Spring Updates

Hello family, friends...world!! We've been busy, story of our lives, but we aren't complaining! We are truly blessed and loving every min of it!! God has been soo good to us!!

A quick update in month form....

January-Recouped from our holiday visit to Ohio. Caught laryngitis which was such a treat (hint sarcasm) to not be able to talk for 3 days. Very bizarre.

Got crafty and made tee-shirts for one of the students basketball game. Too much fun.



Went on a Leader's Retreat up in Helen, GA in a beautiful, ENORMOUS cabin. Great time of connecting/building relationships with friends.

February-Started our small group again. This time we have a larger group, anywhere from 12-15 kids and its so fulfilling for us. Makes us draw closer to God needing all the strength He can give to prepare for questions/issues. Also huge blessing to us in many ways too numerous to count.



March-Went to Winterfest in Knoxville, TN for the first time together. Allon and I grew up going and it was great to be able to help lead a group of students there. Very privileged to go. Tons of pic are on Facebook but here's a video in case you've never been. Amazing to watch 15-20,000 students praising God, you'll never be the same!!





Had visit from Allon's best friend, Jason. A birthday present from his awesome wife Heather. Enjoyed watching the guys interact and react to the Final Four games. Not to mention the RockBand till wee-hours of the morning and Nerf basketball in the living room!

Allon debuted his rap skills at one of the Wed night services. Besides being nervous and forgetting some of the words it was amazing. I was so proud!!


Dead and Gone from MPN Student Ministry on Vimeo.


April-Has started off great so far. Tons of rain, warm weather again, able to start more home renovations/general yard work. Feeling alive again after being couped up for so long, Spring has Sprung.

Had visit from Allon's best friend, Jason. A birthday present from his awesome wife Heather. Enjoyed watching the guys interact and react to the Final Four games. Not to mention the RockBand till wee-hours of the morning and Nerf basketball in the living room!

The Lord has huge things in store for us this year. We feel His hand upon us and see Him doing amazing things. We'll keep you posted. Hugs and Love to all!!

It Was a Very Good Year

Wow. It has been a while since we have blogged. It seems like time has blown by, but in all actuality, we have had a lot going on.

We started working with the Mt Paran North High School Ministries this year and things have really taken off from there. But in all the busy-ness of what this year has brought, I was able to slow down and take stock of what God has done in our life and the countless Blessing he has heaped onto us this year. Here are just a few of the ways God has blessed us in 2008:

• Began working with high school youth ministries at Mt Paran North. Love every minute of it.
• Chaperoned high school youth camp in Panama City, Fla. Bonded with tons of students as well as fellow camp staff/workers. GOD SHOWED UP IN AN AWESOME WAY!

• Celebrated 6 wonderful years of marriage to a phenomenal woman and perfect partner.
• Began working at a new school. Was nervous and reluctant at first; now I love being there and enjoy my co-workers.
• Dad and brother came through major surgery (brother gave dad a kidney) with flying colors, no complications and both were home within 6 days. Recovering great.
• With God’s help (and Dave Ramsey’s knowledge) Amber and I have reclaimed our finances and are well on our way to serving God with our stewardship.

These are just a few of the many things God has done for us in ’08 to truly show us He not only cares for the small details of our lives, but is in control no matter how stressed, worried, busy, selfish, and total human we are on a daily basis. In our weakness, God’s strength comes through for us every time. And each and every time, we stand in awe of how wonderful he is to us. NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION IS!

During the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season, be sure you slow down just a little to reflect on how God has blessed your 2008. You will be amazed at his grace and mercy in your own life. We love you all and can’t wait to see what 2009 holds for all of us.

Merry Christmas

Remodel 1

This week was Allon's "winter break" so we set out to get some projects completed. Our biggest was the guest bathroom. I have hated this bathroom since we moved in....hated it!! I felt so bad for guests having to use it and was determined to get it done ASAP. So this week proved perfect. Our niece is coming to visit tonight so we finished in just the nick of time!!!

