once upon a little town...

2009-05-19T15:31:00.002-05:00

Here is our little man, Levi. He's almost 6 months old, and growing like crazy! What a blessing he has been to Matthew and I. His laugh... his smile... the way he chews on his toes... he is amazing.

Here is Matthew and I on a recent trip to Seaside, OR. We had a blast, spending much needed quality time with family.

Unto us a child is born...

2009-01-27T02:19:00.001-06:00

Waiting...

2008-11-13T22:15:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the lack of exciting baby news, but Baby Cherry still has not arrived. We've decided to cut him a little slack since he's technically not due for another 3 days, but with all of the effort my doctors made to keep him inside till he hit full term, we thought he would've arrived by now!

I went in for my weekly checkup on Tuesday and found out that our little guy is what's called occiput posterior, meaning he's head down, but turned around backwards. The hardest part of his skull (the back) is resting on my lower spine. My midwife said that if we can get him turned around, doing different hands and knees stretching exercises, then labor will start pretty quickly, and go really smooth. If noooooot, then it could take the little guy quite some time to get labor started (up to 2 weeks), and labor could be quite long and painful. Needless to say, we've been spending a lot of time praying for this little guy. We are getting quite anxious to meet him!

Vladimir Kush!

2008-10-07T14:54:00.003-05:00

Today I was so excited to finally have tracked down the name of a Russian artist that I have been trying to find for yeeeears. His name is Vladimir Kush, and I first saw his work while I was living in Maui with YWAM. Then, Matthew and I stumbled on a gallery that had his work on display in Miami when we were there for our 1 year anniversary. Obviously, these pictures aren't even going to come close to doing these incredible paintings justice. They are actually quite large and, when you stand in front of them, you feel like you are being enveloped into this surreal world of vibrant color and imagination. Love it, love it, LOVE IT.

'The Family Tree'

'Always Together'

'Butterfly Apple'

If you want to see more work by Vladimir Kush, visit his website at: www.vladimirkush.com.

Maternity Pics

2008-10-07T14:39:00.004-05:00

Matthew and I took a little trip to some parks near our home to take some maternity pictures. It was about a week ago, so I was at 33 weeks at that time. Matthew took all of the pictures using a digital SLR Canon he borrowed from some friends of ours.

It's a new post!

2008-08-14T15:08:00.003-05:00

My sister, Andy, had a baby boy at the end of June.
It was so great being able to drive up and see Andy and Aaron...
and meet Cael face to face- he is such a sweet baby!

Matthew and Cael... great practice for a few months
from now when we'll have our own baby boy.

For Mom's birthday (July 22) we went to Red Robin.
We made sure the staff sang nice and loud for her-
and made her wear balloons around her head.

Matthew and Dad having a bonding moment.

On July 21st, we went in for a 4-d ultrasound. It was
incredible to get an up-close look at our sweet baby boy.
He was so active that the tech had a hard time getting
clear pictures of him. Here we caught a glimpse of his face.

Matthew took this one on July 8- 21.5 weeks pregnant.

Same day- Matthew added some neat effects to this one.

This one was taken last week- at 25.5 weeks.
Now, at nearly 27 weeks, the baby weighs in at over
2 pounds and is about 15 inches long from head to toe!
If you ever come to our house, this is exactly how
you'll find Bertie. Staring at you, waiting for you to
play fetch with her yellow ball.

Amaaaazing.

2008-06-19T17:59:00.002-05:00

Today my sister emailed me a link to this website, showing photographs at each week of pregnancy. When I saw this picture, it brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes I forget that I'm even pregnant, till I look down and see this belly growing out in front of me. So in the business of the morning, I sat staring at my belly, amazed at the miracle God is performing within me. Amazed that I was chosen to be apart of such an incredible thing as bringing new life into the world.

The website: www.i-am-pregnant.com also gives some development updates. Here's what it has to say for where our little babe is now (I'll be 19 weeks this Saturday):

By week 18 of your pregnancy, your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5 to 5.5 inches long. Your baby continues to develop fat layers and weighs about 5.25 ounces. Your baby will continue to grow and develop, but the rapid growth will slow down for a little while. There is still space available in your uterus and your baby will be active for periods at a time. Your baby may sit cross legged or turn somersaults.

Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means your baby can hear now. Your baby will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if he hears a loud sound.

This was taken 2 weeks ago at the coast.

We're having a baby in November!!!

2008-05-14T17:21:00.001-05:00

Thaaaaaaank you!

2008-02-19T00:44:00.002-06:00

Sorry for being a slow poke about posting this. I have no good reason, other than... nope, no good reason. THANK YOU all for your input on those logos... it helped a lot! I can tell you guys have a great eye for design by the comments you posted.

I decided to go with the first logo for several reasons:

-It is a good representation of the 'style' I was going for.

-It looks contemporary, but still professional

-It will look great on promotional products (pens, mugs, notepads, keychains, etc)

-I can use the red box with the flower design by itself, or with the rest of the name

I ordered business cards and pens and both have come in the mail. I'll take some pictures and get them posted soon!

Help!

2007-11-30T22:12:00.001-06:00

I need your help with something if you have a spare moment. Yes you. I am starting a new advertising/promotional products company called CherryTree Advertising. I've designed two different logos, and I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. So, if you have a moment, please tell me which one you like better and why.

Cherrytree Studio

2007-09-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

I just posted a bunch of new necklace designs on my art blog (cristinacherryart.blogspot.com). Check it out! Unless you don't want to. In that case, just sit there and stare at the period at the end of this sentence

Oh shoot- I forgot to put the period. There, there's a period for you .

In case you are tempted... here's one of them:

Cape Blanco

2007-09-08T02:58:00.000-05:00

Camping last weekend was greeeeat! Matthew, Bertie, and I met my parents at a place called Cape Blanco- about 2 hours from our house, on the Oregon Coast. When I was a kid, I used to get carsick nearly everytime we drove to the Oregon Coast- you know that dizzy 'I think I'm going to puke' feeling. When you get close to the ocean, the roads tend to wind a lot. You'd think I would've learned something and brought some Dramamine, and maybe not eaten that 7-11 nachos with a big ole Slurpee on the way...

We really could not have asked for nicer weather. There was this ocean overlook area near our campsite where we hung out on these picnic tables for hours watching whales. I guess we picked the right weekend, because they were everywhere! We all forgot to put sunscreen on that morning and wound up with naaaasty farmer burns. Ha! Matthew and I still look like lepers- with our bright red, peeling noses.

Beach exploring, fetch playing (ah, Bertie, not me), fossil collecting, lighthouse exploring, campfire meal partaking, parent bonding... all in all a good time. We'll be back for sure.

The lighthouse at the top of this post is in the clearing in the middle- see it?

Uhhh...

2007-08-30T22:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I don't know if anyone even reads this anymore, but...

I got really lazy on my blogging posts there for awhile... I'm blaming it solely on the addictive nature of facebook. I... love... facebook.

Let's see... since my last post:

-Matthew and I went to Minnesota for a couple of weeks. Fun times with friends and family, Sonshine, and a little bit of work mixed in there just for good measure.

-We went camping at Whistler's Bend. We threw an airmattress and gear in the back of our truck, loaded up the cooler, and parked ourselves right next to the river. It was relaxation at it's finest... sitting on lawn chairs by the fire, taking lazy walks by the river, cooking all sorts of tasty meals... quite enjoyable!

-My sister, Andy, got married, bringing my sister, her hubby, and their kids out from Minnesota. Man, I can't even describe how good it was to have our family all together for awhile. It was really sad to see them go home at the end.

-Tomorrow we are going camping again. This time we're heading to the coast- to Bandon. We'll stay there till Monday, so we'll have a nice long weekend. My parents are going too, which should be fun... we haven't hung out with them with relaxation as the goal in a really long time. We'll see if Bertie (our dog) let's us relax. She tends to get really weird when there are lots of noises and wildlife. It's sad, really.

Oh, I can't forget one exciting little event that happened in there. When Jennelle and the kids were at our house, we were out on the deck having some walkin' tacos when we hear yelling down below. A police officer was chasing a man down the street- on foot- yelling, "Stop, you're under arrest!" If we weren't so far up the hill, we might've been a bit nervous... but it was more like watching a live episode of COPS. I don't know how long it took to catch him, or why the officer was chasing him in the first place, but they were running through people's back yards and over fences and stuff. Good times.

Are you...

2007-06-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

I keep coming to my blog with every intention of writing something.
When I get here, I sit and stare at the screen, unable to put my
thoughts into complete sentences. I found this picture yesterday,
and it fits pretty good. You want details? Maybe later.

I'm posting I'm POSTING!

2007-05-31T02:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry for slacking. Here are some pictures from Matthew's Mom's visit a few days ago. This is a picture of me and my 'new' glasses. Most of you haven't seen them, but I've actually had them for over a month now. My old glasses started turning green and had a chipped lens... very attractive those babies were! Matthew picked these out- says they make me look 'artsy'. What do you think?

More pictures...

2007-05-31T02:00:00.000-05:00

This is Micki, Matthew's madre, in front of our house. After 4 years, a visit was looooong overdue. Thanks for coming to see us, and for passing along these pictures, Micki!
Bertie and I looking intently at the 'Colliding Rivers'.
Matthew and I standing in one of the rivers, pre-collision
Bertie hates water, but with a strong urgency to swim/dig at the water, she coped by digging up large rocks out of the shallow river and carrying them in her mouth to shore. Very bizarre.
Matthew taking pics... actually I think he was using the camera zoom lense as binoculars at this point. We had a contest going to see who could figure out what an unidentified object was across the river. P.S. We are going to float down this river in big inner tubes this summer!!!
As you can see, we were a great match for the teeter totter at Whistler Park
On Micki's last day in town (Memorial Day), we drove to Bandon on the Oregon Coast. The COLD wind was quite the contrast from Roseburg's dry heat. Still, it was beautiful, and neat to see all of the flags flying. I'll post more pics of the ocean when we pull them off of our camera.

Sigh

2007-05-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

I'm hungry.

Too bad nobody else on here likes chilicheese burritos...

If you'll excuse me, I'll just be over here pondering things.

Resurrecting the Chili Cheese Burrito.

2007-04-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

When Matthew and I moved to Oregon 5 months ago, I was excited to finally live in the same town as a Taco Bell. I know it's not the finest quality 'mexican' food, but I love it. When I was in highschool I even worked at one, just so I could eat there everyday. Unfortunately, not even halfprice nachos made up for the torture of working with immature 16 year old boys that would squirt guacamole all of the back of my legs while I was running the cash register... and when they weren't torturing us ladies, they were in the cooler getting drunk. You think I'm joking, don't you!

You can only imagine my distress when we got to Roseburg and I found that my favorite Taco Bell treat was no longer on the menu! Oh chili cheese burrito, why have you deserted me!? Turns out, Taco Bells now have the option to choose their menu items... and most of them have opted not to order my beloved chili cheese burrito.

Today I discovered an entire website devoted to the cause... www.chilicheese.org . In the last 6 months, they've raised $250 to convince corporate Taco Bell to bring them back. Isn't that amazing? 250 smackers! Good job, guys. They have a petition there for all to sign. What are you waiting for people?

What Bertie did this weekend.

2007-04-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

See Bertie.

See Bertie run.

Weekend update.

2007-04-16T20:33:00.000-05:00

Things accomplished since Friday:
-ordered new glasses
-got meds for eyes (don't ask)
-passed the written exam standing in my way of driving legally (hooray!)
-cut up an apple tree with handsaws... wearing flipflops
-helped my Mom pack for Minnesota (they left Saturday)
-planted a bunch of flowers in pots (at 2am)
-made some necklaces (till 3am)
And this was all on FRIDAY!

So interesting story...

Last night I had another one of my hallucinating dream episodes. Somewhere around 3 or 4am this morning I woke up because a 'huge spider' was crawling on my head. It scared me so bad that I started flailing everywhere and yelling (quite loudly if you imagin), trying to get it off my head. I jumped out of bed entirely too fast- because the dizziness and the intense fear made me really sick to my stomach. I spent the next 10 minutes hunched over the toilet while Matthew searched the bed for my invisible spider.

Poor guy. Good thing he has a strong heart.

I love this day!

2007-04-06T16:04:00.000-05:00

I found out a couple of days ago that our office would be closed today for Good Friday. I've been really overtired lately, and this week was exhausting emotionally (I won't go into that right now). So I've really been looking forward to today, the day of relaxation. This morning I slept in till about 10, went out onto our patio and relaxed in the sun on our new patio furniture (in my pj's), watched tv, took a bath, and here I am again... on the patio. The thermometer out here says it's about 84 degrees, the sun is shining... I feel like a little kid on Christmas that's just been given an amazing gift. Time.

