Jeff & Janelle

MOVED, SNOW, SCHOOL, and a new pet. :)

2012-01-19T12:07:00.001-08:00

We MOVED to an awesome little house, with a yard, and garage!!! LOVING it and it's only a few minutes from our school and church... speaking of school, our term started again on the 9th of Janyary, and so far, have been enjoying it! Were taking Nutrition, Public Speaking and Spanish. This week we only had one and a half days of school due to the snow and everything closing down. It's been NICE! :) Other than that, just been working out, home work, hot chocolate and cuddling has been my main activities these snowy days at home. :)

Gain on my PR (personal record) and squated 225lbs 3x. :) Crossfit has AMAZING results for increase strength!! :)

Hangin' with the best fam ever, celebrating my dad's birthday. :)

Dad and Grandma being goobers. Like mother like son! hahaha

Yummy breakfast I make most mornings a week... I love being healthy!

Such a wonderful start to the "REAL MARRIAGE" series at church! Love the band "Brothers" and their worship!

A few winter shots at our place the last few days. :)

Our beautiful dog.

My two handsome boys. :)

Our cute, tiny little house in the snow.

Me workin' night shift at the critical care unit at Providence. This night I had a client pass away while I was there, also worked with an 80yr old cancer patient and an 18yr old car accident patient who had major brain and thoracic injuries. CRAZY night it was!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!!

2011-12-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

2011 has been an amazing year for me in my marriage, my own personal life and walk with Jesus, and with the help of God and my wonderful hubby I conquered: Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Microbiology, Interpersonal Comm., HIV/AIDS Training, Critical Inquiry, World Religions, Intermediate Algebra, Statistics, Yoga, Tai Chi, Sociology. Excited for what this new year has for us and all I'm going to learn! Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family for all the love and encouragement this past yeat! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!!!!!!

2011-11-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

Lots of AMAZING times of blessings... FUN, FRIENDSHIPS, FELLOWSHIP, and FOOD!!! SO blessed!!! I have the most wonderful family and friends and I'm so thankful for you ALL!!!

Quick Preview...

2011-11-20T23:33:00.000-08:00

Even though it was FREEZING cold and has been cold for the last week, with bouts of snow and freezing temperatures...I had a LOVELY shoot with a sweet girl, Sydney yesterday. :) More photos can be found on my blog, www.janellecater.blogspot.com

Getting fit inside and out by His grace...

2011-11-18T16:30:00.003-08:00

Crossfit is amazing!!! It's been about 6 months now, and I've only been able to do it about 4 days a week with how hectic school it and all, but I've gotten some awesome results already!!! I'm part of the 500 club after yesterdays lifting. :) 125lb bench press, 225lb squat and 250lb dead lift. Jeff is in the 1000lb club after his lifting yesterday!!! 215lb bench 405lb squat and 390lb dead lift. Considering we're out lifting our own body weight of 125 (me) and 175(Jeff) I'm pretty stoked! CROSSFIT PAYS OFF!!!

[MOBILE UPLOAD]
Don't worry, I don't look like this all the time, just when I'm flexing! LOL Some one wrote me today and said "Um, wow. I had no idea all that was hiding under your clothes. Amazing!"... made me laugh so much!!

Anyways, after a hardcore workout yesterday, and since it's the end of the school week, we enjoyed an awesome meal of steak and shrimp, broccoli, cottage cheese, cheery tomatoes (from our own plants that I just picked) and a glass of wine. WONDERFUL day for sure!

Seriously, I'm so stinkin' blessed!!! God is amazing in that he gave me so much in my life! Love, laughter, food, friends, family, a house to live in, a car to drive, a school to attend and the ability to get good grades, and most of all, just for the fact of knowing that I'll always sin and always be a sinner, BUT I'm clean, pure and forgiven in God's eyes, is just truly boggling my mind these days! THIS I HOW CHRISTIANS CAN live each day with hope, joy and freedom from the past and just embrace the present with the desire and goal of being a person who desires and strives for glorifying God in ALL they do!!! Serving Him is an absolute honor and it's just totally AMAZING to watch Him bless and provide as I obey His will for my life!!!

As Jeff and I have been reading through the Bible every day together, for almost a year now, we're almost through the whole Bible and it's just been mind blowing to see how the people of God constantly turned their back, sinned and didn't obey God through the whole Bible, BUT that God's grace has never failed, and he still died on the cross KNOWING that each and every one of us would constantly be sinning, but His love was more than that knowledge!!! SO humbling and definitely something I'm working at not taking advantage of these days!!!

Sorry, got a little preachy! lol Have a super night!

SMILING AS ALWAYS!!!

2011-11-16T16:14:00.001-08:00

SO, super week thus week, full of classes and home work and working out, but it was GREAT! Heading to Stats class in a few minutes, and then to our wonderful Core Group tonight for fellowship and friendship. The photos below are some yummy carrot cake cupcakes I made for core group. :)

Oh, scary random story... Monday might we're flying along 1-5 and just pulling onto the exit to get off, when our car started making this HORRIBLE grinding noise in the front right tire, so we managed to pull of just in time before all the tires locked up. PHEW! We couldn't see anything, so we decided to push the car about 100 yards to a park and ride where some random Hispanic guy was very awesome and used his flashlight to help us see what the issue was... some thing to do with the breaks and he helped us jury-rig the problem with a bungee cord and it amazingly got us home! SHEW, that was close! LOL Crazy how handy bungee cords can be!!! Between them and duck tape, I think a person has all they need! HAHAHA JK

AMAZING WEEKEND!!!

2011-11-13T21:21:00.002-08:00

My wonderful sister Bree came to spend the weekend with me! Had such an awesome time with her!!! Cooking, laughing, games, photo shoots, church, working out, babysitting for some friends (photo below this paragraph), eating... just AWESOME!!! So blessed to have such wonderful siblings who love me unconditionally and spend time with me!

