real quick...

Wow, two posts in one day!! :) Especially amazing since it's 12:40am!! YIKES! I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning at 9am clear across town. :( Not looking forward to that.

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know about our (Eric and I) new website. Eric created it and he is such an amazing web designer (he would make fun of me for calling him that..hehe). Anyway, this is what we are going to use while we are in Poland for a year. It has lots of neat-o things like an about us page, our ministry page, blog, support us, and contact information. We don't have our address in Poland yet, and probably won't until we actually get there. We will hopefully be able to eventually add a photos section where we can add pictures of our apartment, city, etc... There is also a link where you can sign up to receive updates as we add new stuff. :) I really hope you guys check it out. I already added it on the right hand side under links, but here it is too just in case you can't find it:

http://ericandshelly.info

Hope you guys enjoy it! :) I had better be heading to bed now so I can be nice and chipper tomorrow morning as I get my teeth drilled into!! YIKES!!

Love ya all,

Shelly

PS. thanks for all the previous comments on my last entry. all of your encouragement is greatly treasured and appreciated!

My thoughts

I wanted to post something today since I haven't posted in a while. I couldn't really think of what to post so I decided to share todays journal entry with you (I write in a journal everyday, usually just prayer requests and me talking with God.).

August 21, 2006 -12:50pm

God, I ask that you would give me peace. I need you and need your comfort right now. There are so many things going on and I feel like my attention is being drawn away from you and away from your peace. I know I can't do this on my own anymore. I need you. I need your help. Father, I'm not a public speaker, yet I'm already signed up to speak in 3 churches. We have to raise $20,000, yet I can't find a job. I'm in love with that little fury, black and white thing that we've had for two years, yet we have to give him away. Help! Father when you provide for all these things I will give you the praise. I say when instead of if because I know that you will provide for me, you already have! I ask that you will give me enough peace so that I can rest in your arms. I will rest!

Expecting great things,

Shelly

132,480 minutes and counting...

Sorry that it has taken me FOREVER to update this thing. There has been so much going on. Let's see since I last wrote.... I have had a gazillion interviews, jammed at two different concerts, hung out with friends, attended Women of Faith, had an AMAZING week with my sister and niece, lots and lots more job hunting and went to the dentist! It's been a little busy! :) I know I'm missing something there! Oh, I know what it is, we found out that we are moving to Poland (yes as in the country, not as in Poland, Ohio... that's what the dentist asked me today..haha) in November. Actually, we leave 3 months from today!

So, needless to say we have been CRAZY busy! There is so much stuff that has to be done. Finally, last night I just had to sit down and step out of my situation and start prioritizing things. I also had to realize that things don't get done in one day. A lot of times it takes months to plan things. I also have been stressing out because I have been job hunting for a WHILE now. It's really hard to get hired though when you are only going to be around for another 3 months. Of course I don't volunteer that information, but if they ask deep down in my heart I know I have to tell them.

Well, that is enough babbling for one day. I wish everyone a Happy Wednesday. Eric and I are eating some Stromboli tonight (thanks Christy for the recipe) and heading to church.

Please keep us in your prayers as we have a million things to do and only approximately 132,480 minutes (this is how many minutes till take off....ahhh) to do them in. :)

Happy Birthday to my baby! :)

Just wanted to give a little shout out to my baby! Today is his birthday! I love you Eric Ryan!

Actually, on a funny note... today Eric and I went to a Sunday School class pool party. Let me just tell you at the party Eric got a little wet! HAHA The guys plotted against him and threw him in the pool with all his clothes on! I managed to get his wallet and Dennis grabbed his glasses! It was really funny! One of the ladies remembered to bring a camera, so I will be posting pictures as soon as I get some! :)

Random quote: This is my new favorite quote regarding uni-brows... "so you know your eyebrows got married, right?". From the show The Parkers.

Festivals!