A few minutes ago, an eagle flew over our house, casting huge shadows onto the roofs of the houses below. Then I looked down and watched the neighbor's cat eat a little frog. A sprinkler just came to life in a yard below, kids anxiously awaiting the cold water. Bertie is growling at aforementioned cat down on the ground... obviously despared at the death of said frog.

Did I mention that I love this day?
me and my big sis, Jennelle on a day like today... many moons ago

The Cherry Balcony/Patio

2007-04-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

Ladies Night Out!

2007-03-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

Last night a group of us ladies got together for a night out on the town. All of us dressed up in our fanciest, and had a progressive dinner around downtown Roseburg. We started out at Mark V (shown above) for Tapas, which means 'small portions'

This Tapa was my personal favorite. I'm a sucker for cheesy dips on bread. Yum!

Look how fancy they made these up! This one is a pork mixture on bread with some bright, ah, confetti? I learned a valuable lesson at this restaurant. If you see some bright green paste, you better make sure it's guacamole before eating a big bite. I didn't, and it was wasabi. Ayecarumba was it hot (and not all that tasty)!

Next we went to a Sushi Restaurant. Taking this picture was as close to the sushi as I got. I can't stomach seafood- not even slightly. Check it out, some of that fish still has the skin on! I felt like I was watching Fear Factor. We had the cutest little waiter, though. I wanted to put him in my purse and take him home for Matthew to see.

I didn't get pictures, but after the Sushi Restaurant, we went to Anthony's for authentic Italian desserts (gelato, cheesecake, tiramisu... yum!). Afterwards, a few of us went to Dino's, another authentic Italian restaurant for espresso and tea.

Krystal and I at the end of the night. Fun times!

Sunday,Tuesday

2007-03-21T18:42:00.000-05:00

Proof that Spring has arrived in Roseburg, Oregon!
This is the flowering tree in our front yard.

Our new friends Will & Krystal, inside their soon to be house.
Look how cute they are all covered in sweat and paint :)

Krystal showing off her fabulous paint-covered self!

Matthew, and the 'before' deck.
We were so determined to finish, that we worked way past dark.
Good thing, too. It rained the next 2 days in a row!

Cristina and the 'after' deck.

Check out those sweet clouds!

Bertie's first (and hopefully last) taste of escargot.
It started oozing out green flourescent slime and foam!

Cleaning up the green slime nastiness...

Here is our new solar powered umbrella that will go on our deck. It has lights inside!

We are big fans of keeping it in our living room for now.
It's much too fun to play with, plus it feels like 'vacation'.

Bertie rolling her eyes at me.

R&J Tours

2007-03-21T14:55:00.000-05:00

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when you travel with R&J Tours.

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Just a sampling of our favorite R&J Tours destinations:
* America's Majestic National Parks
* Alaska Discovery
* Branson (the best of the best shows!)
* Australia & New Zealand
* Italy Grand Tour
* Scandinavia : Norway, Sweden, Denmark
* Hawaii : Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii's Big Island

AN R&J PROMISE:
We will give you the best value for your travel dollar.

Visit our extensive website today to start planning your dream vacation!
www.rjtoursonline.com

Our brand new Spring-Fall 2007 catalogs are fully loaded
with fantastic tours! You can get your free copy by visiting our
website or by calling us toll-free 1-800-758-6877.

If you haven't guessed it before now, this is where I work. R&J Tours out of Willmar, MN. I love this company, and thoroughly enjoy working for them as their graphic designer and marketing director!

This one's for you, Kim!

2007-03-18T01:57:00.000-05:00

Matthew and I live in Roseburg, Oregon now... since November of '06. Matthew is a graphic designer for a Christian media company called Inerseshen. I still work for a tour company back in Minnesota- just out of our house now :) Does that answer your question, Kim?

Today was another crazy hot day. I heard it was supposed to be around 75, but I think it was hotter than that. I was wearing a tanktop and flipflops and was still overheated. Crazy, right? It was beautiful! It's neat seeing our neighborhood come alive with the warm weather. Since we moved here in the rainy winter months, there hasn't been much going on. Now, we have little flowering trees in our yard, kids are running around the neighborhood, everyone's out mowing... it's great! Today I was out on our deck a lot, hanging up some plant bucket things... and trying to outwit the wasps that have been emerging from hibernation. Tomorrow we are going out to buy some patio furniture, and we're really hoping we can actually enjoy the high balcony off the back of our house. But how do we do that with giant stinging wasps hanging around? I've been looking up all sorts of traps, pesticides, and natural repellants on the web. It really doesn't seem like anyone knows what to do with wasps. You can't squish them b/c the others will smell it and come running. You can't swat at them, b/c they will come after you like there's no tomorrow. You can't wear perfume or bright colors... or leave food out for any length of time around them.... AND you shouldn't kill them in the first place because they are 'good' and they eat other bugs. Besides, 'they won't hurt you if you don't come after them'. What!?! How are we supposed to relax with these things flying around us with their creepy dangly legs, googly eyes, and ginormous stingers... building little condos under our balcony railings at rapid rates? If anyone has ideas, please feel free to interject. So far I've put out 2 wasp traps and 2 soda bottles with orange pop in them. They've been there 2 days and I haven't gotten a single one. Apparently it attracks them around the neighborhood enough to want to hang out and party with their friends, but not actually go into the traps.

Tomorrow we're trying out another new church with my parents. I think we have 2 or 3 more to go, before we've visited every church within a 100 mile radius. No, not really... but we have gone to a lot!

beautiful country!

2007-03-15T23:07:00.000-05:00

So tonight we had Will and Krystal over for meatballs and they proceded to take us on a little tour of the area right around our house. Being that we moved here in winter, we haven't done a lot of exploring. Now that it's warming up a lot, we are venturing out and discovering some really neat stuff. So tonight we discovered that we have a river running right by our house. Well, pretty much. It's less than 1/4 of a mile away. I'm looking forward to a really hot day this summer, when we'll float lazily down the river on giant innertubes sipping strawberry lemonade from straws that loop around our faces like glasses.

Oh, and we currently have wasps building condominiums on our house. Get your own property, you nasty bugs... we paid a lot of money for this chunk of land!

Sa-tur-day.

2007-03-11T03:46:00.000-05:00

Today Matthew and I spent the day at my grandparents' house. Grandma made us bean with bacon soup and grilled cheese sandwiches... and we worked on a big jigsaw puzzle. It was great.

I love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Absolutely Monday.

2007-03-06T02:19:00.000-06:00

Today was, well interesting to say the least. I kept hearing these crazy, loud noises in our house, which definitely put me on edge. Not long after the noises started, Bertie started barking at something, so I went to inspect. I found her by the front door and decided to humor her, even though I didn't hear anyone knock. As I opened the door, I saw a lady walking away from our front door. Bertie, of course, barked louder which made it hard for me to hear what she wanted. So I pulled the door closed just enough to where she couldn't get out, but not completely shut because I knew the door was locked on the inside. The lady asked me if our house is for sale... or if we recently bought the house. I told her we recently bought the house. As she started to walk away, Bertie jump-kicked the door shut, locking me out of the house.

I looked under every landscaping stone, thinking maybe the previous owner had one hidden. Nope. I tried breaking in through a window. I got as far as removing a screen and killing one spider before giving up on that one too. Finally, I went knocking on doors, looking for someone that might let me use their phone. Looking quite attractive in my glasses and sporting one goopy eye (I have a slight eye infection), I was just thankful that I'd changed out of my pajamas when that lady came snooping around our house. Does it seem weird to anyone else that she never knocked or rang the bell, yet she was walking away from my front door when I opened it? Anyways, I finally found someone with a phone and tracked down Matthew to come home (20 minute drive) to let me in. My knight in shining armor.

phew!

2007-02-26T18:34:00.000-06:00

I made it through to the other side.... hooray! I apologize to anyone who reads my blog that have been disappointed in my lack of posting for the past few weeks.

While trying to figure out how to get back into my blog, Matthew and I have been entertaining ourselves with new myspace and facebook accounts. Normally, we wouldn't jump on those bandwagons, but we both miss our friends back in Minnesota terribly. It's amazing, really, how many people we've been able to reconnect with. Along with friends we said goodbye to a few months ago, we've both found long lost friends from when we were little kids. Talk about weird, seeing pictures of people you haven't seen since gradeschool... all grown up with kids!

We are continuing to adjust to life in Oregon. We are enjoying it more everyday... and are pleased to announce that we are even making friends! Hooray! We met a couple this last weekend that are building a house right down the street from us. Floating down the river on innertubes, bbqs, trips to the coast... all things we are looking forward to in the near future. Ah, perhaps not the river floating just yet.

shiver

2007-02-06T00:22:00.000-06:00

Ayecarumba... it's COLD here! Minnesota should be evacuated immediately. Take shelter in warmer climates, people!
I hear Roseburg, Oregon is nice this time of year. Let's all go there.

Going to Minnesota...

2007-01-30T23:54:00.000-06:00

In about 36 hours I'll be on a plane back to Minnesota... could someone please turn up the thermostat there before I get off the plane? I'm afraid the single digits are going to be a bit of a shock to the system!

I am really excited about it, in reality. My sister is picking me up from the airport with her 3 little ones, who I am SO EXCITED to see! I get to stay with them for 4 days before heading to Willmar to work in the tour office (I still work for them out of my home). We have a HUGE catalog to get out to the printer's, and I need them to proof it beforehand. We also have a lot of meetings to organize. I'm definitely pro-meetings at R&J, because it usually means FOOD! And good food at that! They love ordering out, and I'm happy to be a good excuse for them to do so. During the week, I get to stay with my beloved Kelli, who just had baby Owen- along with Jon and Rayna. I have to tell you, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone back in Minnesota. I'm just sorry that Matthew can't come with me.

I'll be gone for 11 days- a record time away from each other since we've been married. I don't think he's entirely heartbroken that I'll be gone for awhile. He'll have plenty of time to spend with his other love, 'Battlefield 2, 357 or something like that'. Silly boy.

2007-01-25T19:20:00.000-06:00

New post on objet d'art Check it out!

stalkee.

2007-01-25T11:29:00.000-06:00

I hope this gives you guys a chuckle as much as it did me... the east indians called AGAIN! Wow, they REALLLY want to give me that money I guess! This time the guy actually knew what my name was. well sort of- he called me 'Sherry Cristina'. This guy was actually more convincing than the other two that have called in the last 5 days, plus he upped the amount to $5000- so I gave him all of my information. Bank account number, social security, blood type.

Just kidding. How could you think I would actually do that!?

I told him that he's the 3rd person that's called me and that I know they are not giving out free money. He then insisted that I take down his phone number to verify that they are legitimate. I told him that guy #2 gave me a phone number that went to nothing. I told him they should really stop calling me.

He said in his very thick accent, 'I'm very sorry ma'am... God Bless You'. I should've kept him on the phone after that- it could've been a fun ministry opportunity, but work deadlines are heavy right now. I guess it was kind of ministry- afterall, I didn't yell or threaten him, right?

Maybe next time because, after 3 calls, I am sure there WILL BE a next time.

Oh how I love you, Rhapsody.

2007-01-24T19:12:00.000-06:00

Rhapsody is my new best friend. In case you haven't heard of it, it's an online music listening service. For $10 a month, you subscribe to this website where you get unlimited access to listen to as much music as you want. They don't have every single album ever made, but it has to be close.

The reason I love it so much? I work out of my home which, honestly, gets a bit lonely at times. Bertie (our superdog) is nice to have around as well, but Rhapsody tends to be less annoying. It doesn't incessantly whine at me to throw it squeaky toys so it can run and catch it. Don't get me wrong, I love my dog... but I really don't understand how a living creature can play fetch 24 hours a day. On the other hand, I can't cuddle with a computer program.

Today I needed a pick-me-up, so I signed in to Rhapsody and entertained myself by searching for all songs entitled 'Cristina'. I was shocked that there were well over a hundred! So I clicked on a bunch and laughed as I was serenaded by mariachi bands, blues singers, and a couple of creepy Willie Nelson wannabees.

Then I went back in and typed in 'Matthew' and found a good one to send over to my husband at work. His 'Matthew' song was by a grown man, pretending to be a little boy singing about his bike and how cool he is because of it. The only problem with sending him songs is that only one of us can be logged into Rhapsody at the same time.

We have Rhapsody wars pretty much daily, where he randomly kicks out of the program. Then I kick him out. Then he kicks me out... this goes on for awhile till he gives up.

I love my Rhapsody.

I almost forgot!

