Category Archives: Faith

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welcome to october

October 4, 2011 – 11:00 am


Happy October!

Well, it seems this has turned into a once a week blog. There’s been a lot of the above going on lately. Our life right now is soccer five days a week. We enjoy it, but I will be very ready when the end of the month arrives and games are over until next Spring.

- Chloe is now showing an interest in taking some dance classes, so that might be the next thing we get involved in. Also, thinking about signing her up for some piano lessons. She won’t listen when mom tries to teach her. ;)

- Jake went to Austin, TX the week before last for a business trip. He really enjoyed it and got to visit the Capitol building and eat at some great restaurants and see the millions of bats that fly out at dusk each night from under a bridge downtown (creepy!).

- We went to my high school’s homecoming game this year. I haven’t been back for a game since I graduated 20 years ago (yes, that’s right. 20!). It was fun to be there again and see familiar faces and root our team on. They didn’t win (boohoo!), but it was a fun time anyway. My brother Rick came along and we reminisced about our high school days.

- I got to hang out with my childhood BFF, Karleen, on Friday. Her daughter was on the homecoming court for Hastings and I tagged along to the homecoming assembly and took a bunch of pictures of her being announced on the court and performing a routine with the cheerleading squad. It was a lot of fun.

- Too much sad news the past two weeks. A couple of my friends had family members involved in serious car accidents. My heart just ached so much for them as they said goodbye to a sister and a father-in-law. If you would, please pray for the Miller family and the Haidle family.

- Jake’s dad went to the hospital last week with some pain in his lungs and trouble breathing. They found some blood clots in the lungs and one in his leg. Please pray for healing for him. He stayed there for several days and was put on blood thinners, and now he is home. We’re praying the clots go away and never come back.

- Spent our Sunday morning at the fairgrounds for TVC’s (Thornapple Valley Church) Celebration service. TVC has three services in Hastings and two in Middleville. All the services combined for one big service in the grandstand. It was a lot of fun having everyone together, praising God outside while the early morning sun warmed our faces (our toes were another story since it was like 40 degrees out), we sang choruses, and a few horses at a farm next door pranced across the field. It was a beautiful sight. Afterwards, there were all sorts of fun things for the families to do: lunch (pulled pork served in the swine barn. hahaha!), inflatable bounce houses and slides, face painting, hay rides, and lots of snacks. It was a fun time.

- Went to my parents farm in the afternoon. The guys all worked to help Dad get one of the barns prepped to become a garage. Mom made a delicious roast and some pies for dessert. It was a very nice day!

- The trees are starting to change color here now. There are little pops of color here and there. I LOVE fall.

- I’m still keeping up with our weekly Project Life photo album. I have a text file on my computer desktop that I open at the end of each day and type out a brief summary of what we did that day. It’s really helping me when it comes to writing in the album and it’s also become a little mini journal. It’s fun to read back through some of our days from earlier in the year, and it’s such a quick and easy thing to do. I literally spend five to ten minutes on it each day, just enough time to type the events of the day and anything else I want to remember to record in the album.

- With this colder weather arriving, I’m feeling the urge to knit again. Time to pull out those needles and decide what to make.

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Friends, Kids, Knitting, making stuff, Nature | Comments (0)

calgon, take me away

August 4, 2011 – 9:50 am


this picture has nothing really to do with the below post. I just found it while working on my 2010 year in review book. Taken last fall out at the farm.

