Football!

This stretch reminds me of Kindergarten for some reason.....

Before the game started Navy Seals parachuted into the stadium from really, really high. It was REALLY cool.

This guy had the American flag but two others had Coug flags.

Joy!

"They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
John 4:42

I'm overcome when I think of my unsaved friends coming to the Lord. Instead of it just being, "Oh yeah, Elyse just seems to be really into God. She's a 'God girl.'" they would say, "I know the Lord!!!! How good He is!"

I can't even describe how happy I would be to hear them say those words. I want them to know Him! To know Him personally. To see His beauty, His grace, His love, kindness, compassion, mercy, humor, awesomeness.....

It makes me tear up. I know I may not ever hear them say those words. But I know that God is using me. Maybe I'm planting seeds, maybe I'm watering them.... Maybe I'll never get to see them grow. But God is using me and I am very thankful that He is.

Molly visit!!!

Betsy and I *coughmostlyallBetsycough* went on a fly killing spree. Aaaaand umm.. The kill count was Betsy 19 Elyse 2. loooooooooool.

I absolutely love the dahlia on the right! It's soooo pretty.

And this one is pretty amazing too.

Bunnies!!! They had them at Bea's flowers (where I got the dahlias) they were very cute.

He was funny.

Ahem.

Molly had surgery today, please pray for quick healing for her.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp.

These were recently installed at our Target. This one is in electronics and I'm not kidding you turn around and there is the electronics booth, where a Target worker is always stationed.

I was tempted to push the button in electronics and turn around and look at the Target worker. lol. Someone should do it, I'm a wimp and I probably won't. So my faithful readers, if you see a "help" button in Target... Push it. Do it fooooooooooooooooooooooor me. lol. =P

Play-doh

We decided to make kool aid play doh yesterday morning.

Nice greenish color...

The dogs wanted to know what smelled so good.

My creation

Bella's creation. I believe it was a forest of some sort.

The recipe

1 package of unsweetened kool aid
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup salt
1 cup boiling water

Mix together and once it's cool enough knead till it's a soft dough.

Ok.... So ASU (first video.. And I guess that's seriously their college's video.... lol) beat the 5th ranked team in the nation.... HA HA HA HA...

Oh it's ON now....

John bought Brain Age 2 about two weeks ago so Mom, John, and I have been playing it.

I don't know what it is about my brother but it always turns into a competition.... lol

I just started playing a game on Brain Age called Virus buster yesterday. So I got like 64 points on hard and like 168 on normal. Last night John was like, "*content sigh* this is hard." And I was like, "Oh? How many points do you have?" He answered and I was like, "Oh." So half an hour ago John was like, "Oh yeah... I beat your score by like 100."

And I was like, "!!! Why is it a competition?!!?! Virus Buster is supposed to be RELAXING."

"You had a smirk last night...."

"I DID NOT!!!!"

"Yes you did..."

"What did I say?!?! Huh? I said NOTHING about that. R-tard! (We're very loving all the time, as you can see) WHY IS EVERYTHING A COMPETITION?!?!?!"

"What's the point of the game if it isn't comparison? And do you know where r-tard originated from?"

"Ch..... Loser. AND YES. And do YOU know where it came from oh smart one?"

"*smirks* It came from the Greek....."

And then we both laughed. So then he continued playing with a SMIRK. And I sighed.

I just want to beat him on the piano game, he got 96 and I've only gotten 95... But I held the top 3 spots for a week!!! But Kristy will be here in like an hour so both John and I will be thrown from the top three spots. The sibling who actually plays will destroy us.

I must say I really enjoy Brain Age though, a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, right? =P

And Amelia will be here soooooooon!!!! We are going to draw a picture that she promised a friend of ours like 2 months ago. It should be good times.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

You know football season has started when you get a call from your sister and she says, "WOOOOOOOO!!!! TOUCHDOWN BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE TWO MINUTES INTO THE GAME AND WE SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Woot!!!!!!!!!!!!

I might have to go over and watch the game after all. I was like, "Umm.... Wisconsin is No. 7 in the nation..... I really don't want to watch the Cougs take that bad a beating."

