I will be a little MIA for the week....

Remember in June how I said we had booked a cruise? 

The day has finally come!

God's sovereignty is so cool... we booked this trip last May and picked the dates based on Steven not missing a Sunday, the price, and being able to stop at 3 ports rather than just 2.   At the time, we had no idea what my job position would be like, and certainly NO idea how much I would be NEEDING a vacation at this point!

I am so excited to spend a week relaxing with my best friend!


 

This is late, but we had such a fun weekend last week!

We surprised my mom and celebrated her 50th birthday as a family!

Tyler and Lisa flew up early Friday morning, I took a half day from work, then Steven and I picked up my parents and Austin and Kyla at the St. Louis Amtrak station.   When they got to the car, Tyler and Lisa were hiding in the back seat!

We had a great weekend together- took family pictures, went to Eckert's Apple Farm, participated in a dinner theater at Bissell Mansion, had a game night at home, went to church, then had a picnic lunch to end the trip.  I'm so glad that we were able to do this for her and celebrate the mom, woman, and friend that she is to each of us!


 

What's in Your Wallet?

I love it when people do posts about what is in their purse.

I feel like you only REALLY get to know someone, when you know what they carry with them 24/7.

In honor of that, I have decided to do a "What's in Your Purse?" post.

First are the very basics...
Wallet (from Maurice's at least 5 years ago!)
Keys ("small wallet" from MSU and nail file from Bath and Body Works)
and Coupon holder (from Dollar Spot at Target).  I put all of my coupons, gift cards, etc in here!

Next is my camera (cutie case is from Target!)
Hand sanitizer (can't leave home or go a day without it)
And sunglasses + case (from TJ Maxx)

Next is my new phone!!
And spearmint Orbit gum.

A small spiral notebook to make lists or take notes at church in when I don't have anywhere else. (From the Dollar Store)
Hand lotion
And a small monthly calendar to keep track of what we are doing when!  (from Target)

I have a million pens in my purse.  I feel like I am always needing to write something.  I love the variety of colors and that like 10 pens came in a pack for $3 at WalMart.
A very small First Aid kit.
A big black permanent marker... never know when you'll need one!

Nivea Chap Stick for when my lips are dry.
And my FAVORITE lip gloss from Bath and Body Works.

Last but not least, all of that miscellaneous stuff that piles up in the bottom.
A sparkily head band.
Change (for my Quik Trip runs)
Ear plugs.
White Nail Polish.
A hair tie
And a pair of hoop earrings.

There ya have it!

In the Morning

This was my view this morning.

 (do you like all of the post-it's left from the evening receptionist last night?  There were even more on the "credenza" behind me!)

It's possible that I'm a little biased but I do love the desk I sit at for the first half of my day.
I love getting to greet everyone as they enter or leave the building. 
I love the natural light and bright cheery colors.
I love meeting the anxious new employees getting ready for orientation on Monday mornings and giving them a reassuring smile.
I love getting deliveries from all sorts of places... but my favorites are deliveries from the florists. 
I love the access to coffee across the room.  :)
I love that some of our Residents will drop off leftovers from their breakfast, or their desserts to me when they are leaving the Main Dining Room... even if they have taken a bite out of it.  :)
I love when the alarms sound that a Resident with a "Wonderguard" enters the building, and they or their family get embarrassed, and I tell them that they are going off because a Very Important Person has entered the building and how it makes them smile.  :)
I love that I am getting more and more familiar with the 100's of visitors who enter... who their family member is, or what their job is with the facility... getting to know their routines and things about their lives.
I love feeling being able to help people find answers to their questions and feeling like I know what I'm doing.

There is one family member who went to our ice cream parlor and got a huge scoop of ice cream for my pregnant co-worker (with a brownie from a Resident), because we are not allowed to get it for ourselves.  :)

I'm exhausted.  Hopefully going to bed soon.  Good night world!

The Good News

I have good news for you today.

Steven and I got new phones last week!

We both had extremely old Blackberries... his was taped together from before we were married.

Now we have ones that can use the internet and (one of my favorite things) automatically upload the photos online!!

So the good news for you is, that my posts will now have many more pictures. Here is a run-down of our last week in pictures.

 First night I had the phone- taking "family pictures" haha.

Barkley was a BAD dog on Sunday when I woke up to find him sitting on the couch nibbling on this frame that we bought during our honeymoon!  He may have gotten yelled at plus a few spankings plus time in his kennel...

 Barkley and I messing with my phone again!

Some friends from church invited us to the Ram's game last night.  They got free tickets from his job and it was so much fun!  Club level seating and $20 in food for each of us.  Plus we beat an undefeated team!  I can never watch Football with Steven on TV, but watching it in person is much more entertaining.

