Young Life Camp--- Work Week 2009

What an unexpected surprise! Very last minute, Adelyn and I were approved to accompany my husband and several college students to go to Colorado to Young Life Work Week. I don't think wives and babies are "normally" approved to go, but they had some work I could do with a baby and a place for Colby and I to stay and not bother everyone with a baby, so it worked out!
The purpose of Young Life Work Week is to help prepare the camp for more than 4,000 kids to have "the best week of their lives" and meet with Christ. Some of the jobs consist of cleaning windows, deep cleaning cabins and offices, restaining the wood on the cabins, cleaning underneath rocks, painting, making beds, etc. There are hundreds of college students that go from OU, OSU, Kansas, A&M, Baylor, etc. It is a lot of hard work but it is so fun! Good bonding times with some great girls!

I was slightly nervous about a 11 hour car ride with a 2 month old, but Adelyn did great! She had to eat every 3 hours and change diapers, but we got it all under control! She slept great in the cabin and did great during the day while me and Mandy deep cleaned all the offices. There were quite a few Young Life staff members that didn't mind holding her either while I helped clean. I had so much fun and was so thankful to get to be able to go!
Now I am back home and getting back into some kind of routine. Like has been rather insanse lately and I am ready for it to be back to "normal." Whatever that looks like!

One Amazing Woman...

I remember it oh so very well. It was August of 2004. I was a sophomore in college. I was chosen that year to be a RA (Resident Advisor) of the freshman girls dorm. I was in charge of 24 lovely ladies. I was reviewing all the names of the girls that were just minutes away from entering the 2nd floor and moving all their stuff into their dorm. I came to Sara's name...and her "interesting" last name: Schakelaar. I just stared at her name wondering how in the world do you pronounce this name: shake-eee-laire or shock-eee-lar or what? Who is this girl? Where is she from? What is she going to be like?

Little did I know that she would become one of my VERY VERY VERY best friends!

We have been through so much together. She was threre for me when I was gone for a semester to study abroad in Costa Rica. We have been through family situations together, boy situations together, college together, life together.

Some things that stand out to me about my relationship with Sara:

1. The first time we went running I basically had to beg her and pull her to come with me. She screamed the entire 0.5 of a mile that we ran and hated it. Months later we were training for a full marathon together. We ran so much together. She ran the entire way around Lake Hefner (10 miles) by herself. On one torturous run, she cried and I scratched her back for a mile.

2. We have had the DEEPEST talks about life and God around Lake Hefner. We learned the powerful truth that God is faithful even when we are not. Lake Hefner is a powerful place for Sara and I.

3. We had a horrible philosophy on college tests. We would never want to study so we came up with this: "okay, when we are like 80 years old, are people really going to ask us, "hey Sara, hey Amanda, how did you do on that Earth and Sky test?" ----"No, no one is going to ask us that." So, we would not study. On one occasion, we got our tests back (that we did not study for AT ALL) and we got a 78. We could not believe we passed and did that good on a test that we did not even look at the notes for. The professor proceeded to tell us that the number on the front is NOT our score. It IS the number of questions we got WRONG. haha! We made a 22 on the test. Awesome!

4. I somehow talked Sara into taking a masters level bible class with me that was towards my major and had nothing to do with hers. She hated it. I loved it. One student that sat behind us had terrible gas. Sara and I had to leave this masters level class due us laughing uncontrollably like we were in elementary school. Oh man, I am laughing just thinking of it.

5. We have great memories with our sweet friend Meredith concerning birds and midgets.

6. She is the best back scratcher and would love playing with my hair. Okay maybe she didn't love it, but I sure did!

7. Sara was a bridesmaid in my wedding and a bridesmaid in every one elses wedding too! She has a movie that was made because of her: 27 Dresses. That is because she is the best friend to everyone!

8. Sara lived with Colby and I last summer so she could work and save money and not have to pay rent. She lived with me when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. We had a lot of good talks in her room.

