A Rambling Post

There's been a lot going on in life..and when that happens, there's not a lot of blogging.

Since I've been home this has been my week:

- back to work

- finishing invitations

- food poisoning

- eye infections

- apartment searching

- crafting (while unable to move in bed from said food poisoning)

- camp reunion

- meetings

But I miss my little place on the internet.  I'm working on some fun stuff coming up and am exciting to link up with katy and kim for their patriotic July 4th linky party!

Today, Seth and I are headed down to Gilroy where our new life will be in two months. That's just crazy to even think about! I'm so excited for what our future holds!

We will be visiting his school, looking around at the neighborhoods at some apartments that are up for rent, and maybe some outlet shopping. But don't tell Seth that last bit ;)

I promise to be back soon. Cross my heart.

Until then, here are some fun images of my weekend in Wisconsin.

My Daddy and I before the wedding!

Some of the cousins

My Mom and one of her sisters. Don't they look so much alike?!

The bride and groom!


My mom, the bride, her sisters and her brother!

The four Dowse sisters.


See you soon!
xox

Almost home.

Month of insanity is almost over.

Last night I got home from camp and I am currently avoiding packing for Wisconsin this afternoon. 

Camp was so many awesome things. It was wild, fun, a tad dangerous, critter-full, and messy. Yesterday afternoon I was sad to leave, this feeling I did NOT think I would have. As their leader, I was beyond exhausted and burnt out on junior highers but my heart sank as I walked away.

Heres a few favorites from the week:

God answered prayers this week, of this I am sure. 

The neat thing was, almost all of my girls believed in Jesus and knew the basics so all week long they begged for more information. They wanted to sing more songs about Jesus, they were writing poems about Him in their free time, they were asking deep questions -- they were blowing my expectations out of the water.

Thank you for praying. Thank you SO much. I am confident that God is working in each of their lives in His own special way and timing.

I'll be back Sunday...finally. Can't wait to go through my almost 300 unread blog posts!

Pray for Young Life & Pray for Sanity

Tomorrow I'm taking a bunch of junior high kiddos to camp in San Diego.

12 hours away.

Did I mention they're in junior high?

Would you pray for that?

You see, I've been involved with Young Life ministries on and off for the past 5 years.  Seth and I met as leaders so it holds a dear place in my heart. 

June 2008: we had gone on a few dates, and could barely stay separated while we were at camp!

About a year ago, I felt called to volunteer again as I was entering Seminary and figuring out what ministry I was supposed to be involved in.  I know that junior high is a tough age, but kids are so fragile at this point in their lives and someone needs to be there to mentor and believe in them. 

When my Area Director became prego, a lot of the responsibility got handed over to me -- which was daunting and super exciting all at once. So here I am, leaving for camp tomorrow at 5:45am on a bus full of junior highers and a mug filled with coffee. 

Young Life always promises it to be the best week of your life (if you're a kid). And if you're a leader...well you're in for a wild ride. I tend to get burnt out quickly, so would you mind praying for me and my team this week?

Pray for energy. Pray for strength. Pray for courage to CHASE after our kids as JESUS chased after us. Pray for a drama free week (for my girls in particular). Pray for safety. Pray for open hearts and ears. Pray that these kids would meet Jesus. Pray for my heart, that I would not be discouraged by the craziness. Pray for the junior leaders, for some of them this is their first time leading kids at camp. 

Pray for sanity and pray for rest. I think I will need extra doses of both. 

See you soon.

A Place to Land

Last month I told you how Seth and I's plans to move to Sacramento had fallen through.

We had been planning for almost a year to move there. We were both excited about living in a new place, close to Tahoe, close to fun activities, close to friends...and then it all vanished right before our eyes. The thing about trusting God, is that He always has what's best in mind, so we prayed and sought out the next step which has lead us to Gilroy.

You wouldn't believe the looks we get when we say Gilroy. I try and soften the blow with Morgan Hill -- but still, people try and convince me that its the armpit of California, and to be honest, I know it is.

The thing about following a dream, is that you don't always get to pick and choose where you end up -- and sometimes you have to end up in the armpit. That's straight wisdom, y'all.

Sometimes you have to go to the last place you thought you'd end up. Sometimes you have to live in a 400ft cottage instead of a 2 bedroom apartment. I certainly didn't think that as newlyweds we'd live a glamorous lifestyle anyways. 

But when we started praying about this direction last month, instead of just assuming that God was going along with our grand plan, there was peace and relief knowing that in His timing there would be an answer.  We I were patient and waited on the Lord, and He provided in our chaos and confusion. It took SO much strength for me to not go crazy researching schools apartments and jobs within minutes of finding out about Sacramento. It took even more strength for me to try and NOT control the situation, I am really good and wanting control -- trust me, I'm workin' on it folks.

