Date Night

Thanks to the youth staff, John and I had a fun date night this weekend. The youth staff (volunteers who work with us in youth ministry at church) bought us a pre-baby date and a post-baby date. For the pre-baby date, we went out to dinner at Mama Stortini's which is a yummy Italian restaurant in downtown Puyallup. Following dinner, we went to the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness" For the post-baby date, we have lots of popcorn, cool popcorn containers and a gift certificate for movies to bring home. Check out the new floor and get more info. about it in the previous post.

John and I ready to go out on the town!

Look at my crazy belly - it just keeps growing!!

Our New Floor

Finally!! Pictures of our new floor. Sorry it has taken a while to get these on the blog. The first few were taken during the process and the last few captured the finished product. Thanks to friends who blessed us with their expertise, we were able to install it ourselves... with all of their help of course. Thanks to Uncle Joe, Jason, Ernie, Ben and Brian!! You guys rock!

Who is working here anyway?

It had been a very long day...

Beautiful!!

We love our new floor!

32 Weeks - Baby Classes begin!

So, last night started another fun adventure: Our first birthing class. We were so excited to go! We are taking a 6 week course at Good Samaritan, which is the hospital we will be delivering at. So, for the next 5 weeks, on Wednesday nights, we will be found learning all about having a baby. So, in we went with our 2 pillows and blanket. Last night we learned about the vocabulary that surrounds birthing - so very exciting. :-) Some of the words are a bit scary, and caused John and I to look at each other with expressions that may have read, "It that really going to happen to us?" or "Are you ready for that?" We then watched a birth... on video of course - oh boy!! is all I can say about that one. And we learned some good exercises for mommy to do starting in the 36th week. We actually practiced them in class. John could do them - Nichole could not. My question - If I can't do them now, how in the world will I be able to do them in a month? Hopefully these are not a requirement to get that little girl out into the world. Pelvic lifts, not for me! We have 6 other couples in our class - three of us are due on the 28th or 29th of March - the others are due in April. Only one couple in our class didn't know what they are having. We ended class with some relaxation on the floor with our mats, blankets and pillows. It was a fun night! Next week we get to take a tour of the birthing center. I am now 32 weeks - 8 weeks to go! According to me, I think I will be having her early - I know... all women say that at this stage.. but I just think perhaps it will happen to me. :-) Only God knows her birth date. We thank God for her daily and we can't even express how incredibly excited we are to bring her into this world!! With all my uncomfortableness right now, I have a hard time complaining because I am so thankful for the opportunity to be pregnant. It is not something I have taken for granted. Thank you Lord for this amazing blessing!

Friday Fun Links

Here is an art fun link for Friday.

Scroll down and look at some of the 3D illusion art, it is out of control.

Julian Beever Art

31 Weeks

Hello everyone! It has been a bit since we have updated this blog. It seems that since we have been back from South Dakota, we have been on the go! For those of you who know us well, you're probably thinking.. how is that any different than any other time. As much as we try to maintain a sane schedule, we often find ourselves too busy. These last few weeks we have been putting in new flooring in our house. I say "we" but it is more like John and his very nice, handy friends from church. So, today we spent the day cleaning and got to all but three rooms. It feels so nice and we absolutely love our new floor!! Next on the docket, our little girls room, guest bathroom and organizing the garage. Anybody else wait till they were just 9 weeks away from delivering a baby and decide that all this home stuff must be done or else? So, when we get a moment to take some pictures, we will, and then post them for you to see our new and improved floors. On the baby side of things, I am doing well. I am really wanting her to be here... just because I want to hold her!! I am getting bigger and my tummy is growing straight out in front of me. I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way - I love this amazing blessing and no matter how uncomfortable I feel, I can't complain.. this is what I wanted more than anything. :-) Keep us in your prayers - pray that this little girl growing inside stays healthy and strong until she is ready to meet the world! 63 days to go...

Friday Fun Links

Paper Toys
Fun, yet challenging toys completely made of paper.

