Monday was SEW fun.

While I was out in Fort Collins, CO this summer I bought a sewing machine at a flea market for $19 with HIGH hopes that I would learn: A. How to use the machine & B. how to make fun pillows/anything else. So, last night was the culmination of this dream(with a little help).

Below is the sewing machine that I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to use. I even watched random YouTube videos people made on how to use a sewing machine. When that didn't work Kristin and Matt went to work on it.



thinking...



Then they got it to work! Praises!


With a little more help from Kristin I was on my way to making my first pillow!







Yay for pillows! I'm going to use these to add a little color to our bedroom! And, it was so inexpensive to make!

Morgantown, WV

I need to tell you a story about the goodness of the Lord. It all started yesterday morning- Brian and I(and our friend and co-worker Matt) were driving home(which is now Norfolk, VA)from a fun wedding weekend in Pittsburgh! On our way home we were going to swing through Morgantown WV to pick up our other friend and coworker Kristin. We knew we had a good 8 hour drive ahead of us so we couldn't stay very long in Morgantown- which broke our hearts. Before I go any further in this story let me just tell you why Morgantown is so important to Brian and me:
*it was the 1st place I ever did full time ministry.
*it's where Brian went to college!
*it's where Brian and I met & fell in love and then lived our 1st 2 years of marriage!
*it's where I started to like football(Let's go Mountaineers!)
*It's where my heart grew for the nations.
*it's where I met some of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life! Who knew that I would meet so many girls that I would grow to love so much and consider sisters!
*It's where I saw SO many answers to my prayers.
*AND so much more.

So, as you can imagine returning to Morgantown for the 1st time after living there for 6 years could be a little emotional. As Brian and I passed by the "Welcome to West Virginia" sign on the highway we got a little teary. We just LOVE LOVE LOVE Morgantown because of all that God did there. SO driving into Morgantown knowing we couldn't stay for days and catch up with everyone or at least see people we care about was a hard thing for us! To make a long story short we scheduled to meet with 3friends at Chickfila at 11:30am. It was awesome catching up with them- it was even better to just being with them! We left Chickfila at about 12:15- we started to say our "goodbyes" in the parking lot when people I just LOVEEEE started coming from every which a way in the parking lot. It was as if it was scheduled but it wasn't. Over the next 15 minutes I got to see close 15 people that I care about so much. And, God knew it. And, so in His kindness they all just happened to show up for lunch at Chickfila. The timing was out of control amazing. Here is a picture of just some of the people I got to see:

Grandma and Asher

This is my Grandma! She was such a sweet sweet part of my life. On August 9th she passed away. She lived a strong 94 years though! These pictures below were taken last year on her 93rd birthday. Some of my favorite moments growing up involved grandma- I loved when I got to spend the night at her house. We would always stay up "late" watching Star Search(remember that?) and Lawrence Welk(ha!). It was always a good time with her! And, whenever I would tell her that I loved her, she would always respond with, "I love you more!" and we would go back and forth with the I love you more thing. I never won! She always wanted to be the last one to say it. She was so cute. I thank God for the time that I had with her.






Her funeral was on the following Wednesday after she died. It was a special time of gathering and remembering but also was just a sad morning as we missed grandma so much. Her best friend, Anna Marie, came to the funeral. I hadn't seen her in years. She was 94 years old too. She was adorable and told me about how this was the 1st time she had left her house in years but wanted to be here for the funeral. Her mind was definitely going(along with her body-she was frail and needed assistance walking) but she said that she could never forget the great friendship they had. Some things just stay with you no matter how old you get.


Later that evening after things had quieted down and everyone had left our house(we had a little lunch after the funeral) I got a text. The text said that my friend Carrie had had her baby earlier that morning! So my Dad, Brian and I rushed over the the hospital to see this new baby boy, Asher Bishop! He was adorable!

The turn of events that day reminded me clearly of one of my favorite songs, Every Season by Nichole Nordeman. This line kept going through my mind, "Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter..." It was just that kind of day-that morning we were walking into a funeral service to mourn the loss of someone so special to us and later that evening(to our surprise) we were walking into a hospital to celebrate new life.

i love bri.

Today is Brian's Birthday! He is SUCH a gift to me everyday! I love living life alongside him. He is a constant reminder that God is so kind and that God is so good.

Since it's his special day(and right now he is on the phone with his mom and dad) let me just share a few things that I really love about him:

*He always jumps at the opportunity to serve someone. Even today he looked out our window and saw a guy out that had a flat tire...before I even knew what was happening he was hunting for tools for the guy. (the guy is now back on the road safe and sound).

*everytime I bring up a need or worry he immediately will start to pray about it for me. Isn't that kind?

*He always has a song stuck in his head and he is always singing it. (usually with the wrong words, but he doesn't know that.) The current song that he can't get out of his head is Poker Face by Lady Ga Ga.

*because I love dogs so much he ALWAYS points them out to me when he spots one. During your typical day he will say, "Look there's a dog Brooke!" at least 7 times.

*He is a RISK Taker!

