faithful.

backpacking

2009-08-13T13:07:00.004-07:00

Well, it has been quite a while since my last blog. So what have I been up to, you ask…

After finishing up summer classes July 31st (when summer was ending for most people it was just beginning for me) I flew to Colorado and went on the 2^nd annual small group backpacking adventure with three of the coolest girls I know, Nell, Anna and Carolyn, before they go off to college. Here are some pictures from our two nights and three days in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

the whole crew: (left to right) anna, carolyn, joey, nell

camp site #2, surrounded by a lake

they are really funny!

In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also -Psalm 95:4

thankful for: sun, a good book, quiet, matt wertz, skype

golf

2009-07-05T09:54:00.007-07:00

As many of you know, I played golf in college. I truly enjoyed the years of spending sunrise to sunset at the course, whether it was by myself, with the boys in high school, or with my teammates in college. For 10 years I lived and breathed golf. For better or for worse.

Since graduating in 2005, the word golf has become more of a four letter word than a fun day hitting around a little white ball. For various reasons, I have played a total of 10 times in the past 5 years. Each of those times have been a weaning process off the ingrained competitiveness that runs deep after many years of tournaments, intense practices and expectations.

All that to say, last weekend I played 9 holes with a fun friend, ashley gross. Here are some pics and I video from the day. I am glad that I am starting to come to a place where I enjoy playing the game of golf without getting frustrated at myself for hitting a less that perfect shot and instead being able to laugh and enjoy an afternoon on the course with friends!

this was made while waiting to hit on the 6th tee box. totally improv!

thankful for: the bohon's, gatorade, funfetti cake,nursing school, friends

the full story

2009-05-30T08:23:00.002-07:00

Here is kind of the full story of the last few weeks of my crazy life...

May 16th: arrive in columbia, MO after a VERY long road trip (see past post for complete map)

May 21nd: after a crazy/fun week in columbia i drove down to Branson to fly out the next morning for Florida, "Hammer weekend 2009"

May 22rd: before taking off for a morning run i receive a phone call from MU saying that a spot has opened up and they would like me to fill it...if i can be there on tuesday (5 days)

22nd-24th: awesome weekend in jacksonville with my best friends and a really fun wedding!

May 25th: fly back to branson, drive to kamp, drive to columbia (arrive in columbia @ 11:30pm)

May 26th: first day of nursing school 8:00am

things i have learned from all this:

1. God is so crazy (in a good way) and always has something up his sleeve

2. be flexable

3. I have really great people in my life

M-I-Z-Z-O-U

2009-05-22T18:45:00.002-07:00

8:26 am this morning I received a call from the University of Missouri Nursing School....

I start on Tuesday

columbia or BUST

2009-05-13T19:18:00.004-07:00

(due to technical difficulties, we are pretending that i wrote this yesterday)

tomorrow (remember that is really today, stay with me) I am embarking on yet another adventure...

starting destination: Phoenix, AZ (place of birth and place I have been for the past 8 months)

first stop: amarillo,TX (no reason, other than amarillo is the helium capital of the world)

second stop: wichita,KS (to hang out with my BFF)

end destination: Columbia,MO (a few things up in the air right now, stay tuned)

View Larger Map

thankful for: subway, running trails, friends, kamp, matt chandler

My Family

2009-04-16T21:29:00.006-07:00

Easter breakfast 2009(mom,dad, jarred, me)

thankful for: two posts in one day, sun, ice cream, friends, easter

challenged

2009-04-16T20:32:00.003-07:00

This quote challenged me this morning. I thought I would share it with you. Be challenged.

" You are either being corrupted by the world or you are salting it" - George Truett

Do I have a witness among those whom I live and work with?

Do I effect society or do I just live my life trying not to let society effect me?

Does my life create a thirst for God among the people I am around...the checker at the grocery store, the guy who washes my car, the 26 year old patient who is addicted to heroin....

Am I salty?

mathew 5:13

thankful for: food in the fridge, fridays, bike rides, pod casts

love this song

2009-03-21T15:18:00.002-07:00

this is one of those songs to me that makes me smile and sing the words as loud as i can with all the windows down in my car. i love it!

(and i am sure the people driving next to me love watching me)

thankful for: 2 more months, the sun, friends near and far, health

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

2009-03-15T21:53:00.003-07:00

As you probably know, I have been living with my parents for the past 7 months. Today I was looking for something in my closet and I came across three copies of the book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I believe all three were given to me as a graduation a graduation gift from high school (classic high school graduation gift I know, hence the reason I have three). I vaguely remember getting these as gifts and I know myself well enough to say that I probably read the first one I got and threw it up on my book shelf and added the next two as they came in the mail from distant relatives days or weeks later and have not been touched all three of them sense.

