important happenings

I didn't upload my pics in time to share what John got me as part of my birthday gift in my recent postings. He has bought me my sewing machine, the desk on which I sew and now the chair on which I sit and work on the desk on which I sew! What a guy. Its the cutest thing from Pier 1 and I love it. It is my salsa!Also, a pic of the restaurant he took me to in JAX. With my mangomamarita and the guac that knocks your socks off.

This week we had my aunt Lanae and uncle Lanny visit us in Gainesville while they were in Florida for vacation at Disney World. We enjoyed a few hours together on Monday. They owed us a starbucks treat because they bet against the Gators for the national championship. Suckers; you never bet agains the Gators. Just ask Joe and Joy, and Mark Smith. ha, we get quiet the loot for being Gators.

Important to notice though is the transformation Lanny underwent in just a few hours. From betting against the Gators to be being one. It doesn't take long. He left Gainesville wearing Gator gear.

And you wanna know why he became a Gator? Who wouldn't after running into Tim Tebow on campus. A heimans winner and quarterback of the Gators. We were looking at all his trophies and accolades in the stadium minutes before seeing him and getting a pic with him. Only in Gator Country!

Thats right. A Tebow sighting is something to blog about. Of course you know that John was embarrassed to be "the guy" who asks for a pic. So I did. And so John was "the guy" whose wife asks for the pic.

This weekend we are off for our spring conference with all the florida nav students. john is the director so if think to pray for him, our students (all 150 from across the state) and for our speaker Bill to bring the Word.

a recommendation

This is the book I have been reading now for 5ish months.  I am reading it consistently and slowly so that I can really absorb and work through the ideas she presents in this book.  I highly recommend it as Paula takes a look at different aspects of women's hearts and what it takes to be more open and honest about our hearts desires, wounds, needs and joys.  It has been really inviting to read, but has been one of the most challenging books I have read when it comes to being honest about your soul.  I love it.  Not finished, I am only 2/3 done which tells you how slow I am at processing and opening my little heart.  Hope you enjoy it is you pick it up.

birthday month

The only perk to not being with everyone you love on your birthday is that your celebration extends into days and weeks and the whole month as people love you.  This year was the first I did not celebrate in Fort Collins with my fam.  However that does not keep my mom and sister from making me feel special.  Thanks ladies for making me feel warm and cozy in Florida.  

My actual day was spent in Arizona at a wedding.  We snuck in some birthday festivities with free ice cream at 9 in the morning, grapefruit picking, sitting poolside with my brother and sister in law, a nail salon paint job (thanks Paul) and a chicago dog (thanks Pamela). And of course it was a special treat to see Becca the next day.

Once back in florida John had planned an evening in honor of my new age.  Last night we drove to Jaxsonville where there is a Cantina Loredo restaurant.  This summer John and I found this restaurant to be a haven for us in the middle of Branson Missouri.  I had no idea there was one in Florida.  But as we walked along a fun outdoor shopping plaza I saw the restaurant and knew that was were John was taking me.  It is always a little magical and romantic to explore nooks of new cities with my husband.  We love to try new spots and to imagine life there.   

What a lucky girl I am to be surrounded by people who make me feel treasured.  Thanks fam and friends, and thank You Lord for placing these in my life and for giving me abundant gifts in this life and eternity.  Here we go 24!

New Year New Look Right?

Thankfully I read other peoples blogs, and they remind me to switch mine up.  

these pics have nothing to do with a new look, except for the new babes that have entered our lives the past year.  We took these Teten pics on a blistery Christmas Day.  We are pretending we can be outside in  sweaters.  Fun crew eh?

my little orange blossom

So the Teten brigade jumped into a van and headed south for a wedding of Matt Brunk. It was a trip filled with memories and laughs and cold dips in Arizona pools. One of my highlights was getting to see Becca who now lives an hour from Phoenix. She was willing to drive down to see me after work on Saturday and we enjoyed tasty beer and food at the Yardhouse. A restaurant that holds great memories for John and I. It was such a special treat to get a few precious hours with my Becca and catch up. She is a dear friend and I am so glad it worked out to see each other since we have lived far away for three years now. Becca's beer was named Orange Blossom and that is how she became my little orange blossom. Yay for friends in desert places.

my neices

this christmas was the first time John and I got to see our precious nieces in one room together. We could not handle ourselves they were so cute. John's ultimate dream was not realized though, he really wanted to hold both babes in his arms. Oh well. Maybe when they are like 4! Here are some pics of them together and with their mommas.
I love this pic for obvious reasons. I wasn't even there to witness this, but Vivian is wearing the outfit that Pamela and I picked out for her for Christmas.



these babes are just amazing. And I admire their mothers for how much they have transformed their lives in order to care for such little ones. I am jealous for more time with them.

