June 13th here we come!

I know that it can't possibly be May 31st....whelp...I guess it is. Ok, ok time is flying by WAY too fast. Things are going great around here. We are absolutely staying as busy as humanly possible. Mike and I both only have one more weekend of traveling...WOO HOO! The following weekend we are home for the first time since we moved to Louisville (that's Loo-uh-vulle for those of you who are non-natives). Then the weekend after next we are on our way to the Dominican Republic. I can hardly wait for it. We are so ridiculously excited we can hardly sit still.

Mike and I have been busy bees in the office. They had NO trouble putting me to work especially. Now I have an idea of the crunch of deadlines needed to be a graphic designer. I'm so excited for this opportunity though. I feel like I'm getting MAJOR real world experience, in the comfort of a Christian environment.

Totally STOKED...I got my Nikon D-70 last week. It is absolutely the coolest camera EVER!!!! I can't wait to start shooting pics. I'm taking it to my friend's (Renee) wedding this weekend to get a feel for it.

Right now, we have enough money to go to the Dominican for the summer. Our plane tickets are booked to come back August 22nd. If the rest of our money comes in while we are in the DR, then we can stay. We are DESPERATELY praying for this scenario but know that we rest in God's will and safely in His hands.

We have a major opportunity to get the rest of our money in from a foundation called the Arlington Foundation. They give the tithe from the family-owned company to the foundation and then out to non-profits like us. We could get up to $50,000 which would be unbelievably amazing. Please be praying for this opportunity, it could be the break we have been praying for.

Welp, that's an update for you. Lots of fun things going on that we are so excited for. Please continue to pray for us, as we need it now more than ever. We miss you all! June 13th here we come!

Be His Hands

Well, my mother reminded me that I hadn't updated in a while...thank goodness for mother's!!! Haha. Anyway, a lot has happened since our last post and all things that are an amazing praise for the GLORY OF GOD!!!! First of all, praise to God that my last visit home for several months was amazing and fun and just what I would want it to be. We got to golf!!! WOO HOO. God stopped the rain for 3 hours so my dad, Mike and I could get 18 in. What a good God!!! :) We also got to redo yet another room in my parents' house. What awesome parents I have that they recognize my need for creative expression and Mike's need for manly, hands on projects :) and they let us test the waters on their house...gotta love that. It was also a huge praise because God totally surrounded all of us with peace. None of us shedded one tear, except for Abbey-she's so stinkin cute. (I had anticipated Niagara Falls, at least on my part) It wasn't like we were saying "goodbye", we were more like, "see ya later."

Also, we got the news that one of Mike's old churches in Michigan is wanting to support us at $3000.00 for the year! How amazing is that? God is seriously sooooo good. We also go today to talk to Hill-N-Dale Christian Church's mission board about if they are wanting to support us, so keep is in your prayers.

And another HUGE praise...WE BOOKED OUR TICKETS TO THE DOMINICAN!!!! Woo hoo. As of now, we only have enough in our account to stay til the end of August. So we booked the tickets with the anticipation of coming home at that time. But, if while we are there, the rest of our money comes in...we can stay as planned. We are TOTALLY praying for that to happen, but know that if God has other plans, we will be obedient.

We just want to send out a huge thanks to all of you who are supporting us either with prayer or finances. We feel surrounded by peace and confirmation that we are doing what God intended us to do. And as a result of all of your obedience to God, we are going out to be His hands...

Passport to Wisconsin

Hey all of you! We are in my home town in Wisconsin right now. We arrived yesterday afternoon and it was a great flight...so nice not to drive!!!! :) I was beginning to HATE the Dodge, which you know it has gotten bad if I would say that :)

Anyway, we already dove into renovation projects and have almost completed my mom's "calm room." It will be cool. I'm sad we won't be able to complete the room given our short time here, but at least we got my parents off to a good start.

We finally have both my parents and Mike's parents up and running with Skype and a webcam. If you are wondering what Skype is, that is how we will get ahold of people when we are in the DR. Go to www.skype.com and get a free download (it's similar to AIM but on a grander scale). If you have speakers and a microphone (and/or a webcam) you can talk to us as if we were talking on the phone and it's FREE!!! Yep, FREE. So you should sign up. Post a comment if you are interested and I will send you our Skype name.

Well, this is a brief one, just wanted to let ya'll know that we are safe and sound in Wisconsin. And no, for those of you who were wondering, we didn't need to have our passports. (Little joke with Mike's side of the family)

I'm still awful but I try

We are back in good 'ol Kentucky...what we now call home! The visit to Virgina was absolutely awesome. Great time for relaxing and resting (GOT LOTS OF SLEEP!!!!) and the presentation went off without a hitch. Praise Jesus for Emmanuel Wesleyan Church, they are supporting us at $250.00/mo. How awesome. We also got a phone call from Lakeport Wesleyan Church in Michigan and they would also like us to come up and do a presentation. Isn't God good? Right now...unfortunately though, we do not have enough to leave June 13th. I'm bummed, but I also know that God's timing is perfect. Brook is urging us to still book our plane tickets because we never know what could happen. As of right now, we need an individual or church to support us at $2,000/mo. Crazy, I know. But I belive God can bring that person or church into our lives. I whole-heartedly belive it. So right now, that is our big prayer. We do need to continue getting more individuals to support us, but we have to find someone that will do the $2000/mo donation before we can leave for the DR.

