Ketchup... Catsup... Catch Up!

Hello there!

I really can't remember everything that has happened since I last wrote, so I'm just going to do the recent things!

We have been working on finishing our stair renovation.  It is the last BIG thing we are needing to finish!  :)


Last weekend, we had our annual Triplet Reunion in Windemere.  It was so great seeing all of my family.  I am so thankful for the family God has given me, there are some great prayer warriors in that group and they all care so deeply for each other.  Saturday morning, we had a baby shower/brunch for my cousin Dayna who is having a baby boy.  I think it went really well!  We tried this game where we made Liam's (??) first alphabet book, and it was surprisingly well accepted and some of the pictures were very funny!  Steven left on Saturday night, but I stayed because I rode with Mom, Austin, and Kyla back to O'Fallon on Sunday!

I am so glad they came and spent a few days with us!  It was fun showing them our house for the first time since we have been working on it.  We went to a small water park in our area, it had a few "tame" slides and some really tall ones.  The girls only rode the small ones but the boys were much braver and loved the tall ones. We took them to Fritz's, did some shopping, and just kinda hung out at our house   Sunday night, Steven came back from youth and gave us the great news that one of the kids there that night got saved!  It is so exciting seeing God work in the youth group.  I'm so proud of my husband for taking on this calling.  It isn't always the easiest thing, when everyone has their own opinion on how things need to be done, but it is so rewarding and seeing a soul saved really brings you back to what it's all about!


Last Thursday, we took Barkley to the dog park again.  It has been SO hot out, that he has been inside all day for over a week, so we finally decided to just take him and lots of water!  The park we went to this time had a pond, and we really didn't think he would do anything other than MAYBE put his paws in it, because of how much he has hated water in the past.  But, there was a girl dog Abby there, who ran in so of course Barkley had to, too!  The first time he got in, I don't think he knew what he was doing... he was just running for a stick we'd thrown in the park.  As soon as it "hit" him that he was all wet, he ran out as fast as he could!  But after that, he got in a couple more times.  I don't know that he loved it, but hopefully the more he tries it the more he will like it!  He got FILTHY, so he had to take a bath afterwards, but it was worth it!

This is him running OUT of the water as fast as he could!

dirty puppy!

I woke up this morning to Steven walking in our room with a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast, and a glass of orange juice!  I think the last time he made me breakfast in bed was like a week after we got married?  I'm not sure what the occasion was, but it was very sweet and I am thankful that he thought to do something special for me.

Today, I ran some errands to get things for camp.  I needed a couple more pairs of shorts, and we needed Twin size sheets for the bunk beds.  Then we went to Steven's soft ball game.  It was a double header, and we decided to take Barkley.  He did soooooooo good!  He just played with the kids and he even did tricks for them.  He did GREAT for almost two hours, when out of no where they started shooting off fireworks.  Well, Barkley hates fireworks.  HATES.  He immediately started jumping and whimpering and trying to run away as fast as he could.  I took the leash from Annalise, who was walking him at the time, and he bolted to my car.  When I opened the door, he "hid" in the area where your feet go when you're sitting in the back seat.  I have never seen him so scared before.  I just sat there with him in the car, but even after the fireworks were over, he would not get back out.  He stayed there for the last ten minutes of the game, and didn't move until I got to the garage at home!

I felt really bad about the fireworks, and since Steven went to the Albertson's house for a Game Night, it was just Barkley and I.  We went on a "date" to Fritz's.  He did great!  It's fun to watch him when he figures out that we are walking to the ice cream place, because he gets really excited and walks you straight to the counter where you order.  We had a good time, and he was a gentleman and walked me home!   :)

Is it weird how much I have been writing about our dog?  ha!  He just gives me something to write about!  I really feel that owning a dog is definitely the next step before having a child... ha!  It is a big responsibility!  Like, just remembering all of his stuff to take to the game.  And how your heart breaks whenever you know they are scared.  I know Steven and I definitely love this dog, and if we love a dog this much, how much more love will be in our hearts for a child?  The "baby" talk is still a few years away, but I am glad that we made the decision to get a dog at this point in our marriage.