Also, AMAZING sermon today about Jesus being RISEN!!! Feel so truly humbled by God's gracious gift to me, SUCH A SINNER, but he died in my place and still loves me after all the sins and horrible things I've done in my life!!! Even though I know I've made mistakes in the past, it's SUCH A FREEING thing to know that Jesus paid it ALL on the cross and I can only do my best to live for him and that I will always stumble and fall, but because his blood paid for my sins, I'm perfect in the eyes of God!!! AMAZING, HUMBLING, CHALLENGING and just made me SO GRATEFUL for His loving sacrifice to me!!!

Here are a few pics I took of my beautiful sister!

I'm my beloved's and he is mine...

2011-11-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

My precious, amazing hubby picked each of these out individually and arranged this gorgeous bouquet himself to say I love you to me yesterday! I'm so spoiled rotten and SUPER blessed!

To show my love to him, I made him gourmet enchiladas that he's been craving for days yesterday...

Needless to say, we love each other SO MUCH and are truly blessed by God's grace in our marriage and that GOD IS FAITHFUL, even when we aren't, and he's blessed our marriage over the past many months here TREMENDOUSLY, more love, more forgiveness, more grace, more fun, more compromise, less anger, less jealously, less selfishness etc!!! We've been so blessed to be able to read through the whole Bible together every day for almost a year now, and have been learning SO much in our Bible study group, doctrine class and being involved in our amazing church and serving with everyone there for God's glory!!!

SO as always, I'm just feeling SUPER blessed and just had to share that with anyone out there interested in reading. :)

Weekend With the Fam. :)

2011-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

So, my weekend started out bright and early at 7am at the dentist to get my wisdom teeth removed. Procedure went SO amazing and this was def the most awesome dental experience I've had!!! PTL!

Right after my surgery, Jeff drove me out to my family's house and we spent the weekend with them. It was an amazing and wonderful time! I love my family so much and they love me unconditionally, for which I'm SO thankful!! I only had to take pain meds on the day of the surgery and then the Lord healed my mouth so quick, I had no pain!!! My family spoiled me with all kinds of yummy food that I could eat easily, massages and lots of fun, laughter and love! God is so great to give me such an amazingly precious and faithful family and husband! I feel truly blessed and couldn't ask for more!!!

Jeff workin' on our car that is still having issues after months of trial and error in getting the motor replaced. Definitely making us rely on God and just have patience! It's amazing how spoiled we are in America to have so many conveniences and when you only have one car and even that one car doesn't work to get you from point A to point be, well it helps you realize how truly spoiled we are here! :) Thankfully, Jeff's amazing genius with God's guidance and help, let him totally replace our motor all by himself and we now have a running car! YEAH!!!!!!!!!

My little sisters loved on me SO MUCH and I couldn't ask for more precious siblings and friends in my family!!!

Yep, pretty much the best brothers and sisters in the world!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

A happy camper today on her way to class... mouth is all healed up in only a few short days and back to school, workin' HARD to finish off this quarter of Microbiology, Statistics and Yoga strong and hopefully with a 4.0!

Fun times at school!

2011-10-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few fun memories from a few of our many completed college classes over the last year here... Cellular Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Potter, Chemistry etc. Top to bottom, pictures go from newest to oldest. I can't even being to fathom all that I've learned and how much my mind has been stretches and grown!!! Lots of hard work, but also lots of fun!!! I'm thankful to ALL who have made it possible and been so supportive through this time!

This bacterial growth from outside air we caught in this petri dish! ISN'T THAT GROSS?!!!!!!!!

Jeffery, doin' his potter! He did some amazing artwork and we use his cups, bowls, and mugs every day!

Me getting ready to get zapped in Physiology. lol Na, really I was just doing a test and measuring my muscles twitching and their strength etc.

A project I did for our physiology class.

Lamb brains from anatomy... yep, we had to dissect them and know all the parts!

I drew this full size human body with all the veins and arteries we had to memorize. :) FUN stuff! HAHA

Another anatomy drawing. lol

In the process of drawing my artery/vein person.

Studying anatomy with a friend.

Microscope work in anatomy with my man.

More anatomy studying with friends.

Chemistry lab... yeah we got to blow things up! hahaha

DNA stuff from Anatomy.

Speech and group presentation... yes, I really am a convict! hahaha

Makin' PURE alcohol from wine in Chemistry lab.

Blowin' up the lungs of the cat I had to dissect... I learned that cat inside and out! All the muscles, veins and arteries, bones, organs etc.

Another HUGE thing I'm learning and LOVING!!!

2011-10-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

I dunno if everyone else has this figured out in their life BUT, I'm so excited to truly be learning to be content, thankful & grateful for everything in my life. :) Even the hard things, because there's ALWAYS some thing that can be learned & it's really about how you deal with it in your attitudes & though staying positive is difficult in certain things, there's ALWAYS multiple ways you can see things & I'm learning & enjoying seeing things in a different, more positive view these days!!! :) SO BLESSED!!!!

Not sure if that made sense, but I'm just LOVING my de-stressed life these days and feeling so blessed! lol Thanks for letting me BLAB! :P

I LOVE FALL!!!

2011-10-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Fall most definitely has to be my favorite time of the year! You can't beat all God's natural, amazing artwork with the fall colors, plus who doesn't like putting on a cozy sweater, and enjoying a hot steamy cup of tea, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, falling leaves, crisp cool air, slippers, scarfs, AHHHHHHHH, just can't get enough! :)

Just back from church and feeling super grateful for everything!!! We're such a blessed nation and I'm such a blessed woman! I have an awesome GOD, a wonderful family, the best hubby in the world, amazing church and fellow believers, precious friends, a house to live in, food to eat, electricity to keep me warm, a school to go to, a car to drive, and opportunity upon opportunity to praise God and glorify Him through my life! It's truly a joy to be alive!

