Surprise #2

Hey everyone! I really wasn't expecting to come to Hibbing today, but my one and only class was cancelled (Have I mentioned that I love the college life?), and I didn't have any plans for the weekend, so I thought I'd head to Hib-town for something to do! Talk about spontaneous. I went back home, threw stuff in my suitcase (hope i remembered everything!) , put gas in my car, and hit the road! :) I really couldn't wait 12 more days to see all of you wonderful people! I love you all! so....SURPRISE!

Onto Happier Thoughts

So the 2 month marker for living here in Spam Town has passed. And I must say at first the moving and getting adjusted to a new life was (and sometimes still is) pretty tough. I'm really getting used to it here though. People at this church are so accepting, kind, and so willing to step out of their comfort zone to welcome a newcomer! I have had numerous people introduce themselves and welcome me. It definetely helps, that's for sure. Now I am starting to hang out with other youth leaders more and more and starting to learn more about them, and vice versa. I was laughing uncontrollably the other day when I was out to eat with 2 of them and they said "I don't think we've ever seen you laugh this hard before." It just showed me that I am starting to get more comfortable around people and realizing that adjusting to a new life really isn't that bad. If anything, it's great to leave the life you were so used to and find out what is out there! God has been so faithful when it comes to providing friends and making me feel "at home." Granted, I miss Hib-town a whole lot, but I really enjoy life here in Spam Town. School's been going okay. I didn't do so hot on one of my mid-terms, but hey, I will work harder! This week we had a special speaker named Art Vanzalen. He is actually the director for FMMC (Fort Meyer's Master's Commission). On Sunday the whole team was here and they took over the service: worship, human videos, testimonies, etc. I even got to see Matt Hagsten! I'm not sure if he saw me though. But if he did, I'm sure he thought it was pretty weird seeing me at a different church. :P Who knows though, I never got a chance to talk to him. Anyway, Art spoke sunday morning and sunday-tuesday night. He is a very funny speaker and had some great stuff to share from God's word. I'm definetely glad I didn't miss one of the services! Also, tonight I babysat for Angie & Corey. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of Keaton and Jackson, but I will some other time when I am babysitting. They are sooo cute!

And that's about it for now folks. I appreciate anyone who has been praying for me. Life is pretty grand! Thanks. Let me know who I can be praying for in return! Like I say, NEVER doubt the power of prayer. God's doin some awesome things, not only in my life, but just in general. I'm not really sure how anyone can doubt His existence because to me, it's just so evident. But that's a whole other story. I will see everyone in 2 weeks from today!! And no, there won't be any surprise early visits this time.....or will there be?? JK. I love you all so much!

In Loving Memory <3

I don't mean for this post to put a damper on your day, but I thought I should put a little something in honor of Wes Lind.
3 years ago today my brother didn't expect to lose his best friend, the school didn't expect to lose yet another fellow classmate, his parents didn't expect to lose a son. I remember that Friday morning clear as a bell. First they announced (even though I didn't hear this announcement) that Wes had collapsed in the hallway and he was rushed over to the hospital, then just a few hours later the teachers were called out of their rooms to have a "special meeting" in the library. How often does that happen? I knew what had happened before they even came back in the classroom to announce it.
He was a great kid. He was at our house almost everyday. I know he had a major impact on my brother. It was a pretty hard time for everyone, as most deaths are.
I think it's great that former nurse Robin Andreas (or is she still the nurse?) has put so much effort and time in to trying to raise money for I can't remember what the name of those things are called to help recessitate your heart..... but anyway, through her hard work and from the donations of many others, Hibbing schools were able to place recessitators in all of its schools.
It's hard to believe it's been three years ago already. No one's guaranteed tomorrow. Let's get out their and preach the gospel of our Savior to all!

