Life's Not Fair, but the Fair is Here!

Well, the project I was working on for Albuquerque is done and sent. It should arrive in New Mexico before I do! The funny thing is the three-day shipping would cost twice as much as the regular shipping but they both are scheduled to arrive Friday. We aren't guaranteed with the regular, but for twenty bucks less we were willing to take the risk!

With that all taken care of, I turned my attention to the fair. Today was the opening day, which means it was also the FFA Alumni BBQ. Yum- slowly smoked barbecued pork, baked beans, applesauce and crumbly cookies for $6 to support the FFA chapter. It's a beautiful deal. But let me tell you, working it this year was HOT. I know, every year I say it is hot, but this year it was extremely hot. I was burning up even though I was under a roofed pavilion! But don't let my complaining fool you- I truly enjoy working out there with and for the FFA members. It may sound kind of cheesy but the Trenton FFA really did a lot for me, so I'm glad to do anything I can to help out the future generations.

This year I was the only alumni member to show up to help though, which made me kind of sad. The dinner used to be completely run by alumni members. Sadly I am realizing once people leave town it's sometimes hard for them to get back. In the coming years I may even be in that situation. Growing up is tough, and life isn't fair.

Speaking of which, I had a long chat with financial aid this morning. Life definitely isn't fair, and unfortunately that's quite obvious in finances. I've been blessed to receive so many scholarships this year that I won't be receiving as much work study funds as I did last year. That's kind of a bum deal, but I know it'll all work out. Though I'll admit earlier today I was struggling to remember that.

Oh, and up tomorrow: I think I'm headed out to find some things for our house. Should be an interesting adventure!

Crazy Weekend, Busy Day, oh and Albuquerque in a few days?

Well, we've finally reached the end of another busy day. But I must say, today had nothing on Saturday.

Saturday I woke up early to get my desk and bed loaded up to take down to Columbia. My friend Marcia is going to teach south of Columbia a ways next year, so she was in the process of moving as well. It just so happened that our move-in dates coincided, so one day last week she offered to let me have some space on her u-haul. I knew I had to come home Saturday night because my Sunday School teacher had asked me to teach the lesson since she was on vacation, but one of Marcia's friends was coming down later that evening and would be able to give me a ride back to Chillicothe. I thought it was the perfect plan, so without hesitation I took her up on the offer.

So Saturday morning we loaded up my bigger furniture into the van and headed to Chillicothe to meet Marcia with the u-haul. Unfortunately, her morning wasn't going as planned- she ended up having to go half an hour away to get the truck, so we started loading an hour or so after planned. Then as we crammed all her belongings into the truck, she realized she had more "stuff" than she'd thought. Getting everything in was like solving a complicated, and important, puzzle. A chair upside down here, a few boxes there, a picture frame squeezed between a couple mattresses... Thanks to Dad and Marcia's friend Marilyn, the puzzle did get put together, but there was no room for my desk or bed. So we scratched Plan A and enacted Plan B: drive the van down and then drive back early in the morning.

After loading myself up early in the morning, then loading Marcia up, then making the two hour drive to Columbia, I was exhausted. Thankfully, some of Marcia's family and her boyfriend was down there ready to help us unload. It made a lot of difference having people who hadn't touched any boxes yet- they were full of energy and within three hours the u-haul was unloaded and the house was pretty much set up. There were only a few nic-nac boxes to be unloaded and some organization to do.

Around 6:30, Marcia helped me take my stuff to my new place. Every time I walk into the house I am amazed at how much bigger it looks than my memory gives it credit for. I guess it's better to remember it as being smaller than to remember it being bigger! After we got everything in my room, everyone left who'd helped out went to supper at Ruby Tuesdays.

After supper, since I didn't have any clothes or anything because I thought I'd be going home that night, (My mom told me to pack a bag just in case. Momma knows best, I shoulda listened!) I went back to Marcia's and she packed me a little overnight bag. She supplied everything I could possibly need: bed sheets, clothes for the next day, toothbrush and toothpaste... She was prepared!

Then I hurried to "my house" and took a shower. And how wonderful that felt after a long day carrying things out in the heat. It was nice to get the sweat and grime off. And by the time I'd done that, Kathryn and her family came back after attending a wedding. She and her brother helped me put my bed together, then we all collapsed. It'd been a long day for all of us, I think.

