Kley and Brad golfed, and it was so great. My mother-in-law, Jana, is one of the most generous, selfless, and giving people I know, and spoiled me rotton. It was a great time!

The ride home was interesting. We were driving back late last night- later than we thought we would, it had been a long full day, we were both tired, and I wasn't feeling very good. We had a talk about our future in the next year. This will be a big year for us. Considering where to live, Kley graduating law school, adding a home and children sometime in the future- all wonderful things. We are so blessed with the bright future ahead of us.

But at the same time, it's scary. Unknown is scary. Change is scary. I don't adapt to change well- it takes a lot of time for me. It's overwhelming to think of all the change that will/could happen in the next year. Good things, but still scary because these are major life decisions.

We had a great talk, but after I started thinking, and my mind wandered into worry and anxiousness. We started to talk about our schedule for the morning of the timing of things/church events, and I freaked out about doing a load of laundry- what time I would do it at and whether I would get it done or not. I allowed my anxiousness about the looming future and our previous talk to spew out at Kley in trivial anger.

Kley was so gracious to me. He calmly asked me to stop being angry and shutting down, and to talk about what was really bothering me. He offered to do the laundry on Monday while I was at work.  That little act of kindness broke me, that he would be offering to lighten my burdens even in the midst of me acting like a total pain, and I started sobbing and told him everything.

I apologized for being so angry and taking it out on him for something so trivial. Who looses it over what time they are going to do their laundry the next day? (Me, I guess). Kley forgave me, let me let it all out, and told me that's what he wanted all along- just to let it out and talk to him.

Thank you, God, for perspective. For hope. For a bright future. For being with me all along the way.

I am so grateful for my family- mine and Kley's. We are truly grateful to have such supporting, loving, and encouraging families.

I am grateful for my husband- that he will love me when when I don't deserve it, comfort me when I cry, not react in anger back at me, and simply just love me all the time.

I am grateful for our bright future. No matter what happens, that we are in this together and that Christ is leading us.

How blessed am I.

Hilarious.

I thought this was so funny, I cried laughing. 

Enjoy. :)

Thankful for my job.

Last Thursday (our Easter celebration at school) was rough. I was so pumped for it, because celebrating holidays with little ones is so great! We finished opening our resurrection eggs, which was great to open the last empty one! (For those of you who don't know what those are, it's basically 12 eggs with a small picture/verse inside that tells the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. This was my first year trying it, and I liked it. Even though some of the concepts are above a two-year-olds' comprehension, you can still make it work by simplifying it and explaining it how it works for your kids.) We also had an Easter egg hunt and celebrated my coworkers' birthday with cookies and singing! Candy overload. Unfortunately, these fun activities were interspersed with naughty behaviors, grumpiness, and tantrums, which made the activities not-so-fun. It was an off day for my class, which made the day more difficult.

But...having a three day weekend was awesome, for me and the kids! A break was needed. Today was a redemptive day after last Thursday. The kids came back refreshed and everyone was back to their sweet, happy selves.

Today was a day where I truly enjoyed my job and interacting with the kids. It's so great to have a day where everyone is being good, playing together and laughing. I felt overwhelmed with love for my kids today (not that I don't on the bad days too, it's just a different feeling!). I am so excited to be a mom. I'm not an official parent, but I feel like one because I love my kids at school so much. I am truly blessed to be able to do what I love (be with kids), do it along-side wonderful Christian coworkers, and be active and never bored at work!

I was also blessed by a meeting today that went better than I thought it would, and an unexpectedly wonderful conversation with my boss after.

All in all it was a great day. I am so thankful for my job and I am so thankful that I love it.

Happy Monday!

Easter Weekend 2013!

Happy Easter! We had a great time celebrating this weekend. My brother and sister were both home from college, and my best friend Stephanie was home from DC! It was so great to see everyone!

