11/24/11

this is the big day...thanksgiving!!! thanksgiving is actually at the top of my favorite holiday lists. i love that it is not as crazy chaotic as christmas, but family still gets together, its a beautiful time of year with all the colors (did you know that i love orange and red?), and we get to eat all this crazy awesome good food! this year was the first for me to host. i have had my mom, little bro nate, peter's sister laura, and her husband bob, peter and myself around the house...cooking, laughing, making a fire pit, reading, and relaxing. i miss those who are not here, both friends and family!

this year i am so thankful, for so many things. i have really enjoyed taking time (almost) each day thinking about what i am thankful for. i am so blessed!

a year ago at this time, we were in michigan giving thanks with my family. we had recently found out that Charlotte was sick. we were pretty torn up and not sure what to do. this year, looking back, i am so thankful for the decisions that we made for our little girl. i am so thankful for the time that we had with her. i am sad today that she is not here...that we are down a high chair at the table this year, but i am so thankful for the 22 weeks that she was with us. we will be so thankful when we get to see her again.

looking forward, we are so excited about all that God has in store for us! we are really loving texas, our church, and our new friends! we are so thankful for all that has happened and we are looking forward to this next year!!

may God richly bless each of you! may we all be thankful everyday for every blessing!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

blessings, ALo

11/23/11

two today!!

yesterday i was thankful for chick-fil-a. i seriously love that place!!! it is one of the few fast food places that i dont feel like getting sick after eating there! plus, the price it totally right! :)

today i am thankful for helpful hands! my sister-in-law laura has been a huge help in the kitchen this week! i am not sure that i could pull off thanksgiving without her. bob, laura's hubby, has also done his share around the house...in fact, he and peter built a fire pit in the backyard this afternoon!!! i am thankful for fire pits!!

now, everyone needs to come visit...fire pit and dessert, what else could you want?

i am thankful that my mom, little bro nate, laura, and bob are here to celebrate thanksgiving with us!

have a very happy thanksgiving...eat too much!! :)

blessings, ALo

11/21/11

today, day 21, i am thankful for my mom's spaghetti recipe! :) we ate good tonight!! :)

just gearing up for turkey day! :)

blessings, ALo

11/20/11

wow...i have not been this tired at 8:30pm in a long time!!

yesterday i was thankful for my husband's willingness to do house projects...and to save us a lot of money!! peter got up on some borrowed scaffolding to change a fan/fixture in the living room and the light fixture in the foyer. both ceilings are very high (about 25 feet) and the electricians were going to charge us $1100 to do the job. thank you, peter!! love you!!

today i am thankful for thanksgiving week! i cant wait to have some family and friends gathered at our home!! here is to hoping that i get everything done!! :)

praying for my sweet friends, robin and blake! today would have been their baby bean's 1st birthday. i was blessed to be with them today to set off balloon messages and gather a few leaves from the tree they planted in his memory. i love this family...so glad that baby nash is here to celebrate this year!! makes me miss Charlotte!!!

blessings, ALo

11/18/11

another two-a-day! this week has just been super busy, but in a good way! yesterday i got to hang out with my friend/work buddy/partner in crime, etc. rachel and i laughed and talked and ate and drove to huntsville, tx, and went to women of cof study. we were literally together for 13.5 hours! i am so thankful for not just a great work partner, but a good friend. it is so fun because our sense of humor is pretty similar, we both love gospel music, and our husbands get along great!!! love ya, rach! its k, as in know!! :)

today i am thankful for football...not just any football...texas high school football! i have been a fan of the show friday night lights for a long time and have been pretty sad since the show ended. tonight i experienced the real deal!!! cy woods, one of several big high schools in our district, was playing katy high school tonight. we have quite a few guys in our high school ministry from cy woods, it was being played at the berry center (a 9,000+ person stadium and it was sold out), katy is ranked #1 in the state of texas and #6 in the nation...needless to say our TeamBringIt was super excited about going. we didnt get there until half time because of an awesome dinner at church with our international team, but the last half was really exciting! cy woods ended up loosing, but it was still a really great game and so fun to be a part of! i wish that my little bro, nate, had been here to go with me...he would have loved it. it was so fun to be there with our whole team (jason, blake, rachel and me) and so many of our awesome students! i am so blessed!

i am off to hang with my cool sister-in-law and new(ish) brother-in-law. laura (peter's sister) and bob (her hubby) got here tonight to spend the week with us for thanksgiving. we are all looking forward to just relaxing on the couch and hanging out!! cant wait for my mom and nate to get here on wedenesday!!

have a great weekend!!

blessings, ALo

11/16/11

i didnt blog yesterday, but not because i wasnt thankful for something...it just got to be very late too soon! yesterday i was thankful for my big comfy couch!! peter and i babysat for jason (the youth pastor) and jacqueline's kids (caylem 6 and caylee 2). our friends, rachel and amos and their little boy, levi (2) came over too. by the end of the night we were all piled on the couch, chillin!! i am thankful for my new, big, comfy couch!!!

