Still Alive...

Hi, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive! I can't believe how lax I've been about posting lately. I was just looking at the "count" of blog posts... 201 in 2007, as compared to this being the 32nd post of 2008! I've been busy reading EVERYONE ELSE's blogs... and I'm addicted to Facebook! So, there you have it!

Well, August was very busy for us, as has this first week of September!

The first week of August (3-7) was our Youth Conference at our church, Shawnee Baptist, here in Louisville. We had 961 teens from (I think) 34 different states and 4 different countries that attended the conference. Our Youth Conference is different in that the kids come to hear the preaching of God's Word... 6 times a day for 3 days straight, then on Thursday they get to go to Kentucky Kingdom. It was absolutely AWESOME! You can check out the pics that I posted on Facebook here:

Youth Conference pics #1 Youth Conference pics #2

The following weekend, the 15th, Chris had free tickets given to him for a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. We called our friends, Steve & Joy Francis, and met them at the game. We enjoyed their company, the game, and the fireworks after the game that we watched as we were walking back over the bridge from Cincinnati to Florence, KY. I had to work EARLY the next morning, so I was VERY tired, but it was fun anyway. More pics here

The next day after work, Chris and I headed to Lexington, KY. Chris had mandatory training for his work that Sun/Mon, and we have friends that live in Lexington. Since Monday was my birthday (happy birthday to me! :-P), I didn't want to spend it by myself or working while Chris was out of town. We called Kevin & Beth Busch, and we spent the weekend with them (and their son, Silas,) instead... well, I spent time with Beth while Chris was in training. I also got to visit some friends... the Valentine's... that we hadn't seen for a LONG time! Their kids are adorable! Beth made me a cake for my birthday, and we celebrated Sunday night. See more pics here

On the 23rd, we had free tickets to a Bats game, so invited our friends, Scott & April Mohler to join us at the game. We enjoyed the fellowship with them, and were greatly entertained at the game by the presence of the San Diego Chicken mascot. It was fun! Click here to see more pics

I left on Aug. 29th to drive (all by myself) to Watertown, WI, to see my whole family together (except Chris couldn't go... SOMEBODY has to work around here!) :-) It was Maranatha Baptist Bible College's Alumni "scrimmage," and my older brother, Steve, and middle brother, Greg, were playing on the alumni team against my baby brother, Nathan, who was playing on the Crusaders college team (for the last year.) It was so fun to watch them play again, and also to see my family together. I got to meet my newest nephew, Colt... who is absolutely ADORABLE! (of course). I really wish Chris could have come with me, but he is saving his time off for another very special occasion later this fall that we are praying God provides the time off/money for us to go. It was a good time with my family though, and it's rare for them to all be together at the same time. I tried to upload pictures to Facebook, but I couldn't get it to upload the other night, so I'll have to post a link when I get them up there.

This weekend, our church had their Ladies' Retreat. I had to work, since I was gone last weekend. Fortunately, I work only 30 minutes from the camp where our Retreat was held, so I went there from work, spent the night, and drove back to work this morning. It was a shorter distance to drive to the camp than to drive home, so it worked out well, and I enjoyed the short time I was able to spend there. It was a blessing!

So - that's the major run-down of things going on here. In other news, I FINALLY went to the doctor to get a sleep study done. Chris thinks that it's very possible that I have sleep apnea. My sleep study is scheduled for Sept 23, so please pray that they can figure out what is wrong with me so that I can get it fixed (hopefully without medicine!) I have been SO incredibly tired lately (more-so than usual!) I've been dozing off when driving to/from work a lot lately, which is very scary and dangerous! So - please pray for all of that.

That's it for now... see you next month! :-) Just kidding -I'm hoping to blog a little more frequently now.

WARNING: This could be a VERY long post!

Ay-yi-yi!!! It's been so long since I posted what's been going on, and so much has happened, it's a little overwhelming!
I guess I'll try to start where I left off (with our anniversary trip) and try to catch up from there. I'll also try to post pictures where appropriate.

