Cheer Reunion

If you had asked me in 2007 if I would ever cheer at a football game again, I would have laughed.  Then my alma mater started the "Return of the Cheerleaders" for Homecoming.  While we didn't don our old skirts & tops, we did wear school colors and cheer with pride.  It was fun, but I did feel a a little left out.  A few of the girls made shirts & wore leftover skirts, that 3 of us were not included in.  Kind of a bummer, but if that's the worst thing that happened, then no biggee.  For the most part, our team was inclusive, nothing like the backstabbing cheerleaders you see on Glee or Bring It On or Hellcats (yes I admit I watch the cheesy CW cheerleading tv show).

Bekah was one of my residents (well actually Christy's resident) my sophomore year.  It was fun seeing her again.  She is a sweetheart.  She's class of 2008, I'm 2007.

Max was 2006 and Geri was 1990.  It was so cool to have her join us.  Her daughter made her an adorable shirt! 

There were other girls too, but I didn't get any pics.  If I steal some from facebook, I will post them.  Thanks to Coach Danelle for putting this together again!  And -- Go Bulldogs! (I am amazed at how many cheers actually came back to me!)

Give Thanks Coasters

So I go from not posting in a very long time to three posts in a week --- all having to do with my shop.   I swear I'm not selling out to etsy.  I'm just very excited! hahaha  And I want to be able to call my hobby a business.  More on that in another post!

These coasters (there are 4 sets available) feature cute little Thanksgiving icons in squares.  There are little turkeys (both a straight shot and a sideview), pumpkins, acorns, grapes, corn, and sweet little kittens on top of pumpkins. 

I wrap each set of four with yarn and attach the tag.  I really think these would be a cute hostess gift for a seasonal party.  You could put them with a mug or a bag of coffee.

It was easy to think of a verse for this one.  We studied Psalm 118 as a part of our Beth Moore study earlier this year.  Just try reading the passage without singing... haha

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever."
Psalm 118:1 (New Living Translation)

If you want  your own set of Give Thanks Coasters, head on over to my etsy and pick them up.  Mention this blog and you will get a little something extra in your package :)

Kitten Update

Can I still call them kittens?  They are over a year old this week!  Well, I call them kittens and I call skweaks girl cat, so I guess I can just do what I want. haha 

Moving on... we have had to put the cats outside (we keep them in the garage at night) because of Matt's allergies.  I miss snuggle time with these guys while we watch tv. 

And I miss nap times with the little lady too.

Well, I get a nap in... she sleeps about 50% of the time!

This weekend I was sewing in the front room and I kept hearing a little mew and seeing this sweet face in the window behind me.  Poor girl.  I finally took pity on her and brought her in for a little attention (don't worry she stayed on my lap the whole time, and then I took her back to the garage). 

But really, how can you say no to that face??

Or this tiny little tongue...

Maybe when you see the hair the shed on the couch while they sleep.  Yeah, that helps me say no... just a little bit! haha

Falling Leaves & Praising God

I named these coasters Autumn Leaves, but I keep wanting to call them Falling Leaves.  haha  I bought this fabric to make coasters for myself... like some of the others... but decided to try and sell them.  I may or may not have kept a set for the Nadalet house.  :)

I wanted to find a verse about leaves or creation.  The verses about "leaves" were all about leaving your family or whatever, and that was definitely not fitting! haha

So I did what any wise woman would do -- I asked my husband!  He helped me find a great verse which we settled on.  Psalm 96:12.

"Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!  Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise"

How sweet it is.  The verse is about the Lords return and the trees bringing forth praise.  That is something that I cannot even fathom.  Well, thanks to Lord of the Rings, I can kinda picture it now.  But as a reality, that is just crazy!

If you are interested in these coasters, please check them out on etsy.  Mention my blog and I will include a little something special in the package!

[To those who asked -- yes there will be Christmas coasters soon.  Also, I will be having a giveaway here or at CED at some point :) ]

Etsy Shop!

I already announced this on my crochet blog, but I am super excited to announce it here as well.  I have opened my etsy!  I listed a couple of crocheted beanies last week.  But today I am happy to show off some handmade coasters.  I recently read that you should only try to sell what you would want for yourself.  And I can honestly say I really want to keep these in my house!

