Applooza!

Whoo hoo Applooza! It's (just like it says), a country apple festival at Liberty Christian School. I went to LCS for 6 years. I looovedd it. Elementary school was so much fun. I had awesome teachers, (except for one...) My favorite teachers there were my 3rd grade and 6th grade ones. I saw my 6th grade teacher there today and she gave me a big hug :) It was nice to see her again! It's a fun place for kids to play. There are bouncy houses, (lots of them too) lots of other games where you can win prizes, and there is also a pony ride! Fun christian music and other performances. Jonah and MB had a blast! :)

A little talk

I had a good talk with my parentals last night at the dinner table. I talked to them about my job situation.

I have been "looking" for a job for about a year & a half now. I've turned in applications, called and called, had interviews and nothing was turning out for me. Throughout this time, I had babysitting jobs and working for my grandma... I had things to do to get money if I wanted it. I just couldn't figure out why I hadn't gotten a "real" job yet. Was it because I had no job experience? Was it because I just suck at interviews? I couldn't figure it out. But then I realized, maybe I'm not supossed to have a "real" job. Maybe childcare is what I'm supossed to be doing! I had been thinking that for a couple weeks, but I never really came down to it.

At church on Sunday, Beth Kitchens came up to me and she asked me how I was doing and how my job search was going. (I used to go to coffee with her a few years back. I would hang out with her instead of going to youth group. That was better for me than youth group was! Also more fun.) I said "not very well." Then I told her what I was thinking. That maybe I'm not supossed to have a job...and so on. She said "well just keep praying about it! I know it's hard! Your parents are looking out for you and they want you to have job experience and they want you to do well! It's hard to know what to do. Well I'm praying for you that you will figure it out. Keep talking to God and he will tell you!"

So dinner time last night during this conversation, my mom said "So are you just saying this because you are feeling discouraged about not finding a "real" job or are you really feeling called to babysit and do childcare?" I was like "huh...good question." She said "well we still need money from you to pay for Jonah's dance. How do you know you will have enough money to pay for that every month if you don't have a solid pay day?" I said "I know as long as I keep tithing, there will be enough money for the things I need."

In the end, I know that babysitting and being around kids is what I need to be doing right now. I don't know if God is preparing me for something or what. But I know that I don't need to worry about anything because God will provide! I'm really thankful for Beth helping me decide and for her and everyone who allows me to babysit for them :)

...Okay the end.

Adventure with the LeRoy boys

This last week has been pretty busy. Sunday night I stayed over at the LeRoys house because the next morning Colleen and Pastor Hayden were leaving for the pastor and wives retreat in...a beach somewhere in Oregon and they wouldn't be back until Thursday. I woke up Monday morning, fed all 5 boys breakfast, we traded silly bands, went for a walk. Ashley Mask came over at around 10:00. The kids couldn't wait until she got there because I told them that Ashley had more silly bands than I did and so she would have more to trade :)

I learned a lot from the 4 days I was staying there:

1.  I learned it's definitely harder to babysit with someone else there that has some different opinions on how things should be done. Me and Ashley seemed to disagree a lot, but we talked about it, but we talked the very last day so it was kinda too late to actually change anything. But at the end of the night, we were watching The Office, laughing hysterically, talking...eating. We never went to bed angry.
2. I learned that I wouldn't mind ever having 5 boys of my own someday. I know it's different when they are your own, but I had a good time in these 4 days!
3. I also learned that if the counter is messy, I go crazy. Also the table. Maybe the floor too.

There are so many things that made me and Ashley just start laughing hysterically over. One of them was Phoenix's eyebrows. He looks at us like we are the weirdest two people he's ever seen. He's probably right. Here is a picture of him looking at Ashley like that. He's not amused..

