Susan

hi!

i realize i haven't posted in here for quite some time... so this will be quick.

so far 2007 has been amazing. i had a blast in chile, panama and costa rica. it still hurts thinking that time in my life is over. i made the most incredible friends and grew so much.

coming home after being away for 5 months was fun, but it didn't take long for things to get back to normal. i had a meltdown about a month after i got home. it was just really hard getting into the routine of work and normal life after being away from it for 5 months.

so let's see... my little sister katie got married a few weeks ago. it was a beautiful day and we had such a good time. she's so happy which makes me happy and i still see her all the time which is wonderful!

so what's next?

i'm going to zambia, africa from september 1st to the 13th. i'm going with a group of people from my community. we're going to a remote village to help start a community center there. it will be a place where villagers can get educated, learn trades and build relationships with one another. i feel privileged to be one of the 12 on the team and i know God is going to do amazing things. i'm so glad God gave me the courage to say "YES" when i was asked to go and i have no doubt it's what i'm supposed to do.

after i get home i'll have a couple weeks with my family in pa before i head back to denver for another school with YWAM. i'll be attending a 3 month school called the "school of worship." i've always been passionate about worship and i love singing and leading people into God's presence so it seems like a good next step. plus i miss all my denver friends and family and can't wait to be with them again!

so that's me for now. other than that i'm still me... learning... growing... changing every day into the woman God wants me to be.

life is a journey full of twists and turns and we can either sit on the sideline or shoot the winning shot. i'm going all the way...

love and peace to all of you.
susan

so i got my first (and only) tattoo today. it's an ichthus on my foot. you can see the picture below. i'm really excited about it. i really thought and prayed about it for a while and i'm glad i did it. now kate, lyryn and i all have the same tattoo in the same place. it's kind of a sisterhood thing. i love that what i did is such a part of me. i mean my christianity is a huge part of my identity and now others will see that. so yeah i'm glad i did it. hooray!

i've been meaning to update all week but haven't really gotten around to it so here goes...

on saturday my little brother and i went out to run a quick errand and we came upon the scene of an accident. it literally had to have occurred less than 1 minute before we got there. we were the first ones on the scene and it was a single vehicle accident. there was a sports car up on its side in this field off the road. i see 2 people outside the vehicle (obviously ejected) and the girl is trying to get up but can't. so i pull over and run out of my car while dialing 911. i was so worried about what i was gonna see when i climbed up that embankment. the girl was covered in dirt and mud and there was a small amount of blood. she was about 50 feet from the car and her boyfriend (the driver) was about 20 feet on the opposite side of the car. so i reach the girl about the same time as someone who pulled up after me. i just sat with the girl telling her everything was gonna be ok. eventually the paramedics and police showed up and we left. i'm sure they were ok. the girl was complaining about her back hurting. they were so blessed that it wasn't more serious. neither one had their seat belt on... which is DANGEROUS! i hope you all wear your seatbelt!

anyways, that was an exciting way to start the day. then my brother and my friend isaac took em snowboarding up at blue mountain. it's been so warm there so all the snow is from machines. i fell a lot which everyone says happens on your first time so i was expecting it. needless to say i was in a whole lotta pain for the next few days. i used muscles i didn't even know i had! it was crazy. but i'm glad i did it! hopefully the next time won't be as rough.

so now i only have 3 days until i leave for denver! i can't believe it's almost here. i'm so excited to get there and meet everyone. i know this is gonna be a crazy experience that i'm gonna love. i just found out that our outreach choices are brazil and chile. i really wanted to go to south america so i'm stoked about that. now i just need to decide!

oh yeah- and packing for 6 months is so HARD! not to mention i need winter and summer clothes. ahh! it'll get done... it's just a pain.

ok i'm out. sorry this is so long!

have a great night!!!

so today was my last day of work and it was kind of surreal... it still doesn't feel real but it is.

i think it will hit me more when i start packing my suitcase.

it's almost christmas!

HOORAY!

