And a Happy New Year!

This new Year's Eve, Matt and I went to work in the Admissions Office like any other day. Then, we came home at 3:30 and took a nap. Haha. :) We were trying to prepare (although I feel it was a hopeless effort) for the Calvary teen All-Nighter!!
So, we will welcome in the new year playing laser tag and trampoline dodgeball!
We've been so blessed by God throughout the year (as in all other years before)-- and we are never as thankful as we should be. Tomorrow afternoon (after we've awoken from our recovery sleep), we are going to go through our "Blessings Jar" that we started last year around this time.

In recent news, we found a kitty. Or rather, he found us. We had just gotten back home from our Thanksgiving trip to Pennsylvania to see the family. I was unpacking in our room, and Matt was reading for one of his classes. I heard a strange noise and naturally, I assumed it was my stomach. Haha :) Then I heard a noise again, and Matt said, "Wow- Did you hear my stomach?" Then, we heard it again, but this time it was a definite "meow!" It sounded like it was coming from the corner of our bedroom. How did a cat get in our room?

Well, it so happened that a little kitten was stuck under our house. He had gotten in through a hole and somehow managed to get under the old stairs in our basement. It took 2 days to get him to come out, through much coaxing, prodding, and turkey (it was the only food we had in our house!). Thus, we named him Turkey.

He has assimilated nicely into our family. Lanta and he are even friends. :) Happy New Year's Eve!

7 Months Later...

Wow. I was afraid to see when my last post was. May?!? Gulp. After 7 months of non-activity on the blog, you probably think there was a lack of adventure with Matt and me! But alas, that is not the case! Just a bit of writing failure on my part.
As I finally sit down to write this, the kitchen is sparkling, the dishes are washed and put away, the living room vacuumed, and the dog napping in the corner. Sounds like a typical evening at home, right? Haha. :)
Matt and I have been so busy these past few months. School has started back up for Matt, I started a new job in the Admissions Office at Maranatha as Administrative Assistant, college volleyball is in full swing, and Matt is in the last week of rehearsals for the production, Hamlet.

Matt plays King Claudius and the Ghost!!

My nameplate and pumpkin!

After a few weeks, volleyball will be done (going to Nationals next week!!), and so will Hamlet (production is next week!), so Matt and I will have a little bit more time to work on blogging and homework. :)

At the Moody Tournament

First day of school!

This summer was eventful with both family vacations, watching some friends' farm, helping with camp, and working a lot. We continue to learn more about our God and His grace. Near the end of the summer, we were shocked and grieved to hear the news that our friends from college, Chad and Courtney Phelps, had died in a bus accident and left their little toddler, Chase, behind. My immediate thoughts were, "Why?" and "Poor Chase" and "poor teens affected by the accident" and so on. I cried for days, just thinking of the families left behind, how the bus driver must have felt, and the way that Chad and Courtney were taken out of this world, but then God kept bringing to my mind a verse.

Jeremiah 29:11-- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

When I thought of that verse, and the fact that I knew that Chad and Courtney were in heaven with Jesus, I couldn't think quite the same way. God always has a reason and He always is good. Why would we think that someone is "poor" because God has a different plan for them than we think He should? Yes, it is still hard to believe, and yes we were grieved-- especially for the families left behind; but we have the hope that there is more to life than this earth. Already we have heard of people coming to Christ because of the testimonies of Chad and Courtney and their families. And I know that Chad and Courtney would say that if one person came to Christ because of their deaths, then it was worth it.

That is one thing I learned this summer-- it brought my focus back to where it needed to be.

So, although there wasn't any blogging going on, there were definitely adventures God has brought our way. Hopefully I can keep you more up to date of what's going on in our lives... but I can't promise that will happen! :)

Truly a George Adventure-- The Outer Banks

This past week, Matt and I had the opportunity to join his family on their very first family vacation! That's right. The whole George family had never been on a vacation all together. Since Dad George is a farmer, it obviously is difficult to get away. Whether it is planting season, harvesting season, or feeding-the-cows season (every day of the year), there was never a chance for everyone to all go somewhere on a vacation.
So this trip was monumental. And I believe it may become a tradition! :)

We began our trip at 10 pm (not something that I would willingly do again, mind you). The plan was that the children (ages 7 weeks, 8 months, 3 years [in a few weeks] and 5 years) would sleep happily in the car the whole night through, without constant crying or having to stop for 27 potty breaks on the way there.
Well, that plan went mostly smooth. However, I felt like I was going to be the one to start crying because of the bar that I was sitting on in the backseat... it proved difficult to sleep soundly on the way.

