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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's Weekend!

This weekend has been WONDERFUL!  Nothing too eventful going on...however, with Jason being gone all week with work and I was at work earlier and later than normal this week, it was nice to relax and just spend time together!

On Saturday we just relaxed...watched some romantic movies, caught up with some emails and some house work, and Jason made us a steak dinner!  It was yummy and perfect...however, he made me work for it by having to fan a towel under the smoke detector because they decided to start blaring...and he did not even burn anything...LOL!!!

Today we got up and went to church at Southland Christian Church..it was a great experience and we are definitely going again!!!  We have gone back and forth between Church of Christ and Christian churches recently...both have what we really want the only huge difference amongst the two is instruments/no instruments. We had waited until now to visit Southland mainly because it is HUGE!  In fact many people joke that it is Lexington's version of Six Flags over Jesus...which in return refers to Southeast Christian Church in Louisville which is not only HUGE but MASSIVE (escalators included)...good thing for us Southland is not that big!  It definitely made us nervous to made this trek to the church building this morning.  But as we are driving I am praying that God would relieve this nervousness and help us to know today if this was a place for us or not.  We had to park so far out that there were buses driving people up to the building!  We chose to hike it...exercise and worship all in one morning...can't beat that!!!  So when we got inside we were just as amazed at the size of the inside as we were on the outside!  Much to Jason's hesitation I got as pretty close to the front and I am so glad that I did!  The worship music was wonderful, the message was even better, and we both walked away LOVING it!!!  God definitely showed me that I was wrong!!!  Next we are going to go to the "newcomers" class so we can get familiar with everything.  Then hopefully we will get connected with a Life Group...which we feel is very important with a church this size!  We are bound a determined to get connected at this congregation!  Thank you for those of you who have been praying for us to find the church that suits us best!  Your prayers have worked and we can't thank you enough!

This week and weekend we will be preparing and planning for Jason's dad, Jerry to come for a visit!  We are so excited to see him!  We are praying this warm weather sticks around because he is not a huge fan of cold weather.  If I was from California I would not be a huge fan either...as it is...I am already tired of it!

To wrap up a wonderful and MUCH warmer weekend I made us customized chocolate shakes!

                               Jason's double chocolate gummy bear shake

                                    Ashley's double chocolate shake

Go love on someone special!
-Ashley

Saturday, February 5, 2011

There is Always Light at the End of....Errr...There is Always Spring at the End of Winter!

Well it has been a while and to be honest I am not going to make any excuses.  Jason and I have been fighting sickness after sickness, working, trying to get everything organized in our lives, and mounds of other things.  Needless to say it has been a long couple of months...but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I am not sure about anyone else but it seems that the winter months seem to be the hardest!  Very little daylight, very cold temperatures, and for many the holidays only bring heartache, hurt, and sadness.  Well the holidays seemed to go pretty great for us this year...it was the after part that seemed to get to be the depressing point.  Having to take down the tree and all the decorations and for us...snow (which we got a lot of before Christmas too).  Snow, snow, and more snow!!!  Since November we have had snow on the ground at least once every week!  It has snowed so much I was beginning to think we lived in the white grass state and not the bluegrass state!  LOL!  Normally I do not complain about snow because I love it and I think it is so beautiful...however, this snow has worn out its welcome!  Not sure where this picture came from but it has been circulating amongst some of my friends and it basically sums up how many people are currently feeling.

Now that I have ranted about snow...I am finished...I promise!!!  For the last month during my prayer time I am focusing on staying positive!  Haha!  I know what you are thinking..."but you just whined and complained about snow!  How is that positive?"  Well I know...and I confess that staying positive all the time is hard...but I did not have to say that...you knew that.  But at the same time that makes my point!  During the winter it is the hardest to stay positive...at least in my opinion!  So I believe that is why God laid this on my heart...He knew that I could do this and so I am working hard at it!  Sometimes I have to close myself in a closet and scream, but after that I am fine (and no one knows about those moments anyways right?)  LOL!  Throughout the day I have my prayer time broke up...as I am in the shower or getting ready I spend time praying about the day in general and people that are on my heart and mind.  On my way to work I pray solely and completely for my students, my coworkers, my boss, the school in general, all the families I come in contact with, etc., during lunch I pray for specific people that I set aside for that time, and in the evenings I pray for whatever is on my heart again.  I know that seems complex but for me it works really well and leaves me knowing that I covered everything that I wanted to pray about throughout the day.  It is amazing...since I have put the positive spin on all my prayer times I have seen so many small prayers answered!  It helps me to remember and to know that God has and will answer with the big things as well.  

For those of you who have been asking and have been praying I wanted to give you a very small update on Mom.  She is going to be going to the neurosurgeon on Tuesday...we are praying for answers.  She has been making these almost hiccuping noises randomly...they are uncontrollable and Mom fully believes they are neural.  Her family doctor had her on an oxygen monitor on Tuesday night/Wednesday to monitor her oxygen levels (because sometimes with this hiccuping thing she stops breathing).  As far as Mom could tell her oxygen levels looked within the normal range...I guess she will find out more from the doctor soon.  Please continue to pray...that is the best thing we can do right now.

Some other people I have been praying for is my parent's ministers wife...Debbie...she is currently at Cancer Centers of America on Chicago.  It has been hard for them...our family as is rest of the church family are very close to them.  Also a coworker of mine has been out for a couple days...her husband is in the hospital and has been having several health issues.  This is a hard time of the year...but I believe this is when God is the closest to us...we just have to look next to us and take a moment to feel His loving arms wrapped around us. 

I have been working really hard at varying our menu here at home...trying lots of new recipes...some have been awesome...some not so good!  In the next couple weeks I hope to share some of the good ones with you.  I have also been working on some projects...turning some used stuff into new stuff by altering it in different ways.  Over the next couple weeks I promise to update you on all my ideas.  But for now I am getting off of here...I know this has been too long and my hubby is waiting for me to snuggle with him...and I am ready to get warm!  ;)

Finding something to be positive about today!

Ashley