19 days until i move to colorado. oh man that sounds weird! friday is my last day of work and it's definitely bittersweet. i've spent the last 6 1/2 years of my life there and with my family and now i'm going to denver... ALONE. it's insane what God calls you to do sometimes. i'm so ready for this though. i can't wait to meet new people, deepen my walk with the Lord and serve others. what an amazing experience it's gonna be. ywam denver has no idea what they're in for. haha!

on a side note, my christmas shopping is almost done. i'm having such a hard time shopping for my dad. he's not really a gadget guy and he has such a huge wardrobe already. it can be very frustrating to shop for him. hopefully i'll come up with something here soon cause time is running short!

i'll post a pic of my niece kyra and i from last friday. we had our christmas party for work and kesh brought her in this adorable christmas dress.

here's a picture of me and my beautiful sister katie... who i'm going to miss very very much when i'm away!

ok i really need to go to bed! i have not been doing very well in the sleeping department lately.

i hope you all have a very merry christmas!

look at my darling niece... is she beautiful or what?

so i'm not an aunt yet... but i should be soon.

kesh's contractions are coming more steadily... about 15 mins apart. so we have some time yet.

i just want us all to be at the hospital and see that baby soon!!!

i need to know if it's a boy or girl! ahhhh!

please pray for her for a safe delivery. i'll let you all know once it happens.

thanks!!!

i went and saw "one night with the king" last night. it was really good. they did a great job for it being the production companies first major film. check and see if it's playing in a theater near you and support it. you won't be disappointed!

work was so hectic today... printing was down... internet was down... and since i'm also the interim IT person until we get a new one you can image my day. it's so hard to keep your cool when you have so many people telling you about a problem you're already aware of and can do nothing about. i was totally at the mercy of ATX and it sucked.

i need to learn more patience, though. i know i can be rude when i get overwhelmed and it isn't fair to those around me. Lord help me with that!

i baked 2 batches of brownies and a ton of cookies tonight. there's a coffeehouse tomorrow night and i volunteered my youth group to handle the food. i had a couple girls over from my youth group to help me so it was a good time to spend with them.

i would be really glad that tomorrow is friday except this weekend is inventory weekend and i'm NOT looking forward to it. who is? i know we have to do it though so i need to just put on a happy face and have a good attitude about it.

so yeah that's about it for now.

night!

yesterday was my little brother's 17th birthday. it is so weird to think that he's 17. it's crazy. he should still be like 5... lol. he's such a good kid though so i can't complain.

so for dinner last night we went to lancaster to have dinner. we actually ate at the restaurant where my sister kate is a waitress. she served us and it was so funny. it felt a little strange having her serve us and seeing her in that element. she's good, though and i knew she would be. the food wasn't that great but we had fun.

there are signs everywhere talking about the amish shooting in bart township. it happened about 10 minutes from work. it's just so sad. the only peace i could find was knowing those little girls are now in the arms of jesus. it still breaks my heart to know that none of them got to grow up and fall in love and be mothers... they probably all would have been wonderful. we can't understand why these things happen but we know that through it all God is faithful. and He will use this situation to bring people closer to Him. i smile everytime the news gets on and they're like "the amish people forgive the killer. i don't understand." until they come to christ and receive His forgiveness, they won't understand.

anyways... i finally finished my ywam application this morning. i'm actually satisfied with it, too. i think i answered the questions straight from my heart which is what i wanted.

today i have a baby shower to go to. next weekend is my sister-in-law's baby shower! i'm so excited! only 5 more weeks until i'm an AUNT!!! hooray!!! a little baby to cuddle! i can't wait. it's going to be such a fun holiday season with a little baby around.

gotta run!

i just dyed my hair. myself.

i haven't done that since i was like 15. it was very liberating.

and it only cost 5 bucks as opposed to the oh at least 100 bucks i usually spend.

and it looks good.

sweetness. i'm feeling good.

so everyone needs to check out TWLOHA.

i just found out about this organization and i'm really excited about it. i think what they're doing is awesome. so yeah support them!

oh yeah... tomorrow i'll be 24.

wahoo.

so i'm in baltimore this week for the printwear show. my dad decided he wants to add embroidery to our list of offerings and guess who gets to help run it? me, of course. it's pretty neat though and i'm excited to learn it. i mean we already sell to fire and police who are one of the biggest users of embroidery. so we've got an in with that market already. not to mention all the local business we could get. so we bought a single-head and 6-head machine today. pretty much like buying a car... a very very nice car. :)

it should be fun. plus we're gonna run it out of our old location which means i can get out of the "corporate" scene that i'm finding out i'm not really into. it should be fun to start so we'll see.

i had a killer headache today but i took some advil and i can feel it going away.

i can't believe august is almost over. so much has been going on it's just crazy. i gotta go get ready for dinner. we're eating italian tonight. YUM!