As "Kansas City Folk", we do not own any Rams shirts... so Navy Blue shirts was as good as we could do.  :)


Sitting in front of us were three generations of boys... An 8(ish) year old, his dad, and his grandpa.  I really wanted to sneak a photo of them because they were so cute together.  They had painted their faces blue and yellow and dyed their hair bright blue.  Steven took their picture for them and they said that they were from California and were Rams fans sense the day they were born.  I love that they went on this trip together and are making memories together!

Today I was pleasantly surprised to see a box on my porch when I got home from work!  My not-so-secret pal had sent me a package!  I love the coasters, and the coffee cup is perfect now that the weather is getting COLD.  Plus it's dish washable!!!  Thanks Dayna!

We BUNDLED UP... (I have a total of 6 layers on) to go to the CHS Homecoming game tonight!  The car said it was 44 degrees. We only lasted until half-time but they were winning 35-7 and we were freezing!

 We made a stop at Target on our way home, and now we are home to catch up on some TV shows.

Yay Friday!!!


 

Long Time No Talk!

Well, it has been a while!

Steven and I both had a great time with our families last weekend. 

Right after work on Friday, I picked up Barkley and my suitcase.  I dropped him off to be boarded in Wentzville (and almost cried saying goodbye... he's my lil baby!) and headed to Columbia to see my mom and sister!!

I am a ding dong and didn't take any pictures of our weekend.  My mom took pictures so I just need her to upload them to Facebook then I can post them here. (hint, hint)  :)  Friday I met them at the hotel around 7:30, and we went to Cracker Barrel for a late dinner.  We got back and got in the hot tub at the hotel, then went to bed fairly early.

Saturday we woke up in time to eat the hotel's breakfast, then headed to the Callaway Farms Corn Maze. It was way big and cool!  We started out doing really well, following the map, and I really think that we could have been out of there in 45 minutes.  But they had these 8 "Check Points" and we were almost to the end and hadn't passed any, so we decided to look for one and ended up getting lost and going in circles in the process!  I think we were there for a good 2 hours.  We took naps back at the hotel, then had a late lunch at Shakespeare's Pizza in Downtown Columbia.  There was also a gun show, Rodeo, and BBQ Festival going on that weekend so it was pretty busy!  After our pizza, we went to some cool unique shops and ended our evening out by getting some of the BEST milkshakes ever at Sparky's ice cream.

Sunday, we also started off with breakfast at the hotel, then packed up our cars.  We went to the mall, Target, and Michael's, then to lunch at Steak N Shake (per Kyla)  and one last stop at this huge Antique market!

We had a great weekend and I am hoping that we make these trips an annual thing!

Steven finally made it home around 1:00 on Tuesday morning.  He had a good trip as well but I was so glad to have him home and be able to sleep and take a shower in peace (I freak myself out when I'm home alone lol).

The past week has been a busy one of work and church events.  This weekend I finally succumbed to Fall and put out my Fall decorations, scents, and soaps.  I guess Summer is officially over at the Branch house, but it looks and smells cute!

 

Bye Bye Bye

Steven left this morning to go to Kansas City for the night, and tomorrow morning he will leave with the Tuckers to visit Matt in Duluth. I am so excited to meet up with my Mom and Kyla in Columbia after work tomorrow for Girl's Weekend!

That means that this handsome guy is my date for tonight.

We had a good evening at the Dog Park and then he kept me company as I packed for the weekend and cleaned up the house.  It's nights like tonight that I'm thankful that we have a big dog to make me feel safe!

If You're Happy and You Know it...

I have had the best weekend so far! God has been so good to us.

When we first moved here, we knew that one of our hardships would be finding good Christian "couple" friends our age. Since we moved to St. Louis in May of 2011, we began praying (and I began praying fervently) for God to bring us to such friends.

Enter December, 2011.  7 months after I began praying for God to bring us friends.  Steven and I went out on a Christmas date at a Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse... one of those where you sit with 8 of your closest friends, or in our case, 8 total strangers.  They were in a group all together and then there was Steven and I.  They were nice to us but we didn't really converse much until at the end of the dinner, one of the men jokingly told the waiter to give the check "to the pastor".  Come to find out, there was a couple in that group (Steve and Cassie) that was a youth pastor and his wife!  We got to talking to them a bit and exchanged numbers.  They invited us to their home a few weeks later for dinner and games, and ever since then we have gotten together at least once a month for game night.  We love hanging out with them and exchanging stories and ideas from our youth groups.  Also it is nice to have someone to talk to who really gets what it is like to be a minister and his wife!  It's just so amazing to me how God brought us to one another at a Hibachi steak house.