I was just looking back at the past month and Eric and I have gone to 3 festivals and tonight will make 4! I guess you could say we are festival junkies! :) Tonight is the Jazz and Rib Festival and I'm really looking forward to it. We are going with some friends from our small group, ONU friends and possibly Alicia! :) I've never been before but I've heard that it's really fun and relaxing!

Well to give everyone a little update. We have been in contact with Poland (yes, as in the country) regarding mission work. Eric and I have prayed a LOT about it and are feeling so far that this is where God is leading us! We actually spent the evening yesterday huddled on the floor at Barnes and Noble with each of our noses in books about Poland trying to learn and read as much as we could. That is a GREAT place to go to find out information about traveling or different countries. We are getting excited!

Just a few days ago we found out that they (missionaries in Poland) are wanting us to come as early as November! YIKES! We are waiting now to hear back from Kansas City (missions headquarters) as to whether that will work out or not. So if you remember, please say a special prayer for Eric and I as we are trying to decide the best location that God wants us to be at! :)

On a totally different note. Last night and today I have been thinking a lot about how far God has brought me over the past year. All you faithful blog readers remember all the struggles that I have had with agreeing to mission work, to wanting to have a baby, to just being content with who I am. God has really been working on me. Right now my biggest passion is wanting to do missions! I am just so excited about it that I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. While I do still want kids, I am really content being single. It wasn't until I talked with my friend Jenny and realized that it's okay to not have kids right now. Eric and I are still young and there are a lot of things that we want to do and enjoy doing kid-free. So needless to say, that is the biggest thing that God has helped me with. I can honestly say that I'm content (at least for a day or so.. hehe). :)

Well I need to get off here. I'm going to meet Alicia at Easton to get coffee and walk around. Everyone have a great weekend! Eric's birthday is Sunday so that will be exciting! :)

vacation.

We made it back to Ohio late last night. We had such a good time at Sunset Beach, NC. It was a little warm, but I can't complain! :) It was nice because we were only a couple blocks away from the beach! We were a little far from all the shopping and restraunts, but it was kind of nice to not be tangled up in traffic!

I had tons of fun riding the waves, laying out, shopping, renting a Harley, eating, playing domino's, fishing, experiencing Krispy Kreme, and last but not least driving! :) We stayed up till about 12 everynight and one night we stayed up till about 3am! I hadn't laughed that much in a while! HAHA! Here are a few pictures from our vacation.

My week!

HEY EVERYBODY! :) Well today has been a crazy day. Eric and I have been running around like crazy trying to do laundry, clean the apartment, get some groceries and pick up a few things for our vacation. My parents are going to Myrtle Beach and Eric was able to get off so we are going along with them! YIPEE! :) Also tonight Kara and Landon are coming to visit! I'm really excited to see them! I haven't seen either of them since my wedding.. which was over two years ago! Craziness!

Well just to update you on what has been going on the last week. On Tuesday Eric and I went to Red, White and Boom downtown Columbus with some church friends. We had such a good time. It was craziness there. I actually heard that there was approximately 1/2 million people there! CRAZY! It was by far one of the best firework shows that I have ever seen! Here are a few picture s from the night.









On July 4th Eric and I went to Cincinnati to visit Tom and Laura. We had so much fun! It's fun visiting with people that really know you. When we got to Cincinnati we ate some lunch, played with Antwone (hehe), and then headed down toward the river. Once we got to the river we rented a four-person bike and had such a blast.



We ended our fun day with trying to have a cookout but got rained out! This is a picture of Tom and Laura trying to save our charcoal! HAHA :) We ended up going back to Tom's and eating at his place!! :)
Well I'm off, Kara and Landon just called and said they were on their way! YIPEE!! :) I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post later! Everyone have a super weekend!

Don't hate, appreciate!

Sorry I know you all probably hate me. It's been like FOREVER since I've posted last. There has been so much going on lately and I haven't really remembered to blog.

