we're both named cheno

56.. OH NO!

2009-09-07T10:06:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I did what might be one of the dumbest things I've done in a long time... but a story precedes...

This weekend I had the SO FUN opportunity to go out to some of my friends' lake house with a good friend. It was awesome! I spent some quiet time with Jesus on their back deck overlooking the lake, got to share hearts with my sweet friend, and then, then we got to go ride.. the jet ski!! woo woo!! It was SO MUCH fun! Ok, so on the way to the lake house, and back for that matter, I covered the bottom sides of Dad's truck in mud (because it had rained a lot and the dirt roads were now splattery mud roads). SO, trying to be a good steward of what I'm entrusted with, I take his truck to the carwash. As i go through the automated process, I open my wallet and thought, "Sweet! A crisp $20! The money-taker will totally accept this crisp bill!" So I stick the $20 in. Right as I see the last of that bill go into the machine I start looking for the bill return slot.... there isn't one. There is only a CHANGE return!! AAAHHH!! That's right, I got $14 back in QUARTERS!!! Oh my. I pulled out every one of those 56 quarters and pulled into the carwash laughing out loud to myself. Unbelievable. I would.

2nd week down, oh my!!

2009-09-04T12:51:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone!
I hope this finds you well and living every moment of your day in awe of Jesus. I can't believe that today is already the second Friday of my SENIOR year in COLLEGE! WOAH! Time is going by SO quickly, but God is still SO faithful to be moving in my heart and the hearts of those around me. I am currently ruined by, and in complete awe of, God's plan that allows us to share in the work of His hand. OH MY. My roommate and I have been listening to a lot of David Platt recently. He is a young pastor at Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, TN. His humility and pure passion or the name of Jesus is incredible and so captivating. My eyes have been opened to so much Biblical truth through his teachings. Here is a link to his message at the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.. it will rock your world.. I highly recommend listening: and when that rocks your world and you want to know more, you can visit Brook Hills website (http://www.brookhills.org/media/) or find him on iTunes as well. AWESOME teaching about our even MORE AWESOME Savior, Jesus.

On to less important things, yet still good, school is going well. I am taking Personal Financial Management, Persuasion, Mediated Communication, Rhetorical Theory, and Conflict in Communication -- quite the interesting load this semester. I am really enjoying my classes -- I actually enjoy what I'm studying! This semester might be one of, if not THE, best semester yet. I guess that is what comes when you're a SENIOR (i'm still not used to saying that, nor do I fully comprehend that indeed, i AM, a senior in college -- oh my!) School and life are playing really well together right now, I pray that continues and I have faith that it will.. it's all about priorities.. Jesus first, doing what He's entrusted to me second, everything else third. Done and done, right? yes!

Here are some fun happenings as of recent!
First, rush. oh my what a year! It was probably the best year we've had yet, and with the best new pledge class yet. We took 84 girls (biggest pledge class ever at the UofA i think). Plus it was my last year to do rush -- which is kind of exciting in itself, yet sad at the same time!

^this is me and my roommate, Hunter -- she's a sweet blessing in my life!

^this is Sarah, my heart friend since before kindergarten -- another precious blessing!

^this is the senior pledge class -- the greatest!

These next few pictures are from a caving/hiking picture that Matt and I went on last weekend with Campus Crusade for Christ. Matt actually planned the whole thing -- he's good with logistics/maps/directions and such -- yay Matt! Obviously, Matt went on the "caving" side of the trip -- I chose to go hiking -- both SO fun!

^Matt with one of the caving groups

^We're so outdoorsie!

^And how great is this?! Right next to the visitor's center at state park, there was a pumpkin patch! i love a pumpkin! You know what pumpkins mean, don't you? FALL IS NEAR!! yayayay!!