2007-01-24T12:51:00.000-06:00

We visited another church this past Sunday. We weren't sure where to go, so we basically closed our eyes and pointed to one in the yellow pages. Alonna and Dan came down for the weekend (which was fantastic, by the way), so the 4 of us met up with my parents at said church. I think it was called Faith Assembly of God.

We pulled up to the church and knew just from looking at the building that we were in for an interesting morning. It was about the size of our house. So we walk in, and were immediately the center of attention. The funniest part of the morning was when the pastor came up to us before service and said, "I just want to make sure you are in the right place- seeing as how this is the first Sunday that Redeemer Church is meeting in their new building next door." Side note: Redeemer is the church we went to last time. The way he said it was... well awkward. We ended up being 6 of about 25 people there.

The service was pretty good. The worship was better than the previous week at Redeemers, even though the acoustic guitarist had his guitar plugged into a bass amp that wasn't grounded and we could hear a radio station playing in the background the entire worship time :) The pastor's wife played drums, which I thought was pretty rad.

I don't think we will be going back. Not because of the size necessarily, but for several reasons. The service felt rehearsed - I don't like being told how to worship. The entire church was fasting together- not that that in itself is strange, but there was a write up on the back of the bulletin saying how if you break your fast that you would be letting down yourself and God. I don't agree with forcing people into fasting- I believe it needs to be a personal decision. There also was no youth group in existence (although I did see 2 students there).

After service was over, everyone gathered in the kitchen area for homemade bread and coffee. The kids were out of their class, which included balloon animal making, and they were definitely not shy. They took no prisoners as they whacked away at everyone in sight (including us)!

The search continues.

Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me.

2007-01-22T18:57:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I received a phone call from a man with a really thick East Indian accent. Amused by the accent and the urgent tone in his voice (as well as the many other East Indian voices I could hear yelling in the background), I humored him. He struggled through a script detailing how I was selected to receive a $4500 grant from the government because I am an upstanding citizen that pays my bills on time. The funny thing was, he needed me to tell him my name address... and then proceeded to ask me where I bank and if he could have my bank routing number.

Now I may not be the sharpest nail in the bucket, but I do know that if the government was planning to send me free money (yeah, right) that they wouldn't have to ask me my name and address (he listed off the address of the guy who previously had our phone number). The way things are today, I wouldn't be suprised if they knew what I ate for lunch today. He kept pressing me for my bank account information (which I would not give him) saying (cue thick accent here) 'Ma'am, I assure you, your bank account information is secure. Not even George W. Bush could access your account unless you wish him to'. I told him he could go ahead and send the information to me in the mail, but I would NOT give him my account number. After telling me he could not do that, that 'this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity', I hung up on him.

Intrigued, I called our new banker and asked him if he'd heard of this happening. He laughed and said that it is, indeed, a scam. That companies trick people into wiring money to them, saying that a large sum of money will be sent out after a 'filing fee' is paid. Sometimes it's worse- people have lost all of the money they have saved in an account that way. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to catch the thieves.

Today something priceless happened. THEY CALLED BACK! As soon as I heard the thick accent again, I started laughing. It was obviously a different person- he asked me for all of my information again. This time I drilled him with questions instead of answering any of his. He was not prepared to answer them, and got nervous when I started asking him for his name, telephone number, and supervisor's name (he gave me bogus information). He asked me why I didn't just hang up on him... and said to me 'I know you are recording this conversation'. He asked me several times 'What should I do now?'

I told him it's wrong of them to go around scamming innocent people out of their hard earned money. I told him they need to take our phone number off of their call list... then I hung up.

Score: Cristina=1, Scammers=0

weird dog part II

2007-01-15T18:05:00.000-06:00

Last night Matthew and I drove to Springfield- partly to see my stepsister Teresa and her two little boys (which did not happen), and partly because we've had a $200 Target giftcard burning a hole in our pockets for several months. We ended up just getting a couple of little things we needed, then bought some presents. Kelli, I can't wait to see you and your new baby- I got something for both of you!

In case you don't remember me talking about Bertie's eating habits, here is what our floor typically looked like at our apartment in Minnesota.
She digs incessantly at her bowl until every piece of food is scattered on the floor. Then she goes around and picks them up... sometimes.

Since we were moving, I got rid of her old nasty bowls. Because of this not-smart decision, she's been eating out of our 'people' bowls. She loves it because they are light enough for her to dump all of the food out. Then she walks up to me with it- all proud of herself. The bowl set pictured below was my favorite purchase last night because it means (hopefully) that we no longer have to tiptoe around dog food.. So far, Bertie hates it. She scratches at the food bowl, whining loudly- it's too high for her to fling kibble everywhere. Ha- I win!
I guess I spoke too soon... I just walked into my bedroom and found her eating my chapstick.

Today...

2007-01-15T14:24:00.000-06:00

"Let It All Out"

Let it all out
get it all out
rip it out remove it
don't be alarmed
when the wound begins to bleed

cause we're so scared to find out
what this life's all about
so scared we're going to lose it
not knowing all along
that's exactly what we need

and today I will trust you with confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
but tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
oh, inconsistent me
crying out for consistency

and you said I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember
the end will justify the pain it took to get us there

and I'll let it be known
at times I have shown
signs of all my weakness
but somewhere in me
there is strength

and you promise me
that you believe
in time I will defeat this
cause somewhere in me
there is strength

and today I will trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
and I'll try my best to just forget
that that man isn't me

reach out to me
make my heart brand new
every beat will be for you
for you

and I know you know
you touched my life
when you touched my heavy heart and made it light

-Relient K

weird dog.

2007-01-13T01:13:00.000-06:00

I'm convinced that our dog is part human- she does the weirdest things.

Here's a new one:
What does she do when she's thirsty and there's no water in her dish? First, she'll stare at her bowl for awhile to see if we'll get the hint. If that (and whining) doesn't work, she searches out the nearest bathtub, jumps in and stares at the spout. So anytime we hear the dog sliding around the bathtub, we know she's thirsty.... if we don't see the empty bowl first.

Here's another new one:
Since moving into our house, we've been trying to break Bertie of her spells where she tears around the house like a racehorse. Now we confine it to the staircase down to the basement. We throw her toys down the stairs and she runs down to fetch them as fast as she can. She's gotten so efficient that sometimes she'll drop her ball at the top of the stairs and play fetch with herself. Othertimes, she'll run up and down the stairs repeatedly... with the toy already in her mouth.

Sorry for stealing your thunder, Minnesota.

2007-01-13T00:49:00.000-06:00

I'm not so sure Oregon is happy that Matthew and I are here now. We seem to have brought the Minnesota snow with us. Funny, I distinctively remember leaving that there. We really enjoyed the unexpected snowstorm we were blessed with this week. Tuesday was Dad's birthday, so the 4 of us celebrated by going out to eat then back to their house for games and dessert. That night is when the snow started. By the time we were leaving everything was covered in white and the biggest flakes I'd ever seen were rapidly falling from the sky. After 5 seconds of marveling at the beauty surrounding us, the 4 of us said goodnight with an all-out snowball fight! Matthew and I were quite the team against Mom and Dad. Unfortunately for them, we had our car to hide behind, so they were pretty wide open for our attacks. Fortunately for them, I have terrible aim and only hit them 3 or 4 times out of probably 50 shots.

The next day, we woke up to announcements on the radio of nearly ever school in a 60 mile radius closed. So naturally, I expected to see mountains of snow on the ground when I looked out the window. Yeah, there was maybe 2 inches on the ground. I had a good laugh, thinking about Minnesota and how horrible the weather would have to get for us to have a snow day. Many people live up in the mountains here, though, and black ice on the road can be treacherous. The snow continued to fall steadily all afternoon on Wednesday. I took pictures with my 35mm camera (nearly locking myself outside in my pajamas) so sometime I'll have to get them transferred to a disc and post them for your viewing pleasure.

new fridge!

2007-01-07T17:26:00.000-06:00

Matthew and I are now the proud owners of home appliances. We purchased a washer, dryer, and new refridgerator since moving into our home and were able to get GREAT deals on all of them! The best was our refridgerator, though. Call me weird but I've been dreaming about owning a refridgerator that has water and an ice crusher/dispenser since I was in highschool. Some people want expensive clothes, others want diamonds, I dream of crushed ice. Through an odd series of events, we ended up getting our 26 cubic foot, side by side, ice cube/crushed ice and water dispenser Fridgidaire that was $1099... for $500!!! Hooray! It was delivered yesterday :)

This morning Matthew and I went to church with my parents. We're checking out different chuches in the area to find out where we 'fit' best. This morning we went to Redeemer's Fellowship. Our impression? Great pastor, great sermon, not so good worship. The instruments were pretty out of tune, and it was hard to follow along when we didn't know the songs- and couldn't pair the words with the notes easily. We probably noticed that more because Matthew was a worship leader at several churches and for our youth group back in Minnesota. I also noticed when going through the bulletin that, besides their lack of a consistent worship pastor/leader/director, there is also no youth pastor/leader/director. It makes me sad when a church doesn't put into their budget a specific leader for their youth... when there is suge a huge need for student ministries. So anyways.... we're going to try another church next week-I'll post a review for anyone who's interested. I hope that in the process of finding a home church, we'll also learn a lot about the ministries in place in this area.

Hmm... I think I'll go see how Sid, our icemaker, is hanging in there. He's making his first batch of ice right now! Yeahhhhh!

The Dog Whisperer

2007-01-03T12:32:00.000-06:00

Cesar Millan- Dog Whisperer

Ever since we had DirecTv installed last week, we've been watching The Dog Whisperer a LOT. It is so fascinating watching him tame dogs with wild, crazy, and destructive behaviors. We've learned so much about taking care of our dog through the techniques Cesar teaches in his program.

If you own a dog and have the opportunity, watch this program. You won't be sorry! If not, check out his website: http://cesarmillaninc.com . You'll find tons of great tips on being a strong pack leader for your dog. Even if you don't own a dog, you'll benefit from learning how to interact with dogs you encounter.

sleepy.

2007-01-03T00:27:00.000-06:00

Tired.... so tired. The last few nights I've been having nightmares when I fall asleep. According to Google, "Nightmares tend to be more common among children and decrease in frequency toward adulthood. About 50% of adults experience occasional nightmares, women more often than men." Google also implies that I need to exercise more than just walking from my bed to my desk in the other room (I'm working out of our house now). I guess a sit up or two can't hurt anything.

We love our house!

Hmm... my brain has completly emptied itself. Goodbye.

Hooray!

2006-12-21T21:44:00.000-06:00

We did it- we closed on our house today!

From what everyone was saying, I was expecting the closing process to be really stressful. Really, though, I think it was the most enjoyable part of the house-buying process, well besides picking out the house itself! I think it helped a lot that we had our real estate agents (who happen to be my parents), our mortgage broker (who happens to be a friend of my parents' from church), and a really neat title company officer, all there during closing. The title officer explained everything in terms that we understood, and made the process fun! Weird, right? We actually had FUN signing our closing papers.

Tomorrow, after the seller finishes packing up the last of his belongings, we'll have the carpets shampooed, then we can start moving our stuff in on Saturday! I can't believe we are actually moving into a house! We are so thankful for God's provision throughout this process... and look forward to blessing other people through this amazing gift.

If you want to see more pictures of our house, click on the link to the left that says 'My Love'. Matthew posted a lot of pictures last night. When we get settled in a bit and have a chance to paint, we'll post 'after' pictures for you all.

Elf Yourself!

2006-12-14T20:11:00.000-06:00

A little Christmas dance, from me to you!

Watch Video

blockage

2006-12-11T01:49:00.000-06:00

Everytime I've sat down to write something on my blog, it's like I run into a concrete wall. I log in, click on 'Create Post', sit for awhile staring at the blank field then, after my head starts hurting, I close the window. So this is a major breakthrough for me. One paragraph down...

So much is going on around me, yet I can't grasp it, so I sit here half dazed. Matthew and I are still waiting on the mortgage lender to tell us if we own a home. I'm convinced that one never truly feels like they own their house. Even after moving in and painting the walls, I wonder if we will feel it. It seems like the waiting is never ending and like these companies want to make sure they've scared us silly before they actually say yes. "You mean you won't give us your first born as a down payment? Oh, well then, I'm not so sure we can help you."

We went in to the DMV to get our new Oregon drivers' licenses on Friday. I even took extra care to do my hair and put on makeup before going in, trying to avoid the just crawled out of bed, deer in the headlights look I've usually gotten back. We walked in and found out we have to take a written exam to get a license here. Who made it okay for Oregon to have a different set of driving rules? 12 years after going through driver's ed in Minnesota, we now get to 'relearn' how to drive. Because we don't own a home, we weren't even allowed to take the test or get our pictures taken. Bummer. But the guy did say that as long as we don't have an address, we can't get in trouble with the police for not having an Oregon license. The vagabond existence is looking pre-tty good about now.

