Set up is complete. Tomorrow starts rehearsals. Blood, sweat and tears have already been shed, and sunburn, exhaustion and soreness has set in. But it's just gettin good. .

This whole event has taken on a life of its own in the press. Today we were headline news on Drudge report,the Journal, NFL.com, New York Times, etc.. even Jay Leno on the tonight show made a joke about it..
This could be utter chaos  in a good way :)
I don't think anyone expected this kind of exposure, or the criticism that has come with it. I'm excited to be a part of this historic time in our church. 

Devotion

Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T

Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T

Saturday morning pre production meeting, tuesday night rehearsal, thursday/ friday all day set up, 7am saturday morning set up and run through, 5:00AM call time Sunday morning. What on earth am I up against this week you might ask??  Just Easter at our church. Go big or go home, right? As I've mentioned before Tim Tebow is coming to speak and we have hired a 90 bus crew for transporting people to and from the property, a stage crew, lighting crew, sound crew, etc.. but we are using our own film crew (including yours truly) for all the video. We can't livestream it, but it will broadcast at a later date(after editing) and shown live on our jumbotrons?? I am supposedly running the onstage camera (unless I can talk my way out of it beforehand). I don't like being seen, but I will do as I'm asked, I'm here to serve. The whole event is taking place on top of our hill that hasn't been built on yet, which is why we have this huge labor need. It will be a ginormous undertaking.  However, I can't help but to be upset that my husband is not part of the band team. Too old, not hip enough, not sure why, cause no one seems to have an answer, but it's just not cool and I'm having a hard time with my attitude about that whole thing. He's been there nearly 8 years and has been a solid member, and they're using a guy who's been there about a month. I'm sure they have their reasons, but it still doesn't feel good. But........I am a firm believer in God's delays and ways working out for our good. So there is a reason for it all, and apparently God does not want him on that stage; something about it would alter his life in a way that's not supposed to happen. Period. You either believe God is in control or he isn't. So I guess it's my turn to give myself away for this event and I'm happily going to do it. If just one person hears the Word of God and believes, it will be worth the blood,sweat and tears I'm sure to give this week.

Favorite parts of the cruise:
1. Cozumel - dolphins and snorkeling
2. dancing - Thriller and deck party
3. our balcony
4. doing absolutely nothing but laying in the sun

We're both still dizzy with our sea legs. I had forgotten about that. Everything feels like it's moving, even though it's not. I don't remember how long this lasts. Jordan seems to have caught something like a cold and I'm having ferocious headaches and want to do nothing but sleep. But during the cruise we were both happy and healthy. I didn't even have any pain the whole time! Absolute miracle. But this post vacation recovery is another story. Isn't that weird how that works??
Jordan and I are skipping church tonight to go see The Hunger Games. So excited cause we both loved the books..

Pre cruise

In Cozumel

Our room had a lovely balcony that we thoroughly enjoyed and used. I will never go back to any other kind of room. It was so nice to be out there and look out over the open ocean without the crowds.

on our balcony




One of my favorite memories ON the ship would be something I didn't have a picture for. It was the midnight deck dance party. I got to learn all these line dances and shuffles that kids today like to do. It was lots of fun doing them alongside Jordan. (She knew all of them. ) 

random ones

Jordan and I on "elegant" night

One of my favorites

beautiful night shot by Jordan

sunset shot by Jordan

 

Jordan and I on stage learning the "Thriller" dance. Soo much fun..

pt 2 dolphin swim

This time the dolphins did what they call a foot push. They swim up behind you while you're laying on your stomach and find your feet and start pushing you up and forward out of the water. It's an amazing, thrilling ride..

Jordan went first

   

my turn

Yes I have the CRAZY eyes.. there's a reason for this. I could have sworn those dolphins were going to run me into the pier. But they stopped right before and dropped me into the water.

 

There are many more pictures of this event, but these are my favorites. We spent almost an hour in the water with these girls. Their names were America and Regina. The look on Jordans face and her excitement was priceless and worth the whole trip.

So speaking of the dolphin swim..

hugging our "babies"

Here they were puling us across the water with their dorsal fins

I haven't started posting pictures yet because I don't know where to start.  There are 286 of them and I know you don't want to see all of them. How do you choose?... Maybe I will just choose a group or 2 or 3 of them a day so as not to overwhelm(or bore) you all at once.. Or maybe not

So how about some snorkeling pictures first.. We got to go at the marine park after our dolphin swim in Cozumel. It was incredibly beautiful and I could have done it all day, but we would have missed the boat..

We are home! Uploading pictures this afternoon, and will post a trip report along with them. We had a GREAT time!

Sorry it's been a while, been crazy around here. We've had some crazy wind and storms this last week and Josh spent all weekend fixing pieces of downed fence, only to have more go down the day he left for Colorado.  He returns tomorrow and Jordan and I leave for our cruise tomorrow. We'll miss each other by about 8 hours.  :(  
Jordan and I are pretty excited about our 'girls just wanna have fun' cruise. We're gonna swim with dolphins in Cozumel on Saturday. (My first time, her second) I will miss my sweet Hannah though. Luckily she has a youth conference to keep her busy while we're gone.

Gotta run, hair appointment..and some packing to do..

my awesome bike

my awesome daughter

my other awesome daughter

an awesome couple

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. --M. Mead

 I want to believe again. I'm on the verge of it, I can feel it rising up 

Catch up

* In this rough economy, God has blessed Josh with not just a bonus, but a pay raise as well!
* The movie Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler is actually quite hilarious.
* Hannah's friend Bailey from Special Friends died yesterday.  :(
* My body is still not well, but getting better.
* A section of our fence near the front blew over in that crazy wind last week. Going to have to redo two posts as well. :(
* We're taking the girls and Michael to Sea World tomorrow, day 1 of spring break. The weather's not looking too good the rest of the week, so other plans are up in the air.
* Praying and seeking God for direction regarding my future. Maybe looking for organizations to partner with and learn from in preparation.

That's all for now, eyes are burning from daylight savings/not enough sleep/ 7am arrival time/ 7 hour camera day.. sleepy time