There's a fun little recap for you all -- i hope you enjoyed! Be ready, my next three weekends are Senior High Fall Retreat with my high school Bible study girls, a wedding of 2 sweet friends of mine, and CRU's (campus crusade for Christ) Fall Retreat --- meaning a lot of fun pictures will be coming your way! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, and allow yourself to be still in God's presence... for He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in HIM.

love you all!
elizabeth

August 18th, 2009

2009-08-18T12:03:00.002-05:00

Sorry to disappoint, but there's not much that's been going on in the hiatus between summer school and the regular kind. But oh, it's about to get crazy. Like, tomorrow. It's gonna get real. I'll let you know.

End of Summer, August 9th

2009-08-09T22:53:00.015-05:00

So now it is my turn to catch you folks up after more than a month of silence. As I sit and type this out, I have just returned from a weekend at the lake with my friend and housemate Andrew Wise. His family owns a lakehouse on beautiful Lake Hamilton in central-ish Arkansas. Frivolity and hilarity ensued.

In other news, I have completed the Systematic Theology study! You guys can find my notes through the links on the right, or by clicking on the chapter numbers at the bottom of this post!

This last week I also finished up two big things in Grad School, which were the independent study class, and a paper I wrote and submitted to an ASEM conference. Hopefully I'll get to go to the conference in September and give a presentation on it! As shameless self-promotion, I've put a link to my paper on the right, below the Systematic Theology notes, or you can click right here.

Other big Grad School news: there are now so many grad students in IE, that they took away our office! Since we had an office and a lab, the department determined that we could survive with just a lab, so we've converted a corner of the lab into an office space. yay. This means that you can hop onto the webcam and maybe catch a glimpse of me working. (I find that it is now almost always pointed at the office area. Is Dr. Fant spying on us?) There's a link to the right, or you can click on these very words to go to the robocam.

Well, that's all for now. I'm up too late anyway, and if I don't stop soon the title will be a day late. oh no!

- Matt

Systematic Theology Notes for Chapters:

[2 &3], [4&5], [6-8], [9-11B2a], [11B2b-12A], [12B-12], [13-14B], [14B-15D], [15E], [21&23], [24&25]

the ideal weekend

2009-08-02T20:38:00.004-05:00

Hello again! I know I said I'd go in order of summer events.. but i wanted to get this past weekend up before i forgot all the great things that took place. I promise I will put up a Pine Cove post before too long! Here though, is the past 48 hours -- so fun!

This is William. He is our new neighbor, considering he is only 6 weeks old. We had the sweet privilege of keeping him at our house all day on Saturday -- SO FUN!

My sweet friend, Dana, also came in town on Saturday. I'm so bummed we didn't take a picture together to put up here, but we had the most delightful day. It's always fun to catch up with an out of town friend! She is getting married this November and I have the honor of being one of her bridesmaids. We talked everything wedding while she was here -- such an exciting season! Mom, Dad, Dana, and I went to a Naturals game Saturday night. They are the minor league baseball team here. We had bbq for dinner, ate snowcones on the way to the game, and enjoyed the evening in the BEAUTIFULLY COOL weather. I don't think I've felt so American in a long time! Oh and I was wearing a tye-dye shirt, to add some more American flavor to the evening -- haha!

Mom has made a tshirt quilt for Matt and S.Ann, but we haven't gotten around to putting mine together yet -- until today! Mom and I started sorting through 21 years of tshirts, cutting them down to size, laying them out, and started sewing them together. We aren't close to completion by any means, BUT it is so fun to see it start taking shape! This is my "childhood - junior high" quilt. Mom says I'll probably have to have 2 -- one for the younger years and then another from high school and college together -- so many tshirts these days!!

Oh and here is a little extra bonus from this last week -- me and mom on the morning of my 21st birthday! Banana pancakes anyone? DELISH!!

And speaking of delightful goods, I'm off to take the blackberry cobbler out of the oven -- more fun updates coming soon!

truth to feast on today:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
-Romans 11.33-36

let's start at the very beginning...