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you no doubt saw my status recently about our leaky roof, clogged kitchen sink, broken dryer, flooded basement, leaky water heater, etc. I also was in need of new tires on my car. I’ve replaced tires along the way as they’ve gone bad (or flat) just due to the needs of the moment and lack of funds to replace them all. Four different brands of tires at varying levels of wear. A couple weeks ago, when Jake and I had a couple days to ourselves (thanks to our wonderful mothers), we drove all the way over to Canton (2 hrs.) and back. Lately, whenever I hit 70mph on the highway, my steering wheel just shakes like crazy. We discussed it possibly being something with the steering or alignment or something. Well, we discovered the problem the next day after driving all that distance. Went to lunch at Olive Garden and the way that I turned into the parking space left my front driver side tire turned in a bit. When I went to get in the car after lunch, I just happened to glance at the tire and I was horrified. Jake said it was a ply separation. We could see threads and it just looked like my tire was coming apart at the seams. I thanked God at that moment that we went such a distance (my mom and I also went to Auburn Hills for the 4th of July, too) without the tire blowing out while driving on the highway.

So a couple of our problems have been fixed.

- New tires were purchased yesterday. A few hundred dollars later and I now have four matching tires and a big sigh of relief. Especially since I am driving five hours north tomorrow with my wonderful friend Jen for our annual girls camping trip!

- The clogged kitchen sink was fixed by my wonderful husband. I thought I would be helpful while Jake was at work, so I boiled a pot of water hoping it would push whatever was stuck down the drain. Well, it didn’t work and the sink just filled up on both sides with the boiling water. What it did do was cause the pipe under the left side of the sink to detach from the sink causing all the water to cover everything under the sink and flood my kitchen floor. That was fun. So much for trying to be helpful. But Jake got in there and figured it out and fixed the pipe and all is well again.

I am in dire need of this camping trip with Jen. So many little things have been getting to me and I feel like even though I’ve gotten some little breaks this summer, I haven’t really had much quiet time to just let my brain rest. I need that. And I need some time to think about what I need right now.

I’ve felt a little lost this year. Happy that I chose to focus more on the kids and my family, but a little sad to let my business go. Not regretful, though, because I knew for a long time that I was done with that part of my life. Every now and then I see a beautiful wedding online and it reminds me of all the days I shared with so many couples, but then I remember how miserable my body felt for days following a wedding and how much of my family life I gave up to edit all those pictures. Then I smile knowing that I made the right choice.

Jake tells me I need to be working on my novel. The last time I took part in NaNoWriMo, I wrote a story about a girl’s journey to faith. Jake read it earlier this year on the plane home from New York and when he got in the car he punched me in the arm and said “Thanks a lot” for making him cry on the plane in front of strangers. :D He thinks it’s a really good story, but it needs a whole lot of work. I hope he will help me through the process. Just have to resolve to sit down and finish it.

Still trying to figure out what God wants me to be doing. Going to spend some quiet time this weekend talking to Him about it. Hoping to come home with a little clarity.

Camping with Jen is always a good time. This year I’m bringing Jake’s Flipcam along. Who knows, maybe I will share a video or two of our adventure. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
(a favorite verse of mine)

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Friends, Travel | Comments (0)

a list on monday

July 11, 2011 – 3:07 pm

• Going through pictures from Scarlett’s bday party and found this one of Chloe. Played with a bunch of textures using Photoshop and got a few fun versions. I think I like the one on the lower right the best.

• Went to an anniversary party on Saturday for Laurel & Steve, my neighbors growing up. It was nice to see them and their daughters, April and Holly. We had a good time reminiscing about the good ol’ days.

• Did something to my back this weekend. Not sure what, but I am in a lot of pain. My lower back is extremely stiff and sore. Hurts to sit for long periods of time and when I do sit and then try to get up … it makes me wants to cry. Hope it gets better quickly.

• Watched “Facing the Giants” yesterday. A little family time! That movie is so wonderful.

• Lots of storms this morning, so we’re having a quiet day indoors watching TV, knitting, playing on the computer. Chloe and I sat on our front porch for a while watching the storms. She read some books and I knitted her a headband. It was nice.

• Hoping for some nice sunshine this week so we can spend some time in our beloved “Big Blue” pool.

Happy Monday everyone!

