Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Sisters
Baby Madelyn made her entrance to our world Nov 1, 2010. She is such a sweet little girl already.
Monday, July 5, 2010
We wrote our first worship song together...hopefully many more to follow. She sings this spontaneously all the time...so cool!
We wrote our first worship song together...hopefully many more to follow. She sings this spontaneously all the time...so cool!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Happy 2nd Birthday Bella
June 29, 2008 - Bella's first day of life!
Look how little she was!!
Bella's 1st Birthday! Yummy cake! She was just walking and saying only a few words - "dada" "bye" and not yet saying "mama"
Bella's 1st Birthday! Yummy cake! She was just walking and saying only a few words - "dada" "bye" and not yet saying "mama"
Bella is 2 years old! WOW!! She is growing up so fast. She loves to sing, laugh, and play. She is rarely without a smile!
Happy 2nd Birthday Bella!
Check out the video of us waking her up this morning to "Happy Birthday to you!"
Monday, February 8, 2010
Bella Singing
We love music and listen to it quite often. Bella also loves music and this video is her attempt at Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle Twinkle - and remember she is only 19 months! haha :) Enjoy
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
She's not so little anymore
The once little girl...
Bella graduated this past weekend... We bought her a toddler bed! She is no longer sleeping in her crib. I thought that we would gradually introduce the new bed, but she took to it right away. She loves to get in and out during play time, and suprisingly, she stays in it for the most part when she goes night night. It is pretty cute! Before I went to wake her up this morning, I had to get a quick picture of her sleeping.
Notice, the pink blankie which is always wrapped around her in one way or another. It is lightweight and of no use for keeping her warm, but it is her comfort blankie. She has a nice warm blanket bunched in the corner which I lay on her each night but it never stays on. Hence the need for pajamas with footies to keep her warm! Also notice the cute pillow which she loves, but rarely ends up using. And just to orient you, she is sleeping on her belly.
Also, I had the camera handy this evening and caught Bella on video showing her big muscles and her new gymnastic moves. Check it out!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Modeling
Bella has a new job. Modeling! See here.. she is helping her daddy by modeling next to one of his books. Didn't she do a great job? And isn't that just the coolest looking book?
She hasn't negotiated a salary yet, so for now she is just free child labor.
She hasn't negotiated a salary yet, so for now she is just free child labor.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Obsessed
For those who know me very well, you know that I can very easily become obsessed with things. I get an idea in my head, and I cannot stop until it is resolved. When I find something that I want, I literally have to talk to myself in order for me to calm down and be okay with not getting it. I don't get hyped up but I just cannot stop thinking about it. In all my conversations, my obsessions will come up. My husband will be talking to me about one thing, and then some how I bring my obsession to the center of the conversation. It is quite crazy indeed! My obsessions can be objects/possessions, ideas, work, school, people.. anything. 
Here are 2 current obsessions:
Obession #1: My steamer!! I LOVE my steamer!!! I recentely read an article about the health benifits of steaming food opposed to grilling/baking/frying: http://www.ehow.com/how_5609065_restore-bodys-defenses-ageless-diet.html
So I decided to give the steamer a try. We got it in on Tuesday and I have cooked about 4 meals already in it. They have been super yummy and super easy! I am now sold!! We have made fish, chicken, eggs, veggies, and rice so far. I love it!
Obsession#2: iTouch ipod. Scott has an iPhone and it is so cool! Most know of the awesomeness of iphones. So many apps.. so many things to do with it. Well, there are several reasons that i cannot get an iphone... 1. it isn't time to renew my contract 2. i would still have to pay an extra $30/month just for the service. But I realized that many things you can do with an iphone you can also do with an itouch ipod. They are half the cost and no monthly service! They even have wifi on them, so you can check your email, pandora radio, and many other cool things. Sooo in my obsession.. I found a used one on ebay and it is being shipped. (used my future valentine's strawberry making income on it). I cannot wait! I have already found lots of apps that I want to put on it.. not to mention music.
