Things I like

I found this awesome t-shirt place today. I'd heard of them before but I'd never gotten on their website to look for myself. They are pretty cool. They are a faith based company and their shirts are very cute and not shy about what is true. Check them out!!

wildolivetees.com!

Endings and New Beginnings

I'm sitting here at my desk this morning making lists of things that I need to get done today when I get off or things I need Chris to do while I'm at work and he isn't today. One of the things on my list was to e-mail Beth to let her know where we stopped in Acts last Sunday in Sunday School. As I started typing the e-mail I also wanted to tell her about next Sunday, the girls want to go out to lunch or something like that because its mine and Chris's last Sunday. About then it hit me, this will be our last Sunday in this church. This place where we have made friends, worked, served and grown a whole lot over the last 5-7 years, we will be entering the last time before we head to Arizona. Our attachment has little to nothing to do with the building, because we've only been in this building a couple of years but with the people. There are people in that church from a couple of months old to quite a bit older that we have grown very fond of. As time for us to move grows very close very fast, I will have a lot of hard days to come. I know that, but it doesn't make it any easier. I will miss this place and these people. Some of those crazy Sophomore girls have challenged my heart and mind in ways that blow me away. I pray they continue to do that to every teacher, friend and mentor they have in their life. They are such amazing girls. I can't wait to see what Father has in store for them!

So pray for us on Sunday. Leaving these people won't be easy. We will miss them very much.

Some days life just bites

Stereo types are a funny thing. For example, men are the fix it types. They want to hear your problem then fix it (typically) and women want to analyze it and work it out with you. This is one of those glorious personality oddities about me. I'm both! ha...When it comes to my problems I generally want to analyze it and figure it out, but when it comes to someone else, I want to be able to fix it for them. This comes out in me most when there is pain involved. I teach Sophomore girls Sunday school with the most wonderful lady Beth Barnes. We have several very personality filled beautiful girls. They span three different high schools and even one who home schools. I love them all very much. One of the high schools is A&M Consolidated High School in College Station. Late Monday night there was a car accident. From what they can find the truck went off the road and hit a utility pole out South of College Station (from the best of what I can gather) there was only one person in the car and she didn't make it. She was 22 years old and she was the assistant choir director at Consol. Its been a rough day and a half for that school. One of my Sophomore girls was under her. She really liked her and is having a hard time with this. She said yesterday was a nightmare that wouldn't end. This is where my fix-it heart comes in. I hate that they hurt. I can't stand my girls to hurt. It makes my heart hurt so bad!! I want to take it all away so they don't have to feel it or go through it. But, at the same time even if I could, I wouldn't. I know that this hurts, and it just pretty much sucks, but I also know that Father is working in their hearts and lives and they are going through this for a reason. He sees the bigger picture that we do not.

Two really cool things I've seen Father do to prepare for this, is Sunday during our Sunday school lesson we talked about how Father sees the bigger picture and how things happen and they may hurt but there is more to it, there is a reason, he is preparing us for something. Its so cool how he prepared hearts to handle this this week by that being part of our lesson (because I honestly don't remember how it fit into what we were talking about). The other cool thing is that Sunday night I had a dream about Ashley, the girl I referred to earlier, well I had a dream and Ashley was in it. It wasn't anything bad, in fact I think we were serving food out of a trunk or something very odd like that haha. But since then she has been on my mind pretty much constantly. I know why now. Father knows what he is doing. He sees the bigger picture.

The illustration I gave Sunday was you know how you've seen the painting of the two arms and the fingers are almost touching? You have, believe me. Well we see that but what a lot of people don't realize is that is part of a huge painting in the Sistine Chapel. Its like we see the arms almost touching but Father sees the whole painting. (Its another cool story about how that image popped into my head where Father caused someone's XBox 360 to go out and so they borrowed our dvd player and they had that hanging on the wall the night before our lesson Sunday) Oh how he provides! SO cool!!

But back to what I was originally talking about, I now that Father is going to do some awesome stuff in the hearts of these hurting high schoolers. I know he has a plan. So Father, take their hearts, Father hold Ashley and Brooke. Help them through this one day at a time.

Oh Scottsdale, Beautiful Scottsdale...

Chris and I made the journey this weekend to Scottsdale AZ to see if well, we'd even like it out there and if so, to find a place to call home. I love doing new things with Chris. We always have fun together. Of course this weekend was a complete roller coaster of emotions. For some reason (I can't image what, its only moving two states away from everything I know) I was very nervous for the two weeks before we left. I finally started getting excited about 2 days before we left.

