Cardboard Testimonies

I don't think I've ever been so moved by a You Tube Video. If you feel so moved, comment on what your cardboard testimony would be. I have to think about mine. But for right now, it would be: SINNER/SAD. SAVED/LOVED

I am trying not to fall asleep!

I am finished with my training classes for the day, and since Italo and I are car pooling, I have to stay at work instead of leaving.....silly boy that works 8 hours a day! So, I am trying to prevent falling asleep at my desk, so I thought I would blog!

Amy-Thanks for posting all of those great pictures! So fun! Looks like the Farmers Market has some good stuff. How is your experiencing Dallas project going? Do you feel like you have tapped into the heartbeat of the city ;)

Mandy-You don't like Baseball????? It is one of my favorite sports to watch (in person, not on the TV). I have even been known to tear up when I have been in the park and a homerun has been hit and they play the music from "The Natural". Don't ask me why, it just moves me! My family is all VERY into baseball so it brings back memories of watching my brothers game and remembering my nephew when he was a little bitty guy and his love for the baseball stats and all of that fun stuff. But, to each her own :)

Looking forward to seeing you guys tonight.

Thank you for helping out!

Thanks to those who were able to help out last weekend with Katie's friend LeeAnn. She was moving from Southlake to Euless after a divorce.

Pictures from the Farmers Market!

By the way, this is my brother if you haven't met him yet. He just auditioned to be in a comedy troupe and was chosen to be in it! 32 people tried out and only 8 were called back and I'm not sure how many were picked. Can you tell everyone was annoyed with me taking so many pictures?

Pictures of some peeps

Here are some pictures from Amanda's Birthday party at Manny's:

Random Thoughts

Just a couple of random thoughts to share tonight:

Indiana Jones should have stopped crusading after The Last Crusade.

How bored did America have to be for baseball to be America's past time?

I hope you all have a great weekend! Looking forward to our first cookout on Wednesday!

MAC Parody Commercials - These are great!

Dove Commercial

Why do I think I need to have it all?

I just have to confess this and hopefully not many of you read the blog so I can say I confessed it and then it will be like that letter that you never actually mail......

I am so jealous of Amy's weekend plans!

I LOVE my family, love my church, and love the fact that I am moving, but I want to be a hip and cool and do all of this fun stuff with Amy! I mean, going to a cool Arty flick at the Angelica, buying fresh, Delicious stuff at Farmers Market, drinking Sangria on a Sunday afternoon! Oh my goodness-what a dream weekend!!!!!

Would you guys think I was horrible if I deserted my precious baby, my delightful husband and my church obligations and had a Hip and Cool Girl Weekend????? I could let my husband take care of Annabelle, and pack up our house, get rid of the bee hive in our backyard, and repair the rot iron fence that our picky buyers are requiring! It would not be that hard---and it is important to have time with the girls from church ;)

Well-that would be horrible-And I would miss my precious baby and my delightful husband (I would not miss the church obligations---shh-don't tell anyone).

But, it hard hanging out with you single girls that have time to do all of this fun stuff! I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to hang in the balance between being a working mom and doing "mom" stuff and also trying to build connections with your girls! I LOVE YOU GIRLS and I want to hang out with you so badly! But, I feel like the unpopular kid in school that tries to tag along but never quite fits in........ I don't fit in with the moms and I don't fit in with the hip and cool girls. I Don't have a place!!!!!

Why do we have to have these labels-singles, married, parents etc. And why do these labels limit us???? Each one does and each one has its rewards, but what do you do to find balance between all of these labels?

That is all for my confession-now pretend I never said anything and I will continue to act like I don't need anything from anybody!!!!!!!

This Weekend

Hi Small Groupers... Other than the fact that I have to go in for ROOT CANAL PART DEUX today, I am so looking forward to this weekend. I wanted to toss out what my plans are as of now as well as some future plans so that if you wanted to join in - please do. If you remember previous posts, this is part of my quest for "getting out there" Obviously there is no need to RSVP or discuss in advance. You can text me at 586-944-9140. Don't worry, I won't be doing this every weekend just this time.

Saturday AM 10:30am - quick trip to favorite awesome downtown dallas carwash with store inside (bought many a present here - don't tell anyone!) and then trip down to Farmers Market. Need to get tomatos, avocado, arugula, onion, asparagus for Cobb salad sandwich and asparagus casserole for dinner or lunch later on. Shop around here.