Think Geek
Fun geek toy store

Ask a ninja
Funny ninja asking questions. Obvious takeoff from Strongbad on Homestarrunner, but still funny.

Sickies

Nichole and I are back in Puyallup. Last Thursday I got really sick with the flu for about 24 hours and then stood up in a wedding this past Saturday. On Sunday Nichole felt a cold coming on and has been quite congested and exhausted since we got home. Our good friends Lance, Katie, Lindsay and Leslie Bauslaugh stayed with us for the last couple of days. We will be posting some selected pictures from our Christmas vacation, so check back soon for those. Friday fun links will also be back on Friday, so get ready for that.

Good Ole South Dakota!

Hello everyone!
We made it to Sioux Falls on Wednesday night at 11 pm. We had a few hours of icy roads but made it before the storm hit. We were told we were going to wake up to 7 inches of fresh snow, but were sad to wake up to nothing - the storm missed us!
On our first day of vacation we did a lot of shopping! It was fun! We went with my (Nichole's) mom and dad, sister-in-law, sister and brother-in-law and nephew. We hit the mall and had a great time together. And, best of all, we got ALL our Christmas shopping done. In the evening, we went to the Kjesbo's and had dinner with them followed by some fun games of farkle. The pictures are from our time with Allen, Denise, Emily and Kyle.
So far today we are just hanging out with my nephews while their mom goes to a meeting. This morning, my oldest nephew Brenden asked me what my name- sad! Hope he gets to know us better while we are here. My parents and sister (and the kids) are on their way over now. Dad is stopping to get us coffee's at our favorite coffee shop - Black Sheep Coffee!
It is good to be home - I think I will always consider South Dakota my home. Sioux Falls has grown a lot since we were here last - I have seen a Panera Bread, Linens and Things, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Old Navy and some really fun restaurants.
Oh, one last exciting thing... we will go to First Baptist (our home church) this Sunday. It will be Allen's last Sunday there and he is preaching. We are excited to be a part of that. Allen and Denise have ministered at First Baptist for almost 17 years. Allen has been the youth pastor and Denise has coordinated the music for the contemporary service. They are planting a church out of First B - a very exciting adventure for them both. So, next time in town we will go to the new church plant, The Point (is to serve).

Status update and Line Rider

Our power ended up being out for about 45 hours. We were safe and warm through most of the storm. There are still people without power.
It is now cold here and our garage door needs help getting up because it is not used to the cold. The weather is actually warmer in South Dakota where we will be heading for Christmas vacation. Who would have thought?

I have just discovered the new and improved Line Rider. Check it out.

Line Rider

There is even a wikipedia entry. Woohoo!

Wiki Line Rider

Friday Not-so-fun Pics

Here are some pics from our Friday adventure. You may have seen our area on the news. Our power went out at 5:00 pm Thursday night and as far as we know, it is still out. There were also wind gusts up to 70 mph. We played cribbage last night by candle light and slept in the fireplace room to avoid any falling trees. We woke up this morning and the power came on for about two minutes. This afternoon we ate lunch and decided to evacuate to the Junkert's. They welcomed us with open arms. Here are the not-so-fun pics.

I am heating up water for oatmeal and tea in the morning.

Nichole is all bundled up while the temp. in our home drops to 55°.

Nichole and I all warm and safe at the Junkert's.

Ernie speed-burning some of the debris in his yard.

Friday Fun Links

Here is a fun little website to waste some time during the holidays. Enjoy.

Line Rider

Pregnancy Brain and Petite Cheesecakes

I have been warned about “pregnancy brain” and did it experience with my friend Katie. Nichole has had a few times when she forgot to answer a question I asked or didn’t remember what she was talking about part way through a sentence. Today however, I experienced a true pregnancy brain moment.

I came out of the bedroom and Nichole was checking on her mini-cheesecakes. There was more smoke coming out around the little treats than should have been. I said to her it looked like something was burning. She started dancing around and exclaiming, “The pot holder, the pot holder!” I ran over and pulled out the muffin tin only to find the pot holder in between the tin and the oven rack. Nichole was cooking and while these cheesecakes were cooking she was trying to figure out where the pot holder was. Needless to say, we laughed and laughed. Here she is with the finished product.