night!

man i haven't updated in a while! sometimes i just get so caught up reading everyone elses entries that i forget to write my own.

i had a very busy weekend and i am beat. i planned and organized a graduation party for my good friend kasey. that was on saturday and it went really well. on saturday morning a bunch of us went to a state park and played frisbee golf. it was so much fun! i totally stunk but it was still fun. haha...

on sunday i spent 9 hours planning and organizing a birthday party for my friend's 6 year old daughter. it was a carnival theme and she had about 80 guests. it was fun but very tiring.

i really need to just start a party planning business. lol. everyone always asks me to do it anyway! i should start making money from it!

i'm so tired... i can't write anymore.

it's been a good weekend. kate came home on friday and we had a family night at the house. we got a bushel of crabs for dinner. it was so fun! so we all just hung out and had a good time. kate and i stayed up late looking through bridal magazines and stuff. it's gonna be fun helping her plan the wedding. i'm sure there will be some stress but that's to be expected. still, it's an exciting time and i'm happy i can be a part of it.

on saturday kate, mom, kesh and i went to lunch and then we got pedicures! there's this great new nail salon that opened up and it's beautiful. they must have a dozen pedicure chairs and they give you a massage while your nails are drying. it was awesome! we had fun and it was so nice to get pampered for a bit.

so then we went to barnes and nobles and got kate a wedding organizing book. i think it will help a lot to have it... it just keeps you organized and helps you not forget the little things.

we just hung out at home again last night and ate more crabs. we have some good family friends who just moved back here from florida so they came over. it was nice to see them again and just catch up.

church this morning was awesome. kate and i both shared a little bit about workcamp and i showed the church a slideshow of about 65 pictures from camp. i think the church really enjoyed it. it's always good for them to get to see what the youth are doing and be able to get a flavor for what it's like. we went out to lunch and then i came home and read outside and played with the dogs. bella just got spade so she can't run or jump. it makes it hard because you have to really watch her to make sure doesn't get too crazy. i feel bad cause she doesn't understand. how do you tell a 7 month old puppy to not play? pretty much impossible.

youth group attendance was pretty low tonight. it's been like that for most of the summer. i'm hoping once school starts and things get back into a schedule it'll be better. a few of us went out afterwards which was fun...

i know this entry is kind of boring but too bad!

so i guess i'm done. night!

i am beat. mom and i walked 4 miles tonight and it was hot... very very hot.

then we went grocery shopping and it's never good to do that when you're starving! lol. we did pretty good though.

i am so glad tomorrow's friday. this week has been forever long. plus KATIE comes home tomorrow! hooray! i'm so excited to have her back. it did go by pretty fast but still... it's been quiet around here without her. now all the fun wedding plans begin!

ok i'm out for now. night!

i went to the beach this weekend with 5 ladies from my church. they're all married and have kids ranging from 8 weeks old to 11 years old. and there i was... 23... single... no kids. i thought it was going to be awkward but it surprisingly wasn't. i was so blessed by these women. their love for the lord, their husbands and their children spoke volumes to me. i felt like i was glimpsing into a world i have yet to arrive in. eavesdropping on their ups and downs, struggles and fears.

it was so amazing to me because i spend so much time wishing i was where they are and i will be someday. it gave me a renewed appreciation for the freedom that i have as a single woman to do what i please when i please. (within reason of course).

what was so interesting to me was no matter our age difference we all wanted the same thing: to serve God and do His will. i understand why God has me where i am now. there is a purpose and a season for everything. God knows what He is doing and He knows the desires of our heart. He knows that i desire to be a wife and a mother and if it's His will to do it, then it will be done. why should i worry about tomorrow? about next year? about 10 years down the road?

these women are so beautiful and i'm not talking just outer beauty. they are so full of love and compassion. it gave me a thankfulness for my upbringing and for having a mother that loved me the way these women love their children. she gave of herself to meet our demands and our needs. who could ask for more? i only pray that i am half the mother she has been.

i was so touched by their presence and the encouragement they spoke into my life. i only wish more girls my age had women like them to look up to. we all need a mentor, a friend, an example to guide us along the way. without it we'd all be stumbling around and making the same mistakes. in order to lead you must first be willing to be led. that is truly what counts.

so i am blessed and at peace with who i am and who i am becoming. i know the plans God has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. (jeremiah 29:11)