Might go see Helen Hunt movie "Then She Found me" at Angelika Dallas at 3:30pm. Not sure about this depends on how much cleaning I get done for my open house tomorrow. Remembering Mandy wanted to see this and this time may conflict with her going to church this may be moved to Sunday in place of the West Village event.

Saturday PM - Katie and I have Gigi's birthday party so we won't be able to join everyone at church

Sunday AM - 9am church service, help Katie's friend LeeAnn clean her house during a difficult time of divorce (time TBD), maybe possibly depending on time head down to event at West Village (probably will opt for movie above instead of this):
Sangria Stop n Shop
What: Fifteen West Village retailers host a shopping event with (duh) sangria and a portion of the day’s proceeds going to local charity Heart House Dallas
Why: Better than brunch.
When: Sun., 2-6 p.m.
Where: 3699 McKinney Ave. Tickets at participating stores

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:
Thursday, May 22 - Opening Night...Dallas Museum of Art - Free. Summer nights sizzle with cool jazz under the stars - 8pm

Friday, May 30 7-10pm CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas) Art Fair 2008 caddallas.net 333 First Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75226

Cheese Making Class - Saturday, June 7th 3pm - 5pm at Mozzerella Company in Dallas
http://www.mozzco.com/classes.html

Re: Happy Monday!!!!

The party was great and the speech wasn't terrible. As I sat down my boss said, "That was much better than last time." Thanks, I think??? LOL I think it kind of started to sink in a bit that a lot of us are about to go separate ways and that's a little sad since we've all become pretty good friends, but we enjoyed the evening together anyway.

The Emergent Church seminar was definitely enlightening. Lots of new info for me and probably an important discussion to have. I promised Nathalie and Lauren a PowerPoint presentation, but I think I should read up a little more before passing the info along. :) I don't want to give out any false info. Kristyn summed it up nicely with her statement that "we learned that we are not a part of the Emergent Conversation or Emergent Village....we are in fact Emerging at the Village." Well said, my friend, well said. And, the bonding was good, too. :)

Amy & Italo - Will there be a packing party we should prepare for? Also an important question: Is the new place equipped for Guitar Hero 3 and Dance, Dance Revolution? As a side note - I got GH3 a couple of weeks ago and it's weird how when "50 note streak" flashes across the screen how quickly notes are missed. Does this happen to you, or is it a rookie phenomenon?

I guess that's it for tonight! Have a great Tuesday!

Happy Monday!!!!

Hi all! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was pretty good, just busy trying to figure out my life. Did not get very far with that, but I guess that is ok. Italo keeps telling me not to stress about all the details of our move, but there is so much to arrange! Anyway----we will make it through!

Mandy and Krystin-the emergent church-huh!?!?!?!?!?! When I saw that in the bulletin, I was as confused as I am know. I still do not know what it is-but I am glad that you guys got to have some bonding time together!

Katie-I LOVE the pics of you and I am excited to hear the rest of your story on Wednesday night!

Amy K.-boys, boys, boys! I will try to keep you in mind, but I don;t know many people in Chicago-so....you will just have to stay in Dallas so you can match made!

Mandy-How was your party and the speech??? Did you blow them away with your encouragement of Teams?

Well, Mandy and I went to the seminar on the Emergent Church yesterday and were very enlightened. To make things crystal clear for ya'll, we learned that we are not a part of the Emergent Conversation or Emergent Village....we are in fact Emerging at the Village. Everyone clear?
No, really it was very good and if ya'll are interested I have a notebook with alot of information in it if you want to look at it. I've read a few things that are borderline Emergent and I haven't had any problems with them...apparently they were the tip of the iceburg though. Great to feel more informed and equipped to see what's being passed around out there. Would you believe our greatest weapon is the Word of God?
Amy F. - Yay on selling your house! Sorry to hear things will be uncomfortable for a while. But it sounds like the end will be so great and you will have a great house to call your own. I'll try to remember to encourage you in that.
Amy K. - Got a big kick out of your personal ad and will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled. Once the shop is open who knows what kind of people will be walking in that door. Lots of exposure anyway. Love the idea of experiencing Dallas too!
Mandy - How was your work party? You feeling appreciated?
Love ya'll.
kristyn

A little bit of me

Since I will be finishing my "Story" this week, I thought I would give you a little refresher on some things I talked about already, so I won't go so long. :-) and thanks for the idea Kristyn!  