6:30 came way too early, but I knew I had to get gas before I headed northwest. I discovered the closest gas station- a Break Time (which by the way, has the weirdest pumps- you press a button rather than flip up the switch). Somehow I managed to stay awake on the way home. Teaching Sunday School reenergized me a little bit, but I was ready for a nap after I got home! And believe me, that three hour Sunday afternoon felt wonderful!

Today, I've got back into the swing of work. I can't believe I'll be in Albuquerque later this week! Also, fair time is here again. Opening day is tomorrow, and I'll be working the alumni bbq tomorrow. It's sure to be a crazy week!

A Beautiful Ending

Today was one of those ultimate summer days. We got a lot accomplished, and then we had a lot of fun. And in a few instances the work and fun even collided!

This morning and early afternoon was filled with finding the supplies I need to quilt my wall hanging. This will be my first hand quilting project so we'll see how that goes, but I'm pretty excited. If I could find a quilting hoop I'd be even more excited though. My friend Julia called me today and said she might be able to help me with that dilemma. One of the things she and I bond over is our love of sewing, and crafting in general. She said she might possibly have a hoop I could borrow. Ah, what would I do without friends?

I was over at Grandma's looking for the hoop when I got sidetracked by some old sheet music. I play the piano, but ever since my piano teacher Hazel passed away I haven't been extremely serious about it. I played on Sunday mornings for a year or so, but since I've gone to college I have completely trickled out of that. It's not the same without Hazel, but don't get me wrong- I do still love to play, especially when I have something new to try. I'm kind of bad about picking up music and sight reading it, but I haven't polished a piece in forever. Maybe I'll make that a goal before I go back to school. Maybe I'll have to go back to Grandma's and look at what she has.

This evening, we had our Parents' Night for VBS. Each class of kids got up front and sang one of the songs we learned. After the oldest kids finished their song, our Music Director made an announcement which shocked all of us teachers. She said the older kids had come up with an idea (uh huh- if the pre-teens and youth have an idea it's likely a wild one!). They wanted all of the teachers to come up and do the song "A-M-A-Z-I-N-G". Remember? That's the crazy one from Day 3. I'd kind of heard the rumor we might be doing it from some of the older girls that weren't being to secretive about their plan, but I think a few of the teachers truly were surprised. And a few managed to sneak their way out of it! But it is a great song, so I was glad we could humor their little plan.

After the program, the kids and their parents went downstairs for cookies and Cathy and I started tearing down all of the decorations. We had this big blow up world globe that seriously took me 30 minutes to deflate. I had to sit on it, hug it, step on it...  It took Elizabeth a long time to blow it up but I think it took just as long for me to deflate it. After the families left, several other church members stayed to help clean up which was absolutely wonderful. Mom had halfway planned to come back in the morning, but we have more tomatoes that need put up and I'm headed to Columbia for the day so I'm really glad we got that taken care of. When everyone worked together, we got done in a jiffy. Actually, even though we had A LOT of cleaning and tearing down to do we got out the earliest tonight than we had all week!

But, with everything going on I didn't get anything in the crockpot for supper tonight and Elizabeth and Dad ate with the band group after their performance tonight. So Mom, Cathy and I went out to eat Mexican! Yum. Mom and Cathy were friends from college, and they ended up marrying cousins (kind of- my family tree is slightly confusing, branches tend to cross over in places). We always have fun times when Cathy's around, and tonight was no different!

Oh, and we almost got lost when we went to pick Elizabeth up from her band party to celebrate the end of band camp. But we made it just in time.

It was a lovely day- the perfect ending to a crazy, exciting, and fun-filled week. But I should probably turn in because tomorrow (or rather later today as I see the day has changed already!) will bring more excitement. I'm headed to Columbia for the day to help Marcia move (I can't believe she and I will be living in the same city again! Crazy where life takes us) and hopefully I'll be taking a few of my bigger pieces to my new place! Exciting stuff! It's just another leg of this exciting journey!

God's Power Over My Life

Well, this was it! Tonight was the last night of VBS. Our lesson was from Acts tonight. We learned the apostles preached about Jesus and His resurrection after He ascended to Heaven, and God performed miracles through the apostles to bring more people to Him. The Jewish leaders became upset at this so they threw the apostles in jail. Then God sent an angel to free the apostles and they continued to stand up and tell people about Jesus. The Jewish leaders were unhappy they had not stopped the apostles, but then one of them, a well-respected man named Gamaliel, told the other Jewish leaders to leave them alone. He said if they were doing the work of man it wouldn't come to anything, but if it was truly of God not even they, the Jewish leaders, could stop them. We learned an important part of being a Christian is following Jesus's example and letting Him guide us in our daily life, just like the apostles did. We can follow Him by reading His word and by adjusting our lives to its teachings.

