Rachel Beaton and Jacob Ashmore became Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ashmore today. We had the privilege of being there with them for their special event. Congratulations to both of them.

Happy Anniversary To Us
7/19/03

I can't even believe that it has already been 3 years since that day. What a gift of God. I was reminded again on that day how God's plans are so much better than our plans. Growing up, I always planned that I would go to college, fall in the love the summer before my senior year, get engaged the Christmas of my senior year and get married right after graduation. This was my plan for my life. God knew better though and instead added in the awesome experience of Guam and all that came with it as well as meeting the true man of dreams and the one I knew without a doubt that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I'm so glad God protected me from trying to make my original plan come true. Of course, there were several times along the way when I thought that maybe I would be the one who never got married - especially during the 2 1/2 years of patience required of me while I was sure Mike was the one I was to marry and he was sure he wasn't the one. He finally did come to his senses though, stopped playing hard to get, and realized what I had known all along - we were supposed to be together. After that, the whirlwind wedding plans from the other side of the ocean began to come together in a way only God could orchestrate. As you can see from the picture, we were able to have a large wedding party and enjoyed having many close friends make it to the wedding beyond the ones in the picture.

Now we are 3 years down the road and I'm just as thankful to be the one by his side. I look back on the memories we've created and look forward with anticipation to see what God has for us in the future. In the mean time I choose to be thankful for each day we are given together. He truly completes me in a way I never could have imagined when I was an independent single woman. I'll wrap this up before I start getting too sappy but suffice it to say that I love my husband and praise God for giving Mike to me and vice versa.

Grandpa Johnson & I

Well, I've been thinking about my Grandpa a lot since vacation. It was so great to spend time with him, but a hard reminder that there might not be very many times left. He has lost much of his eyesight and his health in general seems to be failing. I'm blessed in that I have all four of my grandparents alive right now. Grandpa was always special. He just had that knack with the grandkids. Every year for the past 33 or so years, my family has taken a week at the lake for vacation with several relatives, including Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. When my sisters and I were younger, Grandpa would come to each one of us individually at the lake and sneak us away to town for ice cream cones. Then he would tell each of us "Don't tell your sisters, but you are my favorite". This actually worked great for him for many years - we all thought we were his favorite and he got four ice cream cones each time. :) Then one day came the big fight in which one of the sisters broke out "Yeah, well I'm Grandpa's favorite"... and his secret was out. We've never let him live that down.

He used to also play softball with us in the backyard when we were really young. He would hit the ball and go around the bases, picking up a granddaughter at each base. Of course, we all loved it.

I have tons more memories of my Grandpa, but I won't fill up the whole page. I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me such a special Grandpa. My heart aches at the thought of being without him sometime soon, but at the same time, I know that he has a special day coming where with clear vision he'll see his God and his Saviour and hear "Well, done, thou good and faithful servant."

We're Back!!!

Yes, I actually made it through 8 days of no internet access. We were able to go up to Michigan to spend a week at the lake with my family. My grandparents on my Mom's side were there as well as my parents, all three of my sisters, two of my brother-in-laws, all six of my nephews and my one niece, my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin and her daughter. We had good times. I'm thankful for the time we could have together. It has been three years since were were last together and we partied like maniacs.

Mike and I also took a Wednesday trip down to see my grandparents on my Dad's side (whom I haven't seen in 4 years and Mike had never met). As an added blessing we were able to see my Uncle Phil (whom I haven't seen in 6 years) and his family. We also met my 3 year old cousin, Tyler, for the first time.

All in all - a good experience. Now we have a bunch of work to do to get caught up on all the Ebay stuff, but it was worth the time off.

I'll post pics soon. :)

We are NOT moving this weekend.

Well, it is official - we are not buying the new house. Alas, the dreams of relaxing in the hot tub after a long time go by the wayside. Basically, the week before closing (which was supposed to be today) I began getting more and more stressed and feeling strongly that we should NOT buy the house. Part of that came from trying to get quotes for homeowners insurance on the new house. We actually had someone quote us $6000 for a year of homeowners insurance. Craziness.