We left on Wednesday and drove to Dallas. Chris's dad dropped us off at the airport and we flew into Phoenix at like 10:30 that night. After a very interesting time with our rental car place we finally drove out to our hotel. Chris's mom stays in hotels all over the US so she gets Marriott points and last year for Christmas they gave Chris and I and Meredith and Mike a two nights stay in a Marriott. So Chris and I stayed at the Marriott Suites...talk about a nice room!! We had a living area, bedroom, vanity, Bathtub and shower/toilet area. It was really nice.

Thursday morning we got up and had breakfast in the restaurant (comped by the hotel because Mary is an Elite member) and headed to Scottsdale Culinary Institute, which is now named Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Scottsdale. They changed it last Wednesday. We got to go around and see some of the school and some of this restaurant. It is the Mobil 3 star student run restaurant. It was nice.

Then we walked back outside to this fountain. Lisa, the lady who handles all of my stuff for school, was telling me that before graduation everyone gathers around and does a toast around this fountain. She said its a very special time.
She also showed us this: This is the kit I will be recieving when I start school, along with all of my uniform, aprons, towels and all that good stuff.

This is the door to the L'Ecole Restaurant. I just thought the door was pretty.
Meet Jeep Compass. Our ride for the weekend. It served us well and was a very good little vehicle.
This is Ree Drummond, also known as the Pioneer Woman. She had a cookbook signing in Tempe while we were there so we slipped down and got my cookbook signed. We only waited for like 4 hours. :-D
LOOK MOUNTAINS!! REAL MOUNTAINS!!! Our new apt is about 1/2 a mile to hiking trails up a mountain :-D EEP!!
See, more!!

After 1 1/2 days of apartment hunting and finding things we liked, but nothing that was just the right place for us, we were tired and after a not so fun encounter with a lady who made me thing we would never find a place to live earlier that morning, we felt a little defeated, at least I did. So we started talking about how things have always seemed to come for us, me especially. When I got ready to apply to schools for college, it was A&M and that was it, I didn't apply anywhere else. I knew that was where I was suppose to be, same thing with my duplex now and where Chris and I wanted to get married and also for SCI. Things just go *bam* this is it. Since we hadn't had that we were discussing it in the car. I said "I wish one of them would just go *bam* this is it" and we pulled up at Broadstone Ancala. It is set on the edge of town and there isn't much city-ness around, which is nice. Its quiet and the people are really nice. While we were in the office two different people walked in the office with their dogs. They accept Rodderick and that was one of the biggest hang ups for us. He is about 75 lbs so there are several places that won't allow dogs that big. Its sad...but this place does! They started refurbishing their apts a few years ago and got about 1/2 way through and had to stop for a little while. So the set of refurbished ones when all was said and done for us was about $30 more a month. When I say refurbished I mean completely. They have black and stainless steal appliances and granite countertops. Fo-granite in the bathrooms and beautiful light fixtures and door handles. Basically I love it.

Here is the dining room area (looking from the front door)

Here is the living room area looking from the dining room
This is the kitchen. Please note the awesome top shelf above the counter. LOVE IT!!
See, granite! The cabinets have been completely re-done as well.

Even a built in microwave, which means I will be parting with my beloved red one, but at least this one will have a plate!! I also like the room above the cabinets we can display things!

This, my friends, is my new closet!! Its wonderful and I love the corner shelf!!
Vanity area in the master bedroom.
POOL!! I like pools.
This is Chris's favorite part. Two charcoal grills.

After picking out this totally awesome apartment Chris and I treated ourselves to the Hard Rock Cafe! We had a great evening just hanging out. We also walked around the downtown Scottsdale area to find the Sky Bridge Campus of SCI so I would know where I was going :-D

Saturday morning we got up and were going to tackle Banfields to find Chris a job. At breakfast I spilled my apple juice all over my only jeans. Since we both wanted to look decent while trying to get him a job, we found a place to get me a new pair of jeans. After that we visited one Banfield and the girl there told us to visit the hospital (which was number one on Chris's list) and talk to the Office Manager. So we did. Bryant was his name. He was a fairly young guy. He seemed to want Chris to stay with Banfield. He liked that he has 2 1/2 years with them already. He told us if he can't get him a job at that one he would talk to his field director to see where they could place him fulltime there. YAY!! It was cool to see how Father placed things for us. We are very excited to get out there and also to see what He has in store for us next!! :-D

This just in...

I talked to Lisa from SCI at lunch and she told me (which I hadn't thought of) that by doing a 21 month program it gives me another opportunity to get stafford loans through the government which is good because you can consolidate them and you can't private loans! Plus it gives me another chance to hopefully get grants!! :-D Yay! So we will see what happens now!

Slight Change o plans...