I'm really sorry to all of you Minnesota friends reading this but I have to say, the weather has been great here. Yeah, it rains sometimes, but it has been in the 50's... a lot! Most of the time I don't even have to wear a jacket. It's only a halfhearted victory over the Minnesota winters, though, knowing my friends are suffering. Hang in there!

Bedtime.

It's the weekend!

2006-12-01T19:26:00.000-06:00

Tonight Matthew and I are driving 3 hours to Portland.
Tomorrow we are going to...

and we are going to eat...

Hooray!

I am crazy in love with Spaghetti Factory... and I'm hungry.
If you are in Portland tomorrow, call us- we'll eat OSF together and be merry.

Wow!

2006-11-29T19:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging comments! I love how random the comments were from that last post :)

To answer your questions:

Micki- Yes, it is scary. I had no idea how much went into buying a house and starting over in a new area. We would love for you to visit. Once we get into a house, we'll have a guest room set up and ready for you and your husband!

Melanie- I'm so glad we are in closer proximity... next time we're up in the area we should get some Old Spaghetti Factory. You gotta love traditions that include tasty food.

Zoey- We miss you SO MUCH! Your comments make me laugh, and that is something I need right now. I think we should set you up with a blog of your own, don't you? I LOVE YOU!

Kelli- Thank you for the encouragement. With all that's going on, I have to remind myself not to throw up on an hourly basis. Call me sometime when things aren't crazy- I miss you, friend!

Pete- When you come to visit, if we're living in a cardboard box, we'll put an addition on just for you! Um... do you think you could squeeze into an apple box? (They give those out for free at the grocery store)

Danae- How's the new place treating you? I hope you have some good Nancy stories for us! PS- the phone company said they cut off service October 30th and said, "Maybe the new tenants are a little nutty". I had to agree with her- just a little :)

Wyndee- We are looking forward to hanging out with you guys. If we get this house, you are more than welcome to come on over!

Donna- Bertie STILL carries around that squeaky duck from John... constantly! We're still waiting to hear on the house (our offer was accepted but there is more paperwork to go through before it's finalized), and are in the process of signing over our combined financial future to brokers and lenders.

It's a house!

2006-11-22T10:47:00.000-06:00

Matthew and I found a house that we will hopefully be putting in an offer on in the next day or so! I attached pictures so please feel free to give us your opinion. At this point, I feel nauseated just thinking about buying something as big as a house, so please say nice things for my sake :) It is a 2 story house with an unfinished basement (great possibilities and a really good investment I've been told). The upstairs has 3 bedrooms, a living room, a little area for our dining table, and the kitchen (about 1235 sq ft upstairs and 1000 sq ft downstairs). It was built in 2004 so it still has most of the clean, new feeling (though we'll have to do some thorough carpet cleaning b/c the single guy that lived there before had lots of parties).

Coming from flat Minnesota, these super tall decks are quite a shock from up there... but it is pretty cool to look out over such a neat area, and suprisingly we'll still be able to landscape a flat area in the back yard.

Check out that view!
It could be quite entertaining watching all of the neighbors from up there.

Ah.... okay.

2006-11-21T19:34:00.000-06:00

Just in case you weren't all aware of this news story from today...

There were protests at airports all across the country on Tuesday against Delta airlines, including one at HIA. Delta is under fire from breast feeding moms and their supporters after kicking a nursing mother off a Vermont flight last month.

”This is just reflective of an overall societal attitude that discriminates against breastfeeding women, and denies a basic human right to a child,” said "Salem," Steelton.

The group of moms and their children are staged a "Nurse-in" at the Delta airlines counter at HIA. It’s their response to delta's decision to kick a breastfeeding mom off a flight after she refused to cover up.

Even the littlest "lactivists" were working hard, but not for long. Security showed up saying they needed a permit to protest. So they all moved outside to continue sharing their message.

”It's time that the entire country wake up and realize that breasts are nothing to be ashamed of,” said Alexis Abeln, Enola. It's the sexual objectification of women- some say- which leads to a lack of tolerance for breastfeeding and its benefits to baby.

While this group is appalled by delta's actions, they believe the airline can still redeem itself. “I would be happy to fly Delta, if I could walk on the plane and see this symbol proudly displayed with a sign that says they welcome breastfeeding moms. I’d fly Delta every time if I saw that.”

Okay, so comments anyone?

My opinion: I think it's great that so many women still choose to feed their babies naturally.... that doesn't mean I want to watch. I agree that it was not appropriate for the airline to kick the woman off the flight, but I don't understand why she wouldn't just throw a blanket over her shoulder.

Is anyone else amused at the thought of walking into an airport today, as an unsuspecting traveler, to hundreds of women staging a 'nurse-in'? Awk-ward.

Authorization To Disclose Health Information.

2006-11-20T01:47:00.000-06:00

Right before Matthew and I left Willmar, we ran around town requesting copies of our medical records just in case we need them out here in Oregon. I started reading mine tonight and I have to tell you, it's quite interesting to read how my doctors described me in their reports. After reading the following remarks, you'll understand why I highly recommend you do the same- even if you aren't moving and just need a pick-me-up.

08/28/90
"62 1/2 pounds. Height 55 1/2. This plots out for Cristina to be on approximately the 10th percentile in height and slightly less in the fifth percentile in weight." (In 7th grade- it's no wonder I got picked on all the time!)

08/27/94
"Chief Complaint: Foreign body, stepped on pencil.
History: Bottom of her right foot. She has a laceration .5 cm long, it is fairly deep...x-ray confirms foreign body presence... a t-shaped incision is then made...small fragment of lead is then removed, but more is suspected to be there."

05/03/95
"Cristina is a very pleasant young lady. She is thin and small with very fair skin. She has dark hair and numerous pigmented macules studded across her posterior shoulders." (macules=freckles)
"No evidence of scabies" (Wow, what a relief!)

02/01/98
"A 19-year old white female, college student, who was seen in the emergency room because of abdominal pain and found to have a presumed appendicitis and being admitted at this time."

01/15/03 (from an East Indian doctor to my normal family practice doctor)
"I had the pleasure of seeing Cristina in the GI clinic regarding her recurrent episodes of abdominal pain... thank you very much for letting me participate in her care. As you are well aware of, Cristina is a pleasant 24 year old white female..."

Aww... thanks, guys. Your reports gave me all sorts of warm fuzzies.

House hunting

2006-11-19T16:01:00.000-06:00

Matthew and I went house hunting with my parents yesterday- man, that was crazy! We looked at so many places that my head is still spinning. Being here is still so surreal (we HAVE only been here 2 days). I find myself missing all things Willmar. I'm sure that's normal when nothing is familiar. At least I'll try to convince myself of it.

Today we went to church with my parents, which was neat. When we got there, a woman named Sharon was greeting people as they came in the door. I noticed she had part of her arm missing, and when I approached, she took me into a big, enveloping hug. It was perfect and needed. She pressed her cheek up against mine, and I felt like I was back in Willmar getting a hug from Kathy Palke or Gail Nelson. I'm sure she has no idea how much God used her to bless me today- someone she'd never seen before.

It's raining today, so I'm not sure if we'll go out house hunting again today. I'm starting to get a little nervous about us being able to afford a house of our own- I'm sure another normal feeling for first time home owners. The housing market here is so strange- new houses are the same price as older, fixer uppers. What's that about!?! So we'll probably end up getting a new home, which I totally don't feel like I deserve, especially since my parents are currently living in a fixer-upper. We are looking forward to having our own space to decorate, after several years of ooing and ahhing at Jon&Kelli's house :)

Mike and Sally- you two are amazing! Last night we got back to my parents' house after 9 hours of house hunting, to find flowers waiting for us on the porch. We miss you! Maybe we could convince the next door neighbors to move out so we can be neighbors again. The flowers are beautiful- thank you!

WE MADE IT!!!

2006-11-18T02:37:00.000-06:00

So here I sit, in my parents' living room in Oregon, incredibly disoriented. The last couple of weeks were a whirlwind, but we have been so blessed throughout our journey. 3,100 miles of driving in a truck, hauling an incredibly heavy trailer was a little stressful with all of the mountains we had to pass over, but we made it in one piece without incidence! It was so wonderful being able to visit friends and family along the way.

After several nights of motels, we stopped in Phoenix, Arizona and had a great time with Rachel Ledeboer and all of her friends. We were also able to see my grandparents that I haven't seen in 6 years, and Matthew had never met- so that was pretty special. We then headed to Rebecca DeHoog's house in Southern California, and stayed with her family on their dairy. The next day we drove to Los Gatos, California to stay with Donna and John Jackson. We fell in love with that city, and had a great time with those two in their apartment. John gave our dog, Bertie, a stuffed duck that she is completely obsessed with (thanks, John)!

Thank you for your hospitality- we had a blast with all of you!

Bertie loved sleeping on my lap all 3,100 miles, and waking up to a new home everyday. Being litterbox trained, she was just getting the hang of finding patches of grass to potty on... then we take her to the southwest where grass doesn't seem to exist. The poor dog kept holding it until she'd find a suitable place. We're hoping that we'll find a house here with a big, grassy backyard just for her.

Speaking of houses, tomorrow we are going house hunting! We have some good prospects, and are excited to start the process. Until we find a place, we'll stay with my parents, who have been so welcoming. We have only been here a few hours, though!

Willmar friends, we miss you. Thank you for the amazing send-off! Jon and Kelli, thank you for inviting us to stay with you and Rayna during our final days in Willmar. Erica, Kristina, Leah, Micah, and Kelli, thank you for helping us clean our apartment before leaving... as well as the guys that helped us pack our trailer (Jon, Mike, Shane). I can't even begin to tell you all how much you blessed us- especially when I was so sick and not able to work as hard as I wanted to. Jennelle(Zoey and Jake too) and Alyssa- thank you for the sweet care packages you sent along with us! We can't wait to see you all again!!!

In the meanwhile, we'll keep you all updated on what's happening here. Lots and lots of changes!

packing.

2006-10-29T10:00:00.000-06:00

Most people that have walked into our apartment to help us pack, get this glazed over look in their eye as they mutter, "Whoa..." It is unbelievable how much stuff you can accumulate and not even know it! When we pulled everything out of cupboards and closets, the reality that, "We have to pack all of this stuff into THAT trailer!?" All along I've been praying that God will make the inside of our trailer bigger than the outside... sort of like the bread and fish expansion.

Aside from the emotional and physical stress of packing up and leaving our apartment and close friends, God has really been good to us these last few weeks. Matthew being approved for permanent residency to the U.S. (his card came in the mail a couple of days ago). Our car and one truck broke down, but they turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The car part that broke was a recall, so we'll eventually get a refund check for the $300 we dropped there. The truck, well I can only imagine how much fun that would've been to break down in the middle of the desert somewhere on the way to Oregon. Yikes. But we are all set there!

Matthew and I both had our last days of work yesterday. Goodbyes are not so much fun. I find myself wanting to hold onto the 'lasts', and extend them into 'maybe not the last, even thought I know it is the last'. Last night I went into Walmart at1am to pick up my nephew Jake's birthday present (we're heading over there today) and talked to our usual, late-night cash register woman. We don't know her aside from our late night Walmart adventures we used to go on all the time (we've always had a few laughs with her). Anyways, I told her we're moving to Oregon and she got really sad. I had to actually console her by saying, "Maybe we'll see you before we leave, and we'll be back to visit." It was quite heartwarming that a Walmart cashier will miss us so much!

Our biggest task now, aside from getting the rest of our apartment packed up and cleaned, is selling our 2 remaining vehicles. Anybody know anyone that needs a '00 Ford Focus or a '96 Ford Ranger? We are currently taking offers :)

packing.

2006-10-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

Most people that have walked into our apartment to help us pack, get this glazed over look in their eye as they mutter, "Whoa..." It is unbelievable how much stuff you can accumulate and not even know it! When we pulled everything out of cupboards and closets, the reality that, "We have to pack all of this stuff into THAT trailer!?" All along I've been praying that God will make the inside of our trailer bigger than the outside... sort of like the bread and fish expansion.

Aside from the emotional and physical stress of packing up and leaving our apartment and close friends, God has really been good to us these last few weeks. Matthew being approved for permanent residency to the U.S. (his card came in the mail a couple of days ago). Our car and one truck broke down, but they turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The car part that broke was a recall, so we'll eventually get a refund check for the $300 we dropped there. The truck, well I can only imagine how much fun that would've been to break down in the middle of the desert somewhere on the way to Oregon. Yikes. But we are all set!

