Christmas Time Is HERE! :)

So, I know I promised pictures from when my mom was here and I totally failed. My moms visit was so much fun! We shopped, got pedicures, stayed downtown in nice hotel, and ate too much wonderful food! Here are is a picture of my mom, sister, and me in Kansas City

I have one more final on Friday and then I will be done for the semester! I can't believe how fast the months have been going. I have had to get into "wedding mode" because we are down to 6 months! It will be here before we know it! I can't wait!!

Brady got a job at Cerner- a medical technology company. He is in his 3rd week of training and he is loving it! He has made some good friends and is learning all about the company. He won't know his official position until training has ended, but most likely he will gain the title of "business consultant". This means travel, travel, travel, and more travel. It will be weird to be married and have my husband gone all the time, but we will be fine, of course. I will be in school full time by this time next year so it will be nice to have some time to study.

God totally blessed me recently! I have been looking for a new job because I haven't been getting many hours at Old Chicago and I found one! It's so perfect for my future too! I will be working with a 7 year old girl named Katherine. She is autistic and needs help with speech. For those of you who don't know, I am working towards being a speech therapist so this is the perfect job for me! Katherine's mom, Robin, has worked hard with a speech pathologist to get an in-home program running. It will be great to start learning how to teach speech before I start in my classes and it will help me understand my classes more having this experience! Also, there is a woman in my bible study that is a speech pathologist. She works in a hospital in Kansas City and she is open to me shadowing her whenever I want to. That will also be a great experience. She is very sweet and helpful, so I know she will help me with my classes if I need help. Just getting the exposure to the field I want to be in will be so helpful for my future. PRAISE GOD, He is so good to me and I know He has great plans for my future!

For Christmas I will be going to Washington State to see my parents. Brady will be coming with me. It will be a bitter-sweet experience for him because his whole family will be in Indiana except for him and this will be the first time he is away from home for Christmas. It will be hard when we get married because our families are on the same rotation of the holidays. We have to figure out a way to see both sides of the families- one of the challenges of marriage is the holidays! We both love our families and our new families, so we'll make a way for it to happen. Back to Christmas in Washington...everyone is coming so it will be very special because who knows when that will happen again! My brother Ryan and his wife Bailey, my sister Stephanie and her husband Stinson, Stinson's mom, and my Grandma will all be under one roof!! We are going to have so much fun! We have plans of playing games, going to Seattle for some fun, going to the Nutcracker, Christmas Eve Service, and much more fun! I love this time of the year! It's great to have a new perspective on Christmas as you grow up. I have always know the reason for the season is the birth of Jesus, but instead of being "wrapped" up in presents and all the material things, it has become important to just enjoy the company of my family and friends. God has blessed me with so much and my family and friends are the best blessings of them all!

When I think about Christmas, I think about children and how excited they get for this time of year. I have a "child" of my own. I am so thankful for Brady and his child-like spirit! I always say that I will always have one more kid in addition to our kids-Brady. That is one thing that I adore about my husband to be. Last week at church there was a big tree set up with paper ornaments, and the ornaments had names of people or kids in the church that would not receive gifts and a list of things that they wanted for Christmas. Brady searched the tree for the perfect ornament and he got a little boy who wanted car, trains, and airplanes. He was so excited to provide gifts for this boy, and it made me smile and thank God for Brady. He has such a giving and loving heart and his child-like spirit radiates for all to see. It is such a wonderful reminder to have have faith like a child, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to be marrying a "boy" that will remind me to have childlike faith! The little boy is very lucky too because he got 3 boxes of cars and planes, and because of Brady he will have a huge smile on his face Christmas morning! :)

Brady has also been volunteering in the nursery with me! We work with the 2 year olds and he is so great with the kids! I love that he is willing to deal with crying, pushing and shoving, reading "Farm Animals", putting together puzzles, and cleaning up spilled drinks. It means so much to me that he volunteers with me and we are giving back to the church with our time!

This blog was random updates, so sorry if it was hard to follow!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Update

Its been a little while since I updated, so I will give you the run down of what has been going on!

I have been busy with school and work. It pretty much consumes my life! When I do get a few extra minutes I usually just relax and watch t.v. (all my

shows are back on!). So basically my life is pretty boring!

A few weeks ago Brady and I went to Iowa to watch his sister (Kandace) and his brother's girlfriend (Rachel) run a marathon. Justin (Brady's brother) ran the last few miles with Rachel and then proposed at the finish line! It was very cute and we are all so excited for them! They are getting married May 28, 2011! And we will follow shortly after in June! :) Since I'm on the subject of weddings, I will update you on everything! I have the ceremony and reception venues booked. The ceremony will be at my Grandma's church in Loveland, CO and the reception will be at the Hilton Hotel in Ft. Collins! My Aunt Lexie is a very talented artist and she has designed our wedding invitations. They are fun and elegant...I love them! I know what flowers I would like and what I would like the cake to look like, but I won't finalize any of that until January. I will be picking out my dress when I'm in Washington over Christmas with my family...can't wait for that! :) That is it for the wedding for now.