I literally could go on and on and on and on about this incredible woman and all of our memories together. She is unreal. She is the sweetest person you will ever meet.

Why am I blogging about her you ask? Because today, my sweet, dear, beautiful, incredible friend had left for Slovenia until DECEMBER!!!! ahhh... I mean, really people....can you not serve the Lord in Oklahoma? Becca? Sara? Do you have to go to Mexico? Do you have to go to Slovenia?

Sara is going to Slovenia to serve the Lord through a ministry called Josiah Venture. You should check out their website and Sara's blog for updates. She will be blogging for the next 6 months about all she is doing and learning. I can not wait to read it!

Sara, I can not tell you enough how much you mean to me. You have enriched my life in such a beautiful way. I have told you over and over again how much I look up to you and you are younger than me. You are going to be so blessed because of your obedience and your willingness to openly follow the Lord, even if it is hard and uncomfortable. Yes, you are leaving and giving up a lot in Oklahoma and Colorado, but oh Sara, you are gaining so much more. You are gaining a journey to know the Lord in such a deeper way and to be challenged and stretched. You are going to be missed by so many people, but you are also covered in prayer by so many people. You are loved. You are valued. You are going to be thought about often. I love you!!!!

Happy 2 Months Adelyn!

Another month has come and gone. Will it ever slow down? Today, Adelyn is 2 months old. Things are getting a little more exciting every day. Not a lot has changed from 1 month to 2 months. She had her 2 month check up this week and she got her first round of vaccines.

Her stats:
Weight: 10.1 pounds
Height: 21 inches
Vaccines: Hepatitis B, DTaP, Hib, IPV/OPV, Pneumococcal, Rot.

Here are some things I have noticed that are new:

*Her precious smile (which of course I could not get any pictures of today). She smiles a lot. She smiles the most in the morning when she wakes up and me or Colby go and get her. She also smiles a lot on her changing pad when she is getting her diaper changed.

*Now, more than ever I feel like, she fights sleep. We have learned her "signs" of being tired and usually she will cry until she goes to sleep. She just wants to stay awake and look around, but she is too tired and it bothers her so she cries.

*She has strong legs and a strong neck. She is constantly turning her head in all directions and lifting her head up and down.

*There is no consistent pattern of sleep in the night. Some nights she will sleep 8. Some nights 6. Other nights only 4. We are learning what helps or hinders her long amount of sleep. Probably drinking caffeine before bed doesn't help when you are nursing.

*The majority of nights she sleeps in her bassinet next to us.

*I started wedding season full on and have a wedding every weekend. Addie stays at home with daddy while I work the wedding. This has worked out great! I was so nervous about the transition of going back to work weddings, but it has been beyond perfect. So thankful for Colby being able to help me and not having to worry about a babysitter every weekend. The freezer is fully stocked with milk and he will just defrost a bag for her. He takes care of the house and her and I am so thankful!

* My friends and I ran in the Marathon as we were Team Addie. That was an incredible experience.

*Adelyn went to her first wedding: Jeremiah and Whitney Shaw on May 1st.

*Adelyn went swimming for the first time at Lauren's graduation party on May 8. She loves water. Oh, and she loves her bikini. Here are her ruffles on her bikini bottoms. And she is wearing a bathing suit cover up. :) All courtesy of Old Navy for $5.00. (And thanks Elizabeth the picture!)


*I celebrated my first mothers day on May 10. It was so sweet and special! Adelyn made me breakfast! :) And she wrote me a card and had my favorite candy with it. I think her dad might have helped her with a few things! :)

*Daddy got in a wreck and scared mommy on May 11. I know there are more important things than losing a car but it was kind of sentimental. Thinking of all that car has been through. Colby proposed with that car. We brought home our first child in that car. So many trips in that car. His "ministry" car full of high school boys. We will miss it. Here is the last picture as we were cleaning it out at the wrecker place:

*We took a day trip to Kansas to see Colby's grandpa in the hospital on May 14. It was very precious to have him hold Adelyn the entire time we were there.

