Hello again!

Hey all! As you may have guessed, I'm married now! Nate and I have already been in our new apartment for a week (still settling in).

The honeymoon was great! We went to Victoria, British Columbia. The weather was perfect, we ate delicious food, and hit local attractions and oddities.

We are getting ready to leave for Thailand in a few weeks and then China (officially!) in August.

In honor of all the changes happening in our lives, Nate and I have started a new blog together.

Visit us at http://twopieceband.blogspot.com

I haven't decided if I will keep posting on this blog or not. I will let you know.

Two weeks from today...

I'll be married! The countdown is almost over! I think we started at 200 something and now it is down to 14!
I have been keeping busy lately with tons of wedding details. It's coming together now and I can finally see what it will look like. I'm so excited!
I'm also really excited to see family and friends that I have not seen for awhile.

Continue to pray for us as things will probably pick up the pace.

Snapshots

My mom, with the help of my sister, recently purchased a new camera for me! This is such a huge blessing! With big travels coming up and my desire to have a more advanced camera, it came at a great time. Here are some of the latest things that have been happening in my life:

Easter with the family!

Graduation!!!
Party with Nate, Molly, Jean and I.

Big Stuff

When I thought about graduating the thought of what else would be going on in my life never really occurred to me. I knew I'd be moving out on my own, looking for jobs, and that kind of thing. I never thought this much would be going on! It seems like the reality of what is about to happen just started really sinking in last weekend. Now, however, it feels a little surreal. Here is what is happening in my life right now:
Graduation-10 days
Wedding-38 days
Thailand Trip-8.5 weeks

A bit of exciting news! Nate and I have found jobs teaching overseas in Asia! Living overseas is never something we thought we'd be able to do for awhile, let alone right out of college. However, God is so amazingly good and has opened up a wonderful opportunity for us! Things are still not completely official, but it looks like we will go unless something crazy happens. If you would like to know more, please contact me personally. It's not top-secret or anything, I'm just trying to be careful with something that feels a delicate right now. And to think I worried so much!

More wedding information

Go here
Our Wedding website
There will also be a permanent link at the bottom of the page.

Engagement pictures: Mushy stuff and silliness

Hey Everybody, look at my engagement photos! Nate and I had our super great friend (and member of the Bridal party) shoot our photos. She's super. We had a lot of fun just being silly (as usual) and putting all of our creative juices to work. These were all taken around campus. The sunset ones were taken about 1 mile out of town. And yes, its a real sunset.

Summer Plans

Hey guys,
My posts have been so exciting lately! Well, the posts may not be exciting, but the events that lead to the writing of the post are exciting.

First bit of news: Nate and I have set the date for our wedding: May 24th @ 5:00pm. We should send out some save-the-dates soon. We are getting married at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard (just southwest of Wichita). It is a really great place and we are excited to celebrate with family and friends there. Plus, we will have a lemur at the wedding! We are also planning on having a California Reception at some point for those that won't be able to make it out to Kansas for the wedding.

Second bit of news: Nate and I are going to Thailand!!! We are going with our school and are assistant team leaders for one of our friends and staff members at Sterling. We are going early/mid-July. We are not sure what exactly we will be doing over there. We have a couple of options: teaching English, doing teaching/evangelism in the northern rural areas, or working with girls in aftercare homes (sex-trafficking victims). We are both really exciting about this trip. As most of you who read my blog (family members) know, my cousins have been missionaries in Thailand for almost 9 years now. It has been a place that I have heard about as long as they have been there and I had always hoped to visit. The only sad thing is that they will probably be home on furlough while we are in Thailand! There will be more information about this coming out as well.

Other than those plans, Nate and I are just waiting on God for open doors and opportunities. That includes jobs and housing and the like. Pray for us!

Happenings

I haven't posted much recently...except the post I just posted. But I thought I'd catch you up on what is going on.


Enjoy my photo montage.


About one week after I visited Nate and my Sterling friends and Camp friends I knew from last year at Westminster Woods. The whole staff was part of my prayer team for the trip so I went and talked about my experience and hung out. It was great!





For the first two weeks in July, I was in California with Nate. We went for his sister Katie's wedding (which was beautiful). I went to meet his entire family. They are all really wonderful. They love me and I love them.

