Really?! It's About Time.

So here we are.... a year later. I'm finally getting back around to keeping the few of you updated. Not much has changed in the past year. It's hard to think that it's only been a year since Asheville. It feels likes so much more time has passed. I can't believe that last year at this time we were absolutely devastated to realize our dream of Asheville wasn't going to happen. Perhaps this is part of the mourning process....in the beginning time goes so slowly and then life happens and you have to move on full speed ahead.

This past year has been filled with stress, frustration, joy, excitement, new life, growing friendships, parting of ways and so many other emotions. I finished my student teaching in November of 2009 and graduated in December. My parents, brother and best friend were able to come out for graduation. I finally made it! In January I received my teaching license and was very blessed to get a long term sub position from February to June. As of now, I'm still looking for a contracted position and I hope to hear some good news soon! Graham has been with Wells Fargo as a temp employee for the past year and a half. He has interviewed for different positions over the past year and we finally got good news! He was chosen for a permanent position that stats on the 16th of August. This new job has taken a lot of the stress and worry away and replaced it with excitement and joy!

At the beginning of the year my brother and his now wife had a baby girl. I've only met her a few times, but the stories I hear from my mom are hilarious! In March, there was a super fun wedding...performed by the Reverend Graham Peterson.

We're excited for this next part of our lives and hopefully I'll be better about keeping the internet aware of what's going on.

Shaking off the Dust

Hi All.

Many of you know that Graham, myself, Justin and Angie Rimbo, and our other friends Jay and Tia Gamelin have been praying and feeling called to start a church together. We felt a call to Asheville, North Carolina. After a year and a half of praying together, we decided it was time to visit and talk to local ELCA churches to try to find support to begin this adventure.

North Carolina was absolutely beautiful! We had a blast all living in community together. Justin and Angie have a 1 year old boy and Jay and Tia have a 5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old...all boys! Staying in the same house was sooo much fun!

During our time together in NC we had meetings with two pastors of local Lutheran churches. We shared our vision and desires with them and were hoping to get emphatic support so that we would have our "burning bush." After our meeting with these pastors, our new friend Ernie, the ELCA missions director for NC met with them. Unfortunately, the support we longed for was not there. When we heard the news on Thursday we were crushed. Our dream for Asheville had died.

That night Ernie came to our "mountain house" for dinner. Afterward, we were able to worship and pray together. During this time we also were able to process and debrief our visit. Ernie is completely behind us, 100%. He believes in our vision and knows there is a need for it somewhere. Asheville is just not the city. After talking with Ernie for a couple hours we all seemed to feel better. We know our call is real and that this will happen. For now, we are grieving the death of our hopes for Asheville. Now we go back to listening and realizing that God is the one in control of the entire adventure. Please pray for us as we try to discern what God is really calling us to.

During our talk with Ernie, he reminded us of the time Jesus sent the disciples out by twos. He told them to extend peace to a person in town. If that person accepted and returned the peace, the disciples were to stay in that person's house. If the peace was not accepted and returned, the disciples were to shake the dust off of their feet and move on. We are shaking the Asheville dust off of our feet. Ernie also told us the three things that will have to happen when we find our person of peace. First, this person will have to trust our vision. This includes knowing that our vision does not come with a concrete plan. Second, our person of peace will need to trust our team and our abilities. Finally, the person of peace will have to make this a priority in whatever city he/she is in. With limited resources, our vision will need to be moved to the top of the list of things to do.

Please pray for these things for and along with us.

Watch Out For The Knives

When we got married we got fancy, new, sharp knives. About a month or so after the wedding I was washing dishes and had put the large butcher knife in the soapy water. I forgot about it and stuck my right hand in the water. My pinky finger paid the price. I really should have gone to the hospital to get a couple stitches, but I decided against it. It took over a month for my finger to heal. I had learned my lesson and now I never leave the knives in the soapy water.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was making salsa to take to a surprise party for my friend Molly. It was around 9:30 in the morning. I had a busy day ahead of me, get my hair cut, pick up cupcakes, go to the Andersons' and party. As I was cutting the green onions for the salsa, my left thumb ended up under the sharp knife. The cut was similar to what happened to my pinky finger. I applied pressure and finished making the salsa one handed. I rushed around the house getting dressed and gathering my things for the day, I wouldn't have time to come back home until after the party! I drove to urgent care and got all signed in. At urgent care, when you get called to triage, they take your blood pressure and such then usually send you back to the waiting room. When your finger is covered in blood and you have a cut, they still take your blood pressure and such, but then they take you straight back to a room to see the doctor!