today i am thankful for God's protection and blessing of safety!!! i was involved in a minor car accident today...thankfully no one was hurt and there was not serious damage to the vehicles, but i was still pretty shaken up by it! jason (the college/young adult/foundations pastor) and gena and their family of five kids are in the process of moving. i asked jason the other day if i could help out and we agreed that me taking the kids for a while would be good for jason and gena and fun for me. i had been looking forward to it for a few days!! this morning, when i saw jason in the gym, he had warned me that his kids loved to play jokes and pranks on people. in fact, yesterday the prank they were pulling last for over an hour on someone else! so, being warned, i was ready for anything with these crazy kids! i went to the house to get the kids right after school, switched cars with jason (i can not legally carry five kids in my 4runner, so i took their expedition) and then we were off to the dollar store for snacks before going to see the movie "puss in boots". as we were leaving the dollar store, we were t-boned in the parking lot. the other driver did not look for oncoming traffic before pulling out! :( thankfully, neither of us were going fast. unfortunately, he hit us on the passenger side back seat door...right where jacob was sitting (i think jacob is 7). he must have been pretty shaken up because he quickly traded places with one of his older brothers once we were stopped. i called jason immediately to ask him to come up to the parking lot to help me deal with the situation. the accident happened right in front of a home depot, and as it turned out, jason was right inside that home depot buying paint for the new house. i know that it was not a coincidence...God was just looking out for my sanity by not making me wait long for help! by the time the police came (which was apparently not needed because a parking lot is private property) and everything was sorted out, we had missed too much of the movie. so, we decided that i would take the kids over to a fast food restaurant for dinner while jason finished up at home depot. while pulling into the restaurant, i hear alyssa (the youngest, 6) say, "oh, no!! my gatorade is spilling all over me!!" oh great!!! not just any gatorade...it was red...and it was all over her clothes, the seat, and the floorboard!! poor thing, she did not want to get out of the car. her brothers kept telling her that it looked like she peed her pants. :( wow...what an afternoon! gena called me to tell me not to worry about it...that the kids were fine, that the clothes and car could be washed, and that the kids still wanted to see the movie with me! these kids were so great through the whole thing!! the oldest, caleb (12) was such a big help with the younger kids! by the end of dinner, the kids were cracking jokes about everything that had happened. we even joked about this being a bad prank. they cant wait to see what i can pull off on our next outing! :) i am so thankful that both jason and gena were gracious and understanding about the situation! i am sooooo thankful that no one was hurt!!!

i promise that i am a good driver and responsible when put in charge of kids...today was just not a good example! :) here's to hoping my road trip tomorrow with rachel goes much better!!!

blessings, ALo

11/14/11

i am so thankful for people who are passionate about ministry!!

this week will be such an encouragement to me!!!

at church, we (Cofteambringit, our student leadership team) are teaching the foundations class. foundations is kinda like an internship program. they have classes, serve/volunteer in all the different areas of the church, workout (the strengthen their physical body...so cool) etc. they are such an awesome group of people who are passionate about the things going on in church ministry. it will be so fun to be in class helping them understand why we do what we do with the students.

this week, COF is having their annual "serve the world" weekend at church. i am looking forward to meeting the COF staff from around the world and hearing what God is doing in their ministries. this will include people from mexico, costa rica, africa, and right here in the u.s. we will have several opportunities to worship, chat, and pray with them. i cant wait to see what encouragement i walk away with after interacting with these amazing leaders!

tonight, peter and i had the opportunity to meet with kim and brett. they are new staff with campus crusade for christ (cru) and will be heading to LSU in the next few weeks to help college students grow and develop their relationship with the Lord. they are so excited about what God is calling them to do and about being a part of an organization dedicated to mentoring college students and growing their faith. peter and i are excited to be a part of their "ministry team" and to encourage them in prayer! we are praying the rest of their financial support comes in soon so that they are more than ready to start the semester in baton rouge in january!

today also makes me think of my friend, elizabeth, and her husband steve, who serve with athletes in action (aia). if you have been following my blog for a while, then you know that elizabeth started a battle with cancer the beginning of the year. right now, she is cancer free and we are praising God for that!!! i am so encouraged by elizabeth and steve. while she is very real about what she feels and what she is going through, this has not stopped either of them from following God and helping student athletes in their relationship with God. in the midst of some very serious heartache, they did not back down from their passion for serving others!

thank you, Lord, for using people's unique gifts and talents in different ways to reach so many people, even if it means stepping out of their comfort zone!!

i am praying for the foundations class, for COF staff around the world, for kim and brett, and for steve and elizabeth...that they will all be encouraged to continue in what God has called them to do. praying for God to guide each of their steps toward those who need Him and praying that God will bless each of them in all that they do!!

blessings, ALo