Ain' Nothin' like...

Just listening to a mix on my iPod and Brad Paisley come on with his song 'Ain't Nothin' Like' and its so catchy and puts a smile on my face : ). So I thought there just ain't nothin like having an 'Ain't nothing like...' list:

Ain't Nothin Like...

... Going on a weekend getaway with the love of your life.
... going to Washington D.C.
... seeing the momorials and monuments at night, all lit up.
... God's glory and riches in a time of National uncertainty.
... peanut butter and stawberry jelly.
... watching Sunday/Monday night football, knowing you are going to win your fantasy football game.
... dreaming about the future.
... seeing the leaves change beautiful colors.
... snow on the mountain caps.
... jamming to a favorite song, that just expresses how you are feeling right then.
... feeling the chilly breeze that means fall and craving some chili soup.
... having lunch with a good friend.
... doing something spur of the moment and completely unplanned.
... making something handmade or baked for someone and then giving it to them.
... holiday baking and decorating.
... finishing a really good book in less than 3 days.
... walking hand in hand with someone who needs you.
... memories and remembering someone who meant so much to you that you just miss them.
... the first snowfall.
... babies, little hands, little feet.
... knowing that God's hand was in something because of how it worked out, it could only have been a 'God thing'.
... security for the future, knowing that God is in control of everything.
... homemade apple pie and ice cream (and peach pie too, B :P )
... carmel apples and kettle corn.


This is a list I started, but can you think of any 'Ain't nothin' like...' statements to add :) ?!

Long time no blog

Where have we been! Actually, where have we NOT been! Things have gotten pretty busy lately and I haven't had much time to keep on the happenings...

Mostly we have been helping out with the High School youth group at church and that has been a blast just hanging out and getting to know the kids. We all know that HS was a difficult/weird/stressful/crazy/sad/exciting... you get the point! I remember it was a time of inconsistancies and LOTS of shall we say drama... because everything somehow seems to matter SO much and most of us don't realize until we get out of HS and look back that those things we worried about really weren't that big of a deal. But it's so encouraging to be able to come along side these kids and just let them know that someone cares about what they are going through and just be with them.

Brandon and I are so blessed to work with an amazing group of kids who are excepting to new people and just want to have fun! We are going on a weekend retreat with them in a week and a half...

Besides that we have been busy going with friends to the mtns, going to Bronco's games, b-day get togethers, drill weekends, fantasy football {we have a team in a league with some people at work: Killer Bzzz!}, and just hanging out and enjoying each other!

It has been an amazing first 4 months of our marriage and it's true that when you really invest in each other and getting to really know your spouse, you really do fall more and more in love with them! I am just left speechless sometimes when I realize how amazing the man I married truly is! I couldn't have been happier with anyone else.

So on a couple weekends we have gone once to Garden of the Gods {we renamed it God's Garden, since there is only one true God} and once up Estes Park, the Rocky Mtn National Park and B has had some great opportunities to play with and learn our new Dig SLR camera! I decided I just don't have the patience to take lots of pictures so carefully and accurately, but I sure do love looking at them!

We really want to get a few blown up and framed to put up in our home! Have a look:
























Aren't the colors this time of year just incredible?!

Rachael's 20th Birthday!

I took the day off from work and took my little sister and best friend to the Denver Zoo! We had an incrediably wonderful day! Check it out...

Sisters.

Check out the gut on this one...

So majestic.

Naps, we all need them.

Brandon's gift to Rach: a baby giraffe!

Coma-coma-coma-chamilion!

This one is a Sleepy-sleepy Hippo!

Rhino. Look at that nose.



CRAZY girls!

Komodo Dragon. Such a poser.

I just loved watching the elephants! How can something so LARGE be so graceful?!

Stopping to smell the giant Hibscus'.

Pretty kitty.


They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so there you have it!

soul food

Memorizing bible verses has always been a task on my list for as long as I can remember, I just don't do it as often as I wish I did. I have verses posted all of the place at work so I can try to do it by continualy looking at them, but what actually happens is I just stop noticing them because they become a part of my every day scene.

What I think I need is a little bit of discipline and some accountability! So I've asked B to join in with me on memorizing a different verse each week and maybe even take turns each week deciding on the verse...

