change in pace.

It's been a month and a half since I ventured away from home up to Alberta. Things have slowed down and this has become yet another home away from home. I have been spending most of my days teaching myself things on Photoshop CS4 through tutorials online and from exploring it myself, I walk with Haanz and sometime with Elisha on the warm days down through Kin Coulee which is a beautiful sight, and my favourte of all... hanging with Tyler.
We walk together, go out to eat and to movies, have dinner at his folks from time to time, play some catch and enjoy the company of friends, we have become the inseperable couple. Most people, or guys anyways, dread becoming the "inseperable couple"... but I believe this is why me and Ty work so perfectly together... we don't mind being around eachother constantly, we enjoy it. We are both ridiculous and make eachother laugh daily, we watch YouTube videos that are pointless but we can't help but keep watching, we walk into and out of church together, we are the same but completely different, we share his car, an we even share a cell phone... oh boy now that's commitment =P haha.
Knowing that Tyler is really the "one" and that God has made everything possible thus far, makes me smile every time I see him. So kind, caring, loving, chivalrous, funny, handsome, I can't be upset with him for even a full day... it just isn't possible. [Maybe someday when we reach "married life" it will be lol, I hear that happens.]
Anyway! As far as life and it's pace, things are slowing down and we're taking it day by day, month by month. I'm still loving it here, despite the fact I wouldn't mind having a job [yes I really just said that] and my own car, all is well!


Oh and could someone tell me if you think Avery is a more dominate boy or girl's name... I asked Tyler if we had a kid someday and it was a girl what would he name her, because if it's a boy I already named him Burkley James-Diesel, so he can name a girl, and he said Avery and I agrued no way, sounds like a boy [I reccommended Ellie Gwendolyn-La'ren Hanet]. Haha. [Don't worry NO KIDS in any near future of ours, I just like asking him random questions haha =P]

Camping.

Here are some picture from camping/hunting bears... no bears though!

1. Sunrise in the Mts.
2. Driving up the Mts.
3. Up in the Mts.
4&5. Same as 2.
6&7. Frank Slide... top of a mt. crumbles and covered and killed a town. Now it's a tourist place.
8&9. Me, Tyler, and Haanz.
10. Clouds on the way up.
11. Tyler using his gun's scope.

its about time.

so it's been awhile. there isn't much to update on... i'm just hanging out with Haanz and Tyler and friends from time to time, oh and finally might get a roommate after some hard ad posting!! Tyler's job framing slowed down for the month so he's just working here and there right now for people he knows. It's been nice for him to have some time off, we went hunting, and have rented all the new movies, cooked dinners together, and taken nice sunny walks. It's been great!

tyler talked to my parents about out future... getting engaged to be exact. i think it went well... they haven't given an answer as far as giving their blessing or not, they did however ask what I thought and what we were thinking as far as location, cost, timeframe and where we'll live. then said they would talk about it together [my mom and dad] and get back to him. i am pretty sure they won't say no, due to the fact I am a good 2600 miles round trip away in another country just so we could be closer lol it's love! but if worst comes to worse and do say no, we are prepared to give our speech of "we respect you but..." however the wedding wouldn't happen until they agreed.

Isn't life great!

so that's a li'l 411 for ya'll,
live, love, laugh and whatever.

today!

so i don't have a whole lot to update about right now... things have been pretty chill. 

Sunday... was Easter. Tyler decided he wanted to shave his head at 9:50am when we needed to be a church by 11 and we had planned on going to Bow Island... a 40 minute drive. Well the buzzer quit working so he had to use the mustache trimmer side of his face razor lol! It took him an hour to shave his poor head and we missed Easter service... I believe it's the first Easter that I've missed the service for haha. We had Easter with Tyler's family/extended family, it was a good time, I love Tyler's family because his dad, brother, and mom and her sisters [his aunts] never fail to crack a joke or be ridiculous, someone is always laughing, it's always a fun and happy time. His 3 little cousins are in love with Haanz, they call his "cute puppy" and "chihuahua" ... although he's a pomeranian and I've told them that many times haha.  I learned how to play Sets and Runs, and got to search for an Easter bag with Tyler and his brothers [yeah quite funny to see 18-23 year olds searching for hidden candy]. Anyways, yes... Easter was a good time and I enjoyed it even though it wasn't spent with my own family. Hopefully there are more of these good times to come!! <3>

With love.

sharing faith.

I promise this will be shorter then the last, as I'm sure not many people actually bothered to read the WHOLE thing. [haha]

Recently on the ever-so-famous facebook I posted a note about my faith and it's relation to homosexuality, it got quite a roar, with 100 comments. Mostly people wanting to argue with me, or bash what I believe... although my note in NO WAY bashed homosexuality... there were also a few who encouraged me. 

The thing that made me proud to have shared what I believe is the fact that I got a few private messeges from random people that I haven't talked to in months-years telling me how they thought it was cool that I wrote that knowing that I would probably get bashed or argued with. There's even one person that I have been talking to for 3 days now about being Christian and having faith, I'm even sending them a New Living Translation of the Bible so they can actually understand better. [They have been trying to read the NKJ version] It's amazing how no matter what the question is about my faith I have been able to answer them in the fullest, without having to take hours to research my answer. Which is why I've always been a li'l scared to witness one-on-one with someone... "What if I don't know the answer?" was my biggest fear.

God is so good. With my faith in Him, he has given me the wisdom I need, and I thank him for that! It's like everything I've learned over the past 19 years was all in the front of my mind ready to be unleashed when needed!

relationships and love.

When most people think of a relationship and love, they think, boyfriend/girlfriend-husband/wife type a deal. But over time I have realized how important family and friends and they way they support me are, and the real meaning of love from my significant other.

Love is support.

