Weekend recap.

This weekend was quick and long at the same time. It was quick in the fact that we did a lot, and weekends go fast. It also felt long in that we traveled and were at home, which doesn't happen often. Usually we are one or the other.

Friday night we ate B'Bops with my family before heading to OC to watch my sister's volleyball game. My dad came with us, but my other sister had a tournament here, so my mom and sister stayed home. We got there around 10:30, and headed to the last quarter of Kley's cousin Pieter's football game (it had gotten delayed for bad weather, so it was still going that late). Then we went to Kley's parents new rental! It was so strange. They moved out of their house last week and are in a rental until April, when their new condo will be finished. We hung out there Saturday morning, visited Pumpkinland (a favorite- got tons of fall goodies for school!), went to Karlie's volleyball game (which was an exciting 5 games and they won!), ate dinner at Pizza Ranch (classic), and then headed home and arrived back at 10:30 again. We were gone for exactly 24 hours, including about 8 hours of travel, so it was very quick, but good! I'm really glad we were able to go.

Sunday we went to Church and hung out at home, which was so nice. I worked a lot on conference stuff, cleaned, got groceries, and caught up on Parenthood and Grey's. At 6, Kley had to start taking the gross meds for his colonoscopy today.

This morning Kley had his 5 year routine colonoscopy (he has a condition called ulcerative colitis). This was my first experience with him, and I was more scared than he was. He wasn't happy about not eating and spending so much time in the bathroom, but Kley is one of the most easy-going, positive people I have ever met. He rarely complains.

Now we are home and Kley is sleeping. I traded days off this week (remember my job does four 10 hour days?), so that was nice that I got to be home with him today. He went in and out of it when he officially woke up. He didn't say anything too extreme or funny, he mostly just kept falling asleep in the middle of conversations. He said it went well, he felt good, he felt disoriented, he felt his thoughts were so scattered, he dreamed about a grandpa bringing him a cracker, the nurses were really nice, and him and his doctor were bros. Ha. :)

Unfortunately, he threw up in the car on the way home, so hopefully when he wakes up he will be feeling more himself!

Happy Monday!

(Also, I worked hard during his colonoscopy on conference stuff again, and am very proud to report that I AM READY! Yay! Feels good to have such a big task prepared for.)

Beautiful.

In high school during our senior year, we had to write a huge research paper about a topic of our choice. It had to be 5,000 words, which as a senior, felt enormous. I believe I remember citing 17 sources. It was my first experience with using MLA format. Yippee.

I wrote about the standard of worldly beauty verses the Bible standard of beauty. Boy, are they different. I wrote, and learned a ton, about the different things people do/use to attempt to be and feel beautiful- make up, laxatives, botox, eating disorders, facial creams, liposuction, dieting, weight loss surgery, etc.

There are way too many girls in the world who don't feel beautiful. Notice I said FEEL beautiful, not ARE beautiful. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Not only do they not feel beautiful, but struggle with low self-esteem, an eating disorder, are excessively made fun of/bullied at school, or are suicidal. That's absolutely heartbreaking.

Psalm 139:13-16 (I encourage you to read the whole chapter here.)

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

I hope all you girls and women out there can rest in those verses above. Before you were ever even conceived, He knew exactly how you would be wired and exactly how you would look. The Creator of the universe also created you. You were created on purpose. God chose your physical features on purpose and made your body just as He wanted it to be. You are created by the Father.

Thus, you are beautiful. Genesis 1:27 says that God created man and woman out of His image. You were created in the image of God!

It upsets me how much girls struggle with comparing themselves with others, myself included, especially on Facebook. That girl is gorgeous. She looks good all the time. How does she do her hair like that? She is skinnier than me. I wish I could look like her. All the boys seem to like her. I wish I could be like her. I wish I could look like her. I wish I could be her.

Girls comment on their friends' pages all the time: "Stop being so gorgeous all the time! Not all girls can be as beautiful as you! Share some of your beauty with others!" It's fine to have gorgeous friends. That's great. But, don't ever forget that you are gorgeous too.

These thoughts flood some girls heads. I am thankful that I do not struggle with an eating disorder, I was/am not made fun of for how I look, and I feel like I have a good self-esteem. But, I know girls who have a serious problem with this, and I pray that they can find peace in how GOD views them.

Because who sets the standard for worldly beauty anyways? The world's standard for beauty is not attainable. Don't compare yourself to what you see on TV and magazines. Their pictures aren't even real anyway. Who in real life has a hair and make up team, outfit consultants, a professional photographer, and then computer systems to digitally change anything they want about the picture?

