drum roll please...... I would like to announce my acceptance to St. Stephens University's affiliated program; The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies.

The school is located in New Brunswick, Canada. The program is 1 year, and the certificate recived is applicable to another 3 years at SSU. Class starts September 6!

So hey everyone... I'm moving to the east coast in August!

First of all... just look at these photos... and then imagine living in a place that has all of this stuff...... Maybe you have never experianced this—but have you ever made plans to do something, told everyone about those plans and then backed out of doing them? Well I have. So that is why I am leary of mentioning anything more about these photos. I am however looking into a school, and I really want to go but I am not sure about it. However I will keep dreaming, praying and thinking about it.... untill then I will lovingly stair at these photos.

The Adventure, Part Dos

So I am officially home from Colorado and back at work. For the remainder of this week I will be doing half days and next week I will be officially back full time. The mono seems to be leaving my body. I am not dead tired like I used to be, my right side doesn't hurt nearly as much (because of my infecious liver) and I have some sort of stamina.

What a great trip. I couldn't have asked for better travel buddies! MarthaJoy and Nora are rockstars! Now... you can't start a trip without starbucks. It is essential. So we went to starbucks and of course then went camera happy.

The first leg of the trip was sooo much fun. We went to Sonic (because Nora has an undying obsession with the Sonic Burger) and to the Kum and Go station where I bough lighters. We drove from 6:00am to 8:30pm. The drive was long but when you have two amazing people with you it seems quick.
We stayed in Parker, CO at my Aunt and Uncles house. They were gone on a cruise for the majority of the time so we had a cute little house all to ourselves. Parker is a suburb of Denver so we were pretty close to civilization, but far enough out the see some of the cooler stuff in the state. Every morning we would venture onto Mainstreet in Parker and get coffee at this little hole in the wall coffee shop. There is also a Lemstone Christian Bookstore that we went to where I bought an amazingly true bumper sticker for angelina (the name of my car, if you didn't know already...) Here are some photos for you...

After we sat at the coffee shop and decided what to do with the rest of our day we went to Castlerock Canyon Statepark. Uhm.... rock. That's what i've got to say about that one. Such a cool place to be. After we found our spot on the rocks there we sat for what seemed like hours and just talked. Serious talk, funny talk... we covered it all. It was amazing. I feel like the whole trip was a time to really dig in deep into eachothers lives and get to the nitty gritty. We laughed, and laughed so hard we cried (you will see photographic evidance of that later) and just lived. It was the best time—a God time—for us. It was the best way to send Nora off on her DTS for YWAM.
We then ventured into Denver for dinner at Chubby's. My buddy Jeff whom I went to highschool with moved out to Denver a while back so he came to dinner with us and took us to the 16th street mall which is like Nicollet Mall but uhm, yea... way sweeter. I saw a dude on a track bike and I wanted to steal it. We also went to REI in downtown and it was like dying and going to heaven because it had a starbucks in it! Two of the greatest things in life found in one location. Three thumbs up to that one...

Day two we went into Colorado Springs. We were there literally all day long. We went to church at New Life (who put on an amazing, spirit-filled service), went into lodo (lower-downtown) and sat in the park, went to Garden of the God's, ate dinner at Applebee's, took photos in a parking lot, then we split ways and I went to my cousin Jareds band's show at The Black Sheep and Nora and MarthaJoy took my car and ventured to... guess where... starbucks.


Here are some photos of the band...
We got home in the middle of the night and decided to take a steam (my aunt and uncle have a steam shower thingy....) As the three of is sat in there steaming, Nora said it was "like eating eucalyptus!" Then she pretended to eat the steam. It was funny. That last night before we took Nora to Arvada for her DTS we all slept in the tiniest best, laughed really hard, loved, and were real with eachother. It was like finding yourself. I think I found a bit more of myself on this trip—who I am made to be for Jesus—how the enemy will try his hardest to keep me from fulfilling my destiny in God—how I don't need a man to be whole—how to be a worshipper—that I am a force to be reckoned with. God taught me a lot, and broke me even more on this trip. He gave me a desperate desire to be holy and pure and refined for Him.

When we were in Costa Rica on the last night we went down to the cabana and toasted, with virgin margarittas in hand "to margaritta's and great fajitta's." We did that on this last trip. We toasted to adventure. To life. To Nora. To friends. To Jesus.

Then we sent nora off.....

Then drove 100 mph toward home! (where i got a warning in Iowa...hehehehe.)

It was by far the best adventure I have been on.

The Adventure, Part Uno

So we arrived in Colorado last night around 8:30 (colorado time). The drive took us approx. 14.5 hours, and that's with stops. I thought we did a pretty good job making it out here. We stopped at multiple gas stations (can anyone say Kum & Go??), and Sonic for lunch. PS if you havn't been to a Sonic I recomend you take a road trip to Des Moines, IW and try that sucka out.) We are staying at my aunt and uncles house in Parker, CO. It's cool because its a 'burb of Denver but you can see Pike's Peak when you look out the window. There have been a lot of cool photos taken but the wireless internet in this house is being a bit touchy so I will get those photos to you once I get home.

Back to the great out doors..... Out.

Jumping From One to the Next, eh?

I guess I need a new blog. I havn't really blogged since monday and it's thursday! Been too busy to I guess. Or maybe nothing has been going on.

oh that's not true LOTS have happened in the past few days.