2009-07-29T12:47:00.007-05:00

Hello sweet family!!
OH, MY, how much I have to catch you up on! Summer 2009 has been the most incredible season of life thus far. I have traveled to fun places, met dozens of life-long heart friends, and have experienced the intimacy of God our Father in a WHOLE NEW WAY! I can't wait to catch you up on everything! I suppose the most effective way to do that is to start at the very beginning. For in the words of Maria from the Sound of Music, "It's a very good place to start!" So here we go!

May 12-15, 2009: Turks and Caicos Islands!!
I got to travel with my sweet friends, the Lasses, back to TCI. It is PARADISE! Sweet Maggie Bates came with us too! It was such a FUN and relaxing way to start of the summer! We laid out on the beach, traveled to a different part of the island to see the volcanic rock, sang karaoke one night, and the last picture is me and sweet Annie (the daughter of a Nigerian woman we met at the airport -- soo precious!) And yes, the water really is THAT clear and THAT blue -- if this is what earth is like, and earth doesn't even hold a candle to heaven, then I am SO excited to see heaven!! (and remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger..)

July 2nd

2009-07-02T18:33:00.005-05:00

Hey Folks,

First off: As you can see from the box on the right, there are two more updates for my systematic theology study. You can read them here and here, as well as finding the list of all of them in the box below and to the right.

Grad school is going well. Lots of reading. Sometimes I think all grad school really consists of is reading. The independant study class is going well enough. I'm over halfway through which is great. Hopefully I'll be able to speed through the rest of it!

I'm not living strictly by myself anymore! My friend Stephen Counce moved in a few days ago and has been doing a great job of keeping me company. It's great to not be in this huge house all by myself anymore. Andrew moves back in about a week, so that's something to look forward to as well!

I always think of things to write about during the times when I'm busy, but when i sit down to write, I can never remember them. Write me an email and let me know what you'd like to hear about.

Matt

June 18th

2009-06-18T16:19:00.004-05:00

Hey Folks,

Well as you might have seen, the notes for chapters 9 through the first half of 11 have been posted. I'm not sure if I really specified this, but this isn't really a class that I'm doing. I just got together with some of my friends and one of them put together a schedule that we're all following. It's been really supprising how much of the stuff we study is either common sense based on the Bible, or things about God that I have historically taken for granted and assumed. I've never (seriously) attended a church where any of this was expressly denied, but it's nice to have it clearly stated.

Summer Grad School is going well. I'm still working hard on the independant study class, and from week to week my professor will tell me to go read up on something or another, so I have a steady stream of information coming in. On the other hand, there are a couple things that I'm working on producing. I'm beginning to put together an idea for what will become my master's project. If all goes well it'll be about when you know if a decision you've made has succeeded. The idea is to figure out how long you would watch say, a robot doing a job, to make sure that it won't mess up when you stop watching it. That's one thing. I'm also putting together a notebook on how to work the robots in the lab, because there is currently not one, and I am having to figure things out myself...

Well that's all I can think of for now.

June 11th

2009-06-11T16:32:00.003-05:00

Hello all!

I've added my Systematic Theology study notes for Chapters 6 through 8. Note too that the list to the right has been updated!

We've finally fixed the robots! The guy from Adept came by yesterday morning. He changed out the batteries and reinstalled the programing in our robots, so that now we can actually use them! I captured the whole thing on video, so that Dr. Fant will be able to upkeep the robots himself in the future.

Not much else is going on.

June 4th, 2009

2009-06-04T14:21:00.008-05:00

Woah! It's been a long time. Too long in fact.

Summer is here. I finished my first semester of Graduate School, and am currently taking an independent study course over the first half of the summer. Once I finish that, I'll continue to work on research projects throughout the remainder of the summer.