So as I came across them today, 8 years later, I sat down and read it (it was really tough deciding which one to read, I would pick up one and feel bad for the other two because they were being left out...but thats a whole other issue). I probably read it allot slower than the first time, due to the fact that I have a greater appreciation for the late Dr. Seuss than I did when I was 18.

...Oh, the Places I Have Been! (in 8 years)

Lived in 8 different cities and 4 different states

11 different houses

Driven through 16 different states

Traveled to 3 different countries

Had to many jobs to count

All that to say 1) my life has been an adventure, 2) Dr. Seuss might have the gift of prophecy 3)Some times I just want to be in one place for a while and 4)God has used these adventures to continually grow me and stretch me and for that I am thankful.

thankful for: the sun, a God that is in control, friends, worship,twitter

apology and prediction

2009-03-06T17:47:00.003-07:00

I have realized that I have been an unfaithful blogger. I apologize to all of my faithful (pun intended) followers. There is no excuse for my lack of blogs except for my crazy life of work and study.

I just wanted to let you all know my prediction of the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Champions... North Carolina Tar Heels (currently ranked number 11 by the AP).

Thats all I have for now.GO TAR HEELS!

they get it

2009-02-01T20:43:00.003-07:00

I get so excited when I see teenagers who "get it"!

They get the idea of loving people the way Jesus loves.

They get giving to those who don't have.

They get that we are all created by God and that none of us are superior to another.

They get that the things we take for granted many people don't have.

Joe Miller is one of those teenagers.

Check out www.givemaji.com

The 2nd great flood

2009-01-12T23:42:00.003-07:00

Today I did a swim workout after work. I got home and needed to get ready really fast because I was running late for a meeting. So I threw my swim suit in the bathroom sink, closed the drain and and turned on the water so I could soak all the chlorine out of my suit. To expedite the process of getting ready I decided to start the shower and let the water get hot. Quickly I realized the water was instantly hot (which happens in the desert) so I got in. Took a medium length shower and when was finished I opened the shower door to a flooded bathroom. Water was flowing over the counter like Niagara Falls and the tile was covered with an inch of water.

My dad was outside so I ran around the house using every towel I could find, so that I would have it all cleaned up before my dad came in. I had most of it cleaned up before my dad walked back inside. feew!

He helped me dry up the remaining water with our leaf blower. what a great dad!

p.s. this is titled the "2nd" great flood because my greatest friend danielle managed to flood an entire living quarters on a trip to africa a few years ago.

2009

2009-01-10T16:17:00.008-07:00

My mom and I spent a few hours today at a fun outdoor mall. As we were walking in between stores all of a sudden four teenage girls came running out of Target smiling and giggling hysterically. Everything within these girls was over flowing with excitement, they couldn't contain it. It was as if they were going to burst at any moment, they were SO happy.

Instantly I began to try and figure out what their excitement was all about.
Each girl had a bottle of vitamin water in one hand and a plastic spoon in the other. Vitamin water is pretty good, but definitely not the cause for the extreme chaos that was unfolding before our eyes. Then all of a sudden the answer became very clear as the last girl (who looked to me like the head honcho of the group) ran out of the store holding an container just like a running back would hold a football as he runs it into the end zone. She was careful yet quick on her feet and carrying the source the of all the excitement...a large tub of COOKIE DOUGH.

As my mom figured out what was going on, we passed by and just laughed. I said to my mom "typical girls, laughing and jumping around with excitement because of, cookie dough and vitamin water."

At that point in time, those girls didn't have a care in the world, they were loving life!

I love seeing moments like these, when people are truly soaking up the fullness of life. When life isn't just passing us by, but we are simply enjoying everything life has to offer.

Whether those girls know who God is or not I am not sure, but I believe those girls were giving me a small picture of the way God intended for us to live. Soaking up the time spent with friends, enjoying the little things, laughing until our stomachs hurt, spending a Saturday afternoon not worrying about life but, living life.

My prayer for 2009 is that we would live for these sweet times, like sitting on the side walk, eating cookie dough and drinking vitamin water with your best friends

What a great day: 70 degrees. a day with my mom and a small reminder to enjoy all the moments in life. Especially the ones with people you love.

thankful for: Gods sovereignty, cell phones, dogs, Sunday dinner with my family

the happiest place on earth

2008-12-16T18:34:00.004-07:00

This last weekend I went with some friends to disneyland. It was a Blast!

Here is what our trip consisted of:

9 people + an 8 week old little girl

6 hours in the car

1 hotel room

very little sleep

1 near throw up

2 days at the happiest places on earth

lots and lots of rides

1 interaction with ravers (if you don't know a "raver" is let me know and i will explain on a future blog)

1 high school musical parade

1 snow fall on main street (not real snow)

and allot of laughs

What a FUN trip!

being faithful. trust.