Halloween Time Coasters!

The one thing I have still been trying to figure out is how to honor God with my shop. I love how Lora shares how the Lord was speaking to her with each piece that she makes.  I am not sure how the Lord is speaking to me with coasters, or how they are divinely inspired.  I am making some Thanksgiving coasters, and it was easy to find a verse to correspond with that.  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, His love endures forever." -Psalm 118:1.  But what verse corresponds with Halloween?  It is trite to just simply write a verse on the tag of a set of coasters?

In Need of Caffiene Coasters

I do pray for those who will receive these housewares.  I pray that the Lord will be present in the lives of those who purchase these.  That He will work in their lives.  It is easier to pray as I make children's items.  I ask the Lord to bless those who will wear the items and work in their lives.

Farmer's Market Coasters

Anywho, that is just a little of what is rolling around in my mind.  I am super excited about my shop, and hope you like it as well.  If you do, please tell your friends about it!  And let me know what you think about the coasters.

New Baby in the Fam!

I am so excited about my newest baby cousin, well I like to think of him as my nephew, but technically he is my second cousin. haha  Anywho,  Austin George was born a month ago.  We finally got to see him last night, along with my parents and Mama.  Here are some pictures of us with the cute little guy.  And I even included the ones where I look dumb. So, enjoy! haha

The (present) Koenigs & Nadalets with Austin.

The McNely side of the family (again, those of us who were there)

and Sarah, too!  (she's an Atwood / McNely too though, right?)

My Mom and precious Austin

What do you think?  He is the cutest little guy ever!

Truck Repair Video

Okay!  So I have the video on youtube, let's see if I can upload it here now!

Well I don't want to upload to my google, so I embedded it.  I am slowly getting better at this whole internet / blog thing!

If you want to hear what exactly Hayden  had to do, listen to Matt's explanation in the video.  And you can see how dark it actually was outside.  The flash on the camera made the pictures appear much brighter.

A Common Sight at the Ranch

... is a broken down car or truck.  My favorite experience (not) was receiving an email from my husband (he went down a week early) saying, "I am here, the truck is being held together by duct tape, but still running."  What the heck is a wife supposed to think about that?  Needless to say, before I arrived I found out that he was fine and the being held together was mostly cosmetic stuff (like the window latches in the back wont work so he had to tape them shut).   But I did find the truck on the side of the road on day 1, his response - well it died so I had to switch vehicles in the middle of feeding the animals.  Now I'm still not sure if  "it" was the quad (which had a habit of dieing) or the truck, but I'm hopin it was the quad. 

Another likely issues with vehicles down there -- flat tires.  People do not clean their worksites properly and leave nails on the ground, which have a sneaky habit of getting stuck in tires.  That and the whole 9 mile unpaved, rocky dirt road that you have to travel may have something to do with it...  Anywho, we got a flat on Caity & Hayden's first night.  It was about 8 pm and really dark.  Caity was still in a swimsuit, I was sick, and the tools for changing the tire - with a random guy that Matt had been nice to (in the states) and loaned them and never returned them.  We used the jack for my car to jack up the truck. 

That's really cold Caity wrapped up in a blanket as Hayden takes off the lugnuts and Matt adjusts the jack. 

The boys are hard at work and Caity is shining a light so they can see what they are doing... I have a video taken at some point during this adventure, I just need to figure out how to post it to the blog!

This is when Hayden finally got the seal of approval to date Caity (because really, this was just a rouse to test out his manliness) haha  He managed to get the spare tire out with a nail punch.  See, you need special tools to take the tire off of a Tundra, they are up under the bed.  He and I were under the truck (I was holding the maglight, of course) and he had to figure out a way to maneuver around and get it out.  Major props to him.  And Caity is wearing my beach coverup as a scarf.  (I hada already changed because of the sick thing, I ran into a bathroom -- and changed while I tried not to hurl, I expected everyone else to change while I was, but they were being nice and waiting to see if I was okay).