My mom is coming to Kansas tomorrow for my sisters birthday and we can't wait to see her!! I miss her so much! She is so special to me and I couldn't ask for a better mom. I'll take lots of pictures and put a post about our week packed full of fun!

Brady and I also got our engagement pictures! We have seen a few, but I can't wait to see them all! Here are a few of our favorites so far! :)

Stars

Last night Brady and I drove his old Ford out to the end of the city lights to watch for the meteor shower. It was peaceful to be still and quiet, hearing nothing but the buzzing of bugs. Although the stars didn't give us much of a show, we still got to marvel at God's beautiful creation and Brady began praising Him in song. We sang a few songs together and thanked God for all that He has done in our lives. There is nothing better than running to that quiet place where God humbles you and restores you. I can't thank God enough for giving me a future husband like Brady- he is a leader and a man after God's heart! I couldn't ask for anything more beautiful than that!

Bachelorette Obsessed!

My sister and I have become Bachelorette obsessed! For all of you who think it's stupid...I would agree but it's SO entertaining! All the drama of the men fighting over one girl and of course the villain! This season's villain was Justin and he didn't disappoint. He has 2 girlfriends back home and voice mails proving that he was talking to his girlfriend while on the show! This season has been a great one! I can't wait for tonight!

Stephanie and I have talked about how stupid it is that we get sucked into reality shows, especially the Bachelor and Bachelorette. We have come to the conclusion that it is a fun excuse to have a girls night and get sucked into someone's life for a few hours. Also, we have become addicted to all the drama and what will happen next to the poor men or Ali. It's a great escape from actual reality to watch someone else deal with all their drama and problems and be able to laugh and comment on it.

Ok, so with all that said I would have to say that I really want Ali to pick Chris. I really like Roberto too, but in past seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette (Jake and Vienna being stellar examples) we have seen that if the passion is too intense on the show it usually dies soon after the show ends. Chris and Ali have passion and love for each other, but she thinks about his his morals and what a great husband he would be when she is around him. When she is with Roberto all she can think about is how hot he is and how he makes her feel. I personally think that Chris would be the best choice because I can see a lasting relationship and he has great morals and values.

GO CHRIS!

Summer has zoomed by!

This summer has been a lot of fun, but has gone by way too fast! I moved back to Kansas in mid-May and moved in with Brady's boss and his family. I know, it sounds funny...but it has been a huge blessing and a financial life-saver. I have been their nanny for their two little girls- Ella and Mary- the last few months and that has been wonderful. We hang out by the pool most days and play play play...it's hard being a kid (and a nanny hehe)

Mary age 2

Ella age 6

I also have a job at Old Chicago as a server. I am slowly learning the ropes and laughing along the way as I make lots of simple mistakes. I will continue the job into the school year. I will be starting school in mid-August at Johnson County Community College. I will be there for a year-going part time- in hopes of gaining residency so I can attend Kansas University in Fall 2011 with in-state tuition.

Brady and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary this June. We went to a Japanese Steak House for dinner- it was fun to get dressed up and go out on a date :) I am so lucky to have such a wonderful loving man as my future husband! Towards the end of June I got to go see my brother-Ryan- and my sister in law-Bailey- in Florida! It was so much fun to relax and go to the beach. Bailey and I had a lot of "girl talk" which was much needed and Ryan beat me up as any big brother should do haha. My time in Florida passed so quickly and I wasn't ready to leave, but of course I had to get back to my job- darn...they just don't let you take off months at a time very often :/

2 years with Brady

My Brother and I at Clearwater Beach

Brady's parents came out to see us this past weekend. It was great to see them because we don't get to see them very often- just like we don't get to see my parents very often :( I guess that's what happens when we all live in different states. Their visit was short but sweet and filled with chit-chat so we could get caught up on everyone's life. Brady has been busy this summer too. On top of working at The Chamber of Commerce and Longhorn Steakhouse, Brady has started his own Pool Business (Andrew Pools LLC). He has been a "pool boy" all summer and working his butt off to get the pools open and sparkling clean! He is a very hard worker and I am VERY proud of him!

Well, that's all for now...wish summer could last longer but I'm thankful for all the fun I have had thus far! Hopefully I can squeeze in a little more before the summer ends!