Oh life...you are crazy. I still can't believe its October!! My wonderful Momma had her 28th (and holding) birthday along with several other people I know. Chris has started calling around to some of the Banfields in the Scottsdale area to see if he can transfer. There are only 24 in the greater Phoenix area so I think we might have a shot. There are a few that we would prefer but we will see.

I've been working on my financial aid stuff....thats fun...not. I'm applying for a loan though the school but (and here comes the slight change o plans) I haven't to be in a different program then I'm in to apply for it. Well, not technically a different program. Its the exact same program but instead of a 15 month program I have to do the 21 month program. So its 6 months longer but i only go to school 4 days a week. At first I really didn't like this, but now I realize it could be better for us. I will have more time available during the week so I might be able to get a better job. I will probably be able to do a full time job so that will be really good. I should know something over the next couple of days about the loan. I'm currently waiting for my advisor to call me back about the details of the 21 month program. My tuition planner (who told me about having to be in the 21 month program) didn't know all the details for sure, she just knew it was only 4 days a week and they offer night classes, so I need to talk to Lisa and see the details. I defiantly see where this could be better for us though.

I have started looking into jobs in the area. I would like to work at like Starbucks or REI. REI has a position I would really like, but I don't think its available right now. We will have to see. It should be an interesting adventure looking for a job again. It took me 3 months to find this one and I love it. I just hope it doesn't take as long to find another one. I have found its hard job searching 2 states away and 3 months in advance! Either way, I know Father will provide what we need. I can't wait to see what he has in store!

Honesty

I can't believe its already October! Thats just crazy. Things in my world have been so crazy lately. I have this bad problem with stressing and worrying about everything...its bad right now. I've got so many things going on that I get lost in them. Last night was one of those nights where I felt like my world came crumbling down around me. Sometimes I think thats a good thing in a way. Its a horrible feeling but at the same time "You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. (Matt. 5:3 Message)"

Money is always something to stress over in my life. I normally stress over our budget, but at the moment that is doing okay. I'm more stressed about school money. I have this huge pressure on me to come up all the money for school in the next month. (I think that pressure just increased realizing its only a month) ugh. I have a loan I need to fill out but I'm waiting on a co-signer. I hate having a co-signer. I don't think its a good idea, but I have to have it. Bless the person willing to do this for us. Last night in the middle of the crash I finally just laid it all down. The fact of the matter is that God is bigger than I am. He is smarter than I am and he can see the whole picture and I can't. I know Chris and I need to get out of here. We have become content with things here and I know that God has bigger things for us than this. We are ready to finish school and get real jobs and have a family. We want to move on. We have prayed about this and thought through everything people have continually told us to. We feel like Scottsdale, Arizona is where we are suppose to be. If that is right, God will provide what we need for that. I know he will. He is my provider and my strong foundation. So Father, I leave it with you. Thank you for being so much bigger than I am.

My sweet husband is going to start his meds again. I really struggle with this. I know it will be good for him. On any normal day he has so much personality and he is goofy and I love it. When he is on his meds he is more serious. His personality doesn't shine like it does without them. I have a hard time with this. I'm so selfish. I want him to not take them, but I know it will be better for him. He gets more done, he is less distracted and he can recall things so much better. I know its good for work because he doesn't forget things as easy. Please pray for me that I learn to adjust to this. Also, please pray for whatever doctor we go to about putting him on his meds to that he would understand and know what meds to put Chris on. Maybe there is something else he can take that will still let his personality shine.

I think sometimes being honest and laying down your heart and your struggles is good therapy. I guess, even if no one reads this I feel a little more human for having and admitting that sometimes life is hard and I struggle. Sometimes I need to remind myself I don't have to be perfect. Father loves me including every imperfection I have. Thats comforting. Thank you Father.

He Loves us

I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

He loves us oh how he loves us

This Man

Sunday (August 9th) was one year from the day I married this man. He is sweet and funny and wonderful. I love him so much.

The last year has been full of crazy things. Everything from deaths to first birthdays to crazy food allergies and a crazy wife (that would be me).

Most people who have heard about my food allergy think "it stinks" and "they'd hate to be me" "they'd just die" stuff like that. At times that didn't do anything for me but make me feel even more strange and broken. I always ask Chris why I am broken because I feel that way a lot. You probably would too if you had my allergies. I'm sure others with them know what I mean. But every time I say that Chris just tells me I'm not broken. I'm exactly what God made me to be, his. He loves me when I'm crazy (which, I hate to admit is quite often.) He loves me when I have melt downs because I think I can handle it all and one day it dawns on me that I CANT and I just cry. He can handle my emotions. I keep a lot of my emotions in because I grew up with mostly guy friends and they didn't know what to do with some girl that was crying. So I didn't. He can handle it. He tells me its why God gave him broad shoulders, to handle me. He holds my hand when we go somewhere making me feel like I belong. He gets frustrated when I have too much stuff in my hands and I can't hold his. I love it. I love that he wants to hold my hand. I love that he wants to take all my worries away eventhough he can't. I love that he takes me to get Icees just because he knows it makes me happy. I love this man.