Very few people. And how do you think these models look when those people aren't around and they are on their period and have just woken up in the morning? Just like us girls who aren't models.

There is something to be said about presenting yourself well, but with healthy limits. It's okay to wear make up, just not too much. It's okay to exercise, just set healthy limits. It's okay to diet, just make sure it's very safe and good for your body, and you lose weight at a healthy rate that is appropriate for your body type.

If someone makes fun of the way you look, they aren't your real friend and you shouldn't be friends with them anyway. If a man doesn't ask you out because he doesn't find you "attractive enough," then he's not worth your time anyway and he just missed something special.

I could go on, but I hope and pray that all women out there, especially young girls, will feel beautiful today and everyday. Trust the opinion of the One who made you. He finds you beautiful because you are His. He created you out of His love.

And His opinion is the only one that truly matters in the end.

You are beautiful.

Back to the old stomping grounds.

This weekend we went to Minneapolis, just for fun to visit friends. It was a great trip and we got to see lots of people! We didn't get there until late Friday night, so it didn't really start until Saturday. 

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Dan and Kaitlyn, who Kley went to high school with. Then we headed back to Bethel to visit my brother. In the afternoon we hung out with David and Jacquie (Kley's old roommate), who we were staying with. Saturday night we went to Erik's apartment (another of Kley's roommates) who had a bunch of people over. It was a great time and we got to see lots of old Bethel friends! 

This morning we hung out at David and Jacquie's place, ate breakfast/talked. 

It was a great weekend! Below are some pictures from the ice cream shop we visited on Saturday.

Unstoppable.

On Tuesday, Kley and I went to the showing of Unstoppable. It's the new movie Kirk Cameron made. Heard of him? He was on the show Growing Pains when he was younger, and now travels around speaking about Christ and is involved in making Christian movies. (He was in Fireproof- a very good movie.) He also runs Camp Firefly, where terminally ill children and their families can have an expenses paid retreat. Another fun fact- his sister, Candace Cameron, was DJ on Full House!

Anyways, Unstoppable deals with the question, "Where is God in the midst of tragedy and suffering?" This is a huge question- this question causes many people to be atheists. It's a very hard concept to understand, but the movie was done incredibly well and he did a good job answering it, I think.

The beginning of the movie deals with the early Biblical accounts- Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah's ark. It was so neat to see him weave Biblical stories into this, because there was a lot of pain and suffering throughout the whole Bible.

The second half talked about his friend that died of cancer. He ended the movie with talking about Jesus on the cross. Where is God in our suffering? He's right there. We may never know why something happened on this earth, but He does. His plan is perfect. He is still loving and always was and always will be, even if it may not seem like it in the midst of your pain.

Why? Because God watched His own Son die the worst death on the cross and suffer the worst pain, all for us.

Our earthly pain is all worth it and endurable in light of eternity.

(They added another showing- October 3. You should all buy tickets and go see it. Here is the link to learn more about it.)

Pumpkin Patch.

This morning our small group went to Patch's Pumpkin Farm in Adel. It was a really good one, and it was a beautiful day! It was really fun!

When you entered they had a bunch of animals.

Duck races.

There were two rounds and a championship round, and Kley won it all. Way to go, baby! What an honor. :)

The best sensory tub ever! Wish I could have that on our playground at school!

Inflatables. We had timed races through this caterpillar. Kley and I unfortunately didn't do so well.

Tractor ride.

Corn maze! 

Kley left me behind in an attempt to win, and I finished before him. Ha.

Kley and I.

The whole gang- Mike and Brittany, Matt and Kate, Dave and Lindsay, and Brian and Nicole (with Brayden!).

Pumpkin patch. I got a medium orange one and a small white one, and it was only $3! I was excited.

Now our apartment is ready for fall. 

It was a great morning/afternoon! If you don't have a pumpkin patch visit on your fall list, it should be added. Happy Saturday!

Happy birthday Kayla!

This post is picture overload, but it's super fun to look through all my old albums on birthdays. Today is my youngest sister Kayla's 15th birthday! Happy birthday Kayla! We are 10 years apart, and according to her, my life didn't really start until the day she was born. In a sense, she's kind of right. Ever since Kayla has been born, my life has drastically improved. :)

Just born. 

Buds even as a baby.

Kayla was drug around to EVERYTHING when she was growing up. She attended pretty much every event of all three of her older siblings. What a trooper. (This was at my DARE graduation! Who else had that at their school?)