One night as I was lying in bed, I began thinking of all the fixed expenses we'd have in the new house for as long as we had both houses and I started freaking out. So, I made a chart. The totals made me believe even stronger that we should not buy the new house while our house was still not sold. Even though we received pre-approval for financing that way, it made me nervous. After all, the brilliant finance guy who did the calculations wasn't going to have to balance the checkbook.

When we first entered into this whole deal, everyone was telling us we should sell our house almost immediately as the market is so hot down here and there are no houses on the market. Within two weeks, the bubble burst and our realtor said no one in their whole office was getting any calls and the news stations were reporting that the market was beginning to tank due to overinflated house prices anyway.

Long story a little shorter: basically, we are relieved to not be moving right now. Our house will stay on the market for the next 5 months and we'll see what happens. Thanks for your prayers.

Me and My Dad

I can't remember a single volleyball or basketball game that my Dad missed when I was in 7th - 12th grade. He made time to be there. He and my Mom drove many miles sometimes to be there. It was important to me and it was important to him. Sometimes everyone in the gym knew he was there as he shared his exuberant cheering with all, but I would rather have an exuberant father in the stands than one who stayed at home. My parents and I would often ride home together after the away games and that gave us a great chance to strategize over the whole game - the goods and the bads.

We played "Pig" at the hoop he set up for me. My Dad was a good shot, too. The only way I had a chance of winning was to stand at the free throw, turn around, arch my back like I was doing the limbo and hurl it over my head towards the hoop. I had to perfect that shot so I always had one he couldn't quite get.

No matter what sport, my Dad was supportive. He even made it to a few of my college games. He and my Mom were there for my last home volleyball game at Northland. He even was able to watch me play soccer once on Guam when we, the faculty team, were playing against my high school girls team.

I knew sports was a realm that my Dad and I could always connect in, so I got involved as much as possible and I put my heart into it too - because I knew my Dad was up there in the stands cheering me on. I think that had a definite impact on the type of athlete I became. I wasn't the braniac in the family (all of my sister's were valedictorians - I was 7th in class rank). There were other areas that my sister's clearly had been more gifted then I. They all played brass instruments like my Dad - I played the flute. So while they had their areas to connect - I had sports. We had a good time together through the years at all those games and on all those trips. I was truly blessed to have 2 parents in the stands supporting me when so many kids are lucky to have one.

So Dad, thanks for helping make me a stronger athlete and for being there. Happy Father's Day.

Possible New House

Here is the update. Yesterday we had the house inspection. It went well. There are two things that need to be dealt with before closing and I think the sellers have agreed to the fixes. Our realtor thinks we are still on track to close in 12 days. I go back and forth in my mind between whether we should or shouldn't get the house. I don't know if that is the Lord preparing me that it is going to fall through, or what. We've decided to leave it in the Lord's hands. There are still several ways the deal could fall through, so we are praying that if He doesn't want us to make this move that He solidly closes the door. Thanks for your prayers for us during this time.

Master Bedroom / Master Bath

Here is a view from the corner of the master bedroom into the master bath. I love the pedestal sink. On the right side is a vanity table and on the left side is the sink, toilet and tub.

Hot Tub at the New House

Okay, so I admit, this is a definite cool feature of the new house. This is in a screened in breezeway between the main house and the "guest house/work space". The greenery that you see is actually from the inside landscaping.

Mike, Dad Herriage, Royce

We spent Memorial Day visiting Mike's Mom, Dad and brother in North Carolina. We left after work on Friday evening and drove through the night to arrive there at about 7:15 a.m. on Saturday morning. Mike's Mom didn't know we were coming, but his Dad had set the alarm for 7:00 and told Mom Herriage that he wanted a big breakfast. So, she was in the kitchen getting out the food for breakfast. Mike's Dad met us at the door and escorted us to the kitchen where Mike walked in and said hello. I think his Mom was seriously shocked. Even Royce was able to keep the secret that we were coming, so that worked out well. Mom Herriage had a birthday on Sunday, so it was nice to be there to spend her birthday with her. We were going to drive home on Monday (Memorial Day), but Mike started thinking about the traffic and we decided to leave late on Sunday night and drive through the night again. So, we took off around 9:00 p.m. and got in to our house about 11 hours later and slept for several hours.