Matthew and I both had our last days of work yesterday. Goodbyes are not so much fun. I find myself wanting to hold onto the 'lasts', and extend them into 'maybe not the last, even thought I know it is the last'. Last night I went into Walmart at1am to pick up my nephew Jake's birthday present (we're heading over there today) and talked to our usual, late-night cash register woman. We don't know her aside from our late night Walmart adventures we used to go on all the time (we've always had a few laughs with her). Anyways, I told her we're moving to Oregon and she got really sad. I had to actually console her by saying, "Maybe we'll see you before we leave, and we'll be back to visit." It was quite heartwarming that a Walmart cashier will miss us so much!

Our biggest task now, aside from getting the rest of our apartment packed up and cleaned, is selling our 2 remaining vehicles. Anybody know anyone that needs a '00 Ford Focus or a '96 Ford Ranger? We are currently taking offers.

2006-10-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday this story was printed on the front page of our local newspaper. The picture grabbed my attention for obvious reasons- come on, how often does a house just explode!?! Then I found out that this house belongs to (one of my favorite people in the world) Rachel's sister. Jenny's husband, Joe, has been renovating this house for over 2 years (living with Rachel's parents), getting it ready for the two of them and their two little ones. Unfortunately, they will never get to live in it.

Amazingly, nobody was there when the explosion occured. They were planning to move in months ago, but thankfully that hadn't happened yet. The fire department said if anyone had been in the house at the time of the explosion, it is unlikely they would've survived the blast. All of those frustrating delays seem to have been God's way of protecting that family. It really stinks that this happened at all (please pray for this family as they have to deal with cleaning up pieces of their house all over the neighborhood) ... but they are safe, and that is amazing.

Debris lines the exterior Monday of a residence along the 4500 block of 194th Avenue S.W. in Roseland after an explosion early Monday morning. The house, which was in the stages of renovation, was unoccupied at the time of the explosion.

The meeting.

2006-10-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

So yesterday we had our marriage interrogation meeting in the twin cities- for Matthew's Canadian vs. United States paperwork. Here is what happened:

-We got up at 5:30am to make sure we'd get to the 8am meeting on time.

-The weather was terrible, so we ended up stuck in traffic, chewing off our fingers.

-Arrived, miraculously at 8:05am.

-Went through numerous security checkpoints, frantically trying to empty our pockets and get scanned, while attempting to not look like crazy people.

-Waited for what seemed like an eternity. Up until this point, Matthew chose to keep a couple of key items to himself, which would've been helpful to his ignorant wife.
A) If an 'alien' is late for this particular meeting, they can easily be deported, all paperwork thrown out. That boy would've been out of bed at 4am, sitting on the curb of that government building waiting for them to open if I'd known that!
B) It is not wise for the wife of said 'alien' to ask questions such as 'what city does your Dad live in again?" while sitting in the waiting room before this meeting that is to prove the marriage to be genuine. Apparently there are cameras situated around the waiting room.

Fortunately, an officer eventually came to collect us from the waiting room. She brought us through several doors that required her to punch in codes, then to her office where we were sworn in and asked general questions about our life together. After only about 15 minutes, she calmly says, "Well, I'm going to approve you today." We were so shocked that we asked her several times, "You mean for permanent residency?" She said, yes, and that Matthew can now travel in and out of the US as much as he wants... AHHHHHHHhhhhhh... I cannot even tell you what a relief it was to hear her say those words after 3 years of getting nowhere in his paperwork, she approves him in 15 minutes.

But the story gets even better.

She then says, "I wouldn't normally tell you this, but since I've already approved you, I'll share something with you. I'm originally from Paynesville (near our town). Last night I happened to be there with my family, and since my brother used to be involved in Youth For Christ (Matthew used to work there, and it was listed on his paperwork) I asked my family a few questions about you." Her younger brother was in Matthew's ministry 3 years ago! Matthew remembered her brother really well, so they shared a couple of stories, and that was the end of our meeting! We got it!

I love that God added that exclamation point to the end of this process. Our being late to this meeting could very well have been the end of Matthew living in the U.S., but He had other plans. We were pardoned for our lateness by an officer that just happened to be from a town near ours, who just happened to have a brother who really looked up to Matthew... I don't believe in coincidences. Our case was meant to fall into her hands... and if it took 3 years for that to happen, then so be it!

Lasts.

2006-10-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

This morning when I woke up I realized this would be my last Saturday to sleep in while living in our apartment. With so many noisy thoughts, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I didn't really 'sleep in' by sleeping in standards. Thankfully there's still the Saturday laziness goal to achieve. It is now 11:49am and I'm sitting here in my pj's with messy hair and morning breath. When I first woke up I started in with the packing, but said to myself, "Cristina, this is your LAST lazy Saturday morning for a long time!" So here I sit.

In a couple of hours when Matthew returns from drum lessons, he and I will be off and running. We have several errands to run, then we'll head to my sister's house (see cute kid pictures from a couple of posts ago). We'll spend the next couple of days there before we have our big interview with government officials Monday morning. They will decide for us if we are married because we love each other vs. married just to keep Matthew from being deported back to Canada. We should probably make a list of things to fight about in front of the officials- they might be a bit suspicious if we are too lovey. Ideas are welcome.

It is no longer snowing. Oh wait, I haven't looked outside yet today. Hold on. Nope, no snow. Oh, I forgot to share a little story with you guys! Wednesday night when it was snowing like crazy, I decided to take Bertie out to play in the first snow of the season. Poorly dressed (wearing a t-shirt), I locked myself out of the apartment building by accident. It was so cold, and with all of the snow, I couldn't find rocks to throw at the window to get Matthew's attention. He had no clue I was even outside! Not one of my best moments.

Still snowing.

2006-10-12T14:31:00.000-05:00

I took this picture on the steps at work this morning- I guess I spoke too soon yesterday!

Hello, Winter.

2006-10-11T09:55:00.000-05:00

Two days ago it was in the 70's. Now it is in the 30's... and snowing.

It probably won't accumulate as much as your see in this picture, but give it a few weeks... we'll get there. The flakes look like little dip'n dot balls caught in a tornado. Despite the freezing cold wind, I am entertained by the dancing dots.

Somehow I feel to blame for today's weather. Yesterday I gave in to the urge to blast Christmas music in my office. I'm sorry, Willmar. I am not sorry, however, that I will soon be bathed in a 50-60 degree winter rather than snot freezing windchills and 5 months of snow!

(This is me enjoying a bowl of dip'n dot snow flakes)

Cherry + Cherry = Lost

2006-10-10T19:08:00.000-05:00

Yeah, that's right. Point and laugh all you want. We fell into the deep dark 'Lost' hole and can't seem to find our way out. A week ago we started watching Lost season one, thanks to Jon and Kelli. Now, well now we have robbed ourselves of any meaningful sleep and chewed off any evindence of fingernails. 34 episodes later, we're smack in the middle of season two.

We are addicted. So um... I must go now.

time flies...

2006-10-04T15:31:00.000-05:00

Since I last posted, Matthew and I became parents. So what if it was only for a weekend- we managed to keep three kids alive for 3 whole days! We had my sister's three kids while she and her hubby had a (long overdue) romantic anniversary weekend.

I cannot even tell you how much we love those kids. They have great personalities- so unique and full of life. Usually when we've had the kids in the past, it's just been Jake and Zoey... so throwing 1-year old Kyla in the mix was quite the adventure. Thankfully she's a really easy baby as far as babies go. I only had to gag through one dirty diaper the whole weekend!

EPIK

2006-09-28T18:30:00.000-05:00

This is a shot of the cafe down below. At top left is the room where we'll have gaming systems set up for students to come with their friends after school during the week. They can also come early on our Wednesday nights too.

The other half of the lower level (I'm on the balcony) looking towards the front doors. The desk to the left of the doors is guest services where everyone has to register. Adults are not allowed to wander around unless they are a leader or a registered guest. To the right (you can't see it in this pic) is the gym (wood floor), pool tables, and future home of a climbing wall. This is right after they opened the doors for students to come in.

Me, Leah, Carrie, and a 300-seat packed auditorium.

Jon Hohm, youth pastor extraordinaire!

Matthew (my one and only) leading worship. I was so blown away at the energy during worship- it was so tangible! The team did SO GREAT- even memorized their songs so they wouldn't be staring at music stands and have more freedom to worship too.

This is a guest artist/speaker they brought in for opening night. He did GREAT! This is how he ended the night- had really powerful music playing and tied together his message with this powerful visual aide. The message was about the God-shaped hole in each of our hearts, placed there at birth, and how we spend our lives trying to fit things in there that don't fit. Students were given time to visualize the things they've been trying to force into that hole.

He invited students to come forward that identified with his message, prayed over them/with them... then asked them each to walk by the painting and touch the shape they identified with, to serve as a reminder when they left. It's so easy to step outside of a powerful moment like that and forget what you promised yourself and God that you would take care of. Many students commented on how powerful the message was. 5 students came forward, never having had a personal relationship with Christ, wanting one.

When I look back on my life so far, I can recall moments where I've felt God's presence in such a full, tangible way... this will forever be one of those moments I'll remember and cherish that I was able to be apart of. My heart was so full, seeing so many new faces, feeling the excitement of so many students worshiping God together... this is truly a dream realized for so many that have wanted a place where students can really feel they belong (especially those that have never felt they've 'belonged' anywhere).

What an amazing night!!!

Epicenter... OPEN!

2006-09-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the first night of youth group in the brand new building.... YEAH! It has been such a long time in the making, that we are all feeling a bit of the Christmas morning anticipation. I had a hard time sitting in my chair at work today- partly because I had a constant flow of sludge out my nostrils, mostly because I'm excited about tonight.

I can't wait to see area students flood this place to worship Jesus!!! I'm going to take some pictures during the service and I'll post them (hopefully) later tonight.

Ode to a Tylenol.

2006-09-25T23:23:00.000-05:00

Today at work the flu turned sinus infection, turned into a huge migraine! It was the weirdest thing- it actually started out as a pain in my arm. My left arm was hurting and tingling the whole morning, and then when the migraine appeared, my arm was fine. What is wrong with me!?!

Anyways, it was quite the accomplishment that I made it home without incident. Ever have those moments where you get to a destination, then completely blank out on the whole drive there? Extreme headaches will do that to you. So I get to our apartment building, drag myself up to the 3rd floor, crash on the couch and realize we have no medicine I can take for this migraine/sinus pressure.

Thankfully, 2 hours later Matthew came home with extra strength Tylenol. He also brought me some fall colored roses to cheer me up from this week of nasty sickness, and made supper for us. Awww... Ironically, when he went to 'tuck me in' on the couch there was a HUGE spider on the blanket. *shudder* Even delirious, I was across the room huddled against the wall in .2 seconds!

Now, 4 hours later, my headache is down to a dull pain... hooray! Thank you, commenters, for your encouragement in the last few days. It really blessed my heart... love to you all.

sick.

2006-09-23T18:25:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my absense. I just wanted to give a quick explanation why I've been gone. I came down with the flu last Tuesday and have been sick ever since. It's not been a real pleasant week. Thankfully I work for the best, most understanding people ever, and was able to get most of the bug under control by sleeping A LOT. Wednesday I woke up at 8, went back to sleep at 9 (with some help from medicine) woke up at 3pm, then fell asleep for another couple of hours... and still managed to fall asleep that night!

Crazy how our bodies go into hibernation mode when they are trying to heal, isn't it?

Today has been my most productive day this week. I read for a long time, cut/filed our dog's nails and bathed/dryed her, then cleaned the bathroom. My fever is getting to me, though, so I'm off to lie down.

Hope you're all having a great weekend...

Home sweet home.

2006-09-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

I have an update on the offer Matthew and I placed on the cute house in Oregon with the little pond in front. The people that put their offer in right before us, finally found financing to back up their offer... and thus, they will be living in 'our house'. I think we'll introduce them to the art of tp-ing when we get out there. Kidding.

Good news, though! We put in an offer on another house. It's a little cozy, but it has a nice size yard for our dog, and it's a little more in our price range.

Bug? Poxer?

2006-09-12T00:48:00.000-05:00

This is my my sister's newest baby, Daisy. Although I think this week her name is Mollie. They ended up changing it after finding out the first name was not so original. Our cousins picked the same name for their new puppy... Daisy the Boston Terrier.

I wonder how she'll feel when she grows up to find out she was the product of artificial insemination. I don't think she'll mind with everyone fawning over her. Definitely the cutest mixed breed I've ever seen, although I wonder if they were mistaken and bred a boxer with a gremlin. You should see the way this puppy terrorizes their full-grown black lab!

Oh yes...