But, just as all hope seemed lost, we crossed the bridge onto the island and found our breakfast place-- Stack 'Em High.
Well, we found it after we sat at an abandoned Stack 'Em High for a few minutes waiting for it to open. :)
Nevertheless, we got inside, ordered our pancakes, and started eating. After one of the waiters took our first family picture of the trip, Mikayla (age 5) wanted me to take her to the restroom. I didn't mind another chance to stretch my legs, so I went with her. When we stepped back out into the restaurant, to our chagrin, we heard wailing coming from the direction of our table. And of course, it was Mikayla's sister, Madisyn. Zach, her dad, was holding her on his lap with a napkin pressed to the back of her head. I knew it wasn't a good sign when I saw blood on the back of Madisyn's shirt. Poor girl. Not a half an hour out of the car, and it was time for a trip to the ER.

Well about 2 hours, 2 staples, and 2 princess stickers later, we were back in the car heading to our beach house. We had to wait a few hours to check into the house, so we stopped at the beach to relax while we waited. The wind was probably blowing 35 mph, and the sand was whipping our faces, but we didn't let that discourage us. "Natural Exfoliation" is what we called it. :)

Despite the multiple other injuries-- Dad's severely sunburned feet, Mikayla's fork jab to her leg, and Lyndsey's seafood poisoning-- it really was a relaxing vacation! :) A couple days we left the Big Kahuna and explored the aquarium, visited Roanoke "The Lost Colony," ate at Dirty Dick's Crab House, went mini- golfing at Mutiny Bay, and took pictures of the Brodie Lighthouse. We spent our days on the beach, trying to learn how to use a boogie board, collecting shells, building sand castles, and playing a game called kubb.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

At the aquarium

Building the sand turtle

Siblings

Eating at Dirty Dick's crab house

Crab hunting

Brayden

Brodie Lighthouse

Big Kahuna- the middle house

Sunrise

We had a great time and are grateful for the time that we got to spend all together. God's amazing creation reminded me of His grace and mercy towards us. Think of how big the ocean is...yet God loves little people like us. :) This song was in my head a lot last week: 

                       

                       Could we with ink the ocean fill,

                   And were the skies of parchment made; 

                       Were every stalk on earth a quill,

                        And every man a scribe by trade;

                        To write the love of God above

                           Would drain the ocean dry, 

                     Nor could the scroll contain the whole 

                        Though stretched from sky to sky! 

So thankful for the love of God and the love of our family. :) The week truly was a George adventure! 

Great Grandparents

This Easter, we (Erin, Elise, and I) were able to make a road trip to Minnesota. We haven't been all together at the Fred home since our sophomore year of college! (And THAT was a long time ago!) Haha :) The 5 hour trip was a good time to catch up on our lives and sing at the tops of our lungs to our new favorite musical. :)

On Saturday, we went with my parents to Bloomington, MN, where my grandparents live. It was wonderful to see Grandpa and Grandma both at their house and at my parents' house the next day. Although age takes its toll and sometimes slows people down, it was good to hear my Grandma laugh and make us laugh until we snorted! Just like when we were kids! Haha :) And of course, it was good to hear Grandpa pray and make his funny jokes that he always tells.

We went to see our Great Grandma, who turned 100 last July, in the care/nursing home that she is in. It is definitely different seeing Great Grandma in a bed, rather than walking spryly about. She was tap dancing on her 99th birthday and only started using a walker sometime last year! But again, despite the setbacks that she has experienced because of her age, she was still praising God for His faithfulness over the years. We sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "How Great Thou Art," and she barely missed a word!

 I am so grateful for all  my grandparents (and Matt's grandparents) that love the Lord and have taught their children to love Him too. I hope when Matt and I grow old, we can have that said about us too-- that even when time and age change us, we will never stop loving and serving the Lord.