We always enjoy spending time with Mike's parents and brother. We are thankful to have the opportunity to go up there and thankful that the Lord gave us the strength and safety to travel through the night twice without any problems.

Mrs. B and I at the Wedding

Well, in continuing talking about people who have influenced me and in honor of her birthday which is today, I'd like to tell you about Mrs. B.

I met Beverly Pelletier in 1999 when I first arrived on Guam. She was one of the friends who first accepted me and took care of me. She worked in the main office as well and we ended up spending tons of time together. My first summer on Guam was a little difficult as I was living by myself for the first time ever. I found that I needed someone who I could just spend time around - an opportunity to be out of my quiet apartment. Mrs. B was on "granny patrol security" which meant that she would drive around campus on a golfcart making sure everything was okay and watching over the Bible Institute students. She let me ride with her and we bonded in an incredible way over those hours of riding around on the golf cart.

She is like an adopted Mom, Grandma and Friend all in one. She took care of me and let me sleep on her couch all drugged up when I had to get my wisdom teeth out. She let me tag along with her around island on various errands before I had a car. She even dragged me out of bed on Saturdays at 6:00 a.m. so we could get to K-Mart before the crowds for our weekly shopping trip. I've since forgiven her for that. :) She was always amazed that I could get up at like 5:58 a.m. and be out the door at 6:00 a.m. with my hat firmly in place covering my wild bedhead hair. When I decided that I was going to spend Christmas alone in my apartment all day because I was depressed about spending Christmas on Guam without my best friend, Vanesa (who had gone home that year), she made sure I came over and ate with her and several of the Bible Institute students. Basically, she took care of me and was a very close friend.

Mrs. B and I will always be friends. Our friendship can cover the distance no matter where we are. She listened to me completely, felt free to let me know when I was wrong and accepted the real me with no reserve. I could trust her with who I was and know that she would help mold me into something better. The amazing thing is that this is who she was with everyone - not just me. She loved the Micronesian students like they were her own kids and they trusted her too. Each of us who have had the privilege of being a part of her life have carried part of her with us as we have moved on. Thank you, Mrs. B. I love you and miss you. Happy Birthday.

Pastor Mike and Brenda VerWay

I apologize in advance for the length of this blog. I was recently inspired by a joking comment from a friend to do a series of blogs on people who have influenced my life. Since doing a blog on him was his idea, I thought it only appropriate to start with Pastor Mike. :) Pastor Mike and Brenda came into my life when I was in 8th grade. They came to fill the youth pastor position at my church. Little did I know the effect of their impact on my life that would become clear in the following years.

They were real. I saw them in many different circumstances and knew their faith to be real. I could listen and grow under Pastor Mike's teaching because of who they were in normal life. As I look back on who I was in high school, I recognize the infinite level of patience they had in dealing with me. They were there at camp the summer when I was having the worst attitude of my life and he was preparing to actually send me home from camp until the Lord got ahold of my life and I got saved. They came over to my house to personally tell me something that I would learn the next day at church about a situation that would devastate me. They stayed while I cried and I will never forget Pastor Mike's solo the next morning in church. He sang "Where is a Gideon...where is man" and I sat in my seat and cried. They were a source of stability for me and I knew I could go to them with anything.

Brenda will never know how much she changed me. She was a role model to me and someone who I desperately wanted to be close to. She listened to me when I needed to talk and wasn't afraid to challenge me or bust me when I needed it. We talked about dating as I was seeking to find my acceptance in a relationship and not in God. She gave me wise advice about dating and relationships that I carried with me through college and my time on Guam. She made a point to be a part of our lives - even when she had her hands full with being a wife and a mommy. We all loved her.

I had the distinct honor of having Pastor Mike perform my wedding ceremony. People told us afterwards that it was the funniest wedding they had been to in a long time. We made it through the typical wedding bloopers and he performed the ceremony with both dignity and hilarity. I'm not sure how that is possible, but the wedding video proves it to be true. I'm thankful that they could both be there for our special day. Michael, their son, was just thankful that I was getting married. He was little when I was in high school and I spent a lot of time with him at various youth activities. He wasn't very old when I was driving him to his house one day and he asked me if I was going to marry my boyfriend. I told him that I didn't know and he told me that if Matt didn't marry me, he would. It was so sweet. By the time of my wedding he was much older and thankful he didn't have to stick to that. :)

Basically, to wrap it all up even though I could go on and on, Pastor Mike and Brenda left imprints on my life and I will forever be grateful that they were willing to invest in my life.

