STOCKINGS!

So this past weekend I went to Santa Cruz again! It was fabulous as always, hanging out with good friends. Baby "McDreamy" aka baby Noah needed to have his picture taken in his stocking, after all it is his first Christmas. So This is a picture of baby Noah and Auntie Mel hanging out on a Saturday morning in our PJ's!

Today was 39 Forever... I know I know, its like they just keep happening... well they do, once a month, it creeps up on me everytime. One of these times I think I am going to dress like a chicken with its head cut off because well... thats how I feel the Tuesday before and the day of, but its worth it, and they are just very sweet people. Corinne and I dressed as Christmas stockings today. Grace and I came up with this yesterday at 2PM.... thank goodness for creative minds and staplers!!

I should add a hilarious side note to this. So under the stocking I have on black tights and black gouchos. Now gouchos are loose fitting pants. These pants with the tights combined apparentlty don't work well together. So I am behind the table serving and then was walking towards a group of people and I felt shall we say a breeze. I looked down and my pants had totally fallen off!!!! Ok now Thank goodness for the large stocking covering me but I had to waddle behind our secretary's daughter and we proceeding to die of laughter while I non chalantly grabbed the gouchos and ran. The lesson learned here, is never wear gouchos with tights ladies... got it?

Drake!

Hey guys! My friend Marc gave me his dog. Long story but it boils down to being careful when playing football on Thanksgiving or your Knee may get badly injured....

Anyway I wanted to share some pictures. His name is Drake. He is a full Bred American Bulldog. He is super sweet and big!! He is 15 1/2 months old and about 60ish pounds. He can get up to about 120!! WHOA!

So here are a few pictures of him! :)

I don't know...

I don't really know what to write about right now, but I am thinking it is due time for an update. My house is all decorated for Christmas. Thanks to my roommies boyfriend who put all of our Christmas lights up (guys are good for something huh ;) ) We went and cut down a humungo tree and by humungo I mean 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Just kidding about the wide part, that would be a box not a tree but it is large and in charge and it looks awesome in our house. Heather and I both put our ornaments on it. I love that I have my ornaments from when I was younger. I usually wait until the 16th to put decorations on the tree. The 16th is my oldest brothers birthday and my family and I made it a tradition to decorate the tree on his birthday and eat pizza hut pizza. I think this year I will hang an ornament in memory of him still on the 16th and still eat the pizza... we just won't tell the trainer!

Speaking of the trainer. Let's talk about that for a second if you don't mind. So the wedding I am in is in like 22 days. It's totally crunch time right. So Morris wants me to come in 2 times a day. A day in my life is now spent like this:

4ishAM alarm goes off
4:30/5:00 finally hear it
4:50-5:15AM get to the gym
have a work out
6:30AM go back to sleep for a while
7:30-8:30ish Wake up again
Get ready for work
Go to work
Work til about 5 or 6 or so (on non hectic days)
Eat Dinner
7:30 or 8:30ish lay down and take a nap or try to
9:30 wake up and get ready for the gym
10:00 go to the gym and get rear kicked by morris
11:00PMish get home
Drink a nasty protein shake
Go to bed
4:00AM alarm clock goes off again

Now add in there things like meetings, teach confirmation, Wednesday night church, Church functions and oh friends and this gets hairy and I get unfriendly with the trainer...

... I better be one stinking hot bridesmaid!!

Visiting good friends in Warrensburg, MO.

How many Brian's does it take to open a wine bottle?
Mel and G

Brian and Jennifer

Mel and Jennifer friends for almost 20 years!

Who needs a corkscrew when you have power tools?

Mom and dad had a huge open house for Brandon and Carole and I to see people... I think there were over 50 people there!

Me and my Godchildren, Luke and Jessie
Friends! Matt was my oldest brother Brian's Best friend!

Another picture dad?

Happy Family!!

"The Kids" before the wedding

Brandon, Carole, John and Mel

John looks so excited about this doesn't he?

Three Generations! Gma Wischmeyer, Momma, Mel

la la la update

Well hello again my dear friends So much has gone on since I last wrote. First, The CARDINALS won the WORLD SERIES!! Second, I went to St. Louis the first week in November! It was so wonderful to be back in the Lou. My "Other brother" John married Pam on November 4th. John is Brandon's best friend so Brandon and Carole were in town too! I hung out with a lot of family and friends which was excellent. I even did a children's sermon at church on Sunday and found out I was the first female to give a children's message there, that kind of amused me. On Monday and Tuesday while I was in MO 4 of us friends (Jennifer and Brian and G and I) met up in Warrensburg, MO.

It's been non-stop since I got back. I've had confirmation and sunday school and a youth gathering and youth group and Christmas planning and the gym and hanging out with friends and going to Santa Cruz and so much more. Yesterday was the first day I had since I got back to just chill out for a little while. I made all my lunches and dinners for the week, mmmm.