While we were so grateful for our 2 friends, they live 30 minutes away and well, 2 friends really isn't all that many.  I continued to pray for God to bring us more couple-friends with a love for Jesus like we have.  In March or so, I noticed that Beth and Tyler, a couple I knew in college, were moving to Chesterfield and would be away from their family and friends like we are.  I kept tabs on them through Beth's blog and saw that we have a lot in common in our interests, ways of viewing life/relationships, and unfortunately, in our longing for the companionship that we had with our friends and family at home.  I invited them over for dinner, but they were so busy that the first time we were able to get together was last night!

We had a great night with them.  It is so nice to have friends that are in a similar spot in life right now who "get it"!  And I love that these friendships were provided for us by God and through Him working in our lives.  I hope that we are friends for many years!

I love that God cares about and provides the longings of my heart.   Yay friends!  :)

 

I Wanna Talk About Me!

I found this list on someone else's blog...

You Might Be A People Pleaser If….
1. You say Yes when you really want to say NO!
2. You don’t set boundaries.
3. You change your behaviors (language, actions, beliefs) depending on the person you are with.
4. You don’t speak up for yourself when someone has crossed your boundaries.
5. You buy things because they are “cool”.
6. You beat yourself up for things you said or did with other people.
7. You think you can control other people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
8. You think other people’s needs are more important that your own.
 9. You get stuck in fear based stories about failure and/or perfection.
10. You don’t know who you are without the approval of others.

This really hit home for me today!  I have been struggling with a couple of different scenario's at work which left me thinking "I wish I had stuck up for myself..."

My entire life I have been a people pleaser.  It is not always a bad thing.  After all, we are on this Earth to serve people and make Disciples out of them!  How are we to do that if we are consumed in ourselves and only focused on what WE want?  I believe that we are to love others and put them above ourselves.

But I also believe that God did not create us to be meek or timid.  Just because I am a Christian does not mean that I am a doormat or that He is pleased when I am passive or non-confrontational.

My parents told me when I was a kid that I didn't have to worry about pleasing them, but to please God and when I do my best to please Him, I will please them as well.

So I don't want to be a people-pleaser.  I want to be a Jesus-pleaser.  :)


 

I Don't Know What I've Been Told...

So I think I've determined why I don't post very often.

It's because a while back I read that you should never make a blog post without pictures.... and I am not very good at taking pictures of my everyday happenings... and even when I do I don't upload them in a timely manner. So I feel that I am breaking a blog rule when I only post text, and therefore don't!

Well, I think I am going to start breaking that rule a little more often now because a picture-less post is better than no post.

All that to say, there is not a lot "special" going on.  We really are just living on a routine with me working all day.  When I get back from work, I usually first change into comfy clothes, then crash on the couch for a bit.  Then Steven and I figure out what we're doing for dinner (unfortunately, it's usually something easy peasy like spaghetti, pancakes, chicken and rice, etc.).  Then we usually get to send the evening together at home (unless it's Wednesday) and watch some of our favorite shows together until my bed time!

The other night, we had the exciting opportunity to review our budget!   We've been here a year and 4 months, and I have had an income for a year, so it was time to re-check everything... accounting for where our money is going, how much is going into savings, church, fun stuff, etc.  We are very blessed to be able to live on an amount of money small enough that would probably shock some Americans!  haha

I am excited for next Thursday because we are starting Discipleship at our house with a group of our students!  I love getting to be with them on a smaller-group basis.

Today I have off of work because I work the weekend.  There is a trip to Aldi in store, a call to the Huscivana Viking sewing machine sellers, and lastly we are going to some of our student's football game!  Hoping the rain stays away for us. :)


 

How Much is That Puppy in the Window?

Does anyone want a new family pet?

Meet Barkley, an almost 2 year old Husky mix.

Don't let those sweet eyes and smile deceive you.

He will eat things that you work hard on making (both crafts and meals).

He will hog the bed if you allow him to sleep with you at night (and make you change your mind about him sleeping with you!)

He will destroy any toy you give him... it may take him 5 minutes, it may take him 5 weeks, but he WILL destroy it!

He will "race" you to the seat in the couch where you are headed, just so he can claim the spot right before you get there.

He gets his energy spurts at 10:30 at night, when he barks at your face until you give him what he wants or put him in his kennel.

When you close the bathroom door but don't latch it, he will wait until you are seated then open the door all the way, look at you, and walk out.

He will swipe a stick of butter off the counter and lick it off the floor like an ice cream cone.

He will lead you to believe that he can be trusted in the house while you are gone or sleeping, only to come home to (or wake up to) this:

Anybody want him???  :)

 

Mud on the Tires

Not a lot "special" has been going on lately.  I guess that's what happens when you both have full-time jobs and can't leave on the weekends because your husband works at a church!  We are very blessed and thankful, though, and have some exciting things coming up in September and October!