After our anniversary trip, we have spent most of the time working like crazy to try to catch up from being gone so much the last few months. The first major thing that happened after we got back was that our church had their annual YOUTH CONFERENCE. They had, I think, around 1,400 teens come for the conference. The theme was Mission: Accomplished, and it had a space theme. Here are some pictures of the decorations:

It was awesome!! There were MANY decisions made by the teens to follow Christ in their lives, whether it was salvation or call to full-time ministry, or just allowing the Lord to have control. One of the things that I LOVE about our church is that they love children and teenagers.

On August 10th, a new niece was born into the Mitchell side of the family. She didn't want to come out, apparently, so her mom had a rough time (from what we hear.) They sent pictures, and she is adorable. We are always excited to have new members added to the family! Congrats to them!
Our next big events were our birthdays. Chris turned 32 on August 11. It is so amazing to me how God works in even the littlest ways in our lives, even we don't even know to ask Him to do so! A week or so before Chris' birthday, I had asked D's mom if she would care if I took D down to Chris' work on Chris' birthday in order to surprise him with a Dairy Queen cake. (I had to work that day, as did Chris.) D's mom thought it was a great idea, and readily agreed. I arranged to have the cake made and picked up that Saturday morning. (Chris knew nothing about this!)

I had already picked up the cake and was driving down to the dealership when Chris called me. He said, "You're never going to believe who just called me!" Come to find out, our good friends Jeremy and Misha Frazor were traveling through from Northland to Tennessee, and asked Chris if they could do lunch for his birthday. Chris had told them that I wouldn't be able to be there because I was working... little did he know!! :-) Of course, I had to fib a little bit and tell him, "That's really cool for you, but I'm so bummed that I won't be able to see them," while the whole time inside I was freaking out! I just kept thinking that only God could have planned all of this to work out perfectly at the right time!

So, Chris gets off the phone with me to give Jeremy directions to the dealership, and I call Misha to fill her in on what is going on, and to get them to stall for me until I arrive. They were able to stall, and I surprised Chris by showing up! We all went out for lunch, and D was SOOOOO GOOD the whole time! (He usually goes wild for his mom when they go out to eat!) After lunch, we went back to the dealership (this is almost 2 hours later) and had DQ Oreo Blizzard cake. Chris&Heather Mitchell; Misha, Corey, Jeremy, and Tommy Frazor

Corey & Tommy Frazor, and D - three blond-headed boys checking out the cars from the window!

The Frazors had to leave, as did I, so Chris was left to go back to work! At this point, he had missed about 2&1/2 hours of work time since he had gone to get a haircut in the morning. As I drove away, I prayed and asked the Lord to please help Chris sell a car in spite of the fact that he had been gone so much time during the day. Not 2 hours later, Chris called me to tell me that he was filling up a car with gas that he had just sold. Thank you to the God who answers prayer!

That night we had a birthday party for him, combined with an open house party. We had 5 couples come, and we had a cookout. It was a lot of fun, and really only the 3rd time we've had company since we moved here last September. We enjoyed hosting the party, and it was a good time of food and fellowship!

Our pastor and his wife, Bro. Lonnie & Mrs. Nancy MattinglyLuke, Stella, Beth & Lacey Kendall, John&Heidi Winders (and baby on the way), our SS teachers, Bro. Ed & Mrs. Sheila Sneider, and Heather & Chris Mitchell

Our music pastor&wife, Gina & Bill Todd (it was their anniversary, so they came over after going out to eat by themselves!)

Chris&Heather - Happy Birthday, Chris!

The other little thing that God provided for Chris on his birthday was homemade apple pie. Now, I don't cook much, and I definitely don't make pies. (I mean, I had to work that day ~ you can't expect me to be Martha Stewart or anything!) I know that Chris loves apple pie, so I arranged with my dear friend, Beth, (who loves to cook and entertain) for her to make one for me. Well, Chris and I had been so busy that his party was in some ways a surprise, just because I didn't have a chance to tell him all the details. :-) Anyway, he didn't know about the pie. His mom called while we were all going through the line getting our food, and he stepped out to take her call. While he was on the phone with her, he told her that he REALLY wanted homemade apple pie for his birthday. WISH GRANTED! He had his apple pie and it was WONDERFUL! Beth made it with a crumb topping, then melted caramels and butter together and poured that over the top... (is this making your mouth water? Mine is!) It was fabulous. Chris got a hat from the 2000 PGA tour that was held here in Louisville, a gift certificate for 9 holes of golf at a really nice course, and we both got gift certificates to Cracker Barrel and a joint gift of a programmable thermostat for the house. All in all, it was a great day for BOTH of us!

