We Are Off!!

We are off to Denver for a MUCH NEEDED vacation!! We leave at 4:30 this afternoon. I will be away from the internet for a few days, but I will be sure and give you an update on our trip when we return on Tuesday.

My Weekend

It's Monday morning and I am back at work! I wish we had four day weekends more often! Rick and I had a wonderful time at my brother's house for Thanksgiving! I made my first ever homemade pumpkin pie and I am happy to say that it actually tasted good! Friday morning at 6:30 am my sister in law and my two nieces headed out to the black Friday sales. I wasn't as impressed this year as I have in years past. Although, I must say I did find some good bargains at Old Navy and Macy's. The hard part for me about black Friday sales is that I want to shop for me and I know that I should be Christmas shopping for other people. I allowed myself $30 and the rest of my money went to other people. I do love shopping for family and friends, but you know how it is when you see a sweater or a pair of pants that you want and the price is drastically reduced! I had to spoil myself a little bit!!

Okay, so I must say that I am officially sick of football!! I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but Rick literally watched almost every pro and college game that was on T.V.! Last night after the Bears won due to Devin Hester making some incredible plays; I finally got Rick to agree to watch the colored version (he doesn't watch black and white movies) of Miracle on 34th Street. At one point during the movie he asked if he could just check the score of the Eagles and Patriots game and I reluctantly said okay. That checking the score for a minute request turned into watching the whole 4th quarter of the game! All I am saying is that I would be doing great if I didn't watch football for the next week!!

I am really excited b/c Rick and I leave for our get away to Denver Colorado on Thursday! We are going to have so much fun!! The nice part is that this will be another shorter work week for both Rick and I. YEAH!!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your family and friends! I am so thankful for each one of you!

BEARS GAME

My wonderful brother Paul got four free tickets to the Seahawks vs. Bears game for this Sunday! He asked Rick and I to go with him and his wife Liz. I am super excited!! The last Bears game I went to was three years ago in Dallas. I'm pretty sure the Bears lost that game, but hopefully they will win Sunday's game. I will post pictures of us at the game on Monday. If you watch the game look for Rick and I - we will try to find a way to get the cameras to look our direction (without breaking the law of course!-ha!).

Real or Fake?

Last weekend Rick and I were out shopping for Christmas decorations, and I found a really beautiful fake Christmas tree at the store which was on sale for 30% off. I told Rick we should buy it, but he didn't want to buy it b/c he prefers real Christmas trees. Growing up we always had fake trees, mainly because my mom didn't like vacuuming up pine needles all of the time. Rick on the other hand has had real trees his whole life. Since we have been married we have only gotten real trees, and I have really enjoyed the whole experience of cutting the tree down together, and the fresh smell of pine lingering in the air. The only reason I want a fake one this year is due to the fact that we will be out of town for Christmas this year. I think the tree will die if we don't water it while we are gone for a week and half.

So my question is how many of you buy real trees at Christmas and how many of you have fake trees that you store each year? Is one better than the other, or is it just a matter of preference?

Redeeming Love

Has anyone ever read the book, "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers? I started reading this book last week and I cannot put it down! Many people have recommended that I read this book, but I usually don't have much time to read so I never got around to it. Last week I found the book at a book outlet store for $8 so I bought it and I am glad that I did!

The book is fiction although it is taken from the story of Hosea in the Bible. As I read the first three chapters of this book my heart broke for this little girl who was sold into sex slavery. I wanted so badly to jump into the story and take this girl into my home and tell her just how precious she was to Jesus (Michael Hosea does that for me!). I have felt for a long time that God was calling me to minister to prostitutes, and as I read this book I am reminded of that call on my life. I'm not sure when it will happen, but I know someday I will help rescue women from a life of prostitution and sexual bondage. If you haven't read this book I completely recommend it! I am usually a person who would rather watch a movie than read a book, but this book is an exception, I would much rather read it than watch a movie!

I AM FREE!!!

Last night I went with my mentor to a women's conference and it totally changed me! Lisa Bevere was the speaker and she challenged us to let go of the "fears" that we have in our lives. Every woman has some kind of fear in their life, and the enemy loves to debilitate us in those fears. Well I'm going to be really transparent and tell you that one of my biggest fears lately has been the fear of infertility. Rick and I have been trying to conceive for awhile now, and every month that I get a big fat negative result on my pregnancy test that fear seeps into my life again. I didn't realize how much this fear was keeping me in bondage!!

During the service Lisa had us take our fear and physically with our hands throw it down and stomp on it. I know it sounds kind of funny, but it was so POWERFUL!! I begin to cry and rejoice all at the same time as the Lord released me and set me free from that fear. God also spoke to my heart and told me that I was NOT infertile and that he is going to bless us with a child soon. My mentor Sandy prayed with me after the service and today I can honestly say that I AM FREE!! I am completely trusting the Lord with my future and I know that HE has incredible things planned!! Thank you to all of my wonderful family and friends that are praying for Rick and I. It means so much to me!!

Denver, Colorado

I'm so excited!!! Rick and I booked tickets a couple of weeks ago for a little get away to Denver, Colorado! Today, I reserved the rental car and I got butterflies just thinking about how much fun we are going to have! We are leaving on November 29th and returning on December 4th.

When I lived in Denver 4 years ago, it was not only the most beautiful place to live geographically, but hands down the best ministry position I was ever blessed to have. I was the Outreach Pastor at the church I was working at, and they actually paid me a nice salary to plan outreaches in the community and tell people about Jesus!! I pray someday I will be able to find a position like that again!

It will be so much fun to visit that church again while we are in Denver, and of course to see all of the wonderful people I grew to know and love while working there. I'm looking forward to this trip as it will be a time for Rick and I to rest and relax before we head into the BUSY Christmas schedule. Isn't it funny that we need a vacation before we go on vacation to visit our family at Christmas?!! Last summer when we came home to Chicago in July we ran until the minute we boarded the plane to come back to Seattle. When we returned to Seattle I told Rick I felt like I needed another vacation! Funny how that works!