The Breakfast Club

Hello friends!

It has been a good week here at the Branch household... and it's about to get even better because we are going to CHICAGO with our Seniors this weekend!

To start us off, here are some pictures from our week:

March 23 was our Second Annual Pancake Breakfast!  And ironically, the only picture I have is this one...  The girls did a great job and although less people came than last year, those who did come were extra generous and the girls got $74.50 each to go toward Camp!  Praise God because I know there is no way that would have happened without Him...  After the Breakfast, Steven and I went to help my boss move her office furniture from her old office, then home to take a nap!

Sunday, March 24- we had a freak Spring snow storm!  This was just the beginning when I was walking in to church.  We ended up getting over a foot of snow...  and when we got home our satellite was covered with snow.  So Steven asked our neighbor if he could borrow his extention ladder to sweep it off!  That is a dedicated NCAA Tournament fan right there...

And then a picture of me and my buddy Barkley for your viewing pleasure:

March 25- I couldn't help but be thankful for our garage while driving to work Monday morning!  Shoveling the driveway stinks but it is great to have a warm, clean car to get into in the mornings!

March 26- the bad thing about the snow is it melts... and then your dog comes inside looking like this!  Time to go to the toilet to wash his paws (and neck!)

March 27- remember how my last post I was struggling with feeling unappreciated?  Well I got a sweet text from one of our Seniors today... In my reply I told her how it has been my goal since before Steven and I got married to build relationships with our girls where they would feel that way about me.  God is so good and I am so glad that He is using me in a small way in their lives.

Have a great weekend- I know we will!  :)

 

March Madness

So my NCAA bracket is already done for and it's only the second night!

But in other news...

March 13- just hanging with our teens having Game Night!

March 14- it was over 60 degrees for one whole day so I celebrated by putting up our Spring Wreath and taking Barkley on a walk!

March 15- helped chaperone one of our teens 16th birthday party!  We did an awesome job singing Happy Birthday...

March 16- cleaned the church, went shopping at GAP with 40% off coupon, and had Barkley's best friend Kami over (with his owners Cassie and Rachel!).  They love each other!

Sunday, March 17- God is so good to bring me verses like this one when I need them!

March 18- We love veggies!!  I think I have eaten more veggies in the last 6 months than in my entire life before that...

March 19- my sister turned 13!!!  And we went to watch three of our teens' Choir concert at Timberland High School.

March 20- exciting news... we are changing offices at work!  My boss opened her own brokerage!  RE/MAX Platinum here we come... call us with all of your Realty needs. :)

March 21- was busy packing and moving things from the old office to the new one!  I am so blessed that the new office is only 7 minutes from our house (and there's a QuikTrip at the halfway point...).  God is so good!  Mike was able to get the cubicle wall out of this cubicle so my coworker Angie and I can see each other and share files (and share Chips and Salsa of course!)

March 22- my view driving to work this morning.  The old sign is covered up and the new RE/MAX sign will hopefully be up Monday!  (sorry for the poor quality picture... but I was driving!)


I'll be honest with you, this past week has been a hard one.

I have struggled this week feeling unappreciated, and also with hurt feelings from a family at church.

We are not in the ministry to seek approval from people... we are there because we want to love on our teens and show them God's love and lead them to grow in their personal relationship with Him... but some days it is tough when you work so hard on fundraisers, activities, etc. and no one even notices and really everyone just complains about how we should do things different!  haha.

God has been so good to bring verses to me and to encourage my heart through this week.  I know it is just Satan trying to get me to allow myself to be discouraged and I want to push through that and be even better and more effective than before.  :)

"Ordinary people, who faithfully, diligently, and consistently do simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results." -David A Bednor


 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go!

I am still alive! And I have some things to catch you up on...

February 25- I spent all day studying once again for my big test the next day!  Not anything exciting to take a picture of so here is this cutie...

February 26- was a big day!  I passed the National portion of the test and missed the MO portion by one point!  After church that night, Steven and I packed Barkley up in our SUV and went home to Kansas City!  This is a picture of my parent's house as we were walking in because it was the only pic I took all day.  :)

February 27- we spent time with both of Steven's families- took his mom out to lunch and spend the evening with the Tuckers.  I hadn't seen them for over a year!

March 1- we went to my brother and sister's school at the end of their lunch hour to see them really quick!  I also snagged this *blurry* picture of Kyla's art work which was displayed in the hall...  LOVE me a smiling Husky!  Lots of other crazy things happened at my house... including my mom's cat Mooch biting my mom because he was scared of Barkley... and her hand getting infected... and trips to the doctor to get labs, xrays, and shots!  SO thankful that she is back to 100% now!

March 2- we had to leave early Saturday because I had picked up a shift at Delmar Gardens.  My parents took us to Arby's to lunch, and the boys had a last minute snow-ball fight in their parking lot.

 March 2.5- (I don't have a Sunday, March 3!!!)  here is our lazy puppy sleeping on the way home.

 March 4- was my first day at my new job!  One of my tasks for the day was getting my key made for the office.

March 5- I went out to lunch with my new co-worker Angie.  We went to this place within walking distance of our office called "the Chocolate Bar" and got sandwiches and coffee!  I thought this complimentary water station was so cute with the mason jars.

March 6- to Marshall's with Steven and this is one of the shifts he picked out... I made him put it back but he didn't understand why!

March 7- awesome individual size brownie with Oreos on the bottom!!

March 8- Steven removed his pillowcase from his pillow to clean it, and did not replace it before bed, so he was creative and used a T-Shirt as a pillowcase for I think 3 nights!!  haha

March 9- I took Barkley to the dog park which was closed.  And then that evening I met Lauren for dinner and then we met up with her friend Hope who she works with!

Sunday, March 10- after youth group I asked Steven to drive through Dairy Queen and get me a blizzard!  I can't remember the last time I had one but it was so good!

March 11- LOVING the background on my desktop at work!!

March 12- we went bowling with Angie's small group and I can't say much for my score, but I couldn't get over the pretty colors of the bowling balls!  It was so sweet of her to think to invite us and it was nice to hang out with some people our age!

Have a great week everyone!