Oklahoma Olson's

Clothes, Candles, and Homework

2012-01-12T11:43:00.000-06:00

Working at a Salon/Spa is incredibly fun. I wish TLC needed a new show, this would be the perfect reality show we could all get addicted to. On Saturday's I can wear jeans but the other days it's business casual. At my previous jobs in Oklahoma, I had business clothes and I really liked dressing up. I had added some now blouses to my wardrobe but didn't find the time to incorporate them into my wardrobe.

Now that I'm at the Salon/Spa it's the perfect place to wear these bright shirts. This shirt is actually sleeveless but I paired it with a black undershirt since it's still winter time. You cant see it in the picture but there is a black daisy on the right collar.

And check out the bright shoes ! Flats are the way to go at the Salon/Spa.

I love candles. I could burn every candle all day in every room. But my husband wouldnt like that very much. Last year we made him go into Bath and Body Works with me and find at least one candle he could stand. We found one, the Twisted Peppermint. It only comes out around Christmas time. This year we lucked out and received two Twisted Peppermint candles for Christmas !!

School starts next week ! My husband starts orientation this Saturday ! We are so excited. My new job will have the perfect schedule to balance work and homework. I had a lot of down time last semester so we will see how that works this semester. So far I have one professor that has sent out the assignments early. I am hoping to get a headstart.

-Mrs.Olson

We Dont Have Kids, we have Gordon

2012-01-12T11:26:00.000-06:00

I think Gordon will have to stick around all year long. Gordon brings such a laugh to this stressed out household. We dont have kids, but we have Gordon.

When you haven't had any sleep.....

( Gordon is on my guitar case)

When you've stressed yourself out....

(Gordon made the bed )

When you've been on the phone with the unemployment people for hours....

( Gordon overdosed on candy )

When you're nervous about your new job...

( Gordon sleeps in David's socks)

When your nervous about school...

( Gordon swings from ceiling fan strings)

Gordon, you're awesome.

Finish Year- Week 1

2012-01-08T23:26:00.000-06:00

Have you had enough of my Finish Year posts ?
I may have.

It's amazing how great it feels to accomplish a goal. It's amazing how exhausting it feels to accomplish a goal.

We have arrived at the end of our first week of working toward making 2012 a Finish Year. The year we finish those goals instead of creating lists and lists of unfinished work. A year to be proud of. A year to rejoice about.

Here is a glance of my goals for 2012 and how I am doing with each of them:

Finish paying off at least one item of debt.
God provided a job for me last week. I am a receptionists for a salon and spa in town. This job is the first step in paying off that debt.

Finish creating a new budget with envelope system.
After finding out my pay rate and hour intake for my new job, my husband and I created a budget together. We allocated for our Giving first, then savings, then bills. We creating categories for envelopes that will keep cash for gas, grocery, and date night that will restrict use of our debit cards.

Finish Bible reading program of 3 chapters of Psalm, 1 chpt of Proverbs, 1 chpt of James a day, repeated each month all year.
This has been the hardest of my goals. I am already 6 days behind on my reading. I started off only reading one chapter of Psalm and realizing it should have been 3. I keep telling myself that I will read extra each day and at the end of each day I havent read at all. I'm worried this goal will eventually fade and be replaced with a cousin goal.

Finish three blog posts a week.
This goal has been pretty easy and I am seeing the results. It's been great to share about Finish Year, Elfs on Shelfs, and new posts to come about my job and school starting up. Not that I think I am a famous blogger or an author in the making, but this blog is a way to document this process. I want to be able to share with people about our journey but I also need to be able to look back and see what God did for us, look back and be encouraged, look back and be amazed at how much I am not in control and how much God is in control.

I do have smaller cousin goals that I will not be blogging about on a regular basis because I think there is a line at Too Much Information. But in a nut shell here they are for one time only:

Whiter teeth
Drink less pop
Call family at least once a week or every other week.
Stay on top of my skin treatments.

~Mrs.Olson

Finish Year- The Budget

2012-01-05T20:45:00.000-06:00

Most people would not be excited to start the year off unemployed and neither were we, but our outlook has changed. What a great opportunity ! Right at the beginning of the year we get a new budget, new jobs, new experience !

As I have mentioned on my Finish Year list, the first two items on our list deal with our budget and debt.

Create a new budget system with envelopes
Pay off at least one item of debt.

Now that I have a job, we are preparing for my first pay check and creating a budget TOGETHER.
My dear friend Heather and my sister-in-law Crystal should really be employed by Dave Ramsey. These two women have been recommending Financial Peace University almost every time we hangout.

We spent New Years Eve with Crystal and my brother. Before heading back home my sister gave us a couple Financial Peace CD's to start us off. It's almost a 2 hour drive back home and we went through the first CD. It was awesome. We were so encouraged and pumped up to take care of our debt!

Last night, we used the Financial Peace quick budget sheet to create our new budget.

I've blurred out $ amounts for privacy.

After scratching, scribbling, and compromising - a new budget appeared. Then we decided which bills we can pay in cash, online, or automatic draft. For the bills we can use cash for ( gas for the car, grocery shopping...) we will use the cash envelope system.

With this list we have accounted for giving and saving first, then pay bills. This is very backward from our previous system of pay bills first and the rest is play money. But we have decided Dave Ramsey knows what he is talking about.

The first baby step in Financial Peace is to build an Emergency fund of $1000 ( $500 for yearly income less than $20,000). This is our first goal with our new budget.

The second baby step is to begin snowballing our debt.

Have you done Financial Peace University ?

Finish Year- A Job

2012-01-04T16:56:00.000-06:00

We are 4 days into making 2012 a Finish Year with Jon Acuff and I am seeing the fruits of our labor.

Here is another glance at my list:

Finish paying off at least one item of debt. ( car, credit card, loans )
Finish creating new budget system with envelopes.
Finish Bible reading program of 3 chapters of Psalms, 1 chpt. Proverbs, and 1chpt of James a day, each month, repeated each month all year.
Finish 3 blog posts a week.

I put them on the calendar with deadlines, I found obstacles with contingency plans, and yesterday I wrote the list down on paper.

Now Jon mentioned some cousin goals. These are not the main goals but may be necessary in completing the entire goal. For instance my top 2 goals are impossible if I cannot find a job. I shared that we have been job hunting.

This morning I received a message from a dear friend that heard about a receptionist position at a Salon Spa. I thought it would be worth looking into later in the day. My husband paid the rest of January's bills and revealed just how much we have left. YIKES.

Needless to say, I got ready much faster and headed to the Salon for an application.

When I arrived I filled out an application on the spot and had an interview right away. By the end of the interview I was able to cross this off my list.

My favorite part of the conversation:

Interviewer: "I've been praying for someone like you!"

Me: "I've been praying for you too !"

~Mrs.Employed

Gordon on the Move

2012-01-04T16:06:00.000-06:00

Yestorday I introduced you to Gordon; our Elf on a shelf.

Today was my turn to move Gordon, I mean... it was David's turn to find where Gordon moved "himself."

I tried to be so sneaky and finaly I had to drop a hint.

Gordon snatched up David's headphones and watched Netflix all night.

Sneaky Sneaky Gordon.

~Mrs.Olson

Elf On A Shelf...no really...

2012-01-03T20:14:00.000-06:00

Santa brought me this over Christmas:

Last night we decided to name him. After going through names like Kornsbee, Oaklish, Elfelfa, Flea, and Lancelot, we selected GORDON.

"Why Gordon?" you ask...

Here was David's explanation: "Elves are fast and so is The Flash but The Flash is already taken, so lets use his last name; Gordon."

So this morning, a few hours went by and I remembered I woke up at 3am to turn my phone off because the annoying beep meant it was dieing. So this morning I wanted to charge it. But I couldnt find it. I asked David and we replied with a very serious: "Maybe Gordon took it."

I laughed and grabbed the Elf On a Shelf Box to prove Gordon was still inside.

And at 23 years of age, I jumped as I pulled open the box.

David never fessed up to hiding Gordon. He kept reminding me that the storybook says that after you name him, he comes to life. I realized I would have to play along. And let me tell you that looking through the house for a tiny elf is exciting and kind of tense at the same time.

But my search prevailed and on our book shelf, little Gordon sat with my phone !

It may be January, but I can see this game continuing through the year, or at least until we run out of creative ideas. For right now, GAME ON !

Finish Year- Task Tuesday: The List

2012-01-03T13:49:00.000-06:00

The next task in Jon Acuff's challenge to making 2012 a year we Finish what we start is very simple:

Write the goals down on paper

I like this task.
It's easy and I really like to write things down. I'm a list maniac.

All of us participating in making 2012 a Finish Year are sharing pictures of these lists. Here is my list.

The idea is to place the list where you can see it. "Studies" have shown that writing down your goals and seeing them on a regular basis will help you achieve them. I have this list, my blog and a dry erase board. Have I mentioned that I really like dry erase boards ?

Moving on..

Even though that list looks very pretty, there is another list that is not so pretty. A list that is very daunting. This other list takes priority over all of these.

And unlike the pretty list of goals, this list doesnt need to hang on a mirror or a dry erase board. This list comes with an alarm clock in my every thought reminding me. "You are unemployed, you have bills, you need to find a job." Following by a secondary message that says "This message will repeat every minute on the minute."

A new list appears in a couple weeks if this scary daunting list is not accomplished. That list consists of different contingency plans for when we cant find a job. But that is the beautiful thing of being under the mercy and grace of God. He is going to provide for us. Not that we shouldn't plan who we will live with or what things we will sell, but staying positive through this situation is the vital in succeeding.

What about you ?
Do you write down your goals ?

~Mrs.Olson

Finish Year -Progress makes Progression

2012-01-02T22:58:00.000-06:00

We are on Day 2 of making 2012 a Finish Year; thanks to Jon Acuff.

Check out my list of what I would like to Finish this Year here.
I've already got to work on a couple of them.

This morning my husband and I set out to town to collect job applications. We were able to collect 3 and then came back home to apply online to places that have discontinued paper applications. I snatched up a local newspaper and found only 4 ads in the Help Wanted section.

They were all for those weird jobs that dont really exist. Like secret shopper and "WORK FROM HOME AND BECOME A MILLIONAIRE." Tomorrow we are headed back out. We have rent paid for this month but February will be a suprise for us all.

As far as my Bible reading program, I am right on track.
Every day I read:

3 Chapters from Psalms ( any order )
1 Chapter of Proverbs ( best if in order )
1 Chapter of James ( in order )

My professor of Foundations of Christianity suggested this reading program several times and I thought the New Year was the perfect time to try it out. Each month you will read through Psalm and Proverbs, and James 4 times a month. I want to repeat this all year long.

It's safe to say I am keeping up with my goal to blog at least 3x a week.

How are your resolutions going ?

~Mrs.Olson

Cleanest Cleanslate

2012-01-02T09:00:00.001-06:00

I love fresh starts.
I especially love fresh starts at the very beginning of the year.

2011 was full of hard finishes, quitting, and rough starts.
2011 contained selling a car, enrolling in Bible College, moving 6 hours away from family and friends, starting school and a back injury.

2012 = Bran spanken New Year ! Fresh...

2012 contains the conclusion of our freshman year in College.
2012 contains our 4 year wedding anniversary !
2012 contains my 24th birthday.
2012 contains his 28th birthday. ( giggle giggle ).

2012 for the Olson's will be the year we take control of our budget and debt.
And what better way to start this year off than by being UNEMPLOYED !

Talk about a clean slate.

Sure our blood pressure is up.
Sure we have bills.
But I'm also SURE that God will provide some how some way. And when we does provide a job for us, we are going to immediately apply our new budget and work on that debt.

Some people look at a clean slate as empty and void but we look it as a fresh start !

~Mrs.Olson

Finish Year- No Surprises

2012-01-01T22:00:00.001-06:00

Jon Acuff is using his desire to help people succeed and the 31 days in January to make 2012 a Finish Year.

Today Jon gave us advice on pursuing the items on the Finish Year list.
The first advice is to eliminate surprises. The idea is to look ahead on our calender and see if events will prevent us from working on our goals/resolutions.

Here is another look at my list:

Finish paying at least one item on our debt list.
Finish creating an envelope system for our new budget.
Finish Bible reading program of 3 chapters of Psalms, 1 chpt of Proverbs, and 1 chpt of James a day for a month, every month.
Finish 3 blog posts a week.

So looking at my calendar, here are some events that may interfere with my plan to stay on track:

-My husband and I are both unemployed.

-School starts back up on Jan 18th.

-When school starts, I will be very busy and may not be able to get my Bible reading program complete or 3 blog posts.

In order to stay on track, here is what I can do about those events:

-Continue creating a system for our budget so we know where our checks will be divided.

-Use current free time to double up on Bible reading and extra blog posts.

Finish Year

2012-01-01T21:24:00.001-06:00

I have lived 24 New Years and made well over 30 New Year resolutions. I have yet to accomplish a single one. Sure I got close. I wanted to stop drinking pop and I made it to March. I wanted to start working out 3x a week and I lasted till the beginning of February.

Jon Acuff has decided to bring this phenomenon to the front lines and make 2012 the year we Finish those things.

It can be one thing or 10 things.

He is opening his blog for the month of January to share what we would like to Finish this Year.
His reasons are simple.
Encouragement and accountability are vital to succeeded in our goals. Vital in finishing.

So here is my list.

Finish paying off at least one item on our debt list.
Finish creating an envelope system for our budget.
Finish a Bible reading program of 3 chpts of Psalms, 1 chpt of Proverbs, 1 chpt of James a day and repeat every month.
Finish 3 blog posts a week.

What would you post on your FinishYear List ?

~Mrs.Olson

Panic Picture Moment

2011-12-19T17:41:00.000-06:00

Please tell me I'm not alone.
Please tell me that at 3:30am you wake up in a sweat because you dont know where your high school diploma is, or if the microwave door is shut, or if you have a picture of the Christmas you and your husband celebrated as husband and wife ?

Please tell me that is normal.

That is what I did yesterday. It wasn't 3:30am but I have been known to do that too.
I was just sitting in our "living room" and thinking that I'm a lazy person for not getting Christmas cards sent out. I then justified that thought by thinking I cant send out cards because we dont have an updated picture of us to send with it.

Then my heart started to panic and I felt suffocated in my OU snuggie. Then I started scrolling through folder after folder of old pictures. Sure enough. We do not have a picture of our first Christmas together !

I'm such a failure as a wife.
I remember everything about our first Christmas ( Dec. 2008). We hosted my in laws at our apartment on Christmas Eve for the Olson tradition of "Christmas Eve Chili." We had cheese and crackers, David's chili, and then introduced my in law to a Wii. Christmas Day, we headed over to their house.

How could I have no picture of this ? After about 3 hours of panic, I remembered that I had lost my fancy camera after Thanksgiving and did not replace it for a few months. So sad.

So, in light of that panic, here are pictures of our other Christmases.

This picture was taken about a week ( Dec.2007) before David proposed. David's apartment lacked Christmas decor and the high ceilings were perfect for a tree ! So we decorated one together.

David proposed on December 11th 2007 and of course we do not have a single picture. But this picture was taken at my grandma's house in Kansas on Christmas, where we announced the engagement to my family.

For Christmas of 2009 we were out of the apartment into a 3 bedroom house. I loved decorating the house for Christmas. I wanted to host our first Christmas with my side of the family. I baked and baked and baked. It was beautiful. It even snowed on Christmas eve for a White Christmas ! Unfortunately that snow was a blizzard and all of our family was unable to make it. This is the only picture I have of the both of us. ( The rest are food and decor!)

Christmas 2010 we were back to our Olson tradition. We hosted my in laws at our apartment on x-mas eve for Chili. This time we introduced them to Angry Birds ! The next day, we headed to their house. But the only shot I have of us is the day after Christmas at a Taco Bell.