But I do so love my team....

Go Cougs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So long...

Goodbye August!!! Until next year!

(This is my excuse for a post because I don't want to go on the compy downstairs and download my pictures. Fooooogive me.)

Just for you.... BLB

Happy?

I saw this in Fred Meyers.... I laughed. I listed some things in the fall that make me happy to help me remember God's blessings, instead of me focusing on the negatives (in my mind). I must say I've noticed that God has given me a better attitude. And I've tasted the happiness that I see in my friend Allie. I've always wanted to be as happy as her, she always looks at things in the light of God's will. And recently I've tasted that, it is very amazing and it makes me very happy. lol.

And now I can't really believe that they sell these books. Wouldn't it be more effective for each person to write down things that make them happy? Because squirrels running away with treasures doesn't really make me as happy as going and picking dahlias. But this is a good reminder to count your blessings! Look for the ways that God reminds you of His love for you!

Bangs!!!!

Amazing, wonderful, funny, gorgeous pictures from last night!!!

The lovely ladies and our wonderful dinner.

Chocolate party. Oh, did I mention I went to a chocolate party? Because I did.

Lisa and Betsy making a <3

I don't really want to admit how many of these pictures we tried to take. In the end, you can see Betty's face, most of mine and Rachel's mouth. lol

yay!!! Molly and I were caught off guard... And I was taking the picture!!!! lol

Juuuump!!! Lisa looks fierce. Betsy looks like she's ready for anything. Allie seems to be contemplating the fierce some jump. Rachel is ready to go. And Betty is counting. lol

Group shot!!! From the left: Molly, on top of her is Lucy (who is wearing Roos!!! Amazing shoes), under Molly and Lucy is Betsy, next to Betsy is Betty, Allie is on top of Betty, Rachel is under Allie, Katy seems to be standing behind the swing, I'm sitting on top of Rachel and Lisa. And Lisa is making the kissy face in the corner.

Got it? Good.

A call to remember

I had a wonderful time yesterday, I was able to go and fellowship with some lovely ladies. I am so extremely glad that I call them friends and that they call me friends. I got to talk to each of them alone about things that God has been doing in my heart, and I was able to listen to what He's doing in their hearts. And I must say, the Lord is wonderful. Simply put, He amazes me.

I was able to talk to one of them on the car ride to the other girl's house about what God showed me on Sunday. And how He gently led me back into understanding His will for my life.

I will give you a bit of history. If a girl friend of mine were to ask me if I liked a guy I would answer, "No." That just makes everything simpler for me and I think it's true, most of the time. Some of the girls that ask me this question don't ask with a pure heart and simply wish to bug me, or to talk about "cute" things. I really don't need that right now. And really, I don't like anyone right now. But on Sunday I had been struggling with a certain person in mind aaaaaand it was pretty much retarded. lol. It wasn't even a "huge" deal, just passing thoughts that made me smile. Cutsie stuff that usually makes me want to barf. God knows my heart, He knows it every hour, every minute, every second, before I think a thought He knows it. He's known it since the beginning of creation and before that! It's so true.

He reminded me throughout the day of the purpose He has given me. My goal for right now.

"....Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.... that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." (1 Corinthians 7:34b, 35b)

I have in my Bible kind of an exclamation point by that verse, "I'm not even married and I'm not living in undivided devotion to the Lord!!!" I am continually amazed at how much my heart wanders....

So even though I have that purpose and I know how the Lord wants me to live I fail ALL OF THE TIME.

It was refreshing to be able to talk with my sister about my heart. Proverbs says that an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips (Proverbs 24:26). How true.. It was wonderful to get that burden off of my heart. What was even more wonderful is that we were able to fellowship in God's grace!