I'm FREE!!!

2011-10-18T18:12:00.005-07:00

So I just wanted to write a quick note about what God has been doing in my life these days.

1- He's been showing me my need to forgive, and on with my life to the best of my ability for HIS GLORY, in spite of my past!

2- To be sure and repent/turn from for my wrong doing and strive to become more like Jesus every day, acknowledging my need for His guidance and correction and love in my life.

3- I can't change anyone, only God can, so the best I can do is love, forgive, be patient and keep loving!

4- When some one throws a stone, or hurts me, even if they continually try... I need to just humbly turn the other cheek and know that God has a plan no matter how much it may hurt, or sting inside and give them to Him.

5- Realize I'm a human being, VERY imperfect and that I will ALWAYS make mistakes, but strive to learn from them, do better, and even praise God in through the mistakes because ALL THING WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD!

6- Not to let the Devil use guilt in my life to take away the joy of Jesus in my life and make me feel like I'm nothing, when really, no matter what I've done, Jesus is EVERYTHING and He made a way for me to be clean in God's eyes!

Okay, so that is that... as you can see, God's been really changing my heart these days, I'm stress free and truly have a humble, repentant heart towards God and am striving to honor Him in my life, no matter what the cost is! I'm so excited to say that for the past 4 months now, God has helped me to over come guilt of the past, and stress of the past, present and future and just to trust and take a day at a time! It's the first time in my life I've felt truly stress free and people are noticing!!! PTL!!!

Thanks for reading and hope this either challenges you, or helps you come to a point in your own life that you need to be. Thanks for your support!

Blessings,
Janelle

LONG LOST FRIENDS! :)

2011-10-09T15:50:00.014-07:00

Oh MY!!! I realized with such busy life as nursing students here, it's been OVER A YEAR since I last posted! WOW, I lost my blogging touch I think, and I'm sure you've all given up on me, but for any who happen to check in, here's a little update. :)

Jeff and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this past June, and we're into our 8th term here at Everett Community College. Though it's been a LOT of hard, time consuming work and dedication, it's been SO worth it and we're slowing getting there. :) We've learned so much and are loving stretching our brains to learn more each new day. I had a major issue with stress, and letting it really get to me, but over the past many months God has really worked in my life through a class at school and just through the Word and I am so excited to say that I've been living a pretty much stress free life for many months now and I'm SO grateful as it has made not only school easier, but also has been such a HUGE blessing in all my friendships, marriages and life in general. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

As far as travels go, well not much these days with full time school even through the summer, but last December we were able to take a MUCH needed RnR to the Dominican Republic which was AMAZING! Other than that, I've traveled to 5 states, and shot about 8 different weddings, 15+ other shoots, and more. It's kept me super busy in my few spare moments between classes and homework. Mean while, Jeff's been working lots on his amazing mechanic skills and loving that so much.

Jeff and I recently started an exercise/fitness program called CROSSFIT, and though it's been BRUTAL, it's been amazing and we're getting back to where we should have been all along. :) Eating really healthy, with 80% of our diet veggies and fruits, and then lean meats and nuts and tiny amounts of anything else. The energy, health and vitality from making fitness and health a lifestyle even with the business of school has been truly AMAZING and I'd recommend and challenge all of you to rethink your lifestyles in this area. :)

God has done some amazing things in our marriage, and continues to lead and guide us and bring us closer to each other even through the mistakes and issues, HE IS FAITHFUL! We're so excited to get done with our nursing school, so we can get out and start doing ministry and using this schooling for His glory, but while we're here right now, we're enjoying fellowship with our Bible study group and others, our church (Mars Hill - EVERETT), family, friends and serving Him with the best of our ability. We have lots of opportunities every day to love on people and serve at our school, so keep us in your prayers. :)

During our summer break this year, we were able to go on an AMAZING hike. 8 days in the wilderness, 6 of them hiking 70+ miles, 2 just chillin' at lakes/rivers and fishing/relaxing etc. Made it all the way to the Canadian border and crossed it! :) Saw deer, bear, and lot of other little wildlife. Ate WILD trout, grouse, blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, salmon berries etc. What an awesome detox time from city life, home work, and technology!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150302514457164.351812.509267163&l=e20

Okay, that about sums it up. THANKS so much for stopping in and reading this and hope to do a better job of updating in the future!

BLESSINGS,
Janelle & Jeff

Needed some more practice...

2010-08-31T10:25:00.001-07:00

Jermiah & Abigail (Charlotte, NC)

2010-08-31T10:06:00.001-07:00

Just got back from wedding I photographed in Charlotte, NC. Gorgeous wedding and had a wonderful time! Glad to be back home though!!

My cousin came and visitted me!!! :)

2010-08-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Had so much fun being their tour guide in Seattle for a day and then took them to a Seattle Sounders soccer game in the evening! LOVED having you guys out here! Thanks so much for staying with us and making time!!! Miss you already!!!

Random pics from our life the past few weeks.

2010-08-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Girls SUSHI date with my friend Chelle. :) (MOBILE UPLOAD)
Hanging out with my baby (MOBILE UPLOAD)
Picked up my bro Nate from the airport... he flew in from being gone for three months in Australia... and what did he do? He got himself truck for a project! FUN!! :) (MOBILE UPLOAD)
Eating at the best Chinese buffet ever!!! (MOBILE UPLOAD)
Our awesome friends Dakotah and Chelle... they spoiled us with tickets to the Sounders game!!
Entering Quest Field for the game.