This so annoys me. Im determined to get a picture this year. Even if I have to ask a stranger. I also started taking random pictures of David and I because Im so paranoid that pictures of food and decor is all that is left of us.

December 2011

~Mrs.Olson

Prayer Room

2011-12-19T15:25:00.000-06:00

A few months ago, my Bible College hosted high school and Jr.High students for a weekend of fun activities, fellowship and worship. It's a great way for the students to check out the school and see if they would like to attend there.

I wanted to get involved and had the honor of designing and setting up the prayer room with my friend Rachel.

I had never created a prayer room before but I had participated in many prayer rooms and I know how effective they can be. We had fun brain-storming all these ideas and creating ways to engage the students in different aspects of prayer but also create a stress-free environment for them.

A common theme of white candles, framed instructions and dim lighting was around the room. We decided to do "floating stations." Students could go around the room and participate in each station or simply pray in the middle of the room. Here is a look at the stations in order.

Sorry for the poor quality. I had to use the camera on my iPod since my camera is broken.

The first station is Confession.- Students were instruction to take a note card and write some areas in their life they would like to confess.

The second station is Thankfulness- Students were instructed to use all their creativity to draw or write about what they are thankful for. We gave them crayons, colored pencils and markers. We covered the table in giant post-it paper. It sticks to the table and is easy to replace.

The third station is Forgiveness- Here the students take note card they had previously written confessions on and thumb tack them to the cross. Ideally, we wanted a wooden cross and nails but the noise would have been a distraction. Also, I didn't want anyone to get hurt. This cross is made of card board.

The fourth station is Waling Wall- Here we used lattice to create a wall. The students were instructed to take a piece of paper and write a prayer request. Then stick their request in the wall. Next, they were asked to take another request out of the wall and commit to pray for that person till Christmas break. The slogan we used was "leave one, take one."

The fifth station was Community Prayer- We placed poster board up with the names of the different communities that were represented for the weekend. Students were instructed to leave prayer requests for their youth group, school, town, or state. Our intent was to send each board home with the community it represented but we found that multiple youth groups were represented on one board.

The sixth station was Live Your Story- This station was very easy to create. We used the dry erase board in the classroom and asked students to write at least one way they were going to live their story. Some students wrote they would read their bible more, others said they would share Christ with a classmate.

Pillows were placed in the center of the room in a circle for prayer.

Also, we had an iPod looping soft worship music in the corner of the room. The students really didn't have time in the schedule to come visit the room, but the few that were able to come by really enjoyed it.

* Big thank you to my cousin Meg and my friend Kelsey for the great ideas !!

~Mrs.Olson

My Pinterest Classroom

2011-12-16T23:09:00.000-06:00

It's Pinterest Great !

I mentioned in my previous post that one of the ways you can live your dream job now is to plan for it. This includes surfing Pinterest for classroom decor, discipline and management ideas. Look as some of my favorites:

I love this seating arrangement.

Source: forums.atozteacherstuff.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

For a cheaper seating arrangement use colorful place mats !

Source: teachpreschool.org via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Door decorations are so fun !

Source: kindergartenkhronicles.blogspot.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Mess-free learning !

Source: lets-explore.net via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Do you have any favorite pinterest ideas or ideas of your own ?

~Mrs.Olson

Live Your Dream Job Now

2011-12-16T22:22:00.000-06:00

A common dread among college students ( as well as working/unemployed adults ) is the burning desire to hurry up and get to our dream job but standing still during our moment of preparation. What started this idea that just because we are on our way to a degree, we couldnt come close to our dream jobs ?

I hear this a lot from the seniors at our college. They are so ready to "Get Out There" and "have their dream job." There is nothing wrong with being anxious but if you're always focused on what life will look like in the future, you can miss out on the possibilities that are right in front of your face.

After reading the book Quitter by Jon Acuff, I learned to look for ways to apply aspects of my dream job, in the current job that I have. I put this into play when we still lived in Oklahoma. I want to be a teacher, but I worked for a non-profit as a scheduler for companions for the elderly. How do those relate?

I soon found some elements that could serve as practice for my dream job. When clients called to complain, they spoke with me. Someday I will have parents that will complain ( about something ) and I will want to be calm and collected when I speak with them. I would teach my employees to fill out their paperwork and time cards as well as critique their behavior with clients. Dont you think as a teacher I will be teaching students? Especially to improve behavior ?

So how can I practice as a student ?

I will want a clean and orderly classroom, so for now I can keep a clean and orderly house. Same with my homework and assignments. If I expect my students to do their part, why not build my integrity and be studious with my own work. I can practice my teaching skills while leading a study group. And there is always Pinterest to scavenge for awesome classroom decor and discipline tips.

So can you find parallels in your job for your dream job ?
Can you find parallels between your routine and the routine you want to have ?

Dont wait for the future to live your dream job, create that environment or routine now. It will make you a better student/employee now and prepare you for the future at the same time !

For WAY MORE AWESOME TIPS, TRICKS, AND WISDOM see Jon Acuff's book Quitter !

~Mrs. Olson

First Semester Complete

2011-12-16T21:27:00.001-06:00

It's so hard to believe my first semester is over. I cannot wait to post about my final semester. This has been an AMAZING experience. I wish I blogged all during the process but when did I have the time ?

Here is a peak at what I have learned during this first semester at Bible College:

I can prove God exists
I can trust in the Bible
I can be confident that I am going to Heaven.
The Bible is true for all people, at all times for all time. We cannot use our emotions to interpret the Bible. ( dont close your eyes and pick a verse to pull wisdom. Instead, read the entire chapter and if possible read the entire book to receive the full message.)
I learned the correct order of Old Testament events and the correct characters. Before school, I would be very confused about who came first, Abraham, Moses and Noah. I didn't know there was more than one Joshua.
There is more than one way to conduct a "quiet time."
It is okay to disconnect yourself from people that dig up old wounds. You can forgive even though you cannot forget. Forgiving someone else is mostly for your benefit, not theirs.
It was always God's plan to send Jesus for us. ( Still blows my mind ).
Jesus really was concerned more with the heart of a person than with the rules they followed.
Defending scripture and God is pointless if it does not change the heart of the atheist. "If you win the argument but lose the soul, you still lose."

Next semester I will be taking the following courses:
Acts of Apostles
History of Israel
English Comp 2
American Government
Biblical Leadership

We are both unemployed as of right now but God has provided for us before and if I have learned anything from scripture at all this semester it's that God has taken care of us and He will continue to take care of us.

The Christmas holiday will be spent mostly in Kansas with my side of the family. We are excited for some home-cookin and heavenly discussions. My husband will start school January 14th but I dont return to class until the January 18th !

Merry Early Christmas !

~Mrs.Olson

Olson's Go To Walmart

2011-11-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

When you're a young married couple with no children, you do what any respectable young married adults do...

Go wreck havoc in Walmart.

The toy isle provides endless entertainment for us. While we look at toys we notice some really interesting things:

Reallly ? You think he put this together. I dont even think he knows where he is at.

Nice to see a toy promote brotherly love

The boogieman was replaced this year:

Then my husband must put on a Super Hero mask:

This one was taken at a local costume shop. Pretty legit.

At one point, we were scared to death by a motion-sensor baby doll that barked at us so David reacted like any other 27 year old man, He screamed in laughter. This must have triggered the Walmart FBI squad because a worker began following us up and down each isle.

We concluded the evenings festivities with dinner at a new Chinese place in town.
It was less like a restaurant and more like a fast-food style. You order at the front, wait at a table and your food is brought on paper plates with trays.

Loving the lime green walls.

When our food arrived, we assumed they under estimated the number of trays they were going to need. Anything look familiar ?

Yep, it's a baking pan/sheet.

David's arrived on one too !

When I took the cookie sheets back up to the counter, I had a strong urge to put cookie dough on them first. My brilliant husband reminded me that I dont carry cookie dough in my purse. I think it's a good time to start.

~Mrs.Olson

Opinion Results

2011-11-13T21:26:00.000-06:00

Last month I asked for your opinions regarding objections to Christianity. For an assignment, I had to pick 3 objections out of a list of ten. I received comments, emails and even phone calls about which 3 objections you would like to hear about.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.

You can see the full list here.

The top objection that you would like to hear about is:

The Bible is not completely accurate.

There were a couple ties for 2nd and 3rd but what I found interesting was the one that did not receive any votes:

Jesus is not the only way to heaven.

I thought this was interesting. I'm not sure if this is because people do not need this to be defended or if it just seemed preposterous to question the idea that there was more than one way. It doesn't matter, it was just an observation.

Thank you again for your input ! Once my assignments have been graded and proven accurate, I would love to share them on my blog or personal email.

~Mrs.Olson

We Go Together

2011-11-13T20:43:00.000-06:00

It is official. My husband is fully approved to attend Bible College with me next semester. He is all set to go ! I cannot wait to see him in the hall, study together, eat lunch together and discuss school together.

While I am majoring in Christian Education with a certificate in Children's Ministry, my husband is majoring in Biblical Studies with a certificate in Computer Programing.

It's exciting.

It feels amazing !

We get to go to school together !

~Mrs.Olson

Godphones: Verses that Speak Volume !

2011-11-08T18:56:00.000-06:00

I wanted to get on my blog and post about my stress and trials. I even looked for pictures on Pinterest and Google that fit my mood and all the emotions in my heart. Then I stumbled upon this picture. I just loved it. I love the idea of not just tuning out the outside voices, but intently and powerfully turning up the volume on God's voice. His Word !

Throughout each week I will post this picture and a verse or passage to soak my eyes, ears, heart, and mind in. Please feel free to join in and post what is in your Godphones !

This verse was used in a memory verse assignment in class and it just spoke volume to an approval-addicted girl like me. Maybe it will speak Volume to you too ?

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence,

In your moral excellence, knowledge,

and in your knowledge, self control,

and in your self control, perseverance,

and in your perseverance, godliness,

and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,

and in your brotherly kindness, love.

For if these qualities are YOURS and are INCREASING,

they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:5-8

What's in your Godphones ?

~Mrs.Olson

In Need of Your Opinion

2011-10-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

The previous post introduced a book that I will be reading for my Bible Interpretation class at college. In case you missed it here is the book:

I Dont Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

I have never read this book but I have heard about it and I am very excited to read it. Even though I feel I know God exists through personal spiritual experiences I have had, I am hungry to know more to defend this very meaningful faith that I have.

My assignment as I read this book is to be able to confidently answer 3 main objections to the Christian Faith. My professor has given us a list of 10 and from there I can narrow it down to 3 objections that I will focus on for the rest of the semester.

With the help of the World Wide Web, I had the idea to give you the list of 10 to help me pick 3.

You can be a christian, an atheist, or someone of a different religion. As I have mentioned before, you can also comment as an anonymous writer.

Here is the list of 10:

God is Not Real

Creation is a Myth

The Bible is Not Completely Authentic

The Bible is not Completely Accurate

Jesus Was Just a Man

Jesus Is Not the Only Way to Heaven

A Loving God Wouldnt Send People to Hell

People are Basically Good

Christians Are All Hypocrites

A Merciful God Wouldnt Allow Suffering

So, which objection(s) pull at your heart strings? What 3 would you pick to research?

If you would like to email me instead of placing your thoughts in the comment section, feel free to do so. My email address can be found in my profile.

Thanks !

~Mrs.Olson

What I'm Reading At School

2011-10-24T18:35:00.000-05:00

When I first picked up my textbooks at orientation, I remember thinking "this cant be right?"
I had some text-booky looking books but then I had some that didn't look ~~boring~~ intense at all.

In my Christian Discipleship class, my text book is The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg.

This book is, as my professor says is "worth the entire price of admission." I would highly agree with this and more ! If you would like to get your eyes open to the true understanding of mercy and forgiveness, if you are tired of rhythmic fruitless prayer, if you desire a new template for deeper intimacy with Christ, I HEAVILY ENDORSE THIS BOOK !

My view of "punishment" from God, my belief in prayer, my spiritual disciplines are changed forever. Great tool. This is not some Joel Osteen "Your life will be better if you read this book" prompt. I think that is stupid. But, if you are hungry, this book ALONG WITH THE BIBLE will feed you.

Switching gears.

Now, in my Foundations of Christianity ( Bible Interpretation) class I just finished a massive book of big words, processes and rules of Bible interpretation. Next we are moving onto this book:

I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek

While reading this book, our assignments will consist of answering some very common and popular arguments by atheists or non-believers. I will have a list of 10 and I get to choose 3 to work on for the rest of the semester. I will be posting the 10 and getting your input on which comment you would like to hear from the most. This will help me narrow it down to the 3.

I would LOVE to have YOUR input ( believer or non-believer ).

~Mrs.Olson

2011-10-22T17:15:00.000-05:00

The Inconspicuous Post

2011-10-20T07:35:00.000-05:00

A certain spouse of the writer of this blog may or may not have a sort of job interview at a certain institution of knowledge for some sort of a position that may or may not have to deal with computer stuff on a certain day of next week that may or may not be Monday.

Is that inconspicuous enough ?

Prayers for favor are appreciated !

P.S
I survived my first college midterms.
I'm drinking more....coffee ( What in the world did you think I was gunna say ? )
I have a cold that gives me a deep raspy laugh like the sound a dog makes before it throws up.

Your welcome
~Mrs.Olson

BACK that thing up.

2011-10-13T16:32:00.001-05:00

Okay Okay, so I wanted a title that used the word back in a funny way. You know you enjoyed it ! If not, here is a funny picture that has nothing to do with my post,

Small update about my husband's back. When he sits and relaxes ( not lifting anything ) he feels great ! ( who wouldnt? ) but when he starts to lift things or bend funky, he does not feel good.

He has been in physical therapy for 2 weeks now. I have never been to his physical therapy but because I have been brain washed with sports movies, for some reason I keep picturing him limping and sweating to lift something and all the therapists, nurses and secretaries are cheering him on for encouragement !

He hasnt told me different.

I watch too many movies.

Anyway, he was not released back to night shift ( PRAISE JESUS ) and will undergo 2 more weeks of PT. Like I have said before, I know it puts his department in a bind but we are so thankful for the extra time to heal, the time to see each other during the day, AND the schedule to go to church !!

While he did not get his name in the hat for an IT position with his current employer, there is any opening in the IT department at our school. I submitted his resume today, covered in prayer ! If this job is in line with God's plan for David, then it will come to pass and if not, God will comfort our hearts and take away our worry.

Some of the students have been saying this around campus and I refused to conform to their silly ways but now I must cave..

When we say "No Way!" God answers "Yahweh!"

~Mrs.Olson

Tiny Hardcore Rain

2011-10-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

While leaving Taco Bell tonight, we could feel small droplets of water on our arms and face. When we got into the car, my husband said "This was suppose to be impossible!"

To which I replied "what are you talking about ?" ( ya never know, my husband does love him some Taco Bell ).

He explained that he heard multiple times on the radio not to expect any precipitation today. That weathermen were very adamant that even though the cloud coverage was significant, it would be close to impossible for ANY precipitation to form today.

And yet, as we are walking about of Taco Bell, tiny droplets, invisiblee to the eye and only noticed by the skin on our arms, falls from the sky.

Later at home, I pull the headphones out and discover a loud rushing sound. It wasnt the ceiling fans or the air conditioner. It was rain. Hardcore rain. Now the weathermen are very wrong.

God is in the business of turning the impossible into possible. In school I am currently studying Genesis and the introductions ( just the introductions ) of each of the Gospels. Over and over, God makes the impossible, possible.

I've mentioned how this journey has been labeled impossible. Situations arise and Satan yells "IMPOSSIBLE!" So, keeping in mind that God is in control, we look for the hardcore, clear signs, confirmation, helping hand or whatever you want you call it that proves Satan wrong.