Friday Fun links "John the Baptist Edition"

Last week I had the opportunity to baptize two students in the youth ministry. It is great to see students progress in their faith journey.One was in the first service and one in the second. It is the first time I have ever brought two extra outfits to Sunday morning church.
Today's fun link is another youtube video. In this preacher's eyes, this student may have some more progressing to do than others.

Disclaimer

The movie that is referred to in my last post is not one I would recommend. We had it recommended to us by someone else and gave it only 1.5 out of 5 stars. If you have any good recommendations for movies we would love to have them. Thanks

What if . . . ?

Do you have any "what if" questions in your life? Do you ever get answers to those questions? I got one of mine answered today.

What if you accidentally sent the wrong dvd back to your online movie service?

This evening Nichole and I sat down to watch the first episode of the Pretender. When I opened the dvd tray I found the last movie that we got from Blockbuster Online. The interesting thing was that I had just put that movie in the mail on Thursday. Blockbuster lets you know when they receive the dvd back so I logged into my email and found this.

Oops, wrong item.
Hello John,
The item received by BLOCKBUSTER Online® on Saturday, December 2, 2006, is not one of the movies we sent you. We will return this item to you as soon as possible.
If you intended to return I Love You to Death P&S 1 of 1, simply remove the incorrect item from our postage paid envelope and replace it with the DVD you intended to return. Then, as always, seal the return envelope and send it back to us.
We appreciate your cooperation. If you feel you've received this notice in error, please contact Customer Care at 1-866-692-2789 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST Monday through Friday.
Thanks,
BLOCKBUSTER Online Customer Care

So there you go, if you send the wrong item to your online movie service, they will just send it back. Now I have to wait a few more days for Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock Vol. 1. :-(

Irregular Experiences

Over the past few days I have had the chance to do something things that I don't get to do very often or haven't ever done yet.
On Saturday I helped Bill dig up our septic tank and free some obstructions from the tank that were causing nasty backups while Ben and Leah were here.
On Sunday I wore a t-shirt while I preached. It has the Youth Group theme for the year on it which is Transformers and was the main theme of my message.
On Tuesday I actually got to use my snow shovel and shoveled the sidewalk out in front of our house. We had enough snow and cold weather that our local schools have been closed the past two days.
This year we are also not putting up our tree since we will be gone on vacation for most of the holiday season. This is a picture of our Christmas showcase.

Thanksgiving fun links

Here are two fun links early, so no regular fun links this week either.

1. Nichole's brother is in Iraq right now. Please pray for him.

Thanksgiving

2. This is intended for youth workers, but is a good reminder to all of us.

Thankoholic

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Fun Links Absence

Here is the reason why I didn't post any fun links last week. Buh-bye hard drive.

Bobcat

Here is my nature photography.

Bobcat and baby

Yesterday afternoon we went to Gordie and Sandy's house for lunch. As we were sitting down to lunch, Gordie faked that there were some deer out the window. We ate a great meal and as we were clearing the dishes he then exclaimed, "Bobcat, quick Sandy get the camera." Of course we thought he was joking, but we then went to the window and saw a bobcat walking along the back property line of the neighbor.
It slowly walked onto the Bauslaugh's property and then became transfixed on something in the grass. We snapped some pics and then it lunged into the bush. It came out with some small vermin and ate it. I then slowly snuck out onto the porch and snapped a great picture of it looking right up at the deck. It was on a film camera so we will see how it turns out. I was very excited after this encounter with nature.
Later on in the day I had another experience with nature. I was in the living room and thought Nichole was sleeping when she called me from the bedroom. I went back and put my hand on Nichole's tummy. I felt my daughter for the first time. I was very excited after this experience also.

Youtube for Friday fun links

Mommy

I forgot to post the pic of mommy cooking for a healthy baby growing inside of her.

