Treasures from Grandma

So in our move from Colorado to Iowa we went from the small one room cabin to our spacious :) 1 bedroom apartment in Dubuque. Since we went straight to the cabin after we got married and did not live anywhere else... we had NO furniture. We used everything that the camp was providing for us including a bed, dresser, night tables and lamps (Thank you Camp Elim!!). We did just recently for our anniversary purchase a new bed frame and headboard so that also needed to come with us but everything else in our apartment was provided for us!!! Praise the Lord for His provision!

I know that His provision did not end there, for instance, the church that Jess attended in Dubuque, Great Adventure Church, donated some items like a couch and television. Our good friends Shawn and Terri gave us a dresser to take with us from Colorado. And I LOVE the items that I have received from my grandma Mary.

Grandma is not doing so hot these days and recently has moved into a nursing home from her house. She was diagnosed with leukemia and I don't know all the details about her treatment but I know that my time with her is limited. I am so grateful of the Lord's timing of moving us back to Iowa so that we can spend more time with her.

Since she had to move from her house to a room at a nursing home, she had furniture pieces that needed to find new homes... I am so grateful and thankful for every big and small thing that we were able to have of hers because now not only do we have furniture to fill our apartment but they are items that remind me of people that I love and that I know love me. For instance....

I remember sitting in this little chair with a stuffed animal on my lap and "reading" my books.

We got this coat rack!! What a fun thing to use EVERY DAY!

We had gotten some initial items and then were thinking that it would be great to have a desk for the computer and to be able to study at when I go back to school. I went back home the next day and my parents had this cute table for me!

Jess loves books and what a wonderful way to display them! My mom told me that my grandpa had this bookshelf made out of some wood that he had been saving for a long time.

And these bowls, I saw some of these in an Antique shop in Colorado Springs and almost bought them... but now I have my grandmas.

And many of you know about the great plate debate that Jess and I have had since before we were married.... we just don't agree, so it was nice to be able to have grandmas instead of needing to purchase something..... so now the debate continues :)

I don't even know what this thing is supposed to be called.... my mom has called it a "dry sink" a couple times.... A dry sink? Really? What does that even mean.... ;) but it is so stinkin' cute for my kitchen.

And we got a dining room table!!! I remember eating at the "little kid table" on this one!

So these are definitely not the only items that I have received from my Grandma. Other items that I truly treasure are the quilts that she made for me and helped me make. That was something that I did with my grandma... made quilts and crocheted. I love that I can look at these "things" and remember such wonderful people. My grandpa and grandma. And even though they are just "things" they represent a lot of wonderful memories.

Please pray for my grandma and her health.

Lamp Re-Do

Well.... It's been a while folks.

Jess and I moved into our apartment here in Dubuque and now we have the task to decorate it and turn it into home. It's been fun and challenging.

We found these lamps at good will for $3 together....

So then we were going to Lowe's already to get clips to hang our curtains in the living room and so I picked up a can of sample paint and some lampshades from walmart and created our bedside Lamps.

Jess' nightstand is new from Hobby Lobby today from some birthday and Christmas gift cards that I have been saving. It's a little taller than my nightstand so I will add some old looking books under mine to make it as high as Jess' to look symmetrical.

I will post more of the apartment as it becomes presentable... we are still working on unpacking and all that.

No Potatoes

Growing up in a family with 8 kids we supplemented many of our meals in the summer time with the HUGE garden my parents had. I'm serious, this thing was/is huge especially considering that they live in the middle of town in Iowa. It used to be probably at least 3/4 of an acre. As a youngster, it seemed so much bigger than that too.

I remember many times before my dad left for work in the morning he would give instructions for us to help him and my mom out. "Pick a row of beans... Pick the Strawberries.... Weed the potatoes... before I am home from work"

This task seemed so daunting when I was younger. I would put it off just about until I heard his little Mazda truck pull into the drive way and then run out to quick do a poor job at picking the beans. I should have done my chore right away in the morning while it was still cool out and then had the rest of the day to play, worry free. Oh the things we learn. :)

On Father's Day, I went to the store and decided to buy plants to make my own "garden" somewhat for my dad. It is not anywhere close to being as big as my mom and dad's garden, but it does have my favorite veggies in it. I have a cucumber plant, summer squash, tomatoes and two types of peppers. (I need to get some cilantro so I can make my own salsa)

I am worried about it though, because I have NEVER seen veggies grown in pots, like I am trying to do with mine. So this is my test, to see if I have the green thumb like my mom and dad.

When I talked with my dad a little bit about my "garden" in pots, (I have to be careful not to call it a pot garden) he said he was thinking about me as he and my younger siblings were out weeding the potatoes. He chuckled as he said I once pulled up a plant and asked him if it was a weed or not while I was helping him weed the potatoes. He said it had grown potatoes hanging at the roots.

No potatoes for me, I cannot tell if they are weeds.

The Napkin Game

We finished our week of servant leader training and had such an awesome week getting to know the new staff for the summer. They spent the week studying some of the deep things of God and why we even needed to care about the deep things. Jess went through Gospel 101 (a condensed version of what Tyson Guthrie uses at East Iowa Bible Camp). He chose to do this because he wanted to stress the importance of what the gospel is, and what it means to each and every one of us and then how to share it with campers. We need to know God and then make him known.
They didn't just sit and listen to Jess and Mr. Leverentz, one of Jess' professors from Emmaus. (He was the evening speaker) They also did service tasks around the camp and played many games.