The three guys I live with have all gone off to bigger and better things over the summer, which leaves me home alone in the Parkhouse. Part of the reason this update is so late in the coming is because I shut down the cable and the Internet for the summer, which means I'm only online when I go to my on-campus office. Andrew is on staff at a state-side summer project with Crusade in Santa Cruz, Ca. He'll be back on the 12th of July, so I won't be by myself the whole summer. Robert is on a different Cru summer project in Alaska. Freakin Alaska! Seth is somewhere in Colorado doing something with mountaineering. Robert and Seth will be back sometime closer to the beginning of class.

I'm also doing a study of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I know that you all will want to stay up on that, so I'll try to figure out a way to post the weekly assignments I type up for it. --edit-- well, i just figured it out! Note the new box on the right, titled "Systematic Theology Study Notes" As I go, I'll post links to my study notes there. I've put up Chapters 2 and 3 and Chapters 4 and 5 already!

Gosh that's really it.

happy mothers day!

2009-05-10T20:19:00.003-05:00

To our Granne and our Grandmom -- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
We love you both VERY much and are SO thankful to have you as our grandmothers.
We send our hugs and kisses to you both and pray for God's sweet blessing over you!
- matt and elizabeth

81 birthdays!

2009-04-22T22:54:00.003-05:00

This post is for my sweet sweet Grandmom -- today is her 81st birthday!! Oh what a blessing to have 81 years to celebrate God's goodness! I would love nothing more than to list my top 81 favorite things about her.. that might be really lofty... but i totally have at least 81 reasons... i'll start and see how far my brain takes me!

i love....
1. her sweet and gentle spirit.
2. every memory of time with her on her farm.
3. how she taught us German prayers.
4. when she would come visit for 2+ weeks and i got to sleep on the floor next to her bed everynight.
5. her trust in Jesus.
6. her never-ending knowledge of family history.
7. her teeny tiny handwriting.
8. how we drink out of old Tom and Jerry jelly jars at her house.
9. how she always keeps her glass in the corner of the kitchen counter tops.
10. the way she twiddles her fingers and taps her toes when upbeat hymn are played.
11. how she drinks hot water at night.
12. her use of old sayings like "over yonder"...
13. and "land sakes"...
14. her sweet and never-ending generosity.
15. how she always had spearmint gum and vitamin C candies in her dresser drawer.
16. her laughter. SO precious.
17. how she loves old movies - horse movies in particular.
18. that she loves tradition. i think i love tradition because of her.
19. her voice - in conversation, instruction, story-telling, love her voice.
20. her name. if i get to have children when i grow up, my first girl's name will be 'Lillian'.

Grandmom, happy birthday! You are more precious to me than you know. I love you and am SO thankful for you! Happy happy 81 years!
LOVE YOU!!

April 19th, 2009

2009-04-19T15:20:00.003-05:00

Hey Folks,

So it's been awhile, but i figure it's better late than never. Not too terribly much to report. This semester is almost finished, which is exciting. Only two or three more assignments in each of the two classes left to complete, so though it's more difficult to motivate myself, i see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Research is going as well as can be expected. The Adept guy has yet to come out with the replacement batteries, which is why you haven't seen us on the webcam lately. I'll let you all know when that happens.

Gosh, anything else i would have written seems to escape me.

Matt

already 16 days??

2009-04-18T22:27:00.006-05:00

Oh my how time flies! According to my little date-keeper on here, it's been 16 days without a post -- that won't do! So to catch up for lost time, I will tell of 16 things that have been going on in the last 16 days of 'no posts'.. in no particular order, here we go!
1. i got an hour deep tissue massage a few weeks ago -- oh my and oh my! If you have never done so, i HIGHLY recommend it. The hour went by much too quickly, but oh how good it was. I remember laying there at the very end thinking, "THIS is how it feels to be rested and relaxed"... to bad it's not like that EVERYDAY!

