Foothills Community Church

A couple of weeks ago, we were on our way to another church to experience. One of Greg's colleagues suggested this church, and we thought we would check it out. It was a reasonable drive from both of our homes, and the website was informative. That morning, Greg asked me to look up the address, which I did just before we left. We were running a little behind, but knew we'd make the 9am start time. Approximately 5 miles into the drive, Greg asked me when he needed to turn. I asked him where the GPS was. He assumed I had written down directions, I assumed he grabbed the GPS. He only asked me to look up the address, not the directions! It was a bit of a miscommunication.

Well, we thought we may be able to find it based upon the address. We were wrong. After driving up and down the same street a couple of times and not finding this specific church, we came across several others with the same start time. It was nearly 9 am, so we just pulled into a random church parking lot.

The first person to greet us was very warm and friendly. She asked us how we came upon Foothills Community Church, and we were honest. Greg shared with her that we intended to attend another church, but couldn't find it. She introduced us to another couple, who also welcomed us warmly. Throughout the morning, many greeted us and made us feel comfortable and at home.

The worship service was magnificent. The worship team is comprised of many talented individuals. The worship minister has an amazing way of leading worship, and is quite talented himself (singing, guitar, piano, etc.). The lead minister preached a great message, speaking with humble authority. As a whole, we were quite impressed. Driving away afterwards, we immediately agreed to return once again.

One of the things that caught both of our attentions was the make up of the congregation. There was a variety of age groups from infant to elderly. What was even more exciting was the number of young couples! They were everywhere! Even the worship team had a few 20-30 somethings on stage. This was very exciting for us, as we have been praying to find not only a church home, but a place where we can fellowship with other Christians close to our age. This place held some promise.

Foothills is a Wesleyan church, a meaning we are unsure of at this point. However, we intend to educate ourselves one way or another. Specifically, though, we feel the teachings the last couple of weeks have been sound and backed by scripture. We have enjoyed the last few weeks and are looking to continue to attend. I have a great feeling about it....

He went to Jared!

Many of you may already be aware, and it's true! I'm referring to the Jewelry Store! Greg proposed on 11/20/09, just before I left to spend a week in Wisconsin with my family and friends. I thought I would share the story for all to read...

Greg closed on his house on 11/13, so we've been spending each night after work moving things from one house to the other. By the time I was to fly back home, most everything would be at the new house (although not unpacked and in the correct place). So Friday night would be the last evening for the two of us to enjoy the sunset at the old house. See, there is this place down the road from the rental property that is very special to us. It is here where some of the best sunset views of Tuscon are seen. Many long-distance hours on the phone took place in this spot. Before moving here, Greg would bring me here to watch the sunsets while sipping on wine. And after I moved to Tucson, we spent many weekend evenings sitting on top of the jeep, watching the sun dip below the mountains. It's a quiet spot, serene, beautiful, majestic. Since it holds a special place in both of our hearts, we decided that we definitely needed to spend our last night of the old house watching the sunset.

As the sun sets around 5 pm these days, I left work early so that I could arrive in time for us to drive out and get comfortable with beers in hand. It was a beautiful sky, with just a few whispy clouds strewn throughout the sky. We were sitting on the top of the jeep enjoying our Leiny's when one of the neighbors came by on her horse. She greeted us and we chatted with her for some time, just as the sun was doing down for the night. I was a little annoyed, as I wanted this to be a special night for us. I was distracted by the beautiful rays extending out from the horizon towards the heavens. I can't even remember what we all discussed that evening. Before we knew it, the sun was gone and she was still there chatting with us! As it continued to grow dark, she said her goodbyes and left us to enjoy the stars.

Shortly after the neighbor left, we were standing next to the jeep with our arms around eachother. It was getting chilly, but I didn't want to admit I was cold. Music was playing in the jeep, and Greg started talking about how he knew I was anxious about getting married....to which I apologized (I can't help it! I'm a girl!!). And then I felt bad, which I shared with him, explaining that I never wanted to be "that girl." He said that of course, he would be a stupid man if he didn't ask me to marry me. "Yeah you would!" I told him (we all know the truth).

So then he said, "So can I?"

And I stepped back to look at him and said, "REALLY?!?!"