*He keeps me up to date on what's happening in the news. I now know things about sports that I never dreamed I would know. For example, Did you know that Tarvaris Jackson(who plays for the Vikings) was diagnosed with only a mild sprain of his medial collateral ligament. It was welcome news after the scary sequence in Saturday's practice when defensive tackle Letroy Guion got tangled in the line and rolled on the ground into the oft-injured quarterback. I'm learning a lot!:)

*He gets giddy to spend time in the Bible each morning. He sets a great example for me.

*He loves rap! Esp. Lecrae! One week ago today we saw Lecrae- it was such a happy moment for him.

*He loves to play cards with me. Right now we are having a SKIP-BO competition. The first to 1500 points wins. We've been playing since mid June. I have 1118 points and he has 1342 points! There's still hope for me.

I'd write more reasons but we are off to dinner(Texas Roadhouse- his fav! and a movie- he loveeeees movies)

HAPPPPPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!!

Spurred on...

There's something special about being in Colorado every other summer with our job. I love rubbing shoulders with FUN people that LOVE Jesus and want everyone to know about Him. We meet in a HUGE gym. I think there are close to 3500 of us in there. I love looking around the room-- here are some of the people I see:



This is Josh and Liz! They are getting married in November. They are wonderful together. In January they will move to New Zealand and share life and Christ with college students there. inspiring.



This is Jayson and Carrie. They were our dear roommates this summer. They moved to DC a couple years ago to live among the people there and share the love of Christ.



This is Maria and Jason(and their baby Hannah). They rule. They want every student in Pittsburgh to know and treasure Christ. I'm constantly encouraged by them.



This is Mike & Jessie. They just got married in April. Jessie was such a sweet surprise in my summer. We had several coffee/Jamba dates. Her heart is awesome. Their passion is to reach cadets! Isn't that great. In the next few months they will head to Virginia Tech to build relationships with the cadets there.




This is John and Sandy. They have a huge heart for Asian Americans students to know Christ- They live near Penn State and live life with the students there. They are a delight. Sandy inspires me in so many ways!



This is Corey. Sadly his wife Christina and daughter Cora couldn't be out here for conference. Brian and I are always always encouraged by him. They both LOVEEEE people with such a genuine and sincere love. We always feel cared for and prayed for by them. WE praise God for them always. They have given their lives to share Christ with WVU students. WVU is one lucky place:) (side note: Corey asked us to take this picture of him to send to Christina for their anniversary-which was yesterday. Along with this picture he sent(overnight)a plate of Christina's favorite Noodles dish on dry ice.) HOW CUTE!

I could go on and on and on about all the people that have really spurred me on this summer. I love the people I work alongside.

Sunday Summer Tarts with Carrie!

Tonight Carrie and I made these amazing tarts! They are very easy to make and are so pretty!


Here is the recipe:

All American Summer Tarts

Ingredients:
1 recipe basic pie dough
4 c. chopped ripe strawberries
1 c. fresh ripe blackberries
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp lime zest
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp butter
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.
-In large bowl, combine strawberries, blackberries, sugar, lime zest,
orange juice.
-Toss to combine and set aside.
-Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.
-Roll each piece into 7-8 inch circles.
-Place each circle onto a lined baking sheet.
-Place 1/6 of berry mixture into center of dough.
-Fold up sides of dough around filling.
-Repeat with remaining dough rounds and filling.
-Cut butter into very small pieces and place three small pieces on top
of each tart’s filling.
-Brush sides of pastry with beaten egg and place baking sheets into oven.
-Bake until sides are golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let cool completely.
-If making ahead, store in airtight container up to 24 hours in advance.
-Serve with scoop of ice cream.

Serves 6

Note: We added peaches and blueberries plus orange zest.

Here are a couple more pics of the process:)

53 hours and a Toyota Corolla

On June 15th, Brian and I headed out on our first ever road trip. We travelled from Virginia to Colorado! It was super fun and it only started feeling long when we got to Kansas. Kansas was really long!



Highlights from the road:
We got to catch up with our dear friends: Beth and Wes! It was super fun. They were so kind and hospitable.


This is beautiful Beth in the sunset. We were touring Wes's seminary- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Great campus.


I woke up at 4am in Louisville, KY and felt like glass had been shattered in my eye. I could hardly open it- intense pain. After pretending to fall back asleep and act like it wasn't happening I decided to wake up Brian. He immediately took me to the ER. Turns out I had torn my cornea in my sleep somehow. For the next 3 days of the road trip I couldn't see out of my right eye. For a day and a half, of the 3 days, I wore an eye patch. It was one of those times when you are super glad you are in the middle of no where and there is no chance of running into anyone you know. Discharge coming out of your eye plus an eye patch with glasses over the eye patch so I can see out of the left eye = quite the sight.



While in Louisville we got to do a little taunting:



We also went to the St. Louis Arch museum- this qoute was in the museum and I thought it was perfect for our journey to the CO:


We made it!



And to Brian's JOY the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing in Denver the evening we arrived in Colorado. The Pirates lost- but we expected that. Still a grand evening.




1500 miles in a car with Brian was so fun! We are looking forward to the 1500 miles back in 2 weeks.