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Friends, Kids, making stuff, Movies, Photography, Photoshop, weather | Comments (0)

thankful november

November 9, 2010 – 12:42 pm

Lots of things swirling around in my brain lately. Lots of projects I want to work on: Year in Review album, Christmas card design, decorate the house. I’m really excited for the holidays this year. It’s a whole different thing approaching Christmas with steady employment and no fear of losing your home. We are so thankful for all we’ve been through, the ways God provided for us, and where we are now. I remember being in the middle of it all, feeling so hopeless and helpless, creditors calling daily demanding payments that we just could not make, the real possibility that we could lose our home as well as our one good vehicle and anything else that held some monetary value. I kept praying that we would see the light at the end of the tunnel and I told myself over and over again that we would look back on it all someday and be in a better place. Now, as we’re entering this wonderful time of year, I really can look back and see all that we went through and the ways it shaped us and our attitude toward money and possessions. It’s made us so much more thankful for the blessings that we have in each other and family and a roof over our heads, be it ever so small. We are thankful.

This post would have been a good one for Thanksgiving, but I guess there’s never a wrong time to give thanks. And since no post is complete without a picture, here’s one from the evening we took our family pictures at my parents’ farm last month. Such a pretty sunset that evening. Everything just glowed.

Have a blessed day. And feel free to leave a comment and share what you’re thankful for. :)

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Home | Comments (0)

jane austen and stuff

March 22, 2010 – 1:01 pm

• Came across this little gem this weekend while browsing movies on Netflix. “Lost in Austen” is a fun, quirky retelling of Pride & Prejudice from the perspective of a girl who loves the world of Jane Austen more than her real life. Through strange (and unbelievable) circumstances, she switches places with Elizabeth Bennett and lives in the story. It was a mini-series in the UK a couple years ago and I really enjoyed watching it. Found the trailer on youtube:

• Still having some shoulder pain. It’s better than it was, but still annoying. Just want it to be normal again. Spent most of the weekend relaxing. Put the heating pad on a bit. Watched a lot of HGTV.

• Enjoyed church at TVC again on Sunday. We are really loving Pastor Jeff. He’s a great speaker and I’m getting a lot out of his sermons. Do sort of miss the comfort and familiarity of the church I grew up in, but am glad we stepped out of the comfort zone to try something new.

• Zach made the honor roll with all A’s and B’s. So proud of him!

• My camera made its way back to me safely. All fixed and they even cleaned the sensor for me. Yay!

• Just found out my sis-in-law Michelle is going to have a baby in the fall. Sort of unexpected (their youngest is a teenager now), but it’s exciting to welcome another baby into the family. My SIL Heather is due with her first baby in June, so it will be nice to have two little ones running around at family gatherings. :)

• Mom and I went walking this morning. It’s so nice to walk on clear sidewalks again. No more snow. We had lots of the nasty stuff when we woke on the first day of Spring, but by Sunday afternoon it had all melted away.

• The kids teacher conferences are this week. That’s really a sign that Spring Break is almost here. Can’t believe it’s almost April. Where did March go? Isn’t that the way it goes, though. In the winter months, when you want time to move along to get to Spring, the days go by at a snails pace. Now that we’re getting some nicer weather, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Ah well … such is life.

• I think it’s time for some serious Spring cleaning around here as well as some home improvement projects. We are in the process of figuring out how to make our current office into a bedroom for Chloe. The kids are getting older and it’s hard to get them to go to sleep when they’re in the same room. They stay awake and goof around for hours after bedtime and it’s just not working anymore. So we’ll probably be doing some painting and moving rooms around and getting Chloe situated in the next couple months. I think she’s kind of excited about the idea of having her own space. Zach is thrilled!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

By Kris | Also posted in Books, Family, Kids, Movies, Photography, weather | Comments (0)

happy st patrick’s day

March 17, 2010 – 10:41 am


I posted this same picture last year of my brother’s t-shirt on St. Patrick’s Day, but it’s fun so I’m posting it again. :)

On my mind today:

• The weather is glorious. 60 degree temps and sunshine! I’ll take it! The kids spent a couple hours outside after school yesterday riding their bikes and drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. I sat in a chair and read.