GO SOUNDERS!!!
My sis Bree came to hang out for a night with me! SO fun! Ended up playing games into the night. :) LOVE FAM TIME!!!

More mini family reunions...

2010-06-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEED seeing all my amazing family while in MN on my photography outing!!! Miss you guys!!!

Spendin' time with da FAM. :)

2010-06-28T11:55:00.001-07:00

Greasy kiss from my hard workin' hubby! :)

Trip to MN to Photography a wedding...

2010-06-15T12:00:00.003-07:00

Had lots of fun... thanks guys!!!

Ya for Mini Fam Reunions!!!

2010-06-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEED seeing my cousin Leah and her three amazing kids for many special days!!! Love you guys and miss you much!!!!

Loved hanging out with you BETHANY!!!!

2010-05-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye Erica...

2010-05-22T17:32:00.002-07:00

Our dear friend and roommate Erica left us a few days ago. We sold her my little reliable red car (it was my first car and has been SO faithful to me, so it was sad to see it go) and she is still en-route to Reno, Nevada to spend the summer with her dad and help him take care of his kids. We will miss her but are happy for some "us" time again! God has been faithful!!! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Family reunion :), and goodbyes. :(

2010-05-22T17:03:00.007-07:00

Grandma, Grandpa, Heather!!!! Wow what a reunion!!! Celebrated Grandma's birthday and had a FUN few days as a family before Nate and Drew took off to Australia for a year. SO sad to see them go, but I know they will have a blast!!!

Bye bye boys! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our house if full... :)

2010-05-11T11:26:00.009-07:00

A lot of different days of pics are below but thought you might all enjoy them. :)

FUN times together on Mothers day with the whole family except Heather who is in Nashville, TN and Luke who was in eastern WA with his job. BBQ, swimming, football, frisbee, etc! AWESOME!!! THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A WONDERFUL MOTHER mom!!!!

Nate and Andrew frequent out house for the day and night at least once if not twice a week!!! WE love our house being full!! :)

My brother Luke visited us and spent the night! FUN STUFF!
Times with family at the Tulip fields here north of Seattle... GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

A HUGE CHANGE!!!

2010-04-20T11:47:00.004-07:00

So, along with school and our busy life, God gave Jeff and I an opportunity to take care of and help out a young lady names Erica. She is 18, from a very broken home and traumatic past. She was in a horrible and harmful relationship and situation and needed some major and quick help and so she is now living with us at our apartment for how ever long it takes for her to get on her feet and back to a normal life. We're thankful she just got a job yesterday and we're trying to help her get into school, get a car and become her own beautiful person inside and out again.

Please pray that we can be a blessing, example and help to her in this interesting and VERY huge change in all three of our lives. Pray we will have wisdom to know how to deal with different issues as them come up and that there wouldn't be anything too concerning that happens during this time! PLEASE ALSO PRAY THAT SHE WOULD COME TO KNOW THE LORD!! God is amazing and is providing for our needs through many ways and we feel truly honored to be able to help some one like this!!! Thanks for reading and for your prayers!!

Back to school again. :)

2010-03-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed our Spring break and now we're back to school. :) Going to spend Easter with my family who I haven't seen in a few weeks. Can't wait! Hope you all have a blessed and joyous EASTER!!! There's so much to be thankful for!!!

Spring break in OR...

2010-03-25T15:31:00.007-07:00

Jeff and I drove down to OR on our Spring break for his grandpa's funeral and his brothers birthday. It was really great to see all his side of the family and different friends down there.

His lovely sister Harmony and her boyfriend.
Jeff's brother Mark's birthday.

Spending time with friends and fam was SO FUN!!!
Jeff's best friend from highschool Mike and his lil girls. :)
Ended up doing a photoshoot for them. :) FUN and what adorable girls!

Jeff's mom in the kitchen... what a wonderful lady!!
Celebrating Mark's birthday for the second time. :)

Arrived home yesterday and enjoying our last few days of no school... start back up on the 29th. Oh and for those of you who were wondering, I finished my first term of PUBLIC college with a 4.0!!! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO thankful to the Lord as I was really nervous that I wouldn't do too well with my homeschooling background and all, but he sure did surprise me with a HUGE blessing!!! I know all the prayers have helped a TON!!! Thanks to all of you who care to check in on us and pray for us!!! Means the world!!!

Our new place. :) YA!!!

2010-03-01T20:49:00.002-08:00

Some pretty flowers and things blooming near our place! YA FOR SPRING!!!

Our little kitchen and dinning room. )
Our livingroom and into our dinning room. :) God is amazing!!
Loving being all moved in and having our own place after so long! Thanks for prayers!!!

Andrew made it to STATE!! :)

2010-02-23T19:23:00.003-08:00

Drew took 5th at REGIONALS in Spokane, which is what got him to State. :)
Waiting in line at the Tacoma Dome for about 30mins. :)
Mom did a photoshoot for me inbetween Drew's matches. :) Fun!
Just before Drew's first match.
Waiting to be called onto the mat.
What a handsome man!!! We are so proud of him!
Wrestling hard!!
A dream come true to be watching Drew at the Tacoma Dome Matt Classics!!! WE LOVE YOU DREW!!!

Moved!!! :)

2010-02-23T19:02:00.006-08:00

Packing up and hitting the road. :)Ya for unpacking. lol
Wonderful helpers!! LOVE YOU MY DEAR FAMILY!!
Praying and thanking the Lord for a quick, safe, smooth move and all the help!
YA inside our new place!! ahhhh it's been a LONG time since we've been in our own place! :)
THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!!! We don't have internet at our place so as usual my updates will not be all the time, but I try at least once or twice a month. :)

Time with da Luke man. :)

2010-02-15T16:54:00.003-08:00

Had a fun evening the other night with my brother Luke... us three went out to see a 3D movie... man it's CRAZY what people can do!!! IT was great though! :)

Drew!!! :)

2010-02-10T11:21:00.006-08:00

Got to drive over to Ellensburg with mom and the kids to watch my brother Andrew wrestle for districts. Met up with some family friends and the baby Sterling below is their little girl... she's like a perfect little angel!!
Drew's first match that he won by points.