Now, I do have a point for blogging about my obsessions. I have recently read a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. The point of the book is to help the reader assess his/her authenticity with God. Do you really love God and give him your best or do you just give him your leftovers? One of the chapters was titled "obsessed" and the idea has been nagging me for several weeks. Do I talk about God like I do other things that I am excited about? I mean, I have given testimony of my daughters stroller (another obsession of mine) to about 5 different interested people who then went out and got one themselves. But I have not told anyone about how awesome God is and how cool it is to have a relationship with Him!
So my questions to myself in assessing how obsessed I am about Jesus:
1. When I wake up, what do I think about? Am I thinking of my steamer? what I am going to do that day? My email? Facebook? or what does God have for us today? Isn't it great that he is giving me life today? and so on... (confession.. it is usually 1st.. do I have to get up yet?, and 2nd.. email/facebook.)
2. What is the most exciting thing in my life right now? What do I look forward to the most? And what would others say is the most exciting thing in my life?
3. How thankful am I? And how willing am I to give? For once I realize that everything I have, God has given me, the more likely I am to share.
I don't want to conjur up a false excitement about Christ that isn't really within me, but I do desire so much to be in love with Jesus more and more everyday. I want to be authentically pumped about what he is doing in my life and in the lives of the people around me. In America, sometimes it is hard to realize that we need God. We have lots of exciting, attention grabbing things all around us. But God is cooler than all of that. He created the whole universe!! I hope to meditate more on the awesomeness of God and pray that by reading more of His Word and praying more in general, that God would stir an authentic obsession within me about Him.
And as I sidenote.. I am also obsessed about this girl.. :)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Decade in Review
So I am copying this idea from one of my friends... Giving a little tidbit about each year of our lives in the decade that just passed. HERE WE GO....
2000: Jill-I was a sophomore in high school, decided to transfer a semester to a local Christian school and then quickly reverted back to Rock Bridge for my junior year in which I didn't make the volleyball team so decided to pursue basketball instead with the new coach - Coach Plourde. This was great for me because I made lots of good new friends and learned a lot about hard work and training. I also started playing for our church's first worship band - comprised of all youth.
Scott - He graduated HS this year and started his first year of college at University of Arkansas. His major was pre-med and so he spent a lot of time studying and excelling in class. Scott also was a Big Brother in the big brother/big sister organization and received several awards for his service.
2001: Jill - This was my junior year in which I decided to play soccer for RBHS, which was fun.. and the beginning of my senior year. I continued to be involved with my youth group at church and the student worship band. This was a year of continued learning and growth for me.. trying to be a light for Jesus at my school.
Scott - This year was a big year for Scott. God really got a hold of him and he started walking more faithfully with God. He got really involved in the college ministry at FBC Springdale and during a 10 day church-wide fast, God called Scott to be a minister.
2002: Jill - I graduated high school this year and started my freshman year at John Brown University. I became really good friends with my roommate, Jenna, and also played soccer at JBU (for only a year). I enjoyed being on a Christian campus and having lots of opportunities to worship Jesus with other believers, but I also found myself less challenged to spread the light of Jesus. I also started dating Scott and soon after we were already talking about when we wanted to get married :)
Scott - He continued his studies at U of A, but changed his major to Psychology as he realized there was no need to work so hard going after a biochemistry degree if he wasn't going to go into med school. This change in majors allowed him to focus more of his time on church ministry, specifically the children's bus ministry for which he preached every week. Scott also fell in love with a blonde girl (me) and spent lots of time wooing her and making her feel special.
2003: Jill - I continued my studies at JBU and took a 6 week studies trip to Ireland over the summer.. in which Scott flew over, surprised me, and asked me to marry him. I said yes. Then the wedding planning began. I also started participating in the children's bus ministry at Scott's church. It was rewarding and challenging. Looking back, I value it more now then I did at the time.
Scott- Scott occassionally went to classes this year :) and still got great grades! He continued serving in bus ministry and making a difference in the lives of a lot of kids in the Fayetteville/Springdale area by pointing them to the love of Jesus. We watched lots of movies this year at Scott's mom's house which was the halfway meeting point for us.
