so i haven't been very good at this...

despite all my best efforts, i still haven't posted in over a month.  my apologies.

i've had some great ideas on topics to blog about, but then i just never seem to get around to actually writing down what's in my head.  so this blog will be a random combination of many things.

first things first.....

my mom has completed all of her cancer treatments!  yay!  chemo and radiation are over and done with.  finally.  that day couldn't have come soon enough.  she is doing well, her hair is growing back, she was most excited about her eyebrows and eyelashes returning.  guess you don't realize what you will miss until its gone sometimes.  i never would have guessed how much you could miss your eyelashes, but it does make a difference!  

i have been so proud and amazed at my mom as she has gone through this.  sometimes i think it was harder for me and my dad than it was for her.  but then i remember all the painful treatments she had to go through and how she never really complained, and i am thankful that it wasn't me.  that might sound bad, but i guess that's honest.  my mom is one of the strongest people i know and i am soooo thankful that God has brought her through this.

here is a classy picture of us out on the town in chicago in august

a second fun event...

i had the opportunity to go and visit the Crusade movement at Oshkosh (my new placement) a few weeks ago.  it was really fun to meet my new staff team, meet some of the students, reconnect with a student i already know, and hang out with my family (my youngest brother daniel goes to uw-oshkosh).  it was really fun & was great motivation to continue working on gathering my team of ministry partners.  raising support may not be my favorite part of the job, but i am still learning a lot and enjoying the different pace of life in the meantime.

here is a little glimpse into what my future could look like, a snapshot of oshkosh's weekly meeting Real Life...

a few more fun fall events...

one of my college roommates, jackie, got married!  the wedding was so fun and i got to see a lot of college friends from crusade which was great!  we even carved our centerpiece for the happy couple!  our table was definitely the classy one!

me, jackie, and kim representing 131 upper!  all we needed was gilbe to complete our former apartment!

jen mac and i have known each other since kindergarten!  lots of special and random memories there.... i'm just thankful that the Lord has continued to work in our friendship and gives us little things like car rides to reconnect!

sharon, me, and jessie...a couple of my favorite girls from whitewater.  they were in my bible study their freshman year, now they are seniors!  i'm starting to feel old.... ;)

right after the wedding i left for michigan and our ministry partner development follow-up conference.  it was a great couple of days.  i got to reconnect with many of my friends from the summer and was really encouraged by the material and the fellowship.  one of my favorite things about working with Campus Crusade is how much they care for and prepare their staff.  not only did we cover some reminders and tips for raising support, but they also took us through some training on financial planning which was really helpful.  Crusade is passionate about reaching students with the message of Christ, but in the process of doing that, they want to make sure their staff members are well-equipped and well-prepared adults.  it was a great conference.

here i am with a my friends jenna and erin on a hayride at the conference

sarah was my roommate this summer at new staff training and this is a pretty classic picture of the two of us!  ;)

these women are near and dear to my heart...

and i think that is where i will end for the night.  i will try to keep these posts shorter and more frequent from now on!  

life at home

last thursday was our last primetime (our large group meeting on campus) and in a fast turnaround, by 9 am friday morning, i had moved home to appleton for about a month. crazy to think how much my life can change in the matter of a few hours.

life in madison is crazy and busy and full of people.
life in appleton is slower and the only people i really see are my parents and brothers (oh, and the pets if you count them and there are 2 cats, 2 dogs, and i brought home my cat!)

life at home has been good though. mom had another chemo treatment on friday and so by sunday, was not feeling so hot again. so mothers day was a real treat. ;) but she is feeling better now and even went to work for half a day today. she is beginning to lose her hair. i guess i had always pictured it coming out in big clumps for some reason. but really it just is falling out like you would normally lose hair, just more frequently. my job lately has consisted mostly of picking hair off of mom's shirt. she modeled the wigs she had gotten today so we could figure out which ones to keep. it was kind of amusing. wigs look very different on than they do just on a hook or in a magazine. mom is hoping her hair will last through the weekend. we have a family bridal shower on saturday and i don't think she wants to debut her new wig in front of a ton of people right away. (ps i think i forgot to tell you that i cut at least 8 inches off of my hair. figured i would support mom and have less frizz to deal with this summer. picture to come soon.)

i've had more time to exercise, do my laundry, read, write some letters, and other things that i haven't had much time to do lately. it's been nice to do life at a little slower pace. i've been cooking and making real meals instead of eating on the fly which has also been nice. plus mom just has a much larger kitchen than i do. i also have gotten to watch tv at the actual time that it is on. instead of watching american idol at like 10:30 at night or a few days later, i actually got to watch it live. weird. of course that meant i had to watch commercials. lame. (i do enjoy the mac vs. pc commercials though. those are funny!)

i have also been enjoying the fact that it is nhl playoff season. i don't get much of a chance during the rest of the year to keep up to date on the nhl, but come playoff season, i love to watch my redwings. they just lost tonight, but are still up in the western conference series 3 games to 1. i like the stars, but i like the red wings more. if the stars were still the minnesota north stars, i might like them more. but alas, they are the dallas stars. so go red wings!

i guess that is about it for now. life at home allows me to post more, so i'm sure i will be here again soon.