What a wonderful weekend with Chelsea's wedding. My sister is a great example of God's timing and learning to completely rely on Him. She was beautiful. And, her outside beautiful only showed her inside beautiful all that much more. She had a calm and graceful presence on her wedding day that showed her loved for Drew. There was tears of joy, laughs, hugs, and plenty of good cake. Their relationship is truly God inspired. I am so excited for them. Now there is a lifetime of marriage bliss ahead of them. :)

On a side note, every day while I'm in traffic, I think about the effects one car can make on the rest of the traffic. For example, on days that are sunny, the traffic is worse. Why? When that first peak of the sun hits, one car taps the breaks and puts down their visor. That 3 seconds of braking causing the car behind them to break, causing the car behind them to break, and so on. Now, for the sermon illustration. (Thanks dad.) Is there one quick sin that seems harmless in our life that is effecting our whole being (or the rest of traffic)? If so, it creates a stop or slow down from our destination. 

Weekend Warriors!

After the last two weekends, It's a good thing Jake and I both have the weekends off. Two weekends ago, we went to Fruita, CO to camp and mountain bike. Don't let the name fool you, it's as dry as it can be out there. We were biking in the desert. But, the world class status lived up to its name. It was great, fun biking. After our day of biking on Saturday, we went back to camp and started to set up. We were approached by a couple who asked if we were going to the big country music festival that was there that weekend. We said no, we were just there to bike. They asked us if we wanted to go and offered us their VIP tickets, which included free parking, free all you can eat food and drink, and free seats. The tickets were a $600 value and they just gave them to us. The bands that night was Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock. It was a fun time. Not the greatest bands, but worth the free tickets.

Last weekend, we went to Estate Park, CO. It was another weekend of camping and exploring. We went into Rocky Mountain National Park, which has great views and a road that takes you up and down over 10,000 ft. The highlight of that trip was having a moose come into our campsite while we were eating dinner. (See pic on FB). But wait, there's more. In the middle of the night, I woke to a heavy breathing outside our tent. My heart started pounding and I was silent. After it left, Jake rolled over and could hear me breathing heavy. He said it was a hooved animal and not to worry. When we woke in the morning, sure enough, it was a baby moose right by our tent and next to my head! It had run around in circles then came over to sniff us.
I can honestly say Jake and I both like Colorado more than we thought. We are excited to move into our new place tomorrow! And, I'm excited to go to Kelsey's wedding this weekend and gather with all my college friends next weekend! Ahhhhhh......summer!

Colorado or bust......

Well, here are on a new journey in Colorado. When I was little and we went to Colorado for vacation, all I could think about is how much I wanted to move to Colorado when I grew up. Little did I know, over 2 million people also wanted to do the same thing. I think that's the biggest "culture shock" here. People are everywhere. Don't get me wrong, there are still mountains, and the fun things we can do in the mountains, but geez-lots of people. Jake and I are going camping this weekend and hopefully we can find somewhere that doesn't involve lots of people.
We are excited that we have found a place to live in Golden, CO. We move in July 5th. That's where Jake works and it's a town that doesn't have the big city feel as much. Maybe I'll be able to keep up with my blog here in the mile high country.......  

December!

The other day I was watching my kids play outside and I realized Montana kids have more fun. Not every kid gets to play in the snow and ice everyday, or eat icecycles as a part of their daily diet. Winter up here has been abnormal. Not as much snow as usual and it has been melting during the day. Good for driving, bad for skiing. 
  The month of December has been busy. We started the month going to a Brian Reagan show that brought lots of laughs and a good time with friends from church. We also went to the Christmas Stroll downtown and passed out hot chocolate with Venture Church. The next weekend we went skiing and went to a Christmas bowling party for Jake's work. This weekend we have another Christmas party and the Christmas program for my work on Monday.
Jake and I also decided to join an indoor climbing gym. I went to a lesson on Thursday to get refreshed in belaying and the gear, then we climbed. I'm excited about it.
Can't wait till Christmas! 13 days until my family gets here!

Boom

My posts seem to be few and far between. I would like to thank Kimberly Oyler for reminding me to blog. Too easy to forget I guess. What's new in Bozeman? No snow. Yet. Just a smidge on the mountain tops. We had a few flakes yesterday, for maybe 5 mintues. My class was sitting at lunch, and I'm pretty sure Ms. Chelsea (my co-worker) and I were more excited than the kids. But, in anticipation of the snow, Jake gave me my Christmas present early......NEW SKIS!! Having a husband that works for retail is a win/lose deal. We get discounts on new clothes, ski/bike gear, but the down side is him working SO much.