Last Sunday as I was about to turn into the church parking lot, I felt something "off" going on when I pressed on the accelerator.  When I pulled into my parking spot, one of our members was looking at my car funny and said he'd heard a "clink" noise as I was driving in.  Come to find out, I had just rolled over a screw and it was stuck in my tire!  Not much I could do about it at that point, so we went to church, and afterward it was Steven's turn at our Caregiver's Inn ministry so we just drove his car there and decided to worry about my tire on Monday.  When we drove in for youth Sunday night, though, the tire was totally flat!  Which led to Steven leading the teens who showed up early in a demonstration of how to change a flat tire.

Today is my only day off this week as I took a shift in the Activity department tomorrow.  It will be fun to get to see some of the residents who aren't able to visit me at the front desk!

 That's about it from me.  Now you see why I don't post too often!

 

Three Amazing Years

We have started a new chapter of our lives, the DINK Chapter... Double Income, No Kids. (Though not ideal for us, for forever, it will do for a year or two!) With that has come some adjustments in our schedules and in our expectations. I am getting used to working everyday 8:30-5 at my new job. (By the way... I am loving the new job! It is crazy hectic but the day goes by sooooo fast!) Steven and I are getting used to me being gone all day and he has really stepped up in helping with housework and laundry when I'm gone.

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the end of our 3rd year of marriage!

I woke up to this note on our bathroom mirror.  :)

Then I went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast... because it was "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day"... and our anniversary!

Because we had church that night, we opted to have our Date Night that Saturday.  We went to see The Dark Knight Rises and then we had dinner at a really cool Italian restaurant, Maggiano's.

It was super yummy!  They had a special where you could get an appetizer, two entrees, and dessert for discounted price.  PLUS when you ordered an entree, they automatically gave you another one in a to-go box.  We ended up eating leftovers from our dinner, plus the to-go box pasta, and got 4 meals out of our anniversary dinner!  haha!

They brought our dessert out with the two long candles in it.They had them cross over one another, and our waiter told us that it is traditional in Italy to blow them out when the two flames combine to make one, and it would "double our happiness".

That cake was so good!

Thankful for three amazing years with Steven and excited for many, many more!  Oh and very excited for our anniversary trip in October!  :)

 

Being an Example

July seems like it is always a busy month. Aside from Christmas, I think that consistently July is one of the busiest times of my year. As much as I love the activity, I think it's safe to say that I'm ready for August to get here and for things to calm down a bit. :)

Last week we had Camp with the youth group.  It was AMAZING.  Last year's Camp was great, but I was still at the beginning process of getting to know the girls, and learning to be a youth pastor's wife.  This year I had relationships better built with them and knew better what to expect.  I think it was definitely a "bridging" week for me in the youth ministry as I learned to take more of a leadership role than a chaperone role.

I LOVE our teens.  God has blessed us so much with the group we have!  They truly have a heart for God and want to know Him more which is so so cool!

 Of course, He not only spoke to the teens, but also to us "adults."  As I mentioned earlier, this Camp for me was one of the first times I've really taken leadership over the girls... mostly I am with Steven as he leads the group and help where needed.  This week I was able to have some heart-to-heart conversations about what they were going through.  I had to have a few VERY minor "disciplinary" talks, which though they were minor it is still not fun for me to do... but necessary for me to get used to!  It was a week of me growing into my role at the church.

But of course, if we are growing, Satan is going to try to attack it.  Even before we started dating, Satan was on my case about how I wouldn't be a good youth pastor's wife.  He told me I needed to know ALL the verses, that I would never know the right thing to say, that I wouldn't connect with the teens.  And to this day that is one of my greatest insecurities... that I'm not doing a good enough job or that I'm not prepared enough.  We have teens that go through so much, and in comparison I went through so little in high school.  I got my heart broken by boys and friends, and had typical arguments with parents and insecurities, but that was basically it.  I felt SO ill-equipped to help girls who have been abused, struggle sexually, or have no self confidence.  Through tears, I got to talk about it with Susan, our pastor's wife, as she drove me to the airport on Thursday.  She helped so much!  She reminded me that nobody has the answers all of the time... that what the girls need right now is to know they have a friend/mentor that will love them and encourage them.  To hug them tight and let them know that God loves them and wants them to experience JOY.  To live my life as an example.  My cousin Dayna reminded me that I am expecting more out of myself than even God expects from me.

It was a great week.  So much fun.  I left early to attend a family reunion in Oklahoma.  The weekend went by very quickly but it was nice that I was able to see everybody even just for a couple of hours or days.

 Now off to a full week at my new job!  God is so good.  :)