So as I said, on Sunday my purpose to give my undivided devotion to the Lord had kind of.... Well, slipped from my mind. God is good!!! And through little things throughout the day He reminded me of His wonderful love. He reminded me that I am part of the Bride of Christ, and one amazing day we will be at the marriage supper of the Lamb!!! I was listening to an old sermon on CD and I wanted to look up a passage my pastor had mentioned. So I looked it up, I thought he said Isaiah 62, but now I don't think he did. But I am very glad that I heard that. lol

"The nations will see your righteousness, And all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name Which the mouth of the LORD will designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said to you, "Forsaken," Nor to your land will it any longer be said, "Desolate"; But you will be called, "My delight is in her," And your land, "Married";
For the LORD delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you."

(Isaiah 62:2-5 NASB)

My eyes wandered over to the other page and I read this, "I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
(Isaiah 61:10 NIV)

How good the Lord is!!! How He knows my heart and sees my desires.

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. (Psalm 62:5)

Also that night was a full moon, which I was able to see before I went to bed. Another way God reminded me of His incredible love. I'm also reminded of the fact that I am fallen and until I reach heaven this whole "purposing for total devotion to the Lord" thing will just keep failing because I'm a sinner. But once I get to heaven, "....I will know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12b)

I wanted to remind all of you of God's love. And I especially wanted to remind all the girls out there to find satisfaction from God alone. He's the only one who can truly satisfy you!

Wonderful Savior!

I've been reading in John since my youth group started going through that book. I've rediscovered some good verses. Like John 14:6. Everyone (ok, maybe not everyone) knows that one!

But reading it in context is really, really nice. lol.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

John 14: 1-7 (NIV)

My wish list

Here it is, it's all I could think of for right now.... So yeah.

Made me laugh

I started a tracking system "thingy" at the beginning of this month. I can see how people find me, like from sites, or what keywords they put in searches. My favorites thus far are these, "listen to jehovah jireh for free," ask the lord and he will provide you a car," "jehovah jireh the lord will provide elyse," "brian regan i before e except after c and sometimes in ay as in neigbor or weigh and on weekends and holidays."

"Ask the Lord and He will provide you a car" lol....

Ah, good times, good times. So far people from 30 different countries have visited my blog, including Latvia, Swaziland, Belgium, Hungary, and India. And like 741 visits from the US. lol.

Very interesting....

Ummm...

Kristy?

=O

Linnea, my old small group leader, is going to have a baby!!! I'm so excited for her and Sam!

Umm.. I'm confused

What exactly does this mean?

"Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away."

It's a nursery rhyme and it appears to have no meaning... Why do people make such songs? Well people make songs like

"And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats."

So I guess the talent for useless/stupid lyric writing continues on... *sigh*

Interesting

I saw this on CNN today. I thought there were some interesting things in it.

"Because of this doctrine of a Jew being a Christ-killer ... so much hatred and anti-Semitism has been propagated throughout the Earth," Christofaro said.

Now such historic anti-Semitism has given way to an urgent support of Israel among some evangelicals, many of whom believe that when Jews live in all of the Holy Land -- what they call Greater Israel -- only then will Christ return and true believers be raptured up to heaven.

"It is a controversial issue here in Israel as to whether we should be partnering with the Christians in any way," Baras said.

It's controversial in part because in the judgment day scenario embraced by some evangelicals, Jews who don't convert to Christianity burn in hell. But Baras said she isn't worried.

"I know that I'm not going to burn in hell because I didn't accept Jesus, because I don't believe Jesus is the Messiah," she said. "So how could I possibly be threatened?"

How did you like that last bit of logic, "Because I don't believe Jesus is the Messiah, how can I be threatened?" Ummm..... So if she believed that unicorns are real then they would be? Good thing humans don't actually have any power or we would be really messed up. This world already is quite messed up.
And as I view the Crucifixion it was the whole world's sin that nailed Him to the cross, my sins, your sins, everyones sins.....

Cool car.

It has bongos in the back window and a surfboard on top. Pretty sweet.

$3

Newish

Check them out!

Two Months and I can't sing this song!!!! :'(

lalala

My quest has finally ended. I now have my Jimmy Stewart stamps, they shall go on my wall. Apolo is on my door and Jimmy will be on a wall in my room. My favorite celebrities. Don't worry, it won't look tacky. ;)

*sigh* I rarely get my picture taken with such a great man, that's why I was glowing. lol.