The following Saturday, August 18th, was my birthday. I turned 30 years young! :-) Being 30 doesn't bother me, especially when most people guess that I'm 23-24 years old. Can't complain about that! Both Chris and I had to work again. Chris had tried to get a bunch of people to come over for a party, but no one could make it. However, some friends of ours from my former church in Hinckley, MN, brought their daughter down to attend our college that weekend. We wanted to get together with them anyway, so we had a party with them (and their 4 out of 8 kids that were with them!) They bought me a cake, and we had a cookout. It was SO good to catch up with them and spend time with them. Here are a couple of pictures:

Chris and I in front of our new house
My birthday cake
The rest of the party! :-)

My gifts...yes, I'm a convert... I am now a Red Sox fan, though not a fan-addict like my hubby. I've been brainwashed, it's true! :-) I still root for the Minnesota Twins, but know more about the Sox than the Twins. I was thrilled ot get a new phone - my old one was breaking and the battery was almost gone. My dear friend sent me the stamps... the bigger one says, "What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?" Cracked me up!

Since then, college and school have started up here. I've had the opportunity to go out with a few of the college girls a couple of times. It keeps me feeling young, though I am SO THANKFUL that I don't have to deal with college life anymore. Now, I do miss the comraderie of girlfriends and late night talk/giggle sessions, as well as the opportunity to just make time to get together with friends at a moment's notice if you haven't spent much time with them in the recent past. Now, all of my friends live far away from me! I DO NOT MISS getting passes to go to Walmart, rules :-), living in the dorm and trying to get along with roommates that you didn't like or had nothing in common, and dating! Well, I still feel like I'm dating my hubby, but we don't ever have to say goodnight and leave! Anyway, it's been nice to just hang out with them, and try to be a blessing to them. 3 of the girls came over Thursday night for dinner, then stayed and we watched Beauty and the Beast. Since Chris is gone until late most nights, it was nice to have the company. I enjoyed the opportunity to be a blessing to them just by allowing them to get off campus, eat real food, and relax at my home.

Last week, we had the annual regional Sword of the Lord conference at our church. Dr. Shelton Smith preached both services on Sunday, then Monday night, I was privileged to hear Dr. Raymond Barber speak. The amount of Scripture that he has memorized and utilizes is amazing! Tuesday night, Dr. Jack Schaap preached. What a great opportunity to hear great men of God preach God's Word. I'm so thankful I was able to attend. Also, the choir sang both nights, so I was able to do that as well. One of the things that I LOVE about our church is the music program. The songs that we sing are just a great testament to our Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done, and does for us. There's nothing like good, Godly music accompanying a powerful message in lyrics about God! I LOVE it! I also love the fact that there is a huge variety of music that is used. In previous ministries we've worked in, we've used mostly Majesty Music or the Wilds music. They both have great songs, but if that is all that you sing/play/hear, it all starts to sound the same.

Well, I think that's all for now. We don't have any big plans for the Labor Day weekend, since we both have to work Monday. Next weekend, I get to attend our Ladies' Retreat at our camp. I am excited. The weekend after that Chris and I are going away for a 2 day quick trip as well... more details to follow after we go!

There are a few other major things going on in our lives right now, but I just can't share them with you all yet. It is exciting to see what God has done and is doing in our lives.