MYC '05

The time has come......and the time has gone. Another year of MYC is over. I am thankful that I was able to go as a youth leader. It was definetely a weekend to remember. Not only was it a blast spending time with everyone--including my HIBBING friends!, but it was also a wonderful opportunity to dwell in the presence of God. Herbert Cooper was the speaker. He had some great things to share from God & His word. He's an excellent speaker! Lives were changed, people re-dedicated their life back to Christ, and many were even called to full time ministry! Those were only some of the awesome things God did this weekend. I'm sure everyone has their own story to tell of how God worked in their life. It was a GREAT weekend overall!!! We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. It was nice staying there, but not so nice for some of the people that weren't staying there for MYC. A lot of people complained about our group being too loud, which it was..VERY loud. There were pilots staying in our hotel that didn't get enough sleep because of the noise, so they ended up having to cancel their flights!!! So now they are considering ending their contract w/the Hilton. Not good. Besides that, it was a fun stay. I got to spend part of the day Friday with my Rev buddies!!! I went to their hotel for awhile to hang out, then went out to dinner with them. I was glad to get away for a little bit and hang out like the old times. :) Here I am typing away on the computer while Hibbing still has quite a ways to go :) It only took us 45 minutes to get there. It was kind of weird having a short bus ride. I'm so used to the 4 1/2 - 5 hours it took from Hibbing!
I took a lot of pictures!!! So here they are.........Enjoy!
(I purposely made them smaller so it wouldn't take up too much space & take forever to download. If you see a certain picture(s) you'd like, let me know and I can email it to you!) :)

Guest speaker Herbert Cooper

"You da one!"
"If you're with the speaker say WwwwwOOOOwwwwwW!"


*random pics of Hibbingites*


Everyone who went to MYC got to enjoy a GRITS concert! Here are some pics from that...


One Life. One Chance.

Mid-Terms!

Can you believe it? We're already halfway through the fall semester! Pretty crazy. So this week I have a couple tests I need to study for. I took one on Monday which was super hard, so now I know I will have to do a LOT more studying. I haven't had anything really exciting to write about lately. However, I had a pretty fun weekend in Lakeville! Went and visited Shannon and Jon. My cousin Stacy and her boyfriend Nick were there to visit too. It was a lot of fun. We shopped for about 5 hours on Saturday. Needless to say, I am done shopping for awhile :P It's always fun getting together with family. I love it! Sunday I went to church, then went to a newcomers luncheon afterwards. We had a host/hostess at each of the tables who were in charge of introducing their table to everyone else. So it got around to our table and Joann, our hostess, introduced me as Amber STAIN!!!! hahaha no joke. And she didn't even correct herself! So I guess I have a new nickname among the Spam-Towners. Now Pastor Corey, his wife Angie, and all of the other youth leaders call me Amber Stain. So that's interesting :P and pretty funny! Anyway, after the luncheon I went to a surprise b-day party for one of the youth leaders. Then, I went over to Joann's house because she wanted to talk more. That was nice. Then....I went to life group (Bible study) and then went to Pastor Corey's for a bonfire. It was a pretty fun weekend! Let me know what exciting things you guys did!
I am so thankful it's only a 3 day school week. I will see you Revites on Thursday :)
Does anyone agree with me that this stuff is soo addicting????
Love you all!!

Unconditional Love

Jesus loves us! "Duh," you're saying..."that's a given!" We have heard this all of our lives...but seriously. Think about it. Even if we were to say "God, I'm really upset with you today," His reaction would be "You may be upset with me, but I'll ALWAYS love you!" No matter how many mistakes we make. HE LOVES US unconditionally. He'll never give up on us (Praise the Lord!). Pastor Dave told us that at the end of his sermon this morning and it just hit me harder than it ever has before. It was just so real. Granted, I've heard it said many times before, but never did it hit me so powerfully as it did today. We don't deserve His love, yet He stills loves us no matter what. Wow. We have one AWESOME God, my friends!

Adventures with Murphy

As most already know, I got to spend these past 5 days with my cousin's dog, Murphy. Bonnie and I took him for the week so Shannon & Jon could get some painting done at their house. Besides Murphy pushing the screen door open in attempt to attack another dog, constantly biting and scratching me, hogging my bed, begging me for my food, whining every single second I'm not playing with him, and going to the bathroom on the furniture and carpet, we have had a fun 5 days! :) Tomorrow he will be heading back to Lakeville. Bonnie and I are going there for the weekend, so I guess it won't be goodbye until Saturday night. It will be weird not having him around. I was informed today that he will be visiting us again halloween weekend so mom and dad can get more painting done. I guess we have formed a stronger bond hanging out together. Bonnie said whenever I went out the door he'd sit there and cry! Thanks Murphy, I love you too! haha anyway I don't really have anything else to post about, so I thought I'd share about my adventures with Murphy with some pictures! He's so "innocent." haha gotta love him though!