The past couple of months of have been incredible. I would be lying if I told you they have been easy months. Hands down, we are living in one of the hardest seasons. We have been faced with many challenges and circumstances that are just hard. However, it has been the best season.

We made a commitment that we did not want to look back on this time and see doubt, and fear, and two people struggling to make it. We made a commitment to let God teach us during this time so that we might look back and be so thankful for all we learned and how we grew.

One day there will be a blog about this season. Not today, as I am living through it and learning each day. All I can say is that we want to have faith and believe that God is doing something beyond what we can see. His ways are not our ways. His ways are higher and better. Even if it means living during a very challenging season. We will be better because of this hard time.

Happy 2 months!!!!!!!!

It's True: Adelyn Wants to be Like Her Aunt Becca

This one's for you my dear friend Becca. I hope I don't embarrass you when I tell people about your sleeping habits! :)

Allow me to let you in on a little secret about my incredible best friend Becca. You know Becca is about to fall asleep when her arm goes up and covers her eyes. I have had one too many sleepovers with this girl to know it is true. We still laugh about it to this day. We will be laying in bed watching a movie (pre-marriage to Colby) and all of a sudden I see her lift up her arm and I know I lost her. She is about to be out cold. I know she still does it in Mexico because I found this picture of her on facebook: (the other girl in the picture is making fun of her because who sleeps like that?)
Well, the other day my daughter fell asleep like this:
See? I told you. It is true. Adelyn wants to be like her Aunt Becca. I am so proud!!

What I Never Want to Forget About Today

Today has been a rather eventful day if I must say so myself. It all started off with the following picture:Yes, you are seeing this correctly. My sweet daughter pooped all the way through her diaper and all over her back. I have never seen so much poop in my life. Good Morning Amanda. I started my day with a bath for her and running our sheets through the washing machine and dryer. Colby was not home as he left at 5:30AM for the Young Life Golf Tournament all day.

The majority of my day was spent at home hanging out with sweet Addie. I watched her do this a lot during the day. Oh she has a way of melting my heart. She is so sweet and fun to be around. I love getting to stay at home with her!

Then the scary part of my day happened. I talked to Colby at 3:00 and he said he was coming home soon and had to get some things ready for his last Young Life club tonight. At 5:00, Colby was still not home. That's when I thought I should call him to make sure everything is okay. I called him minutes after he was in a wreck. He sounded okay but couldn't talk much because the police were trying to ask him a lot of questions. He had to get off the phone and I hurried and put Addie in her carseat and got to the scene as fast as I could. I didn't know anything except for the location. I didn't know who was involved. How it happened. If it was bad? I just drove up to see police and ambulance and tons of flashing lights and knew Colby was involved. It was a very scary scene:

Honestly, it looked a lot worse then it really was. When I arrived, I could not see Colby anywhere. That is because they already loaded him up in the ambulance. That was so scary to me. I didn't know why he was in the ambulance. Was he way okay? Thankfully, Rodney was there (Colby's Young Life boss) and said everything was fine, but Colby was bleeding a lot from his knee and got light headed so they wanted him to lay down on the stretcher. They took him to the hospital and then Rodney and I drove there to meet up with him.
It took a while before we could see Colby. They put an injecion and some staples in his knee and wrapped it all up. He has a small wound on his head and they took care of that and then gave him a cat scan to make sure everything was okay. Once they finished the cat scan we could go in and see him. He was great, and if anyone knows Colby, knows that he has the best attitude and outlook. He was so positive and was asking all the nurses how they are doing and where they are from and what their story is. LOL. He is so caring!

Once Colby's lightheadedness went away, he got his shoes on and we walked to a different room where the man was that was also involved in the accident. He is 80 years old and was in pretty good condition. We did hear that there are a few concerns the doctors are dealing with and we are praying that he is fully healed and recovered. Colby was amazing at putting this man above himself and caring for him and his wife.