And as of today we found a school, and as of today he is registered. HALLELUJAH!

We are moving to Morgan Hill/Hollister/Gilroy area. Please don't judge and tell me it's ghetto.

I'm pretty sure we can handle ghetto. We know it's not forever. And let's look at the bright side:

Seth will be close to the dirt-biking trails -- which means he will make me learn, which means he will be endlessly happy. Endlessly happy sounds pretty nice.

It turns out that trusting God with your big decisions in life is a pretty good idea, if you didn't already know that. 

And now my dreams of nesting, decorating, and house-making can really begin.

Hello Monday: Surprise!

Last week I told you I had a secret...a secret I could barely keep myself from jumping for joy about. Well it was a surprise for Ashley, my good friend in Seattle, for her graduation.

Mel and I have been scheming on the best plan for the surprise, but honestly, any way to show Ash that I flew up from California was going to be epic.

You see, Ashley is known for her loud and bubbly personality. I could hear her and Melissa from outside of our apartment laughing their heads off on numerous occasions. We knew whatever her reaction was, that it was going to be GOOD. Loud, teary, maybe some pee.

There was definitely all three.

I flew into Portland on Thursday night where Mel lives, spent the night with her and stayed a few hours in the morning until we drove up to Seattle. We checked into our hotel, and rushed to eat dinner because we both couldn't wait for the surprise. We tried to wait until later when it would be less busy, but it was a 45 minute wait when we got to her bar -- oops. 

Mel and I ambushed Ash at her work, this swanky little lounge bar that happened to be PACKED on Friday night. We didn't care though, our hearts were beating out of our chests with excitement and we couldn't wait to see her. It had been almost 9 months since we'd all been together. 

She was super busy so we secretly followed her to a place where she didn't have drinks on her hands, and just stared creepily at her until she noticed us. It was so hard for me to keep composed at this point. I was a mess of tears, excitement, and joy! What happened next was a lot of shaking, screaming, hugs, and laughs -- just how we imagined it. 

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up, laughing, being ridiculous, and celebrating -- it was wonderful.

Now, lets say hello to all of my favorite moments.

Hello excitement. We were running out of energy trying to contain you.

Hello goofy girls. We had some time to kill, obviously.

Hello smart marketing. 

Hello SPU grads!

Hello cute family.

Hello favorite picture.

Hello lovely graduate, you're the greatest.

Hello freshman roomie! I miss your face all the time.

Hello ladies!

Hello crazy best friends. My life wouldn't be complete without you.

 Hello cutie. You are precious.

Hello Mazitlan Mexican dinner, you were delicious.

Hello champagne, thanks for being a great drink for celebrating.

Hello party time. You were fantastic, even though I only got 2 hours of sleep!

Hello craziest two weeks of life. I'm not ready for you yet.

Linking up with Lisa Leanord!

Insta Friday

I am saying hello to insta-friday because it has been SO long and I have a million pictures to post. 

Here's the past few months of life in a nut shell:

Hello childhood memories.

Hello nightmares after "Paranormal Activity 3". Hello sweet fiance trying to humor me out of my nerves.

Hello mini golf at twilight, you make for sweet dates with my hubs. 

Hello crazy mini golf course. You make me look more sucky than usual.

Hello Mother's Day. 

Hello adorable mug from Starbucks. I wish I still had the awesome discount!

Hello goofy t-shirt. Seth's humor is rubbing off on me, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

Hello roughest week of the year. Thank you Jesus for better times to come. 

Hello new phone cover, you are awfully cute. 

Hello sweet friend. I love you, and our hikes, and snakes. 

Hello closet of doom. I'm sure glad you are clean again. 

Hello car door. You certainly are sharp. 

Hello Giants. We enjoyed you for a few innings, and then we got tired. 

Hello friends, it sure is great to have you back in town. 

Hello motorcyle man, thanks for not dying. 

Hello GG bridge, I like you..but not your toll. 

Hello love, Happy Birthday!

Hello bffl, you sure are beautiful!

Hello again, I love happy hour and taco tuesday with you. 

Hello Benson, largest dog in the universe. I am still overwhelmed by your presence. 

Hello mustache of doom. I'm glad you are gone. 

Hello Foster City art and wine festival. 

Hello Hannah and Hayden. You both are amazing. 

Hello Dollar Store, you are strange. 

Hello 5:30am, I only see you once a week but you are spectacular. 

Hello 14 miles. 

PHEW.

Note to self: Insta-Friday should happen once a week, not once every 3 months.

Happy Weekend, Friends!!