Camp is this coming week.  I am really excited to see what God is going to do in all of our lives!

I can't think of a name

Hello!  I am going to post really fast because we are leaving in ten minutes for Discipleship!

We have been doing well.  Last Saturday, we took the youth group to Six Flags and the Toby Mac concert they had there.  It was really hot but we had a great time and rode a lot of rides!  We went to Lion's Choice for lunch, then the concert, then Taco Bell for a LATE (like 10:00 late) dinner. 

One thing really struck me at the concert... the guy sitting next to Steven was always facing his wife because he was signing all of the lyrics and words that Toby Mac was singing, to her.  It was so sweet.  I couldn't help wondering what their story was, whether she was deaf for as long as they knew each other, or whether something happened during their relationship and he learned to sign for her.  It was just so special and a picture of true, selfless love... giving up his enjoyment of the concert so that his wife wouldn't miss out.

We had a good Sunday, didn't do anything out of the ordinary for our Sunday's though!  Church, nap, church, then hanging out with the teens.  Barkley did really good with the teens over, but one of them (Doug) randomly put a flower in his ear and Barkley did NOT like that.  He kept barking at him until he took it out... don't know if he didn't recognize him, or if he just wanted Doug to man up and take the flower out of his hair!  ha!

Speaking of Barkley, we have had a heat wave here and poor guy is bored silly inside!  I am hoping it cools off soon so we can take him on walks again during the day and let him play in the backyard.

Yesterday, we ran several errands... went to lunch at It's A Better Burger, made some exchanges at Beauty Brands, bought some things at Bed Bath and Beyond, and went to the hardware store to finally buy a pantry!  I am so excited!  I have spent all day yesterday and today Staining it and finishing it, and hopefully when we are back from Discipleship it will be dry enough to take upstairs.  Steven was also nice enough to switch the hinges from the left side of the pantry to the right side for me.  Finally we will have a central location to put our food!  ha!

That's all from me!

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Everything's been going great since my last post!  Keeping busy with some of the final details of the house, as well as everyday things!

Barkley is doing well, he is getting used to us and I think now he feels our house is his home, and WE are his family which is good!  Today we took him to the dog park for the first time.  He loved it!  It was cute to watch him interact with the other dogs.  He particularly liked a couple labs, and when they left he nearly gave me a heart attack when he dug underneath the fence to go with them!  Luckily there were two fences you had to get through to leave, ha!  He had a great time running and chasing after other dogs, but we realized that he was the slowest runner there, so I told Steven he is going to have to go running with him more often!  Tonight they ran together, and Steven said Barkley "gave out" before he did... we need to work on the boy's endurance!

Nothing too exciting going on... some of our friends from BBC are coming to St. Louis for the night, so we are going to meet up with them at their hotel in a little bit.  Tomorrow we are taking the youth group to Six Flags to watch the Toby Mac concert there.

Catching Up

Warning:  There are going to be a lot of pictures this post!

With the help of Mike, a church member, we were able to pick up our fridge (three Sunday's ago, lol).  Steven stood in the back of the trailer stabilizing the fridge for the 20 minute ride home.

That next Monday, we were finishing up the living room paint!  Steven had this position (and others, leaning away from it) at least three times, and I was worried that I was going to have to live in our new house by myself!

Todd came over several days later to help us start laying our laminate floor!

Lookin good!

Todd left, and Steven and I took a break by getting ice cream from the ice cream man!

Late that night, Steven finally taught me how to lay the floor.  Once he did I was a machine!

Writing in all the saw dust...

Yay!

Friday, the 17, we headed down to Springfield to get our stuff!  My parents, Austin, and Kyla came to help and we all stayed the night at a hotel.  We couldn't have done it without them!  Here is our Uhaul, and the BBC apartment area looking like we are hosting a yard sale!

