Here's a few updates to get you started:
1. The "dresser project" that I started a while back is now officially DONE! I finished the last dresser this past weekend, and I am very proud of how they came out. They are about as old as me, but they look brand new. I hope to be able to pass them on to my daughter one day! (that is, if I have one)
2. Youth group is going quite well. Friday nights have been bringing out between 70 and 90 students each week, which is great - but with only 5 leaders, can be hard to handle sometimes. Last Friday we had this one kid who was trying to pick fights with, oh, everyone he could see. We finally had to kick him out, which we don't like to do. But, youth group is not a place to be fighting. Sunday nights have been bringing out about 30-40 students each week, but unfortunately, they have been having a harder time paying attention. They must have the winter jitters or something.
3. House hunting is on pause for now. We still have our eyes open, but have taken it easy for now. Actually, the guy that owns the house we almost bought came back and tried to sell us the house again! He said he would lower the price, pay the closing cost, pay for all the repairs, and do whatever it took to get us in that house. But we were like, "Dude, we don't want your stinkin' house!!" Ok, we weren't that cruel, but we kindly turned it down. It just wouldn't be a good house for us - something we did not realize when we first started.
4. On another note, I found out that my dear friend Ali Wilks is getting married! She is marrying a guy named Phil that she met on one of her various mission trips around the world. I'm so happy for her and I wish her the best!
5. Evan has started school again :-( Thankfully, though, he does not have any classes that will have him getting home at 11:53 pm on a weeknight. That was killer for both him and me. He started taking some master's courses, so he is working on getting his Bachelor's and Master's degree at the same time.
I think that's pretty much all the news for now. I will try to be more diligent at posting more blogs so my readers don't give up on me!
Here's a little Dana Carvery humor for you:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Night With the Wildrick Kids
So, I've been babysitting my pastor's kids for about 2 years now, and I've had the unique opportunity to be a huge part of these kids' lives. They are so much fun and I have enjoyed watching them grow from the moment they arrived in this country. They were adopted from an orphanage in Columbia when they were 5, 5, and 4 years old. Natalia and Jhony are twins and are about to turn 12 later this month. Angela is the baby and she is 10. She's the diva of the family.
They can be a challenge at time because they can get a bit out of control, and thus scaring all other babysitters away. But I have watched them so many times, I know their schedules better than their parents do (sometimes)! In the beginning, they were impossible and ran me ragged all night, but they have gotten SO much better and I couldn't ask for better kids to babysit.
I babysit fairly regularly, and we always have a blast. They love to ask me questions about my life and about how I met Evan. The girls love to get backrubs from me before they go to bed. Jhony loves when I sit on his bed and we look at his yearbook. (He then tells me all the girls he thinks are cute!) Plus we get to play and be rowdy and have fun! So, that being said, here's some pics of my night with them last night, just after the snow stopped falling. The dog you see is their dog Mitzi.
They can be a challenge at time because they can get a bit out of control, and thus scaring all other babysitters away. But I have watched them so many times, I know their schedules better than their parents do (sometimes)! In the beginning, they were impossible and ran me ragged all night, but they have gotten SO much better and I couldn't ask for better kids to babysit.
I babysit fairly regularly, and we always have a blast. They love to ask me questions about my life and about how I met Evan. The girls love to get backrubs from me before they go to bed. Jhony loves when I sit on his bed and we look at his yearbook. (He then tells me all the girls he thinks are cute!) Plus we get to play and be rowdy and have fun! So, that being said, here's some pics of my night with them last night, just after the snow stopped falling. The dog you see is their dog Mitzi.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
This Is Your Life!
This past Sunday I had a rare opportunity. Not only did I get the chance to go see the Giants get humiliated by the Eagles in the playoffs, but I also shared my testimony with the students at youth group that night.
Now I'm not just talking about the moment I got saved. I was three when that happened, so it's pretty unexciting as far as storytelling goes. I'm talking about my WHOLE story, from the moment I got saved when I was three to this moment right now. I ended up with about 5 pages worth of stuff I wanted to tell them about. Can I just tell you, it was amazing.
