Let's Try This Again!

So, I've really been missing blogging lately, and am determined to get back at it! I am going to take more pictures of fun things, and write more often!

It's my favorite time of the year ----CHRISTMAS TIME! I've been listening to Christmas music since about 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving. I love Christmas music... it makes me happy and warm and fuzzy! Great feelings! So many memories accompany Christmas! One of my favorite Christmas memories from last Christmas was going to the nursing home that my Grandpa Adams spent his last couple of years of life in. My whole family went and sang to the residents and nurses there and passed out Christmas cards to them! It was a really neat time!

Here are my mom, dad, and uncle singing.
One of the residents joined us! 

We took a family picture in front of the nursing home's tree
after we sang! 

This Christmas season so far has been full of Christmas parties, baking, friends, and other festivities! It's been great so far! This year for Christmas my family has eight people in it...our small family of 4 has doubled with the addition of two spouses (Rob and Rachel) and two foreign exchange students that my parents are housing for the year (SeoHyun and Sara). Since there are so many, we decided to draw names for Christmas girls and then since we won't all be together, skype on Christmas day while each one opens his or her gift. This will be a fun and different Christmas for us! I'm going shopping for my person this weekend! I can't wait! 

I'm sure that more Christmas cheer posts will come soon as I LOVE Christmas! :) 

Blogging Fail

So, I am officially the worst blogger ever! I am constantly thinking of things to blog about...however I never actually blog about them. I always say I'm going to be better at keeping up a blog. I make no promises.  :)

Quick update on grad school: After my summer classes, I only have two classes left, and then need to complete my internship. I am looking for an internship right now! Crazy stuff! After that... 60 more credit hours under my belt, and a Master's in Professional Counseling. Then the decision of going on to become licensed must be made. It never ends... The internship I'm in right now is Diagnosis and Treatment...probably the most intimidating class to me. I'm a bit overwhelmed right now, but by Friday, hopefully I'll know a little more about what I am doing.

Other fun things that are going on here:

• I discovered the cutest cupcakery in Roanoke the other day; it's called Bubblecake! Love it! 
• I finally found this baseball field that is practically in my backyard...I spent months trying to figure out where the entrance to this field is, and with Rob's help (must give him credit) I (he) finally found it! Mystery solved! 
• Roanoke now has a Chipotle! That means it's only an hour drive for us, instead of the hour and a half that we drove to Charlottesville....however, Charlottesville is a cooler city. 
• I joined a water aerobics class that meets 3 times a week...with a whole bunch of adorable elderly people...I love it! They are a riot! 
• Our little tiny nineteen cent goldfish are now humongus pigfish that eat more that I do!
• Summertime would be more fun without homework. 
• WWE wrestling shows are not for me as everyone around us smelt awful!
• All I do is read textbooks. 

...and that's about it. I will try to be a better blogger this summer! :)

Oh Springtime, Where Art Thou

Last week Rob and I spent 4 lovely days in sunny Orlando, FL where it was in the 80's and was absolutely gorgeous!  We went there with our youth pastor and his wife and met another youth pastor couple that we know and all went to the Youth Pastor's Summit conference.  The conference is put on by Student Leadership University and the first day takes place in the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios (as seen below), then the next day is held at a local church where we have break-out sessions.  Along with the conference we also get free pass to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure parks. 



We had a blast there! It was so lovely and warm and so nice to have a break away from the norm here in VA.  Some of our favorite speakers were there also, like Francis Chan and Ron Luce. 

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the opportunity they gave us to prescreen a new movie by the makers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel. The new movie is called Courageous. It is about men taking a stand and being godly fathers and the leaders of their families. It was PHENOMENAL! I'm so sad that we have until September for rest of the world to see it.  I have always been skeptical of Christian movies because they are so cheesy and the acting is horrible, but I absolutely LOVE this movie! I HIGHLY recommend it! It has a wonderful balance of quality humor and heavier serious parts.  The message is great and the Gospel is presented more clearly in this movie than in any of their previous movies.  The producer and lead actor in the movie and the pastor of Sherwood Church spoke to us in the conference and spoke to us before and after the prescreening.  It was so interesting to here the "behind the scenes" of how this movie was made, and I was amazed at how they were so determined to be sure that every aspect of the movie was from God, and solely for the purpose of bringing glory to Him, not themselves or the church.  They said that the movie-making process for them takes so much longer than any hollywood movie because they spend so much time in prayer over every single decision.  I really enjoyed hearing about this movie and looooooved the movie itself! I can't wait until September! 