Things that I've learned.. And relearned... And relearned.....

God has been working on my heart this year. He's showing me how to have a good attitude.

Last night I decided to think of all thing things that I'm looking forward to in the fall. I came up with a pretty big list. I've been so concerned with all the things that are hard, that I've been worrying about them. Worrying is not ok. So listing the happy things reminded me that there are good things coming. It's hard to transition for summer to fall for me. I get worried about school, "What will my teachers be like?" "Will I be able to deal with the homework load?" "What if I mess up!?!"

I ALWAYS do that. But God showed me that I should not be worrying. I should be grateful for the happy things and leave the worrisome things to God. He can handle them. He has it all planned out!!!

Now I shall list all of the happy things.

• The colors of fall
• Making new friends at school
• Learning more about Jesus
• My birthday!!!
• Seeing Amelia every weekday!
• Getting to wear coats and jeans all of the time because of the cold
• New Challenges
• New things to laugh about
• Halloween!
• Thanksgiving!
• Mini holidays! (football games)
• Driving to school!
• Not paying for school!
• Learning about Jesus' love
• Seeing my brothers and sisters from CSA (Christian Student Association)
• Learning new things!
• Gray days!
• Rain!
• Fog
• New cute fall clothes!

"...A man can receive only what has been given to him from heaven" John 3:27b Good and the bad, God has a plan. I look forward to seeing it unfold!

ooooh yeeeeah

Can you say, "AWESOME?" Sooo classy.

LARGE AND IN CHARGE.

This made my day

Fun times

Allie is going to Cali soon so we decided to hang out today. I picked her up, my first time driving a friend around, and we went down to the Harbor. It was encouraging, fun, and hilarious.

We got to talk about what God has been teaching us.

And we went into all of the little tourist shops. We went into the Gift Mall and I saw a tea pot, I said, "If this was a tea cup I would buy it! It's so cute!" And Allie laughed and said, "What? 'If this were a man I would marry it?" We almost died laughing. So the whole rest of the day we would see inanimate objects and say, "If this were a man... I WOULD MARRY IT!!!" Then Allie saw a hideous necklace and she said, "This looks like part of the digestive track." And I said, "If this were a man..." Allie interjects, "He would have to have some good qualities....."

XD

So we had some really good times. We went in my old small group leader's baby clothes shop and saw an amazing thing, which we plan on using when we are invited to a baby shower. It was in a box and I thought it was a bouquet... Then I saw the "Bunch of baby clothes" And I went, "!!!!" There were fake flowers and leaves but some of the flowers were rolled up baby things, like socks, bibs, or onesies. We were amazed.

We also went into a fancy clothes shop. I thought they only sold "mom" clothes there but I found stuff there that I would see at the gap. Then we came to it, a Juicy Couture sweater. I looked at the price tag and nudged Allie. We both quietly laughed. $268 bucks for a sweater that I didn't find cute. Allie said, "Yes... The sheep was very special. It had to be wrangled." We cracked up as we walked out of the store. It was great.

Allie was wearing a shirt that said nonconformist. A lady in Red (jewelry store) asked about it and Allie quoted Romans 12:1, "Do not conform any longer to the ways of this world, but be transformed..." It was very cool. She's an awesome sister. :)

I told Allie what God showed me last night. He always pulls me back in when I need it, even when I don't know why I feel the way I do, He tells me why. He is good! I found this online last night and this was exactly what I needed to hear. I needed to hear God tell me the truth on why things have been kind of hard for me the last couple of months. I am glad He did.

"God fights for us with the full might of his redemptive hand.

He is willing to make us uncomfortable and sad.

He is willing to bring us through suffering and grief.

He is willing to shake and unsettle us.

He is willing to squash our dreams and let the air out of our hopes.

He is willing to let what we have craved slip like sand through our fingers.

And he does all of these things, because we are precious to him.

We are the apple of his eye.

He will not share us with another.

He will not allow us to live in the delusion

that we have found elsewhere

what can only be found in Him."

