I needed some inspiration for this blog post, so I decided to chose a picture of a place that is near and dear to my heart: Pioneer Hall, home of my freshman year at Linfield.



Let's just say that that was a year to remember and cherish in a unique way.  You couldn't pay me a kajillion dollars to redo that year but I wouldn't have done anything differently either.  I remember getting my room assignment shortly into the summer after I graduated HS and having my jaw hit the floor when I saw not one, not two, but three names under ROOMMATES FOR 2005-2006.  I panicked!  Are most colleges like this?  In movies and TV shows it is usually just one other roommate and they have bunkbeds and their rooms are messy, while they become best of friends and never disagree.  Harsh reality, my life was not about to become a TV show.  However, two out of my three roommates did become some of my best friends, one of which I roomed with for the next three years. 

The course load that year was "hard," which then made me change the description of my senior year course load to "suicidal."  But I had to learn on my own that I couldn't skip class because of a hang nail or eat 4 slices of pizza and ice cream just because it's available.  But I enjoyed every minute of exploring the freedom God granted me - to make the decisions I wanted to make.  I am pretty sure the first week I had Wendy's food three times and didn't go to bed until 11pm.  That year brought lots of immature laughs though that are so fun to look back on.  When can I slide down a set of stairs on a mattress again and get away with it?

The only downfall of my Linfield career was that Craig only got to experience one year of it with me...and that was at a distance...in another state.  And by my senior year I would say I was making healthier, less stupid decisions.  So he didn't get to experience that at all.  But what makes me even happier than if we were to share a Linfield background is that we do share a Camp Gilead background.  Our jokes, memories, and laughs stem from that crazy place.  We saw each other every summer and now know that God was growing us separately throughout the school year.  But don't worry, Craig has seen pictures of my freshman experience and I have walked him through campus many times...holding hands :]

the end.

my moody experience

this weekend i got the pleasure to attend the moody fall retreat with craig.  it has been a while since i had been on a retreat.  [side note: i was a youth group retreat junkie all through jr.high & high school].  i love the community it builds, the relationships that are formed, and the food that is available!  it is just all-around a refreshing time.  a time of escape and a time to redirect my focus to what really matters in life.  craig and i got to camp alongside the river since we are married.  everyone else stayed in cabins.  here are pictures of the haskins' villa, complete with beach front property.

the majority of students were freshman because the retreat was required for all incoming students.  so, naturally, we were mistaken for 18 year olds.  but it was fun meeting some of the second year students that craig has become friends with.  the weekend was full of free time, worship, and activities.

it was so encouraging to get to do it all with my husband!  the most fun was the high ropes course that we participated in together.

god is so good as to what he allows us to do!  to escape for three days from work, school, money, friends, family, the city, etc., is a blessing.  it builds up our marriage and reminds us of the glue that is between us...our savior.  

but to switch it up just a bit from sentimental to humorous...craig's amazing talent that took 3rd place and won us a $25 gift card to wal-mart...

Moody's "Almost Talent Show"

to view more photos, visit: My Moody Experience

simply photos

Here are some pictures to keep you all busy while Craig & I are gone this weekend...

Will write a post after our return from our glorified camping trip...

Whale Bird & Sea Lion Watching...

I am getting really bad at keeping this up-to-date, but if it is any excuse, I am working 3 jobs, tending to my husband when he is around, working out like a mad woman, and trying to make friends and get connected with a ministry here in Spokane.  Craig and I were able to go to Federal Way this past weekend to visit friends and family and see Craig's cousin, Elisabeth get married.  What a whirlwind of events it turned out to be!!

We drive over Friday afternoon, with a backseat passenger hitching a ride, and roll into town just in time to eat shrimp, chicken, and salad with Dad, Molly, & Dustin!  We shoot a round of darts and then head to Mom's to crash.  Bright and early I have my running treads on to hit up the side streets of fdub!  Then it's back in the car to have lunch with Craig's Dad and stepmom, attend a wedding, and then back home.  Sunday, we got the magical opportunity (thank you groupon) to go whale watching in the San Juans.  I was stoked - for one of my greatest obsessions is over whales!!!  I couldn't sleep!  It took 4 hours of traveling to get to Friday Harbor just in time for a 4 hour whale watching trip.  The camera card was cleared in order for us to take mass amounts of photos of the whales we were going to see!  FALSE!  We didn't see one whale - just stupid sea lions, birds, and bald eagle.  How obnoxious!!  Furious!  I was not a pleasant wife for the next couple of hours.  My dream of whale watching in the San Juans was crushed.  My husband escaped an extra hour of an unpleasant wife after we received two free vouches to come back and try again.  Let's just say the whales let me down!

Here are some pictures we should have come home with...

Ok, so maybe not the one that has a humongous glacier in the background, but still, any backdrop to a whale photo would have been nice.

Isaiah 40:28-31  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint,   and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;   they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;   they shall walk and not faint.