Fun trips, new seasons, and the end of the semester!

We have a lot of fun and exciting things coming up! As Braden and I anxiously try to finish this semester and keep our grades strong, we are grateful for a trip to Colorado to see Laura and (hopefully not) Sam. HAHA okay, let me explain that comment. For as much as we want to see Sam so badly, it is better that he stays with the Washington Redskins, gets some playing time, and gains health insurance!! So yes we love him but really want to him but you understand.

If Sam does get to stay on and play this next weekend then I will fly to Dallas and attend the game with Laura!!! I am so excited to possibly get to go to an NFL game and see Sam play! But if that doesn't happen, please be praying for another opportunity. 

Anyway, we are grateful for a break from school, even if it only for a few days. When we come back it is crunch time (literally) 3 weeks and the semester is over!!! I am still looking for a job to start in January and Braden is anxious to start his nursing program on January 19th (he just got his scrubs and he is so cute in them :) 

When the semester is over we will take our annual road trip up to Oregon for Christmas (and are hoping for a snowy one!) We look forward to seeing friends and family very soon.

Thanks for catching up with us!

I just want to...

I am getting so tired of trying to meet the standards of this world. I just want to be a servant, to help people, to bring joy to the world, not for my benefit but to glorify God and through that...being pleased with my work. 

I am searching for a job to begin in January and although I know it is still 2 months away...I am becoming discouraged. I do not want to work a job that is self-satisfying (working my way up the corporate ladder, making lots of money), I just want to help people. But then I have to think of rent, bills, and food. I have so many ideas of what I want to do but I can't pick just one and I keep thinking in the back of my mind...how are we going to make it?

These are my passions:

I want to teach Leadership to teenagers, how to cope in the world and lead by example

I want to coordinate events for godly marriages and ministries

I want to capture the beauty of this world through photographs of landscape and share it with others

I want to help the needy find homes

I want to encourage people

I want to feed people

I just want to love

BUT I am still struggling with the fact that it isn't what I want...it is what God wants me to do. But when I read this list I think "ok God, why wouldn't you want me to do these things? Why aren't there opportunities for me right now?" I cry out to Him and ask for His guidance and patience...it is hard. 

Some fun things coming up!

It has been a month since my last post so I thought it was time to put something up. We have two fun and exciting things coming up: The first is that my best girlfriend is coming down to visit this next Thursday! I have been pleading with her to come down for the (nearly) 2 years that we have been down here (can you believe it?) and she finally had a break at school. I am so excited to have her here for 4 days, just her and I (oh ya, and Braden :) Normally when I come up to Oregon my time is limited to spend with everyone and Shana and I are lucky if we get half a day to spend together. I am so stoked!

Next month Braden and I have the amazing opportunity to fly to Colorado to visit Sam and Laura! At that time it will have been 5 months since we have seen them. We will be celebrating my 23rd birthday while we are there and also Thanksgiving, we are so looking forward to it. I also view this trip as a medical prescription because if I have to endure another Nov. with 80 degree days I will probably go crazy! I am in need of COLD Colorado weather. SO excited for this trip and Laura is going to take pictures of Braden and I!

School is school, just staying busy. I am searching for a job to start in January (please pray that companies are hiring). Braden is half way through his last pre-req's and will start Nursing school is January. Things are going well for us, just trying to stay sane with all the craziness of school. Hope all is well every one of you.

Some thoughts on fall

It is this time of year that I really wish I was home in Oregon to experience the fall weather. I am so envious of all of you up there who are seeing colorful trees, some rain, maybe even putting on multiple layers! DARN YOU! OK, so I am a little jealous. What can I say other than, I am a true Northwesterner and need some crisp weather for comfort. Already I am burning my fall candles, have a leaf table cloth out, and my front door is adorned with an autumn greeting! Tomorrow I think I will do some baking to ring in the new season.

Alright, enough with my ranting (for now, I am sure you will be reading more of it). On a different note, I started painting again. Not any of you knew that I use to paint but I loved to do art when I was little and I took quite a few classes. However, I never really thought twice about taking up painting but our roommate suggested that we go to Michaels the other night when I wasn't feeling well. She was getting some canvases and paint that was on sale and I thought "What the heck!" It was actually a lot of fun picking stuff out. On Friday I felt a little stressed and very tired from school so I took out my paints and the fresh, clean canvases and it was such a release to paint. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again. 

Summer has ended

We are back to the daily grind...of school that is. We are very busy right now and just trying to keep up with each other, school work, the house...and just life in general. Things seem a bit...what's the word... tedious, dull. Braden is taking is last pre-reqs for nursing and I am finishing my last credits for my degree, however those last credits are mostly general ed. classes that the school is having me take from when I transferred. Needless to say I have little motivation for these last classes. At least Braden has the newness and excitement of the nursing program starting in January.

So I am trying to find ways to liven things but a bit. I am going to start a food blog with recipes, tips, and restaurant reviews! I am so excited to start this project...so stay tuned for the debut of the blog (still trying to come up with a name, any suggestions?) 

Not much new for now other than we have a roommate renting our spare room and things are going really well so far. It has been a bit of an adjustment with having to take all of our stuff out of the spare room and SHOVE it into ours, literally. So we are still organizing, downsizing, and getting use to three people in the house. Luckily we are all busy and there have even been days when we haven't seen her at all because of our schedules. 

Other things on my mind: I miss Oregon's fall weather. I know all of you up there are reading this and thinking "do you want to switch spots? I'll take the beach, you take the rain" but honestly, it has been sunny here for about 7 months straight and I need a little rain and cold weather for my mental well-being. 

Well, I would love to write more but I have been sick for about 6 days and can only take so much of the computer with my headache. More later! 

A New Adventure

We have been waiting a long time to finally get to post this....Braden has been working so hard for the past year to complete his BA in Business Administration while also taking pre-req's for nursing school. He applied at the end of May for the Post-Baccalaureate BSN program at Concordia University, Irvine (where we both attend). After applying he then went through the process of interviewing with the head honcho's of the nursing department. Now, 6 weeks later, our prayers (along with nerves and anxiety) have been met and Braden has BEEN ACCEPTED! We are so thrilled and grateful for this opportunity that the Lord has chosen to place in front of us. 

The program is a grueling 12 month, accelerated program, for students who have already completed their undergraduate along with the pre-req's for nursing. Braden will be giving his final presentation this month for his BA and will be done with his undergraduate. The nursing program begins January 19th and is very intense. The traditional nursing programs are 2 years (after  pre-req's have been completed) but he will be going to school 6 days a week, 7:30am to 4:30pm, with clinical on the weekends. It will be a tough year, however it will also be so humbling and rewarding. We are looking forward to this new adventure, although we know it will be extremely difficult. Please pray for our time together and also for Braden to remain sane :). 

On August 12th we will be driving up to Oregon with two friends from down here and we will get to show them around the Portland area. We are so excited to see friends and family while we are there, we miss you all!! Pray for safe travels.

That's it for now, we wanted to let you all know what is going on with us and thank you for your support and prayers!

Cha Cha Cha Changes!!!

Everything is changing...and most of it is good! My little sister Emilie just married Kevin Johnson last Saturday and Braden and I were both able to make it to Oregon for the wedding and to visit family. Laura and Sam are moving to Colorado on Monday to set down roots and start their little family there. Jason and Ranae continue to be in transition with prospects ahead of them for different jobs. Ben and Brandy are always busy with their three beautiful girls and will be heading to Texas with my parents for a week of Family Camp. Braden will be graduating in August and then I will be graduating in Dec. SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING!!! It is quite overwhelming and as I write this I just got off work and still have aerobics class and bible study tonight...so much to do.

I am wanting to make a mind-set of mine to slow down and take everything in right now because it is all happening so fast. I want to spend time to keep up the house, make more meals together and enjoy our amazing Cali area before we leave (and we don't know when that will be yet). We hope that Braden is accepted to the nursing program and then we will be here longer. If not, we may be back in Oregon in 6 months or possibly somewhere else...not sure. We are just along for the journey and God is leading our future...who knows what could happen. Thanks for keeping up with us!

God given abilities

You know me...I am a planner, love to be organized and make schedules, lists...AND CHECK THEM OFF! So, when planning for the future...well lets just say that it is impossible because as hard it is for me to admit, I am not in control of my life. We are finishing up school, Braden is looking into job prospects and I am praying about a MA program at Gonzaga for Organizational Leadership. However, at this point (and for awhile now) I have had a realization!

I have been thinking and praying about where I can put my experience and skills into practice to actually help other people. As much as I love event planning, and will probably do that part-time, I really want to use my experience in leadership positions to reach out to women. I have been blessed with years of leadership training in high school, college, and at the church. After I graduate I really want to reach out to high school, college age and other young women and speak on Christian Leadership as a woman, how to use the gifts that God has given each and every one of us, and also how to be a good follower of a leader. It will take me awhile to become established but I feel that this is where the Lord is leading me. I look forward to finding out how God will use me in this facet. If any of you have connections through a church or school, I would love to meet the young women there and pass on the knowledge that God has given to me.

The end and the beginning!

This semester has finally ended for me (Braden is almost done too) and like may be able to slow down a bit in that department. I finished my last final on Wednesday evening and Braden will be done next Wednesday. However...we only have a short break as he starts summer school on May 25! So next week we are taking a short vacation and driving to Las Vegas to see Taylor Swift in concert!!! It is a much needed time away for just the two of us and we are very excited!

Some other good news, Best Buy FINALLY gave me a "junk out" for a new computer. About a month ago my motherboard went out for the 4th time in 6 months and I has been soooooo frustrated. Now, I have washed my hands of the PC world and am the proud owner of a Mac (let's just hope I have better luck the second time around). I would hate to think that it is I that is cursed when it comes to electronics...so I will blame it on HP.

Next month we will be up in Oregon again for a short time for my little sister, Emilie's wedding. We are also excited to see the rest of our family and our adorable nieces whom we miss each and everyday :(.

The end is near for Braden as he only has 2 classes left at CUI and then a final presentation in August! I am so proud of him, he has worked very hard to achieve this!

We are settling into our new, little house. We still have quite a bit of organizing to do but have had some setbacks with family in town every weekend (which we love :) This next week that is goal, to have to house organized and somewhat decorated. Thanks for sharing in our lives and keeping up with us on here!

Craziness!

Ok, so this has not been updated because we have been a spiral of craziness as the Anders household. For starters, this semester is the hardest we have been in yet (Braden is finishing up his BA in Business AND taking pre-nursing classes and I have 6 classes, 3 of which are 400 level). As most of you know, we also have been in the process of moving for awhile as we were searching and finally found a new place. HOWEVER about 2 weeks before we were suppose to move my darling husband got into a snowboarding accident and hurt both of his wrists (therefore putting him out of commission for the move). So I, small muscles and all, packed up our (suprisingly full) apartment all by myself. I am telling you that THAT is never happening again...WHEW. We went through a lot of ups and downs with during that time because Braden was first told his wrists were not broken, then were broken, then not again (just some bad contusions on them).

So the apartment was packed up and we enlisted two couples from our bible study to help us move the big stuff. I am clarifying "big stuff" because after they got the furniture out I still took about 4 trips in our truck with boxes and bags and all of the other stuff from our apartment and then deep cleaned it. Although it has been crazy, we are so grateful to be out of the apartment and into our cozy cottage with a little more space and some very friendly neighbors.

We have already had three visitors to our new place: Ranae, Jason, and Dee (Braden's mom). We have had a wonderfully busy time with all of them.

During this time we also found out that unfortunately Braden did not get accepted into the Nursing program at the school. He is planning on possibly reapplying after he knocks out a couple more pre-req's for it.

I have been accepted into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society and will be initiated this next Monday! I feel so blessed to have been chosen and look forward to meeting other members!

This semester only has about 1 month left and I am looking forward to breathing a sigh of relief. However, we are both taking summer classes and you can pray that I find an internship/job very soon. We are also searching for a second vehicle.

SOOOOOOO life is wonderfully crazy and we are both exhausted. We are looking forward to a little Rest and Relaxation in May (for about a week) and then back to the daily grind of papers, tests, and presentations. PLUS we get to look forward to my little sister Emilie's wedding in June. Thanks for keeping up with us and thank you for your prayers!

Catching up...

It has been awhile since our last post but we are back in cali and have been very busy with school and work for the past few weeks. Braden and I both started a new semester and both have more classes than ever before!! My days begin around 6:00am and Braden's work days end around 11:00pm, so our schedules are a bit off. Fortunately we have been able to have early dinners together, bible study and sunday services.
Today Braden applied to a BSN program down here and we will find out in a few months if he is accepted. If he is, then we will be down here about 9 months longer than we had originally planned but Braden would be coming back with a BA in Business and a BS in Nursing! Exciting times, but also a lot of work in the coming year so please keep us in your prayers!
My sister Laura is getting married Feb. 20th, so we will be flying up for the wedding and flying right back for school. We are so excited and feel very blessed to be gaining Sam as a brother! Wish we could stay longer, but school is our priority these days. Also, the morning after we arrive back in cali, we will be going to our good friends wedding out on Catalina Island on the beach! It is an all day affair and we are very excited for that!
We are still looking for a place to move, our lease is not up until the first week in April so we have some time but we don't have very many options with the dog. AND where ever we do move to will be expensive no matter what...it will be nice to have an Oregon priced rent someday!
We miss all our friends and family in Oregon, and love you all! Here is our update, keep us in your prayers as you are in ours!