This was our last night in Mexico, talk about going out with a bang, right? haha

Hot Springs

Remember when we tried to find those Hot Springs awhile back?  Well we finally found them!  We actually went twice during our month in Mexico.  Okay,  I went twice, Matt only went once.  The first time we went to the beach it was miserably hot at the Ranch and we needed to get to cooler weather.  Sarah Lee too Jen & I, so that we could see the actual existence of the hot springs. We spent fun times playing in the waves first, about 40 yards away from dolphins!

I digress.  The whole point of this beach expedition was to find the hot springs and see if they really do exist.  Sarah Lee showed Jen & I where they were on Wednesday and we went back on Friday and found them again with no problems!  The key is to dig nearer to the water (we dug way up high before).  Some of the water is so hot that you cannot touch it.  Seriously.  It's crazy.  After checking out La Bufadora (those were yesterdays pics), we headed over to this beach to find the springs. 

My sis with a very Megan expression (or is it a Caity expression??)

Our hot tub was heart shaped -- for awhile!

The boys did some digging too -- see how moist the sand is?

There you have it, photographic evidence that the hot springs do exist!  We had a wonderful time soaking up the hot water and enjoying each other's company.  Thanks to Sarah Lee for showing us where they were, and to the random Romanian Baptist student pastor from Fresno who first told us about their existence!

More of our August Trip to Mexico

Before too many more months go by, here are some pictures of the rest of our time in Mexico.  We spent a lot of time puttering around the Ranch.  Well, Matt spent a lot of time doing repairs and working hard, while I spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and what his plan was for me.  IT was not the easiest of times, but I did learn a lot.  I also got pretty sick during our last week, I think Satan was trying to keep my spirits down.  It was wonderful, however, to spend time with Jen and for our sister Caity & her boyfriend Hayden and our good friend Darren to join us for the last weekend that we were there.  We were sad to leave a little earlier than them, but apparently Matt had been told to get me home on Saturday so I had a day to recuperate. 

Enjoying some delicious tacos after church on Sunday

One of the meals at the Ranch, I leftover something that we turned into enchiladas.

Matt's guitar and music book on the Dining Hall porch

Cute little animal cubs at la Bufadora 

Hayden & Matt checking out the Buf (first timers)

Gorgeous sister Caity -- we were missing Lisa!

There you have it, a few more pictures from our time in Mexico.  I have more to share, so hopefully I will get them up tomorrow!

Mexico Update

It is high time for a second update from the Ranch.  Things are going well here.  We are still alive and well.  I experienced the joy of life last night as I watched kittens being born.  Seemed much easier than having a child.  Life was really nice when we had power (from a generator) and running water (from water tanks up the hill) at the Johnsons.  Now we are facing reality as we come home to a lofthouse each night.  The Lord has totally been stretching us.  Our late night talks have been challenging, but wonderful.  Matthew and I are learning new things about each other, and I am excited to see how the Lord is going to grow us.  Please pray for continued wisdom and guidance and that we can be of great support to the missionaries down here.  Also, that we have fun!

Also, to my Beth Moore bible study ladies, I really missed you this week! but Jen & I watched the dvd and are looking forward to 2 more lessons together.  Can't wait til I am together with you all again soon.

Parents & siblings - we miss you all and wish you were here with us.  Hopefully we can do another family build next year!

The Johnson's house, where we spent our first 2 nights

Rick's lofthouse, where we will spend the remainder of our month.

The dining hall, where we do most of our cooking.

Playing Settler's, a game that can last hours

I saw some of these kittens being born... how often can you say that?

Matt & Jen trying to turn on the generator at the Van Nes.
This is right before Matt & I hoofed it up the hill to turn on the water.

These little guys helped me out with my journaling &
bible study at the Johnson's.

Jen & I with Shaina, the cake covered birthday girl

One happy six year old!

She's all smiles!

Trip to the Bay

Before I came down to Mexico, I went up North for my cousin's baby shower.  It was a fun, but all too short trip to my parent's house.  Here are a few pictures from our sightseeing day on Friday.

The Golden Gate Bridge

A view of the Golden Gate, from closer up

Davis and his awesome girlfriend Kaitlyn

With my traveling companions, Caitlin and Jen

Alex & Bryley (kinda cousins, born one day apart)

Without so much wind this time...

We got some delicious ice cream below the famous Ghirardelli Square