Second match, pinned the guy.

What a stud he is. :) Gotta love the different colored shoes. They actually belonged previously to a buddy of his and another buddy has the other two. :)

Third match, and second pin.

Me and Alina, supportin' our boy! :)

Crashed out between matches. awww

Just love this guy!

Man, look at those muscles!

Some of the proud supporters. :)

The move that got him his third pin in 30 seconds.

Ya Drew!!! He took third in Districts and is going to Regionals in Spokane this Friday and Saturdy... if he gets a decent placing there, he'll be headed to state! YEAH!!!

Grandma and Grandpa even made it for the whole day!!!

Jeff's mom and brother come up for the weekend! :)

2010-01-18T13:07:00.001-08:00

Enjoyed some fun days with Jeff's fam who came up to visit us! Seattle, Deception Pass and Widbey Is, ferry to Port Townsend etc. LOVE and miss you guys already!!!

Everett Community College....

2010-01-08T15:47:00.003-08:00

Jeff and I started college on the 4th and are taking 15 credits. Math, English and Psychology. It's been so fun and we're just loving it a LOT!!! It's been years since I've done school but it's going great and we are really eating up all that we're learning. :) We drive 45mins one way to our school and have school from through Thursday. Our gym is a few blocks away from our school which works out GREAT and we're enjoying that a LOT too!!! It's great to be growing in all ways. Spiritually, with our new church, mentally with our schooling, and physically with our gym! God is amazing! Thanks for all the prayers and support!!!

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Cousin Brent, Bro Andrew and friend Alina...

2010-01-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

My dad, and most of my siblings and I all took a trip over to my grandparents in Eastern Washington to have a late Christmas with them and see my uncle Mark who was also visiting them. Also got to see my cousin Brenton in Spokane which was awesome and my brother Andrew managed to get up to their house with his friend Preston and girlfriend Alina. FUN times of chatting, eating, games and haning out!
Me and Brenton

Mark, Grandma, Brenton and I out to lunch.

Alina and the kids.

Enjoying time at Grandma's house.

Andrew took his lil sisters out for an icecream. Aw

Preston, Andrew and the girls just before we all headed back home.

Time with Bethany and her fam and friends...

2009-12-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

Jeff allowed me to go over to my best freind Bethany's house for Dec 30th and spent the night with her... had a BLAST!!! I hadn't seen her for about 8 months. Bethany I LOVE you beautiful girl!!!

Spent some time with her and her cousins and aunt on New Years Eve and then said goodbye for another many months because she if off back to Canada for more schooling. :( I miss you Beffers!!!

Bethany's cousins and Aunt.

Christmas eve and Christmas day. :)

2009-12-26T15:10:00.001-08:00

This was our Christmas eve family tradition... yummy snacks, the movie The Nativity and then playing games into the evening. FUN!!! So great to have Andrew over from the East side and of course to have Nate home. MISSED Heather though.

Tree ornament. CUTE!

Playing Mad Gab together on Christmas Eve.

Watching the Nativity.

Snacks...

Breeanna and I cooking away on Christmas day.

Christmas Eve turkey dinner! YUM!!!

There's the other end of the table for Christmas Day turkey dinner.

Me and my handsome man on Christmas day.

My amazing family. :)

2009-12-24T12:54:00.004-08:00

Finally I'm able to post this pic. I've been waiting for all our friends and fam to get it in the mail first, but for anyone who hasn't gotten it in the mail, here ya go. :)

(for those of you who are wondering why Heather is in a box in the corner, well she wasn't able to be with us for this Thanksgiving or Christmas. :( She's still in Nashville, TN.)

Super Sunday last week! PTL!!!

2009-12-15T11:40:00.008-08:00

Jeff and I finally found a GREAT church (Canyon Hills Community Church, an hr drive from us in North Seattle) up here and we're thrilled to be getting some fellowship and challenges! This past Sunday was sure wonderful as I got to have a great day at church with Jeff and my two brothers, Nate and Andrew, AND my best friend Bethany. After church got to hang out all day with her which was totally wonderful for me!!!! It had been 9 months since I last saw her. In the evening we met up with Jeff and my brothers at the Kingston/Edmonds ferry and we all went to the play Schrooge. Awesome play and so fun to be with fam and friends. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Prayer requests for those of you who think of us and pray for us:

-safe travels to and from college every day (45min drive one way with good conditions)

-continued growth as we are being challenged and blessed by the sermons on Sundays

-more friends (all we have here in the area is my family... and Bethany but she lives two hrs away)

-continued work (so far God isn't giving abundance, but just the ammount we need to live! we are thankful!)

The last few weeks. :)

2009-12-01T15:52:00.007-08:00

SO MUCH to be thankful for! We were so blessed to be home for Thanksgiving and have the whole family but Heather around to celebrate and PRAISE God for all he has done and given us! Having traveled the world makes you realize how SPOILED us American people are and how MUCH we take for granted!!! Hope all of you had a joy filled Thanksgiving too!!! I wanted to post the wonderful family pic we took, but told mom I wouldn't just yet since she's sending it out for our Christmas card. :) lol

My wonderful parents!
All my handsome brothers.
Me and my faithful man! I thank God for him!!!
Sportin' a good ol huntin' cap. :) lol
Just me. :)
Us girls... Sad Heather couldn't make it from Nashville! :"(
Some AMAZING scenery the other morning when I went on my early morning walk. God's creation is AMAZING!!! I couldn't help but think of that song, INDESCRIBABLE, UNCONTAINABLE!!!

