Vegas Baby!

We're on our way to Las Vegas for our 1 year anniversary! We leave tomorrow, stay in Vegas until the 7th, and visit friends in AZ until the 10th. It's going to be an amazing getaway! Like I said before, Jake's dream was to take me to Italy for our 1 year anniversary, but that just didn't seem to work with our finances. So, he got creative and is taking me on a "mini Italian trip" to the Venetian in Las Vegas!

We'll be staying here...

And what's an Italian getaway without a gondola ride?

And we'll be seeing these guys...

We've got tons of stuff that we want to do. Lay out and get tan, strike it rich, walk the strip, shop, eat, go out to fun places. Jake is really looking forward to the buffets. LOL I promise to take lots of pictures while we're there.

See you when we get back! xoxoxo

Crud Wars

I can't believe I get paid to do this! Ok, I have to share with you all the biggest food fight I've ever been a part of. This past Wednesday our Jr. High group had an event called Crud Wars. We had about 180 kids show up in clothes that could get ruined, and let them loose to smear each other with nasty food stuff. Here was the order for the game...

1. Water balloons - completely harmless.
2. Handfuls of flour - can you say choke?
3. Burnt oatmeal - the smell was horrendous!
4. Jello - all kinds of colors and flavors
5. Rotten eggs - they were free since they were expired. Yuck!
6. Whipped cream - sticky

I know, totally pointless activity. But so much fun! See pics below...

At the end of the game everyone was hosed down (we tried to get the fire department to do this but they declined), thoroughly inspected for cleanness :), encouraged to throw out their stinky clothes and get into clean stuff for a Pizza Party. We had a blast. I'm thinking they'll wanna do this again next year.

Nothing New To Share (with the job in AZ)

Kinda self explanatory. They're still deciding and praying (as are we). Still nothing's been offered. I feel like God is forcing me to be patient and to reflect. Is Adventure where I want to be? I'm working through all of that and at the same time trying to do my job the best that I can without checking out. I'm feeling so burnt out... it is time to get outta town. :)

If I don't post for a while it means we're on our anniversary trip in Vegas. Be back June 11th! :) Yay!

Baby Clothes & Maternity Tank

So I had another run in with an ex-friend and it got me so upset that I had to... shop. :)

But get this. Just when I thought I was an expert shopper, I went to Old Navy for their Memorial Day sale - tons of clearance racks. I got an arm full of clothes. Two trips to the dressing room. And selected my faves.

As I'm ringing up, the cashier mentions to me,

"Did you know this black tank is a maternity one?"

"Hmmm... no. Well, it fits great."

Inner voice: It must be that I'm top heavy - most tanks don't fit quite right. Small waist, big upper section... it's no secret.

I told her I still wanted it. It was only 4 bucks!

On Sunday I wanted to wear another new purchase... I picked out this super cute off-white zip up sweater with sleeves that came to my elbows (marked down from $20 to $3).

What do I notice when I take the tags off? It says "Size large" and "Long sleeve".

I had managed to buy a baby's jacket as a sweater. LOL

What is up with me?
I think I'm going to go into fashion design. JK :) I'm such a dork.

Life...

...has it's ups and downs. Something I learned from my study time yesterday.

2 Corinthians 1:9
"...in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God."

I love how everything in life (even hardship) has a purpose!

Back From AZ

Hey Friends & Fam,

I know you've all been curious and praying for us this weekend so I wanted to at least blog something about our trip to keep you updated... we are so wiped out. Not sure if I explained to you all what it's like to interview at a church, but for those of you who've been through the "gauntlet" understand what I mean. It was a non-stop weekend of being "on" for pastors, students, adult leaders, etc. from Saturday night to Tuesday afternoon. We were booked out almost every hour in interviews. I'm so tired of talking about myself and getting asked the same questions. :) And you all know us... introverts to a T, so all of this people time has drained us.

Let me start by saying... The whole weekend almost didn't happen. Saturday Amanda dropped us off at the airport. We got there an hour early. And when we approached the counter to check our bags, Jake reached in his pocket and noticed he didn't have his wallet. No I.D. to check in. He had left it at home! I didn't know what we were going to do with an hour to our flight and 35 minutes from home (where Jake's wallet was). Ugh. I could have killed him. I had to call Jim at Central and explain that we'd be missing our flights and would try and jump on the next flight so we wouldn't miss any of the meetings he had set up. It cost us $100 extra, Amanda alot of gas, and we arrived in Phoenix 3 hours later. Looking back now, it really wasn't a big deal. They weren't upset about it at all. At the moment, I was so stressed about making a good impression I reacted as if the world was going to end. We made it and everything was ok.

So how did it go?
It went great. We had such a fun time. The people there are awesome. We love what the church stands for and really line up with the ministry that they are a part of in Gilbert and Mesa. I wasn't sure about how I'd survive living in Arizona (it can be alot of farmlands and HEAT), but it actually was ok once I found the nail salons, AC, and mall! :) The youth ministry was fun - teens are the same anywhere you go. :) We made some great connections and feel like we could definitely contribute to what they were doing there for the youth. But they have not offered me a job yet. Basically this weekend was all about connecting and checking each other out. I was shopping them as much as they were shopping me.

So now... we pray. They pray. We wait on God's leading. There are still questions Jake and I are waiting on God to answer for us personally. We're in a process. Central should be calling me back within a week or so to let us know where they're at and to see where we're at after having some time away and getting to pray and evaluate where we feel God is calling us. That's it. :)

Thank you thank you thank you soooo much for your love and support... and especially your prayers. We are so blessed to have such rich friendships and an incredibly supportive family. I will keep you posted as things are revealed. Love you.

Interview in AZ

We're off to interview at Central Christian Church in Gilbert & Mesa, AZ. We'll be gone tomorrow (Sat) to Tuesday. We'll be meeting with pastors, student and adult volunteer teams, checking out programs, I'll be preaching, basically going non-stop from morning to night each day. We'd love your prayers. We'll see what happens...