We could not stop laughing. He looked at her like that for 5 minutes. Ashley was laughing so hard she was crying. He watched the tears go down her face and he just all of a sudden BURST into tears. Maybe because we were laughing like hyenas...? I don't know, but he wasn't happy! Poor little guy. Shortly after, Lincoln said something that was pretty funny. "I have never had babysitters that laugh as much as you guys do.....it's weird." Ashley: "That just means that we're happy and love life!!" Lincoln: "yyeaahhh..."

Here's a video of Pheeny:



Tori and Sydney came over to play! That was a lot of fun. Jonah came over also on Wednesday to hang out with the boys! He needs to hang out with boys more often. I would have taken a picture of him playing with the kids, but I lost my camera :( I think it somehow made it's way to the trash..

I am so thankful that I have this family in my life :) Colleen is an awesome person to talk to and hang out with! Hayden, our new youth pastor is totally the best. This family means a lot to me! <3 and I pretty much just met them not 3 months ago! It was a very fun/busy/tiring week!

The Little Things

Okay, so the other day, the weather was sooo perfect outside. And my description of  perfect is definitely not sunny and warm. It's the complete opposite. I love the rain, wind, dark clouds, stormy looking everything. It's totally the best. Honestly, I'm in the best mood when it's NOT sunny. Ask Ashley Mask  haha! I'm a weirdo. Anyway, bring on the storms. Since the Tri-Cities hardly gets anything!

One of my favorite things to do is when it's raining, I first go to Starbucks and get a hot cup of coffee, then to Howard Amon and park where you can see the river perfectly. There isn't much room for parking in that tiny parking lot thing but I squeeze my way in anyway. I bring a book and/or my devotions and sit there and read while the rain hits the car. Do it some time, it's very relaxing!
I do have to confess though, the only reason why I know I love doing that is because 1st semester of senior year I skipped 3rd hour (Honors Anatomy) and did just that. But don't worry, I passed the class :) ...and who really needs that class anyway?? I mean really..

But the other day while the weather was "perfect" I went to Starbucks, got a Pumpkin Spice latte, parked in that small parking lot and read :) ahhh, life is good. Unfortunately, before I left I was for sure not in a good mood. Even though the weather was perfect.

I grabbed my devotion book, my Nicholas Sparks book The Guardian. Only on page 36, but I'll get there. (One "interesting" thing to know about me, I'm the slowest reader on the face of this planet....it sucks. I love reading, but I just can't do it.) Everything was ready to go, but I just couldn't find my phone!! I searched every inch of my room, the bathroom, the living room, the kids' rooms, the other bathroom. Nothin'. I was so mad that I just started crying. So I tried praying that God would help me find my phone. (It works for Pastor Dan..) but He didn't tell me anything and I was getting so angry. I was an hour behind where I wanted to be! My mom was like " You can't just use God like the pager button!" (something creative like that...you know how my mother is.) and I was like "well it works for Pastor Dan!" I just could not figure out why God postponed me from leaving. Maybe there was gonna be a car accident or something?! IDK. But I just wanted to know where it was. (I know, I know...it's a phone Ashley. What ever did you do without it your whole life? Your parents, your grandparents lived without it all their lives how EVER did they survive? Well...times are different people!
Eventually, I left without it and, well I survived in case you were wondering..

But by the time I left my house the rain stopped, so that was a bummer. I was looking forward to hearing the rain on my car. Just when I got there, the rain started again and it was raining hard! I then realized why God let that set back happen and why I couldn't find my phone! If I would have left when I wanted to, there wouldn't have been rain for me to enjoy. I would have missed it. But since I left when I did, there was rain. And it stopped just when I was about to leave. I started crying when I realized that.

That just shows you that God's plan for you is so much better than your own. He knows what he's doing. See? Pastor Dan is right. God does care about the little things, and he cares about what little things are important to you. It doesn't need to be something as big as a car accident holding you back. Maybe it's just some rain...which He knew was "perfect" for me at just the right time.

(also, go check out John Clement's photography! amazinggg!)