2008-12-10T20:51:00.006-07:00

Most of my greatest conversations with God happen when I am running. Maybe its because I have no distractions or maybe its because I don't let my mind think about how bad my legs and lungs hurt, thus I talk to the Lord.

Yesterday as I ran I began to think about being faithful and what being faithful actually looks like and feels like in my relationship with God.As some thoughts came and went I became stuck on TRUST.

Trusting the Lord is constantly a prayer of mine and probably will be until I leave this earth.

So why is it so hard for us to trust God?
Why do the majority of us, who call ourselves Christians have a really hard time trusting God.

God is the ONLY thing in out lives that will never leave us, never lie to us, never hurt us, never laugh at us, never make fun or us, never fire us, never talk behind our backs, never steal from us, never yell at us....i could go on forever.
God is in the business of doing good for us all the time. Yet we (especially me) still decide to not trust Him and do our own thing so many times.

I mean look at satan. He is the complete opposite of the character of God (he lies, cheats, makes fun of me, hurts me, abuses me, etc) yet, I believe the lies He tells me allot of the time. and to be totally honest, if i were to look back on my life and tally up the times I trusted satan and the times I trusted God, Satan probably would win.(Gosh, how sad that must make my God)

In order to be faithful we must TRUST
And again,"I will put my trust in him."
Hebrews 2:13

Thankful for:sunshine in december, mom, dad, friends in other time zones

speechless

2008-11-19T22:16:00.001-07:00

my life. an altar

2008-11-16T21:14:00.003-07:00

Let my life be an altar, as Your truth guides my way.

Draw me to your holy fire.

Those words came from a song we sang at church tonight. That is my desire. Its so simple.
I hope it is yours too. God is so good.

Ode to Mr Jangles

2008-11-06T22:26:00.005-07:00

I lost a friend yesterday...Mr. Jangles.

Mr. Jangles is not just a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but a great friend...

A friend that has stuck by me

through think and thin

through snow and heat

from the deserts of arizona, to the mountains of colorado, to the fields of kansas, to the...of nebraska, to the rodeos of wyoming, to the plains of oklahoma, the shopping malls of texas, by the indians of new mexico, through the hills of arkansas, to the greatest kamp on earth in missouri, to a gas station in mississippi, through strong accents in alabama, over the hills of tennessee,by the tabernacle in utah, to the beaches in california, and to a wedding in florida

packed full or just the two of us (me and Mr. Jangles)

listened to me sing

heard my prayers

seen me cry

heard me screams

heard my thoughts

heard many conversations

ridden many tow trucks

seen many mechanics

was part, if not the main part, of many great adventures

You will always have a special place in my heart MJ

JLS

SMHS Homecoming

2008-10-18T14:24:00.003-07:00

Last night three friends and myself stepped back onto our old stomping grounds as we attended the homecoming football game at our high school. I had not been back sense I left for college, 7 years ago, so it was really fun to step back on campus and remember 'the good ol days'.

As we sat on the bleachers watching the game my mind was flooded with memories of high school. Memories and names of people that I had not thought about for years began to come back to me. The four of us laughed and shared stories most of the game. Gosh it was really fun!

economics or bananas

2008-10-11T10:56:00.004-07:00

Recently there has been many dilemmas in my life. The most recent is, because of the economic drama that is going on in the United States right now, I feel almost forced to use my blog to discuss such topics as the rapidly dropping stock market or who do we blame for the situation at hand, or is it going to get worse before it gets better? But, you know what, I am not going to talk about those things.

Instead I am going to talk about bananas.

I believe that bananas are the most superior fruit in the fruit family.

The following list provides reasons for my strong belief.

1) Protective layer, makes it easy for storage and an 'on the go snack'

2) Grown and bought in bunches, making the in store selection process very convenient and non discriminatory

3) No utensils needed, unlike other items in the fruit family,such as kiwi and pineapple, you can leave your fork and knife at home when enjoying a banana

4) Ripen indicator, the peel changes color indicating the precise time when the banana is ripe and ready to eat

5) Various culinary usages, just to list a few...

Banana bread
Banana chips
Banana cream pie
Bananas Foster
Banana ketchup
Banana pudding
Banana sauce
Banana split
Pisang goreng

6)Peel doubles as handle when eating

7)Friendly for the whole family, whether you are age 1 or 101 bananas are great because of the soft texture and easy to chew consistency. People with no teeth, dentures or a just a few teeth with be smiling after eating a nice ripe banana.

so enjoy a banana today!

grammar

2008-10-03T00:54:00.008-07:00

A recent conversation with a friend has allowed me to realize that grammar may not come easy for everyone, so for those of you who need a little help in the area of tenses, I have compiled the following list that you may use to increase your grammatical skills.

light, lit

lose, lost

strike, struck

hit, hit

catch, caught

run, ran

fly, flew

lose, lost

dive, dove

throw, threw

win, won

forgive, forgave

every minute

2008-10-03T00:13:00.004-07:00

I listened to the song,"Every Minute" by Sara Groves, this morning as I ate breakfast.