Anyways.... I need to go check my very first ever attempt at banana bread that is currently in the oven! I knew that keeping all those bananas in the freezer would one day result in something positive! :) 

Sunday = Funday

So, day 1 of our challenge went well.  We came home and made lunch together, which is always fun.  Then tonight we went to a concert, then got home somewhat late.  I know that normally we most likely would have grabbed something fast on the way home, since it was late, but we came home and made a quick dinner together out of leftovers from a couple of nights ago.  So, it went well! 

We went to see Jimmy Needham at the new Muse Eight-Thirty coffee house/club in downtown Lynchburg.  It was such a great concert! I really enjoy soulful music...I didn't used to, but in the last few years, I've really begun to love it! Not everything needs to be hard and fast.  I love when artists are real and genuine on the stage...and don't have an arrogant attitude that everyone is there to see them.  A number of times, he spoke about how his main purpose is to spread the gospel and exalt Christ higher through his life and work...and talked about working towards having the attitude of John the Baptist, that we should completely desire for Christ to increase, we must decrease.  That is such a foreign concept in today's narcissistic, self-focused, self-worshiping culture.  It was really a message I needed to hear.  It was a great evening....and I saw a couple friends that I haven't seen in a while, so that's always fun!

Our 2-Week Challenge

So, Rob and I eat out a lot.  Definitely too much.  Since I've been working full time, it's so much easier to stop and grab something to eat on the way home than take time to cook once we get home.  And this semester is one of our craziest as Rob has class until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursday (I go to the library and do homework from 5-6:30) and then I have zumba on those same nights at 8.  Wednesday nights, we get off work at 5 or a little after, and have to be in Bedford which is 30 minutes away by 6:30 for youth group.  Friday night we usually designate as date night. 

So, tonight Rob and I were talking about where we'd like to go out to eat for Valentine's Day (which we are actually celebrating on Saturday, the 12th).  Somehow that conversation turned into how we need to eat out less.  I then came up with a challenge for us:  We do not eat out at all until Valentine's Day.  If we fail the challenge, we eat at home for Valentine's Day and spend the money we'd normally use for dinner that night on groceries.  Rob agreed to it, and now that is our challenge for the next 2 weeks.  I am excited to try it and see how much money we save...but also know that it means I need to do more planning ahead as far as meals go so that it lessens the temptations to just grab something quick on the way home.  I think I'm going to try to use my crock pot more.  I use it every now and then...but not nearly enough.  Another strategy is to make some casseroles and then split them into gladware for lunches for the week, so that we can just grab them out of the fridge in the morning....and get some fruit and crackers for snacks.

So, I'll keep you posted on how things go! :)    

    

Wishing for Spring

I absolutely HATE to admit it, but I think the south is wearing off on me.... in this one area at least.  It has been unusually cold lately for Lynchburg, VA (meaning consistently in the 20-30's) - nowhere close to Minnesotan cold or anything, however, I am so ready for winter to be over and for spring to arrive.  The issue is that our apartment rarely gets warmer than 60 degrees (mostly around 55 degrees).  We were told that our heat pump is not made for "record breaking cold weather" (haha) and that there is nothing we can do to get our heat to work better.  On top of that...my office is consistently cold as well.  Therefore, the only times I can get warm are when I'm in the car, at the gym, or in bed under 3 comforters.  I cannot wait for it to get warmer.

Another reason that I am anxious for the arrival of spring is because springtime brings along with it lots of green and other bright colors.  I have been itching to go on a photowalk for the past couple of weeks...and I'm ready to capture some great colors of spring!  Oh warmth and sunshine...please come soon!!

Here is a lovely picture to hold me over for a couple more months.  I wish.

 

2011 Begins..

It is now 2011.  Each time I approach New Year's, I feel both sadness and excitement.  Sadness because another good year has passed, and I'll never have the same experiences ever again.  Excitement because I never know what adventure's will take place in the new year.  2010 carried a lot of new adventures.  Some of the highlights being: working at Camp Good News in MN in July, surprising my dad for his birthday in MN, moving to a new apartment which we LOVE LOVE LOVE, me working full time, Rob getting a big raise, working with our youth group, making new friends, our trip to Kansas City for Christmas, etc...

I am excited to see what 2011 will bring.  Moreso than that, I am excited to see what God will do in 2011, and am excited to be a part of His work.  I believe that some big things are going to take place in 2011...and I can't wait to see how God guides.