The doctor came in, and for those of you who watch 30 Rock, sounded like and had the same type of mannerisms as Dr. Spaceman. He was hilarious! He numbed up my entire thumb because it was safer than trying to put the novacaine close to the wound. Having the novacaine put in my thumb hurt a million times worse than almost cutting the tip off. As my thumb was becoming super numb and swollen, I soaked it in warm soapy water to clean it off. The doctor came back in and started to stitch me up. I was fascinated with the entire process! I couldn't feel a thing, but saw him put a needle and thread through my skin. Crazy. Now I have two stitches in my thumb. I'm glad I opted for the doctor route this time. My thumb will be healed in a week, as opposed to my pinky that took over a month! Here are some pictures I took with my phone in urgent care.

My thumb, pre-novacaine and cleaning.

Soaking in soapy water to clean it.

All stitched up!

My stitches!

What Happens in Vegas? (Part 2)

On Sunday, after the Quake was over, we all went out to lunch at Hafbrauhaus, a German restaurant. It was such a fun lunch. Graham's parents and Aunt Zoe joined us for the fun! It was so great to be able to see so many family members during this trip!




The day before this lunch was Angie's birthday. We told someone that is was her birthday and the musician decided to sing to Angie in a special way.





After lunch the Fuller Still family stopped at the Hard Rock Casino to donate more money to the cause. Gail and I were sitting next to each other at machines. Gail put in $5.00 and got a bonus and went up $.48. Josh was there and got super excited and told Gail to cash out while she was ahead. Here are the Brechts with their winnings!



There are many more pictures, but this is all I will post for now!

What Happens in Vegas?

The Fuller Still family (minus Elijah and Owen) took a trip to Las Vegas this past weekend. Fuller Still was the band at a Youth Encounter Quake and Josh was the speaker. The week before the event, I went to Arizona to finally meet my new niece Jessica. I was a horrible aunt and didn't take any pictures of Jessica. I'll have to wait for copies from my mom before I can post them here. I had a blast in Arizona, though. It was such a nice relaxing trip!

On the Friday of the event, my parents and I drove up to Vegas. Fuller Still had flown in the night before. After we got to the hotel and after Fuller Still had sound checked, my parents, Graham, myself, and Justin and Angie went out to dinner. We walked about two miles to the Flamingo and ate at the buffet there. It was an okay buffet. We had lots of seafood and meat. I took pictures just for our friend Theresa!












After dinner we all stopped in the casino and donated some money to the cause. It was a great night with great people!

Sweet Suite

For Graham's birthday this year we went to the AMC Theaters' Best Picture Showcase. For those of you who don't know about this event, I'll explain. The day before the Oscars, AMC shows all five best picture nominated movies. Yep, five movies in one day. This year, Graham and I both finally had this Saturday off and decided to celebrate his birthday by going. We went with our friends Kate, Angie, Justin and Theresa. During the breaks between the movies there were raffle drawings and movie trivia and give-aways. It was a super fun time! After the second movie, which I think was the least favorite of all five of us, Justin and Angie left. They had already seen the next movie and were going to get a seat at California Pizza Kitchen and order our dinner. (We had a limited amount of time between each movie.) So, right after they leave, the manager draws the next winner in the raffle. Justin Rimbo. Since you had to be present to claim the prize, Graham jumped into action! He took a moment right after Justin's name was read to think about it, then ran down the steps to claim his prize. He even got to be Justin and give a thumbs-up in the picture with the manager and other winners! The prize was a free rental of a private suite. The suite seats 17 people, has leather seats that recline, and allows you to watch a movie with only welcome interruptions. Oh, and you normally have to pay about $100 or so to rent it, plus the cost of the movie ticket. So, Justin decided he wanted to use it to see Watchmen. We went last night, and were only slightly disappointed that there were only three people in the regular theater. It kind of took some of the fun away, but not all of it. This suite reminded Graham and me of the VIP theater at the Mall of America, awesome seats and no silly kids. Since any of us hardly know 17 people, there were only 8 of us. Justin, Angie, Josh, Gail, Derek, Kate, Graham and me!

Spring?

Yesterday, February 26, at 9:00 am

Noon, right after the snow started.

1:00 pm

2:00 pm

4:00 pm

Six inches of snow in four hours. I love spring.