• Went to a new church on Sunday. Much different than my church growing up. Loud worship band. Pastor in jeans. Casual atmosphere. We really enjoyed it. The kids had a blast in their classes. They excitedly told me what they’d learned and both said they can’t wait to go back next week. This makes me extremely happy.

• Did something to my shoulder. Not sure if I slept wrong or what, but I woke up Sunday morning with a pinched nerve or a tight muscle. I don’t even know what is wrong, but it is difficult to turn my neck side to side and it’s hard to sit here at the computer for any length of time because my shoulder/back/neck start throbbing. I keep trying to go about the day as usual, pretending that it doesn’t hurt. I swept some leaves off our driveway last night and I regretted that later. Guess I should take it easy and heal.

• I’m starting to get excited for the kids’ Spring Break. Not that we have any grand plans, but it will be nice to have a week off the usual routine. Must think of some fun things to do around here. Need to start saving so we can possibly go on a vacation for Spring Break next year. We shall see.

• Watched the movie “Food Inc.” the other day. Wow! I was completely disgusted by the food industry. Made me realize that I need to be much more mindful of the foods we eat and where they come from. I’ve started researching local farms where we can get chickens that aren’t full of growth hormones and beef that’s from grass-fed cows. Found some great farm markets to check out this year, too. I highly recommend this film.

• Very excited that “New Moon” comes out on DVD this weekend. Yay!

• The kids are very excited for the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie that opens in theaters this weekend. I think we’re going to see it the following weekend with friends.

• My camera is all fixed and scheduled to be delivered to me today! I’ll be so relieved to have my baby back in my hands again.

• Posted some pictures from my cousin’s wedding over on my biz blog yesterday. Such a happy day. I’ll leave you with a couple favorites. There are more HERE

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Friends, healthy living, Kids, Life Lessons, Movies, Photography, weather | Comments (0)

the bible in 90 days

January 7, 2010 – 3:34 pm


A woman Jake works with started a group over on Facebook to read through the Bible in 90 Days starting this past Tuesday with Genesis 1 and working our way through. I’ve always thought about doing this, but I’ve never actually followed through. Seeing as I’ve had a Bible in my possession since I was pretty young, I should have read the whole thing by now, right? There is so much in there and I’m really excited to do this. I hope this will be the first of many times I will read through God’s Word.

If you’d like to join along with us, CLICK HERE. You can catch up! Each week she will post an Event on the Facebook group, which details the readings for the week. This week so far has been Genesis Chapters 1 – 39.

By Kris | Also posted in Books, Friends | Comments (0)

the first thanksgiving

November 23, 2009 – 3:24 pm


Added some new images to the slideshow banner at the top of the page. It had been the same for at least a year, so I chose some recent pics of all of us. This is one of the slides. I like this pic of me and Jake, even though I cut half his head off when I took it.

Had a fun weekend. Mom took the kids on Saturday morning while Jake and I went to see New Moon. LOVED it. It’s so much fun to see these characters that I love so much from the books come to life. Can’t wait for Eclipse to come out this summer.

Went to a birthday party and then over to Jake’s parents’ that night to watch “Up”.

On Sunday, we spent the day at my parents for an early Thanksgiving dinner. My mom and I started a week ago cutting all sugar from our diet, so we had to resist the urge to eat some pumpkin pie and cookies, but we did it. We’re doing really well and sticking with it this time.

As we sat down to dinner, my dad talked with us and the kids about who the pilgrims were and the reasons they came to America – to escape religious persecution and have the freedom to worship God the way they wanted to. He also shared some Bible verses that the pastor at church had shared earlier that morning that he said supposedly were favorite verses among the pilgrims as they made their journey.