Here's the deal.
At the moment those tiny, almost microscopic rain droplets fell from the sky, the weathermen were proven wrong. It was irrelevant if harder rain came along or not because at the end of the day what was stated impossible became possible. And here is my problem:

I need God to turn some impossible things in our situation right now, into possible things. BUT, I keep defining what it will look like for God to meet our needs. I am only looking for the HARDCORE results. And because of that I have neglected to noticed that God achieved His promise already in smaller droplets.

We have shelter
We have food
We have income
We are here
We woke up today

And in those elements, while they are not the hardcore rain I wanted, they still tell Satan "SILENCE, You Have Been Proven Wrong!"

You may have hardcore results, but if you dont, please know that the tiny droplets count.
May you remember that God is faithful to complete a good work in you that He began. - Phil 1:6

~Mrs.Olson

Easy Peasy Not So Much-y

2011-10-04T16:43:00.001-05:00

So for those who thought Bible College is just SO EASY ( It's the Bible right ? ) can I just slap you in the face ? ( I mean this is the nicest possible way !)

I have had 2 tests so far, not so bad, but this next one will be the death of me.
The topics before, stuff of preschool Jesus answers ( not really, these tests were hard too ).
Topics were surrounded your basic bible stories in detail. Noah, Moses, Flood, Creation, History.

But the test that will be the death of me... ( I might call this the "test we do not speak of"- get a little Harry Potter humor going..I mean.. if I were a fan of that devil work...LOL )

Bible Interpretation !

No pressure. It's only the Bible. Ya know.. if you interpret it wrong, it only means...EVERYTHING !!

~Mrs.Stressed-out

Update on Spine

2011-09-29T07:50:00.000-05:00

Turns out, my husband has a bruised bone.We are not sure how that happened.

Even the doctor was like: "so you dont play sport?" ( no)
"Nothing?" ( no )
"where you in a car accident?" ( no )
"so no sports or car injury?" ( NO!)

So, for the bruised bone he gets a back brace and PT for 6-8 weeks. He cannot lift anything over 8 pounds, bend or reach to lift or pick up things.

Great blessings:

If we had waiting any longer to go to the doctor, it could have turned into a fracture; meaning 3-6 months recovery.
He didn't qualify for the shot because it was not a fracture. HE WAS SO HAPPY !!!
He will be able to stay on day shift a little longer
Since his schedule is Monday-Friday, we get to attend church on Sunday !!!

Struggles ( prayer requests ):

An office position in IT/networking has already been filled.
For school I required to do 10 hours of service every 5 weeks. I dont mind this at all, the tricky part is coordinating our schedules to fit this volunteer time in.
Satan makes me feel that at any moment, school will be taken away from me. This makes me tense and very nervous all the time.

Keeping you posted !
~Mrs.Olson

What Spine is Yours and What's Yours is Spine.

2011-09-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Quick update:

Between memorizing the Pentateuch, history of the Jews, scripture memory, house cleaning, dinner and lunch making and sleeping I some how forgot to blog !
My husband has hurt his back. After an MRI, we learned he doesnt not need surgery but he does have some fluid in his spine and a slight bulge. He is possibly getting a shot in his spine tomorrow. ( which means that when we have children and I get a shot in my spine, I can no longer say "You dont know how this feels.")

The Bible college did receive his transcript from a previous college and David can begin classes in January.

So, now we are trying to find a way for that to happen financially.

The blessing from this back-pain situation is that he is forbidden to lift over 20 lbs. This means his job put him on the day shift in the office. We are hoping this can transition him into a position that is "school-schedule-friendly"

So, we will wait and see how that goes. We are also keeping our eye out for another apartment. The idea of packing and moving again makes me want to vomit but the idea of a quiet, safe, no meth addict, neighborhood delights my soul. Just 8 more months and we can move !
Thank you for your prayers !! I look forward to giving another posts of answered prayer !

~Mrs. Olson

Olson's Day Out

2011-09-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

This post is long over due: my bad.

On the road trip to Oklahoma over labor day weekend, my husband noticed these billboards for 50's nostalgia, antiques and fudge. He had been asked to go ever since we made it home. So, we found out it was only an hour away and had to see this place for ourselves.

We saw some awesome clouds on the way there.

A storm followed us the entire way there.

This is David joining me in sing along with the radio

This is David upset at the motorcycle the scared of half to death.

We made it !

Our first find was the hats !

Twilight fans eat your heart out. Team Wolf David !

Mafia David

Prince Caspian David

No comment David.

My favorite:

David Gaga

David's favorite:

Mascot David

I just love these hates. It's the one part of summer I am sad to see go.

"There's a new sheriff in town!"

And a new mountain man ~~redneck~~

I found Nemo

Thats how we roll.

~Mrs.Olson

Nuggets

2011-09-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

I apologize if I just made you crave McDonald's. Feel free to go there and then come back and read this post. It has nothing to do with the disgustingly delicious chicken item at Micky D's but a different kind of wonder.

I love those moments that give you goosebumps.
I love meeting someone that is so much like you that your jaw drops.
I love hearing a song on the radio at just the right time.

Do you have those moments?

I think most of use respond the same way. Usually our jaw drops open, our heads cock to the side and we usually say something like "NO WAY!"

I call these moments little nuggets.
I have had so many nuggets since starting school. ( he he..that sounded funny ).

I have met a classmate that wants to be public speaker.
Another classmate has a broken heart for orphans and would like to adopt.
I met a student that is deaf ( I love deaf culture and am just really drawn to them)
I borrowed an anonymous Bible and in the front was written "sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin"- have that written in an old Bible of mine.
The library has all the prayer maps from Voice of the Martyrs.
A teacher likes science and has watched "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell a thousand times.

I love these little moments of awesomeness. Maybe it's way too emotions driven but you have to admit when these nuggets appear, it can be very comforting.

What nuggets do you have ?
Are you hungry now too ?

~Mrs.Olson

The First Cut Is The Deepest

2011-09-09T00:08:00.000-05:00

I knew that college would change me, especially Bible college.
I have been wondering what the first change would be.

Would I adopt a new theological idea and begin beating people over the head with my Bible ?
Would I start going off on people about baptise or not to baptise ?
Would I finally be able to win a fight with my Calvinist friend ?

or maybe it would be closer to my personal life.

Would I cut down on my sarcasm ?
Would I ban certain movies from our house ?
Would my stance change on alcohol ?

It's been a couple weeks and the first impact has been acknowledging and admitting that I was wrong about almost everything.....almost..almost...everything that I knew what being a follower of Christ meant.

Now, some of you reading this have been very worried that we would go away to this Bible college and simply become robots of another persons perspective on things. That we would lose our identity and adopt the morals and principles of those "higher educated" than us. That is not what I am saying.

Here is as plain as I can put it.

I grew up and lived my life thinking a certain way about sin, commandments, God, Jesus and forgiveness.
Turns out, my thoughts go against what the Bible actually teaches but I didnt know any better.

I will be giving very specific examples this weekend but it has been very emotional first couple weeks of school as the truth has come to the surface. This is exactly why we came. To learn. Not just learn in order to share to others, no, to the learn so that we can be in line with God's Will for our every Day, not just entire life. Only then can we share with others.

I will reveal more this weekend, sorry to be vague. But I just want to set the stage.
Are you open to the idea that what you have pieced together about scripture, salvation and more could be so distorted that you've missed the big idea ?

To..be..continued.

~mrs.O

Reminders I'm In College

2011-09-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

When someone sneezes about 10 people say "bless you" and about 5 overachievers say "God Bless You!!"
MLA format has nothing to do with insurance abbreviations.
Cereal, pop tarts and grilled cheese are acceptable forms of dinner.
Friendship bracelets !!!

I haven't had one of these since church camp my freshman year in high school; almost 8 years ago ! My new college friend Joyce made it for me. THANKS JOYCE !!

~Mrs.Olsons aka college student.

o-k-l-a-H-O-M-E-a

2011-09-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

What do you do when your husband gets an unexpected vacation day ? You make a surprise trip back to Oklahoma ! The drive down was exhausting with no AC in the car. But it was so worth it to see familiar faces. We headed out right after chapel at school.

We made it to town about 6pm and had dinner with friends at our FAVORITE place; Monterrey's

Saturday night was the long awaited start of the OU football season !! I love watching OU play but I also love watching my husband and his dad get into the game.

Who ate the football ?

Gotta love those smiles !

OU won their game and Iowa won there game. No football for OU this weekend, but they will be in full swing next Saturday on my birthday against Florida State.

The trip was way too short but at least we were able to spend time with family. The drive back was just a blessing from the drive down. The temperature stayed so low, that we didnt even have the windows down. My husband kept me entertained by giving the history of the bible and every bible story he knew. He is such a smarty pants.

~Mrs.Oklahoma Olson

What I'm Learning

2011-08-31T17:40:00.001-05:00

Some have been asking what it is like to attend Bible College. I've heard, "how hard could it be, isn't your textbook your bible?" and "What else is there to learn if you were raised in church?"

I really had no idea what I was getting into. How much could there be to learn that I had not heard before? Wow.. insert foot in mouth.

My Classes:

Christian Discipleship

This class will build my spiritual discipline. We are looking at the aspects of prayer, bible study, meditation, memorization and fasting.

For the first semester, we are using The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg. I am straight up lovin this book !

Life of Christ I

This is the chronological order of the Gospels.

This class gives you so much information in a short amount of time. For example, in one hour, we recovered the history from Genesis to Alexander the Great ! I would say I learned the information but I am still blown away.

Foundations of Christianity

Like the other class titles, this one speaks for itself.

Our current lessons have been discussing how and when the Bible was written. We are working on proper interpretation.

Survey of the Pentateuch

Study of the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

English Comp I

This is your good'ol college level English composition class. But even this basic entry level class is intertwined with faith. A different student opens the class with scripture and prayer every day.

SALT

A class devoted to small group discussion for growing our walk with Christ, getting involved in the community and other issues of our hearts and lives.

~Mrs.Exhausted

That Student: The Lists

2011-08-29T17:20:00.000-05:00

In my previous post I shared about my Book Adventure. Now I am gunna humiliate myself even further and show you my hobby/obsession with list making.

I have an addiction for buying dry erase boards. And that is my excuse for getting one...or two. I'm gunna pull a Dugger and tell you I dont know if I'll stop at 2, they could just keep coming and coming and coming.

Before Saints Seminar ( a week long orientation before class started ) I got a dry erase calendar.

On the first day of class we are given a syllabus. A lot of students were freaking out about the volume of information in the syllabus. For those that dont know, a syllabus is basically and outline of what you will be doing for the semester. It contains rules, goals, assignments and requirements for the class. It's important but not stressful. You see.. for a list-maniac, like myself, this was PERFECT !

So, knowing that about myself that only logical thing to do after receiving syllabus was to go buy a big dry erase board ! Obviously.

Here is a look at what I worked on last night. I organized my classes by time slot and due date of the assignment.

As I complete projects I will replace it with the next to-do on the syllabus. I am even considering another board for writing our words I miss spell.

You may be thinking, "well, dont you have a student account that will keep track of all that for you."You better believe it. I have a school email, personal email, and 2 apps on my ipod that organize my assignments for me. I am sick.

*Side note to the students: If you are looking for an App I HIGHLY recommend "In-Class" over "Everynote."

~Mrs.Olson

That Student: The Books

2011-08-28T19:09:00.040-05:00

I am embarrassed to say that I am "that student."

The one that reads the students handbooks, memorizing the layout of the website, checks it every 5 seconds and memorizing the class list and times. I just cannot escape it. Now that I am all the way off a certain medicine, my OCD tendencies are back in full swing.

I am sorry I missed out on blogging. I had no idea what I was in for during the first week of college. I was cought by surprise after Saturday's orientation when I found out that it is a week long process called Saint's Seminar. As annoying as it can be to move a schedule around, I was thankful for the seminar. It got me in routine for classes, introduced me to some friends and I got 3 credit hours for it !

There have been many moments of "I CANT BELIEVE IM HERE!" But the first was when I got to go to the campus bookstore to pick up my books. I even double checked with the woman that loaded my campus rewards card with $ to get books:

"You mean to tell me that I can go in there and get my books and then just go home?" -me

"Um..yes." - Staff member

"WOW this is amazing, it's just like Christmas !" -me

"You're a freak!"-Staff member
Ok..so she didnt say that.

My bag of books.

I know you're wondering if I took a picture of the inside of the bags with the books in them?
To which I respond: Abso-freaking-lutly

I know you're also wondering if I took the books out of the bag and took a picture?

To which I respond Sarah Palin style: "You betch YA !"

I know you also wondered if my OCD kicked in and I straightened the books up and retook the picture ?

I think you see where this is going...

I couldn't stop there, no, because that would only make me borderline crazy. I had to blow any suspicions of my obsession with school out of the water. I took, not one but two, pictures of me holding my books !

I may have to find a 12 step program for people like me. Could you imagine something like that? You know we would all take over, we are all extraverts that demand the lead role in anything. Our lists of strategies would be neatly organized with bullets, roman numerals and lower case alphabet. Eventually our brains would explode.

~Mrs.Obessive Compolsive Olson

Just Some Family Fun

2011-08-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

Here is my husband with our nephew Owen. aka the blue-and-white-short-guys !

My mom sent the best care package ever. New avon, Pur Minerals and Ulta makeup !

My husband in front of our favorite date night spot. The local drive in theater !

~Mrs.Olson

Gray = Wisdom

2011-08-16T00:23:00.001-05:00

"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness."

Proverbs 16:31

My Confession

2011-08-14T21:16:00.000-05:00

My orientation for college is Saturday, then school will start on the 25th. I have been day dreaming of college since kindergarten. As I said before, I may not make the highest grade, but I am a total school nerd. I read the student handbook, I memorize my class list, and check the student portal online ~~every 5 minutes~~ once a day.

Now that it's getting freakishly close not only am getting excited, but also scared. My insecurities are being brought to the surface. What will this experience be like ? Will I transition into a "normal" student? Will I be all alone because we live off campus ? What if...what if..what if.

I have been told I am an out-going person, and I love to talk so I am not afraid of meeting people. I know that when I really try, I can make very good grades. I also know that when I am in class, I do not like to be bothered, I get very serious and usually sit up front ( because I am short but also because focus better the closer I am to the teacher). I am a different person than back in 2007 when I would have started college. I know more about myself and am focus on different goals.

But.

Here the thing that has haunted, ruined and embarrassed me during school that I will have to overcome.

Even though I love to talk, I HATE, CANNOT STAND and DESPISE, reading out loud.

You know the student that says organism wrong ? - Yep me.
You know the student that gets off rhythm and reads every-word-as-if-she-is-taking-a-breath-after-every-word? Yep me
You know the student that just skips words they cannot pronounce ? - Yep me.

CONFESSION TIME:
During sophomore English class we had to read out loud every since day. Instead of the actual book, we were given copies of the pages that were stapled in the corner. I would read the material the night before ( since I didn't know when my name would be called to read ) and I would take a permanent marker and block out the words I couldn't pronounce. Then in class when it was my turn, I simply skipped the word. If the teacher or other students asked, I would show them that I couldn't read the word because it was marked out. This worked because every ones copy was written on, folded or torn up.

Those that know me, may consider this weird because I have given speeches, lessons and hello LOVE TO TALK. I do not have a shy bone in my body. If I have time to read something ahead of time and feel comfortable enough asking someone how to pronounces certain words, then it's not a problem. This is the one area of my life where I HATE the element of surprise.

I don't want everyone to sigh when it's my turn to read.
I don't want the professors to label me the one that needs extra help.

Do you struggle with the same thing? or what were your fears ?