Playing Pretty Pretty Princess. If you don't know what that is, you need to play it. No matter how old you are. The object is to get all the jewelry pieces first.

One of the many times Kayla poked her head in my room in the basement just to see what's up. :) Usually I liked it, but sometimes I was annoyed. If I could take all those annoyed moments back, I would. Kayla, you can pop over anytime.

Some of my favorites coming up. Here we are on vacation in St. Maarten. 

This one is probably my favorite. Kayla thought she was so funny and cool. Ha.

Michigan trip.

Cancun.

The time Kayla came with me to OC during the summer to visit Kley. We were at the 4th of July fireworks.

Cancun again. 

Home (I don't actually remember what occasion this was for. Maybe nothing!)

  

My college graduation.

Another lovely trip Kayla joined Kley and I on- the pumpkin patch.

Disney.

Kayla, you are funny, sweet, kind, loyal, sarcastic, determined, loving, and so much more. You love the Lord, which is most important. I love that you always came into my room- either just barged right in or tried to be sneaky. Either way, I knew you were coming. I didn't love it at the time, but looking back, I love that you always tried to read my texts/journals. You wanted to be around me and know everything I was doing. I hope you still feel that way. I do about you.

When I started dating Kley, you were upset because he was taking me away, but as soon as he came over and did the fist pump dance to "Bet On It" from High School Musical, you were hooked. You never let us sit by each other, "because we could sit by each other all the time at school," you had to be in the middle. I won't not describe affectionate as one of your top qualities, but when I came home from college, you would hug me randomly a lot. You were the first one to know Kley was going to propose, and kept it a secret for a long time.

I remember when you fell off the chair and broke your arm, and mom made me call dad to come home from the grocery store. I got a C on my science test the next day because I was too worried to study. I remember you bobbing for apples in our old basement during one of the "game days" I made up. I remember playing ancient Mario Kart together. I remember painting your nails. I remember your dance classes. I remember running through the sprinkler in the backyard.

Today, I'm so glad we get to come over and see you more while we are living in Des Moines. In the words of one of the classic Lindsay Lohan movies, Life Size, that we used to watch together, "Shine bright, shine far, don't be shy, be a star. Where you live, where you are, be a star."

Ha. Kayla, as much as we laugh at that song, it's true- you're a star. :)

The ups and downs.

God always has a way of working the ups and downs together. Doesn't it seem like really low moments and really high moments are close together?

At least it does for me. Especially with me job. This week was that week- especially Thursday and Friday.

We have conferences coming up, and I have been working super hard to get ready for them, including working a lot at home. I struggle with being a perfectionist and worrying about what other people think of me, so conferences are hard. I want what I present to be perfect and wonderful. I want all parents to be happy with me and think that I do a great job. But, that can't always happen, and usually doesn't. I'm not a perfect person, and my kids at school clearly aren't perfect either, so there's no way conferences can be perfect! It makes logical sense, but emotionally I still struggle with perfection.

Also, while preparing for conferences this week, I found out multiple times that different people I know are pregnant. My dream is to be a stay-at-home mom. It was like an extra prick from Satan to try to get me upset. I'm working hard for conferences while I watch other people attain my dream.

But, I need contentment. That's not where we are yet, and that's okay. Our day will come for that and it will be beautiful in its time.

Thursday and Friday were coupled with mornings of disobedience and afternoons of enjoyment. Thank you, God, for turning them around.

I told my kids yesterday that they were making me feel frustrated. After a long morning, at lunch there were three forks on the ground. After talking about it, guess what happened 15 seconds later? Another fork on the ground. I felt very frustrated, like I was speaking and no one was listening or following what I said.

God calmed my heart, and it was good. I think it's important to talk about my emotions sometimes, so the kids realize that I am human too and I have feelings. Sometimes kids think adults are robots and they forget/don't understand that we have feelings. I didn't yell, but I told them I wish they would do a better job listening and that disobedience can be frustrating.

Thursday afternoon we had a bad storm here. It got bad really quickly, and started blowing and raining really hard. The sirens went off, and we were in the hallway, ducked down for about 20 minutes. I was so proud of my kids and thankful that God was definitely with us. There's just an innate sense when that happens of calmness, when you think it would be opposite. Everyone listened, laid down, and was still and quiet the entire time.

Friday afternoon we had a great time running around outside together. It was a beautiful afternoon, it was Friday, all the kids were happy and smiling- it was a great moment.

All in all, through the ups and downs, I still think I have the best job.