While in California Nate and I also spent time at the beach,
I'm Ariel!
Fixed a gnarly flat we got on the way back from the beach,

and hung out with Nate's Filipino brothers. We also spent a lot of time with Nate's parents. That was great since neither one of us gets to see them much!

Katie and Arash's wedding was a blast! It was really neat as they designed the whole ceremony themselves and all of their bridal party members were involved in some way. They also mixed in traditional Iranian wedding traditions as Arash's family is from Iran. Did I mention their wedding was on a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean? Needless to say it was gorgeous, and their decorations were beautiful as well. We also had a rad dance party consisting of Nate's side of the family and Arash's mom (who was sweet and a whole lot of fun)! The only problem with weddings is that you hardly get to see the bride and groom (and the bride and groom don't get to eat much). Thankfully, Katie and Arash planned a beach day the day after their wedding for the families to hang out some more.

After I came home I had a few days before I went to Manhattan for Ellen's Wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony that was perfectly 'Ellen and Tony'. Ellen is by far the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. I am not exaggerating. It was a small wedding with a reception at the trendy coffee house where Ellen works.

.

This past weekend the parents and I went up to KC to visit the family. Ang also wrote about it on her blog .
This is my niece Zoey. She is beautiful and very different than Jackson. See Ang's blog for more.

Right now I am getting ready for school. My responsibilities this year have shifted slightly. I am still the SGA student Chaplain, but now I have the added responsibility of leading a group of 20 other student chaplains. I proposed a new Student Chaplain structure at the end of last year and worked with our campus pastors to develop it further. This year I am seeing what was once on paper take on flesh and bone. I'm excited to train, encourage, and lead this team throughout the next year. It will be challenging. I've never done anything like this before and never really thought I would.

Just for fun, I am finally posting the picture of my bouquet-catch from David and Whitney's wedding.

This is me thinking, "Is that really coming to me? Really? I don't even have to move. This is hilarious."

Quick Update

School has been over for a week now!!!- Nate came home and we hung out at my house waiting for Saturday (see below). We practiced music, watched episodes of the TV show Arrested Development, cooked dinner, saw friends, made some fabulous watercolor creations, played softball, went for a bike ride, and played games with my parents.



Wedding!!!- Some of our best friends from school got married this weekend! Congrats to David and Whitney!!! We were honored as they chose us to lead worship and play some other music at their wedding. We had a great time! It was a beautiful wedding and was a lot of fun too!
Did I mention that I caught the bouquet and Nate caught the garter? We did. I don't have pictures of that, but Nate does, so I'll post them sometime.



















So now I'm at home. I've got a pretty good to-do list:
Un-pack from school
Throw away stuff I don't need (preparing to move in a month)
Start packing

Life in your arms

This break has been really good. Relaxing. Reading. Journaling. Napping. Christmas shopping in a fun and yet efficient way. Seeing old and cherished friends.
Right now I am with my family. It has been great. I love catching up on what has happened and what is happening in people's lives. Things can change so drastically in just a few months. Often times spending time with family and catching up with people starts with getting aquainted with all the changes that have occured. It's a process of remembering who they are, figuring out the balance between who you know them to be and who you see before you, with changes, questions, new opinions, new wisdom. But it's also leaving them space, that amazing freedom, to keep growing and changing.
Right now I am sitting in my sister's house rocking my niece Zoey's chair thing with my foot. When I glance over we catch eyes. She smiles and coos at me. I love being able to carry her around and letting her fall asleep in my arms. It's amazing that I can hold this life in my arms. I can rock her and swing her. And it amazes me to think that I will see her grow up, from toddler-hood to mother-hood. And now, for this fleeting and thus precious, moment I can still hold her in my arms.
I think babies do this to people. They make them pause and wonder and marvel at life in their arms, and thier own lives flying past them too.
(Watch out people, I'm having an advent/christmas moment.)
I think this is part of the reason God loved the idea, the reality, and the implications of sending His son into the world. God enters the world in weak human flesh as Jesus. He's fully God and yet so obviously man. You could hold him, rock him, kiss his cheek, sing him a lullaby. And all the while you know, well...Mary, Joseph, and a handful of others knew or recognized, that they were holding Life in their arms. And later in His life you could eat a meal with him, you could put your arm around him and feel him sweat. And then he would go and raise the dead or heal the lame and blind, or calm the storm, and you knew he was God. Life right there with you, Life was your friend.
I'm so thankful for those chances that come along. Those chances to know that something marvelous and significant and once-in-a-lifetime is happeinging. The word in greek I think that fits so well here is Kairos. Kairos means-the perfect time, the fullness of time or as one of my professors has said, "that moment when earth's time and purpose intersects with God's time and purpose", it's when you feel that something holy, precious, and wonderful has happened.
I'm so glad that God has given me so many chances to slow down and recognize those Kairos moments, whether I'm holding Zoey or talking for hours on end with an old friend. I'm so thankful that God loves to interupt our lives, schedules, and thoughts just in time.