~Mrs.Olson

Our Living Room / Office

2011-08-11T17:32:00.000-05:00

When random boosts of energy come a long, you have to put good use to them. For some weird reason, my energy boost said CLEAN AND ORGANIZE THE LIVING ROOM. So, I couldnt argue with that. As I mentioned before, our apartment is 3 "rooms." We picked one for the bedroom, one for storage and the coolest room ( as in temperature ) for the living room/office.

Here is the train wreck before:

Then the energy boost arrived and this happened:

Here is the "full" view of the living room/office from the hallway.

~Mrs.Olson is really tired.

Class Schedule

2011-08-09T22:29:00.000-05:00

I am sure the admissions staff at the Bible College did not expect this OCD, type A, student to flood their inbox every day with questions about orientation, financial aid, and schedules. So, when I received my schedule today, I breathed a sigh of relief and I am sure they did too.

Here is a breakdown of the classes for this semester:

Life of Christ I

Survey of Pentateuch

Foundations of Christianity

English Comp. I

Christian Discipleship

The best part of schedule is there are no classes on Monday's, all classes conclude at 11:30am on Fridays and I will be back to the apartment in time for my husband to have the car for work each day! I was also informed by my brother that I was nerd because I had read the entire student handbook online. Yeah..I am one of those people.

Orientation ( aka. Public Humiliation 101 ) will be next Saturday Aug 20th. I am excited and scared to death at the same time. I have waited for this moment since Kindergarten. When most kids were carried up in Santa and the tooth fairy, I was telling my parents where I wanted to go to college. Now don't read that and think I am some wiz kid ( only a 21 on my ACT ) but I just LOVE SCHOOL !

Now since most people my age ( 22 ) have graduated college, I would love to hear your advice, tips and tricks of the trade.

~Mrs.Olson the student !

Grandma's Gone Bunco !

2011-08-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Bunco is so much fun. If you have not joined a group ( you know there is one in every town in the bible belt ) you gotta ! I had the honor of participating in a bunco night a week before we left for Missouri. It was the best time I have had in a long time. For those that don't know what Bunco is, it's a dice game sort of like Yahtzee. Women get together and play the game, eat, gossip and have a ton a fun. There are even prizes.

My grandma is hosting bunco in October ( it's usually once a month, with a different host each month). The host is responsible for the prizes, food, place, and of course the bunco game. She has asked for some ideas for snacks, desert and drinks. Thanks to Pinterest, here the the cute ideas I found.

Pumpkin Shaped Cheese Ball

Instead of bowls, use waffle cones to hold fruit !

Make the veggie tray festive by putting the dip in a hollowed our pumpkin !

Fruit salsa served with Cinnamon chips !

Love these little smokies with cheese and tomato !

What would you serve ? Have you played Bunco ? Are you the really loud player like me?

~Mrs.Olson

In The Mean Time, On Another Note.

2011-08-08T23:35:00.000-05:00

My blog is getting a makeover. I have some free time on my hands and I couldn't help but play around with some templates. Please let me know what you think. I will be getting a section up soon on us, our move and our plans.

In the mean time, let me introduce you to the most amazing iced tea I have ever had.
You just add 2 packets to 2 quarts of ice cold water and BOOM !

On another note, isn't this the most random thing you have seen in a house?

I love this spot and would love to use it for something, but it's so dang hot right there. Maybe in the fall, you know.. that season when it drops below 85 degrees ? What are your thoughts ?

We accomplished a few things on our 3rd week here in Missouri. I have finished another element of registration for school. I have decided on the degree and number of hours. My degree is a Bachelors in Science, specializing in Christian Education with a certificate in Children's Ministry. I will take 16 hours a week. I should find out my classes soon !

We also called about a beautiful apartment complex we saw on Friday. We missed the open house by 30 minutes, so I was eager to call about the prices. The conversation went great and the owner was SO SWEET. But then I was informed that the apartments were for the mentally and physically handicapped as well as those over the age of 65. So even though most days I think I could pass for the disabled..a doctor would disagree.

So we will keep looking for other options. We know everyone is experiencing high utility bills, but if you could please throw our name in with your prayers for lower bills, that would just be fantastic. And in closing, I have to include my favorite Pinterest find of last week.

Source: neogaf.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

~Mrs.Olson

Week 3 Begins

2011-08-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

Today, Saturday, marks the beginning of our 3rd week in Missouri.

My husband has experienced a full week at his new job and is now relaxing during his first weekend off. The job is exhausting but he is keeping positive remembering that it is temporary and he is SUPER excited to start school. I am so proud of him. His job is not easy, those hours are crazy and this is all brand new for him. He is an amazing provider and team mate.

Our marriage has become so strong during these first weeks of the move. Since I do not start school until the 25th, I was feeling like I didn't have a role here. My husband working his tail off and I just sit around the house all day. So I would create projects around the house and take duties we had once shared and made them my job. This was 2 fold. It kept me from being lazy and it made sure that when my husband is home from work he is relaxing as much as possible. The Lord truly reminded me what it means to be my husbands helper. I take great pride in duties that use to make my eyes role. I will definitely remember this stepping stone.

We hope to attend church tomorrow. We have hesitated because it's awkward to be the newbie but gotta do it sometime. Plus this is the one opportunity where it's okay to church hop !

Thursday went to the big city with my brother, sister in law and the kids ! I had a great time with my nephew Owen at the park. Gotta love little boys; lots of running, jumping, singing and laughing !

How is your weekend ?

~Mrs.Olson

Where Boxes Go to Die

2011-08-02T08:30:00.001-05:00

When you have just moved to a new house/apartment it is inevitable that one of the rooms in the house/apartment become a grave site for your boxes. You cannot avoid this phenomenon. It may vary in size and volume but everybody says it has some point during the unpacking adventure:

"JUST THROW THESE IN THAT BACK ROOM!"

While my husband sleeps this morning, I hope to tackle this room. Its far enough from the bedroom that I don't think it will interrupt his sleep. His first night was a little rough but that is expected with any new job. It will also get better with time. He doesn't love the job but I remind him that our goal in moving here was not to settle in this new job but to become equipped for what God has in store for us. I don't mind unpacking and repacking a million times, as long as we are in line with the will of God for our lives.

~Mrs.Olson

What Pinterest Does To Me

2011-08-01T11:06:00.001-05:00

I know when school starts I will not have as much free time on my hands but for now this addiction fills up that time just fine. Pinterest is the perfect blend of all my favorite hobbies. I love to bake, so I can find fun recipes on Pinterest. I love arts and crafts, I can find lots of great ideas. My husband loves comic books, so I can find lots of cool pictures and posters for him. I have a hard time describing my very bipolar style, so Pinterest collects my ideas and then I can see what I really like.

Here are a few pictures from each "Board" I have created.

First up, the Home Decor Board:
We love great bookshelf ideas.

Bedroom colors and theme I love.

Next board is Fun Food:

Then a Future Baby Board:

There are lots more boards to share. I have one for things my husband would like, one for clothes, one for trends that annoy me, one for things I really want and another for crafts. I highly recommend this addiction !

And So It Begins

2011-07-31T11:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take second to post nothing about our new apartment, the town or groceries. Today my husband starts his new job here in Missouri. He is very nervous. Today my husband starts his new job here in Missouri. I am very nervous for him. Nothing is hinging on this job, it's not a matter of hire-fire. It's just something brand new and it's scary.

I said before that this transition was hard and we knew it would be. I mean, if this move didn't "move" us at all, I would ask you to check my pulse. Hey I have seen those zombie movies where they dont have any expressions. So, I find it very normal that we are uncomfortable, nervous and scared about this journey.

Our life has changed in this first week in the following ways:

My husband sleeps during the day and I sleep at night. ( Insert vampire joke here )
Our meals are all different. For example: When he wakes up at noon, he will have breakfast while I have lunch.
We have Internet now = lots of laziness.
I am a registered college freshman.
Other than our landlords, we are still nobodies here.

We definitely miss home, our parents, our friends and the food. Some drives back to the apartment are bittersweet. Last night my husband kept looking for a very distinctive road marker that we had back in Oklahoma, then he remembered "we're not in Oklahoma anymore!" ( oh yes.. I just typed that ! )
But the sweet part was that after a day of errands, paperwork, questions, and to-do lists, coming back to our little apartment sounded just fine. It's becoming home for us.

Prayer Requests:

Peace for my husband and his new job.
A smooth transition as I get off of my anxiety medicine.
Favor with our landlords and the things that are broken in the apartment.
That we would not forget the real reason for this move and keep our eyes on Christ.
( That the Oklahoma Sooners beat Missouri in football )

For those reading this blog back home in Oklahoma ( or Kansas ), we LOVE YOU and MISS YOU like CRAZY. Please feel free to call, text, facebook, twitter, email, send letters, telegrams or whatever your choice of communication may be.

~Mrs.Olson

Kitchen Updates and the Great Grocery Adventure !

2011-07-29T23:23:00.000-05:00

I have never been more excited to go grocery shop in the 22 years my life. The kitchen is all unpacked and ready to be stocked. We spent 3 hours this morning perfecting a list and gathering recipes from an awesome website that we use called e-Mealz ! More on that later.

Here is a look at the kitchen before the food arrived.

This is for my friend Lela back in Oklahoma: She sold this mug to me at her garage sale for 10 cents!

I still have apple decor to put up and my lantern collection will be placed on top of the cabinets.

Side Note: My husband says our kitchen belongs in a fun house in Branson because of how much the house leans inward. To give you an idea, that there bubble should be in the middle !

Now that our kitchen is ready to hold food, we are ready to buy it ! We scoped out the grocery store yesterday and I fell IN LOVE WITH IT. It is supper clean and supper organized.

The best part was discovering the "Always Save" brand. That brand truly kicks butt on the savings. Here is my husband who flipped out of the price of the mustard. He actually asked me to take a picture to show how crazy the savings are. Both these bottles are the same price. Which would you buy ?

I got a kick out of the off-brand title of my favorite cereal.

Anyone down for some Peanut Butter Cocoa Spheres ?

I have lots for stories and pictures to share so stay tuned, or reading, or logged in..or whatever.
~Mrs.Olson

Post Man Keith and the Motorcycle Gang

2011-07-29T00:44:00.001-05:00

We went to the Post Office again today to change our address. As we walked up, we said "hello" to the maintenance man of the federal building in the lobby. When we were finished and heading to our car, the maintenance man approached my husband. He apologized for startling us and asked "Are you attending the Christian College in town?"

We answered yes and he explained that he has several rental properties and would like to get the word out. I offered to put a sign up for him at the school bulletin board and I took down his information. As we stood there in the 182 degree heat ( ya know.. gotta round a little :) this man continued to tell us about his heart to help people when we retired from being a post man and then came out of retirement and became the maintenance man. ( For those of you worried about our safety, I triple checked his identification and noticed the other employees recognized this man as their coworker).

Then he began sharing that while he was a post man, he delivered mail to a young student. They would visit each day and one day the student said "I am pray for your salvation everyday." Well that really struck a cord with the man and I love what we said "Well if this young man felt it a priority to pray for me everyday, I could at least attend church." So the man went to church and gave his life to the Lord ! When the young man graduated from the Bible School, he baptized the post man in the local lake.

Post Man Keith shared how he joined a Christian motorcycle club that gathers in prayer and fellowship. He explained that he has learned to set aside his plans for life and go with the Lord. He said "No sense in getting all boiled up over things not goin according to plan, it's all on God's plan so it's gunna work out !" He then invited us to a church/motorcycle club cookout on Saturday !

As the spaces grew longer between the topics in conversation and the heat got hotter I prayed for God to cool us down so that we could listen to Post Man Keith a little longer. You see, Post Man Keith was not an extrovert. Every ounce of him screamed calm, quiet and reserved. He wasnt witnessing for points in his sunday school class, he was very genuine. He was being obedient to the Holy Spirit saying "Hey Keith, go talk to those 2 people." Just then a small breeze came through and cooled us down for a bit. But eventually the heat got to me and I wrapped up the conversation. As we headed to lunch, we couldnt help but just thank the Lord for Post Man Keith and his awesome heart to help people.

We thought to ourselves "Wow, what a small town" AND "Wow, what an awesome encounter."

We do plan on checking out the site of the cookout to confirm the setting ( and safety ) and if all checks out we look forward to telling you all about the Motorcycle Cookout.

~Mrs.Olson

Garfield Elementary School

2011-07-27T20:19:00.000-05:00

Now that we have internet it's a whole new world. There are some pictures I wanted to share with you all from a few months ago.
In the Spring I went back home to Kansas to visit family and attend an open house for my elementary school. The school was being torn down and new one put in it's place. I have been just dieing to go back and visit and see teachers, walk the halls and bump into old classmates.

I just loved this school. It was a safe place, it was a magical place. I was encouraged to embrace what I marveled at instead of my faults. I was rewarded for hard work even if it wasn't first place. My mom was my lunch lady, I interviewed an Olympic swimmer ( not Micheal Phelps ) and on one occasion my principle and a teacher carried me off the soccer field because I got my ankle stuck into a fence and couldnt walk.

This picture of me and my mom in the kitchen. Kids funnel through here, get their tray and head to the gym to find a seat.

Part of the discipline system in 4th grade was Check Books. The better attitude, obedience and kind gestures the more money is deposited into your "account." But if you have a bad attitude, fight, argue, or lets say talk excessively ( ya know just as an example ) you would write a "check" to the teachers. Then ever so often we would have an auction where we could "buy" things with our "money." I remember getting an Alabama bandanna ( the band, not the school ).

In this picture I pulled a check from a student. Poor girl didnt stand a chance with the talking. I feel for her.

This picture landed itself in the local paper ! Pictured with my mom, my 5th grade teacher Mrs.Ibarra, myself and my 4th grade science teacher Mrs.Shaffer.

Mrs.Shaffer is to blame for my obsession with Science and KSU. Mrs.Ibarra is responsible for encouraging my writing even though I couldn't spell very well. She would say "You do the writing, let me take care of the spelling!" I promised to dedicate my first book to her. I might spell her name wrong just for old time sake.

~Mrs.Olson

3rd Year is the Lucky Charm.

2011-07-27T19:17:00.001-05:00

The 26th was our 3 year wedding anniversary ! We are pretty low key and enjoy the simple things in life.

We kicked off our anniversary lunch with a trip to the EXTREMELY CLEAN AND CRISP Long John Silvers here in our new town.

Then we headed over to see my brother Marshal and his family. They live about an hour 1/2 from where we are. They took us to a really cool coffee shop where I got a Mint Chocolate smoothie ! I thought it would be cute to put an extra straw in the cup and snap a picture with my husband:

But then he decided he REALLY REALLY liked how it tastes.

Later that evening we ate at an Irish Pub, which is my husbands dream come true. It was so awesome and very vintage looking. No Irish speakers, Celtic dancers, or drunks singing but we still had a great time !

Every anniversary has been so special, not because of gifts and material things like that but because of a new adventure we embark on. Our first year, we moved into a house, our second year we moved into an apartment and our 3rd year we jumped to a new state, new jobs and starting school ! My husband is my best friend and my favorite team mate. We work great together, no one makes me laugh harder, no one comforts me better than my husband. I love what a mentor of mine said to me once "Marriage looks great on you!" - I agree !

~Mrs.Olson

When the Unpacking Ceases

2011-07-27T15:47:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love to plan ahead ?

Wait rephrase: "Dont you just love to plan ahead for things you really really look forward to?"

The answer is YES !

When we are done unpacking, I have several projects I would like to do before school starts or football season. Ya know, gotta keep priorities in order ! One of the projects is reading a little book called The Help.

Source: ew.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

I kept hearing it around online and in conversations and it came highly recommending by my friends in the real world ~~on Facebook~~. So when our local books store back in Oklahoma had a going out of business sale the day before we moved, I couldnt help myself.

