Iowa City

we are awesome

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I know I’m about a month too late, but I have a boatload of old pictures to share with my blog friends anyway, so I thought I might as well share the most awesome one.

What are some alsberries to do when they don’t want to spend any money and don’t have any ideas two days before Halloween?

LisaGrace: Bryan, what should we be for Halloween?
Bryan: I don’t know a rock an a hard place? (a hint of sarcasm in his voice)
LisaGrace: hmmmm…this could work.

So with two dollars and 34 cents, stolen paper sacks, and spent creativity, we have this:

A rock and a hard place. Hilarious.

Look, here’s our friend Layla as Mrs. Fox between a rock and a hard place. tehehe…

retreat.

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I could tell you about the awesome lighty-uppy rainbow skywalk in Davenport, IA.

I could tell you about being able to see Illinois from our hotel.

I could tell you about the Bucktown Center for the Arts or the amazing bag I purchased there.

I could tell you about the Art & Hobby Shop. By “Art” they meant picture frames and by “Hobby” they meant one hobby, that being model train building.

I could tell you that I stole hot breakfast, when the college kids were only supposed to eat the cold muffins and danishes.

OR I could just get this song stuck in your head until Christmas:

Sabino on the Dance Floor from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

All would suffice as a summary of the retreat.

But I’d rather tell you about CHERITH (Care-ith), a special lady so much like myself that had the courage and conviction to release a huge burden off her shoulders while consequently encouraging the rest of our small group to do the same.

I’d rather tell you about the undeniable UNITY our college ministry now feels because of the brokenness and openness almost every one of us experienced on the retreat.

I’d rather tell you about the huge weight of something (bitterness? un-forgiveness? selfishness? pride? bittgivefishide? yeah that.) that was LIFTED off of my shoulders after years of being unable to give my fears to God and choose to be selfless and Christlike again.

I’d rather tell you about the TWO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS who gave their lives to Christ last weekend and are so stinking excited about it! Praise God for Sharon and Manson!

I’d rather tell you about the thousand of tears that occurred last weekend. Tears of brokenness, tears of sorrow, tears of forgiveness, tears of joy, TEARS OF FREEDOM.

What a joy it was to go on this retreat, even though I am not a college student. On Sunday morning, I could feel the freedom resonating in the room. The joy was not to be contained. It wil not be contained!

Marion the Librarian

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I finally got a library card at the Iowa City Public Library. Woot!

Currently, I only want ONE book I want from the Iowa City Public Library:

They don’t have it.
So I inquired about inter-library loan. They checked it out (no pun intended) and the only libraries that have the book are AMES and Indianola. Which is unfortunate because I know that the one in Ames is checked out, and I even know WHO has it checked out right now. : )
Already getting impatient with the library, I checked out amazon.com, just to see what the price was on this book. Guess what? It’s being sold new for $.49! Well, more like $4.48 because the shipping is $3.99. BUT I had a $5 amazon.com gift card saved up from Swagbucks (you seriously need to sign up if you haven’t already), so I went crazy and ordered the book.
It was completely free after the gift card!
I still need to make use of my local library…

Life in Iowa City

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This past month-our first month in Iowa City-has been too perfect. God definitely led us here. I’ve been working from home part-time, and have been lazy about getting a second job. However, I have applied to be a “Donut Artist,” a cashier at ALDI and a baker/cashier at K-Mart. Please pray that I could get a nights and weekends part-time job!

I love being at home during the day. But I’ll be a little honest with you, being at home all day with Bryan is a little overwhelming at times. I love my husband a whole lot, but we are not quite used to having so much time together. Let’s just say, he’s out inspecting apartments this morning, and I’m very thankful to have time to myself.
I’m currently reading this book, called You Are What You Eat and Miranda and I watched Food, Inc. the other day. Between the book and the documentary, I’m seriously challenged to start thinking more about what we eat. While I can’t make any drastic changes to our diet if I want to stay on a budget, but I think I’m going to start shopping at my local Farmer’s Market, and move forward on my plans to plant a garden next summer.
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE these people?
Clint and Miranda Robinson-we love you! Miranda and I lived together way back when. Today, we hang out pretty much every day, are trailer park neighbors, and are going to lead a group of Salt girls together this fall. Bonus: our husbands are awesome friends too! I call us the perfect storm of friends. We get along too well together.
My awesome cousin Lauren also lives in Iowa City and I’ve loved reconnecting with her. We’re only seven months apart, so we were always together when we were kids. Lauren is the one teaching me how to knit! She and her awesome husband Lee had this freaking-adorable baby back in December, and I have the pleasure of being his personal nanny every time they need me to! Here is Louis Cosmo Willberg in all his cuteness:
Are you kidding me with that smile? Love him!
Our house trailer has been filled with people ever since we moved in and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Sara stayed with us the day after we moved in (she was so awesome about the boxes EVERYWHERE!). My brother Mark’s future roommate here in Iowa City got a job and needed a place to stay, so Corey has been living with us for the last few weeks. I’m glad we’ve had the chance to get to know Mark’s roommate-Corey is awesome!
My kindred spirit/best friend has already come to visit me-I’m so blessed by her! Audrey and I enjoyed one of my favorite places in Iowa City so far, Artifacts. We also got to see where her brother Collin is living this fall.
My dad also visited last week and I got to go our to lunch with miss Valerie Allen this past tuesday!
I’m blessed with so many awesome people in my life!
So many people are coming to Iowa City for Veritas. It’s been so amazing and encouraging to meet the many people eager to see God work all the more in Iowa City. I’m so excited to get The Salt Company and Veritas Church up and running this fall!
Whew, that was a long post, but hopefully you feel a little caught up on our lives! I’m off to call one of my dear friends in Ames, Paige!

Gas Leak!

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I’ve promised some stories, and I’m not about to let July get away before I share them.

One of the many things I love about our new home is that I have a gas-burning stove to cook our food on. I’ve never had a gas-burning stove and I’m definitely enjoying the difference it makes, albeit small.
The one thing about a gas burning stove is that it’s actually directly connected to a gas line (I know, who would have thought?) thus increasing the risk of a gas leak.
About a week after we moved in to our new home something fell behind our oven. Bryan went on a quest to retrieve said item and pulled out our stove slightly. He was able to retrieve the item, but in the process, he saw this little gem:


How could we possibly pass up a darling little porcelain cow that doubles as a salt shaker?

Bryan made the obvious decision to pull the stove out further, so he could in turn fit his entire self behind the oven and retrieve the precious item.

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Yep, he ripped our gas hose.
As I could smell the gas from across our trailer in another room, I became worried at the amount of gas that was pouring in our atmosphere. Bryan thought quickly to turn the gas off as I opened the windows.
The next morning, we called Mid-American Energy to come and replace our hose and all was well. But our trailer smelled of those glorious gas fumes for a least a few days.
The joys of owning a trailer!
The best part of all of that, is that we received an adorable little cow salt shaker for the price of about $40 to replace our gas hose.
You may ask, was it worth it?
And I say, is that even a question? Look at that cow! : )