2006-09-12T00:39:00.000-05:00

Matthew and I had quite a successful intervention session with my nephew Jakey. For some reason he grew to hate having his picture taken. At 4 years old, I can only guess that stems from one too many women saying, "Oh, aren't you just the cutest little thing! Hold still... just one more. Oh shoot the flash didn't go off that time. Wait- GET BACK OVER THERE AND SMILE!"

For the last year or so he HATED the sight of cameras. But last weekend we were there for Zoey's birthday, and the kid was all about the pictures! "Tina, take a picture of me and Maffew." He is quite the adorable, chipmunk cheeked little boy- not quite so obvious in this shot because of the face mashing.

This weekend.

2006-09-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

I bought this pendant at the Arts/Crafts Fair yesterday.

That place was insanely exhausting- white tents everywhere!

Even though most of the stuff there was kitch, it was neat to think

about all of the work that went into everything being sold. After

many hours of looking at crocheted pumpkins and potpourri, I was

really excited to find this artist's hand glazed pendants.

Very cool... and only $4 for this one!

Then I came home to this man outside our window.
Why is this so odd?
We live on the 3rd floor of our apartment building.

He spent hours outside our window pounding and scraping. Apparently our building is getting a fresh coat of paint. Our dog, Bertie, was so confused that a man was right outside our window that she didn't even bark at him- just watched. Pretty unusual for a dog that freaks out anytime she hears the slightest noise outside our front door. Pretty unusual to have a strange man making friends with our dog from a 30 foot ladder outside our window.

Friday.

2006-09-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

I'm becoming increasingly aware of my accident prone tendencies. With crazy life changes come difficulty to pay attention to something so menial as keeping my body safe. In the last 2 weeks I have received 3 deep tissue bruises. One to my hand playing ultimate frisbee (my entire thumb and palm swelled up and turned black and green... the second happened last weekend and was by far the most painful. I nailed my knee on a minivan door when I was jumping out. I don't know what I hit it on, but I immediately plastered myself against the front entrance of the store my sister and I were going into and declared myself unable to walk. People were staring. Now, nearly a week later, my entire kneecap is dark purple with white chunks. The pain is still there too, so I think the next step is an x-ray to see if I chipped it or something. Oh, and the third bruise happened this morning. I was carrying Officemax supplies into work when one of the bags disintegrated and a giant 3-hole punch fell on my flip-flop clad foot. Not nearly as impressive looking as the kneecap, but the day is still young!

Tomorrow I'm going with a friend to a HUGE event in Little Falls, MN. It is an arts/crafts/flea market, and from what I've heard, it's the biggest in the state! I'm really looking forward to this weekend in general... I think it will be a lot less stressful since I won't be 'going to Ireland in 5 days'. Ireland... sigh...

Tuesday.

2006-09-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

Wow, Ireland was terrific! Um... kidding. Because everything happened so close to the departure date, and over a holiday weekend, we couldn't get tickets changed in time (without costing the company nearly the entire profit for the tour). So here I am. A bit disappointed but a little relieved. Being that we put an offer on house #2 a few days ago, this week we will be finding out if we own our first home. I suppose it's good to stay in the country for such occasions.

Hey, we got our interview letter from the government! Only a couple of years late, but we'll take it! This is the meeting where they talk to each of us seperately, asking us all sorts of questions about our marriage, to see if it's legit. I keep picturing this dark room with a metal table and a bright lamp being held over my head by a beady eyed officer:

"In centimeters, how tall is Matthew Shane Brian Cherry?"
Sweat dripping down my cheek, "I... uh...I... I CAN'T REMEMBER!"
"Ma'am, we're going to have to deport your 'husband'. How do you expect us to believe that you are in a committed marriage if you can't recall something so trivial? Oh, and I'm going to have to shave your head because you are such a bad wife. Now get out of my sight!"

My Day.

2006-09-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

Here is how my day has gone so far:

-Matthew and I put an offer on House #2. It is technically a back-up offer because someone beat us to the punch. The other people's finances aren't looking good, though, so we have a good shot at it still.

-HUGE crisis at work today. Very stressful and heartwrenching. Being that most everyone I work with (at the tour company) are all immediate family members... things get a bit stressful if there is a family emergency. Where does this leave me, the company graphic designer?

-Unexpectedly leading a 10-day tour to Ireland... in 5 days.

work, play, sleep... all in one handy location!

2006-08-30T18:05:00.000-05:00

Matthew and I are entering the mixed up world of owning a home. Seriously, I'm scared to death. Not of owning a house, but not being able to pay for said house. We've been dreaming about this moment for so long (everytime our scizophrenic neighbor comes to harass us) but now I am plagued with the what-ifs. What if Matthew is forced to quit his job by our friendly US government AGAIN? What if I get pregnant and can't work? What if our money doesn't stretch as far as we think it will. Somebody slap me PLEASE!

I'm worrying too much, I know. Okay, it ends here. You are all my witnesses. If you catch me worrying about this again, I give you permission to kick me in the knee then pull out 5 eyebrow hairs. Eyelashes are off limits because, well, they are still white and rather delicate. You wouldn't pull out a white eyelash would you?! They are practically an endangered species.

Anyways, we are looking seriously at a couple of homes in Roseburg, and here is your chance to put in your 2 cents. Opinions please!

This first house is located on Broccoli Street and well, how neat would it be to live on a street named after my favorite vegetable?

Plus, this house reminds me of Jon and Kelli's house. We love Jon & Kelli... so that means we must love this house.

Here are the bonuses to this house:
-fireplace in the living room
-newly updated kitchen
-landscaped yard
-lots of space inside to 'spread out'
-wood floors- nice, dark, wood floors.

This second house is only a year old. It's in a new neighborhood that is currently being developed. New neighborhood= young neighbors.
Here are the bonuses to this house:
-really neat fountain in the front walkway
-office right inside that window overlooking said fountain (with french doors!) Since I will be working from home, an office is huge in my book.
-two sinks in the master bathroom. Matthew is determined to prove that my sink will be dirtier than his. Yeah right. Hairy face means hairy sink!
-huge deck in the back that overlooks mountains and any new neighbors that will inhabit the upcoming houses (we'll always have a view because the house is built on a hill.
-2 stall garage to escape the winter rain. I've never owned a garage before... or anything else with walls! This is exciting!

Held.

2006-08-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

"This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is
torn from your life And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held."

This song by Natalie Grant took on so much meaning when it was played at a student in our youth ministry's funeral this spring. If you haven't heard it before, check it out on itunes- you won't be sorry you spent $.99 on it.

Last Saturday when we were on lunch break from installing the used theatre seats into the Epicenter, Jon's Dad (Mike) sat down next to me on the front lawn. We sat and talked for a really long time, and I can honestly say that was one of the most meaningful conversations I've had in a long time. Jon's birthday was the day before, so the whole family was in town to spend time together. The pain is still so fresh, yet he chose to spend his day working on the youth center that Jon was so looking forward to being apart of. I doubt Mike has any idea what an impact he makes on the people he talks to (as well as the rest of his family). He told me about the groups he is now involved with; grieving family support groups (within the church and with families that don't know the Lord), organ donor advocating, as well as the amazing involvement he still has at the school Jon attended (the students still flock to their house to spend time with Mike and Gwen). We also talked about how we cannot truly understand someone else's pain until we've been there personally... and that suffering can be a doorway to a powerful ministry (or despair).

I was blown away that Mike would sit down next to me, even though we'd never had a conversation longer than about 5 words before that day. He really blessed me with his outlook on life- real, without cliches, and full of peace. In the midst of his sadness, he poured unexpected wisdom into my life, and mine and Matthew's upcoming move to Oregon. Mike, if you ever read this- thank you.

I heard that Natalie Grant song on the radio tonight when I was driving home from Kelly's, and it really got me. Why does life have to be full of so many goodbyes? I can't help but feel a knot in my throat everytime I think about saying goodbye to people I love in two months. We'll visit, yeah, but it won't be the same. Lives are forever changing. Even if we stay in Willmar, one by one our friends would move away themselves. I'm trusting that God will carry me through this transition to Oregon in one piece. Being tossed back and forth from Minnesota to Oregon as a kid...this move is going to be really emotionally confusing for me. It's easier thinking about staying in Minnesota rather than reliving past hurt. Safety is not a good excuse, though, to hide behind doors that seemingly have been flung wide open for Matthew and I.

So when I sat in my car listening to that song, I had one of those rare glimpses of what Heaven will be like. No more death. No more sadness. No more goodbyes.

Home again.

2006-08-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

We arrived home awhile ago from our weekend in the cities. What a blast!!! There were 12 of us altogether (leaders from our youth group) and we had such a good time together. We stayed in the Grand Lodge across from the Mall of America and IKEA, which has a waterpark attached to it. This was not just a rinky dink waterpark- this place was HUGE! They had a series of waterslides, all different styles- story single rider, double on a tube, 3 or 4 on a big tube, and a 10 story single rider. They also had the surf and boogie board machine, a wave pool, several hot tubs, a huge kids area, and a river that floats you around the whole place. It usually costs $32 per person per day, but when you stay in this hotel, you get a free pass.

I have to admit, when I first heard we were all going to a waterpark, I was a bit hesitant- like somehow I shouldn't be enjoying waterslides because I'm 28 years old. Why is it that just because we are adults now, we give up on our adventurous, inner child? It felt so good- screaming the entire way down several crazy slides that seemed to go forever. I especially loved the part when I'd get ejected from my tube at the end- I'm sure because Matthew is a bit heavier than I am. The surf machine really got my heart going, too. Not just because it was hard trying balance on a board on top of incredibly powerful waterflow, but because they only allowed one person at a time and tons of people were standing around watching. Oh, and because we saw several people lose their swimsuits during their turn! The lifeguard at the top of the machine was always waiting with a towl to throw on someone who didn't tighten their swim trunks enough. One kid completely flashed everybody, and didn't really seem to care! I managed to keep my swimsuit on and stay up for awhile... by no means a pro, though.

In any case, as myself, Matthew, and another leader were waiting in line (she's about 35)... we talked about how important it is to do things you wouldn't normally do (things that scare you or make you feel foolish) because it keeps us young, both physically and mentally. As soon as you give up on your inner child, you start feeling old. She has two kids and can really connect with them on their level because she's willing to do things most moms won't, like skiing and racing bmx bikes. I think that is so great. I want to be that kind of mom someday... and I want to take my kids back to this waterpark- what a place!

Waterpark Weekend

2006-08-26T00:10:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is going to start early for the Cherry household. We are installing and cleaning the theatre seats in the Epik youth building tomorrow morning at 8am. Exciting, thinking about how soon we'll be crossing the finish line and area students will be swarming the place! Since I won't be able to sleep in tomorrow, I had myself a little nap tonight. I fell asleep for about 3 hours on the couch! I've been exhausted the last few days- Matthew said I started snoring really loud. Of course he didn't bother to stop me... he just sat there watching MIB and random tv shows. The shows he picked all worked their way into my dream plots, which was not always so enjoyable.

At noon tomorrow, we are heading to the twin cities to stay at the Grand Lodge Hotel across from the Mall of America. I guess this place has a ginormous waterpark including a surfing area. I haven't surfed since I lived in Hawaii on a YWAM base, so this should be great! And what a blessing that we get to spend the weekend with some of our closest friends in the meanwhile. We also get to go to IKEA to pick up some things for the Epicenter... yeah!!!

Our weekend plans will leave Bertie home alone for the next two days. I guess we just have to trust that we've taught her well- that she won't open the door for strangers or call up all of her friends for a party. She's been walking around all suspicious looking - like she's hiding something! You sneaky little dog, you.

11:08pm

2006-08-22T23:13:00.000-05:00

Time to share a little letter I like to call "Goodbye Willmar". We sent this out to our family and friends here in town with mixed feelings.

To Our Closest Friends and Family,

You are a true blessing in our lives, and that is why you are receiving this letter. We are writing to let you know about some exciting changes about to take place for us this Fall, and to ask that you cover us with your prayers during this transitional time. Because of several doors opened to us, we are planning a move to Roseburg, Oregon.

Matthew has accepted an offer for part ownership in Inerseshen, a Christian Media company, in Roseburg, where he will be a designer and videographer. What started as a casual meeting, exchanging ideas in the parking lot of a Sizzler, has since turned into an incredible career opportunity. Not only will he be doing something he loves, but this company shares our passion for missions. Each summer, Inerseshen takes time off to offer their media services to overseas missionaries. They recently returned from ministering in Kenya.