At the gym I am boxing now. It's really quite akward if you ask me. i am finally getting a lot better at the speed bag and Morris can get me nice and mad and I can do a decent job at the punching bag... it hurts though... but thats ok... the pain and smelly boxing gloves will pay off with out a doubt! :)

So I am just going to put a ton of pictures up and that will explain whats been happening I think. I promise to get you a much more creative blog sometime in the near future.

corn maze and mustache party... don't we know how to have fun?

WORLD SERIES HERE WE COME!!!!!

I just wanted to say YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The CARDS! are going to the world series! How exciting! I tried to get tickets today for mom and dad to go but they went really fast! I decorated our Director of Discipleships door with all kinds of red and signs and stuff to rub it in because he is a big met's fan! I love St. Louis... I love the Cardinals! This is a great day!

Here's a picture of me dressed up as fredbird! :)

body building?

Ok so I was at the gym the other night... which if you haven't learned this by now... from now until decemeber my life is very split between work and the gym with very little time at home.... I know its going to pay off... it better... :) Anyway. I thought I would be seeing a few more results than I have been by now, but my trainer insists that he sees them and was very encouraging.

So I got a little laugh out of the whole thing the other night though. When I work with my trainer... I work real hard... like its a real good and painful workout (as it should be right). Anyway we were up at the desk after I trained that night and he was complimenting my dedication and motivation to make drastic changes in my body and life. So we talked a bit... and he said that once I get to a certain point, that I have the motivation and dedication it takes to be an amature body builder. I laughed pretty hard at first... until I realized that he wasn't joking. He said not to worry about it right now, but its something that I may want to think about for the future and if that is something I wanted to do he would train me for free and go with me to these competitions....

Who knows what the future will hold with anything. I guess what I do have to say I got out of it... is it feels really good to know someone believes in you. It all got me thinking... My dream would be to be a motivational speaker someday... I don't know exactly what I would use to motivate... but this whole training thing has me thinking that I may be able to use it... maybe the speaking thing won't ever happen beyond with my junior highers and children's messages.... maybe it will....


My relationship with Christ could be so much stronger right now, but I also know that I am seeing Christ work even through the littlest things and teaching me so much. Whether from conversations I have from people, experiences like working out and wakeboarding, or just seeing other people living out their faith. I think we all ought to take some time out to really figure out who we are... who's we are.... and believe in ourselves as the Child of God that we were made to be. God believes in us...He made us and has a plan for us...

I believe in you. I just want to encourage you to reach for your dreams and goals and to not be discouraged with set backs and getting a little lost on the trail. Your "trainer" is with you the whole time and is protecting you and guiding you through life changing processes. There are times that I am scared at the gym. Scared that my body is going to give out or that I won't be able to go on. Scared that I am going to look at a pansy when I can only life 15 pounds on something and then some dude gets on the machine and puts 90-180 pounds on it... As Morris (that's my trainers name) says... "Come on Champ... you can do it..." Sometimes he has to help me lift a weight. Sometimes I have to get off the machine so he can show me the proper posture for it. Sometimes I can only get 8 instead of 10 reps. There is one night at the gym that really sticks out. My friend Katy and I and Morris were the only ones in the gym... and it was a very painful night... i wasn't afraid to let it all out.... I had just done a fair share of cardio and was hurting, I had been wake boarding that day and my legs were shot. He put me straight onto the squat machine. I thought I was going to cry. It hurt so bad and my legs were shaking after the first couple squats. I kept yelling at him that I was going to fall... he kept saying back go lower... go lower... I continued to yell I can't I am going to fall. Then he reminded me that he was right next to me, he was holding onto the machine and he wouldn't let me fall.... I have confidence that if I started to go down he would catch me... he would encourage me and help me and teach me something from it. God does the same for us. he is our trainer... he is our guidance, he is our encourage... he picks us up or catches us when we fall... we learn, he continues to love and support.... beyond the the squat machine I had like 8 other leg machines that I had to do at least 2 times each. It hurt, it was work... my legs were gone for the next 5 days! But I am stronger now.

Just some thoughts I had... hope it makes sense... I have gotten a lot stronger and I am already lifting more on the machines... though I am not a fan of the squats I can get through it... he still watches me on the machine but he doesn't have to hold it anymore... well maybe the 3rd set of 12 he does.... but we grow stronger through the encouragement and support of others... especially God... Are you willing to let Him train you?

Have a great day!

What? Don't all DCE's walk on water?

or maybe I am loosing the faith here... hmmm.... tough call.

I love the Wagner's!