The previous owners had just one small vanity in the corner of this nice sized bathroom and a HUGE wall just left bare. So the logical solution is to move the vanity. Allon has busted his butt since Sunday moving the water lines/pipes to the opposite wall along with the light fixture. The only thing left to do is tile the floor but what a HUGE improvement. I just heard the dollar signs go up as we have truly added value to the house!! Plus its just pretty!! (forgive my amateur picture taking. Not big enough to really get some good pictures)

Prior to moving in:


After taking down wall paper and painting (so I don't have a pic of what it looked like when we were living in the house. Obviously we fix the missing bulbs, cleaned the mirror, tried to make it look cute. Just didn't want to take pictures since we knew it was going to change. Enough said, here's the pic. Judge if you must):



Process:



Finished project:

Remodel 2

Here is the second project that we completed this week. The silly people before had 2 decks on either side of the patio doors. So dumb. After a couple different methods we finally disassembled them completely, turned them, flipped the boards over and rebuilt as one big deck. Very cool!!

Here are the progression pictures:





This is it before we add a step and railing. We plan to cement the dirt area left over from the one deck and eventually have our fire pit there. That's the plan at least.

Feels Like Home!!!

ITS SNOWING!!! REALLY SNOWING!! Ok, maybe just a half inch but its snow!!

Moments like this make me think of and miss home!! All of Atlanta is freaking out but we are just enjoying it! It is so beautiful and peaceful! We are bundled up and watching out the windows! Its been years since we've had some, what a awesome, memorable night!!

The Last Couple Months in Pictures

So I'm lazy...not really. I just haven't had internet access for a couple of months. So instead of boring you with endless reading, we'll go the quick route with some pics. The last couple of months in review. Drumroll......

We've been doing tons of work on the house. Including ripping out almost all the landscaping in the front. We really have great timing...a week after our project we find out the state of Georgia is on a water ban. So no new plants for me until spring. So instead of a flower bed I have a dirt bed. But good news...the nasty bushes are gone!! We found all kinds of presents too (ash trays, lighters, fast food wrappers, beer cans and a friendly snake, who had a liking to me!!!)




And we tore out the nasty (I use that word alot to describe our house in its previous condition. Sorry, it works) mailbox. Before it was all black, no flag, and pretty much falling over. So after Allon's work threw us a "Kick Butt House Warming Party" we were able to pick up little necessities. Like a new mailbox!! My brother made us the post and we had a blast posing with it!!



My dearest, sweetest, meant-to-be-my sister, kindred-spirit cousin, Rachel is PREGO!! So I have to send her some love and show her most adorable belly!! And in the past couple of months she found out they are having a BOY!! Love and miss you sissy!!


Also our dear friends, Jason and Heather, who I posted pics before of their visit here...


had their first baby in October!! A whopping baby boy....almost 10lbs named A.J.! Heather you are my hero!! And when your boy is playing OSU football, we will gladly sit/cheer him on with you!! Congrats you two! Cannot wait to meet him over the holidays!!


Allon's brother, Adam and his wife Shannon welcomed their 5th baby at the beginning of November. Gabrielle Sparks was a whopping 6lb baby and we are so excited to be Aunt/Uncle again! Watch out baby, Aunt Amber's kisses are coming!! (I'll post good pics of her soon)

My dad had his birthday during the Michigan/OSU football game. So we joined our OSU family at the Buckeye bar and had a great time!! The place was packed out at 9:30am but we didn't care a bit. Love you dad!! Go Bucks!!


Then my b-day was on Thanksgiving Day this year. So instead of doing the normal holiday things we decided to do something different and went to Medieval Times! It was a blast! Totally worth the money to act like a kid, scream and holler, and eat without silverware!! Plus the entertainment was amazing!!



So that's a quick summary. I have uploaded a ton of pics that I have been slacking on. Hope everyone had a great holiday, ate lots of food and are looking forward to the coming month and all the joy it will bring!! It's a busy time but totally full of rich memories!! Love to all!!