The thing is God's word is so powerful because it's speaking truth into the world. How many times do we find ourselves in a situation where we are talking to someone and they need a little encouragement (or a lot!) and we are at a loss for words... And sometimes that is good cause our mouths can get us in trouble so easily!! But there are times when we share empty words or even words that could lead them astray. God's word is loving and good, always. Because His word is Love. And it's Truth.

I also want to be able to defend my faith at any time. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready {But sanctify the Lord God[a] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear} And although MANY people try, you can not disprove the bible. The word of God is truth and timeless.

So I also want to post my God's truth on my blogs for anyone to read and in the mean time I'll be memorizing that verse. Feel free to join us!!! If you have any suggestions for verses please let me know!!

Come! See what I've been up to...

I dare you ;p ....

Servant Stitches

The countdown ...

I am excited that I will be able to launch my new website/blog featuring all my first creations and one day get my business up and running! The first thing I had to do was come up with a name that represented who I am and what I wanted to do... with some help of a few friends and a wonderful husband... we came up with a name: "Servant Stitches" and also a design for it!! I can't wait to show you all what it is... on MONDAY!!! That's when I will launch the new blog with the new design and hopefully a few more projects too...

Last night I was digging through all my crafty stuff and I came across a bag of BUTTONS!! {that is actually what I was looking for!} I dumped out the bag and I was having a lot of fun just looking through them... I found some really unique ones and it inspired me to do something with them. I hope to have that done and I'll share it with you on my new blog next week!!!!

Grace & True Love

Grace. By Phil Wickham
The sky is grey and the light is far
The sea is a rage within my heart
I turn my sight to the crashing waves
I cry in the night just to be saved

I need eyes to be my guide
I need a voice that’s louder than mine
I need hope I need You
Cause I can’t do this alone

Grace I call Your name
Oh won’t Your smile fall over me
I’m cracked and dry on hands and knees
Oh sweet grace rain down on me I need You grace

I pray for dawn a new day to live
I pray for mercy only Jesus gives
Though darkness falls and a million cry
I believe over all there’s a greater light shining for us

Come down and save me

I love this song and with the music it's even better. I'm craving grace in my life lately. I don't think I can ever get enough. The thing is I am FINALLY beginning to understand that my Father's grace from above is given and in limitless amounts. All that I have to do is accept it. Done. But I'm learning that to the degree that I 'know' and comprehend God's grace towards me, that is the degree of grace that I will have towards others. Therefore if I'm not extending grace to those around me, then I'm not understanding the grace that God is granting to me. That grace He gives that is renewing by the second! The very fact that I am still breathing yells multitudes of grace on my life!! Believe me, I'm not perfect {most of you know this ;p} and am constantly being put back on my heels because I push through this life daily thinking I have the power, the ability, the strength to do it myself. And some of you know, very well, the pain that can be caused to myself as well as to the people around me. But God is good and merciful and FULL of GRACE! Thank goodness that He is ready and willing... and just waiting to pour it out on us.

I want to choose to accept it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave his only son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Father's broken heart
Tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Search your heart, you know you can't deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave his only son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the father's broken heart
Tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Now Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
oh He is alive
He rose again

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Come close listen to the story

How someone can write, read, or hear these words and not get chills, get tears, get some sort of emotion is truely beyond me.

Jesus is the story of True Love. He was a perfect man, sinless {look for yourself in the bible, find something He did wrong} and then proceeded to die and sinners death. Why? Why would He do something so crazy, so selfless, so humbling, so not what any of us would do?!

True love, that's why.

I love the line in this song also by Phil Wickham that says 'listen to a story about a love more faithful than the morning'. Some times I can hear that line in my head over and over and over, but i never get sick of hearing it. I think its a wonderful thing to be reminded of constantly, of how faithful God really is in our lives. Simple things that prove that faithfulness: Do we question wether or not the sun will go down sometime this evening? Or that sometime in early morning it will rise again? Wow! Yet I doubt sometimes and believe that God may have forgotten about me and even though I don't sit around a think that to myself, my actions show my doubt. My lacking to just trust Him, so I worry about little unimportant things. Stupid things.