July 8, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Happy 4th!

Our 4th of July festivities lasted most of the weekend.

We spent Saturday at a friend’s pool with our family.

My nephews LOVE the water. Thank goodness.

The lifeguard in me hates that he is on the stairs, but he did have a lot of fun!

My sister’s birthday is on Independence day so that’s always added fun.

I know she was happy to be back in Virginia this year

(my sister and brother-in-law just moved down from Massachusetts last month)

Sunday was spent with church family. Chris and I also headed out to a city park off the North Landing River…with Baxter in tow, of course.

He loves riding in the car.It took several tries to get a family shot where we were all sitting down!

I propped the camera on a frisbee golf ‘hole’ thing (it’s like a metal bucket with chains hanging off it)

It took me a while to figure out the ‘timing’ with the camera timer…I got a lot of shots of my rear as I sprinted back to the bench.

It takes a lot of skill, really, to get back into the shot and look all ‘natural’.

On Monday, our beach + fireworks adventure got rained out

(which you already knew if you live anywhere in eastern Virginia/North Carolina…that storm was a doozie).

Plus I forgot my camera – wop wop. There were too many other things to remember as we were heading out the door….but I was disappointed because beach trips always make for good photography.

June 29, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Stepping out of the boat!

So, I’m not quite sure how this happened (as is typical when God gets involved in my life) but I’m going on a missions trip. I have never been. This will be a first. It is interesting to look back on the past few years and see how God gently guided/nudged/prodded/shoved (all of them fit, actually) me through the treacherous course that is ‘life’ to the place I stand now. Chris and I have both grown a lot in our faith over the past few years, and it really has been none of our own doing. A lot of it has been the amazing small group that God has given us in our church. We love those people and through interactions and learning with them and from them Chris and I have definitely grown closer together and much closer to God.

Below is a ‘snippet’ from the letter that we are sending out to family and friends, just to give you a synopsis of what the ‘plan’ is for our trip.

‘On August 12th Ashley and I will be heading to Ensenada, Mexico for seven days with 12 other people from our church family and small group. We will be hosted by an organization called YUGO ministries (Youth Unlimited Gospel Outreach). While in Ensenada we will build a home for a family who is in desperate need for adequate shelter and our prayer is that in working alongside this family we will also have the opportunity to share God’s love and faithfulness with them through our actions and conversations.

Ashley and I have both been praying about this trip and, as this is a ‘first missions trip’ for both of us, have felt a strong urge to be obedient to Christ’s command to us in Mark 16: “Go and bring the good news to all of creation”. We know that God has plans to use us in powerful ways that we cannot even fathom at the moment. We thank you so much for already supporting us in our everyday lives…’

Basically, I believe that I have not been very obedient to God’s command in the past in regards to sharing my faith and caring for those who need it, widows and orphans. This is my first step in changing that. I had previously turned a blind eye to the need, so that I could continue to live in my naive world. If I can’t see the problems then they don’t exist. Well, they do exist, and at some point in everyone’s life they will be judged for what they have done…or have not done.

It was difficult to write the letter (which I don’t know if you could tell was written by me, even though I weirdly referred to myself in the third person as if Chris wrote it. I decided to write the letter from Chris’ perspective (with his permission and approval, of course), seeing as he’s the man and the head of the household and such.

Below is a video that will give you a more detailed look at the type of family we will be helping, their needs, and what we will be doing. (ps: I’ve never embedded a video into a blog post before….so sorry if it doesn’t work. I’ll try to post it again later if that is the case).

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=22454344&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

Rice Short Documentary from EOC Yugo on Vimeo.

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’.

– Matthew 25:40

June 14, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Baxter learns to swim

Memorial day weekend we went to a good friend’s house to hang out and swim in their pool. They have a little Maltese, Buster, who is basically Baxter’s best friend (aside from Chris – he is always at Chris’ heels). Anyway, we get Buster and Baxter together for a little play-date whenever we can.

Baxter is an instigator and rarely gives Buster a break while we are over there. During one of their ten-thousand laps around the pool Buster seemed to zig right while Baxter, who was doing the chasing, zigged left…straight into the pool. He tried his hardest to come to a halt before he went over the edge, but it was futile and he plunged in head first. I screamed and ran over, almost jumping in to save him (with my camera around my neck).

