A Long Over-Due Update

My sister-in-law pointed out recently that I haven't updated my blog in almost (maybe over?) a year, so I figured I ought to do that, for the two or three people who read this and are interested. :-)

Part of the reason I don't update terribly often is that my days and weeks look pretty similar: work, work, home, boring things, bad weather, etc. Cooper and I haven't really been on any recent trips or anything the sort; mostly we're just putting up with winter and getting by.

But there has been some fun stuff. I'm in the throes of my second performance with Flagstaff  Youth Theater, Broadway/Disney's The Little Mermaid. It's the first part I've had with a name since I was in middle school, and I'm playing Andrina, one of the mermaid sisters. Pictures included--my purple wig is my favorite part, though the entire costume is fabulous.

Another development is that we feel the Lord is leading Cooper to attend Phoenix Seminary with the goal of going into youth ministry, which is in Phoenix, Arizona. We're almost done with the application process, just waiting on one more recommendation to be finished and working on applying for scholarships, since we can't afford to go without them. It's been fun to see Cooper excited about this, and I think that he would make a great youth pastor. We've been working consistently for the past 8 months or so with the high school group at our church, and finding it is an age group we both enjoy and feel we can serve. One of the perks of Phoenix Seminary is spouses of students can attend for free, so I'm looking forward to attending theology classes, but I don't think I'm going to pursue a degree. I'm really finished with stressful schooling, I think.

If Cooper gets accepted, it does mean a move to Phoenix, which I imagine will be good AND challenging. Challenging for obvious reasons: finding new jobs, the actual act of moving our life two hours south, leaving friends, family, and our awesome church, getting familiar with a big city and getting used to the heat and bad air, but I've tried not to think/worry about that too much until we're sure we're going. Also, in times of doubt, I comfort myself with the fact that we really aren't very far away and weekend trips "up the hill" are easy to do.

Beyond that, that's really all that's new. Summer plans include a trip to Indiana in June to see my birth-brother get married (you can pray for my interaction with my birth family--it will really be rather strange since we're related by blood but the relationship itself is in its infancy). We're planning an anniversary trip to celebrate 3 years (really? Has it been 3 years??) of marriage, but we haven't decided on the specifics for that yet. I'm debating performing with the adult cast of FYT; they're doing Cats this summer. Cats is not my favorite musical, so I'm still debating whether that's something I want to invest my time in or whether I want to start focusing on this novel I keep saying I'm going to write. There really should be more hours in the day!

We continue to enjoy watching our nieces and nephews grow and interacting with them. They are a BIG blessing and I want to make sure that even if we move, we're involved in their lives and do our part to show them Jesus as much as we can. My brother's son, Eli, is turning one in May and we're having a big family bash for him. Not that he will care, of course, but we'll have fun. :-)

Spiritually, I could always use prayer for my current job. It is a constant source of stress, boredom, and mostly frustration for me, and while I like the hours and benefits, I want to be doing something different and something I feel is more productive for Jesus. I just have never really "fit" in this position and I don't really enjoy it. On my worst days, I feel  like I need a job where I don't have to talk to people, but I actually don't think I'd like that for very long. Maybe a job where I talk to people and can actually help them. I don't know. It's hard to know what I want to do.

I'm also still struggling with regular devotions, feeling near to Jesus, prayer, and generally understanding God's love for me. I had a wonderful conversation with Deana Irvine, a woman from my church recently; I need to meet with her more. We're very similar in our personalities and seem to deal with the same things, but she's older and has seen more of Jesus' victory in her life, so that one conversation was of enormous encouragement to me. Depression always seems to be pushing at the doors of my heart, and I don't want to slip into that again. It's trying for everyone around me, particularly Cooper.

But I know that God is good, and my Redeemer lives! This I can rejoice in, no matter what, and I pray I would.

Cooper and I played Aladdin and Jasmine for FYT's fundraiser, Party at the Palace. This is us reading to Rory Bowen.

FCF Party at the Palace participants

The mersisters performing with Flounder. Aren't we great?

Believe it or not, I was RIGHT on the choreography in this picture!! So were the other girls, it just looks funny because I'm doing something different. :-)

Taking a picture outside

Strike a pose!

Great people to work with

My new friend Andi! We connected over being some of the only people in the show who weren't in high school but are constantly mistaken for being much younger, and we're both married without kids, both from Flagstaff but have husbands from California, both have degrees but jobs we don't like, and both work with the youth group at our respective churches. We were helping to clean up after show and looked pretty rockin' with our vacuums.