~Paul Tripp~

Lost in the Middle

It was a good day.

Creature Feature

I weeded sooo much today!! I'll be really sore tomorrow, it'll be awesome! :)

During my adventure I was lots of cool things! Some people are jaded and don't care but I thought they were awesome.

So there.

I got the wheel barrow and underneath it was a pile of seed and lots of ants. And a big red moth. It was very exciting. I named the moth Sally.

Then!! I saw a three legged frog!!!! I was in awe. I named him Jim.

Then I was putting dirt in the wheel barrow and I uncovered two Salamanders! I named them Dorcas and Fabio. They were like 8 inches long! It was pretty exciting.

Then I battled earwigs. And let me tell you I was preeeeetty freaked out. I had to go into the tent (which has been up for a month because I'm still trying to co-ordinate some things) to get a blanket which had been left in there. I had to unzip the tent and grab the blanket. You all know that when you unzip something you have to zip it back up. So I was about to and then an earwig fell out of its hiding place (between the zipper for the door and the zipper for the window covering). So then I was trying to figure out how to close it without touching the zipper and I finally got some huge leather gloves. Then I had to check my blanket for earwigs. And ugggh.. I found 2 and a spider (which ended up being smooshed on the quilt) aaaand so I washed it. And I hope they (all the ones who were hiding in the quilt) all died.

Whew. I survived.

hahha

Meet Wabbit

Amazing

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA.... This looks AWESOME. Does anyone want to come and see a princess movie with me?

A thought

"To love him is to know him is to love him. Those who knew him... Loved him. And those who did not know him... Loved him from afar."

From quite possibly Data's funniest episode EVER.

Camping Pictures

Kristy and Rob

Paris Hilton?

Gangster

"Cup O' Noo, Dah?" and the eye

I can see Harry on an expedition

Harry stole Chats chewies repeatedly but she didn't mind.

BRAIN DUMP!

This is a combination of pictures and a journal entry from camping. The words and the pictures cannot due justice to the amazing piece of handiwork that God did when He made that sunset. This is a brain dump. It is to help me remember what God has done in my life. "Sin isn't our biggest problem, forgetting is." Yesterday was gray and cold. Camping was alright but it was very cold. At the end of the day was sat around the fire, gradually we noticed the sun was out (instead of being hidden by clouds). The trees had orange shadows on them from the sunset. We were awed by the beauty and we rushed down to the waterfront.

The sun shone out between two pink sun rays that bounced over any clouds they came across. We could finally see blue sky, it was crowned by the golden circle of the sun. The sky was blue, pink, orange, gray, and golden. Just before the sun set 3 golden streaks that looked like lighting bolts came out from the sun. Words simply cannot do it justice (or pictures).
Today there were no clouds, it was pretty warm and it was lovely. But the sunset was just ok.
We realized that the clouds make it better. I can appreciate a beautiful sunset (especially if it's refracting off of clouds) on a day where I haven't seen any sun better than I can appreciate a sunset of a day where I have seen sun all day.

The trials I experience now makes the joys I have now all the more wonderful.

A few examples:

Jesus. He endured the cross and scorned its shame for the joy set before Him. (Hebrews 12:2)

Job. "How shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)

God has the right to do what he wants. This last year has been filled with trails and joys. Just in the last month and a half Diesel ran away and Boomer died.

I say in all truth that God has the right.

He has the right to bless and to take, but he does all of this for our good. "And we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. What, then, shall we say in respond to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:28, 31-32)

I trust Him. Never once has He put me in a place where I truly lacked anything I needed. Truly He blessed me with things that I didn't need, but it showed me His huge and intimate love.

When I saw that amazing sunset I had complete peace about going back to school. I realized that anyone who could make something that beautiful can peaceful can makes things that peaceful and beautiful happen in the fall, winder, and spring.

Oh and a couple of days after I wrote this I read this in My Utmost for His Highest. Very cool. :)

Yeah

She's a cutie. She and Harry are coming to visit (oh yeah, and Rob, Kristy, Max and Bella) on Friday morning.