How I Spent the Last Month

Drumroll please.
Here are a few of our before and after pics. For the rest of them check out my Flickr account. The kitchen demo was the greatest transformation.
Enjoy!!!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Flip this House....

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are still alive!! I've been asked that by a few family members and by some of our friends from choir if we were. Its like we've been missing from the real world for a couple of weeks. But we have accomplished so much!!!

Labor Day weekend was the beginning of our "flip". I've always watched that show and now I can say I should have had a star role on it. We have completely changed the look of our new home. And it couldn't have been done without the help of our totally awesome family!!

Allon's parents came down on the Friday of Labor Day weekend and work began immediately (my parents/brother joined us after a long day of work). Especially cleaning...I don't think I have ever used that much bleach in my life! Most of my clothes have either bleach stains or paint stains now! The place really was a mess...it hadn't been lived in for 6-8 months and the people (2 women) who lived there before, well, I don't think they knew how to clean much less keep up on house maintenance. So the house needed major love. We did demo on the house Friday....ripped out the carpet through the whole house, tore down wallpaper in one bathroom, sanded and painted it, tore down a dividing wall in the kitchen, ripped out all the kitchen cabinets/pantry, pulled up the nasty flooring in the kitchen as well. Demo is fun and quick...it's the rebuilding that takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!! It was nice though to know that the house is now ours...no more remaining of the old owners. It was like a fresh start for us and the house too!

The rest of the weekend we just started to rebuild the house. And everyone worked like dogs! Words cannot express how completely grateful we were to everyone. Getting up at 8-9am and working till 10-11pm each day over a long weekend....there just isn't enough gifts or gratitude in my heart. We had fun though, bonding and laughing. Filling the house with joy. Walt (Allon's dad) used to be a carpet-layer back in the day, so he and Allon kept busy with that all weekend. My dad is an amazing carpenter and we gave him free reign in our kitchen and he recreated the kitchen with new cabinets/bar area. My counterspace has doubled and our vision of the kitchen was perfectly created!! The rest of us painted the bedrooms/hallway, cleaned and spent some time on the yard. The old owners didn't own a rake...I'm sure of it. Piles and piles of leaves surround the house!! Yuck!!

So even after Allon's parents left on Tuesday we were not finished. Still had painting to do (living room/kitchen/laundry room) every night after coming home from work and odds/ends stuff. Endless trips to Home Depot to pick up little things we forgot to get or had no idea we would need. But on Saturday of the following week we were able to move in. My parents had left for a week in Florida so Allon, my brother and I moved our entire apartment in one day. Kindof bitter sweet but AMAZING!! We went to eat at Olive Garden at 10:30 after the last box was out of the truck and in the house. We deserved it!! And we spent our first night at the house on Saturday. We didn't really think much of it, we just kindof died in our bed. It was more sentimental on Sunday I think when we had time to think about it.

This week I've been unpacking. I was pretty much finished by Monday. I just can't stand to see boxes everywhere or not being able to find something. So I crazily ran around the house and then hid the stuff that I don't want to bother with until later. Pretty cool seeing all our stuff in the house. Still doesn't seem real.

Only a couple big projects left. Gotta lay the kitchen tile when my parents get back (dad's the pro) and wait for our countertops to come in. Besides that just have to give the outside some love and tear out nasty bushes. It's coming along. And there will always be projects to do....always. Just had to get the place liveable and the rest of the projects have their time/place.
Thanks to everyone for their love and phone calls. And especially to our parents and my brother....I am beyond thankful for your help these past 2 weeks. You are a treasure to me and I will forever be grateful for your help/sweat/tears. You really showed how much of a servants heart you all have. I can only hope that I can repay you one day, somehow.

So when is everyone coming for a visit? Haahaaa!! I'll post before and after pics as soon as I can get to a computer to download them. We still haven't hooked up internet yet.