Funny Story-True Story
I have been wanting to get The Book Thief for awhile but when I saw the sale, I was torn between The Help and The Book Thief. Well the clerk at the bookstore has been a trusty sidekick of mine. She gets my taste in books and hasnt lead me a stray so far. So I approached the checkout stand with both books, looked her dead in the eye and said "If you could only pick one, which would it be?" Keep in mind when I said this I had a this-is-the-most-important-decision-ever look on my face. My drama queen bookstore clerk lept into a frenzy of stress and debates about which book to choose. It was the most awesome experience in a book store.

Not to leave you hanging- she finally reminded me both books are on sale and I caved and purchased both. I told my husband we did the book store a favor since we will never get to shop there again. He didn't agree.

The next project is to make these adorable and inexpensive yarn wreaths.

Source: naptimecrafting.blogspot.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Source: blog.hgtv.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

I would like to make a crimson and cream wreath just in time for OKLAHOMA SOONERS FOOTBALL !

Pinterest has become my secret weapon...minus the fact that EVERYONE uses it. If you havent started the addition, I suggest you do soon !

Here is a small glance at some other things that have got my attention:

~Mrs.Olson

Missouri Home Revealed- Kitchen

2011-07-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

I promised pictures and I hope these deliver. My husband is sound sleeping this morning in order to get used to working nights. So I am tip toeing around taking pictures and blogging. Pretty soon I will need to finish unpacking the kitchen, because I would like to go grocery shopping soon, because I would like to eat !

Here is the entrance to our kitchen. I just love the arch way !

Don't you just love the blue trash bag?

In this particular town, you do not get charged for trash pick up if you use the blue bags for trash and white bags for recycled. We are trying to track down a list to learn the difference.

This view is from the sink looking in the corner.

I was all worried about a microwave stand but this worked just fine ! We are limited on cabinet use so this can double as extra storage for pans and such !

This view is from the microwave stand back at the entrance.

The kitchen is the most updated part of the apartment. The floor is pretty new and very nice.

Yesterday my husband worked on the "office/living room" and got our computer set up. I joined back in the scavenger hunt and managed to find our plates. I am so glad I kept the rubber lining things from our apartment. I had to trim some of them to fit in these cabinets but it works just fine. Here is the proud picture of my accomplishment !

Today's goal is grocery shopping. Today's fun is visiting my brother, his wife Crystal, my nephew Owen and niece Abby ! Tomorrow my husband will go to fill out paperwork at his new job. More pictures coming of the other rooms. I will also before and after shots as we finish unpacking.

And because I never get tired of posting pictures of my amazing husband. HAPPY 3 YEARS HONEY !!

7/26/08

Yeah ladies... he's mine !

~Mrs.Olson

Happy 3rd Anniversary

2011-07-26T00:19:00.000-05:00

3 Years ago on July 26th, I married my best friend. I love you D.

~Mrs.Luckiest woman in the world

A Few Pictures

2011-07-25T23:48:00.000-05:00

I promise pictures and more will be coming.

Our great awesome friends and coworkers had a great "going away" party for David.

Saying goodbye to great friends. This is me and Mrs.Schumacher

The trusty Uhaul that made its way from Oklahoma to Missouri early in the morning.

On a side note, thanks to Twitter, Mrs.Shumacher, Kellys Korner and my awesome friend Ashely, I now have a Pinterest addiction. As soon as we are unpacked I plan on making this:

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Mrs.Olson on Pinterest

~Mrs.Olson

We Made it to Missouri

2011-07-25T22:54:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your patience. Now that our feet are planted the unpacking of boxes has begun and more importantly now that we have INTERNET, we can update you on the Oklahoma Olson's living in Missouri.

We arrived Saturday in Missouri about 1pm. I cannot express enough thanks for the sweat, tears, muscles, patience and just amazing grace our parents have shed during the move. We are so blessed to have AMAZING AWESOME BEAUTIFUL parents.

Pulling up to our apartment was like my own personal version of "Move that Bus." Keep in mind that while my husband had seen the apartment in person, I had only pictures and his memory to work with. I have to be honest and say that it was emotional. I walked up to the apartment alone and went room by room soaking it all in. Some things were not as great as I pictured and others were just fine. I think it was just months and months of planning for this moment and it all hit me at once. But now that we have started unpacking ( or the sick scavenger hunt as I call it ) and making it home, things are going just fine.

I love my father-in-laws words "It's not the apartment that is home, you 2 ( my husband and I ) are the Home." His words of wisdom could fill a book. I secretly think he wrote Proverbs..but I have a feeling I'm a little off. Hey I havent been to Bible School yet !

The AC was not working perfectly but God heard our prayers and I am sure smelled our sweat and it's working great now !

I have been cleaning, unpacking and getting things in just the right place. Tomorrow is our great grocery shopping adventure, visiting my brother, and our 3 Year wedding anniversary ! My husband says the apartment is my anniversary gift and I told him the air freshener is his gift :)

Thank you so much for your prayers. I am excited to back to blogging regularly. Pictures will be up very soon. I had them on my iPod and need to transfer them to the computer.

Blessings,
Mrs.Olson

Missouri Bound

2011-07-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

Blogging has been very difficult with all the updates and changes that have been going on. After multiple trips to Missouri, pay cuts, hour cuts, drama and move dates, we are just ready to be in one place.

We got the news on Friday that my husband got a job in Moberly !
This week is my last week of work !
My husbands last day is the 22nd and we will head to Moberly on the 23rd !

I will start school full time this fall and my husband will join me in the Spring. Since his shifts are overnight, his new job would not allow him to take classes full time for safety reasons. We are so thankful for the blessing of a job with great benefits and a schedule that allows him to take classes.

I am so excited about school. I have been having dreams about classes, studying, speeches and school supplies shopping. Okay okay.. I know college school shopping is different then 3rd grade school shopping but I love school !!

Blogging will be on my agenda as soon as we move. Thank you for your patience.

Blessings,
Mrs.Olson

Our Missouri Apartment

2011-05-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Are you as excited as we are? Whether you have been with us from the beginning or just stumbling onto Oklahoma Olsons, you cant help but be excited right now ! As you may know David and I will be moving to Moberly Missouri at the end of July to attend Central Christian College. God had to move several mountains and there are still more to move for the transition to be complete.

Our school loan papers are submitted, now we have an apartment and hope to be hearing of employment soon !

I know I have not been so great at posting pictures lately, so I am excited to share our new home with you. I responded to an add in the Moberly paper for a 2 bedroom apartment. The woman I spoke with ( landlord) was so helpful and nice when I explained our transition. The apartment sounded beautiful.

It's a Victorian home that they transformed into 2 apartments.

(It's the tan one on the right )

These are the stairs leading up to the apartment.

Living room. Dont you love the floors ! Our rug will go perfect in here !

Master bedroom

Kitchen.

And yes there is a bathroom. She simply forgot to take a picture. It has a claw foot tub.

This apartment is such a blessing as well as the landlord. She is the photographer behind these pictures. Since we cannot afford to make another trip up to look at more apartments, she took these pictures and emailed them to me ! We received the lease yesterday and will be mailing it today !

David is waiting to hear from the jobs he applied for while in Moberly. Please be praying for favor.

We hope to be rolling out of Oklahoma on July 29th. We have a lot of $ saving to do as always and prayers to be said. We are so thankful for our supportive parents, we couldnt do it without them !

~Mrs.Olson

Replacements and Missouri

2011-05-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

I have been afraid to blog because my emotions have been so bipolar. One minute I am excited and so ready to move and the next minute I am scared to death and thinking of everything going wrong.

Doesn't make for very good blog posts.

But progess has been made and I can focus. Zoloft helps too. :)

My job has found my replacement and she starts Monday. At first I was being very defensive. This woman will show up on Monday, eager to get me out of my chair and I will be on the curb. My parents reminded me it's only natural. I have put a lot of hard work into my job and developed it into a well oiled machine. Now I will be handing it over to a stranger that has no idea what she is getting into.

That defense was short lived. Craziness happenied and I was so excited to train my replacement and get out of that office. AW ! So after 2 weeks training my replacement, I will stay on to help with clients and around the office until we move. BLESSING !

David will get in this evening from visiting Moberly. He turned our loan forms in and finalized all paperwork. I search on Yahoo and found a blessing of job. Moberly has an Orchelns Distribution Center. They are hiring for an Order Fulfillment Specialist. This is HUGE because that is exactly what David does now ! He applied for the job while in Moberly. Awesome !!

Finding an apartment was my biggest stress. The first place David looked at sounded promising. An elderly woman was renting out her fully furnished basement. But when David showed up and looked at the cramped cluttered basement with 5 beds, we determined she is a serial killer or the next contestient horders. Before he hit the road this morning he checked out one last place. My mother in law took pictures for me. Rent is reasonable and other couples live in the complex that will be attending Central too !

I hope to post more about that soon.

So how is your weekend ?

~Mrs.Olson

Prayer Thursday

2011-05-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's prayer Thursday over at Michelle's blog. I am just so thankful for her prayer support for us. She is just about to become a mommy ! So be sure to head over and read up on her little Jaxson.

Feel free to send your prayer requests, praises and stories to olson72608@gmail.com
Or leave them in the comment section. I have found great support, friendships and comfort through sharing with these other bloggers. But you don't have to have a blog to share.

This week please lift up Kristen. She will be heading to Wales this August to train for her long term placement in Morocco. She is still in need of donations for this trip and monthly sponsors to support her life there. If you are interested in helping there is a link to her donation site on the left side of my blog.

A huge praise for my friend Josiah. God has provided the funds needed for his Thailand trip ! We are so excited for him and cannot wait to see how things go. He leaves soon, so be praying for a safe journey !

If you could also lift up my Grandma Nancy. She is not feeling well from time to time and I know she misses us kids.

David heads up to Moberly next week. I am so excited to hear about the apartments and job possibilities but also very nervous about the school loan information. Michelle reminded me today that God has provided so much already and I need to remember that ! He will continue to provide.

Blessings,
Mrs.Olson

9 Weeks

2011-05-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Next week David will head up to Moberly Missouri. There he will finalize some paper work for loans, meet with potential land lords and job hunt for us. I will be holding down the fort in Oklahoma while he is gone.

So this leaves just 9 weeks before moving to Missouri.
Some days I can say "Just" 9 weeks but most days feel like "still" have 9 weeks left.
I want it to go really fast because the stress I am under is so high.
I want it to go a little slower because I am going to miss my in laws and friends so much.

You could say I have a classic case of Half-Empty-Half-Full syndrome.

We did find out a few things regarding our to-do list for school in the fall:

The school has misplaced David's transcript...again.
We only have to fill out one school loan form.
We need a nice understanding professor to rent to us.
Uhauls are probably expensive.
I cant wait to go school supply shopping. David said I cant get a Lisa Frank backpack though.
The first day of school is August 25th.

Our goal for the trip next week is to finalize all paperwork ( loan forms ), grab some job applications around town and most importantly find a place to live. We would like to move after July 22nd but in order to reserve an apartment now, they request Deposit + June's Rent + July's Rent upfront = the Olson's did not plan accordingly.

The college has several professors that rent properties to students ( THAT'S US!). David will be introduced to these individuals and hopefully work out a lease. This would be AWESOME !

Be praying for favor, jobs and wisdom to smack us in the face.

~Mrs.Olson

I Concur

2011-05-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

I have to admit. I am not original. I am a copy cat. I read other blog and see other ideas and think "I should have written that first!" So, instead of trying to compete with what has encouraged me to blog this week, I would just share what I have been reading.

My dear friend Kristen has started a blog to share the journey of her future life in Morocco. Not only can you go here about updates for her fundraising but she has an amazing talent for writing devotionals that scream at my heart with compassion and wisdom. You can visit her blog here.

I have mentioned her before but Lysa Terkeurst is a woman after my heart. Her words of love and encouragement make me feel like she has been watching my life everyday and knows just what to say. Visit her blog here.

About a month-ish ago I had the awesome blessing of reading a manuscript of Jon Acuff's new book Quitter. During these hard months of waiting for our dream to come alive, I have found his humor very therapeutic and uplifting. You can check out his website here and the book Quitter here.

I think you would enjoy these awesome sites and learn so much. But I would love to hear from you. What have you read, blogged, Googled or skimmed this week that struck a cord ?

~Mrs.Olson

Rise Up Out of Your Weary Pit !

2011-04-28T14:17:00.000-05:00

I really mulled over this post. When you have a blog it is very tempting to use it as a bash-board. But the more I thought about it, I had to remember that telling my story isn't only about me. It includes those around me and they didn't sign up for a tell-all blog post.

This isn't TMZ.

I want to be a voice of TRUTH, but also wisdom, faithfulness, joy, love, kindness; the whole fruit basket.

So instead of a looming post about negativity, this about rising out of your weary pit ! Your pit may be addiction, depression, stress, panic attacks, worry, obsessions, guilty, jealousy or something so yucky ( or comfortable) you just can bare to leave it.

I am encouraged by Lysa Terkueast when she gives this go-to script when you find yourself in a pit of defeat.

I was made for more than to be stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat.

Deut 2:3- "You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north!"

When angry coworkers, bills, self worth and other stresses blow up in my face, I retreat to my pit.
Just the other day I left work early from another panic attack. I went to my bedroom, covered the windows, crawled under the sheets and into a coma of despair; my self-pit-y.

This morning, I found that life script again. TURN NORTH. I decided that it was time to vacate the pit.
To Rise UP !

No matter how comfortable and safe that pit is, it is not Godly.
That pit is not what I was created for.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7

Dear sister in Christ, Rise up out of your Weary Pit ! Call on the name of Jesus and press on !

~Mrs.Olson

Good Friday

2011-04-22T16:10:00.000-05:00

Not a fat guy that meditates

Not a red bracelet

Not a statue of a saint

Not mother nature.

I serve a God that left His holy throne to jump down to a little blue planet, to be nailed to a tree for the sin I did. I serve a God that took the punishment I deserved & gave me a reward I didnt.

Buddha is dead, Kabala is inanimate, statues break & nature is unstable.

My God is alive, breathing, unbreakable, eternal.

This Easter I wont be donning a new Easter dress, coloring eggs or having a picnic. I am not telling you that you cant. But for the first time in my life, Easter is very real and personal to me even though we wont be able to celebrate it in our normal fashion. Due to hectic schedules, lack of planning and low travel funds, this weekend will be very normal. But no matter where I am at, I am soaking in the peace, thankfulness, gratitude and JOY of knowing that MY GOD loves me.

I dont know where your life is right now. I dont know your hurts and hangups. But I would love to tell you that God did not create you as something to banish. You were not born because of hate. You are loved. You are His precious creation. He couldnt give up on you and He wont. He clang to a tree before you were born, yet he had you on his mind.

There is a childrens song that is so sweet to my heart...you might even know it if you remember that time..

"Jesus loves me..this I KNOW"

~Mrs.Olson

Just Because

2011-04-20T16:48:00.001-05:00

I love him...

Show Us Your Life- What are you reading ?

2011-04-15T17:05:00.001-05:00

It's Friday over at Kelly's Korner and that means blog hop! I have to say I HATE TO READ but then I married my book worm husband and fell in love with the simplicity of snuggleing up with a book. I do have some requirements though.

Short and sweet.
Big words kept to a minimum.
Nonfiction, or historical fiction, or improvement books. ( If I read something fiction, my brain will mix up all the details and I will be trying to tell someone that Holes is based on a true story. )

Books I accomplished last year were Crazy Love, Forgotten God ( read the inspiriting blog post here) and Redeeming Love.

Here is my wish list for this year:

I had the awesome opportunity to read a manuscript of Quitter by Jon Acuff, hitting shelves this May !

I would like to do a book review on Love Wins by Rob Bell.

I am still working through Experiencing God but from what I hear.. so is everyone else.

What about you ? Can you recommend any books ?