His answer: He dropped down to one knee and asked me to marry him as he slipped a ring onto my finger! This was followed by many other wonderful words praising me, all of which neither of us remember. I was so excited, surprised, happy and many other things that I couldn't even respond right away! I couldn't believe it! But I said "OF COURSE I WILL!!" and pulled him up off the ground.

I don't remember much of what happened next, or what was said...but all I can say is that the ring is BEAUTIFUL and I'm so excited to get married!!!

Now, we don't have many details about the wedding at this point. All I can share presently is that we will be planning something this Spring (April or May), to take place in Tucson. Greg and I are visiting various places this weekend to see what is available as potential sites for the ceremony and reception. Yippee!!!

I'm getting married!!! :)

Thankful...

There is SO much for all of us to be thankful for this year!! I know that for many, times are tough right now, but there is still so much to reflect upon and thank God for. Here are a few of the things that I have been able to ponder this Thanksgiving and give thanks to God for bringing into my life:

God
Faith
Grace & Forgiveness
Family members all over the US
Friends all over the US
Technology that allows me to keep in touch with family and friends
Airplanes, trains and automobiles
My wonderful FIANCE!
God's perfect plan
My future in-laws
That I live in America
My health
My education
The job I've had for the last 6 months
Benefits that accompany my job
Co-workers that continually share in my life stories
Running a 1-mile race down a parade route with my wonderful friend!
Surviving the 1-mile race!
The ability to play football the morning of Thanksgiving
Ice and heat packs
Celebrating my 29th birthday and new engagement with my family in Wisconsin
Helping Greg move into his new house (or garage)
Not being around when Greg moves everything from the garage into the house
Coffee
Beer & Wine
Food
Being fortunate enough to overeat on Thanksgiving and every day that follows through the start of the new year
Exercise programs that help you shed holiday weight gain

There is a whole lot more....of course. Hope you have an opportunity to ponder what you are thankful for this year....

A little about white turquoise

With Greg closing on the house, and me flying home first thing in the morning this Saturday, we decided to celebrate my birthday a little early. A couple weeks ago we went camping at Jackson Cabin, the activity I chose to celebrate my turning 29. WOW, I still cannot believe I am 29!

My wonderful boyfriend purchased a beautiful bracelet for my birthday gift. It is a sterling silver braclet that holds a large white turquoise stone laced with horse hair. I wish I could share a picture with you, but since my camera is broken, and Greg's is not available to me, I cannot.

I thought I would share a neat story with you about white turquoise. I was only aware of one type of turquoise before meeting Greg, which is the standard turquoise-colored stone. But now I know of green blue and even white stones. Apparently the white turquoise is a pretty rare stone. It wasn't discovered until 1993 in a mine in Nevada. Turquoise gets its color from the heavy metals in the ground where it forms. Blue turquoise forms where there is copper present (most Arizona turquoise). Green turquoise forms where iron is present (most Nevada turquoise). White turquoise, where there are no heavy metals present, turns out to be rare. To date no other vein of white turquoise has been discovered anywhere else. Pretty interesting!!

New House Keys!!

Greg officially closed on his new house yesterday!! There was A LOT of headache over the last couple of months, and at times, we were afraid it wouldn't go through. Even yesterday was a crazy day for Greg. I will not get into it and bore you, but let's just say he so happy not to have to deal with his real estate agent any longer. He is more excited about this than becoming a home owner!! I'm excited because now he owns a house that I can help decorate and cook in!! I've already asked if I can use his massive counter top space for baking Christmas cookies. :)

So this weekend begins the packing and moving of Greg's things to the new house. Let's hope neither of us are injured!!! I'll post more later, but here is the house Greg (and the bank) officially own:

To the best of my ability...

Although we are no longer attending Pantano Christian Church, I still follow Pastor Glen's blog. I wish the church was closer to where we lived, so that we could take part in the many wonderful things this church has to offer. Pastor Glen, especially, has some great preaching, which both Greg and I have really enjoyed. Fortunately, God allowed the invention of the internet, through which we can obtain many resources and stay connected to various individuals, communities and organizations. As a result, I can have a bit of Pastor Glen each week, even if I'm not participating in his church. In his blog, he shares many insightful ideas on a weekly basis, oftentimes provoking great thoughts. He is very real and down-to-earth, which I love.

One of his recent entries really spoke to me, and I wanted to share it with others. The following has all been taken directly from Glen's blog.