My dad used every foot of space in that Uhaul to make sure we could fit ALL of our stuff inside!

Us with some of our helpers (the others were camera-shy)

Our new puppy, Barkley!  Barkley is a 8 month old Husky German Shepherd mix.  How we got him is another blog post!  ha!

Barkley's first night with us, he walked with us and the youth group to Fritz's

Free doggie cones at Fritz's!

First picture all together :)

The high school youth group had a Camp fundraiser at Culver's!  Steven, Todd, John, and Pastor Dan

On our way to Tyler's wedding reception, I got the camera out and said, "Barkley, Smile!"  This is what I got.

Steven's 23rd birthday at the Cheesecake Factory!

Barkley protecting his new toy from us.  ha!

Miracles Happen

Oh me, oh my... a LOT has happened since I last posted two weeks ago!  Since my last post, we...

*Went to Springfield and packed up all of our stuff
*MOVED into our house!
*Bought a dog!
*Have had both high school and junior high groups over to see the house and dog
*Finished laying down our flooring
*Got a new stove, washer, and dryer
*Had VBS at the church
*Went to my brother Tyler's reception at the Lake of the Ozarks
*Celebrated Steven's birthday
*Began laying white baseboards in the house
*Finally got a lawn mower
*Working on planning the high school Lock-In this Friday!

It has been one of the BUSIEST times of my life... it's like for every bit as bored as I was in Springfield, I am that amount busy with things to do here in O'Fallon.  I much prefer it this way, because at the end of the day I feel that I have been productive!  I will update soon with pictures!

One last note that I want to remember, last Friday on the way back from Tyler's reception, we stopped to get gas.  On Saturday (Steven's birthday), he couldn't find his wallet.  I thought it would show up sometime (it usually does) so wasn't too concerned about it.  Yesterday, when we still hadn't found it I began to get more serious about looking for it.  Steven and I searched the house upside-down at least four times, and looked through both cars several times.  We went through all of the clothes in the dirty hamper, lifted up couches, looked behind the fridge, EVERYTHING, and couldn't find it!  We checked our bank account, and nobody had been making charges on it though  (making Steven's main concern his Six Flags season pass).  We called the gas station and everywhere we could think of that we had been, but no one had it. 

In the meantime, we made the mistake of leaving Barkley (our dog) unattended in the house while we were both working outside (Steven mowing and me vacumming out the cars).  Steven goes back in and I can hear him from outside telling Barkley that he was a bad dog...  I knew this couldn't be good so went inside to find that Barkley had found Steven's glasses and made them his new chew toy.  We later (but definitely not right then) laughed at how disfigured he had made the glasses!  We went to the JCPenney Optical department, where he got them last July, and they should be under warranty so that made our mood better.  Anyway, on the way back we were talking about how we needed to find his wallet.  I told him that my secret to finding things is praying and asking God to find it for me and then either remind me where it is or put it somewhere where I will find it.  I told him I have had a lot of success this way.

Last night, we were getting ready for bed and I was brushing my teeth.  I went into our bedroom and was going through a couple of things (yes, while brushing my teeth).  I saw our clean pillowcases that we needed to put on our pillows, and tossed them on Steven's night stand, and moved some other stuff around.  I noticed Steven's Discipleship book was open on his night stand (we have discipleship tonight) so went over to look at what page he had it open to.  Right then something brown and rectangular caught my eye.  It was the wallet!  Sitting right on top of the night stand, behind the lamp and fan.  I did a little squeal (because the toothbrush is still in my mouth) and ran to the bathroom to show Steven and do a little dance.  Now, Steven and I had BOTH checked that night stand several times.  He had also checked inside all of the drawers.  I really do NOT think that it was there before!  I asked Steven, and he said that he had asked God to show us where the wallet was by the next night.  I may be crazy, but I totally think that it is possible that God picked it up from wherever it was and put it somewhere obvious for us to find.

Sing a Rainbow

^I struggled with this title!  I have been trying to title all of my posts with song names, and when I googled "song about painting", this was the best one that came up!  ha!