It's a girl

Disclaimer: Ultraounds are not 100% accurate, but we had some pretty clear picture confirmation that we are having a girl. Here is a video of our new baby. This is the ultrasound we had this morning. You can see her suck her thumb and open her mouth.

Friday fun links

Sorry there weren't any fun links last week. Here are some good ones to make up for the absence of last week.

A helpful reminder tool: GoToMsg

Helpful for all you students with iPods: Notepods

Help the world: Red

Not as helpful as we thought: Energy drinks

Sunny Coast

There is no flash on my Treo so you can't see Nichole's face, but this is the wonderful view from our balcony.

Bella Espresso

I (Nichole) decided I wanted to post things once in a while so this is my first post!
John and I are sitting at a very cozy coffee shop in Cannon Beach, OR. We are enjoying a relaxing afternoon by the ocean - it is a beautiful day! I am reading a book entitled, "Messy Spirituality - God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People" It is a great book! Maybe I will post some gleanings from it later. John is reading a techy magazine. We have had a wonderful weekend at the coast and will head back home tomorrow. We were able to hang out with several friends we don't get to see often enough - Jon, Jill & Reagan Putz, Brian & Tammy Bruya and our new friends, Paul and Jennifer Baker (Paul is the new youth pastor at Calvary Baptist). It is such a blessing to have "church meetings" at the beautful Oregon coast - for us, it is like a mini vacation with friends! Tonight John and I are going on a date in Seaside. We are going to a yummy italian place I found last time I was here.
Going back to my book now - hope you are having a restful Sunday!

Friday fun links plus one day

Here are the fun links for the week.
Yellowtail

Sketch Swap

Jesus' Face

Mommy Gruber

Here is a picture of Mommy Gruber at about 17 weeks. She is feeling good and thinks she may have felt the baby kick over the last couple of days.

We went to Old Navy after our doctor's appointment today and Nichole found this cute pink sweater. Since we haven't decided if we are going to find out the gender, we also hunted down the boy version. Rock on!

Seminary and Saltimbocca

This is me studying for one of my seminary classes. The lectures are on cd and I have to watch them and then take notes as I watch. I am learning all about the Bible an different protestant perspectives of biblical issues.


This past Sunday the church staff and their spouses went to Buca di Beppo in Seattle. It is a family-style Italian restaurant. The food comes in big portions and everyone shares with each other. We had a great time and got to eat some great food. Afterward Nichole and I went and hung out with Ben and Leah which included Fremont Coffee Company, Fred Meyer and the Amazing Race. Interesting fact: Dustin was interested in going to Mars Hill Graduate School where my sister works and my sister greeted her and her husband at orientation. She didn't come to school because of the Amazing Race. That means I am only two degrees from Phil.

Friday fun links

Today's fun links are both car-related. Have fun playing the game.

Peugeot Parking

V Dubs Rock

Big Time

My youth ministry has been linked from another blog. Sweet action. Click on the link and as your scrolling down, look on the right side for a familiar name (Christ Community Baptist Church). Way to go Mission Trip team.

CSM Blog

Friday fun links

Jesus Camp FridayCheck out these links about Jesus Camp. I am not supporting this movie, but just making my faithful blog readers aware.

ABC News Report

LA Times article

ABC News Report 2

Jesus Camp

Friday fun links

Nichole and I are down in Portland for my class and a birthday party tomorrow for Malorie Junkert. The weather here is beautiful. In my class this morning I learned about vision and mission. Woohoo! Here are some great links about blogs.

Smart Christian

Breakpoint Blog

To Blog or Not Blog

Friday fun links

There haven't been any fun links this week. In honor of this; stop reading this blog, turn off the computer, go outside and get some fresh air. That is what I am going to do.

Really Good News!