Mrs.Olson

Pray It Forward Friday

2011-04-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

Today is Pray it Forward Friday over at Lisa's blog. I just love this idea and I am so thankful to be a part of it. So far 2011 has been a little harsh to me. Depression has crept it's way in, followed by complacency and bitterness. The key to emerging from that dark, ooie gooie pit was prayer and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ.
My question for you today is, Do you believe in prayer ?

Now, read that again.

I didn't say the power of physical healing, the power to overcome depression, the power to get off your bottom side, the power to pay your rent, or the power to save your unsaved cousin. I was very specific.

Do you believe that when you pray to God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, do you believe that He hears you ?

Do you believe He aches for you ?

I know of despair and depression. I am sure you have a tale too. What I long for you to see is that even when we cant see how in the world God is gunna come through, you can find peace in knowing He is with you. I am sure you have heard these 2 songs but I urge you to quiet yourself, close your eyes and hear them again.

Casting Crowns- Praise you in the storm

Laura Story- Blessings

Let me pray for you.

"Heavenly Father, you are the comforter even when we dont feel it. I lift up this sister in Christ this morning. Her feet are hurting, her heart is heavy and that to-do list is long. God I thank you in advance for the exit stragedy you have planned. My dear sister here doesnt know that plan but give her a calming peace in her heart until that plan comes to pass. Even though her days will be hectic may she bump into someone that shines with your grace. May she look out into the world and find you in the sunshine, flowers and smiles. We love you Lord."

I would love to hear your prayer requests, lets Pray it Forward !

~Mrs.Olson

Missions I Believe In

2011-04-14T16:36:00.002-05:00

It's awkward to ask people for money.
It's even harder to ask Christian people for money.
It's really really hard when you desperately want their prayer support but they think you are trying to woo them into giving you money.

When I worked for a non-profit ministry, the topic of donations came up often.
The most popular question to that ministry was "where does the money go?"
The donors could find comfort in sending their money because through lots of red tape and careful documentation, that ministry was allowed to use 100% of donated funds for the selected cause.

THAT IS AWESOME !!!!

We live in a world that advertises what your money can do in a third world country, but they dont advertise how your money is spent.

$1 a day can....

30 cents a day can...

Just $45 a month can...

I think it would be very interesting if they advertised like this:

" We have used our money to sponsor 10 children from Africa. We are putting them in schools, giving them food and water. They have shelter, safety and will hear about Jesus regularly. You can help us. We need your money to keep the office running and to pay the workers that will oversea these projects. For just $45 a month you can help us pay our employees, cover the funds of paper work, cover the cost of postage overseas, keep the schools open, keep the projects going. Your money doesn't go directly to one child, but we will send you a picture of one of the sponsored children as a prayer reminder for the project. Join us."

As David and I save money and begin fundraising for Bible College, we are placed in the position of the recipient. We are the one needing the donations, we are the one advertising. I wonder what our commercial will say ? What will do with the money and how is it a benefit for you to sponsor us ?

I feel that God is pressing another issue on my heart. Not our need for money but others needs. In our bible study group, 2 others are seeking funds for mission trips.

Josiah is burning to head to Thailand with his ministry team this summer. His deadline is fast approaching.
Kristen will be headed to Wales in August where she will train for her long term mission in Morocco.

These 2 are not only on my heart because of their need but because I believe in their desire, I believe in what they are doing. I want to be a part of what they will experience. Finally, I am learning what it means to depend on God to provide your needs. How can I ask people to do that for me, if I am not doing it for those around me ?

If you are interested, even $1, Kristen has set up a website to collect donations. Please check it out.
If God is calling you to help Josiah get to Thailand, even $1, please let me know. I will put you in contact with him.

As further encouragement, I would love to hear your story of raising money for missions or helping someone in need reach their goal !

Mrs.Olson

School Loans

2011-04-11T14:05:00.000-05:00

School loans are like enemy of my enemy but not my friend yet.

I like to think that school loans are helpful but right now, we just look at each other from opposite sides of room. Sending stank-eyes over to each other; see who will cave first.

We have come to the part of our Bible College Check List that is titled School Loans.
( I know.. did you just throw up in your mouth too ? )

School loans scare me.
Loans scare me.
Owing money to something ( someone ) else scares me.

I have ownership and separation anxiety when it comes to my money. Don't we all ?

My husband and I are learning a lot about each other during this loan extravaganza. He learned that my Type A, over organized ticks go hyperactive when it comes to dates, deadlines, and contracts. I learned that my husband didnt know these things about me. Poor guy.

I am sure the people in the financial aid office cringe when Olson comes up on the caller ID.

What about you ?
What advice, funny stories, helpful hints do you have toward school loans ?

I'm Too Stupid To Talk to Rob Bell

2011-04-08T09:39:00.001-05:00

I would like to start by saying that this post really has nothing to do with me liking or not liking Rob Bell or his new book Love Wins. I simply couldnt pass up that title.

I haven't read Love Wins, but I want to. Now that we are in the "EVERYBODY GETS AN OPINION" generation, I have this weird urge to give my view on something..even if I have no idea what it is about. It's the curse of being a blogger, devote twitter'er and facebookie. ( has someone already patented facebookie ? If not, I just invented that word )

So while we are the topic, here is what I know 100%

I know that Rob Bell has a very hip dress code and ever changing glasses.
My husbands glasses are Rob Bell inspired.
I LOVE the first Nooma video, where we walks his son in the woods. Very cool.
I own Everything is Spiritual by Rob Bell and watch it frequently.
I haven't read Love Win's
I haven't been to Bible College yet.
The only thing I know about Jews is that they really dont like Mel Gibson.

There.. I have come clean.

So, it would be a lie if I told you I had no preconceived thoughts about this new book. I would be lying if I said I dont care and that what books you read doesnt effect me and what I read doesnt effect you.

But here is how I want to change it up.

I am actually going to read Love Wins and then tell you what I think. Not because I know you hang on every word I type, but because I believe there are Christ followers like me out there that are very confused on the facts of this book but are scared to read it because how do we defend a gut feeling that something is wrong ?

How can I jump on a debate-wagon when I know nothing about Jewish religion, heaven and hell scriptures from books I dont have access to and translating Hebrew and Greek?

I have to read this book because there are some people who havent read Love Wins and bash Rob Bell and ( even scarier) there are people that support Rob Bell's idea 100% without reading Love Wins.

Rob Bell has a ton of influence.
His opinion could change the way my generation views Jesus, Heaven, Hell, Sin, Repentance and Grace FOREVER.

The question is if this will be a fruitful influence or a rotten one.

Stay tuned..

Tagline, Dreams, and She Seeks

2011-04-05T21:49:00.003-05:00

What started out as a way to enter a scholarship for the She Speaks conference has transformed my dream.

It was only suppose to get me entered for the contest..but now..I have reconstructed everything that I feel God called me to do.

I blame a ministry division of Proverbs 31 Ministry called She Seeks.

She Seeks is a christian website geared to encourage, motivate and inspire women in their 20's. They are giving away a full scholarship to the She Speaks Conference.

This conference is for women interested in becoming writers, speakers and/or leaders in ministry.

To enter the scholarship you must create a tagline about yourself..fun facts; 140 characters or less. ( Like a twitter update).

So here was mine:

Type A, 5’1″& dependent on spellcheck. Addicted to cupcakes & my introverted husband. Quitting our jobs in July for Bible College in the fall.

Then using the same requirements ( 140 characters ) tell you will reach your generation for Christ, OR what your ministry dream would look like in 5 years. - I took the 5 year option and came up with this.

Empowering Jesus girls to stay in Grace & overcome shame. Equipping them to be fishers of women! Write my own Bible study & take it to town.

Now, I thought..I had entered a scholarship and that was that. But days later, this tagline became real to me. As I shared with friends to spread the word about the conference, this tagline..started to become more than just some comment..I started to believe in it coming true.

More than that.. what if you could put your dream in 140 characters ?
What if you could put your dream in your eye sight every day ?
What if you started to have faith in the call God has placed on your life?

I would really like to hear from you. YOU.
I would like to hear your tagline. Your 5 year goal/dream.
Keep the same rule of 140 or not.

This isn't about building comments on my blog.. you can even use the anonymous name.
But this drastically changes your life and I want to share that with you.

Also, if you are a woman in your 20's and your heart is to be a speaker, writer or ministry leader PLEASE checkout the She Speaks Conference. There are more scholarships going round and you can even enter to win the scholarship at She Seeks. The deadline is April 7th. GO GO GO !

~Mrs. Olson.

Impact in a Minute.

2011-04-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

I had a moment today. In the midst of my poopy attitude regarding my temporary job.
I had a great moment. A moment that made all the stress, psoriasis, crying and ulcers worth it.

After a 3 and 1/2 hour meeting with a new employee, I had a great moment. I was teaching her policy and procedure and then all of a sudden we were talking about our lives. I explained to her toward the end of her orientation that I will only be with the organization until the end of July but I will make sure the new "me" is able to help.

Then this happened.

She, a stranger 4 hours ago, reaches across the desk, touching my stressed out hand and says "well, I am gunna miss you when you're gone."

REALLY ?

You just met me.

90% of our conversation was work.
I stuttered.
I Stumbled.
Was she really listening to me ?

Maybe she is like me and connects with every nice person she meets. Maybe she cries when she watches a touching commercial with puppies and butterflies.

Or joking aside, maybe it is possible to reach people in your daily life through daily activities in a massive way ?

I think this perfectly in bodies what I wrote about from Forgotten God.
Living God's will for your life right now.

Can you see these moments in your daily interactions from people? I would love to hear them.

If you cannot see how God is involved in your daily life, ask God to give you His eyes. It is truly amazing.

~Mrs.Olson

Passion Come True

2011-04-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

My husband surprised me last night with tickets to see Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio in Tulsa last night. It was extra special since he left this morning for Fort Worth and wont be back till Sunday night. He is headed to the Passion Conference to hear Louie, Francis Chan, Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder !

I wish they could have just let him ride on the bus...

Those reading the blog and close to us know that this conference has been a dream of David's. There are not that many ( if any ) conference geared for our age group and men. While Passion is not strictly marketed to men, it is something for our generation. I had the opportunity to attend the larger Passion Conference in Atlanta last year. I was there representing Voice of the Martyrs, but even though I didn't attend the sessions, I was still impacted by what God did there.

I would HIGHLY encourage you to check out the Passion Website and see what it is all about. Start saving for 2012 !

Please stop sometime today and pray for my husband. I am a worried-to-death wife this morning. He is headed to Fort Worth, a place he has never been. He is without is TYPE A, OCD, navigator wife. I know he will do just fine but who doesn't miss their spouse when they are away ?

So, while I am at home this weekend trying not get cabin fever, what are you doing ?

God's Will Now.

2011-03-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

David and I are about to wrap up Forgotten God for the second time. If you have not had the opportunity to read this book and/or go through the study, I HIGHLY encourage it. Plus...it's by Francis Chan.. so you know I am game.

Forgotten God takes a look at the Holy Spirit and His role or lack of in the church and the lives of Christians today. It's not that the Holy Spirit is inactive but that we have the wrong idea of what He is capable of and how much power, comfort and protection He can give us. But also, that the Holy Spirit is not something to just be summoned in a time of great need. But to walk with us everyday. Breathing strength, comfort and power into us. Interceding at the right hand of God for us.

Chapter 5 brings to light the issue of "GODS WILL." That part isn't the issue, what is the issue is that we tend to talk about God's Will for our lives. You know... far off in left field or in 5 years. We talk and "plan" for something that will be the result of a life time. Sometimes this rhyme and reason becomes an excuse not to act now.

Francis urges us to look into God's Will for us as of right now.
This second.
Now.
Now.
In the next 5 seconds.

This may seem to radical for some of you. You might be that person that schedules their spiritual awakenings and this is uncomfortable for you. Just think.. God says jump and you jump. You don't go into hiding and think and convince and justify your way out of not jumping...you just jump. I have had a few of these moments where God told me to go talk someone, help someone or do something out of the ordinary. Not 5 years down the road..but right that very second.

I have some examples of when David and I have "jumped". But what I have found more profound is being a part of someone else's jump moment.

7th Grade. After receiving the news that a dear friend had passed away, my band director Mr.McCullough met me in the hall way to pray for me. He walked me to my moms car to make sure I was okay.

While on vacation with my dad in Portland, Oregon I met a large black woman in the parking lot of the apartment complex. I was walking from the pool and she had just finished a grocery shopping. She was humming a beautiful song and every now she would let out a line or 2 from the Hymn. I couldn't help but tell her how beautiful her voice was. We sat on the curb for about 20 minutes and talked. Talked about her family and mine. Her church and mine. Her hobbies and mine. Then we parted ways.

High school lunch room. I am sitting all alone again and not transitioning very well to my new school of 1,000 students. A man by the name of Lester comes into the room and out of all the tables, he sits by me and strikes up a conversation. He introduces me to other christian students. About every other week, Lester comes by to check on how things are going.

The world can tell me that Mr.McCullough was just being observant and nice. The world can tell me that extroverted people start up conversations with strangers all the time. The world can tell me that Lester was just a youth pastor across the street trying to build the size of his congregation.

But I know better.

Mr.McCullough had no idea that Naomi was the very first person that I knew to pass away.
That large black woman had no idea how homesick I was for my mom and my church.
Lester did not know that before he showed up, I was about to loose hope.

Forgotten God reminds us that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. The Holy Spirit is not something we summon, it is already there with us when we accept Christ. He is giving us instructions every day. Guiding us as the body of Christ.

You see, each of these individuals are Christ followers. The Holy Spirit guided them to me on those days. What the world would see as coincidence, I see as divine appointments.

Mr.McCullough was my comfort.
The black woman was my joy.
Lester was my hope.

It was so clear to me that Christ was reaching to me through those people. I am forever grateful that they were obedient to God's calling, not just for their life, but for that moment.

What do you feel God is calling you to do right now?
Is it to comfort that co-worker?
Call your sister and tell her you love her?
Give a larger tip to the waitress ?
Or go back to that coffee shop and talk to that stranger?

~Mrs.Olson

Hurry Up and Get Happy

2011-03-16T22:16:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the slight depressing post about being like the Egyptians and not being thankful.

PAUSE: I am not talking about the Egyptians that were in the news recently..I am talking about the Egyptians in the Bible...just sayin,

So, while things are tough and I am currently in a season where God is saying, "baby girl, I think it's cute how you want to control your life, but I breath light and command creation. I think I can handle your day."

I thought I would post some pictures of some special people that are on my heart tonight.

My nieces and nephews.

Wesley ! Dinosaur extraordinaire !

Becca ! Becca !

Caitlyn or Katy-lynn as I call her. Mini teacher, mini mommy, mini-me

Abby: the next Shirley Temple.

Zander: He is destined for football !

Tommy, the heart breaker.

Haley ! Beautiful !

JAMES ! His dimple is my kryptonite.

Joey, future Georgia football player !

Logan, I haven't met him yet but I can tell we will be great friends !

Abby also known as "Babbygail" and her blue eyes!

Owen also known as Owee Owee.

It's no surprise that God planned for me to be involved in Children's Ministry when He blessed me with 12 nieces and nephews.

~Mrs.Aunt Renda

Walking Like an Egyptian

2011-03-16T15:21:00.002-05:00

I have Egyptianitist.

I have just seen an amazing blessing. God had showered His Love on the Olson's. He has healed me of depression. He has placed a fire inside my husband to go to college. He has provided financial assistance and encouragement for my mom. He has protected friends that are overseas. He even made it possible for me to see my mom on her Spring Break.

Yet, after all of that, I doubt He will show up now. I am doubting He, the Almighty, Holy God cares about my hard day at work.

