Happy Fall!

It's no secret that I'm a fan of summertime....so many reasons to like summer.... But, alas, summer has ended and fall is here. I've thought about it and I guess I like fall, too. Ha. The only reason I've never liked fall is because it means that winter is on the way (and summer is over). Sigh. I'm ok with summer being over but I wish that winter wasn't coming, EVER. Ha ha.

I've decided that I will embrace fall, as it really is a beautiful time of the year with the leaves changing colors, nice weather and colorful scenery, cuddling up in a blanket on the couch, the smell of autumn candles, etc.

The following pictures were taken the first weekend in October and look more like winter than fall, but how beautiful with the fall colors and the fresh white snow! Can't say that I've ever camped in the snow before, but it wan't all that bad as long as I just stayed in the camper curled up in blankets reading a book. Actually, it was quite relaxing and good to get away. Something I would never have experienced had I not married a hunter. The next step, I guess, would be actually going hunting with Ryan. He would love that! Maybe in a few years. :)

Happy Fall everyone!

Summertime!

It’s no secret that I love summer and this summer is no different…it has been fantastic! I’ve always loved summer for the warm weather, but the other great thing about summer is there is always a ton of fun things to do. Unfortunately, it always goes by so quickly. I won’t dwell on that yet. There is still much summer fun to be had!

Our Summer Highlights:
U2 concert (technically spring, but a great kick-off to summer)
Camping
Time in the mountains for some fishing on a few occasions
Outdoor birthday parties
Backyard barbeques
The Kenny Chesney concert with the sisters-in-law (saw Dana, too!)
River rafting down the Green River from Flaming Gorge
Our first rodeo
First burnout competition at the local car show
Golfing (well, to tell the truth, I just walked along with those golfing)
5K
Celebrated my Aunt Sonya’s 50th birthday
Pedicures and lunch with April
Lots of family time
Bees baseball game with my family

Still to come:
Dadda’s 60th birthday!
Church camping trip
Demolition Derby in Duchesne
Colorado to see a Rockies game and go to Six Flags with Brandon and Ashley (and maybe, just maybe, a Broncos game, now that there WILL be football this season…yeah!)
A trip to Fort Worth with Ryan (a working trip for him)
Our second anniversary at Red Canyon Lodge! (I guess that’s technically fall, but it signals the end of summer for me)
More birthday parties, trips to the mountains, camping, fishing, barbeques, etc

Oh, summer, you are wonderful! Please don't ever end. :)

 Me, Ash, Crystal, and April at the Kenny Chesney concert. Yeehaw!

 River rafting group. Such fun and so pretty!

 The end of the rafting run.

Our wonderful river guide, Ryan. ;)

 Jensen with the Bee. He was so excited to see the Bee!

At our first rodeo. :) (Ryan won't take normal pictures...ha ha)



Camping up Uintah Canyon. Ryan playing baseball with Jayla and Ahlyvia.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

A few of my new favorites:

1) Sweet Potato with Cottage Cheese - Perfect blend of slightly sweet and slightly salty. Delish!

 

2) Almond Milk - mmmm, a good substitute for milk. 

3) Chicken Chilli

4) Reading with my hubby before bed - Ryan and I are reading "Purpose Driven Life" together. Drawing closer to God and closer to each other.

5) Crafting - So much fun creating things. Been a long time since I've used my creativity this way.

6) Mod Podge - Who knew glue could be so fun? Ha!



7) My Elliptical Machine - Have a date with my elliptical every day. Feels great to work out and it helps that it faces the TV. :)

8) Camelbak Water Bottle - New water bottle actually helps me drink more water :)

9) Plant from my Momma and Dadda

10) Anything Zebra Print - Sadly, it's becoming immensely popular. Oh well, I still like it.

11) "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore - This study on the fruit of the Spirit is really kicking my butt, so good and so challenging!

12) "Purpose Driven Life" By Rick Warren - Even the third time reading this book, it is still thought-provoking and moving me into action.

13) The TV show "Secret Millionaire"

14) Healing Scents Products - All natural, non-toxic skin care products plus much more. Check it out!

15) Cosmetics Database - This website lists all the ingredients in all care products, including skin care, make up, toothpaste, sunscreen, laundry detergent, deoderant, you name it and it's on there rating the toxicity of the product according to what's in it. Makes ya think twice and shows you which products are safer to use.

16) Mercola - All natural doctor with natural remedies, etc.

17) And last but not least, my Canon T1i camera that Ryan got me for my birthday. This post was partially just an excuse to use it and practice taking pictures. Love this camera, just need some photography lessons now.

56 Blue Stars!

46 blue stars in a row....56 blue stars total....

I am proud of my blue stars! Each blue star represents a workout session and currently I am at 46 in a row, with 56 total since February 1st! Yes, that is why I am proud.