There are some things that stand out to me from today that I NEVER want to forget:

1. I hope and pray that Colby and I grow up to be like Rodney and Kristen. First of all, Rodney has been celebrating a big birthday in his life. Second of all, he had graduation parties to attend for his high school students. And third of all, he had his last Young Life Club for the semester. He did not do any of those things so he could help us, support us and be there for us in the hospital. His wife immediately arrived to help me take care of Adelyn so I could take care of Colby. They are two of the most incredible people you will ever meet. They did our pre-marital counseling while we were enagaged and have been there for us ever since. Kristen is always amazing and caring and asking how I am doing and being there for me. Today, I learned what being a servant is like, and I want to be like that. Thank you Rodney and Kristen for all you do for us. You make such a huge difference.

2. I do not think I will ever forget the 80 year old mans face and his sweet wife when we went to their room. I have no idea how long they have been married, but looking at his sweet wife's face, I would say a good 50 years or more. She just sat there with tears in her eyes caring so deeply for her husband. Oh man, I was about to bawl. That man was the sweetest thing, and he was in pain because of this wreck. He does not deserve to be in pain. He had the bluest eyes I have ever seen and just looked up from his hospital bed, wondering how long he would be there. I experienced a moment in that room that made me want to live differently. Made me want to care more about others. Made me want to focus on what matters. You never know what might happen.

3. I do not want to foget the mixed feelings I had when I heard Colby's car was totalled. Some of you may know that for the past month Colby has been starting his car with this:

Yes, You are right. It is a screwdriver. He starts his car with a screwdriver because his key broke off in his ignition and could not come out. Because we have spent thousands of dollars on his car in one month, we could not afford to get the key out, so Colby "rigged" it to start with a screwdriver.


The above picture is the inside of his "rigged" car. While we were driving to the hospital, Rodney told me something that made me laugh pretty hard. The policeman asked Rodney who's car the Pathfinder was. Rodney told him it was Colby's, the man that was driving it. The policeman said, "Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't a stolen car? It appears it is a stolen car since he has to have a screwdriver to start it." LOL. Nope, not a stolen car. Just a couple that can not afford to fix it. LOL.
Our usual morning routine before today consisted of the following conversation."
Colby: "Babe...I need your help."
Amanda: "Colby, I am in bed. What do you need?"
Colby: "My car won't start. Will you help me."
Amanda: "Let me get out of my pajamas. Hold on, I'll be there."
Colby: (as he hands me the screwdriver...AKA- "the key"- "Okay, you start the car with the screwdriver while I use a hammer to hit all the parts under the hood of the car. When it starts, we are good to go."
Amanda: "Colby, this is SO ridiculous..." (then sparks start to fly from the car) "This is not safe Colby. I hate this car. It is not reliable. It is not safe."
Colby: "Amanda, this car is perfect. It's my baby. It is my everything. It has treated me sooo good for all these years (which is true...but the years were quickly fading).
Amanda: "Remember when the car broke out in flames at Pep Boys. You are not safe to drive this car. Can we please trade it in for something cheap?"
Colby: "No, this is perfect. It is going to last me a few more solid years... Then we'll see."

Well, this might just be a blessing in disguise. No more marital fights for Colby and I. We don't have the car to fight over anymore. LOL. I feel sad and happy at the same time.

It was very scary to drive up to the scene and to see the ambulance drive away with my husband in it. However, it really was not as bad as it looked. Thank you to everyone that prayed. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being there for us. We are blown away by people's support. We can only pray we are there for others like they have been there for us.

Thank you Lord for today. Thank you for allowing us to be home now with just a few minor injuries. Please Lord heal that 80 year old man. May he go home fully recovered. Work out the insurance details. Work out the financial details. We trust you this day that you are good and you are faithful and you do provide.