My family, for 18.5 years supported me in almost every way. 

Financially, they paid for everything they could... cell phone, car insurance, clothes, gas, sports, violin, going out with friends, etc... now of course I helped pay for myself when I was working but I didn't start working until I was 16. 

Spiritually, my grandmother is known as "the prayer warrior" of my home church she was kind and encouranging from all that I can remember. She made us raisin bread and the smell never left her house... homemade bread yum! and she told us bible stories as kids and had books and toys and an organ we always pounded away on. Then there's been my mom who has had me in church since I was born, even through my teenage years I'm glad that she sometimes had to force me to go, I would never be the strong christian I have grown into this past year if I didn't have her pushing me through the years.

Emotionally/Mentally, I think for the most part this came into play during school and sports. I think through elementary and middle school I played every sport I was offered except soccer and volleyball. I played teeball for 2 years then softball for 8 years as a pitcher and backup shortstop and feilder. I ran track for 2 seasons, played basketball for 4 years, joined the swimteam for 7 years, now I was good at all of these, some more then others but I have always been good at whatever I do and I really beleive that's because I always had family in the crowd and at home cheering me on telling me I could do it.

Physically, well of course this would be the hugs and kisses throughout the years, I believe every child no matter how old, deserves a good hug and kiss from their family, especially their parents, I believe this helps us soften up and enjoy life more, knowing you're loved.

My friends, new and old, have never been very consistant, and by this I mean my choice in friends over the years has been a rollercoaster. I've have friends who drink, who smoke, and those who don't, some who failed school, and jipped class and those who passed at the top of the class and never missed a day. But I believe all my friends through out the years have shaped me into who I am today. Now my friends haven't supported my financially or physically for the most part [besides having that shoulder to cry on] but I believe having emotional/mental and spiritual support from your friends is the best you can have!

Emotionally/Mentally, the one thing that I've noticed in almost every friend I've made and lost is that they have all been supportive in my choices in life. From me to marry my highschool sweetheart, to moving to Maui to help out with mission work, to coming home, to once again leaving again for Canada, they've been behind me the whole time.

I think one friend that really made a difference in my life was Nick Mongar, I don't know why exactly but he has always stuck out, I remember the first day of freshman year he sat behind me in every class and he would say "Hi! My name's Nick!" he would tell me about music and reccomend good CDs... I remember my first set of CDs I bought was Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cartel, Hellogoodbye, FOB, and Dashboard Confessional. Senior year, I remember him telling me he was proud to have a friend like me when he found out I was going to Maui to volunteer as a missionary. I don't think Nick would claim himself as a christian... maybe he would, but it was cool to know that even though we don't share all the same views that he was still supportive and thought what I was doing was something to be proud of in a friend.

Then there is my cousin Kate, who yes even though she's my cousin, she is one of my best friends, we have always been close maybe not always best friends but we've grown up together. I used to bite her, call her names and start fights with her, even called the cops on her because she had my toy, but as we've gotten older we've become even closer, and she never fails to ask me how I'm doing or what's up in my life while I'm away for months at a time, and she's there for me every time I come home. Me, her and a date to Jimmy Johns never fails.

It's friends like Nick and Kate who have said things that maybe they didn't think much of, but really their words were more then encouraging to me, and really helped me get through everything.

Spiritually, I only recently realized how important my friends in Christ are to me. I came home from Maui for a month then headed to Canada for a month and then back home to Iowa for a month before taking off again for Canada for 6 months[confused yet?]. I realized when I was home the friends I made at church, especially Kenzie&Ryan, my christian, bible thumping, Jesus loving, friends where there for me. I don't believe I really have any friends left from my highschool, none that I hang out with or talk to even once a week... and somehow I'm really ok with that. After living in Maui for 4 months then only being home for a total of 3 months before taking off for another 6 months I have realized my true freinds where the ones who welcomed me back every time with open arms and right away wanted to include me in all they do. They encourage me to follow God's will, and to never let my guard down, or let my morals slip. I couldn't ask for more in my friends.

Now, last but not least, I have also learned a lot about love and a relationship with a significant other, aka boyfriend.

LOVE when speaking in terms of a significant other should be the sum word of all support in one, and is something more meaningful and more special then a touch or a word out of our mouth. It is an ability and a feeling. We all have the ability to love someone special, and when we do the feeling of love can be self guided or spiritually guided. By this I mean I can love on my own, or I can let God guide my love. I believe when it comes to loving a guy [or if your a guy then say girl] that you can not truly love them unless you love the Lord first. I found this out first hand... I wasn't sure why God called me to Maui in May, and why I didn't feel called to stay [although I would have if I could have at the time] but over my time there I learned some very blunt lessons through trial and error you could say. I found out that Love from a guy has to be more then a physical type of support, in fact it shouldn't be physical at all.

LOVE from a guy should first be spiritual, guiding you in your relationship with the Lord and encouraging you to seek Him. Then emotional and mental, he should be willing to listen to you and understand you, wanting for you to be happy and think the best of yourself. Then physical... of course holding a Christian moral, never wanting to push you into temptation or an uncomfortable level. 

God has shown me over the past 10 months that His own love is greater then all, and in doing so he has allowed me to be in a righteous relationship with a guy who is in love with the Lord first. 

Am I saying my past relationships were pointless and the guys were horrible and didn't love the Lord... NO, because it takes TWO people to control a relationship and keep it Holy. My last boyfriend, many of you know him, is I believe more in love with the Lord now then ever before. What I am saying is that love is precious, holy, sacred when it comes to letting someone have your heart, and that the Lord should be the ultimate love, the one you give your whole heart to... before you love another.

"For the lessons learned in life are worthless if learned without a Godly foundation, without that foundation they will surely be forgotten."

with love.