Jeff and I went to my grandparents house a bit ago for two days and helped them out around the yard with all their leaves and fall clean up. Of course it was WONDERFUL to see them and get some good visiting in since we hadn't seen them for 9 months.

Good ol' fall trimmin's. :)We raked up 6 HUGE tarps full of leaves and carried them all to the back pastures to compost.

Wow, about time I did a little update. :)

2009-11-18T10:11:00.006-08:00

So for any of you out there who are still trying to keep track of us and our crazy lives... here's a little update. :)

Jeff and I are living at my parent's property in a little apartment and both working doing construction and photography, spending lots of time with our families and getting ready for school. This past weeks we took our compass tests and registered in our college and will be going though quite a few years of nursing school until we both get our RN degrees. So as far as I know, we'll be in the Seattle area for quite a while and look forward to seeing how God can use us here in the US! I'm sure there will be many opportunities to minister and love people at our school, through our work and always our families are a huge opportunity! :)

We sure do appreciate all the prayers and support while we were on our 7 month, world wide trip! God was gracious and spared us from any kind of sickness, robbery, damage, or loss of anything along our whole trip! We are so thankful for that and KNOW that He was protecting us and guiding us! A buddy of our that did some of the trip with us and then continued on doing his own thing much the same way we did and the same amount of time and places, BUT he's a non believer and we realized by watching his life and trip along with ours that God REALLY was protecting us!! Our friend was HORRIBLY sick a LOT of the time, had a lot of his stuff stolen or lost, got ripped off and left to die basically in a LOT of instances, so we feel SO humbled and know that all your prayers were heard and used greatly in our lives! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We WERE in a lot of precarious situations but in all of those times, we were protected from what could have happened and we PRAISE God for that!!!

Here's a little list of just a few of the instances in which we could have gotten in really big trouble:

-When we smuggled Bibles into China
-Bus drivers falling asleep
-Our room getting broken into while we were sleeping
-Eating food etc that we KNEW was horribly contaminated (we just asked God to sanctify the food :) )

And the list could just keep going on. Anyways, hope you realize that prayer really does work and we serve an AMAZING God!

So for now, I'll close off on that note. But check in every so often to see if there's anything out of the ordinary, or exciting to hear about our lives. :) BLESSINGS to you and thanks for reading!

P.S. If any of you want specific things to pray for, here you go. :)

-sharp minds so we can learn the maximum in our nursing schooling
-that we would continue to get work to pay for our school and living
-that we can be bold about our faith and love everyone we're around
-that our marriage will only grow stronger with this new added stress of "Nursing School"
-we also are looking for a good church and fellowship

Some of the kids new school pics....

2009-10-28T17:04:00.002-07:00

Trip to Tacoma, Kitsap Pininsula and Seattle Ferry! :)

2009-10-26T12:20:00.006-07:00

Fall colors, and what I've been up to. :)

2009-10-26T12:12:00.005-07:00

The youngest four...

2009-10-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

The other day we had a pretty decent day weather wise, so I took advantage of it! Mom needed some updated shots of these guys... I THINK I HAVE THE CUTEST SIBLINGS EVER! hehe

HOME!!!!

2009-10-15T15:23:00.006-07:00

A FULL day in London.: )

2009-10-15T14:33:00.013-07:00

We stayed in Russel Square, at a hostel, in a dorm room with 15 other people, and in triple high bunks. :) WONDERFUL experience for sure! HAHAHA
Walking down town.
YEAH for autumn!
SO fun to see prancing horses at Hyde Park!
Just me! :)

My handsome man!
Pretty working lady near the embassy.
USA flag has got to be one of the pretiest flags! This was while we were waiting for my beautiful cousin Staci, her hubby and their two precious kids to get done with their stuff there so we could see them... it had been a couple years since I had seen them! :)
Bored sitting outside the embassy waiting, so started taking random pics. :)
They really are all weaponed up there at the embassy!
YEAH!!!! Finally they were finished and we were all starving so they treated us out to a traditional dinner at a pub with YUMMY fish and chips!!!! THANKS guys!!
They they treated us to a boat cruise down the Thames river to see all the fun monuments etc!
Hudson, what a doll!

And how precious is Miriam!!! AWWWWWWWWW
YEAH for hard work making bubbles!
The wonderful couple!!! You two are great!
And the kids.
Looking at Bukinham Palace.
The gate in.
The guard.
Walking toward the Thames... pretty goose!
First sight of the LONDON EYE.

Big Ben.

Gotta love the underground! It's GENIUS for sure!
The Eye.

London Bridge.
My man by the bridge.
Fancy cars all over!
LOVE the old Tudor look!
St Paul's Cathedral.
The famous phone booth pose. :)
St Paul's Cathedral.

Back to the hostel after a long day full of walking and fun! THANKS again Staci and Christoph for making it such a wonderful day!

Up at 5am and on the underground to Heathrow and off to the USA!!!

Had a few hour layover in Chicago, and finally landed in Seattle at 12am...where my precious mom and dad and brother Luke were waiting with open arms and sequels of joy!:) Ahhhhh SO wonderful to be home after 6 crazy months.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-04T16:45:00.002-07:00

We had an AMAZING two days in London and we're now HOME with my family in Washington, enjoying a BEAUTIFUL sunny day filled with so much love and excitement! Feeling SOOOO blessed to be home after 6 AMAZING months of God providing and keeping us safe as we travel all over the world! Such amazing opportunities and experiences!!! THANKS for all your prayers, love and support! I'll be updating pictures of London and home soon!