The first picture is a school pic when I was like in 3rd grade. (my mom monogrammed my initials on my sweater during her cross stitch phase.  2nd picture is when I had my tonsils removed.  I was 7 and the hospital was so full that they had to turn the play room into a room for 4 kids.  Very traumatic!

My Brownie days! I think this was taken on our "National Lampoon's" vacation from Chicago to L.A.!

My dad, bro and me on Vacation on H.H.I. and a nice old pic of the family.

I hope you all had a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week!

Love, Katie Lyn Krause

Excuses, excuses

Good afternoon, Ladies (since the gents aren't anywhere to be found :] )! I must say I have enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and great wisdom you've been sharing on here. Amy squared have been very thought provoking. I read our little blog here every day and then come up with things to say or respond to and for some reason those thoughts never make it to the computer. I'm going to blame life being so crazy the last couple of weeks. Pretty lame, huh? Anyway, I'll try to do better!

Congrats to Amy and Italo on the sale of the house! And, I loved the pic of Annabelle tree-climbing by the way!

Amy K - I'm on board with the DFW exploration. Let's do it!

Happy Mother's Day to our Mothers!

Love you guys!

Calling all Boys

Amy & Italo - That is great that I you sold your house!  I'm so jealous...I mean happy for you.  I would offer that you kids move in with me but with my house up on the market, that wouldn't be much fun.  

A couple of really random things I want throw out there to everyone:

1. I'm on a mission to get out and about and do different things around the city.  I'm not talking "to-do" list.  I'm not talking birthday parties or going to movies etc... I'm talking about  getting out there and experiencing Dallas/Ft. Worth.  One thing I'm going to do is go to the Dallas Farmers Market next Saturday morning.  I'm going to go recipe in hand and buy local fresh ingredients.  If anyone would like to go with me.  Maybe even go back to my house and make lunch - let me know.  I'll let you know what else comes up on my calendar and you do the same.  I've got to make a concerted effort to pull myself out of work, out of blah-blah land and get out there.

2. I'm single.  Know it, learn it, tell it.  I'm putting the call out to all of you - my friends in Christ - so that you can keep MOI in mind if you come across a nice guy. As the song says "I ain"t too proud to beg!" Just because I'm 38 and single doesn't make mean anything except that I've been very choosy - and rightly so.  I could be married by now, living in Chicago and not know my sister and not know God.  God may have much, much more in store for me than to just "be married" but down here in get-married-at-22 land - it's a little lonely.  Plus, I fear I'm just putting too much emphasis on my job just because there is nothing else to do!  The greatest thing of being 38 and single and looking is that I have a much much much greater sense of myself than I did at 22.  I'm confident. well-traveled and have lots of interests.  However, not totally independent.  Anyway....as you pour coffee at Crooked Tree, teach French at school (not students/teachers!), train guys at boot camp, as you go through your weekly routine, remember your buddy AMY!!  I'm looking for someone taller than me, who is a believer, who is just nice and caring and has lots of interests.  chica

See y'all on Wednesday!!  Can't wait!  

Buncha Voyeurs!

You made me laugh Amy! I TOTALLY felt that way this week when I went to this site and saw Annabelle's pic at the top-I thought-am I the ONLY loser who is relying on a blog for social interaction! I cried myself to sleep many times this week! At least it is good to know that Lauren and Josh at least read our ramblings!

Amy K.-How did your meetings go on Tuesday and Thursday. Are you getting nervous about your boss coming back next week and giving you news about Chicago? I am anxious enough for you so you should be able to rest easy :)

Andrew and Nathalie-Enjoy Canyon and you must let us know how the meeting of the parents goes!

Sherah and Kyle-I hope you have an AMAZING weekend with your friends! I will pray for good peace for your friend and I am so glad she has responded so marvelously to the chemo! PRAISE GOD!