To the Best of My Ability

posted by Glen Elliott

Joel Hunter suggests a life principle: “Do whatever you can, with whatever you have, wherever you are.” I would describe that as living a life of passion. It describes the “life to the full” that Jesus promises if we follow him (John 10:10). This Hunter quote reminds me that a life well lived is a life that is purposeful, generous and sacrificial. This is living to the “best of my ability.”

We intentionally ask someone who is being baptized this question: “Do you promise to follow Jesus with your whole heart to the best of your ability all the days of your life.” Jesus is not asking people to be perfect. But he does invite us to follow him and take up our cross daily. We follow Jesus, to the best of our ability. Some days we do pretty well. Other days no one would be able to tell we are a follower of Jesus. But we keep on the journey.

We also practice communion each week. Why? Our “best ability” always falls short of God’s perfection. Weekly, we remember God’s grace to forgive us of all our sins. Weekly, we remember that our best is never good enough, but God remains passionately in love with us and for us. Weekly, we remember that God not only sent Jesus so we had the Son of God to follow to the Father, but he sent his Son as a sacrifice to provide never ending forgiveness.

Marriage reminds me of this principle. I vowed to my wife 30 years ago to love, cherish, honor and respect her to the best of my ability. I’ve probably managed to do that the majority of our 11,000 days together. But there were many days I failed (Okay, there were full months). But we are still married. We are still in this together and still committed to love each other to the best of our ability. Marriage works when we seek to live purposefully, generously and sacrificially toward each other. Marriage works when there is also an abundance of grace.

Jesus says we are his Bride. The Bible likes to use the idea of marriage to describe our relationship with God. We are in a spiritual marriage with God and we’ve committed to follow Jesus “to the best of our ability.” God, being the perfect spiritual marriage partner offers grace upon grace.

So today and everyday, may we stay the journey of doing whatever we can, with whatever we have, wherever we are to bless the world around us and make a difference for Jesus – to the best of our ability.

Glen

Veteran's Day

I don't personally know very many people serving in the military. I have a few family members that have served in years past, but didn't have to participate in war actions. However, I am an American, and I want to extend my gratitude to all those who have given their time to serve this country. For all those that have lost family members and friends to this service, I thank you for your sacrifice. I pray that all those currently serving are protected by God's mighty hands, and I look forward to the day where we will have no more wars.

Jackson Cabin

I wanted to share some pictures from our brief camping trip last weekend in the Galiuro Mountains.

After unloading the jeep packed with our gear, we drove about 2 hours off-road. The 14-mile trail varied at different points, including sand, gravel, rocks and boulders. Here are some of the views we enjoyed during this drive:

 

Greg's intentions were to camp next to a great hidden treasure-Jackson Cabin. It's this little historic stone cabin that everyone takes care of. Random people who come out to enjoy the area each do their part to keep it clean and leave things behind for others to make use of. For example, we used a skewer to cook our hotdogs over the fire, as we had forgotten to bring our own. Here is the beautiful little building and it's inside rooms:

We even left our mark on the outside of the building, like many other former guests:

The following are some pictures from our hike up Redfield Canyon. I was finally able to enjoy some fall colors during this hike. And tall trees! And walking through fallen leaves. It was as if I was back in the midwest. Only it was in the 80's...

After packing up our things, we left the cute little cabin, but not before signing our names in the guest book. Greg had previously visited this place in March:

On our way back to the truck, we were able to enjoy the beautiful skyline as the sun set behind the Catalina Mountains:

My turn...

To drive a modified Samurai!!

Greg and I went camping this weekend to a beautiful place called the Galiuro Mountains. This range is located just East of the Catalinas, the range that runs along the Northeast portion of the Tucson metro area. Going around the Northern portion of the Catalinas, we drove a few hours before parking the truck and unloading the jeep packed with our gear. We took a dirt road about 15 miles before entering the trail head. Then it was miles upon miles of beautiful landscape, trees, mountains, rocks, old windmills and more. Yes, I said trees! There were amazing, BEAUTIFUL, TALL TREES! I loved it.