As many of you already know, Cristina's parents (Doug & Kathleen) moved out to Roseburg nearly three years ago. We are looking forward to living near them again, as well as other family, not too far from our new town. Being realtors, Doug & Kathleen will be helping us pick out our first home, which, after several years of apartment dwelling, we are thrilled about.
When we began praying about Matthew taking the position with Inerseshen, Cristina had many questions about what she would do for a job. She has been working for R&J Tours, a local Christian tour company, as their graphic designer. God has blessed Cristina with a great position at R&J and the thought of leaving has been hard on her. God answered this dilemma, however, when R&J offered to let her take the position with her to Oregon. We will be setting up an office in our home, where she will continue to design all of R&J's catalogs and advertising.

With these exciting changes, obviously comes heartache as well. We have grown close to many wonderful people and, although our friendships will continue, we will miss the frequent interaction very much. We understand this transition will come with many challenges, which is why we covet your prayers.

Our plan is to be ready to move early November. During our remaining few months here, we are looking forward to spending some quality time with you.

Thank you for enriching our lives, we love you.

Matthew & Cristina Cherry.... and Bertie!

Some of you we will be seeing a lot more of once we move, others we will be really sad to say goodbye to. The latter group, we WILL keep in touch... our friendships are not over because we won't see each other every week. Anything worth having, is worth fighting for.

Besides, you've always wanted to see what Oregon looks like, RIGHT!?!

Radio killed the graphic designer.

2006-08-19T12:42:00.000-05:00

The other day at work we got a call from the radio station in town. They heard about our catalog with the wrong phone number- news travels fast in a small town. They want to do a 'lighthearted story' about it. Uh yeah... not interested. I was slightly irritated that they even called to ask if they could make a laughing stock of a highly respected company. Most of the 20,000 people in Willmar didn't even receive our catalog (most of our clients are from the twin cities). Those that did, we've already taken care of it.

But enough about that ordeal. Let's talk about something else.

It's Saturday! Matthew and I have been so busy lately that there are probably 5 or 10 things I'm forgetting to do right now. This weekend we are trying to get our vehicles in working order. Our new truck must be sad that the Focus is in the repair shop. Last night when we took Shane and Amanda to the ski show (all of us crammed into the front seat), the CHECK ENGINE light came on. Even though the bill for the Focus is at a running total of over $300, we trust that God knows what's happening. In the end, we'll be fine. We have to 'roll with the punches', Matthew says. I love you, wise husband!

Do you guys want to see something great? Go to: http://web.mac.com/wajero/iWeb/waderobson/Ramalama.html
I got addicted to the show 'So You Think You Can Dance' this season. I loved the energy of the dancers and creativity of the choreographers. This dance was one of my favorites. Yeah, it's a little strange- victorian zombies dancing around- but I really like it. I bought the song off itunes the other day. Matthew and I love dancing to it like maniacs. If you're interested, it's 'Ramalama (Bang Bang)' by Roisin Murphy. Check it out!

I imagined today going so differently.

2006-08-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today was the day to end all days.

My car decided it didn't want to go with me to work today. It wouldn't start. I'm pretty sure that stemmed from last night's automatic lock breakdown. Matthew decided to check the fuses last night and I think the Focus felt a little violated. Nonetheless, it was next to impossible to manually lock and unlock the beast.... and now it won't start.

Matthew had to come back home to bring me out to work this morning, and on the way I told him that today HAD to be a good day... our long awaited catalogs were arriving at work! I worked several months to complete our 120 page catalog, and after many frustrations with out printer, it's done!

The nagging feeling I couldn't shake all day, was well justified even before the long awaited catalogs arrived at the office. One of the more than 9,000 customers that received our catalog today called to report a misprint in our catalog. It seems that our 800# was printed incorrectly. The panicky feeling set in when we realized that the wrong number was printed on every other page of the 120 page book! I hurriedly called the number to find out who our customers will be calling, thinking they're calling us. It is a recording for another telephone number, and when you call that number... it's a phone sex line! No lie. I thought my head was going to implode. It's not just an introductory, 'You've reached such-and-such company' but a raunchy, 'come-and-get-it' recording.

Thankfully, our 800# is printed right in a few places, but 3 to us versus 55 to phone sex... not such good odds. So I had to whip up a correction postcard today that will get to customers the end of next week. I feel like it is all my fault because I was the graphic designer on the project. Yeah, it wasn't caught by the several people proofing the catalog... but I'm the one who copy pasted it throughout the catalog.

I feel blanketed in my own stupidity... and can't help but chuckle a little at the irony.

can't... stop....myself...

2006-08-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

Last night I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home while Matthew went and helped at our church's 'Kidsworld'. Since I wasn't feeling well, Matthew brought home a present for me... all of the leftover cotton candy bags he could shove in a trash bag. I'm not a doctor or anything, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to gorge yourself on cotton candy when not feeling well.

Meh. Like I said... I'm not a doctor. For all I know, it very well could be just the thing!

Today I decided to have a little... and then 3 bags.

2006-08-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

I love you Taco Bell.

2006-08-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today I find myself mourning the loss of the only Taco Bell that ever existed in Willmar. It was one of those little guys that they put in a gas station. When I was in highschool, I was so excited it came, that I worked there for about 3 months, just so I could eat it every day. Perhaps I would've stayed a bit longer, but the boys were jerks. They enjoyed squirting guacomole on my legs while I was running the cash register. Amusing, yes. I'll give it that... but I drew the line when they started hiding out in the gas station cooler boozing it up. Ever try running a taco stand with drunk coworkers?

So here I sit, Taco Bell-less. An hour is a little far to drive perhaps... for a taco. Or is it?

Yesterday Bertie's new house came in the mail. She's a little freaked out by it, but she'll adjust. I love that I can fold it down into suitcase size. And it has two doors. And it's that black, rubbery coated metal. And that my life is so exciting that I'm going on and on about a dog kennel.

In other news, Kristin and Piergiorgio (her Italian fiance), and Rebecca DeHoog are coming to town today! Hooray for Heather getting married this weekend. There will be even more college friends arriving as Saturday approaches. Seeing far-away friends makes my heart smile.

Spreading the love... one sty at a time.

2006-08-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

This weekend was so much fun with my family. Yeah, we had 9 people and 2 dogs crammed into our apartment for 2 days but, as little as we get to see each other, it was such a blessing to spend the time together. The next time we'll all be together again will probably be next September. I wish the distance between Minnesota and Oregon was not so great. We have definitely learned to appreciate our time, which many families miss altogether.

Interesting thought: did you know you could give a sty to someone else? Yeah, I gave mine to Matthew. Saturday night his eye started hurting too and swelled up. He was not wise as his wife, though, and decided to pop his- without prior advice from his wife or opthamologist father-in-law, both sitting in the next room. His eye is now infected, while mine is healing quite nicely. I still have to go in today, though, because my eyelashes have mysteriously been turning white. Apparently that can be a symptom of bad things. Interesting. I thought I was just getting sweet highlights- like the girl in XMen- but in my eyelashes.

My new friend.

2006-08-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at work my right eye started hurting. It got worse as the day wore on, and when I got home, I figured out why. I've got myself a full blown sty. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of acquiring one of your own, here is what happens. If you aren't careful to wash your face/eyes good everynight, your tear ducts can clog. That's when the fun starts. Your eyelid then puffs up until you feel it may explode. Until it subsides (drains), usually in about a week, your eyelid throbs and causes all sorts of fun. Thankfully mine isn't the nastiest kind, although it is very painful.

Between 3-6 times a day, I have to put scalding washclothes on my eye for 15 minutes at a time. I can't wear any eye makeup or my contacts until it goes away... leaving me wearing my broken glasses that have mysteriously started turning green. Sorry, folks, I will NOT be posting any pictures.

I have to comment, though, on what an amazing day we are having here! Truly the perfect Saturday. My parents are on their way back to our apartment today before they leave for Oregon tomorrow. My sister, bro-in-law, and their 3 younguns are coming too, which will be fun (granted they aren't pointing and laughing at my swollen eye the whole time). The interesting part, we need to find places for 7-9 people to sleep tonight... in our apartment. I think I'll go clear out a few dresser drawers for the kids.

Can I get my hopes up NOW?

2006-08-04T14:22:00.000-05:00

Today Matthew made the 2 hour drive to the cities to get his biometrics done again (fingerprints and pictures) for his Permanent Residency Paperwork. Before he left, he came by my work to switch vehicles so I went outside to pray with him about the appointment. Generally these appointments last all of 5 minutes before they shove him out the door and tell him to go home and continue waiting (not willing to answer any questions). Today I prayed that he would have a divine appointment at the biometrics office- that he would meet someone that would be willing to help us.

Well he did. I'm trying not to get my hopes up so high only to be crushed by more unanswered questions, but here is what happened.

While Matthew was having his picture taken, he made conversation with the gal working there. She became so outraged at his situation (that we've been waiting over 2.5 years) that she said, "Do you have a minute? I'm going to go talk to my boss about your papers." Matthew's response was, "If you are willing to help me, I will sit in this chair for the next 3 weeks!" So they went through his paperwork and discovered what we had already assumed- his paperwork has been sitting on someone's desk in Nebraska- untouched- all this time. Right now they are working to find out where EXACTLY it is. Matthew, is waiting at a nearby Borders for them to call him back to the office after they've had a chance to research his paperwork more thoroughly.

Lord, please let this be IT. Could this actually be the day that we are set free from all of this waiting and frustration?

Lord... please have mercy on us.

2006-08-01T13:23:00.000-05:00

Remember yesterday's temperature of 97 (heat index 107) when I posted? Today's high is 75. I just have to say... I LOVE YOU COOL AIR! I think I'm going to move my couch and tv outside after work tonight to get out of the sauna for awhile. Even though it's cool outside, it's still hot in here!

Now on to the 'main event' if you will. We are now entering August, which means stress month in the Cherry household. August is the month every year that Matthew's work permit expires. August is the month that every year, the government decides to NOT renew Matthew's work permit until months later. August is the month that Matthew goes in and pleads his case before government officials, only to be told to go home and wait. August is the month that Matthew's poor wife carries knots around in her stomach, knowing that she will probably have to support the household financially... again.

So now I plead with you... and perhaps anyone out there who has a shred of care for the plight of the 'legal aliens' in our country (aka the ones actually trying to go through the process legally) please help. "How?", you ask? If you know of ANYONE who has gone through the naturalization process POST 911, please send us their email address or phone number. After all the doors we've had slammed in our faces, we need all the help we can get. We've tried going through senators and congressmen. We've tried calling over and over. We've tried showing up at their offices. Our government is a mess when it comes to the immigration process. Nobody seems to know what's going on... or willing to help.

So here we are again. Matthew has to take another day off of work to drive 2 hours for a 5 minute appointment this week to have his fingerprints taken... again. This is the 3rd time they've had him do this since last fall. It's becoming real again, how far off his permanent residency and citizenship are. We just want to live a normal life (own a house, have kids, move where we want) without the goverment watching over our shoulders and telling us we can't live that life.

Our only option, after exhausting our options, is to trust that God knows where Matthew's papers are. They seem to have been sitting in the same place, untouched, for over 2 years (they'll only tell us what state the papers are in). Being way past the processing dates, we have to trust that the right hands will pick them up and put them through the system- soon.

Family Time

2006-07-31T14:35:00.000-05:00

My Mom and Dad arrived from Oregon a week ago today, thus the week of no blog entries. They stayed with Matthew and I in our sauna apartment... thankfully the air conditioner managed to kick out enough cool air to keep us alive. We really enjoyed having them with us. We still had to work during the day, which I think was a good thing. It gave Dad a lot of time to spend with Grandpa and Mom visited with all sorts of friends of hers from the area. Then at night we were able to relax together. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad are realtors (quite portable) so they ended up having to work a fair amount over the internet and phone. But in between, we made good use of our magic bullet. We whipped up all sorts of smoothies, blended mochas, shakes... it was a bit out of control.

Dad is staying with Grandpa this week- Mom is now in Big Lake with Jennelle's family (sister). I was able to stay with them over the weekend. It was hot, but SO GREAT spending quality time with the kids and of course Jennelle and Matt... and their fabulous A/C. I brought Bertie, who reaked havoc on their house when she found a tennis ball. We no longer allow her to possess those things because she is incessant with wanting to play fetch. Then when she gets bored (after 10 hours of straight fetch, I tend to get a little annoyed with throwing the stupid thing) she starts eating the fuzz off of the ball. Then she throws up. Thankfully there were 3 kids and 4 adults for her to run through, so she played fetch for 3 straight days and never had the chance to eat fuzz. The cutest part about the fetch activity was watching my niece, Kyla (just turned 1), throw the ball for Bertie. She'd laugh so hard everytime she threw it and Bertie would come and drop it in her lap for another go. I decided that someday I'm going to have a Kyla- sweet, observant, giggly. I am praying I don't have a child like I was- I would get so mad that I'd pass out from holding my breath. I really don't know how I survived this long... although it does explain a lot. Thankfully I gave up that antic at a young age, or it may have deterred Matthew from promising to spend the rest of his life with me.