Well, it turns out that buying a house that needs a little sweat equity makes you pretty busy!  We've had a great time working on it though.  It is so cool to be in our new house, and see it develop into more and more of our home every time we leave!

Sunday we had church in the morning, then Mike Adkins was nice enough to drive us to Home Depot in his truck to pick up our new fridge!  We got it loaded in the trailer, and they had tied it down, then he looked at Steven and said, "okay, now you just hold on to it while I drive back."  Steven and I both thought he was joking, but turns out he was not!  Steven stood on the trailer and made sure the fridge stayed in balance the entire 20 minute drive back to our house! 

We finally made it back, and it was much harder than we anticipated to get the fridge inside.  The handles made it just a little too wide to get in the front door, and for some reason the handles did not come off by themselves, so we had to remove both entire doors before we could bring it inside.  Luckily, this made the fridge much lighter so we were able to get it in place just the three of us!  We got back to the Waltrip's and took a nap before youth group that night.  After youth and a game of kickball, we went to... where else, but Taco Bell!

Monday, Steven and I spent ALL DAY painting our new living rooms and entryway.  I am so thankful that the first coat was already done on the trip (from Saturday) because it took me SO long to get that done!  We were at the house from 1 till 11, and went to Quik Trip for a dinner of hot dogs and donuts.  (hey, it wasn't healthy, but we deserved it!)  We were just so exhausted toward the end, both of us getting irritable and we really weren't getting much done because we were so sore.  We got back to the Waltrip's and went to bed!

This morning, thank God, we felt so much better!  Steven had his meeting with Dan, and I cleaned up the basement a bit.  We left around 1 to go back to the house and get started on painting the guest bedrooms.  We spent until 6:30 working on them, when we left to go to Discipleship at the church.  I am so glad that Pastor Dan does this Discipleship class.  We've only been to two so far, but they have been SO good.  I really like that he goes through it and explains why the church believes what they believe, using tons and tons of Scripture to back it up.  It is a lot of basic stuff, but it is really good to go through it all again and have all of these references in one place.

We got back from church, and heated up leftovers for dinner (at 9:30).  Getting ready for another busy day of painting and cleaning tomorrow!  :)

Working Week

Wow, it's only 8:30 and I am exhausted!  We got so much done at the house today!

But first, I will tell you about our night yesterday!  We went to Chipotle with Dan, Susan, and Greg.  After we finished eating, we showed them our house!  They all really loved it and it was really cool talking about how God worked everything out.  He gave us everything we were wanting in a house, and it being literally 3 minutes away from Steven and I's favorite places (me = Target, Steven = Chipotle) is an added bonus!  After the house tour, they took some pictures of us with the house!

Next, Dan took us to Fritz's, the custard place right next to our house.  It was really really good and it might not be good for our health that it is so close by!  ha!  After dessert, we headed to Steven's softball game.  The first game they got mercy ruled, and the second they only played one inning because it started storming.  It was seriously bad, and I don't know why the umpire didn't call the game 20 minutes earlier like all of the other fields had... they were out there playing with TONS of lightning, thunder, TERRIBLE wind, and rain!

This morning we headed to our house at 8:00 to get working!  We got SO much done... even more than we had hoped to.  They ripped up the carpet, Steven sanitized the attic, painted all of the ceilings, sealed the floor with Killz, and painted the kitchen, upstairs bathroom, and master bedroom!  Several guys from the church came to help out and we appreciate them SO much!  If it had just been us two, we would still be ripping up carpet!  I really didn't feel like I did too much... I was the "errand girl"... took several trips to the Hardware store, to the post office, to Subway to get lunch, and to Sonic for Happy Hour.  We obviously have LOTS left to do, but I think that it is realistic to hope that we will be moving our stuff in next Saturday!

Steven and Todd installing a new faucet in the downstairs bathroom

Our kitchen ready to get its ceiling painted!

See, I did some work!

The damage done!