Nichole wanted the baby to have it's own post. So here you go baby. You have your own post on our blog before you are even born. I am sure this will be the first of many. Nichole said on the way to the concert tonight that she is the mother of a fetus. It is strange to think I am the father of a fetus.
From Nichole:
It was sorta a joke... the whole fetus thing. It came out in a discussion about MOPS - some ladies at church want me to attend, but I don't feel like I am a "Mother of a Pre-schooler" instead, I feel like the "Mother of a Fetus" so if there was a group called MOFS, I would possibly consider it. :-)

Good News/Bad News

Bad News: Yesterday I sold my VW bus. I have been evaluating my priorities lately and if I have free time I would rather spend time with Nichole, play my guitar or do something bike-related. In light of the good news, it would be something I would not be able to work on in the near future. Nichole and I were sad when we saw it drive away. It went to live where the real hippies are, Portland.
Good News: Nichole is pregnant. She is due the end of March and we are enjoying this new stage of life and all that it entails. Soon I will have one more thing to add to the list of priorities.

Friday fun links

There is just one fun link this week in honor the new school year and my first class today back in Seminary.

Analogies

Friday fun links

For all you golf lovers

Everybody's Golf Club

For all you food lovers

Recipes

For all you media lovers

Plugged In

Office Exposé

Here is where I work. I think I spend most of my life in my bed, or in my office. Another fun thing is that for my class I am going to take at Western, Youth Ministry management, I have to take pictures of my office. As Katie and Deb mentioned though, that is the cleanest they have ever seen my office, so I will make sure to mention that to my professor. :-)

This first picture is of my bookshelf and chair. The window looks out to 176th St. E. If you look closely on the window sill, you can see two trophies that some students won at the Word of Life volleyball tournament. First place and second place. Woohoo! My book shelves are almost full and have various books and other items. One of my favorite books is an East Indian Bible in the language of the area of India where my grandparents were missionaries. She read her Bible in the language of the area she was serving to be in touch with those she was reaching.
My chair is very special. I have had it in my possession for almost ten years. It has been with me in my dorm at college and now in my office. When my parents first moved to Canada, they needed some furniture and an elderly couple who was moving into a nursing home gave them the chair. That chair rocked both my sister and I when we were babies. My dad has also had it in his office at some time during his ministry. While the chair was in the lobby during carpet laying, someone wanted to know whose ugly chair it was and why don't we get something nicer for our pastors. However, once you sit in the chair you won't care how it looks!

This next picture has the couch and my knick knack shelf. On the shelf are serious things and funny things including a jade monkey from China and a wine goblet from the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. The couch is from Ernie and Cindy Junkert. Cindy is the Head Ministry Assistant at CCBC and we are great friends with their family. This couch was Ernie and Cindy's first couch after they were married and I secured it from another room in the church when I came.

This picture is of my bulletin board and filing cabinets. I affectionately call one of them the smurf cabinet. I bet you can guess which one. On the bulletin board are pictures of students, cards and a picture of Jesus I used in my last sermon. On the filing cabinet fronts are magnetic letters, words and funny magnets. Mountain Dew is one of my favorite beverages and the metal sign on the filing cabinet says, "Mountain Dew, it'll tickle your innards." A funny hillbilly is shooting the top of the bottle.

This last picture is where it all happens. The small gray cabinet on the right is from Pastor Gordie. He brought it with him when he came to Washington and it serves a great purpose. On the wall are my diploma and Purple Feather award. The desk is in its usual state of affairs. There is stuff everywhere and everywhere is stuff. One of my funny sayings is "Organized people are too lazy too find things." Haha. That's my office, exposed.

Office Exposé Part 1

Here are the pics of my office. Stay tuned for a full write up.

Friday fun links

Is your city angry?

Angry Cities

Then play this game

Juggler

Exposé

I know some of you are getting impatient for my office exposé. However, in order for it to be good, I had to do some research about the furniture. I believe I have all the information, so the time is drawing near. Stay tuned.

Exposé

This week I am going to be doing an exposé about my office in honor of the new carpet and because Jon Putz no longer has an office.  (If you are wondering how I got those cool accents and you are running a Mac, let me know.)  Stay tuned.  Do you say "stay tuned" for a blog?  I have no idea.  
Nichole and I are back home and resting in our house.  We have had a very busy three weeks and are excited to have some down time.