Anyway, this post is about me driving the off-roading vehicle....Most of you know that Greg has a hobby of modifying and driving rock crawlers. On my first trip to Tucson, he took me on a similar camping trip that involved two hours of off road driving in a jeep packed out with our gear. And I've really enjoyed this hobby of his starting that first trip. There was only one other time I was given the opportunity to drive one of his babies. It was a great time, but I didn't really "learn" to drive his jeep that day. I was more or less "coached" along by one of his work friends. This guy essentially shouted out at me when I needed to shift up, shift down, etc...and had plenty of patience with me when I killed the vehicle numerous times. I hadn't driven a stick in many many many years, and this was the time to re-learn.

Here is a picture of me outside the jeep, just as I was about to climb into the driver's seat. I was all geared up and ready to go (pun definitely intended).

I drove many miles out to our final destination, and I must say...I did ok. There was one pretty scary moment that involved killing the jeep heading up a steep gravel/rocky hill, and quickly sliding backwards. Greg did great as well, not ever yelling at me, just being patient and coaching me along the way. Of course he laughed at me quite a lot, which was well deserved most of the time (although I wouldn't admit it at the time!).

At any rate, I enjoyed driving his samurai, even though I was stressed during many moments. I am looking forward to more trips, and hope Greg will allow me to drive his jeep more often!! Practice makes perfect, right?!!

Straight from the Midwest

Today I was a little bummed out by a few things ranging from the un-fall-like weather to certain episodes that occurred at the office recently. At 5pm, I was elated it was the weekend, but a little saddened that it wasn't to spend time with any of my girlfriends. However, Greg and I had exciting plans to go camping, which is (almost) just a wonderful.

Each day after work, I stop at the masses of mailboxes at the front of my apartment property to retrieve my mail. Oddly enough, my box is located about 5.5 feet off the ground, just above my head. As a result, I reach up with one arm to do a sweep of the mailbox, followed by a little hop to attempt to look into the box to ensure I've emptied its contents. I'm sure it's entertaining moment to observe.

At any rate, as usual, I reach up into my box for the intial sweep, did my little hop, and came upon the package key. See, if you receive something that is too large for the box, the postal worker places it into a large mailbox, putting its key in your box. Having this big key is a very exciting thing!! It means you have something other than bills, grocery ads and junk mail!! So with an added skip in my step, I went over to the large package mail boxes. After struggling to get the respective box open, I saw a box with a beautifully created address label with my name on it. It was from my mother. I wasn't expecting anything from her, so I was curious as to its contents.

Walking back to my car, I gently tore open the box. I was amazed at what I saw. A box full of beautiful, dry leaves. I knew instantly that they were from the yard of my parents' house back in Wisconsin. Along the inside of the box was this note:

"A little touch of Wisconsin fall for you. Love Mom"

I was extremely moved. It was so thoughtful of her to do this for me! I realize it's been pretty obvious how much I miss the Midwestern Fall, and I believe my mother has interpreted these recent blog posts appropriately. Greg certainly didn't understand this, and thought this was a silly thing to mail someone....

But I loved it! THANKS MOM!!! :)

Sorry to complain...

But it is the 5th day of November, and it has been over 90 degrees the last 4 days!!! It's November!! I don't care where you live, it should have at least cooled down a little bit by now.

I was just telling a friend of mine in an email how disappointed I am that it is so warm so late in the year. Here's the thing...starting with Halloween, eating habits become quite poor. For me, this involves indulging a little bit each day in chocolates, caramels, pumpkin treats, and anything else with sugar in it. This continues into November as my birthday and subsequently Thanksgiving arrive. Cakes, pies, large holiday meals fill me up. The calories continue to add up. It's wonderful and oh-so-much-fun! Along with calories comes a little weight gain...

Weight gain isn't a big deal in areas of the country where it cools off in the fall and winter. The added weight aids in keeping a body warm as the winter frost arrives. As the weather changes, one brings out their collection of warm clothes, a whole new wardrobe. These lovely sweaters easily cover up the small amounts of weight that is added with the holiday season. It is so wonderful. An bonus to being a resident of a cool part of the country.

I am not fortunate enough to live in a place where there is a changing of the seasons. At least, not a drastic change as experienced in the midwest. No, I get to be in the place where everyone wishes they could escape to in the dead of winter. I will only have the opportunity to wear my sweaters when I venture back to Wisconsin. :)

So until then, I will try and "enjoy" this place. I've been told that it takes a while to adjust to living in the southwest. I wonder how long "a while" will last for this midwesterner...