Thanks for putting up with this super long post! Hopefully I will be able to keep it up to date more now that I'm finally caught up. Oh, yeah, I finally joined Facebook, so I've been spending way too much time on there getting back in touch with friends from years gone by.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Misc. Cards - April 2007

Here are some of the cards I made this month. I think I somehow deleted the pictures of the three FAVORITE cards I made... which I was very disappointed about. Anyway, there are patriotic ones, Mother's Day, anniversary, birthdays, etc. I apologize once again for the quality of some of the pics... I was told that you're not supposed to use flash when photographing cards, but the light in my house is so yellow that it turns out like this! I generally use flash, and then edit the pic to decrease the amount of exposure in order to make it look more like it does in real life. I'll have to make those 3 cards again... I LOVED them! (Go figure... it would be my FAVORITE cards that I delete pics of!!! Hope you like 'em!

Easter Pictures 3 -Mom's 60th Birthday

Graci's Birthday

Tomorrow, my little girl that I take care of turns 3 years old! Thank the Lord that she is out of the hospital and doing fairly well. (I only missed one day of work last week, and one this week with her being in the hospital - Praise the Lord.) For the very sick little girl that she is, the fact that she is 3 years old is a miracle! Check out Graci's website here.

Happy Birthday&Happy Anniversary

Happy Birthday to Kevin Hoffman(January 3rd) and Happy 4th Anniversary(on January 11th) to Kevin & Josie Hoffman, very dear friends of ours. I'm a slacker... I forgot both of these! What a great friend!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, BURT!!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, BURT!! We hope that you have a marvspacular day! May you enjoy many of God's blessings this year, as you seek to serve Him with your life. We love you and miss you!!

HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY, KATHRYN!!

HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY, KATHRYN!! Hope you have a great day!! May God bless you with many more years as you seek to serve Him! We love you and miss you!!

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!

Nathan - June 2005

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!!! We hope you have a wonderful day, and may God bless you with many more years as you seek to serve Him. We love you and miss you!

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY, RACHAEL!

Rachael & Aksana - February 2006

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY, RACHAEL!!! We hope you had a wonderful day! May God bless you with many more years to serve Him! We love you and miss you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!

Dad Chromy - February 2006
Dad - the pool shark! Labor Day weekend 2006
Nice smiley face p.j. pants! :-) February 2006

HAPPY 58TH BIRTHDAY, DAD!! I talked to my dad today, and he said that he learned that he's not 58 years old... he's 39.95 + shipping! I just want to say I love you, Dad! Thanks for all the sacrifices you've made for us over the years, as well as putting up with me, even through the rough times... there were a few! :-) I hope you have a GREAT day, and that God blesses you with many more years to impact the lives of those around you as you seek to serve HIM! Happy Birthday!

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, CAROLINE!

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, CAROLINE!!!!
I just received these pics of my little brother, Nathan, and his fiancee, Caroline. Since I haven't seen my family much this year, I haven't posted many pictures. However, I am trying to collect pictures from all of them in order to make a personalized calendar. When I get the pictures, I will post them so you all can see MY family, too! Anyway, back to Nathan & Caroline... they got engaged January 14th of this year, and are counting down the days until their wedding: June 30, 2007. They are both in college at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, FL. Caroline, I hope you had an excellent day!

HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY, JOSIE!

Today is my dear friend Josie's 27th birthday. I just wanted to take a moment to say that I am so thankful for her friendship. She has been such an encouragement and blessing to me in so many ways that I don't even know where to start. Josie and her husband, Kevin, were Chris and my closest friends in Maryland. We spent almost every weekend together, and it was very rare that you saw one couple without the other. I think our friendship came very close to co-dependency!! :-) Just kidding. Seriously, though, I am so thankful for the friendship that has developed between us in the 18 months that we lived in Maryland. Happy Birthday, Josie! We love you guys and miss you very much! Can't wait til the time that we can actually spend time with you again!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JODI!

happy birthday, Jodi! I have known Jodi over 12 years now! Wow, that makes me feel old! I haven't seen here in a few years, since she is now teaching in Alaska. I have a lot of memories of stuff that Jodi and I did together... I'll never forget the year at Camp Joy! :-) Spud... hope you have a great day! Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Julie

HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY, JULIE!! We love you and miss you, and hope you have a great day!