Then I remembered he’s a dog. and that he can swim. crisis averted.

As it turns out, he’s a pro swimmer.

Sort of looks like an otter when he’s wet though.

My little otterdog.

Chris thought he might like a frolic in the little boat as well.

He endured the boat ride for .3 seconds, then did an otterdog dive back into the water.

Good dog.

May 21, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Birthday Schmirthday

So my birthday snuck up on me this year. I guess after 26 of them, they begin to become not so special. For some reason this one made me a little panicky.

Now, I’m sure a billion of you out there (I have a billion followers, right?) are rolling your eyes at me right now, but this is my blog so I can vent if I want to. and it’s my birthday, so I can cry if I want to, as well.

I liked 25. It still felt ‘young’. I think that has to do with the fact that I was still a ‘college’ student. In graduate school there was no husband, no mortgage, no career…but I didn’t feel rushed and things really didn’t feel much different from any of my other 20’s years.

Then 26 came along. I’m not sure why but ‘almost 30, almost 30, almost 30’ was streaming through my head the entire week. What?! How did that happen? I swear I was just 21 last year?! I blame it on the eternity of schooling that I subjected myself to. Maybe it was the fact that a whole plethora of ‘life-changing’ events took place between 25 and 26? I graduated with my masters, started my career as a speech therapist, planned and executed an almost completely DIY wedding (with the aid of awesome family and friends), bought a house, and moved….all within 6 months.

The day of my birthday, I’ll be honest, I was bummed. My perspective on that day was that the only thing I had really accomplished in life at that point was completing 20 years of school. Yowza. But even now, just listing the big events that happened last year, I know I have accomplished way more than just 20 years of school.

Sometimes I feel like God probably laughs at my narrow minded, ‘blinders-on’ way of looking at things with my simple ‘human’ perspective, and He is probably saddened when my worrying begins to consume me and my plans for myself interfere with His plans for me.

How could I ever think that my plans are or could ever be more perfect and awesome than God’s plans for me?

silly.

I thought I had familiarized myself all of the ‘anit-worrying’ verses in the bible (can you tell this is an issue I typically face?), but a little while ago I came across this one in Jeremiah. God said:

“Cursed is the strong one
   who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
   and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
   out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
   in a land where nothing grows.

But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
   and the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
   putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
   never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
   bearing fresh fruit every season”.

– Jeremiah 17:5-8 –

Wow. I feel like that was absolutely written for me. How silly are we to think that we can do things, and hope to do even greater things, on our own and without God. All we have is from God. All we are is from God. My worrying is pointless, though I don’t think God ignores my worries. God does care about them, but what my hopes are for my future pale in comparison to what God can provide me with. Instead of trying to make it on ‘muscle alone…’ by setting “…God aside as a dead weight…’, why not trust him?! Simple, no?

Whew…it felt good to get all of that out.

Now, moving on. Let’s review the birthday festivities in photos, because that’s way more fun than a bunch of words.

Chris took me to get sushi the day before my birthday because I was craving it…and also we both had rough days at work so felt that somehow we deserved uncooked sea creatures.

I’m not sure what face I’m making here…I don’t remember tasting anything bad. Maybe this is a ‘please don’t take that picture’ face? not sure.

Then we went to dinner with a few friends. Again, we had sushi. I don’t know if it is unhealthy to have it 2x in a week, but I figure some people in other countries eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of their life….so it can’t be too detrimental.

Chris tried to get a photo of my friend Kari (1st time sushi adventurer) and myself…and, as you can see below, he will never again be the one asked to take the pictures.

finally, a sort-of acceptable one…except the lighting in the restaurant was very dim and…um, red-ish.

Some sweet girls from a small group that I help lead made me these amazing cupcakes.

My mom hosted a birthday dinner at she and my dad’s house on Saturday. It turned into a birthday/mother’s day celebration combined because Chris and I had a ministry event schedule for mother’s day (sorry mom, that was not my plan at all!). I tried to contribute, but my mom wouldn’t let me do much. She went out of her way to make it very special and it really helped me come out of my funk. I felt very loved, especially considering the fact that my mom recently underwent a life-altering surgery less than a month prior.