I can't say that I have ever been so committed to exercise, at least in my adult life. Working out is maybe an addiction now, but at least it's a good one. I actually look forward to working out - I know, weird, huh? Ha ha.

In all actuality, this is all in an attempt to lead a healthier life by being active, putting the right things in my body, etc. The eating healthy part gets to me still at times as it's way easier to cheat with what I put in my mouth. BUT I got a good thing started and I'm committed to continuing. I've lost 7 pounds so far and even if the weight isn't coming off as quickly as I would like, it IS coming off and I'm developing more muscles (and as they say, muscle weighs more than fat).

Each day looks a little different than the others, but in general, once I get going I either want to push myself harder or I want to go longer. I mix it up with the following:

• Interval training on my elliptical machine (which is the best thing I've purchased for myself maybe ever!) is what I try to do the most by:
• Increasing the resistance every 2 minutes or
• Going as fast as I can for 30 seconds and then slowing it down for 90 seconds and repeating that cycle
• Every now and again I throw in a day that's just basic cardio at a speed walking pace
• And of course, there's some weight training happening a couple times a week

It's fun and I feel good! Yeah for stars!

Fun With the Nieces

Yesterday, two of my nieces came over for part of the afternoon and we played. :)

First thing they wanted to do was play with the dogs.

Ambrie has Simon's full attention.

Ambrie wasn't going to back down. Ha ha.

"Oh, I love playing outside with the dogs!"

Jayla's turn to throw the frisbee for Opie.

She puts all her effort into throwing the frisbee.

Finished up with some coloring.

I had a ton hanging out with the two of them! So much fun hanging out with a two and three year old who are best friends and full of life.

Purpose of Church

This is Part 2 of my church discussion....just my thoughts and questions spewed out on this page. :)

Both Ryan and I enjoy going to church, fellowshipping, worshipping, etc. It is something that we both want to do and consider important and crucial to our spiritual lives. We have had discussions recently about church and it’s something I’ve really been thinking about as I know he has. I know that I come with preconceived notions about church and why we go to church and who church services are for, etc. I’ve begun questioning those, however, and where they came from, if in fact they are true, Biblical viewpoints. I guess I would just like to start over from square one, removing everything I know about it (as much as humanly possible) and start over.

What was the original intent for early Christians? Why did they gather? Was it intended just for them or “to bring your friends to?” Should the modern church now be “visitor friendly” or geared more towards Christians who have been out in the world all week being beaten up by the non-believing world and who need to come rejuvenate and encourage one another to go out there for another week (as well as, corporately worship our Creator and Savior)? Or is it for both? And how would you gear it towards both pre-believers and believers?

I've heard it put “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty.” Or another way (basically as I remember it) “The gospel message never changes, but everything else can change.” So music and all other parts of the service can change and still worship God.

The last church that I attended was very much geared towards the visitor - “guest-friendly” as it was referred to. Keep in mind, the gospel message was very clear and was not watered down as some churches with that focus can be. But outside of that, all decisions were based on coming from a visitor’s point of view. The church grew and truly people were coming to Christ, mainly because people had developed relationships with those in their lives and felt comfortable in inviting them to this particular church. One of their statements was “helping people become fully devoted fully delighted followers of Christ.” So, then my thinking has been that this is how churches should operate. Isn’t that fulfilling The Great Commission?

When I moved out the sticks when Ryan and I got married, our church was very different from any church that I had ever gone to. It was a bit of a rough transition and many times I just wanted to switch churches and go to a more “normal” church. However, I knew that that wasn’t the solution or the answer or what God wanted me to do. So really, questions about church have been circling in my mind for almost 2 years. I kept wanting to make it what I knew from all my past experiences. After all, those have to be right because that’s what I liked. Yep, I said it, what I, Connie Roberts, liked. Wow. That’s when it started to hit me, is something right or wrong because I like or don’t like it? Of course I knew the answer to that was no. I do think, though, that some of the ideas can be used to change things up or incorporate new ideas. I know God wants to use me and my past experiences, skills, knowledge, etc. I just never wanted to do it for the wrong reasons. I wanted to do things because that was what God was calling me to do or how He wanted me to use what He had given me. Basically, I wanted to make sure my motivation was right and I wasn’t just going to go change things to how I liked or wanted them.