It was another fast paced evening at VBS, but this morning I wasn't moving too fast. This morning my sister's taxi service (aka- me) was running a little behind, so it's a wonder we made it to Band Camp Day 4 on time. After dropping her off, I headed back to Grandma's to continue working on my wall hanging. It's coming along quite nicely! I'm ready to iron the top and bottom, throw in some batting and start quilting!

The barnyard critters are finally pieced!

When I picked up Elizabeth and one of my dear high school friends, also the band's drum major this year, we headed to Taco Bell. I feel like Taco Bell is one of those places you either love or you hate, but I personally love it. And our Taco Bell also has a Kentucky Fried Chicken, so how could you get better than that? I ordered my usual: a couple chalupas (yum!) and an individual order of mashed potatoes. Totally not healthy, but totally tasty! A dozen or so salsa packets (Don't you just love the little sayings? Personally I think that's a great marketing technique. I fall for it!) and an hour full of lots of good conversation and laughter later, we all headed our separate ways.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'm off for now, but tomorrow's VBS Parents' Night is sure to generate a few stories to relate!

God's Power Over Death

This morning I headed to Grandma's apartment to work on my wall hanging after dropping Elizabeth off at Band Camp.

Grandma is a sewing queen. Many of my earliest memories involve her, and most of those memories involve sewing. Whether she was sewing on a quilt, teaching me to sew my first pillow or taking me to Jamesport to coordinate quilt making and selling with the Amish ladies, we were often together and we often had fabric around us.

I would say Grandma has a bit of an entrepreneurial bone in her body. Or maybe she's just industrious. Besides keeping up with the farm, she had a little quilt businesses going for quite a while. She'd piece the quilts together herself, but then she'd take them to the Amish ladies to quilt. When they were done, she'd pick the quilts back up, put the binding on and then take them back over to the stores in Jamesport to sell.

Sewing with Grandma is something that always brings back memories for me, and even though she's now in her apartment and there isn't quite as much sewing going on, today reminded me a little of those old days.

The top piece of my wall hanging is nearly finished. I'm just working on borders, then I'll be ready to make up a back, add some batting and start quilting!

Time flew and soon enough it was time for me to pick up Elizabeth. Then when we got home time flew again! Before I knew it, it was time for Bible School again! I was running a little behind after working on a couple other projects, so I frantically ran around the house to find the posters I needed for tonight and to print off our memory verses for a little game we would play. Oh, and I had to proof Mom's letter to the parents too. All in, oh, fifteen minutes. Once we had everything together, we jumped in the car and hurried off to the church.

Then I had another 15 minutes to set up my classroom and make sure my kiddos were where they were supposed to be. I was slightly concerned. But once the music hit for us to go to our first class time, for us Bible Study, I felt a wave of peace wash over me. It felt like the Holy Spirit was reprimanding me for my doubt- everything was going to be ok. See- even us teachers are still being taught by the ultimate Teacher that God truly is more powerful than anything and in control of everything. Speaking of His power, tonight's theme was God's power over death.

I was thankful that the kids were especially attentive during our lesson tonight. We learned about the resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of Pontius Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, the Angel and Peter. Then we had a great celebration because Jesus is Alive! Jesus is alive, and through Him we can live in His presence eternally. What a day that will be!

Tomorrow is our last day of VBS before Parents Night. I'm a little sad because I think I've had just as much fun as the kids! I love to see their faces light up when they know an answer to a question or when they recognize the Bible verse we learned in our lesson later in a song. It makes me wonder what opportunities I'll have in the future. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes up next on my journey!

God's Power Over Sin

This morning I awoke to beautiful news: Dad could take Elizabeth in to Band Camp. Yay! Courtney gets to sleep in. So I did. And it was wonderful. But it didn't last long. I had Bible School lessons to prepare, moving plans to coordinate, a couple of powerpoints to finish for work and a blog entry to write (sorry 'bout last night- but hey, you get two today!). I just barely got all of that done before it was time to pick Elizabeth up.