He has come to the rescue all these other times and yet now, now is when I choose to believe He has better things to do. Like rescue people from a Nuclear Reactor, cancer, or government issues. Why would he choose to show up today and rescue me. Maybe all of my "get-out-of-this-sticky-situation-free" cards are all cashed in.

I am walking like an Egyptian today. - I used to get so mad at that story. After seeing what God could do time and time again, how could someone STILL not believe or even doubt the power of God? Even to the point of worshiping an idol ?

But if the tables were turned and it was my story that would be written to encourage others and show the power of God, I am sure they would be saying the same thing.

"How can Renda just fall so quickly into unbelief. God sold their car for $1,200 more than they thought. God gave David a passion for school. God never leaves us, why would she think that ?"

~Mrs.Olson

Just for Funny

2011-03-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today is stressful. Today is the day after daylight savings time..I blame that first and foremost. But I had some funny thoughts and occurrences that I thought we could all soak in. Please add to this list if you have some funnies.

While in a very intense meeting at work, I decided to stand up and just try and encourage the team. Get their mind off of our budget and scheduling issues. I told some jokes and got everyone in a great mood. While on a break I went to the ladies room and found out my fly was open. THANKS TEAM

Coworker walks down the hall to the printer room. We can all hear her because she has elected to wear flip floppy shoes. CLICK CLACK CLICK CLACK. About 30 seconds after she gets back to her office this conversation takes place between a Physical Therapist and the female patient he his walking down the hall.

Mr.Physical Therapist: "Pick up her feet, don't shuffle"
Patient: "Okay"
Mr.PT: "Now, not too fast, you'll hurt yourself"
Patient: "oh, okay"
Mr.PT: "Stand up straighter.I am so sorry about all these things to remember."
Patient: "Oh, that is okay. I don't mind. I just hate those godforsaken clapper shoes.They're a nuisance."

I keep trying to make plans to take the Rav to the car wash...forgetting the fact that we no longer have that car. I tried to buy wiper blades over the weekend. My husband didn't even correct me. I am going to assume he forgot too...and not that he was enjoying my moment of stupidity.

After life group on Sunday night, we returned home to watch another episode of Smallville ( we can rent an entire season for $5) it's our favorites show right now. Go figure. Before we press play, my husband gets a bowl of fruit to snack on. Very healthy. I get up about 10 minutes later to get a snack too. My choice ? Oh, 1/2 cup of the chocolate frosting left in the fridge. Very Good.

Anything like this happen to you today, over the weekend or last week ?

Did you instinctively say "Love You!" to someone before hanging up the phone only to realize that wasn't someone you say that to ?
Did you curse at the copy machine only to find out that is a line of other customers behind you ?
Was your fly down too ?
Maybe you chewed out someone for being an hour early to your meeting only to find out that the clock on your wall has not been changed ?- No? Oh.. that's right..that last one was me.

~mrs.Olson

What She Said

2011-03-10T17:48:00.002-06:00

In any given day we encounter a woman. And if you have estrogen, girl you're talkin ! In those conversations with each other, a lot can happen. We laugh, we cry, we argue, we pray, we discuss, we reflect. We can be influenced and we can influence. Sometimes it's what you say and others times it's what she said.
She may say things that make your day or bring you to your knees. If you think back, and you may not have to think long, we have received some words from women that change our lives. Here are a few of mine.

"The test came back negative," she said
"We would like to offer you the job," she said.
"It didn't work," she said.
"Beverly passed away last night," she said.
"You're gunna be an aunt, again." she said.
"He's in jail," she said.
"Come home," she said.
"Be the sunshine," she said.
"I love you," she said.

Whether you have known me your whole life or just met me in the bathroom, you know....I'm a talker. No shyness about it.

I am the one on the right

But before this loud mouth came into your life, I bet you didn't know that deep down...I am quiet. Deep down, I become numb. You see, when I was in first grade something happened that lead to the largest uncomfortable silence of my life. One of those events that causes you to grow up real quick. As I got older, I found that laughter was the best suppressant. After years of suppressing that hurt, God whispered that maybe the best healing of all, would be to share my story with those stuck in uncomfortable silence. Give them freedom and peace from the demons that haunt them.

While at the EWomen conference, my sister in law Crystal introduced me to her hero Lysa Terkeurst. So, for the record, I blame Crystal for all of this. Lysa is giving away 1 scholarship to the She Speaks Conference this July.

You're thinking, "Another Conference?" - I know, I'm sick.

She Speaks is geared toward women desiring to share their story and build their speaking, writing, and leadership skills. To enter the contest you simply write a post about the conference and why you would like to go. Judges will be reading them and pick one on Monday.

STOP: PAUSE: HOLD IT: You should know right now that I wrote and rewrote the ending to this post about 32 times. Pondering what would make you laugh, cry, rethink your life and pick me. But I just couldnt do it. So I am gunna try good ole "be yourself" stuff.

Like the other 123 entries, I have a story to share. Some day I want to work for a ministry like Proverbs31, or Ewomen and inspire women to live for Christ. I want to impact someones life by what I said. This conference will equip me and teach me how to be effective while keeping Christ's name at the center of the story, not Renda Olson.

~Thank You.

What Do We Do Now ?

2011-03-10T09:15:00.001-06:00

I was in Hobby Lobby last night when I get this text message from my husband:

"At the dealership. Please Pray !"

I stop in the middle of the stamp isle ( no favoritism, that is the isle I was in ) and I close my eyes and praying:

"Dear God, please give us favor. Please sell the car. Please give us favor and make this work."

Then I thought, you know what..go big or go home. So I sent a mass text message out. Then the Bible tells us to call upon the name of the Jesus and we shall have it. So then I tapped into my inner Cytina ( my charismatic sister friend ). I prayed:

"In the name of Jesus I pray that you not only sell our car but you sell it for more than what we are hoping for. More than that amount. I know you can do it. In the name of Jesus I ask for your favor. You are in control. You are God."

Now I am on a roll. At any minute a black Gospel choir could jump out from the isle in Hobby Lobby and start singing, clap and someone would have a tambourine. ..I'm just sayin...

I continue shopping, praying around those isles, and headed to other stores....

About an hour later my phone rings and the caller ID says "HUSBAND."

As a wife you learn the mood of your husband just by his tone..sometimes. By the way they say "hello" you can tell if they are down or happy. My husbands "hello" ...was not very positive.

"How did it go?"-I asked

"well, they really didn't say much.."- he said

"so..did they buy for $6,000?"- I asked

"no." - he said.

He described how he took the paper into the dealer. No one said a word. No customer service. No negotiations. But then my husband had a sense of humor.

"that is because they bought it for $7,200."- he said with a tone I could tell he was smiling.

By this time I was in the mall parking lot, engine running, face laying on the steering wheel crying. I asked him "WHAT?" about 47 times.

When he got home last night, we couldn't help but just laugh and praise God ! And ask "What do we do now?" We have spent so much energy and prayer on this event..we weren't sure what is next.

Finish some paperwork and save money are on that list but one thing surpasses them all.

Praising and worshiping God !

"For I know the plans I have for you, " says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you," says the Lord.- Jeremiah 29:11-14

~Mrs.Olson

What's Happening with the Olson's

2011-03-09T13:48:00.001-06:00

The wait isn't over but I feel like it's okay to open the can on God's plan for us. But the story starts last week.
But if you just started reading the blog, the story really starts almost exactly one year ago, dontch ya love my own terminology. English teachers everywhere are crying..

God's work in our lives via bullet list:

March 2010 :God convicts my husband and I to downsize our comfortable life style, become debt free and be ready to anywhere he takes us.
May-ish 2010: After seeking God's direction we feel that God wants us to become educated on his word. We start looking at Bible Colleges.
July 4th weekend: We visit Central Christian College of the Bible and apply to attend as soon as possible. Tuition is free if you are full time but there are no married dorms. We begin to crunch numbers, sell and save as much as possible.
Sept 17th 2010 ( my birthday !): Moved from our 3 bedroom house that I LOVED into the smallest one bedroom apartment you have ever seen in your life. Sold what we didn't need and starting living simple.
Sept 18th 2010: I started missing all my old stuff and my TV ! ( okay..it wasn't like a depression but it was an adjustment.)
Nov 29th 2010: Quit my job at a ministry and took a position at a secular organization. I had a deep desire to love on those that were hurting. I had no idea the stress I was in for. But this entire experience has been God showing us "look, I can comfort you, provide for you if you just step aside."
*During all this time we have been trying to sell my car. That is the largest financial burden we have and what has kept us from moving forward with Bible College. But every effort to sell was turned down for every reason you can think of.

Caught up now ?

So flash forward or flash back ( half empty - half full ) to February 26th 2011. We take our car to CarMax in hope they will buy it for $8,000 ( we owe $9,000 ). Their offer of $6,000 made me cry, but my husbands faith would not give up. We went to our bank and took a loan for the rest. If anything our payment to the bank would be less and we could be in Moberly by August.

March 2nd 2011- My husband takes the car back down to CarMax with a receipt to confirm the loan and to take their offer of $6,000. They send him right back home, with the car. Long story short, they have to wait until Toyota receives the loan from our bank. This = more waiting, missing the deadline for the offer so the car will have to be reappraised, and our balance is gaining interest each day. My doubt is growing, but my husband is putting on the armor of God and pushing forward with a goal of getting to Moberly by August.

March 4th, 2011- I leave for the Extraordinary Women's Conference, I receive confirmation that CCCB has all my paperwork, and the lease on our apartment must be renewed. We decide to sign a month to month agreement. This allows us to go at anytime, however, it increases our rent by $50.

Sunday, March 6th 2011- We randomly ( divine appointment ) decide to attend our old Life Group. We are broken and hungry to participate in fellowship..not facilitate. Friends of ours become very interested in the new low price of our car.

Monday, March 7th 2011 aka 2 days ago- I receive a beautiful letter from my mom encouraging me to continue with the preschoolers at church. Enclosed is "seed" money for the kids. Our friends decline buying our car, but are interested in supporting our transition to Moberly. My husband hears about a dealership that will buy cars through AutoTrader. Their offer for our car is $6,700.

Yesterday, Tuesday- Toyota receives the money from our bank.

Tonight- My husband will drive the car down to Tulsa to the dealership in hopes to sell our car with this new offer from AutoTrader.

So if the car sells what does this mean for tomorrow ?

What does this long post result in ?

If the car sells tonight we will be on our way to Moberly this August. Both enrolled full time. We are scouting apartments and part time jobs and praying that God will continue to provide our needs.

But the most important thing God is revealing to me through all of this is that even if the car doesn't sell, even if road blocks come our way, He is faithful and just to complete the good work that He began in us. He did not give us this desire to set it on the side of the road. This journey has been tiring, crazy, lonely, depressing. But God didn't promise following Him would be easy. That all doors would open. That everyone would support you. But God promised to always be with us. To hear our prayers. If they line up with His, He will make it happen. If it doesn't, He will change your heart to line up with His.

So there you have it. So much hinges on tonight and yet...it doesn't. Our trust is in God and Him alone.

~Mrs.Olson

Take Aways

2011-03-07T11:06:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend my sister in law Crystal and I attended the Extraordinary Women's Conference in Tulsa. I am so thankful that God provided the money for Crystal and I to go. I cannot wait to jump in and tell you all about what I learned. Here are some of the topics I will be writing about:

The world knows a lot about what the church is against but do they know what we are for..
That's Cute but it ain't in the bible: Phrases and words of wisdom that we live by that are not biblical.
Turning Fear of the unknown into Joy for the unknown
Taking back the Sabbath.- You are tired, but God gave you a day of rest.
Devotional Rebel.- Why cant this book fix me ?

Now, I have had some very interesting emails and conversations about what is up the road for the Olson's. A decision about our car will be made this week. I have been praying that our car would be used for someone we know or a ministry some how. So, when we had to resort to CarMax buying it..and there offer was lower than what we needed, I became discouraged. Plus I was anxious about driving my husbands car to Tulsa for the conference.

Well, my husband went to sell our car to CarMax and they sent him right back home with the car. There was a paperwork glitch and we would have to wait a week. This was a blessing in disguise because I was able to drive that car to Tulsa. I felt safer. Now, we are waiting to hear back from friends of ours that may be interested in buying our car. I would be so pumped to have my car used for someone I know..since that prayed for that. But, God is still in control and God is still good either way. So I am waiting for those details to come together before diving into what is next for us.

Thank you for asking...

~Mrs.Olson

Show Us Your Life- Siblings

2011-03-04T11:28:00.001-06:00

I know that your just dieing to hear the big news about what is next for the Oklahoma Olson's but I just cant dive into that just yet.
In the mean time, it's Friday at Kelly's Korner and we are sharing about our family that we grew up with. I am gunna focus on my siblings. I am the baby of 4, but it's not that easy. I have 3 half siblings. 2 are full blooded siblings to each other and have their own half brother. Another half brother has his own half siblings. Confused yet ? I know....it's fun.

I grew up in Augusta Kansas with my mom and half brother Chris. He is 4 years older than me and is my body guard. His motto would be "no one picks on my sister but me." He is a hard worker and a daddy to 3, Caitlyn, Abby and Zander.

Chris and I when we were angels

Chris was a groomsmen in my wedding !

On breaks from school I would see my other half brother Marshal and sister Heather. ( we have the same dad.) I dont have any pictures of heather and I handy.

My brother Marshal is also 4 years older than me. Marshal is a music magician. He lead me to Christ when I was in 7th grade. He is an awesome father of 2, Owen and Abigail. His wife is my new sister Crystal that I love !

This is kind of a regular occurrence when we are in public

My amazing brother Marshal and his beautiful wife Crystal.

Marshal, Crystal and the kids are here this weekend. I am about to head out the door to Tulsa to the Extraordinary Women's Conference with my sister in law Crystal. We will get to hear Casting Crowns tonight ! I cannot wait !

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for pictures and updates from the conference !

~Mrs.Olson

Pending 2.0

2011-03-03T09:29:00.000-06:00

Well I am glad I didnt speak to soon. Last night the details did not come together the way he would like. But we are not giving up. Hopefully I will have more info soon and be able to post about what is happening next.

Stay tuned....again.

~Mrs.Olson

Pending

2011-03-02T15:45:00.000-06:00

I am waiting until the BIG News is official, which will be sometime tonight. So I hate to keep you waiting but....looks like you will have to wait.

Don't you just love this ??

~Mrs.Olson

March 1st , March Forward

2011-03-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

Exactly one year ago, David and I felt the Holy Spirit move in our hearts and shake our lives upside down. We moved, we downsized, I changed jobs, we switched churches, signed up, turned down and held on.

We had this fire inside of us and a sudden realization of how short our lives are but how BIG of an impact we could make with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With our goals, dreams, passions and plans left on the curb we were making our lives completely open to what God had for us.

Things didnt happen like we thought. Money didnt show up, like we thought. Doors didnt open, others closed too fast. Worry, stress and fear set in with the snow. Depression consumed me. We couldnt rely on others and at times we couldnt rely on ourselves. God wanted us to only rely on Him. Not just in theory but in reality.

So. Today is March 1st and I cant describe how I am feeling. Sure excited, scared, nervous, relieved will work but it's more than all of that. We are letting God take care of the uncertainties. We are Marching Forward. We are learning that God is not bound by our circumstances. He can move any event in our favor and we have witnessed this.

Here is an excerpt from my devotional today:

When something is your life or thoughts makes you anxious, come to Me and talk about it. Bring Me your prayer and petition with thanksgiving, saying: "Thank You Jesus, for this opportunity to trust You more." Though the lessons of trust that I send to you come wrapped in difficulties, the benefits far outweigh the cost.

Well-developed trust will bring you many blessings, not the least of which is My Peace. I have promised to keep you in perfect Peace to the extent that you trust in Me. The world has it backwards, teaching that peace is the results of having enough money, possessions, insurance, and security systems. My Peace, however, is such an all-encompassing gift that it is independent of all circumstances. though you lose everything else, you gain My Peace you are rich indeed.