Thursday is date day. Went on a lunch date. It was a good one. Won't go into much detail because eh, I don't really feel like it. But let me tell you this. Guys, when you take a girl out you don't have to be witty the entire time. Unless you are just trying to get in her pants—that's a different story (and a dead give-away) but if you are genuinely interested then act like you are.

Tonight I am going to hang out with Paul. I will probably sit in his room and watch him play with Adobe Illustrator, but honestly that is one of the best ways to spend a thursday night! I like Paul. He is a genuine kinda guy.

I have decided that I don't think I want to really be in a relationship right now. I feel like I have just been jumping from one to the next to the next. When I was in highschool I was single for most of it. Now that I've been out of highschool for a while I feel like all I have been in is relationships. Now is the time to embrace my singleness so why-freaking-not? Yea, I'll go on a lunch date here and there but when it comes down to it I don't want anything serious. Serious always nipps me in the butt, you know? It always comes back to haunt you. So again I go back to this stage where if I meet someone worth being serious with I might go for it—but I'll be darn careful. I am sick of mistakes. I am sick of not getting what I deserve in a serious relationship. It's time for a change. Maybe that sounds cocky or strong willed, and it may be a little bit of both but I am honest about it.

So I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Colorado. I am soooooo excited. Nora, MarthaJoy and I will be hitting the road bright and early at 6:00 am! We are staying for free at my uncles in Parker, CO and they will be out of town so we have the house all to ourselves. We are going to do a day in the Springs and a day in Denver then drive Nora into Arvada where she will be doing a 4 Month DTS with YWAM. I am so excited for her. God is going to do some amazing things in her and with her in these next months. It's funny because I feel like my girls (MarthaJoy and Nora) always leave me to go and do these amazing things in the summer—and I mean they do—but I will be here in Minnesota doing some amazing things myself. This summer will be fun for all of us, I am just so pleased to be driving Nora out to the start of her new adventure and spending those last moments with her. She and MarthaJoy are in fact my two best friends so this should be an amazing trip. Keep a look out for a photo blog!

out.

You know that scene in V for Vendetta when Natalie Portman steps outside after being released from the prison and just let's the rain and fresh air wash over her? I felt like that today. I have been couped up for almost a week now. I have not stepped outside. Havn't really even moved from this couch. But today I went out on my porch and just breathed. It was such a good smell. I love spring.

I got a phone call from a boy last night. He sounds like he's from New York, and I kinda like it. This boy once had mono, and has called and emailed me to see how I've been doing and keeping me entertained. I don't know what the deal is, but he's a nice guy. I've known him for well over 2 years so it's not like he's anyone new. But I don't really know him. But if he's going for the relationship thing I won't be able to do that. To the best of my knowledge he doesn't love Jesus and that is the most important thing to me. And my heart definatly isn't fully healed from this past relationship. My dad and I had a good talk about relationships on thursday night. He made some valid points and we talked about what I need to do as a woman in a relationship. I have definatly grown from this past relationship that's for sure. So if I can take one good thing away from it, it would be that.

Colorado in less than a week... let's hope I am well!

oh one more thing...

Colorado here I freaking come.

18 days....

A Few Lessons Learned.

It's funny how my life works. It is always when I accept vulnerability that something happens to try and steer me from that. Its example time, you ready?


Maybe I would say something like, "I feel safe with you, ____ (insert name here)."


Then, after this declaration of said thing, in this case, safety, has been said, I get this sort of attack a few days later. It tends to be a Tuesday that this happens. (Maybe that's weird to you but if you knew my routine it would seem normal.... never mind.) Fleeting thoughts of how I'm "not really safe" or "I can't trust anyone with my safety but myself" come to mind. And I have to fight it. And it sucks. However for the first time in a while, I have fought off this type of worry in a proactive way. I use communication, trust and vulnerability to better my situation. Instead of pretending like I haven’t thought about the lack of safety, being scared, etc., I do in fact talk about it. It's hard, but it's totally worth it. Being open and in communication with the people who mean a lot to you is in fact really, really important and I am happy to be getting better at it with each passing day.

The UK.

I am thinking a lot about how I want to travel. Specifically to the UK. I have decided to set aside the next couple of years of my life to do stuff that maybe I wouldn't be able to do otherwise. Travel is one of them. I won't give away what I want to do in the UK just yet, and I am not sure it will only be the United Kingdom (could throw in some Germany, Latvia, well anywhere in Europe actually) but I have a strong feeling it's going to happen within the next year. And it wont just be any old trip.

Bob Sorge is this really cool dude that really loves God. He wrote the book "Exploring Worship". Funny story about him. Well actually, sad story. He was quite the rocker in his day, and then became quite the worship leader until one day he totally lost his voice. Like, his voice is all raspy and they don't really know why. So now, he can't do the whole singing thing, and his voice is super raspy when he talks. It's sad. Either way, I want to read this book. It's on my list of things to do. My buddy Robert went to school in Texas and has this book leftover (it was one of his text books). So I plan on commandeering it from him and reading it. I have a strong desire to be raised up in worship leading in the church so if I can get my hands on any good literature, I will. I am really interested in Christian worship theology as well. So after I read this book I want to get into something’s that are even deeper. I don't know what those things are but heh, I'll figure it out.

Oh, and a random side note. My manfriend got the hotness. Aka a Salsa Casserolle. I am excited to see it in person. Mostly because if woman and bicycle frame were allowed to be wed, I would totally run away with this frame. Ha. Oh and here's a shameless plug for this really cool bike shop that this photo was taken at. I am such a good girlfriend.