"I promise I didn't chew up your hair diffuser and chapstick!"



Mmmmmm Wheat Thins!




Sure, I'll share my bed with you!

Wonderful start to the day!!!

I woke up this morning to find out my first class at 10 is cancelled!!!!!!!!!! I just thought I would check on the internet quick to see class cancellations "just in case." Of course, I wasn't expecting it to be on there!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!! The only bummer thing is I woke up 2 hours early to finish a report due today for that class....oh well though. I'm so thankful because now I have more time to work on my report and to study for my Psychology test that I didn't study for!!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I just hope it's not cancelled because of anything wrong with his family. That'd be horrible. His mom has cancer and I know he brings her to Rochester to get chemiotherapy (sp?). I sure hope it's not for that reason that he cancelled class. I hope it's because he ..overslept or something? He probably didn't oversleep because all of his classes are cancelled today, but, he does live in Mankato which is about an hour and 45 minutes away, so maybe he just couldn't get here or something. I will be keeping him in my prayers today..hoping nothing bad went wrong with him or any of his family members. I'd hate to be rejoicing over a class cancellation when he's suffering or sad. Anyway just thought I'd share my excitement of the day!!!!! Talk about luck. I don't think I've been this excited at 9:27 a.m. for a loooooongggggg time!!! That's another great thing about college: class cancellations!!! --especially ones you're not prepared for!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy 1st birthday, Sarah! :)

Concert

Sorry for the delay in posting, my friends. I would have updated it last night, but for some reason I just didn't feel like posting- which isn't like me! So, here it is...what we all have been waiting for.....haha. Anyway, I spent this past weekend in Minneapolis with the NCU'ers and some Hib-towners! Friday we arrived at North Central and headed over to Club 3 Degrees to see 4th Avevenue Jones, Dizmas, Hawk Nelson, and TFK in concert! It was pretty packed, resulting in short people like myself not being able to see half of the concert. I tried getting the best pictures I could, but unfortunately, they didn't turn out as great as I was hoping for. The only band I really had a full view of was TFK...which happened to be the last band to play. The girl infront of me decided to leave AFTER Hawk Nelson was done. But overall, 'twas a lot of fun! My rating would probably be: Hawk Nelson, 4th Avenue Jones, Dizmas, and TFK. (Sorry Kranny- but I really couldn't understand anything they were saying! except when they did Rawkfist...that was sweet!) That was my first time hearing 4th Avenue Jones. They are pretty good! After the concert we headed back to North Central and then made our way to Denny's to eat a I guess you could say late supper/midnight snack/early breakfast. Whatever you prefer :) That was......well, interesting is how I'd sum up the night. We then headed back to NCU again around 1:30-2 and went to bed around 2:30! The gals decided to sleep in rather than go to the boys football game, sorry Craig! Well, Ruth and Brooke did end up going to the last half. I guess I was the only one who didn't go, wups! We then went to cheer on Little Ruth. Both Craig's team and Ruth's team won.....woo hoo! Good job guys. Shortly after that Bonnie picked me up to head on over to my cousin Shannon and Jon's (I finally got you on my blog, Shannon!) house in Lakeville. We did lots and lots of shoppin, ate at Panera Bread, which may be my new favorite restaurant!, and hung out at their place for the rest of the night! It was a lot of fun! That concluded Saturday. Sunday we went to The Olive Garden for lunch and went back to their place to take a nap and then I headed back to Austin. Murphy, my second cousin, came to stay with us for the week while Shannon and Jon get some painting done. So, I will keep him entertained for the week. Or vice versa. Anyway, that concludes my weekend. And now I am back in the wonderful world of college and homework :) Hope everyone has a great week. Remember that the Lord is always by your side!! Isn't that assurring??? Love you all!

Pictures, of course! Unfortunately, the only clear pictures I could get won't load on my computer. You can email me if you want me to send them to you!




Thomas! It was nice seeing him after 3 months!

~HAWK NELSON~ apologies for the not-so-clear pictures. I could barely get any good shots, and when they did arrive, they were sure to move right when the flash went off!
For my Hib-town Hawk Nelson fans!! "Lord thank you for this food.....and please bless Hawk Nelson" hahaha you girls are great!

Main Singer, Jason:

I didn't know he played the piano!

Base player, Daniel:


The Drummer:


TFK: