Continuing the Journey

It has been 2 1/2 wonderful years of marriage and just over 2 years living in Orange County. We have been blessed with receiving two great educations, meeting amazing friends, joining a fantastic church and just loving life down here. But now it is time for a new adventure and we are VERY excited about it. Our journey leads us back to Oregon for now for new opportunities and adventures up there. 

We will be moving May 20th and moving back to Boring for the time being as we have a home to stay in there. We both have job opportunities and Braden is still going for his nursing degree so he will continue his education up there. We have some great ideas in store for our future and are fully relying on God to lead us where he wants us to be. We are SO excited for what is next for us! Give us a call or shoot us a text to get together, we would love to see you!!

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!