So this weekend I went to Felton, CA aka Santa Cruz Mountains! I love going there! I went to help some friends out with the added bonus of getting to hang out with them for a couple of days. Mindi and Tyler had a wedding to go to so I watched their 4 year old twin boys all day and evening Saturday. The boys and I had a blast. We went to Burger King, the park, got ninja turtle popsicles, went through the car wash (their favorite part of the day), went for a hike, baked cookies and of course wrastled! The smiles, laughter, imagination, innocence, and creativity of a 4 year old puts me in awe.

On Sunday we took it slow. Mindi and I took the 3 boys (they also have a 3 month old) to the train park. We did a lot of walking, had a picnic and just enjoyed the beautiful day.

Monday Mindi donated her hair to locks of love. Her hair is so cute and a little sassy right now. I love it. We played around at camp and went swimming. Mindi and Tyler and I had a few races, I think we each successfully won at least one of them. Meanwhile the boys tried to dunk us and we had fun listening to them laugh as we through them up in the air and into the water.

I just love hanging out with them and just going with the flow of life. I have some pictures of the twins, Mindi and I forgot to exchange pictures... she has a lot more I will post later.

wakeboarding

So I have gone wakeboarding the last two Sunday's. I will have pictures.... even video footage soon, so hold on tight.

I really enjoy wakeboarding, I don't know why. I think it is the thrill of doing something I didn't think I could do. Maybe it's the idea of the water, or just the amount of fun it is. What is so cool, is once you get up on the wakeboard, you can constantly improve what you do. I had only been about 3 times and decided I needed to start jumping. Some people would do this right away, however I am a gradual kind of girl. Once I started jumping I could improve what I was doing, or try to jump higher.

All in all I think wakeboarding has put some sort of a confidence in me, it has made me feel even more alive (especially when I crash and burn and get a Delta Wedgie or drink half the delta). Last night my friend Kathy and I went from their ski boat to an actual wakeboarding boat. Looking back its kinda like life back there. I was feeling pretty comfy behind their boat with Kathy's husband Nate driving and not too intimidated because they have seen my improvements. Next thing I know I am on this heavy duty awesome boat with 3 people who were attempting flips!!! I was being pulled faster than I had ever gone... like at 20mph and I didn't know the guy....i watched him pull others, but I didn't know him from Adam. The wake on this boat is much higher than what I am used to. So I am going from this amazing smooth water outside the wake, that is so fun to ride on to cutting straight in to this huge wake and not knowing if I am going to go flying and land it or have a WIPE OUT moment.

Do you ever feel like that in life. I know I do. I like the smooth easy going and the wake, the high stuff, the unknown, looks questionable. You don't know if you really want to go through it or not. So many times, once you do you realize a few things. First you realize that once you did it, it wouldn't be as hard the next time, or that actually it was kind of fun, or you may realize that if you fall, the boat will come back and pick you up, just like Christ is continually picking us up, or the friends that we have, our family.

I love wakeboarding. I don't know if I will ever be awesome at it, but I know I will always have fun with it. I will be challenged in some way every time I am behind that boat, I will get over some kind of fear each time I get up, and I will laugh, scream, or have a look of "OH NO" on my face and every part of it will be worth it!!

Ready for an update?

So it's been a while. Here is an update. Where to begin though.....

1. St. Peter has a new senior pastor now! YEA! Pastor John Kah accepted the call to St. Peter and will arrive in October. We are all way ready for this!

2. Sleep, eat, work, gym, sleep, eat work gym.... thats kinda been my life. I have really been wanting to see results so I hired a personal trainer. He is kicking my rear and I am so tired all the time but it will balance out eventually and it will all be very well worth it!

3. Ice Cream Man. So ok, shortly after I moved out here there was this whole terrorist issue here in Lodi. The man was released this weekend and came back to Lodi. I do believe he is selling ice cream again. So now on the news tonight we are being told that two Lodi men are not allowed back into the country because of their alleged involvement in a terrorist camp. They are related to the ice cream man. Now these men are mad and they won't talk to the FBI unless they have a lawyer. I am thinking making people mad who are possibly involved with a terrorist camp is not a good thing. Maybe I should start buying ice cream. Why can't we all just get along..... at least tolerate each other?

4. I'm sick. Not like really really sick but sick enough to be irritated and not get a good nights sleep sick. Isn't that annoying? I've got a sore throat, sinus, blah thing going on. It's really fantastic! Morris, my trainer, didn't make me do weights tonight just cardio so that my body recovers.

5. I'M GOING TO THE AMERICAN IDOL concert tomorrow night!!!!!!!! A dear family at the church got a bunch of tickets to the concert and Katy and Grace and I are all going to the concert! Fun huh? Well I know some of you will make fun of it, but I can handle it, I think its cool!

6. I am going to the last game of the season for the Sacramento RiverCats on Thursday! I'm pretty stinking excited about this as well!