2. I got a bike! Praise the Lord for bicycles!! I've been wanting a bike REAL badly for awhile now, and as one of my great friends says, "if you wait, you will find everything you need at a garage sale"... and sure enough, i did! Garage Sale-ing is one of my favorite pastimes, and when the weather isn't rainy (which it seems to be often here on the weekends.. and tuesdays and thursdays for that matter...) then i like to go. I walked up to the 2nd garage sale of the morning a few weekends ago, and there before me was a bike! I talked to the dad who owned it, he told me it's pros and a 'fix-it' spots, and sold it to me -- for $12.00! THAT is what I'm talking about! So as I drove away, thanking the Lord for bringing a bike into my life, I asked Him to provide a helmet and a lock. Only a few sales later, what is for sale but a $2.00 helmet! And i happened to talk to matt that afternoon to find out that he has a bike lock -- praise the Lord! So now I am set - Fayetteville Bike Trail, HERE I COME!

3. I have decided that I am in THE MOST exciting and fun season of life thus far... Engagement/Wedding season! SO MANY friends and people around me are getting engaged and married -- THE BEST! I made a list of over 12 weddings of friends this year -- and I get to be in a few of them! Two of my sweet friends, Andrew and Emily, got engaged last weekend -- a REALLY FUN SURPRISE for Emily -- she was shocked!

I had the honor of helping set up the surprise with a Andrew and a few of our friends - SO GREAT!

the happy couple -- the soon-to-be Whitleys!

After the Andrew proposed, we hurried back and set up a surprise engagement party -- complete with coordinated foods..

4. Skipping ahead a few days, all the way to last night.. Campus Crusade had their annual Fellowship Dinner to raise funds for this year, and I had the privilege of MCing the night -- SO FUN! Mom and Dad came too! Below is a picture of a few of my friends and I with the flowers from the middle of the tables at the dinner... we thought we could pass at bridesmaids.. it being 'wedding' season and all! haha

Oh my... how sad that I only got to number 4 before needing to stop. Well, this will be a good reason to post for frequently! Until then, fill your days with Jesus and constant time in God's Word -- i find life is best when HE is my focus.
lovies to you, sweet family.

rain and grapefruit

2009-04-02T16:55:00.004-05:00

Oh how I do love the rain. It has been a delightful day, full of drowsy rain and sleepy thoughts -- definitely one of my favorite kinds of days (if only my teachers would like to stay home and enjoy the rain too.. hmm. I'll work on teaching them that appreciation.) But yes, I do love today. Oh and I had a half of grapefruit with my lunch, which made today even better. I decided if one could live on grapefruit, hot tea, and a variety of cereal, I would FULLY embrace that diet. haha.

Life has been full and fun since spring break. This past weekend, me and one of my sweet roommates, Hunter, went to her home in Bixby, OK. We had the MOST delightful time possible. We were only there from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon but felt as if we had been away for a week - SO wonderful! Friday night we ate dinner with her family at their home and YUM was it delicious. Mrs. Ochsner is the BEST cook - EVERYTHING is from scratch, and so healthy - talk about good eats! Then we watched "The Boy from Snowy River" (Grandmom, you would LOVE this movie - it's about horses - your favorite kind!) Dr. Ochsner, Hunter's daddy, really wanted to watch the sequel, but that didn't happen until Saturday afternoon, after he hunted the whole town of Bixby for it (haha). On Saturday, we woke up to homemade breakfast, watched 'Enchanted' (a wonderful Disney musical) and helped Hunter's younger sister get ready for her interview -- she was in a pageant on Saturday night, which is the main reason we went to Bixby I suppose! Oh and yes, it snowed over 8.5 inches in Bixby this past Saturday! Can you believe it? It was a beautiful winter wonderland all day - GIANT snowflakes falling all day long! But then it was sunny and upper 50 degree weather on Sunday - so our drive home was sunny and dry - imagine! We had the most relaxing weekend - watched movies, slept a lot, had sweet fellowship with the Ochsner family, and enjoyed being away from school - so refreshing!
(Below is me and Hunter this past fall - it's always better to have a face with a name, right?)