Life is great though. Mike and I have had so much time to see each other and hang out with each other. I don't ever want to take this time for granted. It is so awesome to have our lives coinciding so much. It was so awful hard when I worked and Mike went to school and we saw each other for about 3 hours a day. But God definitely prepared our hearts during that time. I feel like I'm on my honeymoon again! (don't even go there...I meant the spending time part) :)

Anyway, things are going well. We have a MAJORLY busy schedule ahead of us but I feel like I am becoming a travel expert. We fly to Wisconsin tomorrow to see my family. I am really looking forward to it. MORE GOLF!!! Yay!!! Haha. I shot a 130 on Tuesday with Mike, Joe and Josh. That's 14 strokes off my last golfing attempt! I'm still awful, but I try. :)

Does Life Ever Slow Down?

I am sorry to all of you "faithful readers" that I have not been more faithful in my posting. Nevertheless, here I am.

Things have been quite crazy. Leaving Marion took a LOT more work than we anticipated. But we finally arrived in Louisville a week ago and I feel like I have been sleeping ever since. Haha. Not really. But every chance we get, we do sleep. :) We had the awesome opportunity to attend the Kentucky Derby. We worked the merchandise booths for all three days. It was very cool to experience such an awesome historic place. The infield was interesting, filled with many many many intoxicated individuals, but seeing the women in their fancy dresses, big hats and high heels shoes made it all worth it. Ah...the things women will do for fashion. You KNOW that half of them were faking their smiles by the end of the day because my feet hurt wearing tennis shoes all day, let alone 6 inch stilletos.

We are in Virginia right now visiting Mike's family. We had another church presentation yesterday at their church. The church has decided to support us at $3000/yr. What a blessing! We continue to stay encouraged and still definitely feel God's leading to the Dominican Republic. In fact, I feel like this is more what God is calling us to do than ever because Satan is attacking us hard...and from every angle.

We need some major prayer this week concerning something that started many months ago. A lot of you know the awful experience we had with our wedding photographer...well the situation has escalated and it couldn't have come at a worse time. Please just keep this in your prayers as I know this is something that Satan is trying to use to discourage me.

The next thing on our docket is rest and relaxation until we return to Kentucky on Wednesday. We will be going golfing tomorrow, which if you haven't heard, has become my latest obsession. I've avoided the sport for 24 years, even though I have parents that love and adore golf. But of course, I have to marry into a family that loves and adores golf even more than my family does. I finally gave in and went golfing a couple weeks ago and now I'm pretty sure it's all I think about. I might have even had a dream about pink golf clubs last night (on sale at Target for $150.00)!!!

I will try and be more disciplined about updating. Hopefully things won't feel quite so fast-paced although it is already the second week in May. Wow. Does life ever slow down?

We are Kentucky-ans

This isn't going to be anything of significance. I will write more tomorrow. Just letting all of you faithful bloggers out there know that we have arrived safely in Louisville Kentucky.

Thank you for all your prayers.

the long haul

I know you all have been waiting anxiously for my next blog. I'm sorry it has been so long, life has been a little busy. Almost 5 days, two Uhauls and insane nights of sleep later, we are almost ready to leave for Louisville. I'm almost certain that I will sleep for about 4 days when we get there. Everynight for the last several nights I have been waking up at 5am. Well, today it was 4am, hence the time that I am writing this. I can't get the million of thoughts out of my head. Too much going on I'm sure. Mike told me to think of a soccer game or a vacation or something to try and calm myself, but with my creative mind it turns into an entire production by the end of the thought. Oh well, most nights I just got up and did something to pack, tonight I'm at the Diedrich's and I don't know how to work their TV so I'm just chillin' on the computer.

Anyway, so today's the big day. Kinda crazy that it is here already. I swear it was just yesterday that we took our first visit to meet with Brook and talk about the possibility of becoming missionaries with their organization. Now, here we are 4 months later and things are rapidly moving. Kinda exciting, dontcha think? I'm somewhat dreading the adventure of driving all of our junk (yes, junk...I can't believe how much stuff two people can accumulate) and unpacking it. But eh, only a few hours out of my life, right? I have to say, this experience has definitely given me second thoughts of EVER moving again.

Praise though, I've gotten in touch with a couple of friends from my past at Palm Beach Atlantic. I have been thinking about them a lot lately and just wondering what they have all been up to and my friend Amy advised me that they were all on MySpace. I know, I know...I sighed too when I heard the word MYSPACE. I seriously have not wanted anything to do with that thing ever since I heard of the craze people had over it. But it brought me back together with some old pals, so I can't complain. Of course its a little crazy, all of my friends are married and most of them have babies already (or on the way). It kinda puts life in crazy perspective when you realize you are old enough for your peers to have children.

Well, that is all. I don't know how frequently I will be able to update because Grandma Basham (Where we're staying) still uses dial-up and I really don't know how much patience I have. I promise that I will grin and bare it for at least twice a week or any other time I have access to high speed internet. We're officially about to start the long haul.