I love how good he looks when he gets all dressed up in starched jeans, black boots and his nice starched shirts!!

I love how cute he is when he has shaving cream on his neck and the two spots on his cheeks. It makes me giggle.

He likes to stick his tounge out at me. I love how silly he is.

See? He is silly.

Sometimes he is a mean octopus, but thats another story.

I love how he dresses up and is all cute at Aggie Baseball.

I love that I know that someday he is going to make an amazing father and one day take our kids on great adventures and teach them to love so passionately like he loves me.

I love that this picture was taken a little over two years ago and this is still my favorite place to be, his arms.

I love this man. He is wonderful and I'm so thankful Father has given me a wonderful husband. I'm so excited to continue our adventure together.

Its official!

Wednesday eveing I was waiting for Chris to get home from work and I decided to play some Guitar Hero. Will gave us the Guitar Hero for a wedding gift and I haven't played much lately, so when Will happens to come into town trash talk starts and I get showed up because I havne't played in a while, so I decided to brush up on my skills. I almost made it the 2 1/2 steps across my living room to my chair when my phone rang. I looked at it and saw it was a number from Arizona. I had talked to Deanna, the lady I'd done my interview with and been in contact with since this whole craziness started, a few days before and she said a lady named Lisa would be handling my situation from here on out. I was so very excited to hear "Kim? This is Lisa from Scottsdale Culinary" come across the phone. Chris and I have been trying to hold off on telling people whats going on because although we feel like its where we are suppose to be have the final acceptance makes everything much more real. Lisa said enrollment was open for the first of the year and asked if I could get to a computer and get my information going. I quickly said SURE! About 30 minutes later I had finished the online application and Lisa and e-mailed me the three pieces of paper that had to be printed, signed, and sent back. She told me if i could do it now then she would be able to wrap everything up then. So Chris, who had arrived home by this point, and I hopped in the truck and drove up to my office, since my printer is out of ink, and printed out, signed and sent back the papers needed. Of course, being that this was a victory for me, Chris and stopped at our favorite gas station to get an icee :-D. On our way home Lisa called back to let me know she had gotten the papers and I was done! It was awesome to hear "Congradulations! You are officially enrolled to start on January 4th. WHOOP!!! We were (and still are) pretty stinking excited! Its official. Now fear and nervousness has set in but we know this is where Father wants us to be and we know he will work things out for us wether is be money, place to live or jobs, he has a plan and will show us exactly what it is. We are preparing for a nice big garage sale (which I'm very excited about)! I'm odd and I love garage sales. I always have and I don't know why. But we have some friends who are cleaning out and giving us things along with family and we are going to use all the money we make to go towards our Arizona fund!

Earlier this week I was looking for a homemade ranch dressing mix to try out because the ranch I buy is a little pricy so I was wanting to try something different. Along my road of google-ing 'homemade ranch dressings' I came across what is now my favorite website. thepioneerwoman.com She has some awesome recipes, cute kids, great pictures and good stories. I pretty much love her life. Its been fun over the last few days reading her stories and seeing her pictures. Tonight, along with our pork, I'm trying out a new recipe I saw on her website! I'm excited! :-D

Thank you all for your prayer and support so far in this journey. We would appreciate for y'all to continue to pray for and support us. The next few months will be filled with more stress, preperations and prayer on our part. We are excited to see what Father has for us as we move into the next adventure he has planned.

How He Loves Us

"my heart is longing with a need to feel my soul come alive"

Thats probably my favorite line from any song ever. I love it. There is something about my soul coming alive that seems so beautiful. I think that comes from the fact that it would be Father moving in me for my soul to come alive, at least the type of alive I long to feel.

Sunday morning after a man named John Herring (former college/young adults pastor at FBC) preached Jake Kornegay got up and played this song. I've always enjoyed listening and worshiping with Jake while he plays. I think a lot of the reason for that is that I know Jake and I know his heart and I hear the passion in him while he sings. This time was a little different than normal. It was just Jake and his guitar and some sort of effects type pedal thingy. (as you can tell I work a lot with musical technology) I've seen someone use this type of equiptment before and its really cool. Jake started out by playing a few notes on his guitar over and over then he hit one of the pedals and it would repeat what he did over and over then he tapped out a rhythm on his guitar and recorded that for it to play over and over. This is a great way to create your own band with just a piece of medal. So he played and sang. This song was moving. I could feel my heart in my chest. I closed my eyes and danced with my Father. It was awesome. Take some time to listen. The truth of the song is so awesome. Go to youtube.com and type in How He Loves Us and it will the the first one that comes us by Kim Walker. Listen to the words.