School is going well. T minus 22 days I think -- yippeee!! Dead Day is May 1st and I think all my tests are done by May 7th - PRAISE the LORD! You can be praying for me if you think of it -- school/projects/tests are super intense the next 2 weeks. But all is going well - the Lord is so faithful in provision of time and provision in general to be exact!

I hope you are all well, i think about you each often -- more fun things soon!
loves.

March 29th, 2009

2009-03-29T16:21:00.006-05:00

Hey Folks,

So as I logged in to write my weekly update, I noticed Blogger gave me the option to "monetize." This means that there may be small google-style advertisements on here in the coming days. If you see them, click on them. Help me help you get to know me and keep up.

Anyway, this past week was pretty routine. In my renewable energy class we're learning about solar panels and other ways to use the sun to heat water so it will make electricity. Oh yeah, we're also still learning about wind turbines... always learning about wind turbines.

Grad School keeps me busy. We've gone back into the lab this week in order to find out for ourselves what is wrong with the robots that would make them lose their configuration. We're still waiting to hear back from the company who made the robots we use, but until we do, we'll try (and try, and try) to figure it out ourselves. Keep checking back here to try and catch us working. We're not back to the consistent every-day-at-two schedule, but when we are you can be sure I'll let you know.

That's pretty much it for now. Sista-friend should post here pretty soon. That is, if she hasn't while I've been composing mine.

Matt

March 23rd, 2009

2009-03-23T18:21:00.008-05:00

Dear Sista-friend,

Please let me teach you how to change a flat before the next one happens.

Thanks,
Your Brother.

Hey folks.... and cjb....
So this last week was spring break. It was pretty awesome. The first weekend I went down to Dallas to visit the Grandparents and get some help building a bed frame for my bed back in Arkansas. I had a deal with Grandad that if I visited, he would buy the wood for the bed frame, so I hitched a ride with a group of people who were going to Dallas en route to Austin. We knocked the frame out in a single afternoon, owing more to Grandad's master carpentry skills than my revolutionary new design idea. On to the pics!

This is one of the four posts. The bolts holding the planks together for each leg are the only pieces of metal in the entire frame.

Frame. Disassembled

How it all fits together.

Voila.

So you see the frame was a success. One Saturday here pretty soon I'm going to finish it, even if it's only a sealer. I think it looks pretty good untreated, but the ants probably do as well. The rest of the week was mostly uneventful. Well, until next time!

-Matt

high five, rick!

2009-03-21T13:45:00.006-05:00

march 21, 2009 - a day to remember in the life of elizabeth chenoweth. the day of the flat tire. that's right, i got a flat tire. not the first i don't think, but i honestly can't remember the time before today, so we'll say that today is the first recorded. a good memory i suppose. i wake up on this fine saturday to the 'pitter patter' sound of rain - simply delightful. last night i had the idea to go garage sale-ing so, despite the rain, i did. i brewed a delish cup of hazelnut coffee, zipped up the raincoat, and was off to conquer the competitive field of bargain-hunters. i drove around, searching for the neon poster board which signals garage sale-ers, but quickly found people didn't want to set their belongings out in the rain, even though i was the yay-whoo that wanted to shop in drizzle and buy their rain-soaked items. i had found a few signs and then found the house connected to those signs, and stopped in front of their house. as i got out i notice a little girl was watching me from the driveway of this sale. "I know, i know, an S-10 pickup truck - you wish you were me", i thought. And then I heard what made her stare -- the quite loud fizzle of air... my front passenger tire was exhaling air and making bubbles in the puddle he was resting in. "neat", i thought. So i whipped out the cell phone, call the parental units, and ask advice. Mom gives me the towing company number and i proceed in the process. Rick, the superhero of the day, aka the nice man comes from the towing service, comes in his giant, yellow truck, focuses-in on my occasional air-headed-ness by showing ME when the tools are in MY automobile, and then starts changing the flabby tire with the spare. The spare didn't have air, so i got to then ride IN the giant, yellow tow truck. Here we are, me and ole Rick, riding in a GIANT yellow truck, with the little pansy S-10 strapped to the back, holding on for dear life. "Ok Elizabeth, this could be painfully awkward or this could be delightful - it's up to you", i think to myself. "Sooo, how many people do you do this for in a day?" I ask. "Oh about 20 -30," he says. "THRITY PEOPLE!? In ONE day!? That's incredible! You're like a modern-day superhero!" "hahaha, to some people maybe, but all the time", Rick responds. Silence fills the cab. "Umm.. so what brought you into the towing business?" I ask. And then Rick proceeds to tell me about his career history, asks me about my school status, tells me about his love of air-brushing, and then we made it to the gas station where superhero Rick aired up the tire, charged me $45, and told me to have a nice day. I thanked Rick for saving the day and then was back in Ole' Red - almost good as new.. well that's a stretch, but you know what i mean. All that to say, today was an adventure. And i spent my garage sale-ing monies on a flat.. oh well. Either a good time or a good story, right? And this definitely categorizes as a 'good story' I'd say.