I could'nt help but press repeat a dozen times because I felt like this song explains the desire of my heart these past few weeks.

And I wish all the people I love the most.
Could gather in one place.And know each other and love each other well.
And I wish we could all go camping.And lay beneath the stars.
And have nothing to do and stories to tell.
We'd sit around the campfire.And we'd make each other laugh remembering when.

I miss friends, I miss community, I miss real fellowship.

minimalist

2008-09-25T09:53:00.004-07:00

Minimalism. Art, Music, Design... LIFE?

Minimalism commonly describes very simplistic design and ideas.

But can you be a minimalist in life?

Many would say, "Not in today's society". And I would have to agree that U.S society is not exactly pushing us to have less and enjoy the simpleness of life.

But I think it is possible to strive to minimize ones life.

Here are some things I found on the world wide web about minimalism:

(most of the info was found at http://unclutterer.com/category/minimalism/, with little additions from me)

Sock Purge: get rid of mismatched sox

- Every six months, throw away all of your white sports socks and replace them with six pair of new, identical white sports socks

Empty Rooms? get rid of them.

- the average square footage of a single family home has gone from 983 sq. ft. in 1950 to 2,349 sq. ft. in 2004.yet we constantly complain about not having enough space. The bigger a house we buy, the more we buy to fill it.

Walker Friendly neighborhoods.

-Oh how nice it would be not have to have a car, but instead walk or ride a bike every where.

Buy quality over quantity.

-being a minimalist is not about spending less money on items, but its about buying less. For example you are not a minimalist if you buy 5 pairs of jeans that each cost $20. But you are being a minimalist if you buy one pair of quality jeans that cost $100 dollars. Less is more :)

I feel like this is a legitimate blog, and it kind of scares me a little bit. Don't worry I am sure my next one will be something crazy.

This is a picture of minimalist 'art'.

raise the roof

2008-09-23T12:51:00.005-07:00

Not only cool but biblical.

Unbeknownst to the founders of "Raise the Roof Summer 2008", Danielle Ochs and Myself. Raising the roof is biblical.

Not only is it fun, energizing, exciting,thrilling, a way to show appreciation, encourage and down right aweseome. It has just recently been pointed out by my dear friend, Savannah Hill, that it is also bibblical.

Job 8:21 in The Message states,

God will let you laugh again, you'll raise the roof with shouts of joy

Now if that doesn't make you want to stand up and rasie the roof then there is something seriously wrong with you.

just do it don't be afraid:)

butter on wheat thins

2008-09-17T20:39:00.003-07:00

I have discovered a wonderful treat and I want the world to know.

Butter on wheat thins

Next time you need a quick, delicious snack.
Grab a box of wheat thins and a stick of butter. Spread a nice thin, even amount of butter onto a cracker and experience a delectable treat only your taste buds can describe.

maybe the amish are cooler than we think

2008-09-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here we go.

this is my second attempt at this whole blogging thing.

Let me begin by saying I have had little interaction with Amish people. and by little I mean, the only time I have actually talked to an Amish person was on a greyhound bus about a year ago. Even then few word were exchanged. (i think i was so intrigued by them that I spent the whole bus ride, trying to figure out where to even start the conversation; there clothes, their transportation, their houses, what?)

With that said I have done a little reading on the Amish in my spare time (for those of you who don't know, I am unemployed. but i think you all know because there is only 5 of you who even know this blog exists)

anyway, back to what I was saying...

I have been doing some reading and I have come to the realization that maybe, just maybe the Amish people are closer to getting "it" than we are

For example,

Forgiveness

2006,gunman enters school and kills five Amish children

Their reaction:

Leaders of the church, visited the wife of the shooter to offer forgiveness.

The families of the children killed invited the widow to their children's funeral.

Shared relief money with the wife of the killer and her children

Dozen of Amish families attended the funeral of the killer

Community

They all live in community, aka: they do life together

They enjoy each other, not things

They don't worry about the "Jones", having more, being better, making more, having bigger...

They are all on the same team

Is this the way God intended for us to live?

Interesting?

no idea why or what I am doing

2008-09-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

well, I have to begin by saying that when I sat down at my computer about 4 minutes ago I had no intention of creating a blog. In fact, I was just going to check the weather here in Phoenix (by the way the next 3 days it is going to be over 105 degrees) and see how much money I have or don't have in my bank account.
Then before I even realize what I am doing,I have created a blog.

I have never had even the smallest desire to have my own blog
I rarely read blogs and when I do I wonder why.
I think I have even said to myself, "why would anyone even want a blog, its like posting your journal online for all to see"

We will see how long this lasts. This could be my first and last blog.
or who knows I might become a famous blogger (if there is such a thing)