Working Out

One of our (Matt and me) New Year's decisions was to exercise more consistently. A couple friends of ours invited us to compete in an 8-week fitness challenge made by the writers of sixsistersstuff.com. The challenge involves getting points for drinking enough water, eating enough fruit and veggies each day, NO SUGAR, keeping a food journal, and exercise. I think the most difficult thing for me has been not having sugar-- I just never thought about grabbing a handful of m&ms, snagging a warm cookie right off the tray. But this challenge has made me think about what I am putting into my body every day and how I am taking care of it.

But a thought that keeps coming to my mind as I am exercising or refusing a delicious-looking dessert is, How am I taking care of my spiritual body? Am I aware of what I am putting into my mind and heart every day? Am I striving to exercise my faith and knowledge about my God?

1 Timothy 4:8 says, "Bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness profiteth all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

Now, Paul wasn't saying don't exercise your body, because it doesn't do anything anyways; we ARE supposed to take care of our bodies so we can better do what God wants us to in our lives. But when you compare only exercising your physical body and exercising your spiritual body-- they can hardly compare! When we are building our spiritual muscles, we are not only going to profit the rewards on this earth, but we're also going to see the rewards in heaven!

2 Peter 1:5-8 talks about adding character qualities to our faith. We should be continually growing and building our spiritual bodies. "Giving all diligence (that means I have to work at it), add to your faith virtue;  and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you and abound (are continually growing), they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

When we work at taking care of what we put into our bodies, and strive toward getting in shape (the shape it's supposed to be in :) ), we will see our bodies CHANGE! Also, when we work at learning more about Christ and striving to be like Him, our lives will change!

Since we've started this challenge, I've had some bad days...(no exercise and 3 1/2 cookies), but that doesn't mean that I quit because I failed one day! We can always start fresh each day because God's mercies are new every morning... Great is His faithfulness!

We are now on the 5th week... Keep going strong!! :)

A New Year

 2013 came quietly for Matt and I this year. Mainly because there were 2 little girls sleeping upstairs (our nieces, Mikayla and Madisyn), and we didn't want to wake them with any loud outbursting of "Happy New Year," and such like. We were able to spend the week before Christmas with my family in Minnesota, and thoroughly enjoyed the white Christmastime there and time with our family. We kids got Dad and Mom an iPad-- so we spent a lot of time trying to figure out Siri and Words with Friends! :)

Silly Olivia

Dad opening his gift from his grandkids :) 

Little man Logan

We made the trek back to Watertown to split up our trip a bit, and a big shoveling job welcomed us back. Matt and Christopher shoveled, while Erin and I unloaded the car and got Jimmy John's. Erin and Christopher left to go to Maryland that afternoon, while Matt and I celebrated our own Christmas. :) We exchanged our gifts and then watched a movie and ate waffles (made by my waffle-maker from Matt!).

Then we packed up Lanta and made the drive out to Pennsylvania. We had a great time at the Christmas Eve Candlelight service and having our own George family Christmas. And apparently, PA didn't want to be left out of the White Christmas, and it snowed on Christmas. :) 

After our hike up the big hill

Matt and Lanta

The farm

We got to go sledding (or as the Pennsylvanians call it "sled riding") with Mikayla and Madisyn, although Madisyn REFUSED to even get near the sled!

After New Year's, Matt and I went back home. It was about 9:00pm when we got home, and I went up to the door to let Lanta in, before we started unloading all our stuff. I thought something was wrong with the door because it looked like it had frosted over! "Did the heat go out?" I wondered to myself. Then I looked closer and it was obvious that the whole window was shattered, and the window had been broken in around the doorknob. I turned the doorknob, just because I thought, "No way, this couldn't have happened..." and it was UNLOCKED! Then my heart started pounding and I squeaked, "Matt? You might want to come look at this." 

Anyways, we got acquainted with some of the nice local police officers (after they went in to our house with their guns and flashlights drawn), and it looks like the only items that were stolen were our 2 coffee tins that were filled with mostly pennies, nickles, and dimes. :/ 

So after that unnerving welcome back to our home, the new year has begun! :) With the new year, comes new resolutions-- I will write later about those.

Matt has started his third semester of his master's program and I am continuing to work in the admissions office at MBBC. We are grateful for God's continued leading in our lives and we are striving to please Him in  every aspect of our lives. Happy New Year! :)