I'm exciting about all the new things happening with our church. We have been doing lots of things in the community. The most recent was passing out candy downtown on Halloween. Thanksgiving we will be helping with the "Huffing for Stuffing" 5K run. It's a great group of people to be starting a church with and I'm excited to see where God takes us.

I'm pumped to see my family at Christmas. I think I'll start a countdown.......51 days!


Peace and Blessings!

And There Goes Fall.....

Fall is my favorite month. Too bad we don't get much of it here. I did have time for a leaf hunt with my preschoolers. Boy are they fun and a handful all at the same time. We went on a field trip to the Children's Museum last Thursday. It was lots of fun....although I did make one of my girl's cry. She asked me if I had the money she brought (it was $3 for the field trip). I said in a joking manner, "Oh no Maddy, I never got your money, I must have left it in our room." Oops.....wrong joke for a three year old. I made her cry. And yesterday I had a little girl whose shoes would not stay tied. I must have tied them at least seven times that day, so by the end of the day I asked her, " Addy, is there another pair of shoes you could wear tomorrow?" She informed me she did and I told her she should wear those shoes tomorrow. When I got to work today, I found out she was so upset and crying this morning because she didn't want to get in trouble by Miss Jamie because she was wearing the shoes that never stayed tied. I, of course felt so bad, and her parents realized it was just a mix up. But, I have learned my lesson with four year olds. Goodness. In other news, we are in a Winter Weather Advisory until tomorrow. Snow in the mountains tomorrow? I think yes!  

A Bozeman Weekend

Three thoughts are running through my head right now. First, how sore am I actually going to be tomorrow? Second, Bozeman  Mountian Bike rides are not like Oklahoma rides. And third, when will Jake get home so we can eat! This three day weekend was packed with three rides in the Mountains of Montana. Saturday was a warm up, my first ride here. We went 4 miles on a not too steep singletrack by a creek. Sunday we went up a pretty steep trail, but the descent was my favorite I have ever done. Probably 5 miles total. And, today we went with a girl I work with and her husband up a steep  trail that was difficult! That trail was about 7 miles up and 7 miles back. Jake and I got back and just plobbed down and didn't get up for awhile after. We were both tired. I am going to have to get use to the biking here! Tomorrow starts my third week at Heritage Christian School. It has been really great so far and the kids are wonderful. I learn something new from the kids everyday :) 

Perfect Timing

What a great couple of weeks it has been. I got the job I interviewed for at the early education center. I'm going to be teaching 4-5 year olds. What fun! I'm sure I'll be posting funny things they say or do during the day. We have been training these last couple of days for the church plant taking place here in Bozeman and that has been really great. We have already started friendships with the people also involved with the church plant. It amazing how God works in our lives. I'm excited to see what else happens as we venture on this journey. Our apartment is just right for us. It's two bedroom and so much more room than our last place. (If you ever saw our last place you know that wouldn't be hard to do.) We just got Internet in our apartment so hopefully I will stay up to date with my blog. Until next time.....

Time for a Change

We have made it! After about a week of travleing and visiting family, we arrived in Bozeman, Montana. Usually when I tell people we are moving to Bozeman the question that followed was, why Bozeman? We have no jobs, had no place to live and didn't know anyone here. Well, the answer; because we made a decision and took action. If we can't pick up and move just for the fun of it now, when will we ever be able to? We are livin on love, as my uncle would say. We could have waited around and seen where God wanted to take us and end up staying in the same place, but I believe God often wants to take us where we want and desire to go, we just have to take the action and do it. God gave us free will to do the things He gave us a desire to do. I know God has his blessing on us moving here. After we had decided to move here, we found out there is a Wesleyan Church plant happening and I know the pastor-awesome! God has already blessed us with an apartment in our price range and I have an interview on Monday for a teaching job. Bozeman reminds me of my hometown, Lawrence, only surrounded by mountains. Doesn't get much better than that. We have already met great people and have made connections around town. Oh, did I mention it's also very biker friendly, cars stop to let biker cross. Jake and I rode all around town today. Good times. I'm excited to see where the Lord takes us as we continue our journey in Bozeman.