He is Jealous for me

loves like a hurricane

I am a tree

bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy

When all of a sudden I am unaware

of these aflictions eclipsed by glory

and I realize just how beautiful you are and

how great your effections are for me

Oh, How he loves us Oh

oh how he loves us

how he loves us oh

yeah, he love us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves

We are his portion and he is our prize

drawn to redeption by the grace in his eyes

If grace is an ocean we're all sinking

so heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss

and my heart turns violently inside of my chest

and I don't have time to maintain these regreats

when I think about the way...

He loves us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves

yeah he loves us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves us

oh how he loves

How awesome is that? I think I need a constant reminder that he loves me no matter what. I really like the part where it says "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way...He loves us" Sometimes I stop and think about 'well maybe if I would have just...' and it doesn't really matter...He loves us oh how he loves us. All of that becomes nothing when I'm reminded that he loves me. He loves me so much. This song makes me want to dance around the room and prise Father for love he has for me that is so much more than I could ever imagine.

Something else dawned on me Sunday as Chris and I were walking into Village Foods to stock up on Kool-aid. It came from a very funny moment that happend about 3 minutes prior. We were driving and talking about the future and money. Chris made the comment that if he is going to be a minister he wouldn't be making a whole lot of money. My hope is that one day I will have my own restraunt and that is will be a good place and make a good amount of money because of the possibilites of what we could do with that money. The mission trips we could send kids on and the organizations we could pour into. How cool would that be. But we were talking and I made the comment that I'm going to need to make decient money if we are going to adopt 12 kids. Chris's face and remark were so funny. I laughed the rest of the way to the grocery store. and I laughed hard. He kinda just sat there and went "ough...don't you think we could be good with like 9 or 10?" I don't know that I've ever seen him speachless like that...after I regained myself he said if we are suppose to adopt 12 kids we will...if we are suppose to adopt more we will...(oh how I love my husband) and I know he means it. My desire to adopt is so big. My heart hurts for kids that don't have a mom and dad and brother and sisters to fight with. For some reason growing up and now, when it comes to mission trips I was never worried about where the money would come from I just knew it would come. I feel the same way about adoption. Some people like to continually tell me how expensive it will be but I know...the money will come. One of my biggest struggles with moving to Scottsdale is the amount of money we need to have saved in the little amount of time before we leave. I've stressed over this. Well at some point during our very interesting conversation about adopting our team Father spoke softly to me. I love it when he does that. I love it even more when I realize there is no way I came up with that idea by myself and I know he is speaking...For so long I've just trusted this money would come for me or my family to drive across the states to play with kids or to go across the world to love on some beautiful kids or even to bring kids into my home and raise them...but yet I stress over money to move? I feel like Father has set Scottsdale up for us. He has prepared this for us and he isn't going to prepare something for us and then not provide for what he has for us. The money will come. I just know it will now. I don't know how but I know he has a plan. We will save and we will have a garage sale and we will do all we can and somehow...it will come.

OH HOW HE LOVES US!

I fear you understimate my sneekyness.

This last weekend Chris, Scuba and I crawled into Scuba's mustang and drove across Texas to the booming town of Andrews. We left about 4:45 Friday morning and drove to Midland. We stopped on the way in Colorado City to see my grandmother for a bit but then headed into Midland. Once we got there we got to spend some good time with Justin and DeAndra, oh how I miss them!! We talked with them for quite some time before ventruing across the apartment complex to Cole and Lynn's place. Cole was still at work but Lynn was home. She tried to give away half of their belongings. Its was quite funny. We got yelled at when we started searching through the dvd box though. We then went grocery shopping and got food for the cookout we were planning for our parents the next day. The poor girl who checked us out. We split the payment into 6 and then paid with four different credit cards. It was very funny! We all then piled into our vehicles and drove to Andrews. When we got there we were sad to see that Dad wasn't home, but mom was. We decided to go ahead and go in but keep the cars hidden. Its normal for Kent to walk in the door because he lives with them so he walked in first and the rest of us followed. Mom's face was great! She had no idea! We did very good!! A little while later dad came home and was just as surprised. I love surprising my parents. There is nothing like expecting one kind and getting 6! haha.