the old, the spare - don't know which one looks worse...

the culprit. i see you, little guy.

all said and done, i'm thinking I could switch out the spare by myself. i mean Rick made it look like a simple procedure. i'm thinking i might change the next flat myself. can't be too hard.

3 cheers for spring break!

2009-03-20T10:00:00.010-05:00

oh how i love spring break. no school, no schedule.. it's simply bliss. i haven't opened my planner in over 5 days - i think that's a record! this week has been so so great.

i came home from school last friday. well actually, i left school, went straight to babysitting my favorite fam - my little friend Jake turned 12, TWELVE! oh my! i suppose he is not my LITTLE friend anymore.. especially considering all three of their kids are almost older than i was when i met them - yikes! All that to say, spring break started out on the best foot by getting to play with Sarah and Thomas, while Jake and his buddies went birthday party-ing..i believe bowling and lasertag - so fun!

saturday was dreary and rainy, and perfect. i slept in and then mom wanted to run to her favorite fabric store in downtown Rogers. it is next door to one of my favorite childhood memories - Poor Richards - an old drugstore with a working soda fountain bar, now converted into an art gallery (but they kept all the old furnishings - good for nostalgia purposes of people like me). i went with mom and had the greatest time looking at fun colors and patterns on a bazillion different fabrics. there was a whole section of really great fabric, and i mentioned to mom that i would love to do something with them - but didn't know what to do. she told me to get a little piece of each of the ones i liked, and then sew them all together in big squares.. so i did! i picked out all the ones i liked, we came home, laid them all over the living room floor, and then started sewing! after a few hours of that delightful 'hum' of the sewing machine - a new 'summertime' blanket/quilt! and i simply LOVE it! i love the colors, the boldness, every bit of it! and look at the pillows too! i sewed all the selvages of the fabrics on a piece of muslin, resulting in my favorite pillow of them all! i had little bits and pieces of the selvages left, so i just zigzagged over them for the back of the pillow - leave no scrap behind! oh how fun even the littlest of things can be! (note: you can click on the pictures and make them bigger...)

monday through wednesday might have been the greatest of all camping trips - of ALL time. i got to go with my sweet friends clark and joyce lasse (parents of my friend whitney) and emily and andrew. we went to the land of joyce sweet friend from college - they have 66 acres on the river - BEAUTIFUL! we had the GREATEST time - talking about Jesus around the campfire, biking, walking through the woods and down to the river, enjoying each other's company and laughter on a giant rock on the river (we named it our 'rock of beracah' - (beracah means 'praise' - from 2 chronicles)), having gourmet cuisine even when camping (joyce is the best cook!) - oh it was all so wonderful! here are a few of the 250+ pictures from the weekend (clark and joyce have a really nice camera.. i just get carried away!)
oh and to preface a few of them..

this is clark. he's hilarious. he made best friends with the little over mit too - hilarious!