All the blocks for my wall hanging are finished, and they are now lying on the ground just waiting to be sewn up. I'll try to get that done tomorrow maybe. I think it will look pretty cute- hopefully I'll have a picture to show you tomorrow.

Tonight's Bible School was about God's power over sin. We learned a sin is anything we do that makes God sad- anything that is against how He has told us to live. We learned about how Jesus is the Messiah the Jewish people were waiting for. Simeon and Anna recognized baby Jesus as their Messiah, the one who would rescue us from our sins, when Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to the temple. God sent Jesus to pay for our sins on the cross, and if we accept this gift and live for Him we will live with Him forever!

As usual, our time went way too fast! After our lessons and other activities, it was time to head upstairs. Tonight's song, "A-M-A-Z-I-N-G" is super fast-paced (and a lot of fun!). Of course it is bound to be the kids' favorite song. Our music director upped the fun of the song when it came time for us to do the song together. She asked for a couple of teachers to volunteer to do the actions up front with her, and oh how the kids loved that! My kids of course volunteered me, so to the front I went along with the teacher of the older youth class. My only complaint is that it was difficult doing this crazy song with my back turned to the words!

I couldn't help myself. Watch a church group above sing "A-M-A-Z-I-N-G"! Be careful though, you might find it's easy to get stuck in your head!

Well, we're halfway through! Can't wait to see what's in store for the next couple of days!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

God's Power Over Circumstances

Yesterday was Elizabeth's first day of band camp. They are working on a program called "Monsters," though I couldn't quite comprehend what all that will include. Something about Frankenstein perhaps.

This is such a dry, hot week to be marching around outside, but I don't think we'll be getting any cooler weather for a while, so I guess they'll just have to put on sunscreen and stay hydrated!

This drought business isn't too fun for anyone, but it especially doesn't look promising for farmers around here.

According to an article I read last night, Missouri's corn and soybean conditions are the worst in the nation. And another said we can't expect this drought to end anytime soon. It may continue through the rest of this year.

But, like we learned in Bible School last night, God has power over our circumstances. He saved Daniel from the lions' den for His glory, and He has the power to do anything in our lives today.

I don't know if He will bring us rain or not, but I do know His plan is right. It may not always be fun, but it is right. And we must to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power are His." Daniel 2:20

VBS: Day 1

Well, the first day of Bible School is officially over. One down, four to go!

Today was all about God's power over nature. We learned about Joshua and the Israelites following the priests with the ark of the covenant across the Jordan River. When the priests stepped into the water, God parted the water so that the people could walk across. Afterwards, they constructed a memorial of twelve stones, one for each tribe, to remind future generations of God's awesome power and how He provided a way across the river for them. (Joshua 3-4)

My 2nd and 3rd graders and I left the Worship Rally Hangar and flew down to the Zambezi River which we rafted down until we got to Victoria Falls (in other words, we left the sanctuary and headed downstairs into the Bible Study room) where we had our lesson. Then we played a crocodile review game before heading to crafts (airplane suncatchers), music ("You Are Remarkable"), and recreation (ballon races). Oh, and we refueled with some tasty cookies too. :)

Two-and-a-half hours go by way too quickly! It was a fast-paced night filled with interactive lessons and fun activities to learn more about God's power over all things. 

It was fun, but now I'm pooped. Up tomorrow: Courtney's taxi service is getting Elizabeth to band camp! Yay! Hear all about it tomorrow.

"Oh Lord God, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too difficult for You." Jeremiah 32:17

Veggies and Berries

This morning I awoke to the sound of Mom moving pots and pans around in the kitchen. Hmm... when I hear that sound I can almost guarantee there is probably some sort of produce processing in the day's plans. Sure enough after I pulled myself from my warm bed and trudged into the kitchen I found the kitchen island covered in tomatoes, zucchini and peppers freshly picked from the garden. 

Don't they look beautiful? Our garden is doing pretty well considering the heat and drought. Dad is watering it, but even so the paper and straw is doing a good job of keeping moisture in and weeds out. 

Canning is a normal part of summer activities around here. The shelves in the basement are lined with green beans, tomatoes and chicken broth we've put up in past seasons. If you've got it, you'd best not waste it! Waste not, want not. Ben Franklin knew what he was talkin' 'bout. 

Today's agenda was canning (or rather hot-bathing) tomatoes and freezing peppers. We're also trying something Dad read about- dehydrating tomatoes. I guess after they are done dehydrating you ground them up into a powder, then when you need tomato paste you just add water. 