Unexpected Traveling

I am coming to California in two days! That is pretty crazy! Though I am excited to come I wish it were under better circumstances.
My best friend of two years, recently turned boyfriend, Nate is from Norco. His grandmother died yesterday from colon cancer. It happened really fast. A few weeks ago she started feeling bad, last week they diagnosed it as cancer, and Sunday they gave her a few days to live. Nate was incredibly close to his grandmother and is really missing her. From all the stories I've heard she was an incredible lady and I am sad that I did not get to meet her. Nate is currently finishing his last week camp counseling at Westminster Woods. This will be the first time he has been home since Spring Break. I am heading out with him Saturday to the funeral and will hang around a few days.
It will be interesting because I get to meet all of his family (it's own unique circumstance) but they are also in the middle of grieving. I do know his parents and sister already so I won't be completely lost. I'm expecting the unexpected. I hope that while I'm there I can help with some of the little things of daily life. In times like these there is so much going on that things fall to the wayside. I hope I can ease their burdens a little and get to know them a little better in the process as well. Pray for us as we travel and for Nate's family as they gather and celebrate a life.

I heart adoption

The concept of adoption can be tricky to grasp sometimes. For me, it was always a natural knowledge of my adoption and my parents love for me. However, there are times when I tell people I'm adopted and their reaction is usually :
1.) What? No way!
2.) The look that almost says, "Wow. I'm so sorry." (surely some images of orphans comes up in their minds)
and
3.) Barrage of questions regarding my adoption.
If it weren't for some good books to help straighten us out, our society would still have a weird look regarding adoption. Just kidding about that last part. In reality, adoption is seen more as a last resort for couples that cannot conceive. However, that is starting to shift, especially in the church. That makes me excited! My outlook on abortion and adoption has changed significantly in the last few years.
I grew up in a fairly liberal home and remember the family getting excited about bumper stickers that said, "Keep your laws off my body" and the like. Though my parents clearly supported adoption(my sister and I are both adopted) they also were (and still are) pro-choice, something that confused me, especially as a teen. It was natural for me to follow my parents lead and I considered myself pro-choice from a young age. That started to change after I became a Christian, went to a high-school that became the safe-haven for pregnant teens from the large city 30 miles away, and started to pray about these issues. I'm coming out of the liberal closet and letting you know I am pro-life (some people don't know that).
Before you get your panties in a bunch I want to explain some of my beliefs concerning adoption and abortion and why. I am not going to try argue the old arguments of "When does life begin?".

1.) Pro-life for all ages If you are going to be pro-life that includes babies as well as murderers. If you shouldn't have the choice to abort then you shouldn't have the choice to kill adults either. Pro-life means being anti-death penalty. I hope that you agree.

2.) A Culture of Life-If we want an end to abortion we need to cultivate, encourage, and participate in a culture of life now. It seems that a lot of people are upset with Christians who picket against abortion because they seem so apathetic towards the actual people dealing with these decisions and situations. If we want make abortion illegal or limit it through legislation we need to support adoption agencies, homes for teen-mothers, and the women in our everyday lives (tithing? Just a suggestion). We as the Church especially need to set the example of taking care of these women and children. We who have experienced the adoption into God's family( look here and here) can and should be the first to adopt and support this act of love and mercy. That means support families that are adopting and even adopting children into our own families.