What an amazing day!!!!!

2009-09-28T08:56:00.011-07:00

Mt, Nebo... what a sweet view. This place was totally amazing and it was so fun to be up there! My Grandpa has always talked of Mt Nebo since as far back as I can remember and now I actually got to be up on it! :)

Beautiful view from the top of Mt Nebo looking out onto the Jordan Valley.

Some ruins on top of Mt Nebo.
The place where Moses put the snake on the stick and those who wanted to live had to look upon the snake.

Leaving Mt Nebo for Bethany and the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized.

Greek Orthodox Church near the Jordan River.

Jeff and I at Jesus' baptism spot! AMAZING!

The supposed baptism area as archeologists have estimated.

Me wading in the Jordan river at the spot where Jesus was baptized! AMAZING!

Parched earth is so common here! I guess the Jordan River has shrunk by TONS of feet.

Jeff and Andrew rescuing an elderly lady who was drowning! It was crazy! I saw three ppl getting rescued in the hour we were there! I guess if you're not a good swimmer and not too strong if you get flipped over face down, you can easily drown because it's hard to flip back over on your back and then people start freaking out and thrashing around and get the salt water in their eyes, nose and mouth and then it's over!

Fresh water pool and the Dead Sea and Israel in the background.

Jericho and Israel in the horizon!

The Dead Sea.

Jeff and our New Zealand friend Andrew, floating away in the Dead Sea.

Salt all over in the sand!

The guys reading the daily news while floating away! haha it's SO amazing how boyant the water is! You can just stand straight up and not move or sink at all! It's WILD!

Me just floating away... but I had just gotten a drop of the water in my eyes and was just about to start going crazy because it BURNS and makes you blind for a few minutes.

We all got covered in the mud too! It was amazing and our skin felt SO smooth after we washed it off!

Amman, Wadi Musa and Petra, JORDAN!!!

2009-09-27T04:56:00.006-07:00

BEAUTIFUL sunrise through the plane window as we were flying to Amman.
Amman from the air.

Royal Jordanian is a great company and it was a good flight.

View from our hostel room in Amman.

Waiting in Amman Bus station to head off to Wadi Musa/Petra.

This is details on our bus driver who ended up falling asleep while driving and swerving into the other traffic and just about hitting head but we woke him just in time!! I was SO wanting to get off that bus right then and there, but managed the 20 minutes more to our hostel. :) THANKS FOR PRAYERS!!!

A lady at our hostel... such mysterious eyes!

Sunset from our hostel room in Wadi Musa setting behind Petra.

Our first day there in Wadi Musa we were walking the streets in the evening and almost got run over by 20 cars all with their horns held down and everyone yelling... realized it was a wedding and ended up being asked to come in and celebrate with them and see. WOW it was VERY interesting... no pictures we allowed but managed to click this REALLY BAD quality pic without flash of the bride totally covered from head to toe and her groom sitting by her. It was really an interesting wedding for sure and nothing was common to a western wedding except that the bride wore white. :) lol

Wadi Musa at night. BEAUTIFUL!

Finally up early and walking to Petra with our Israeli friends.

Our first glimpse! :)

The Treasury, this is where some of Indiana Jones was filmed.

Our neat Israeli friends, Eithan and Tamar.

The camels were totally COVERED in flies! YUCK!

Everyone is so busy. :)

This was a huge vase filled with ALL NATURAL Petra sand! The natural colors and amazing creativity was AWESOME and you DEFINITELY paid for it... this vase went for $3000.00 USD!

YEAH for camels.

TOTALLY amazing!

Cute little girl selling postcards in Petra.

A ceiling of one of the tombs... no paint, just all natural sands and rocks! AMAZING!

This pretty plant is sure hardy to be able to live up in the solid rock and sand of Petra with hardly any rain!

My man acting like Samson! :P hehe

Tourists in the Petra Valley.

YEAH! I finally got to ride a camel and no better place than to ride it in Petra!

Back in Mumbai for a week this time.

2009-09-21T01:55:00.005-07:00

WOW so talk about a crazy beginning... we met up with one of our friends/photography clients from Goa when we got here in Mumbai on Thursday the 17th... he had organized a hotel for us, but when we got there the hotel owners said that they couldn't take foreigners, so we had to look for some thing else. Our friend Vinay talked to some of his other business friends and one of them had an office with a/c and a bathroom/shower and it was a really good price so we decided to rent it instead of a hotel to save money. Hum, maybe wasn't the best idea seeing as it got broken too in the middle of the night when we were sleeping. Sigh, it freaked us out, but Jeff was brave and ran to the door as the person was coming in and scared them off... but we couldn't lock the back door from inside and so we tied a rope to it and the bathroom door and put an empty water bottle ballanced on it so if anyone tried to open the door again we'd hear the bottle hit the floor... but even though we did that we didn't end up sleeping much and when we finally did, the bottle hit the floor and we jumped to our feet... chills... anyways we ended up packing up and getting out of there and got a safe hotel room! PHEW! What a first day in Mumbai! :)

We worked for three days at the Nerhu Expo Center here in Mumbai for our friend Vinay and his organization Richmonde (Constructors of tropical Villas). We did sales for them at this huge extate expo. It was awesome of the Lord to provide us some financial income through that! He always provides when we need! :)

We have a couple of days left here and will just be doing some sightseeing around our hotel area and then be flying out EARLY on the 24th for JORDAN. Thanks for prayers and support!

This is Jeff and I in a scorching taxi on our way to our first day of work at the expo.
Driving to work in Mumbai.

At work, fun fun! :)

Jeff working.

The outside of the expo center... 14 stories hight... pretty I think!