2004: Scott and I got married this year. I commuted to Siloam Springs from Springdale (30 min) to go to class. Scott graduated U of A and started seminary classes at the Southern's NWA extension center along with starting full-time at FBC Springdale. He also started driving buses for the Springdale school system :)
2005: I graduated from JBU and we moved to Lousiville, Kentucky. Scott was able to take a full-time seminary load while I worked full-time at KABA - selling bull semen. I actually worked mainly in accounting and customer service area. Scott also started selling jewelry at Brendan's Diamonds. We joined Highview Baptist Church and really enjoyed our Sunday school class and soul group. We learned a lot from our friends as they were all a step ahead of us in their lives (lots of kids!)
2006: I decided to apply to Physical Therapy school at University Kentucky and was accepted. So we bought a house and moved to Lexington in July and I started school in August. We quickly found a new church home at Andover Baptist and started building new relationships. Scott got a teaching position at Trinity Christian Academy for middle school Bible class and high school world history. He also started selling rare books online as a hobby which developed into a nice home business in the following years.
2007: School continued for both of us... Scott continued to teach, develop his home business, and take a few seminary classes, and I kept on with PT school. We took a trip together to Italy for 10 days which was a lot of fun! We found out in November that we would be expecting our first child!
2008: Our Bella baby was born this year! This was a unique year for me as I felt my identity shifting from a care-free woman/student/wife into a new mother (and everything in which that encompasses). I learned to rely on God more then ever and experienced more moments of joy and love than I thought possible. Scott made a smooth transition into becoming an awesome daddy! No little girl has ever been loved so much! :) Also this year, Scott completed his short teaching career and got to devote his time to his rare book business and being a family man. We had a fun fall with Scott, Bella, and I all staying home together. Very unique!
2009: We had a great 2009! Bella learned to sit, then crawl, then walk, then talk.. and now is just exploding everyday with new talents! We love watching her learn and grow! This year we got to go to Disney World twice - once in January and then at the end of December. Scott and I both started our last years of school this year. He took a very challenging load this fall and I reentered into full-time PT school with classes and internships. We got a new pastor at our church and have enjoyed being a part of the new energy and changes that are being made. One fun event was the Christmas at Andover. Our church yard was transformed into Bethlehem, and more then 1000 people from the community got to experience a live play and nativity, with the sights/sounds that were there when Jesus was born.
What a decade!!! Graduated HS & College. Got married, had a baby. Started and almost finished grad school. What will the next decade have in hold for us??
My hopes for 2010: first that we both graduate and be done with school for a long time! We have no idea where we will go or what we will do once we graduate, but are praying for God to give wisdom and guidance. I hope to start working at least part-time once I graduate. :) Our greatest hope for the next year is that we will know God more and more. I recognize my need for God often but also get very distracted by all the many things around me (internet, school work, entertainment, sleep, etc.) - not all bad things, but I need to spend more time in prayer with Jesus and reading his Word this year! As I love Jesus more, I pray his love would flow from me and make me more in to the person he created me to be. (and Scott says "ditto")
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
2000: Jill-I was a sophomore in high school, decided to transfer a semester to a local Christian school and then quickly reverted back to Rock Bridge for my junior year in which I didn't make the volleyball team so decided to pursue basketball instead with the new coach - Coach Plourde. This was great for me because I made lots of good new friends and learned a lot about hard work and training. I also started playing for our church's first worship band - comprised of all youth.
Scott - He graduated HS this year and started his first year of college at University of Arkansas. His major was pre-med and so he spent a lot of time studying and excelling in class. Scott also was a Big Brother in the big brother/big sister organization and received several awards for his service.
2001: Jill - This was my junior year in which I decided to play soccer for RBHS, which was fun.. and the beginning of my senior year. I continued to be involved with my youth group at church and the student worship band. This was a year of continued learning and growth for me.. trying to be a light for Jesus at my school.
Scott - This year was a big year for Scott. God really got a hold of him and he started walking more faithfully with God. He got really involved in the college ministry at FBC Springdale and during a 10 day church-wide fast, God called Scott to be a minister.