Oh yes, I'm also thankful that they never called the police on me and my various friends who toilet papered their house many times. At least 2 of those times, we were seriously caught. Thankfully, most youth pastors understand that toiler papering is merely a teenage way of saying "We love you."

The House We Are Looking To Buy
Okay - here is the house that we put an offer in on yesterday. They counter-offered and we counter-offered. We might go back and take their original counter-offer after talking to our finance guy. We are basically just waiting now to hear back from the realtor and the finance guy. Our house is officially on the market and we'll probably be getting our for sale sign in front today. I'm working to keep the house in consistent "show-shape" and still live life and manage the businesses. Keep praying that the Lord will work out the details. Unfortunately this is the only picture we have of the new place for now.

Our House - Soon to Be For Sale

Well, we think we have decided to go ahead and put the house up for sale. We are looking at another house and have had a hard time deciding whether we should move now or wait about six more months. We mainly need to move because the business is taking over the house. So far we've taken over 2 of the bedrooms and the "Breakfast Nook". We don't really have much more room to take over. We've debated a lot over what to do and decided that we will put the house up for sale and put in an offer on the other house. The Lord can work from there. If we sell the house for our asking price and can purchase the other for our offer, everything will work well and we'll be in a great spot that will actually have a separate building (though attached through a screened in breezeway) for the business. Pray for the Lord to lead and guide. If we are supposed to get the new house, He'll work out the details.

I am "reading through the Bible in a year" again and I am using a book that was introduced to me by Emily Davis while we were still in Guam. I really like the division of the daily readings as it divides them into sections that correspond together and not just a set number of chapters a day.

Today was Proverbs 30-31. How appropriate as Mothers Day is in a few days. Chapter 30 is so simple yet profound. And as I was reading chapter 31 I could not help but smile. Every part of that reflected Sandra (except the 'children' part, of course).

I am still amazed more and more on how much Sandra has a grasp on so many different things. I know that the Lord has blessed her with gifts and talents beyond what I even know about. I like to watch her do things that are so simple to her, yet fry my brain just trying to fathom them. I try to learn from her, but many times I simply have to let her do it knowing that I am in such good hands.

So, that is my thought for the day. Yet again, I am shown the greatness of God in the wife He gave to me.

We don't have kids and it's okay - really!

There does come a point when you get sick of well-meaning relatives and friends asking you when you are going to have kids. Does anybody else experience this? Yesterday one of my co-workers kept asking when we are going to have kids and said he doesn't understand why so many couples wait to have kids. I told him that it took so long for Mike and I to find each other that we want to have time to spend together without adding the responsiblity of kids yet. Looking back at the last 2 3/4 years of marriage, I'm so thankful that the Lord has given us that time together without kids. We've moved a lot and been through several different job situations and not having kids allowed us to do all of that more smoothly.

Bottom line: God is in control of when anyone has kids. If I don't think I'm ready, and He does, guess what - He wins and "surprise". If I think I'm ready, and He doesn't, guess what - He wins and we don't have kids. So basically, it's isn't in my control.

Anybody struggle with this same situation? Or anybody realize they've been guilty of doing this to their married friends?

I love Sandra!!

Mark & Kim Schlosser
A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to get together with some friends from Guam. I'm not sure what it is about Guam and the ministry out there...maybe it is the fact that you basically live, work, worship, celebrate ups, hang together during downs and survive typhoons together that often makes you closer to the people around you than family. Since you are on the other side of the world from your real family, they basically become your family while you are there. I have found that even if you weren't super close to someone while on "the rock" (Guam), when you are Stateside and you have the chance to see them, you jump at it just because it is like seeing family again. You can get together and share your memories and enjoy the fellowship. The Schlossers were good friends to me on Guam. Mr. Schlosser (I still have a hard time calling him Mark) was my deacon for the first few years I was there and was a blessing on several occasions. Kim and I became closer at a point when we were both struggling with some things and the Lord kind of pushed us together. I will always be thankful that the Lord brought her to be an encouragement to me during that time.