Recently, I was listening to a sermon online that made me think even more about church and it’s purpose and who the intended audience of church is….seekers or believers. I’m sure the answer is both. But it seems like there are two extremes. It helped me to see church as a place not only to worship God together, but encourage each other to keep on keeping on. I’m not getting that, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, I am not giving that. I am not sharing experiences from my week with others and I’m not asking about theirs. I’m not encouraging fellow believers to live for Christ during the next week. How do you meld that with also being pre-believer friendly? Or should it be more that The Great Commission is lived outside of the church and once God has opened a person’s heart that going to church fits into that? I guess a person wouldn’t even consider church if God hadn’t opened their heart. Right now, though, I’m not sure I would invite someone to my church. I guess I have invited a couple people, but no one has come yet. I would be nervous if they did actually come to church. Is that doubting God’s ability to work? Or should the church be more inviting to those who don’t yet know Him?

I definitely don’t want to get legalistic and say that a church must do A, B, and C or it’s doing it all wrong. I want to know what GOD’S intent for church is. Then help build the church that direction with freedom in the non-essentials while making sure that the purpose God has for the church is being fulfilled. I definitely need to dig into my Bible more to see what God has to say.

Church?

What is the purpose of church? 

I'm going to explore this topic more in depth by breaking it down into two separate posts. This first one is a response from Pastor Jim Murphy when I posed the following questions to him:

• What is the purpose of church? As in, going to church, meeting together at a set time, etc.
• What are some Biblical references where I can begin to study it for myself?
• As well, what insights and thoughts do have on this topic?

Here is his response, which I agree whole-heartedly with:

I see these reasons for attending a church:

--to worship God in the fellowship of His people. There's no doubt you can worship God in your home or on a mountain, but something is different about corporate worship. It may be Jesus' promise that when two or more are gathered in His name, He is there. Certainly the subjective experience of worshiping alone, or even in a small group, is different from what we experience when we are with a larger group.

Psalms 122:1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." That verse speaks about what a good thing it is to join with God's people in worship together.

--to strengthen our faith. We live in a culture that is increasingly opposed to biblical truth and faith. It reinforces our convictions to fellowship with other believers who share our beliefs - and this is especially important when we work in a secular environment and may get some opposition during the week.

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." --this isn't speaking specifically about "going to church to a worship service", but what it says certainly applies to that setting as well as to fellowship groups, etc. When we gather at church, we have the opportunity to encourage each other in the faith.

--the 4th commandment is to set aside one day in seven as a "sabbath" to the Lord. This day has two purposes: one is to refrain from work, which is an act of faith, expressing our confidence that God will provide for our needs even though we are not working. The other is to worship Him - it is a "Sabbath to the Lord". It's not intended to be just a day to play, but a day to focus on God, to establish a rhythm to our week that intentionally and deliberately includes the Lord, thereby anchoring our lives in Him, rather than in ourselves or our culture.

So that's some of what I see as the purposes for "going to church". But really, if it is seen that way, I think it misses the whole point. Somehow that phrase puts it in the realm of a duty, an obligation, something I am supposed to do, and if I don't do it, I'm a bad person. Rather, I see it as something I WANT to do. I LOVE worshiping with the Lord's people. I LOVE fellowshipping with His people. The question I have is, Why would someone NOT want to do that?

Inch By Inch

Spring Cleaning!

Yep, going through the house INCH BY INCH and purging our lives of so much "stuff." You know, the stuff that sits in the closets and the corners for who knows how long, hasn't been used, that you forgot you even had. That stuff! And it feels good! Two rooms and two closets down... turns out it takes a while to go through EVERYTHING. But I enjoy looking into a cleaned out closet or a clean room thats been rid of clutter. The goal from here on out is to keep it that way - organized and clutter free. Isn't that always the goal with these deep cleanings, though? I mean it this time, seriously! Ha ha.

Now, I just need the stamina to finish the rest of the house. :)

More Goals

Here are the rest of my goals continuing from my previous post, Highly Motivated?

Physical Goals

• Lose one pound per week, reaching my goal weight on July 4th, 2011
• Exercise - be active
• Interval training 3x per week
• Basic weights 3x per week
• Find an activity I really enjoy and do it
• Watch what I put in my mouth and body
• Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables per day
• Drink at least 60 ounces of water per day
• Cut sugar down considerably and avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Cut out breads, pastas, etc. I am currently aiming to be gluten free for a while.
• Take supplements daily
• Eat out less often

Mental/Emotional Goals
These are things that I feel will help maintain my health mentally and emotionally.

• Take a class - online or in person
• Read for pleasure
• Watch less TV. Currently, Ryan and I are only watching "scheduled" TV which means no just sitting around watching whatever is on. We watch recorded shows, movies or live sports.
• Journal or blog once per week
• Talk with friends once per week or have lunch with those friends who are nearby
• Volunteer in the community and at church
• Pray
• Learn photography and web design

 

A Few Pictures

Tall Family Picture - February 2011

 And of course, pictures of the nephew, Jensen (15 1/2 months)

What's Dat?

Reading With Gampa

Mmmmm...EVERYTHING goes in my mouth. :)

Uncle Ryan is SO fun!