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. :)