3.) No child is illegitimate to God- I really hate this term' illegitimate' that our society uses for children born out of wedlock. In reality the word is defined as being born out of wed lock or illegal and unlawful. However, the unsaid meaning of this word can mean something as no good, worthless, or unwanted. No person is any of these things to God. He delights in His creation, "Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind." Proverbs 8:30.
With that being said, that doesn't mean that God delights in sin. I think that's pretty clear. Henri Nouwen says it best ,
"We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn’t approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God’s love." -Bread For the Journey, 1996
4.) Judgment=death- "Wow! That is quite a bold statement", you might be thinking. Well, let me explain. From personal experiences I have see first hand the judgment upon those who have had a child out of wedlock. Sadly, I saw this mostly within the Church. While many were supportive of these people, many were not secretive with their opinions at all. At one point I had announced the birth of their child and asked for prayer as the baby was still in bad shape at the hospital. I think the prayer request was lost as they reeled in shock and objection of the situation. It was at that moment while I was sitting in my church pew, disappointed with the congregation that had shown a lot of love to me, that I realized how much I did the same thing.

As I said before, our high school became a haven for pregnant teen mothers who need a place to live out their pregnancy without friends knowing about it. I judged those girls harshly, thinking, "How could they be so stupid!" I realized that I should have been supporting these girls in their decision to keep their child or give it up for adoption. It dawned on me that it was judgments like this, attitudes like this, actions like this, that motivates women to abort their children. We as a society and as the Church so harshly condemn them, showing no grace, that out of shame, fear of rejection and humiliation these women feel like abortion is the only choice. (I know that there are special situations, but I think this is the majority of cases, especially among teens.) Once when I was talking with a pro-choicer they said, "Nobody, wants babies to die." True. So why don't we do something?

That being said, being pro-life is more that waving picket signs, protesting, bombing abortion clinics. In fact, I think it is none of those things. Being pro-life outwardly may look like supporting adoption agencies or people who are adopting, or helping mothers who choose not to abort. But mainly, being pro-life is an attitude and overflow of the heart. We can look as pro-life as possible on the outside even while our hearts are filled with judgment, indifference, and a lack of compassion. We need to examine our own hearts for "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" John 3:17 (we usually stop at 16. It's time to move on)

Sidenote: another great post about adoption:Finding Intercession in the Craziest Places by Randy Bohlender

Almost the new year

So it's been almost 3 weeks since I've updated. I've been busy. Last week I babysat my nephew Jackson and I had a blast! Mom, Dad, and I decided to give Ang and Trav a break from their crazy-parent schedule so we took the baby while they went home. He is a bundle of crazy. It's was way fun but also tiring. After that the whole family headed up to K.C. and did all of out Christmas stuff. It was a lot of fun. We opened presents, took a sleigh ride around the plaza, and did some shopping.

The rest of my break has been as such:
The first week I wasted watching T.V. Every time I come home for a break it seems that I have to gorge myself on T.V. (since I don't watch any at school) until I remember how much it really sucks. You guys T.V. is lame. So incredibly lame. Don't be offended. I'm not judging you for watching T.V. Just look at what you are watching. Do you really want to fill your mind and your heart with that? I have to ask myself that question every day when boredom seeps in and I am tempted to believe that T.V. is the only thing that will entertain me.

After that I snapped into gear and finally started to spend time with God. That has been the best part of my break. God has been rooting and grounding me in His love. He has been calling me into deeper obedience (I hate it when I am disobedient). He is revealing areas where He wants to mature me. Side note: God knows the difference between immaturity and disobedience. Yay! He has been burdening me with specific things to intercede for. He has been teaching me about envy. He is building my relationship with the Holy Spirit. He has been teaching me about grace.
I am so thankful that though God always loves me where I am, He loves me so much that He won't leave me in my complacency, immaturity, or disobedience. I am so thankful for this break from school and that God has done so much more with this time than I expected.

Yay! A wedding!

Hey everybody, my sister is getting married this weekend!
I'm so excited and really looking forward to hanging out with friends and family, being maid of honor, and, most of all, to see my sister marry the man she loves. I completely approve. The first time I met Travis I approved and he has continued to not just meet, but exceed my standards. Yay, I have a cool bro-in-law!
I'll have to post pictures when I get back and if my computer allows.
I'm sure I'll embarrass my self at some point. Look forward to some awkward stories.
Yay!

Congrats!