7. I am tired and coughing and going to bed... Good night!

happy one year anniversary

So it's official.... I have been at St. Peter as a "Called DCE" for exactly 1 year today! So much has happened in the past year both ups and downs. I can see so much growth in myself in the past year. I don't really have the foundest memories of my installation service... honestly it just made me and my family upset and many others but I do remember that night. I was given tickets to go to a Rivercats game (which by now we all know is not an unusual thing in my life) and my mom and dad and I along with Grace and her mom and sister all went to the game. We had some awesome seats and had fun hanging out. After the game there was a Lincoln Brewster Concert.

That concert felt more like an installation than the service did. There was one song that played that Grace and I just looked at each other, hugged each other and put our arms around each other and re-installed each other. It has become a theme for ministry and how we should be living our lives! I would like to the song with you today.

LOVE THE LORD
Love the Lord your God

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength (2x)

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength

Love the Lord your God

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength

I will serve the Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength (2x)

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

I will serve the Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

I will love You

I will praise You

I will serve You, Lord

I will trust You, Lord

And with all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

With all my strength

I will love You Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

God bless your day, your ministry whether in a church, an office, a camp, a home...wherever... and may you Love the Lord with your all!

Santa Cruz, Friends and a Baptism

Hello! On Friday I headed to Santa Cruz to go to Noah Ryan's baptism. He is the son of my friends Mindi and Tyler! I was able to get to SC a little early which was awesome. I headed to the pier and to the boardwalk. I just walked around, people watched, got my toes in the nice warm sand, and of course went to a couple (acutally 3) surf shops so I could get a new pair of Reefs....

The whole time there was just a little interesting to me. I was enjoying being out of my element and being around absolutely no one that knew me. I love the water and I was loving just watching the water. On one side of the pier were kids in "lifeguard school" paddling surf boards from the beach to the booey and back. On the other side the rides from the boardwalk were going, you could hear people screaming and laughing and having an awesome time. I looked out into the water and saw huge sail boats and people kayaking. The sidewalks were filled with tourists and townies, families, couples, and people walking dogs. The sidewalks made me a little sad out by the main street. Every single bench had a homeless person on it and they were singing or doing magic tricks or simply just sitting there asking for money. Some of them I felt sorry for, one got in my face a little and for all of them as I walked by I just wondered... how did their life get to be the way it is, what has their life been like and why couldn't they help that? Did something happen to them, what was their family like, are they pretending like some people do?

I got to SC and had an amazing time. Noah was baptized at Mt. Cross were Mindi and Tyler work and where they live as a family. The baptism was moving. I get goose bumps just thinking about. There is a creek in the back of camp. The baptismal crew was all down in the creek and we were up on a bridge and the landing area above the creek. They did this awesome thing where the baby was handing off to the Godparents from the Mom and dad showing that they are entrusting spiritual care to them. Then they crouched down over the water and the pastor baptized Noah with the flowing water. I think it is such an amazing symbolism on how Christ is our living water, it doesn't stop. It was so powerful to witness.

After the baptism a group of us went to a brewery for dinner, then we headed back to the Wagner's for a good time on the back porch. It was just so fun to be away, to be enjoying time with old friends and new and to just enjoy life through and through... sometimes I think we get to serious and we don't stop enough to just enjoy life, to just take it all in. Try it more often.

I took a couple of pictures.... they aren't the greatest but if you look close enough you can figure it out.

Take some time to enjoy your friends and family, to remember who Christ has made you to be, to thank God for paving a path for your life and to just soak up what is around you.

Baptismal Birthday!

Hello in bloggerland!
So I am sitting here writing my lesson plan for confirmation tomorrow night and I remembered that it is my baptismal birthday. WOW. I think we so easily forget about this very special day! Twenty-four years ago this morning my parents did something very special, they brought me in front of the congregation and in front of God and spoke for me in the faith. They along with my Godparents Cathy and Wayne promised to help raise me in the faith and teach me about Christ.

I just want to thank mom and dad and Cathy and Wayne and my Grandma's and brother for loving me and for all the people at our church back home that said they would help with that.

I have had the privledge since to be the Godmother to two amazing children, Jessie and Luke. What a special job God gives us as other Christians to help teach, disciple, mentor and guide other Christians and visa versa.

May you take some time to remember your baptism today, whether its when you wash your hands, take a shower or just see water, remember how you have been washed clean and the eternal life you have with the Father!

Above is a picture of me and my Goddaughter Jessie and then My Godson Luke.

the view from where I was house sitting

 

the year o'24!

 

a few more things

Smokey chilling while his dad fills the truck up with gas











Scout and Moose... Moose is the dog, Smokey's new friend
Brandon and Carole's New Deck!
















The View from Brandon and Carole's Place!  

Brother and sister bonding time...

I didn't just crash I actually boarded! Below is Brandon boarding and then helping me with some life jacket/board "issues"...
 

jumping in to swim the boat in