Psalm 107:21-31
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

I did a little reading about the first Thanksgiving on wikipedia this morning. Of the 102 passengers who were on board the Mayflower, 45 died the first winter. Only 4 women were left alive for the first Thanksgiving. It’s crazy when you really think about all that those people had to go through to establish this country we live in today, with all our freedoms and privileges that we so often take for granted. I told my mom today that I tend to think of Thanksgiving as the holiday before Christmas. I’ve never really taken the time to think about what it truly means. Those people were thankful to God for their very lives, that they made it through the winter when so many of their family and friends did not. All so they could be free to worship God as they wanted to and not the way the government told them to.

I am thankful for so many things: God, my husband and children, my family, good friends, health, a roof over our heads, food on our table, and also for the friends I’ve made through this blog. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

By Kris | Also posted in Family, History, Life Lessons | Comments (2)

random september ramblings

September 16, 2009 – 11:04 pm


Is it the middle of September already?

I just glanced at my calendar today and realized it’s the 16th. The days are flying by and, as usual, I’m not getting as much accomplished as I would like. Plus, Zach contracted a bad cold at school last week and he has passed it to the rest of us. Jake came home from work yesterday completely miserable and they sent him home again today because he was still not up to par. Poor guy! It really hit him hard. I’ve been fighting it. I go walking with my mom every morning and, even though I’ve woken the past couple days feeling terrible, I haven’t skipped a day’s walk. I will not let this thing get me. Too much to do. I did take a nap this evening because I could no longer sit at my computer working without my eyes drooping shut. That seemed to help a little, but my head is throbbing and all the muscles in my body are screaming. I’m pushing through. Somebody has to take care of the kids and get them to and from school daily. That would be me. No matter how sick I am.

The kids are liking their new classes this year. I can already tell that Zach likes having a little more responsibility this year in class and in his new school. And Chloe likes her new class, but she’s all about boys all of the sudden. She comes home daily talking about a certain boy and I try not to make too big a deal out of it and ask her about some of her other friends or what she learned in school to change the subject. My mom informed me that when I was in first grade, my teacher told her the same thing about me. “Krista is so boy-crazy!” So, I guess she’s following in my footsteps. I do remember liking a few boys in first grade, but I think I stopped being so “boy-crazy” after that year, so hopefully it’s just a phase she’s going through.

I’m really liking the drive to and from school every day. I can see little sections of leaves here and there on the trees beginning to change colors and it makes me happy. Fall is my very favorite season and it makes me feel cozy just thinking about it. :)

Jake is still LOVING his job. We’re praying hard that he gets hired in soon as a full-time employee with benefits (and a little more money would be great, too). It’s so hard to be patient. After all this time, he’s in a job he really loves and can excel at and his boss wants to be able to give him more responsibility in their department, but that can’t really happen until he’s an official employee. So we’re just waiting, trusting, believing that God’s timing is perfect on this and that it will happen soon.

Still working on my novel. I will probably not be participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. Not sure. Last year, I had the idea for my book a month or so before the “contest” started and I was so excited to write it. I’ve got a couple ideas in my head for books I’d like to write in the future, but finishing the book I’ve already written seems like a better use of my time than starting a brand new story. It sure sound like fun, though. I’m pretty sure Jake will be doing it. This will be his third year, I think.

I’m so excited! My cousin Brian recently got engaged to his girlfriend Lisa! They are getting married in Traverse City in March and I get to photograph the wedding for them! We all love Lisa and everyone is so happy that she will be an official part of the family now. It seems like one of my cousins gets married every year (Paul + Kaeli in 2008 then Joel + Sarah this year.) I wonder who will be next. hehe!

Congratulations to my dear friend Amanda and her hubby Brad, who welcomed a baby boy, Landon, into their family on 9.9.09. What a fun birthdate, right? If I wasn’t afraid of passing along my sicky germs to baby, I’d go visit this week. Can’t wait to meet him.