I started by telling them that they really needed to listen and sit there quietly because not only is my story true, it's very important to me and I really wanted them to get every bit of it. Boy, did they listen. That was the first time in youth group history that every single student had their mouths shut and their eyes on the speaker. I told them the whole story. (If you want to know more, just ask me - I'm not exactly comfortable posting every detail here.) The response I got was so incredible. They gave me a standing O. Most, if not all of the students gave me a hug afterwards. One student even approached me and said, "You know, of all the talks we've heard at youth group, that was the first time I actually felt the presence of God." WOW! That's probably the best compliment EVER! At some point in the talk, God totally took over. It wasn't me at all. I was saying things that I couldn't possibly have come up with on my own.
I drove the point home by telling the story of the prodigal son. It says that not only was the son's father waiting for him to come home, but when he saw him, he RAN to go meet him. He was so happy that his son had returned that he threw a party for him. He said, "My son was lost, and he has returned." That's how God reacted when I came back. Isn't that cool?? I wish I could share my story over and over again with the students, but God has planted the seed with those that were there to hear it. It was an incredible experience, and I thank GOD that He gave me the opportunity to share it.
AMEN!!!
Now I'm not just talking about the moment I got saved. I was three when that happened, so it's pretty unexciting as far as storytelling goes. I'm talking about my WHOLE story, from the moment I got saved when I was three to this moment right now. I ended up with about 5 pages worth of stuff I wanted to tell them about. Can I just tell you, it was amazing.
I started by telling them that they really needed to listen and sit there quietly because not only is my story true, it's very important to me and I really wanted them to get every bit of it. Boy, did they listen. That was the first time in youth group history that every single student had their mouths shut and their eyes on the speaker. I told them the whole story. (If you want to know more, just ask me - I'm not exactly comfortable posting every detail here.) The response I got was so incredible. They gave me a standing O. Most, if not all of the students gave me a hug afterwards. One student even approached me and said, "You know, of all the talks we've heard at youth group, that was the first time I actually felt the presence of God." WOW! That's probably the best compliment EVER! At some point in the talk, God totally took over. It wasn't me at all. I was saying things that I couldn't possibly have come up with on my own.
I drove the point home by telling the story of the prodigal son. It says that not only was the son's father waiting for him to come home, but when he saw him, he RAN to go meet him. He was so happy that his son had returned that he threw a party for him. He said, "My son was lost, and he has returned." That's how God reacted when I came back. Isn't that cool?? I wish I could share my story over and over again with the students, but God has planted the seed with those that were there to hear it. It was an incredible experience, and I thank GOD that He gave me the opportunity to share it.
AMEN!!!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Snow, snow, glorious snow....
Can I just tell you that I LOVE snow? I mean, I really love it. I love going to sleep and waking up to a white blanket of snow covering the ground. I love how pretty the white snowflakes look against the bare trees. I love to play in the snow (yes, I still play in snow!) I love the crunching sound certain snow makes under my boots. I love that I get to stay home from work if it snows enough. I even love to drive in the snow. I just love it!
Today it is snowing. I'm not quite sure how many inches they are promising, but it is never right anyway. Snow just makes me so happy. I'm not even sure where my love of snow originated. Maybe as a kid I have such fond memories of playing with my brother in the snow on a day we got to stay home from school, and that just stuck with me so today I still love it. Who knows?
While I also love the warmth of the summer, I would never want to live somewhere where it would rarely or never snow. I will save those spots for vacationing only.
People think I'm crazy when I say that I love snow. My face lights up like a little kid when I hear it on the weather report. Even if there's a chance of snow, I get excited.
Just wanted to share that with you all. Happy snow day!
Here's some pictures of our dogs in the snow.
Today it is snowing. I'm not quite sure how many inches they are promising, but it is never right anyway. Snow just makes me so happy. I'm not even sure where my love of snow originated. Maybe as a kid I have such fond memories of playing with my brother in the snow on a day we got to stay home from school, and that just stuck with me so today I still love it. Who knows?
While I also love the warmth of the summer, I would never want to live somewhere where it would rarely or never snow. I will save those spots for vacationing only.
People think I'm crazy when I say that I love snow. My face lights up like a little kid when I hear it on the weather report. Even if there's a chance of snow, I get excited.