That night we went to Cassidy's for dinner then to Nana and Grandad's for games. Stephen, Linda, Savannah and Rhett were there too. They were just as surprised as mom and dad were! We had fun playing games with all of them. Saturday I got up and almost everyone else was still asleep. I saw dad was out messing with the truck so I went out to talk to him. We ended up talking for about an hour. It was really good. I got to tell him all about Scottsdale Culinary Institiute. I haven't talked to him at all about anything so I didn't know what his reaction was at all. In true dad form, he said that if its what we want to do then go for it. If it doesn't work out then it doesn't work out but that a lot of people miss out on things because they wait too long or they don't just go for it. Thats my dad! After we talked it was time to fix breakfast! Mom and I cooked a big breakfast for everyone. While we were cooking we got to talk about Scottsdale some. It was good. We talked about what kind of place we were looking for and if we thought we might get to look into a house. We think we will end up in an apartment for location and money but we are unsure. Mom and I talked about how we haven't had any red flags or bad thoughts on the idea. So Chris and I are just going to proceed as planned and if along the way Fathers says no then we will go a different direction. But it was a good talk with Mom. After breakfast all the kids cleaned the house. We figured since we just showed up and invited people we should help clean the house. We then spent the afternoon goofing off and started cooking our big dinner. It was sooo good! Kent fixed backstrap, Chris fixed a brisket, Lynn made mashed potatoes and pasta salad, Nanny made banana pudding, I helped prep veggies to grill, Lynn also cooked our asparagus and we grilled chicken too. It was a great meal!! Nana, Grandad and Rhett came over and Nanny drove in from Colorado City too. Of course we played games afterwords and watched the Nascar race...which was followed by a very exciting conversation on who was in the wrong. It was funny. Of course Dad and I did some damage at Hand and Foot this weekend. We killed mom and Grandad by a good 10,000 points and Chris and Scuba by about the same.

Sunday we got up and all went to church. It was good to see some sweet faces! Then we all went back to the house and had some leftovers for lunch. Scuba and I agreed the honey do only got better after the first day. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun. It was good to just get to hang out with the family and relax. It was also good to talk with my parents face to face about Scottsdale. Chris and I are still very excited about it and can't wait to see what happens next!

More information

Monday evening I talked with a lady from Scottsdale Culinary Institute on the phone for a while. It was an interview for the school. Every prospective student has to go through one either by phone or face to face. So Monday I was armed with every question I could think of, my pen to write notes and my husband sitting on the couch across from me. Deanna is the name of the lady I have been talking with. She is very nice, helpful and excited to be able to help people. She told me at the beginning of the phone call that this would be an interview (I thought it might be, knowing everyone had to do one, but I wasn't sure if this would be mine.) She said that if at any point during the interview I felt this wasn't the place for me to let her know and we could end the call or if she felt at any point that I wouldn't be a good fit she would do the same. We talked for a good 45 minutes. She went through her list of questions and information tid-bits I would need. She told me about the Career center and how they are the ones who help direct you through the externship and then help place you in a job after graduation. She said the Chefs are there to help teach you but they are also there to pass on the batallion to the next generation of chefs. She said they like it when you pick their brains, they want to be able to teach you everything they can. I would be in class Monday through Friday either morning classes (7-12) or midday classes (12-6). I could then have a job while in school (which will be very important for Chris and I). She said that she thought the Associates of Culinary Arts would be the way for me to go. I didn't really understand this because after looking though the programs I thought the Bachelor's would be best because of what I would ultimately like to do. I asked Deanna about this and she said the reason was that the Assoc. is the beginning of the Bach. program. So if, before I do my externship, I want to go ahead and do the Bach. I can talk to her about it and get switched over to the Bach. program and then I would graduate with two degrees in the same amount of time. HOW COOL?!?! Yes, I would like lots more fluff on my Resume for the same amount of time please! Deanna said she would have the dates for the start of classes after the beginning of the year in about 2 weeks. She is going to call me then and we will go from there.