Stay turned tomorrow for a very big announcement !
~Mrs.Olson

Extraordinary Women Conference

2011-02-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago I wrote about a deep desire to attend the Extraordinary Women Conference with my sister in law Crystal. Well, the time has come and this Friday I will be hearing Angela Thomas, Chonda Pierce, Casting Crowns and more ! Fellowship with other Godly women, worship with an AWESOME band and laughter ! Plus, it will be so loud, I wont hear my phone. I am supper excited about that !

I didn't think it would be possible to go. But God did. The timing is perfect too ! I need this more than ever. The Olson's are about to jump into a new journey and what a better way to kick that off than encouraging words, worship and fellowship with other believers.

There is also a very very good possibility that Mr.Olson will be able to attend the Passion Conference in Texas this April. We have prayed for the funds and we will be able to find out this week if this is God's Will.
If so, he will have the opportunity to hear Francis Chan, Louie Giglio and David Crowder Band.

Like I said, the timing is perfect. The Olson's will be sharing some very exciting news in the near future and I am so thankful for those praying for this journey.

~Mrs.Olson

All In A Days Work

2011-02-23T17:17:00.000-06:00

This morning my heart was very overwhelmed. There were deadlines I knew I would miss, there were meetings I couldnt make, there were requests that could not be granted. Today..I could not be perfect.

Then the Holy Spirit gave me this reminder:

Today is not about running from my stress. Today is about standing still. Today is about needing God so much that I cant handle today without Him. Today is about trusting God. Trusting that He knows what is best for me. Remembering what really matters by midnight. That God loves me and I am here to love others.

Like all days, I have no idea what the day holds. ( you too huh ?) But for some reason, I let that sense of unknown turn into fear, worry, stress, nail biting tension and eye twitching. Why ? Why do I choose stress over relaxation ? Why choose paranoia over freedom ? At the first sign of unknown, why do we I think the worst ?

I heard a pastor on the radio say that as humans, our default setting is evil. ( Essentially he is reminding us that we are born into sin, we are bad ). That on our own we will always choose evil. We will always pick the negative, on our own. I will always doubt, fear, stress, bite my nails, and worry when left to deal with life on my own.

So the obvious solution is to not do life alone, rely on God, go to God, trust God.
Have I beat the dead horse enough ? Havent we heard that enough ?

The problem isnt that we dont know what to do, I think sometimes we overwhelm ourselves with the how.
My devotional put it perfectly.

Trust God enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them.When you find yourself stressing and worrying about the future remember that God is not trapped by time and space. He can alter any event for your favor.
Pray to God throughout the day. Small, short, under your breath prayers count ! Dont overwhelm yourself with the motions of a ceremonial hour long prayer. When you speak to God throughout the day, He doesnt seem so distant when we need Him.
Publicly thank God and praise God through your day. You will find it very hard to soak in self-pity and depression when you are praising Him all day !

For the record: My day was very hard. Those deadlines were not met, those meetings were missed, the requests were not granted. A very upset man ( customer) unleashed years of anxiety onto me with no remorse. I cried..( the ugly cry ) at my desk. My body ached and my mind gave up. I am the perfect definition of weak, today.

But when I am weak, He is strong.

~Mrs.Olson

Christchurch New Zealand

2011-02-22T12:08:00.000-06:00

Please pray for your brothers and sisters in Christchurch New Zealand and the surrounding areas.

You can see pictures here.

Mrs.Olson

Cure for the Worry Worm

2011-02-17T17:02:00.001-06:00

Confession:

I am a worry worm.

I worry every day about something happening to someone that I care about.
I worry about things that never happen.
I worry about things I think will happen.
I worry about things that didn't happen but could have.

The only predictable part of my job is that I can guarantee something will happen at least once a day that is unpredictable. In a weird ~~sick warped~~ way I like that something new will happen everyday but what bothers me is that I get to the point where I just want things to work out for once. I am a fixer..I need to fix it and it stay fixed. This constant state of worry and anticipation I think contributed to my sleep depravity and depression the past month.

When I was reading in my devotional, as you do, God snatched up my heart, as He does. I came across this amazing reminder....

"Do not give in to fear or worry, those robbers of abundant living. Trust Me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them. "

That was perfect. I spend so much time on what may, will, wont, might happen that I am losing minutes of being present. I am missing what is right in front of me. There is so much encouragement to know that when a problem does come, God is right there with me. But how much more is it to embrace the situation at hand with God and not the situation the may, will, or wont be up the road.

I hope this blesses you too and may you learn to lean on God now and not worry about tomorrow.

~Mrs.Olson

Just Sayin..

2011-02-17T11:52:00.000-06:00

Today is beautiful. Last week, we were colder than Alaska and the South Pole.

What is today's high you ask ....

78 !!!

Yes I think it is safe to say that today is awesome, amazing and so worth it.

What's the weather like where you're at ?

Show Us Your Life: What do you feed your kids ?

2011-02-16T13:19:00.001-06:00

This post is way late but I just noticed I never published it..enjoy

The second blog I started reading was Kelly's Korner which I found at the first blog The Pilots Wife.
Kelly is back in action with Show Us Your Life Fridays !

Today is about what you feed your kids. Well since the Olson's do not have children yet, I thought I could share about what I do have..and that is 6-8 preschoolers every Sunday morning.

When I had the 1 year olds at our old church, they were so easy to fool during snack time. Animal crackers was the standard and they didnt know any different. Now, if some hot shot pulled a fast one and showed up with Gold Fish, forget about gaining control of your room. Those sweet little faces will look up at you and you place 4 animal crackers down and they will scream GOLD FISHIES !

My class ranges from 2 years old to 4 years old and they are all going on 15 years old.

From previous bad experience I know that no sugar = happy parents but boring snacks = preschool gang bang. So, after the classroom stock of animal crackers was empty it was time to experiment. I tried fruit ( too sticky ) saltine crackers ( too thirsty ) vanilla wafers ( I ate too many ) and then I found their sweet spot. Chex Mix !

These kids must be part CIA. First, you should know that I never reveal the snack until snack time. But this kids caught the blue edge in my Sunday School bag and ...the cat was out..of.well that bag.

The kids LOVED the chex mix. A good snack goes a long way. Kids look forward to it, they help out, attitude better..okay okay it's leverage but still.

But just like anything related to kids, there is always something better. As soon as one of the kids had finished he inquired about Cheesy Chex Mix.

Tu shay 3 year old..

Well from personal experience I know that cheesy chex mix covers your hands and creates an endless mess on your fingers. Almost as bad as cheese puffs. But my husband found a great alternative that doesnt have as much messiness ( my own technical term ).

Munchies work great !

~Mrs.Olson

Made Up with Makeup

2011-02-15T14:31:00.002-06:00

Thanks to the blog hop over at Kelly's Korner last week, I have found a cure for the hate-hate relationship I have with my makeup.

During the amazing weekend with my husband, I found the most amazing and budget friendly makeup. I have to admit I originally went looking for Bare Minerals. I had heard a million things about them. However, when I go makeup shopping and salon scouting, I make note of 2 things:

The price needs to be reasonable. Makeup for me is not a necessity. I refuse to spend more on my makeup than I do on my grocery's.
The attire, hair and makeup of the person representing the product or salon.

So, with that in mind I went into Ulta and headed over the the Bare Minerals section. I was doing fine looking around ( as ya do ) when Snooki came out of no where ! Ok..not the real Snooki but it could be her twin. Her condescending attitude and the cost ( $60+) for the starter kit sent me away.

As I stood there, feeling 12 years old picking out my first makeup again, another sales woman approached to see if she could help. I immediately noticed her makeup was much nicer, more natural and very appropriate. I explained that I have worn walmart makeup, my freckles drive me crazy, I'm not a girly girl and I cant afford to sell a kidney for makeup. She was so sweet. She explained that she was not the representative for Bare Minerals but represented Pur Minerals. She insisted on getting someone from Bare to help but I immediately counter offered with "I want to go to the section you work in."

And I am so glad that I did. She was very kind and patient with me. She picked the correct shade of foundation and even did my makeup for me. My husband was very pleased and I was set up with foundation, blush, brushes and lip gloss for less than Snooki's Stuff. I cut my getting-ready time in half too. It's so soft on my skin. Light weight but good enough to cover my freckles.

I am in love with Pur Minerals.

* For those of you that wear Bare Minerals. You know what your doing. You know how to wear the makeup correctly and you look BEAUTIFUL. I didnt mean to say this woman represented the entire Bare brand. I just had to keep in mind that Snooki would be doing my makeup and I did not want to risk walking out looking like that. Just sayin...

~Mrs.Olson

V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E

2011-02-14T17:13:00.001-06:00

This picture was on our first date.

My 4th grade music teacher would be proud. Did anyone else learn the Valentine song in school ? My husband gets to hear that song non stop around that special day.

Now to my post. Just when you thought I couldnt get any cooler...I do this. The Mushiest post ever. I have to admit, I wasnt a hater of Valentines day when I was single. I liked the idea of getting a surprise valentine card. Not that John,Noah, Avery, or Derek ever gave me one. But what do you expect from 6th grade boys huh ?

I am proud to say that my husband is not a 6th grade boy !

wait..that came out wrong.. I can explain..just...

What I loved so much about this weekend getaway, was that it truly had nothing to do with Valentines day at all. There was nothing "Hollywood romantic" about it. We didnt have endless cash, jet planes, roses, or concerts. ( I think that is what rich people do ? )

We snuck 45 minutes away to stay in the same hotel during our honeymoon. I am happy to report the toilet worked this time. We went people watched during dinner, our favorite past time. You might be thinking of the scene in Date Night staring Tina Fey and Steve what's-his-name but they clearly stole it from the Olson's. Went to a movie theater twice and ~~people watched~~ window shopped some more.

I love that he loves comic books.
I love that people compliment him on his Green Lantern jacket.
I love our we both immediatly make eye contact when someone in line uses a fancy word that real people dont use.
I love that he reminds me to close my eyes when we go over bridges.
I love that we both enjoy a bartender that doesnt make you feel bad for not making a reservation.
I love that it's okay to have a bad day and not share your own tub of ice cream.
I love when he says "no" when I ask if he likes me.
I love that he says it's because he loves me.

He is my best friend. He gives me butterflys in my tummy. He is my Valentine.

* For the 2nd record - The Melting Pot is AMAZING !!!! Black Swan is really crazy but so good.

~Mrs.Olson

Will You Be My....

2011-02-11T17:03:00.000-06:00

Mr.Olson is taking me away for the weekend...

I guess you could say he is my V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E

I love that man of mine.

Yes, we are that couple...

Mrs.David Olson

Show Us Your Life- Beauty Secrets

2011-02-11T09:24:00.001-06:00

It's that time again over at Kelly's Korner and it's all about beauty secrets.
I dont consider myself a girly girl but I do love looking fresh and clean clean ( anyone ? ) ..moving on.

Here are my favorites:

Hair- I thought cutting my long locks from this:

To This:

Would help with the frizz/static problem. But no. Cuz that would be too easy. But Silk Drops are amazing ! I have had this little bottle for over a year and I am only half way through it.
Use less than a dime amount and put it on before or after blow drying. You can buy Silk Drops at Regis.

Face- I have lots and lots of freckles. Sometimes these freckles fall in the worst places and look more like pimples or food on my face. Yeah..cute. I also touch my face a lot during work ( stress habit ) so I do not like to lay my makeup on thick..because then it's all over my sleeves. So my mom found these too little helpers:

Clinique Dark Spot Corrector Serum

Any freckle face will tell you the summer time is not our friend. So I use Clinique Urgent Solutions to calm down the freckles and give relief to any burns on my face.

What are your favorites ?

~Mrs.Olson

My Friend, The Photographer

2011-02-10T13:26:00.004-06:00

My best friend is a photographer. She will work for National Geographic someday...or something big and fancy. And if she never makes it as a photographer it is because an agency will snatch her up as a model. You will recognize her handy work on the left side of my blog. She is responsible for our engagement, wedding and one year anniversary pictures. Her name is J'llysa and I love her.

This summer our friends Zac and Jo will be getting hitched. This couple blows my mind with their funky creativity. So their theme for their engagement pictures or the pure fact that they had a theme doesnt surprise me. I am always on the lookout for fun, fresh ideas. I'm not a photographer...but I live vicariously through J'llysa.

J'llysa did an amazing job. I bet you cant pick just one favorite ?

You can check out more of J'llysa's awesomeness here and here.

~Mrs.Olson

Perfect Devotional

2011-02-08T11:46:00.000-06:00

My mom has read more devotionals than the Beth Moore and Billy Graham can write. Ever since I can remember, her morning has started with a cup of coffee, her bible and a devotional. She even had sermons on tape by Joyce Meyer for when we were in the car.

TIME OUT

Is there anyone else out there, that thinks Joyce Meyer's voice was made for yelling ? I feel sorry for her kids, I bet they hated getting in trouble or being told to go to their room. That is one intense voice.

TIME IN

While my mom enjoyed these devotionals, I became way too picky and I caught up in the rules of daily devos. For example. If you miss a day, do you jump to the next day or get swallowed by a black hole ? I'm just sayin...

During these tough days at work and home, God sent an angel to me. During a very hard day ( let the record show that I couldnt find a word to truly describe how bad that day was ) I went home for lunch and just cried on my bed. I didnt know what to pray for..but I needed rest and comfort and peace. I finally returned to work, chapped eyes and all. Walked into my office, pulled my chair out and laying on my keyboard was this:

One of my employees left this for me. I didnt even share what was going on but God must have placed me on her heart. This devotional has truly helped me remember God's promises. While I am waiting for my computer to boot each morning, I flip to the date and read the encouragement. Here is what today said :

I AM ABOVE ALL THINGS: your problems, your pain and the swirling events in this ever changing world. When you behold My Face, you rise above circumstances and rest with Me in heavenly realms. This is the way of Peace, living in the Light of My Presence. I guarantee that you will always have problems in this life, but they must not become your focus. When you feel yourself sinking in the sea of circumstances, say "Help me, Jesus!" and I will draw you back to Me. if you have to say that thousands of times daily, dont be discourages. I know your weakness and I meet you in that very place.

~Mrs.Olson

Snow + Burn Notice

2011-02-04T11:02:00.000-06:00

If there is anything Oklahoma gets right, it's crazy weather. We hit the 70's on Saturday and then a Blizzard 3 days later. We even got 2 days off work out of this deal.

Eventually we would have to get out of the apartment. We live upstairs and could see out onto the roads. We started down the stairs and all I could think of was that scene in Titanic when it's sinking and Jack and Rose are working down to where the crew sleeps and they met with water up to their waste in the stairwell. Except...we found snow up to our hips. So that was fun.

I dont know if you can really tell from this picture but the bush there on the right is taller than me and my husband.

Snow days seemed funner as a kid. Very mysterious and silly. Snow days as adult are filled with lots of sleep ( if you do not have kids ). The Mr. and I had to return some rented movies ( priorities of course ) and while we were there we picked up Burn Notice.

This show cracks us up. We hate CSI shows, blood and guts and show. Ironically we liked Dexter but it just gets in appropriate after awhile. Plus we love a good spy series. Micheal Westen is so funny and slick. I think it's safe to say that he is my husbands alter ego. Last night there was an episode where Micheal is trying to save the daughter of a friend. She has been "kidnapped" by men who claimed to own a modeling agency but really they are pimps. Micheal approaches the man reposible and calls him out for what he is. Every time Micheal calls him a pimp, the man corrects him. They do this back and forth and Then the punch line comes. Micheal says, "You say tomatoe, I say Pimp."

My husband and I could not stop laughing.

What do you do on snow days ?