I had Good Friday off from work, which was really nice, so our weekend started on Thursday night! Kley and I watched Despicable Me and ordered Olive Garden takeout. It was so cute. Agnes was my favorite. The minions were pretty funny too. :)

Friday we hung out with my family and watched Unconditional. (Most of my family originally thought it would be bad and didn't really want to watch, but it was so good! You should watch it- it's the newest Christian movie from Provident Films that just came out on video. They are the same people who made Fireproof and Courageous.) Then we went to church, and went to Godfather's Pizza after with the Groens! They are family friends of ours from way back before I was even born. (Steph is in that family, for those who don't know.) It was great!

Me, Steph, and Kayla at Godfather's.

The whole gang.

Kley and I.

Some lovely shots. My brother, Keaton, his girlfriend, Rose, and Kley.

My mom and dad. (Kayla had taken my camera for those beauties.)

Saturday we hung out with my family again, ate a great supper, and played games, but I have no pics to prove it. We played The Game of Things, and if you don't have it, buy it! It's so hilarious. It's like Apples to Apples, but you write your own cards.

Easter Sunday! We went to church with my family, and then my parent's hosted the celebration at their house with a bunch of church friends. It was so great to see everyone again and celebrate that Jesus is risen! (My dad was taking this picture, and the camera strap blew in the way. Bummer. I cropped it on my computer, but when I uploaded it, it took the original image.) All of my great siblings (and Kley and Rose!)

Kley and I!

Sister love. :)

Steph and I!

Easter egg hunt! Even though we don't have any young kids in the bunch, we still have a hunt. This year, anyone under 30 could participate. Yay!

My candy collection. 

 Kley and I's Easter baskets. Yes, we are 25 and 24, but my mom still gives us Easter baskets. We aren't complaining! Thanks, Mom!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Struggling.

The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I love this verse. It is a great reminder to read at all times- whether on the mountaintop or down in the valley.

I know a lot of people that are down in the valley this week, so I have been praying this verse for others a lot recently. There is a lot of pain out there- personal issues, death, sickness, disappointment, fear, etc.

I am thankful that we serve a BIG and GREAT God, who intimately knows what we are going through and will give us the strength to endure it. It doesn't seem momentary when we are in the middle of a trial, but I'm thankful our earthly trials are but momentary compared to the vast eternity spent up in Heaven! No issues. No death. No sickness. No fear. No disappointment.

That is a beautiful beautiful thing.

That's what happens.

Sometimes Kley and I joke about the "that's what happens" game. I told him awhile ago that's a common phrase I use at school, and it's been a joke to us ever since about those simple life lessons everyone needs to learn, but two-year-olds haven't mastered yet.

I warned you that leaning back in your chair is not safe, and then you fall over, hit your head, and cry. That's what happens. (Of course I console them first, but then have the "you didn't listen, I am trying to keep you safe" talk.)

You picked your nose and got a disgusting booger on your finger, and now you are whining for a kleenex. Well, we've talked about not picking our noses. That's what happens. (This is what my daily life is like...ha.)

You were running so fast that you couldn't stop in time, bonked your head on the wall, and now are crying. Well, do you remember the three warnings I just gave you to use your walking feet? That's what happens.

I could go on. It's a real life phrase I use at school, and a funny joke at home. You burnt the bottom layer of the food? That's what happens when you don't stir it enough. The shower drain is clogged? That's what happens when you don't take the nasty hairball out. (That is directed towards myself. Eww.) Your phone is dead? That's what happens when you don't plug it in.

Normally, it's a funny joke about things that aren't a big deal. I learned a not-so-big-of-a-deal "that's what happens" lesson at school today. We were making jello and going to make cute jello jigglers for lunch with Easter cookie cutters. On the back of the package, it says to put in one cup of boiling water, and one cup cold water. Well, I just put in really warm water. The jello never fully solidified, and we ended up sticking it in the freezer and had a really weird popsicle sort of concoction that was way too grainy.

So, for all of you out there, when jello says put in boiling water, they mean BOILING. That's what happens. (Thankfully, the kids didn't know the difference and ate it up!)

On a bigger, not so funny, note- Kley left his wallet on the plane while coming home from Florida. (At least we think so- we can't find it anywhere.) We've called Allegiant Airlines so many times, but their customer service is stinky and they never called back. After 6 voicemails. So we cancelled all our cards and are getting new.

That's what happens. The phrase can be used a lot!