My sister graduated from college yesterday and she did it in three years! Everyone high-five my sister or hug her. If you don't know her don't try any of that because that would be creepy.

Anyway...

Congrats sissy, I'm proud of you!

Finally! A restful weekend

This past weekend was great. Why was it awesome? Well, if you must know I shall compile of list of reasons:

1. Easter!: Jesus is alive! Everybody comes to church! Peeps!
2. Family: Mom, Dad, Ang, Trav, and Jack were all at home. Lots of quality time.
3. Friends: Nate came home with me. We hung out a lot. Good times included jam sessions, games of tag, playing with the baby, and watching campy Batman movie.
4. Homework: I actually got homework done!
5. Rest: Unlike a lot of weekends where there are an abundance of people at home I actually got some good alone time and lazy time.

That was great timing for such a good weekend. Now I think I can make it these last few weeks of school.

Fingers-crossed.

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Part of me hates this holiday. But mostly I like it. There is no one 'special' in my life this Valentines Day and I don't mind. One of my favorite parts of the day is seeing guys try to be romantic. Some are kind of fumbling but others are doing awesome!

I do have a Valentine this year, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and I are going to go on a date later. The plan is to read some scripture, pray, and then He'll reveal the deep things of God's heart to me (1 Corinthians 2:10).
My nephew, Jackson, is also my valentine. I love that kid like no other.

What I've been up to

I know, I know. It has been awhile since I've posted anything. So here is what I've been up to:

1.) Babysitting my nephew!
I drove up to Kansas City Sunday and stayed until friday. My sister, Ang, was having her finals week so I went up there to take care of Baby Jackson. Not a lot of sleep was had, but a lot of fun was! Jackson and I bonded. He knows who his 'cool aunt' is for sure! I also got to hang out with Ang and Travis, which I don't get to do much, so I enjoyed that. As my 'thank you' for babysitting they let me go to the IHOP (International House of Prayer) Wednesday night and all day Thursday. I was also able to visit the Curts family at that time (The father was the pastor of my church and I dated Ethan, the son, for 2.5 yrs = We are all close friends). It was great!

Hanging out in the prayer room was great. I also picked up the new Misty Edwards and Team Cd. It is AMAZING! All the songs were recorded live in the prayer room and a very powerful.

2.) Resting
Since I babysat I haven't gotten much sleep (not to mention that I went straight from my finals week to babysitting) so I've been resting up, seeing some of my friends, hanging out with familiy, and spending time with Jesus.

So that's what I've been up to.

Happy Birthday-ness

Saturday was my birthday! Sweet 19. I got home friday from school and then my mom took me out shopping. My parents decided that since I'm careful with money that they would take me on a shopping spree. I ended up getting some clothes, a new Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (Hellcats is the title), a new journal, and the new John Mayer Cd. I really didn't want much, which made the 'spree' part a bit of an overstatement.

The highlight of friday night was our dinner at On the Border. Our waiter was such a funny guy. My mom, as always, wanted to embaress me with getting the staff to sing to me. While she was over talking to some people she knew the waiter sat down across from me and said "Listen. We can sing you the birthday song, but it's really lame and really embaressing...but...you get soppapias (sp? No idea). But I can get you the dessert with out the singing." I thought about and said, "Well...you could dance." He looked stunned, then, as if he was accepting a challenge, said, "Ok." Then he walked away. When he came back with the dessert he did a cha-cha step.

It's my birthday. I'll make the waiter dance if I want to.

My mom also made a delicious dinner for me on saturday. My sister and her fiance' got me a Barnes and Noble gift card and some really cool random stuff. Example: Pixie sticks. Justice League velvet color-it-thing. Fun!

This birthday gets 4 stars!

Dad's surgery

So here's the update on my Daddy-o. He went through surgery just fine. There weren't any complications or anything. Thanks for your prayers! I talked to him last night. He was clearly still a bit loopy, but I could understand what he was saying most of the time. He said that he woke up in the recovery rooom, saw all his anesthesia machines, and told all the nurses, "It's ok, you can go on your break now, I'll take it from here" thinking he was at work. Crazy. Its funny and scary to see Dad like that. Funny because, well, obvious reasons and scary because Dad is always supposed to be the one who takes care of us and I've never seen him like that. What an experience. Glad it's almost over.