After that phone call Chris and I really wanted to look more into the seminary in the area. So I spent a lot of time yesterday reading about it and Chris e-mailed a couple of my questions to the lady at the school to find out some more information. I was encouraged by what we found out. The Seminary is set up so that students can continue in the ministries they are already involved in and finish school. The classes are set up to work around someone's already existing life and career. I thought that was cool. I also found that on the Diploma program Chris would be entering goes along the same exact class course as the MDiv he wants except you have to have 8 hrs of biblical languages for the MDiv and you don't for the DTh. Well I wondered if you could go back and get the 8 extra hours or if he would need to go back through the entire program to get his MDiv. We found there were two options. He could either finish his undergrad and then do the MDiv or there is an exceptions way in. If you get into the Diploma program and after at least 20 complete credit hours if you have a 3.25 and a few other requirements (certian classes taken) then you can apply to be moved to the MDiv program on an exception. Chris wanted to know after finding this out if it was something they do very often. He e-mailed the lady he had been asking questions to and (there were 92 students enrolled at this seminary campus in 2008) she said that if you meet the requirements they will help you out and move you. Basically you just need to keep your grades up. She said they have a few students now that have done it by exception. That was encouraging for us. Chris is so smart. His big thing with school is feeling like its relevant and being interested. He is ADD (has been all his life) and so his focus can be very short, but he can get into the MDiv program pretty easially I think. We are going to get him back on his medication while in school so he will have a better focus time. He was also telling me last night about some of the details of the school he found. He said the school is very missions oriented. That is something he is really excited about. The school is very diverse in itself. You can tell when you read the requirements and the last one is that you take the test to make sure you are proficient in the English language. Its a very cool thing. Chris thinks it would be a good fit. We think the smaller classes will help too.

We talked last night and we really feel this is the direction we are suppose to be going. I keep wanting to not do things because what if we aren't suppose to go? Although at the same time I feel like we are...a lot of my thoughts are coming from this has only been a week and I want to make sure it isn't hype and that its really what we are suppose to do. With it only being a week its amazing what all has fallen into place in a week. So Chris and I are going to continue to research and move forward until we feel like this isn't where we are suppose to be doing. We can't really do a whole lot to move forward except things we were planning anyways, mostly saveing as much money as possible. We will continue to research as much information as we can though. Its exciting. We are praying Father will guide us in our next steps and show us if this isn't right.

One of the coolest things to be about this whole process is that I can already see how God is using it to not only show us where he wants us next but to draw us to him. I feel, for the first time in a long time, that I'm drawing nearer to him. I get into modes where I get so distant and I feel it in my heart but I feel kind of lost like I can't find my way back. I feel it now. I feel the draw and I can't even put into words how amazingly awesome it feels. I look back at times when I felt close to Father and I long for that. Now, I feel like I remember how to get there. Praise the God! Its a great feeling!!

I love music. Its pretty much wonderful. The lyrics below are from a song called From the Inside Out. Its awesome! It came over my radio a few minutes ago and, as I'm sitting in my office at work, I wanted to sing at the top of my lungs, but since I sing about as good as those people you see on the American Idol auditions that got rejected, I didn't. But I did quitely praise in my chair.

Your will above all else My purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting Your light will shine when all else fades

Neverending your glory goes beyond all faith

and the cry of my heart is to bring you praise

from the inside out Lord my soul cries out

In my heart in my soul I give you control

Consume me from the inside out

Lord let justice and priase become my embrace

to love you from the inside out.

Father I praise you for your neverending, unconditional love. Thank you for friends and family who are willing to listen, pray for and support us in every way they can. Guide us Father. Lord show me what pitch and notes to play to keep in rhythm with your song. Lord show me how to sing your song.

Scottsdale or, um bust??

Scottsdale Culinary Institute. Sounds pretty cool right? Its the number 5 culinary school in the nation. Its a Le Cordon Bleu school, if you don't know much about culinary things thats like the big sha-bang of culinary schools. Le Cordon Bleu is the elite. Recently I got this crazy idea that it would be a cool thing to go to culinary school and open my own restaurant that would cater to people who have crazy food allergies like I do. I told Chris about it and he thought it was a pretty cool idea and that I should look into schools. I started looking at schools in Texas, because is there really any other place to be? I looked up some information about schools in general and found that there were two major institutes in the culinary field, Art Institute schools that do all sorts of things and Le Cordon Bleu schools. Of the two I was more impressed with LCB, mostly because they focused completely on culinary. I then looked at the ones here in Texas. There is one in Austin and one in Dallas. If you know me very well you know I have about a -10 desire to live in either of those cities or in Houston. But, I looked because like I said, is there anywhere else but Texas??? Well of course I did look at New York's because thats where the Culinary Institute of America is and it doesn't get any better than the CIA! I think I want to live in New York about as much as I'd like to live in Houston. But I had to look. I quickly found that New York was the number one state in the nation for culinary arts with California being second, Arizona being forth and Texas being fifth. (Yes, I know I skipped number three...I can't remember what it was.) Well I then found a list of cities, basically the major culinary cities in each of those states. Looking on the list for the Texas city (of course) I found Austin, but right above that was a link that said "Scottsdale". I think I really just liked the name, but I clicked and was hooked approximately 10 minutes later. There is something about this place that captivated me. I looked at the Texas Culinary Institute but wasn't near as impressed. Scottsdale is beautiful. One thing I hate about big cities is the traffic. When Chris and I go to Houston Will normally drives while Chris rides in the front seat and I lay down in the back. I want to cry it scares me to bits!! Scottsdale could easily be considered a suburb of Phoenix. But by looking at it on Google Earth it looks like what I know Tuscon to be. Its a big city but its built like a small town. I've driven in Tuscon and I wasn't scared. I liked it. Scottsdale appears to be this way. Cool right?