Posin's with the fam.

This was a quick little photo shoot my sister arranged as a gift for my mom.  It was freezing outside so we are trying our best not to hunch in frigidness.  But I love some of the ones Eric took.  Take a look.

a Savior is born

what a joy to be in Colorado, surrounded by family and fun and some of the best foods ever.  what a great opportunity to give and look forward to a new year.  all of it is so good, but what is so great is the real hope we have in the Savior born two thousand years ago.  He came to redeem the world to Himself.  And those who see with their eyes ad hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, He will heal them.  I am so grateful for my Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, praise His holy name.  

Merry Christmas to everyone.  He is the reason for the season.  

all praises to my God and King

the angels have been rejoicing over this heaven-bound soul. My friend Nikki (left) who I have been living life with for the past three years has been loving her roommate Colleen (right) and telling her what she knows about Jesus. Over the past three years Colleen has been curious yet uncertain about taking a step toward Christ.

The other day as Colleen was walking on campus she understood she was a sinner who needed a Savior for the first time. Praise God that He knew what it would take for her to see her need. And now she is my sister, my Kingdom neighbor, and I cannot wait to see what God has for her. What an amazing God I know and love. That He would reconcile me and Nikki and Colleen to Himself through sending His son. His very own Son bears the marks of His love for us in his hands. Thank You Jesus. Your love is incredible.

travels and thanksgiving

I am often reminded of my lack of blogging by my sister. I cannot believe a whole month has gone by right out from under me. In the past two weeks we have traveled to Tennessee and back and Georgia and back and plan on being in Wisconsin, Colorado and Arizona in the next three. Ahh. I am having a hard time feeling like it is the Christmas season with all of our busyness. I haven't even decorated our apartment since we have hardly been home.

But we have plenty to be thankful for. We had the privilege of spending our first thanksgiving in three years with family. We drove to Knoxville with Josh to spend the holiday weekend with David & Pamela, Nick & Katie, Caryn, and Lindsey . . . and then Ryan & Katie joined us for an hour or two on friday!

This is all of us at the park. We all are CSU alumni and met in Navs. How exciting to have God bring us together for thanksgiving in Knoxville. Who would have known?


We ate lots of food, played games, talked, cried, worshipped the Lord, drank coffee, laughed and drank more coffee. John and I loved staying at David and Pamela's apartment where the graciously made their home our home for a couple of days. After thanksgiving we decorated their apartment with Christmas delight.

We looked at Katie's wedding pics as the guys played some disc golf. Although we are scattered geographically, we are all learning to trust God in our various situations of life. Most exciting of all is the little Hamilton growing inside Katie (far left)

Also noteworthy is that John and David dressed alike!

great weekend!

Last weekend was so much fun. Most of our weekends are but last weekend was exceptional. We started it by playing Settlers of Catan with two couples from our church. Everyone ganged up on me as I gained more and more points until the win was stolen from me. But it wasn't enough to ruin the weekend.
The next morning I went to a Champagne Brunch for a new for the fouth time mom. Delicious food, fun atmosphere and girl time.
Then, late that day I swindled a deal with Jenny from AT&T (this was really exciting until tuesday when the wrong phones arrived and I spent 2 hours with Sean from AT&T trying to figure out what Jenny was thinking.)
So I was still thinking we were getting a great phone deal and John and I headed out on our date. We ate at Macaroni Grill and just had a relaxing time.

Soon Sunday morning came and we decided not to attend church but to play hookie hookie hippo. We rode our bikes to the grocery store and John make banana pancakes with cinnamon apples.
Later we got our hobby on and John fiddled with his bike as I tackled my apron for the first time this semester. I was delighted to see the end in sight and I finished that 2 year long project!
Of course I wore the apron to make a dinner of mashed potatoes and apple-pear chicken with the last bottle of Abbey left from New Belgium.
That apron did not leave my body all night long. I needed to make sure I did not spill while reading and watching TV!


I realize that food plays a big roll in making my life so good. I am thankful for a weekend to remember.

been to Colorado and back

I got to go back to Colorado for a weekend a couple of weeks ago. It as so much fun. Despite the fact that all of my treasured toiletries were taken from me at security because I was trying to save money by not checking my bag. While being distraught over my products, I arrived at my gate to find they were boarding already. I thought I was early, but I boarded nontheless. Only to find some man in my seat. After much confusion about seat assignments, my neighbor looked at my ticket and asked me "Are you are the right plane?" " Of course," I replied "we are headed for Houston (my layover,) and he said, "no, we are headed for Newark." So I frantically grabbed my things thinking for sure they would be locking me in soon. But I called John and we laughed together at my troubles. Eventually I made it to Colorado and enjoyed a great weekend.the reason I went home was to surprise my newly 18 year old brother for his last regular season home football game where he would be recognized on the field with his family. However, when I arrived at DIA, Brandon was there to surprise me. He had overheard April spill the beans about our plans. This is one of his senior pics that Eric took of him. What a stud.