- our happy little campsite, including camp stove which cooked the BEST food EVER - waaay better than camping food should be - delish!

this is me, joyce, and emily - precious heart friends of mine.

emily and i on the 'rock of beracah'! such sweet memories there.

cheezits! we don't travel without them! boxes went with us to the beach, and they go with us to the campout too!

here we go! little did we know how COOOLD it was going to be! but totally worth it - a 'you only live once!' moment, for sure!

brrrr! a little cold

clark and joyce went canoeing one afternoon, expecting a delightful little journey down the river... little did they know it was going to be like white water rafting! andrew, emily, and i opted not to go the next day.. we remembered how cold the water was...

after joyce fell in the river out of the canoe, i tried to be helpful and dry her shoes by the fire. all successful! expect her socks.. you can see the toasted toes... woops!

wish you were there!!

sweet emily and i by the little brook. we followed it down to the river.. a childhood dream i believe

emily and andrew - doesn't get much sweeter than them

this is brea. i'm not even much of an animal person but what a fun dog. we decided she lives the perfect life of a growing dog... 66 acres of trails and woods, on the river. sounds good doesn't it?

this is emily, kalli, amy, joyce, and me. kalli and amy live where we stayed - what a life!

the perfect sunset to the perfect trip! we got to watch it set for a whole hour on the way home - beautiful!

all in all, i'd say the week has been one of the greatest spring breaks of all times. restful, fun, and blessed by Jesus beyond measure. i hope you get to experience a week of the same sometime soon.
love you each.

March 15th

2009-03-15T19:35:00.002-05:00

hey Folks,

So the week following a week of being sick means that most of this past week has been spent catching up. Most every minute was spent working and frantically catching up before spring break. so, while this update may be pretty sparse, next weeks should be awesome!

So basically, i'll see you all next week. Spring break 09!

matt

for old times sake

2009-03-12T09:03:00.003-05:00

I've been studying all morning (more like every minute for the past 2 weeks.. oh how I am CRAVING spring break!) and I decided I wanted to take a little break from the books. So I thought I'd leave a little happy for yall. Here is a picture for old times sake - a summertime picture of me and matt when we were little - because i'm craving the freedom of summer right now, and because i love matt's shorts in this picture.. haha.

I promise to leave more substantial posts about current-day life this coming week - until then, enjoy an old time lovely!

hugs and kisses.

up and running

2009-03-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

Hi!
How fun is this?! I've always wanted a blog but never had a good reason to make one until now! So hoorraay for high-tech grandparents who can read this and be kept up-to-date on the happenings in this part of the world.

I don't know how Matt's emails have been laid out in the past, so I don't really know what to tell yall or what is fun to know, but maybe I'll just use this post as a test run - to let you know there is more coming. For it is a BEAUTIFUL day today and i'm on my way to the park to study!

More to come too! Love you - be blessed.

March 8th, 2009

2009-03-08T12:16:00.001-05:00

Hey folks,

Welcome to our Blog. This is a site where, instead of E and I emailing you updates about our life each week, we can come on here and post our update. You can write us both emails back, or you can leave comments after each post by clicking on the "comments" link below each post.

The big news from this past week was my stomach bug, which turned out to be a bacteria infection, due to the low-grade fever. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, not that seeing the parents for a couple of days wasn't nice.

Grandad:

I got your isometric drawing and the pictures of your cabinet. It looks really nice. I haven't been able to talk to a couple of my dallas-native friends about spring break but i'll take care of it this week and let you know.

Grandmom:

The students in the lab were freshmen who we were recruiting for IE. They had picked some of the different departments and were going on program tours. The robot I was showing off was picking pins out of a feeder and putting them in a peg-board, and then picking them up out of the board and putting them back in the feeder.

Well that's all from me for now.

-Matt