Below is a picture of one of the games Jess and Josh Polly, male staff supervisor, taught everyone to play "The napkin game." You should try it out. Get your components to unfold a napkin and put one corner in your mouth. Then, see who can get the whole napkin into their mouth the fastest without using your hands.


Not only is it a fun game to play, it's very amusing to watch as well. :)

Have a great day!

Dig Deep!

Hello all!

Camp is HERE!!!! This week is our Student Leader Training week, and let me just say, I am so excited with what God will do here this summer. Our staff is amazing, and I haven't even met all of them yet. We had a girls/guys night last night and it was such a blessing to see the hearts of these young men and women and their desire to serve God with their time here this summer.

Jess said to me last night after the meetings with the staff, "I love my job. I love that I get to be a part of things like tonight." It is so true. We LOVE camp. We met at East Iowa Bible Camp and I have been going to camp or a part of camp staff every summer except 1 since I was 8. God uses camps in such a mighty way to teach us about his love. I don't know why, but it seems like a lot of things "click" about God when we are at camp.

Jess and I would love if you would join with us in prayer for this summer at Camp Elim. Pray that God would send camper that need Him, and that the staff would be a tool for God to use in those campers hearts. Pray for unity for the staff. Also pray that our theme for the summer wouldn't just be a new T-shirt that the kids get for a summer. The theme is Dig Deep.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him"

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Hey Apple!?!?

Hello all,
So A lot has been going on recently and they have been great.

First off Celsey's family came out over Easter for a few days and it was so much fun doing a bunch of different touristy things that we haven't had the chance to do. We went to Focus on the family, Garden of the gods, Cheyenne mountain zoo, air force academy, flying w ranch, and of course....Smashburger. It was so much fun...and very tiring, but it was great to have them here and give them an opportunity to see where I work, and where we live.Celsey also did the incline last monday. I told her she had to go with an experienced person so I said she had to go with Shawn and Teri Willoughby's son, Luke, Shawn works here at the camp with me. She was very worn out and tired, when she was done, but felt very accomplished by doing it. If you don't know the incline is a trail that goes practically straight up with railroad ties laid out. Basically climbing stairs for an hour and a half. It is 3.2 miles up, with a 2100 ft. vertical rise. She is still missing all the air in Iowa, but this hike has helped her get acclimated to this elevation.On another note, we had our small group out to camp last night, and it was great to have them here. Celsey made homemade pizza which was the bomb...and was my lunch today as well. We had a lot of fun hanging out with all of them and apparently we are going to write a few books amongst our small group. One having to do with Psychology, and the other will be a "How to make amazing s'mores" Quite a line up if you ask me.

Celsey right now has applied for classes and will start going back to school this summer and fall. She is very excited and nervous to go back to school. It was a hard decision for us because Celsey is still considered an out of state resident until next spring, 2011, which means school is going to cost almost 5 times as much. After praying about this, we feel that the high cost of tuition is not as important as Celsey finishing school. We are trusting God will provide so we don't have to add any more to our school debt.

On a final note, our last post was about Celsey sleep talking, so I wanted to end on that. Once again there is another chronicle to add on to her sleep talking. This past sunday morning my alarm was going off because I had to wake up to go to the chapel to do sound for the worship team that lead worship this past weekend during our Women's Retreat. Right after I shut off my alarm Celsey rolled over and said,"Apple, it's time to wake up." I didn't know what to say, so I just got up and started getting ready. Then while me and Celsey were walking down to the chapel after breakfest she asked me, "Did I call you apple this morning?" I then said, "Yep, why are you dreaming about apples?"

Needless to say it was a funny experience, and NO, you should not start calling me apple.

Thanks again everyone, love you all.

Jess & Celsey

I'M AWAKE!!!

Hello all,

Had a great time back at Emmaus...we really miss everyone there...definitely don't miss doing papers and stressing over exams...but miss the place. We ended up taking 7 students to DEW and they enjoyed it a lot.

It was a great time and we were safe driving. It was raining pretty hard on our way home but that was nothing compared to the high winds. A big non-aerodynamic 12 passenger van is not the greatest when you are facing some crazy wind across the plains of Nebraska.

Other then that the drive was great...especially when everyone was sleeping...instead of yelling.

Well if some of you don't know Celsey has a little bit of a problem with sleep talking. I was told this when we were engaged but have absolutely loved messing with her when she starts doing it now.

For example a few weeks ago, we were in bed and Celsey was asleep while I was watching TV. All of a sudden Celsey said, "Yea, they were suppose to come by." I not missing a beat said, "Who was suppose to stop by honey?"

She went on to talk about two families that she works with at the school. Of course, I kept asking question after question. Somewhere along the line of our conversation Celsey woke up, but continued the conversation.

Finally she knew what I was doing and she annoyingly said, "Jess, I'm awake." Then I said, "Ok, then how did we get on this topic?" It then hit her as she shook her head....and I laughed.

Two nights ago it was the same situation. I was watching TV and Celsey rolled over and said, "Did you find it?" I was very confused, but then realized this was another opportunity to mess with her.

I then said, "No, I can't find it. Do you think it's in the drawer in your nightstand?" She then rolls over and turns on the light, then opens the drawer and begins to shuffle through it.

She finally says, "I can't find it. Sorry." Then turns the light off and lays down.

The next day I asked her if she remembered anything from the night before. She then explained to me that she woke up during the night and was looking in the drawer.

Let me just say that I love my wife...and I really love it when she talks in her sleep because I have started documenting it in a notebook I have next to our bed.

Check in next time to find out the latest on Celsey's sleep talking adventures...trust me there will be more...

Jess