They won the game which was important. They are undefeated!

I had so much fen being a part of this moment for my brother. He has worked so hard for years to be where he is at. And it has been so hard not to see him play every friday night and root him on. But I got to be there once, and it was amazing.

We also celebrated Brandon's 18th birthday. He has grown to love sushi as much as I do and so we went to his favorite and my favorite place in the world to get sushi, Suehiro. My parents are not so much into the sushi, but they grinned through it and might have made a few faces. I loved being with the fam.

We also saw some of my cousin's soccer games, we ate at the token spots, Lucilles and Big City. Obama was in town the same time I was, it was nice of the future president of the united states to plan his schedule according to mine.

Updates will come, as Bro is now in the playoffs and is ranked #2 in the state.

update

Wow! Thanks for praying for the retreat any of you who did. It went so well. You know it was a good retreat when the biggest problem was not ordering enough t-shirts.

The women I meet with are still talking about Deb's messages. It was such a blessing to be able to worship with women and learn about God's intricate design for us.

Women embracing God's design for us is a huge part of my heart in ministering to women. And this weekend was a perfect time for the Lord to reveal to soft hearts His love in fashioning them. Great is the Lord.

Women's Retreat

Would anyone join me in praying for our women's retreat this weekend?
Pray for Deb as she speaks three different times about God's design for us as women.
Pray for open hearts of college women and staff as we hear from God's Word.
Pray for relationships to build.
Pray for me as I direct the thing.
Pray for God to be ultimately and beautifully glorified by our gathering.

Thanks, I will let you know how it goes.

floridian adventures

at the beach

Last weekend we took 50 students to the beach. Last year it was such a success we were looking forward to it. The lack of beach pics shows how little time I spent on the beach. I spent more time at the grocery store than I did at the beach. But here are some irresistable pics of Sam at Chipotle when we got home.

Who knew a kid with a block in his mouth could be so adorable.

This pic is not so much irresistable as the man that I am kissing in it. He is UNBELIEVABLE!

cutest kid around

mac attack

John invested in a MacBook in order to be able to design web pages, tshirts and the like for our ministry.  But so far the greatest thing about the newest addition to the family is that it takes funny pics of us.

livin the dream

There is something about my season of life that has made me more reflective. Not necessarily of the past but of the present. I knew that finishing school would provide for me a freedom in life and ministry and marriage that I had not experienced in the past two years, and I am trying to enjoy every moment of that freedom. What I have realized is that life is on it way and most of the time I don't slow down to realize how good it is, and how good I have it. It is contrary to my nature to sit and contemplate where I am, but I am exercising my rest and contentment muscles every day.
And the truth is that I am living the dream! I get to wake up with new mercies available to me in Christ Jesus every morning. I am married to a delightful man who makes me laugh and shares all of life with me. My job requires me to spend time with Jesus every morning, who doesn't need time with the Creator carved out for them? I have the freedom to ride my bike (named free spirit) to campus and meet with women who are also growing to understand the intimacy with which they are loved by the Lord. Simple things give me so much joy as well. I love baking bread! the Farmers Market has been a fun addition to my weekly grocery trips. My sewing machine still frightens me, but its available whenever my fear subsides and my creative fingers get movin. We are building relationships with people in Gainesville that have brightened our lives and refresh us weekly. I never dreamt of living a life like I do, but I realize its God's perfect provision for me! I am living my dream.

beginnings of fall

It has been a whirlwind the past two weeks. I am finally feeling better after 14+ days of a high fever and weird cough. All the while I was sick John was so busy on campus with the our new staff members and Ben. They put in countless hours meeting new students, getting to know new names and playing ultimate frisbee. John was incredible in how he worked long hours while taking care of me, feeding us, getting me medicine, sitting with me in doctors offices and fundraising on top of it all. What a man I married, and what a God that provides for us on a daily and detailed level.

Being back in Gainesville has been refreshing. There is nothing like seeing familiar faces, catching up and looking forward to all the opportunities we have together. John and I have felt so at home here among the staff, students and our church family as well.

The nature of our ministry, staff team and my capacity is going to look so different than it has. I am truly looking forward to spending more time with Jesus this semester as He teaches me how to love John well, how to lead women in the Word and how to embrace being His Beloved. My life is offering me so many opportunities and choices with my time, and it makes me feel free. I told one of my girls, "I am a free spirit this year" There is nothing like being set free from classes and deadlines and having time to bake bread, read my Bible on campus, meet with a girl or sew something new. I am truly a student in all of those activities, but I cannot wait to get started.