And, while we're on the topic of produce... Over the Fourth of July my aunt and I went blackberry picking down by the pond (which sadly is more like a hole in the ground right now). The week previously I had been at Kathryn's house and she showed me their beautiful, tame blackberry bushes. I explained we had wild berries but they hadn't produced well in a long time. The very night I got home, Dad informed me there were a bunch of blackberries nearly ripe enough to pick! How ironic. My aunt was here when they were ready to be picked so the two of us got up early to beat the heat and went down there. A couple hours and several thorn scratches later we had a gallon of berries.

So what did we do with them? Well, of course I had to make a cobbler. Then Aunt Jennifer passed on her jam-making knowledge. That was really special to me because Mom doesn't make jams, and come to find out jam making was the last thing Aunt Jennifer learned from my grandma before she passed away. It was a lot easier than I expected, so the next week when I was back at Kathryn's I helped her make some plum jam from their plums!

That same day a neighbor brought up some sweet corn for us, so we went to freezing it. Some of my earliest memories are of freezing corn. My first job was carrying the corn inside to Mom and Grandma after Dad husked it outside. Then I was the official mover of the corn cobs from their first warm bath after being boiled into the cold bath. Now they let me use knives to cut the corn off the cob. Hehe... ;)

I'm usually the photographer, but Mom took
this picture so you'd have proof I actually do help!

A Few Upcoming Adventures... Stay Tuned

Wow... so it's been nearly a month! I feel like such a hypocrite after coming home from helping my advisor with a workshop for highschoolers on blogging. As I was encouraging them to keep up on their writing (I think what I actually said was "you'll always feel like you'll have more time to write later and later never comes, so you'd better just get to writing") I was being a slacker myself. I have decided I will do better. These next few weeks will be crazy (all the more for more interesting posts I hope!) but if I don't make time now, how do I expect to make time later? 


But hey, I haven't been just sitting around doing nothing! 


I've spent quite a bit of time working on the different shows for the AAEA Awards Program this week. Monday after helping out at the above-mentioned workshop, I went over to Marilyn's to sort winning entries to scan and such. As we were going over one powerpoint I had almost finished, we got to talking about the timetable everything needed to be finished in, and that's when it clicked. In three weeks we will be in Albuquerque. ALBUQUERQUE. Among the leaders of the industry I'm headed into. Wow. Ok, this is becoming more real. It shall be my Westward Adventure! Stay tuned for more details...

In other news, Vacation Bible School is coming up next week. This'll be my first year as a grade-level teacher. Ever since I was too old for VBS (after I finished 6th grade- now we have a class for kids up to high school), I helped teach Music. I love the songs, even if sometimes they're a little long. Music is something I love, and I think it's a great way to connect with God and to teach lessons and verses. But right before the end of last semester, as I was realizing I was coming home for the summer, I felt the desire to do something more than what I had done in the past. I had no clue what that would be, but I knew it was a desire God had put on my heart. So I prayed He would show me what it was I was supposed to do, and that I would have the wisdom to recognize it. 

It wasn't too long after I had come home that Mom asked me if I would consider teaching a VBS class. Immediately, I felt like this was it. So here I am. This will definitely be an adventure too- only this one a little closer to home! :) Well, kind of. Our theme is Amazing Wonders Aviation, and we're going to travel the world and learn about our awesome God who is all-powerful in every way! All in two hours in a little country church in northwest Missouri. 

Recreation at...

Crafts at....

Music at...

Missions at...

Snacks at...

Bible Study at...

My sister has been working on decorations for our world-wide travels all day. I believe there is a paper volcano (with red tissue paper and sparkly pipe cleaner lava) and fabric Victoria Falls in the works, possibly a mountain and some coral too. 


In my spare time, I've just been hunting down scholarships and internships, working on my wall hanging and looking for decorating ideas. Soon, too soon, I'll be headed down to Columbia for another semester. By the end of next week the house I'm living in with a couple other girls will be ready, and though I'm excited to add some personal country-fied touches with my housemates it's a little bittersweet. Moving into a house (or rather a duplex... we are just college kids in the city, you know) is a lot different than moving into a dorm! I will enjoy not having the crazy dorm life, but I'm sure there will be other crazy things taking the place of dorm craziness.


Hmm... sounds like I have a lot of adventures coming up!