GOOD NEWS from Carrollton-WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!! We have a contract in tact with a closing date of May 27th. We just need to repair our rot iron fence in our backyard-do you guys know any welders? We would love your prayers for a smooth inspection of our house and a smooth closing! We also have lots to do in the next few weeks to get ready to move!

On that front-we are going to be moving in with my MOM! They have a 2 story house and we are going to renting out the top story-it has 3 rooms-one for us, one for Annabelle and the other we will use as a living room. It will be at least 6 months before we can move into my Dad's house-so PLEASE pray for some patience for me! The other discouraging thing about this setup is our foster care journey is going to be put on hold until we can move into my Dad's house. So-I am very discouraged by that, but clearly know that the Lord is telling us to wait-why I don't know, but He knows best-Please remind me of that when you see me :)

We love you guys and pray for you all the time!

What are you all doing this weekend??????

Not Alone!

We're here...just listening--mainly because I enjoy reading, but don't necessarilly have insight to add. However, it doesn't help that it just took me 10 minutes to figure out how to post this.

All by ourselves...

Amy F. , I think this is officially our personal blog!! Where is everyone? It is like running to the mailbox every day waiting for something that never comes!! I check and check and nothing. So...Hi Amy! I'll miss chatting with you tonight. How are you? I'm feeling very middle aged today quite honestly. In reality, I'm past middle age so I guess feeling just middle aged is fine. I've been working until 11:45 pm lately and walk around with dark circles under my eyes! I need a day to catch up on my sleep.

Well have a good rest of the week!

AK

Unsearchable Riches

Hi All! By the way-when are the boys going to contribute to this post??????

Just wanted to share a picture of Annabelle that makes me smile! It has made my gloomy Monday feel better-so thought you might enjoy.

Amy-I hope you have a nice trip to Houston this week and that your meetings on Tuesday and Thursday go well! Thanks for giving us something to think about!

The thing that I have been reminded of over and over this year has been the true meaning of Grace itself. Growing up in a Christian home with the idea of Christ being all around me-all the time-there has never been a time I could have said----I did not know better. However, I did not DO better. In fact, for lots of my life, I have lived a life that is not remarkable. I have always had mixed feelings about reading verses in the Bible about being a NEW CREATION. Because I was not living that way. However, the Bible is clear-----I Am A New Creation. SO-what is AMAZING to me about God's grace is that he provides it everyday-even when I don't accept it that day. And what is even more AMAZING-He sees me as a NEW CREATION-even when I don't live that way. Because when he sees me-he sees Christ's blood. WOW!!!! Christ dies ONCE and FOR ALL!

So-the second half of Amy's question-How does that make you feel?

It makes me feel like a spoiled little kid!!! I have all the riches of Christ laid out for me-and I would rather play with the dirt. How silly! But, I do it almost everyday!

It also changes the way I see other people-I see them as forgiven! PRAISE GOD! However-as Jean said at the retreat this weekend-if I saw a viper about to attack my friend's neck-I would warn you-I would not let you sit there and take it and pray that Jesus would protect you. I would reach out and grap you to get you away from it! So-MY FRIENDS--when you see a viper about to attack me--PLEASE grap me and tell me to MOVE! And---I will do the same!

I love you all!

Grace Renewed

From our Women's retreat today... One of the speakers - Jean Klughart- brought up a really great analogy as part of her talk today. She said..."If someone bought your house, can you still live in it? Clearly, the answer is no. God bought your sin, guilt and shame, can you still live in it?" I love that thought. It only took me 6 sessions of therapy to grasp that concept. She also said that even if you were saved at a young age and raised in the church it is still very important to ponder salvation and ask yourself "Has grace become Amazing to you yet?" She said that we work so hard to pack the gospel down into a ten minute testimony and it becomes packed in so tight that we forget to unpack it to ourselves every day.

Eph. 3:8 states to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. I just thought about that phrase - the unsearchable riches of Christ. What does that mean? In order to preach the riches of Christ, I guess we'd have to be in tune with what they are to us. They are so numerous that they are unsearchable. Not just saying "grace, love" etc... but truly uncovering the riches of Christ as it is applicable in your life. I think that is important is because that is what becomes YOUR light to shine to glorify Christ. Am I looking at this right? Weigh in here, please.

What are some of the riches of Christ that you have discovered and how did finding or realizing that (it was of Christ) make you feel?