Just wanted to share that with you all. Happy snow day!
Here's some pictures of our dogs in the snow.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Let The Renovations Begin!
Our church recently began a huge undertaking: they are going to "remodel" the sanctuary, and various other parts of the church that so desperately need work. The church itself is incredibly old, and hasn't been remodeled in over 20 years. A whole design team was put together and came up with this as the final look and feel for the new sanctuary:
Not bad eh? By the way, yes that is me up on the stage on the right playing bass.
Evan has taken the liberty of documenting this task. He is trying to take pictures each day of the progress of the renovations. Only 7 days into the year, and this is how far we've come:
It will be exciting to see how it will unfold and how much better it is going to look in just a few short months. We are hoping to have this done by Easter. The thing that I am most excited about is the renovation of what I call Command Central. This is the area in the back section of the balcony where the technology stuff resides. This is where we keep the computer that runs the projector screens, the sound board, the mixers, everything. They are going to remodel this area so it is more spacious and so we can actually have a desk/table for the computer instead of our laps.
Greater things have yet to come!!!
It will be exciting to see how it will unfold and how much better it is going to look in just a few short months. We are hoping to have this done by Easter. The thing that I am most excited about is the renovation of what I call Command Central. This is the area in the back section of the balcony where the technology stuff resides. This is where we keep the computer that runs the projector screens, the sound board, the mixers, everything. They are going to remodel this area so it is more spacious and so we can actually have a desk/table for the computer instead of our laps.
Greater things have yet to come!!!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Can't Believe it's 2009
I trust that all of you had a safe and happy New Year. I know we did. We had a "party" over at our friend Karl's house. The reason I say "party" is because there were only 4 of us there. Not including our friend Laura's 7-year-old son who insisted on staying up 'til midnight. I did make some food: spinach dip with pumpernickel bread, shrimp cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce, chips with salsa and cheese, and some taquitos (which didn't end up getting cooked anyway).
We played Trivial Pursuit 80's edition most of the evening because we forgot how long the game takes. As you can see on Karl's face.
After the game was over, we sat around and talked until it was almost time for the ball to drop. This was an interesting experience because Karl does not have TV. We found a live streaming video online of Time's Square and watched the ball drop on the internet. When midnight finally came, we heard some clamor out on the deck. We looked outside to see this banging pots and pans on the deck:
It turned out to be our friend John Bosse who showed up only minutes earlier to surprise us at midnight. We were surprised all right!
After that, we settled in the living room and played this game where the person who is "it" is given a word or phrase to say. That person is then asked questions by the other players and the person can only answer using that word or phrase. The trick is, the person who is it is not allowed to laugh. So, the other players are trying to ask questions to make that player laugh. Whoever makes him/her laugh is then it. For example, Evan was given the word "Touchdown!" and he had to raise his arms like signaling a touchdown. We then had to ask him questions to try and make him laugh.
We called it quits around 2am. All in all, it was a very fun evening. 2008 is gone, 2009 is here. What will 2009 be the year of? We shall wait and see.
We played Trivial Pursuit 80's edition most of the evening because we forgot how long the game takes. As you can see on Karl's face.
After the game was over, we sat around and talked until it was almost time for the ball to drop. This was an interesting experience because Karl does not have TV. We found a live streaming video online of Time's Square and watched the ball drop on the internet. When midnight finally came, we heard some clamor out on the deck. We looked outside to see this banging pots and pans on the deck:
It turned out to be our friend John Bosse who showed up only minutes earlier to surprise us at midnight. We were surprised all right!
After that, we settled in the living room and played this game where the person who is "it" is given a word or phrase to say. That person is then asked questions by the other players and the person can only answer using that word or phrase. The trick is, the person who is it is not allowed to laugh. So, the other players are trying to ask questions to make that player laugh. Whoever makes him/her laugh is then it. For example, Evan was given the word "Touchdown!" and he had to raise his arms like signaling a touchdown. We then had to ask him questions to try and make him laugh.
We called it quits around 2am. All in all, it was a very fun evening. 2008 is gone, 2009 is here. What will 2009 be the year of? We shall wait and see.
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