Leavenworth

Yesterday Nichole and I celebrated our Fourth Anniversary. Woohoo! We are staying at our favorite bed and breakfast in Leavenworth, the All Seasons River Inn. We have spent the greater part of the last two days just lounging in our room and taking leisurely strolls around Leavenworth. Today we are driving to Portland through Yakima which is a part of Washington we have never seen. Here are some pics from our stay.

We're back

Nichole and I got back from the mission trip last night at about 7 pm.  We had a great time.  Please check out the youth blog for the updates.
There is not much rest for the weary, as we head out for Leavenworth and two nights in a bed and breakfast on Wednesday morning.  Then on Friday we head to Portland for Bryce and Megan's wedding.

San Francisco

Surf on over to the ccbcyouth blog to see what Nichole and I are up to this week.

Christ Community Youth

What's been going on

Here is the pic from man night. We have a cottage window in our kitchen and this is what I found when I woke up on Saturday morning. No wonder some of the guys were going crazy at 3:00 in the morning.


Nichole is still at Guards somewhere in the US. If I told you I would have to kill you. :-) Yesterday she learned how to navigate in the forest. Today she drove Hummers and tomorrow she is going to paint her face camouflage and drive around the Hummers in the dark. I am so jealous.
On Sunday I went to Seattle to hang out with Leah and Ben. On Monday morning Leah and I took the Elliott Bay Trail to see if it would be okay for her to ride to work. My sister is going to become a bike commuter. How cool. We then checked out Emerald City Guitars and REI. At night, Ben, Leah, and I went and check out the I-5 Colonnade. It is a mountain bike park that is going to be built under a portion of I-5 in Seattle.


Today, Troy, Justin and I rode at Black Diamond. The trails were very intense and we were all tuckered out.

Friday fun links plus one day

Nichole left for her guard duty yesterday morning, and then I had 8 young men over for a sleepover and video games. I will post a picture of the festivities soon.I think two of the guys stayed up all night. Here are some fun links.

Air Scooter

Pipe Cleaner Dance

Have a great weekend.

Last day of July!

A week ago Sunday we had our last softball game of the season. The team we were playing was another church and little did we know that they were undefeated until we handed them their first loss of the season. Nichole pitched and I played first for most of the season. We had a lot of fun and our team was pretty close to having a .500 record.
The next day Lance, Katie, Nichole and I went to the Mariners game and saw them defeat the Blue Jays in a great show of defense, offense and pitching.
This past weekend we had our youth staff retreat. We took a ferry on Friday night and stayed at a house on Anderson Island. We planned some events for the fall, worshipped God and had a great time enjoying each others company. God has blessed us with a great staff.
This week Nichole and I are supplying the drama for VBS.

Friday fun links plus one day

Here are two fun links.

Best Places to Live

Internet Safety

Summer update

We are almost one month into summer and have been quite busy. My parents just left after being here for two weeks. My little sister and her husband just moved to Seattle. Five of us went to Kelowna BC this past weekend. Our softball season is coming to end this Sunday.
My parents, Nichole and I took an Argosy cruise while they were here and got to see Seattle from a different perspective. On the tour we got close to Bill Gates' house. He has a padded room with a trampoline floor. How very cool.

The five of us at a rest stop in BC.

Tante Olga, Nichole and Leah

Nichole being given a ride by seven-year-old, Andrew Skilbeck, up to cherry picking.

Friday fun links

I didn't really come across any fun links this week. Surf on over to Mitchell's blog and whatever you do, don't click on the red button. HAHA!
At the beginning of this week we went camping with Lance, Katie and the girls to Deception Pass State Park. The weather was chilly, but we still had a great time. It was definitely an experience camping with little ones, but we would do it again in a heart beat. Here are some of the best pics from our adventure.

Friday fun links plus one day

Just some fun links

1. Puzzle Alarm Clock

2. Chuck Norris Article

3. Another great how to