Tuesday, September 23, 2008

An Irish Blessing for YOU!!!

My grandpa sent me an e-mail this morning. In it, I was instructed to click on the link and make sure my volume was turned up. When I followed these very simple instructions, I was blessed. This was probably one of the most beautiful things I have seen, heard, and read for quite some time now. It made me cry...happy tears of course. And it's something that I believe should be spread around to all those I love. I figured blogging about it was the easiest way to get it to all of you.

Here's the link:
http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en

I hope you are blessed by this as much as I was.

LOVELOVELOVE

P.S. Soon to come...a blog about Charlie the sock puppet. :D

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Life at Home

Sorry it's been a few days since the last post. MY BAD!!

So...life back home in California doesn't seem to be going terribly well for my family lately.

Monday afternoon, my dad let me know that my grandpa was being admitted into the hospital because he had a low blood count. A count of 8.6 to be exact. That's not good when a person's blood count should be at about 13. So, he had to stay overnight and received three blood transfusions. He's home and feeling better now, but this is something he will have to deal with constantly. They know he has bleeding somewhere (they think the small intestines) that is causing the blood loss, but there isn't anything they can do for it. So now he has to evaluate how he's feeling and go in to get transfusions when he starts to see the signs that he's a lost some blood.

Since the middle of this summer, my dad has been dealing with some major major back pain. It is so bad that for the last two and a half months he has been living on pain pills, and not getting anywhere near enough sleep. We found out a few weeks ago that every single disk in his back is bulging by 5 mm. Great...send him to the orthopedic surgeon and get it fixed right. Wrong!! The surgeon told him that he wouldn't operate until the disks were bulging 8mm or more. So what's the solution?? See a pain management specialist and get epidural shots in his back. Sweet...make the appointment and get it done right. Wrong again!! The pain management doesn't have an appointment available for another 3 weeks. In the meantime, my dad is still going to work for a full 8 hour day, and then going to the college to work on recruiting, and STILL not getting any sleep. How he keeps going, I'm not sure.

Both of these men are incredible inspirations to me. My grandpa has been through a TON over the last few years, yet keeps his eyes trained on God and trusts that His plan is for the good. My dad is in so much pain, and still keeps working to provide for the family and take care of his athletes at the college.

If you feel so inclined to keep these two men in your prayers it would be oh so much appreciated.

LOVELOVELOVE

Friday, September 12, 2008

Finally a Night with the Girls!!!

Soooooo...I haven't gotten to spend too much time with my girlfriends since I've been back in Iowa. So sad! But tonight was a ton of fun with Haley and Heidi.

We start with some delicious Chinese cuisine for Haley and I at the fantabulous Scheshwan Inn. (Yes, we do have Chinese restaurants...that's right, restaurants, plural, two to be exact...in our small Dutch town. We got there just in time to be seated before the rush made its way in.

Next we headed back to campus and Heidi joined us to go to a concert...for FREE!!! The free part was good...but the band was what made it so much fun. AG Silver is a rock band made up of four guys from Holland, MI. Let's just say they aren't lacking in the personality department...AT ALL!!! We got to enjoy lots of interesting facial expressions, and an awesome new version of the theme song to "Fresh Prince". Oh, and I can't forget to mention their opener, Josh Schicker. This was the second time I'd seen him (he was on campus a couple years ago). He sang some new songs, and a few off the cd I have of his. Pretty sure I was the only one singing along...but I enjoyed every minute of it :)

After the amazing concert, we headed back to Haley's house to watch Vantage Point, which we all wanted to see when it came out in theaters, but none of us actually saw it. So we figured tonight was the perfect night. Good Movie!!! But you have to pay attention to all the little details...not a movie to watch if you're tired or you don't want to think.

Now I'm home, and it's just a bit late, so I'm thinking I should maybe head to bed. Otherwise, I may not be such good company for Mary at the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. So goodnight all.

LOVELOVELOVE

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Live, Laugh, Love

Over used phrase...I know, I know. But if you think about it, it's really a good motto for life. You have to live the life you have, and things aren't always going to go as you thought they were. They may go terribly wrong. But I've realized that it is so much easier to find something to laugh at in the situation than it is to pout and complain and stress. Once you're in a better mind frame, you can probably come up with a solution to whatever problem you may have. Then, when you have your new plan, you can go on living life again.

And love, I don't think life is really worth living if you don't have love. Love from God, love from family, love from friends, love from that special someone :) Love from anyone, and for anyone. I think the Beatles got it right when they said, "all you need is love" :D

On a fun note, wedding plans may begin to progress soon (sooooo exciting). A date could be decided on in the very near future...so keep your eyes and ears open.

The third week of school is half way done!!! And I only have 5 more class periods of Art for Elementary Education (a 3 hour class on Wednesday nights...ick!!!!!) Super-duper excited for that one, for sure. All of this means I am that much closer to going home.

I know it's hard to imagine for all my family and friends in big cities...but life is never dull in small town of Orange City. There's always school work, and my two campus jobs to keep me busy...And then there's living in a house with two small children whom I love as if they were my niece and nephew...oh so entertaining :D I'll dedicate a blog sometime in the future to stories about my Izzo and Truby...they're lots of fun.

Sleep is now calling my name...class at 7:45 in the morning kinda puts a dent in what most people would call the normal sleep patterns of a college student. But I guess, in reality, I should be transitioning out of that sleep pattern anyways (not that I ever really conformed to it in the first place). And now I'm going to cease my ramblings and put an end to this post. Hope it finds you all doing well.

LOVELOVELOVE

Monday, September 8, 2008

It's More Reflective of Me Now

Ahhhh...green makes me happy :) I like this background much better than the old template. (Thanks bunches Mary & April) So today has been another normal Monday. Work, chapel, class x2, work again, and head home. I can't believe I'm already starting the third week of classes...the time is flying by.

We (the Arteche's and me) enjoyed an adventure filled weekend with Doug and Jody (Mary's parental units) YAY for freezing cold Farmer's Market, Pumpkinland visit x2, and delicious birthday carrot cake for Doug.

Well...seeing as it is a school night...and I have a meeting to go to in an hour...I'm thinking I should get a start on some homework.

Thanks for visiting!!

LOVELOVELOVE

Friday, September 5, 2008

New to the Game

So....I have broken down and started a blog of my own after much encouragement from a certain cousin, and seeing how much fun it can be from a few friends. I can't guarantee how consistent I'll be with posting...but I'll make an honest effort. Hopefully sometime soon...after some exploring...I will be able to customize the blog and make it a bit more exciting and reflective of me. So...for those of you who actually read this...I will hope to fill you in a bit on my life in my next posting.
LOVELOVELOVE

P.S. In case you don't know Spanish...or you do, but aren't quite sure why my url is in Spanish...the url of "adventuresofmylife" was already taken...so I opted for the Spanish version of the same phrase :)