So, this week I tried scheduling out my days to try to be more productive. I had several work projects to finish up this week and I was able to get a couple of them done early in the week. It was great to check them off the list. I hoped to finish up a slideshow for my August 29th wedding couple today, but because I was sick, I was dragging and didn’t get as much of it done as planned. So that will be for tomorrow. It’s nice to have my week scheduled, but loose enough that I can shift things around as needed. I used to work off of a “to do” list on my desk (it’s still there, too, in case I need to see other things that have to be done that aren’t on the schedule), but I wasn’t always using my time wisely. I would work on whatever I felt like and there was no structure to it. I got things done, but not efficiently. Scheduling it out is working much better!

I’m still keeping my kitchen clean, by the way! It makes me happy to walk into a clean, clutter free room.

Mom and I are walking about 2.5 miles a day. My legs were killing me the first couple days, but it feels great now! I’m not “dieting” per se, just eating healthier again. I’ve been eating oatmeal or a green smoothie for breakfast, salads for lunch and whatever we have for dinner (usually chicken of some kind). Not going to weigh myself yet, but am hoping the scale will be kind to me when I finally step up.

Listening to Pride and Prejudice soundtrack on a loop right now. My head has been pounding all night and this music is completely soothing me.

A few blogs I’m reading this week:
• *happy place* – Mindi posts daily pictures and other things that inspire her. Love it!
• Confessions of a Wishful Slacker – Lindsey’s blog is so much fun to read, with stories of their explorations of Chicago, restaurants, websites she likes to visit, yummy recipes, great savings tips, and their cat, of course. She is one of my past brides and she lives in downtown Chicago with her husband Jim.
• Karen Russell – I love Karen’s photographs, but it’s the fun, candid stories that go along with them that always make me smile.

Must get some rest now so I can stay well. If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for reading through all my ramblings tonight. ;)

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Friends, healthy living, Home, Kids, Music, Nature, Photography, writing | Comments (2)

summer days

July 31, 2009 – 2:48 am


This has been a really wonderful summer so far. Probably the most at peace I’ve felt in a long long time. A lot of things are falling into place for us now and it really seems like that light at the end of the tunnel that I’ve been talking about for the past three years … well, we might just be about to reach it. God is good and He’s brought us through it all. And now I just feel like rejoicing in the moment and enjoying every day of this summer.

Our summer days have been pretty relaxing around here. We get up whenever we want, lounge around in the morning, eat breakfast, I answer emails and do a little work while the kids play computer or video games. After lunch, it’s outdoor time (unless it’s raining). The kids will swing on the swingset or run around the yard or ride their bikes/scooters. Lately, it’s been warmer (not what I would call hot with temps only in the low 80′s, if that), but we’ve been in the pool almost every day. The kids like swimming with Jake much better because he plays games with them and tosses them around and stuff, where I am content to just hop on a raft and float around in there. Chloe has now started floating on a tube next to me and holding my hand. She’s so cute. Floating in the pool and soaking up some sun is just about the best way to relax EVER. And it’s kind of nice to have a tan. I’m more tan than I’ve been in years. The last few years, my summers have been all about weddings and editing pictures while chained to my computer all day long keeping me white as a ghost. But this year, I decided that I will enjoy the days with the kids and do my editing in the evenings. It’s working pretty well. Although this week, I have been pulling some late nights (it is now 2:38 am) and I’m pretty much exhausted from editing and also from ripping my house apart looking for things to sell at our garage sale this weekend. (If you’re local or nearby, stop by Friday or Saturday from 9-5. Between my mom and I, we’ve got lots!)

These photos were all taken last weekend. Chloe found some bubbles hidden in a cupboard. They weren’t doing anybody any good in there, so she finished off the bottle (spilling half of it) in a matter of minutes.

By Kris | Also posted in Family, Kids | Comments (1)
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