Well about that time Chris had texted me from work to say he was so bored! I told him I had been looking at schools and he asked me about them. I asked if he thought I was crazy yet after telling him which one caught my eye. He said he didn't think I was. I went home that evening and this lady called me from SCI because I had put a request in for more information. I talked with her for a while and was so excited by the end of the conversation. She loved my restaurant idea. Talking with her gave me some good information. She also sent me a link with all sorts of school information I was wanting. It sounds really cool.

So one of my thoughts through all of this is what will Chris do? This is my dream, why would he even go if there wasn't some point for him too. I'm sure here he would insert that he would go anywhere with me for whatever reason, but I didn't want to drag him somewhere that gave nothing to him. Well Thursday I came home and he had like 6 websites open on the computer, each one about Scottsdale. He told me that he was looking into churches in the area and he found a Baptist Seminary. He has been wanting to finish his degree so he can go to Seminary. I've always loved this idea because I think I would like to be a minister's wife. I love my youth minister's wife and I wanted to mean as much to his kids as she meant to me. Chris looked a little into the school that evening and found that they have Diploma programs which are programs that you can do without an undergrad degree and then do a Masters. He really wants to get a Masters in Divinity. Well he could do it though this school. How cool right?

Sounds perfect right?? Here is where everything else starts going on in my heart and my head. I grew up in the same house, same bedroom my whole life. I wouldn't trade it for the world, I loved it. When I was 18 I moved across the state to College Station, TX where I have lived for the last five years. I love Texas. But, Scottsdale is defiantly in Arizona. I love Bryan/College Station. I think of it as my home. Scottsdale is 18+ hours away. Its real far. Real far. Its about 10-11 hours from my parents and 15 from Chris's. Wow. Earlier this evening Chris and I were talking about our future. We have almost been married a year and we love Bryan/College Station and would both love to graduate from Texas A&M University and have bling known as the famous Aggie Ring. But, somethings different now. For about the last month I think God has been preparing me for a change. I have kind of known that but I thought it would be something much smaller. I've seen how Father has put people in our lives and how he has separated me from people lately. I know he is doing something. Chris and I feel like its time to move on. We don't know what that means. It might me Scottsdale, it might mean something completely different. Either way change is coming.

I love puzzles. I get it from my mom, granted she is so much better than I am at them I like them a lot. I like to see how this crumble of pieces all fit together and I like the accomplishment I feel when I'm done. I think Father likes them too, but his are bigger and more profound. His are life pieces. I feel like he has been doing that with this. He has taken all these worries and things and put them into place. The culinary school and the seminary are within blocks of each other. There is a Banfield within a block from the culinary school where Chris could probably get a job. Its crazy.

Insert more fear. I don't know if I'm cut out for this. Do I really want to do this? I don't know if I can handle this. Culinary school is big. I'm not good enough to be some hot shot chef, much less have my own restaurant. What am I thinking?? I would probably end up working in a restaurant somewhere that might be pretty nice. What if I never see my family? What if I get out there and can't handle it? What if I miss my family and friends too much? What then? -- Thats pretty much what I feel. This afternoon I was walking around my house doing little things when I stopped in my entry way to my dining room, kitchen, and hall. There I have a set of Tul dry erase markers and on the end they have arrows (it is to show which side is magnetic) I laughed because I had been sign in my head "is this really what I'm suppose to do?" to Father and I looked at the arrows. I then scanned the living room to have my eyes stop on a big sign that says "pray often". I laughed. Told Father I understood and a little later walked into my front bedroom. I was hugging Chris and my eyes stopped on a word I have written on my wall, "Pray". See what I'm getting at?? I have a lot of praying to do. Scottsdale seems right, but I don't want to be wrong. I want to do what Father has for us. I feel like he is putting this together. Chris called and told his mom, she took it really well. My mom took it really well. She told me tonight that there are times I'll tell her about ideas I have (and I have had some funny ideas) but that every time I brought one up she would get a knot in her stomach, but with this, she didn't. She said I sounded passionate and for some reason she doesn't have the knot. It all seems right.

Now its time to pray.