First, a couple weeks ago I said I was going to a wedding in Wisconsin. I did end up going and had a great time. It was really fun to hang out with everyone. :) I shared a hotel room with Laura, Nadia, and Annie and we had such a good time. I also had a really fun time driving with my fellow diva, Laura and our diva pimp, Tom. :) That ride would not have been the same without you two! Here are a few highlight pics from the trip! :)

Well last weekend Eric and I went to Indiana to see my brothers ordination service. :) We had a really good time visiting with family! Here are some pictures from that.

These are for you Laura! :)


Sorry I know this has been a really long post! :) I hope you all enjoy the pictures! Well I better get off here. Eric and I are heading to Cincinnati to spend the day with Tom and Laura! YAY!! :) I'll write more later! Happy 4th everyone!

Journey

Just wanted to let you all know that I won't be writing in my blog for a little while. I'm going to Wisconsin for a wedding. :) I hope you all have a great weekend.

Peace <><

Thanks Teresa

Not a lot going on today. I was really excited when I checked the mail today. :) My friend Teresa sent me a book in the mail. Not just any book, but Karen Kingsbury's Ever After. I can't wait to start reading it. Later this afternoon I met my mother and sister-n-law at a cute little restaurant. We had a good time chatting and catching up.

Right now I'm just waiting for Eric to get home from work. He called and said that because of the rain people feel the need to drive 20 mph. HAHA! Well I'm going to finish getting ready for dinner. Everyone have a wonderful evening!

It's been almost two weeks already...

Sorry I didn't realize that it has been almost two weeks since my last post!

Just to bring you all up to date. I had a great time in Indiana. It was really nice to be there for longer then a weekend. I got to spend lots of time with everyone including my two adorable nieces! :) I also managed to do some garage sale(ing) on my way out of town. :) It was a good week!

Regarding missions. I know I haven't updated in a while. We heard back from Headquarters and they said that everything looked great on our application except for the fact that we had never been on any long term missions trips (the longest we had both been was 2 weeks). So, our next step is to volunteer for 3months-1year overseas. They mentioned that they already have some places that could use some help in Europe and Asia Pacific. Some of the places in Europe include: Poland, Slovenia, and Macedonia. I'm not sure yet where the places are in the Asia Pacific. They noted that we should be ready to go by January, 2008.

As soon as we figure out a destination then we get to start the lovely fundraising part of it. This is my least favorite part. :( I just hate asking people for money. The thing that I keep reminding myself is this is God's will for us and whether it be $5000 or $25,000 we will get the money!! God will provide! He always has before!!!

On a completely different note the past couple of weeks I have been reading about how God created each of us unique. This just amazes me. I can't even fathom that EVERY person on this planet is unique! WOW! That just shows how big a God we serve! Another thing I've been thinking about is how we/I complain about my appearance. There is always something that I'm discontent with. I don't know if you have ever made anything. I know that when Eric and I started dating I made him a scrapbook. I poured hours and hours of my time into that silly thing. It was so important to me that I cared about every single little detail. If someone even dared to say something negative about it I would have been crushed!! All that work!! In the same way I made that book God also made each of us and how much more important are we then that silly book. He put so much time into creating us so that we would be completely different then everyone else around us. I never really thought about the fact that when we pick apart and criticize ourselves we are directly criticizing God's work! He made us just the way we are.

Also, in the same aspect we should take care of what God made. This is really hard for me to take hold of. Working out and eating healthy hasn't really ever been one of my strong points! I really believe that we need to think more about how we are treating our bodies and what we are putting in our bodies on a daily basis. I'm not saying you have to be a fitness freak, but get a little exercise every once in a while. It doesn't take much effort to go for a walk. It can actually be quite enjoyable, especially if you remind yourself why you're doing it. :)Well I need to get off here and get ready. Eric and I are going to the Latino Festival tonight. I am excited. Hopefully we'll get to try some new food and maybe even see some cool dancing! Hopefully they won't make us participate! HA HA :)