I walked away from seeing them a few weeks ago and could only be positively affected. They were an encouragement to me in a huge way and I thank the Lord for bringing friends into our lives who can say the right thing at the right time in just the right way. My life is better for having walked the same path with them for a period of time.

Big Praise

Well, I like to refer to it as "the curse of my bones". It really began right before my freshman year at Northland. I broke my finger just a week before I went up to try out for volleyball...to play the setter position. It continued through the course of all 4 years. Each semester, I either broke or dislocated at least one finger. Try taking your secretarial typing classes and each semester having a different finger sticking straight up in a splint, yet still trying to make your timed typings. It continued in Guam. My first year out there I was having a soccer practice with the faculty and staff ladies who were going to play against my girls in a game. I was demonstrating dribbling back and forth and said "this is how you do it". Just at that moment, my foot came down wrong and I broke my ankle. I also broke at least one other finger while I was in Guam, but have been relatively disaster-free since then.

Yesterday I was sure I broke the same ankle again. No glory story or anything. I stood up. I stepped. My foot came down sideways, my ankle made an ugly noise and I fell. I couldn't get up. Eventually, I hopped to the car and drove home trying not to use my right foot for the entire hour and fifteen minute drive.

We went today to get it checked and thankfully it is just sprained. I praise the Lord for protecting it and not allowing it to break. I am also thankful that God allowed me to get home safely while driving that way through tons of traffic and a thunderstorm. Finally, I'm thankful that God gave me the perfect husband to take care of me right now. He has been wonderful. Pray that the swelling stays down and that I can get back on both feet soon.

More on the saga of how we got where we are...

Last time I left off with us moving out of our condo after only three months due to damage caused by Hurricane Charley. We moved us and our stuff into my sister's house in Kissimmee. After a few weeks, my parents were coming to visit and Mike wanted to give them the guest room, so since our insurance was covering other housing for us up to a certain total, we moved ourselves into a hotel. We actually lived in the hotel for 6 weeks. What an adventure. The best part was the great free breakfast every morning. The air in the hotel room was kind of musty though as the air conditioner would not maintain temperature. We were always either turning it way up or turning it way down to try to balance it out. So, we started to get sick and decided to move.

We then moved ourselves into a vacation home. We couldn't get a normal apartment because they seemed to all be full. However, in Orlando there are tons of vacation homes for rent for families going to Disney. So, we found one and moved into it for a couple of months. During this time, we found a great church (really the first one since we had been married). Unfortunately, it was about 50 minutes away from the vacation home, so we decided to try to find an apartment closer to the church.

We were able to find one. So, we moved again. This time we moved all our stuff out of my sister's house and moved everything into the apartment. We thought we were staying there for at least a year and we were excited to finally slow down. Not long after that, Mike's boss asked him if we would move to Tampa and start another location and Mike would be 1/5 owner in the new company without having to invest anything other than his time. So we started looking for houses by Tampa.

In May, we moved again. We are now in a house in Plant City - about 21 miles from Tampa. The Lord actually blessed us with a brand new home that was going to be the same price as all the "as is" 30 year old homes we were looking at. We have now been here for almost 11 months and it has been wonderful to put down some roots. Now, believe it or not, we are starting the search again for a new place. Because I run the Ebay stores out of our house, I have already taken over 2 bedrooms and the little breakfast nook with Ebay stuff. We just need more space. More space would allow us to spread out the products more so it doesn't take as long to pull the items for orders. So, the saga continues and we are looking again...

A few lessons I have learned through all of this: 1. Don't keep stuff just because you have it. After moving so many times, you learn a lot of things aren't really important. If it doesn't have sentimental value and you haven't used it in awhile, sell it on Ebay! One less item to pack the next time. 2. I'm so thankful that the Lord has given me a husband with an adventurous spirit. As I look back at all those moves, we met each one with an adventurous spirit and looking to see what God would do in our lives rather than being depressed about moving again. 3. I'm so thankful we didn't have children early on in our marriage. I can't imagine all of those moving adventures with a child in tow. The Lord knew that would be more than I could bear.

Okay - I think that completes getting everyone caught up basically on where we are now. I promise that future blogs won't be so wordy.