Bertie and I drove home last night and arrived at our sauna around 11. Seriously, how is it possible for an apartment to get that hot!? God, are you telling us we need to lose a few pounds, or what? I actually enjoy being at work more than at home because I can bask in the A/C. Love it. Poor Bertie, though, just sits in that dreadful place, panting. On top of that, she seems quite depressed that I wouldn't let her take the ball home. I'm a bad mom.

At the moment it is 97 degrees outside with a heat index of 107.

Reading for the soul

2006-07-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

This morning I slept in and it felt terrific! When I woke up, I didn't feel like getting out of bed, so I started reading another book out of the series Francine Rivers wrote on women from the Bible. She wrote five books on five different women, 'unlikely women who changed eternity'. So far I've read 3 and have really been thoroughly convicted and inspired by them. These women were all faced with impossible circumstances but, rather than giving up on life, they believed that God had more for them. They were ostracized by friends and family for turning their backs on the idols they were brought up worshiping. They persevered through their individual storms and came out with amazing character and faith... and were blessed abundantly because of it.

These books are not a difficult read (only about 130 pages each) so I read the entire book on Tamar today before starting my day. What a woman she was! She was handed a really rough set of problems to deal with: forced into marriage to a vicious, brutal husband, then after he was struck down by God, she was given over to his brother, who was even more cunning than the first. He refused to give her a child (which was absolutely necessary for women back then) to be her first husband's heir. That husband, too, was struck down after only 2 days of marriage! Talk about anxiety. She played an important role in Judah (one of Joseph's brothers) laying down his pride to receive God's forgiveness and blessing.

Anyways, I highly suggest this series of books. Check them out from your local library if you don't have the money to purchase them (I chose the library). You won't regret it.

Reading these books makes me realize the shallowness of my thinking and overall faithwalk at this point. These women endured unthinkable hardships and yet maintained unshakeable faith. God is still the same- He desires the same obedience and fellowship with us today, as He did back then.

As a woman grasping after God... I look up to these women. Someday when my life is over, I hope people will tell similar stories about me- that they will say I was an unlikely woman who changed eternity.

world's shortest personality quiz

2006-07-21T18:44:00.000-05:00

This was the easiest personality quiz I've ever taken. One click and wallah!

Your Personality Profile

You are nurturing, kind, and lucky.
You want to help everyone.
You are good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive.

A seeker of harmony, you are a natural peacemaker.
You are good natured and people enjoy your company.
You put people at ease and make them feel at home with you.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

community

2006-07-20T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today I had an unexpected meeting with an artist named Shayann Hoffer. I stopped off at a small local market that's held Thursday nights in town. I went to sort of scope it out to see if it's a good location for selling the things I've been making (picture frames, necklaces, etc). It only costs $5 to set up a table for the afternoon!

When I was looking at one display of paintings and prints, the artist happened to notice my Oregon keychain and asked about it (she went to the U of O). That led to a conversation about Oregon, life, creating...

It felt great to connect with someone on a creative level. Here are a few pictures of her work. I really love her use of blocks in her paintings- I really like the color combinations as well... like a dreamland of sorts. If you want to see more, click here

I love this 'Chick' chalk drawing. Very different from the others, but it makes me smile.

lost in sleep.

2006-07-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt like you are floating through the days in a fog? Like you have so many things that you want to get done, but when it comes down to actually accomplishing, you can't do it? I've been feeling it these past few weeks really hard. It could have everything to do with the sauna I live in, at least that's what I am hoping. I refuse to believe this is the new me. No way...

I am so glad to have started in on my art again. It makes me so happy to have the opportunity to work with my hands and allow the creative side of me come out in the little pictures and words I put together for each little miniature necklace charm... I think I will do this for awhile. It's exciting to think about the future and the possibility of selling them and other things I make to earn money for us.

Curious, isn't it, that most people live out their entire lives allowing the size of their paycheck to determine what they do with most of their awake hours. I don't want to be that person. Denying the gifts God placed within you is like denying who you are. Like a fish who insists it is human. It will eventually dry up and cease to exist. Hmm... deep, right?

Okay, I'm done. The moment is past. Feel free to move on to the next blog now- I'm going to bed.

can I have another weekend to recooperate?

2006-07-16T23:25:00.000-05:00

Today is Sunday... oh how I wish it were Friday so I could have another weekend to rest. Matthew and I have been at Sonshine Music Festival since last Thursday. He ran sound for one of the 5 stages... and I was his faithful assistant (aka supplier of food and beverages, sunscreen applier, etc). It was great to be able to enjoy so many live bands! I haven't heard the final count, but last year there were about 23,000 people and they estimated that this year would pass that.

Main Stage

The weather didn't quite cooperate with all of the festival plans. Thursday evening a HUGE storm came through leaving everyone looking like drowned rats, tents flooded and collapsed, and quite a bit of damage to the main stage where Kutless, Jeremy Camp, and Newsboys were scheduled to play. The massive canopy over the top filled with rain then collapsed from the weight, ruining sound equipment, a brand new custom set of drums, and crashing down a 20 foot high lighting tower. The power of this storm was incredible! The bands never had a chance to play that night (obviously) but thankfully they were able to get everything cleaned up and ready to go for Friday. Friday and Saturday we didn't get anymore rain, but had scorching temperatures between 95 and 100+. It was (and still is) HOT. The storm or heat didn't seem to discourage too many people, though. I was so thankful to be able to drive home each day to take a cold shower... plus Matthew and I were blessed to be able to sleep in a borrowed RV with A/C! Thank you Jon and Kelli!!!

Matthew bought himself a new set of Risen drums at the festival. They are quite nice looking with a fuzzy, maroon paisley wrap. They are a custom set that Risen made just for the festival (they make custom sets for each of the 5 stages every year) and Matthew was able to buy them for about half price. I was really impressed with the guys that operate Risen. They were all at the festival and reminded me a lot of the OC Choppers, how they make custom bikes then take them to shows and treat them like their babies. They were so excited that Matthew was the one taking this set home (this set was their favorite) that each of them welcomed us to the Risen family.

One of the neat aspect to Sonshine this weekend were the backstage passes we got because Matthew worked for the festival. Rather than pushing through crowds to get a closer look at the bands, we just walked through the gates backstage and were able to stand right up next to the stage. We had a chance to chat with a few artists (or rather Matthew did) like David Crowder and Third Day's Mac Powell. I'm more of a people watcher than an in your face kind of person. I really enjoyed going backstage and climbing up into one of the sound trucks where we had a great view of the show and could look out over the massive crowd. It's amazing watching a sea of people worship God. Amazing.

Oh, and we got free meal tickets too! You gotta love free food.

I did it!

2006-07-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

Alright, I told you guys about a month ago that I was going to dabble in some jewelry making... here is a small sampling of the things I made. These are two sided pendants- each side has something completely different. I don't know how well you can see thse, but most have tiny watch parts on one side. I love how intricate the parts are, so I've been playing with them a lot. Let me know what you guys think, or if you have some ideas for me!

Sunday

2006-07-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Heather and I practicing her makeup for the Big Day in August.

Matthew and I came home at 1am after Kyla's birthday party to find this ginormous paperbag turkey sitting in front of our door. Thank you Adam and Danae- we feel so special to have been blessed with such a gift. I think. Bertie was thoroughly freaked out by it.

I love this picture. Sundays after church we eat lunch with a group of friends. This last Sunday we all went to the park and had a picnic. Rayna (Jon & Kelli's little one) LOVES the swings! Check out her shirt- backwards and inside out. She insisted on wearing THAT shirt THAT way several days in a row... she thinks the printed letters are pretty. What a character.

picture time

2006-07-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

Pictures from my niece, Kyla's 1st birthday a couple of days ago. Check out the killer swimsuit Matthew and I got her- I think it accentuates her pot belly quite nicely, don't you?

Zoey and Auntie Tina

2006-07-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

Zoey lost her first tooth the day of Kyla's birthday party. She was so excited that she carried her tooth around in a ziploc, showing it to everyone.

sorry.

2006-07-09T01:34:00.000-05:00

sorry about my absence. I can't believe how quickly time seems to go these days. Ever since I was in school and actually had a summer vacation, I've been in this mentality that summer is when everything slows down and I get to enjoy life. Maybe I should've flunked a few grades because I really miss that.

We have had our share of fun this last week, though, which has been huge for Matthew and I. Last weekend we were able to go stay at a lake cabin with some friends- our first 'summer' activity! We relaxed for a full 2 days and ate... among other things like burning to a crisp because our sunscreen was expired and stepping in a pile of dog poo wearing flip flops (a personal favorite). Matthew and I are looking pretty attractive with our new tan lines, though (we're actually still quite red). I had no idea people could burn in such odd ways. We have stripes on our legs, and splotches everywhere else. We may have to take Matthew to the doctor this week because his shins are looking really bad (it still doesn't turn white right away when you push on it). So let this be a lesson to all of you- BUY NEW SUNSCREEN EVERY YEAR. Those expiration dates are not there just for the fun of it.

Today was quite exciting! We went to Kyla's 1st birthday (at my sister's in Big Lake). It was really, really great to spend time with family. It amazes me how much those kids change everytime I see them. I'll have to post some pictures later.

As for right now, I'm going to bed. It is 1:40am now and waaaay past my bedtime.

Home Alone.

2006-06-28T18:09:00.000-05:00

Yep, the husband left town for a few days. Just couldn't stand the pressure anymore... no, not really. All of the youth leaders were invited to drive down to Tulsa, OK to check out the one-eighty ministry down there. They average about 3,000 students a week. We're talking HUGE.

Since we are currently building our youth facility, we want to get some good direction on how to keep students plugged in. This place has obviously got that down. I was so excited to go down, but took one for the team and stayed back. Not only is work incredibly busy (we're trying to get our catalog ready for print), but Matthew and I really can't afford to have both of us missing work for 3 days. So I am here in Willmar, while Matthew and the others are down there living it up. Well, if you count driving 15 hours there 'living it up'. Apparently the driver decided to take a 'short cut' and got lost for a few hours.

It's such a strange feeling being home alone, not expecting anyone to come walking in the door. I'm a bit more paranoid when Matthew is away- listening to little sounds and looking over my shoulder a bit more often. Last night I had such a hard time going to sleep- it was after 1:30am before I finally passed out. I had to keep the tv on up until that point to trick myself into thinking I had company. I'm such a doorknob. I feel the need to point a sturdy finger at my biological Dad that found joy in scaring me any chance he could- always hiding around corners, behind doors, outside our windows. Seriously, that's messed up, don't you think?

I've been keeping myself busy hanging out with friends I don't get to see often, though, which has been great. Last night I had a girl's night with Kristina, and in about 5 minutes I'm heading over to Bob & Erica's for a taco party... yeeehaw!

The icecream truck is passing by- man, I love summer.

once upon a little town...

Unto us a child is born...

Waiting...

Vladimir Kush!

Maternity Pics

It's a new post!

Amaaaazing.

We're having a baby in November!!!

Thaaaaaaank you!

Help!

Cherrytree Studio

Cape Blanco

Uhhh...

Are you...

I'm posting I'm POSTING!

More pictures...

*Sigh*

Resurrecting the Chili Cheese Burrito.

What Bertie did this weekend.

Weekend update.

I love this day!

The Cherry Balcony/Patio

Ladies Night Out!

Sunday,Tuesday

R&J Tours

This one's for you, Kim!

beautiful country!

Sa-tur-day.

Absolutely Monday.

phew!

*shiver*

Going to Minnesota...

stalkee.

Oh how I love you, Rhapsody.

I almost forgot!

Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me.

weird dog part II

Today...

weird dog.

Sorry for stealing your thunder, Minnesota.

new fridge!

The Dog Whisperer

sleepy.

Hooray!

Elf Yourself!

blockage

It's the weekend!

Wow!

It's a house!

Ah.... okay.

Authorization To Disclose Health Information.

House hunting

WE MADE IT!!!

packing.

packing.

The meeting.

Lasts.

Still snowing.

Hello, Winter.

Cherry + Cherry = Lost

time flies...

EPIK

Epicenter... OPEN!

Ode to a Tylenol.

sick.

Home sweet home.

Bug? Poxer?

Oh yes...

This weekend.

Friday.

Tuesday.

My Day.

work, play, sleep... all in one handy location!

Held.

Home again.

Waterpark Weekend

11:08pm

Radio killed the graphic designer.

I imagined today going so differently.

can't... stop....myself...

Sigh

shiver