2002: Jill - I graduated high school this year and started my freshman year at John Brown University. I became really good friends with my roommate, Jenna, and also played soccer at JBU (for only a year). I enjoyed being on a Christian campus and having lots of opportunities to worship Jesus with other believers, but I also found myself less challenged to spread the light of Jesus. I also started dating Scott and soon after we were already talking about when we wanted to get married :)
Scott - He continued his studies at U of A, but changed his major to Psychology as he realized there was no need to work so hard going after a biochemistry degree if he wasn't going to go into med school. This change in majors allowed him to focus more of his time on church ministry, specifically the children's bus ministry for which he preached every week. Scott also fell in love with a blonde girl (me) and spent lots of time wooing her and making her feel special.
2003: Jill - I continued my studies at JBU and took a 6 week studies trip to Ireland over the summer.. in which Scott flew over, surprised me, and asked me to marry him. I said yes. Then the wedding planning began. I also started participating in the children's bus ministry at Scott's church. It was rewarding and challenging. Looking back, I value it more now then I did at the time.
Scott- Scott occassionally went to classes this year :) and still got great grades! He continued serving in bus ministry and making a difference in the lives of a lot of kids in the Fayetteville/Springdale area by pointing them to the love of Jesus. We watched lots of movies this year at Scott's mom's house which was the halfway meeting point for us.
2004: Scott and I got married this year. I commuted to Siloam Springs from Springdale (30 min) to go to class. Scott graduated U of A and started seminary classes at the Southern's NWA extension center along with starting full-time at FBC Springdale. He also started driving buses for the Springdale school system :)
2005: I graduated from JBU and we moved to Lousiville, Kentucky. Scott was able to take a full-time seminary load while I worked full-time at KABA - selling bull semen. I actually worked mainly in accounting and customer service area. Scott also started selling jewelry at Brendan's Diamonds. We joined Highview Baptist Church and really enjoyed our Sunday school class and soul group. We learned a lot from our friends as they were all a step ahead of us in their lives (lots of kids!)
2006: I decided to apply to Physical Therapy school at University Kentucky and was accepted. So we bought a house and moved to Lexington in July and I started school in August. We quickly found a new church home at Andover Baptist and started building new relationships. Scott got a teaching position at Trinity Christian Academy for middle school Bible class and high school world history. He also started selling rare books online as a hobby which developed into a nice home business in the following years.
2007: School continued for both of us... Scott continued to teach, develop his home business, and take a few seminary classes, and I kept on with PT school. We took a trip together to Italy for 10 days which was a lot of fun! We found out in November that we would be expecting our first child!
2008: Our Bella baby was born this year! This was a unique year for me as I felt my identity shifting from a care-free woman/student/wife into a new mother (and everything in which that encompasses). I learned to rely on God more then ever and experienced more moments of joy and love than I thought possible. Scott made a smooth transition into becoming an awesome daddy! No little girl has ever been loved so much! :) Also this year, Scott completed his short teaching career and got to devote his time to his rare book business and being a family man. We had a fun fall with Scott, Bella, and I all staying home together. Very unique!
2009: We had a great 2009! Bella learned to sit, then crawl, then walk, then talk.. and now is just exploding everyday with new talents! We love watching her learn and grow! This year we got to go to Disney World twice - once in January and then at the end of December. Scott and I both started our last years of school this year. He took a very challenging load this fall and I reentered into full-time PT school with classes and internships. We got a new pastor at our church and have enjoyed being a part of the new energy and changes that are being made. One fun event was the Christmas at Andover. Our church yard was transformed into Bethlehem, and more then 1000 people from the community got to experience a live play and nativity, with the sights/sounds that were there when Jesus was born.
What a decade!!! Graduated HS & College. Got married, had a baby. Started and almost finished grad school. What will the next decade have in hold for us??
My hopes for 2010: first that we both graduate and be done with school for a long time! We have no idea where we will go or what we will do once we graduate, but are praying for God to give wisdom and guidance. I hope to start working at least part-time once I graduate. :) Our greatest hope for the next year is that we will know God more and more. I recognize my need for God often but also get very distracted by all the many things around me (internet, school work, entertainment, sleep, etc.) - not all bad things, but I need to spend more time in prayer with Jesus and reading his Word this year! As I love Jesus more, I pray his love would flow from me and make me more in to the person he created me to be. (and Scott says "ditto")
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
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