The first night of work some of the people from our team took us out to the Gateway of India... fun

And then to enjoy a YUMMY meal of amazing kebabs from the hood of their car in the crowded streets. :)

Last day of work and the whole crew but Vinay.

This guy treated us out to everything and made us feel like royalty! Pankaj, what a great guy!

Funnies people ever! We has so much fun with them!

Last few days in Manali...

2009-09-21T00:58:00.006-07:00

Yeah for rickshaws! What would India be without them! :)
Talk about a woman with a lot of strories and wisdome I'm sure!

Shopping bizzares in Manali.

Paraglider next to Uthang Pass up in the mountains near Manali! Would be an AMAZING view from up there!

Jeffery boarding a rickshaw.:)

Little slum girl sitting with her sibling in the sunshine in the early morning trying to keep warm.

Henna is a temporary tatoo that is most commonly applied during celebrations and weddings.

This is a regular occurance at the railroad platforms! Crazy huh?!

Can I just say, I'm not sure of the exact percentage, but this habit COVERS the majority of Indians. It's CRAZY! I haven't seen so many people smoking in my life.

They always have the most mysterious and beautiful eyes!

Getting watching from a stopped train as we were waiting for our train to arrive. :)

Another sunny day outting with friends...

2009-09-11T01:50:00.004-07:00

A 5hr climb up the mountain today. :)

2009-09-06T08:01:00.004-07:00

More random stuff in Manali...

2009-09-04T21:38:00.002-07:00

There were HUNDREDS of sheep that were herded through the streets last night... managed to get myself backed up against a wall and couldn't go anywhere till they all went through. lol
My strong man and I trompin through the forest... (Nicola too this pic for me)

Jeff and I and our UK frieind Nicola, walkin' through the woods to New Manali! :)
We've had some pretty major storms here in Manali, and here's a shot I took at 4am the other morning when I woke to the horrendously LOUD clap of thunder. :)

Yeah for a few hours of sunshine today in Manali! )

2009-09-02T06:20:00.006-07:00

TYPICAL to see animals eating through the trash along the road sides, but the first I've seen a donkey eating the trash too. :)
Women here have such LONG hair!!!
Beautiful waterfalls all over these parts!
New Manali shopping.
A couple kids came up to me begging for food and I didn't have any money or anything on me but my camera because Jeff had everything and was off shopping... so they asked me to take a pic lol :) CUTE
I LOVE the way they have their building and towns situated here... so unique looking!
View today from our hostel window.
Pani Puri... YUM!!
There's a LOT of Budist monks around here... it's a pretty peaceful place!
YEAH for the every day must of Indian Chai!
Another view from our hostel balcony.
So many tourist and backpackers here.:)
I think most every person here in India smokes.

YEAH!!!!!!!! We finally got to see the snow peaks around here because the clouds lifted for a few hours! WHOOPPEE!!!

Rainy in Manali the past few days, but still BEAUTIFUL!!!

2009-09-01T05:34:00.003-07:00

SO because of the rain, I haven't been able to get as many pictures of the place as I wish, so maybe in the next couple days if it get's clear I'll be able to get some fun ones...

Anyways, this guy below is a cobra snake charmer. YIKES!
Me in an internet cafe with the cutest little dog ever! AWWWWWWWWWWWW
Raining, but an idea of what we walk through to our hostel every day. :)
OH man, I'm not so charmed... lol
The river that runs below our hostel. BEAUTIFUL!
My amazing man!

Taking a rainy walk through the woods. :) SO fun!

Waiting for some sunny days and then hope to get out and see more of what's around here.

We HAVE had some amazing ministry opportunities here though and been able to share His love and Word with quite a few people even in these few short day! AWESOME!!! THANKS for prayers!!!

The day we left....

2009-08-30T01:41:00.004-07:00

Gave this cute little kid my popcorn and he gobbled it down so fast!!!

Jeff, Nicola and I waiting at the bus station in Shimla waiting to head to Manali.

Last views of Shimla....

2009-08-29T03:21:00.009-07:00

Off to the North...cool mountain air at last!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-22T05:44:00.005-07:00

So Jeff and I said a sad goodbye to Max at 4:45 as we left for the train station... us heading to the North and Max to the South. It was SO awesome getting to see him again! Anyways, so we got our train at 6 to Delhi which took about 4 hours... from there we took a rickshaw to a major bus stand where we booked out bus ticket to Shimla in the Himalayan mountains, a 8hr bus ride. The bus station was the dirtiest and most disgusting place I've had to wait at, but seeing as we had about 12hrs to kill there, we went a head and rolled out our mats and made a day of reading and chilling in the station. :) lol Needless to say it was a LONG and pretty boring day as we laid there sweating our bums off, breathing the horrible smells of raw sewage and swatting away the flies, but we won't complain. :) At 9pm our bus rolled around and we headed off for our 8hr journey into the mountains...sleep came off and on as we wound through the narrow mountain passes and finally arrived at the most beautiful, cool, clean village/city of Shimla by 5am just as the sun was starting to splash brilliant colors all over the mountain ridge skyline. WOW what a fantastic sight and the air was so crisp and clean! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more sweating our bums off and breathing smog and dust! We walked about a mile up the steep and winding stairs and alleyways to the famous "Christ Church" which was our land mark to get to our hostel. :) We arrived and got a bite to eat for breakfast and then took some much needed and longed for hot showers! :) We are thoroughly enjoying this British influenced, Tudor style, Indian village and plan on staying here a few more days before we head off to another beautiful mountain village called Manali where we hope to do some trekking and camping in the Himalayas. :) THANKS SO MUCH as always for prayers, support and love! We always enjoy hearing from each and every one of you, even if we're not able to reply!!!! Keep checking in for our new journeys and travels.