"tshirt fans"

Ok, I'm annoyed.

I just don't understand why people can't root for a certain team because they want to. This usually is brought up around the UT game...because apparently so many UT fans are "tshirt fans". Who cares?!

If I went to a small school who didn't have a football team, but enjoyed football I would probably root for the team that will win often, go to BCS bowls, and win National Championships occasionally. If I didn't go to college, again I would choose a team to root for that wins often. No one likes defeat, so why in the world would you choose a team that is going to lose every game? You wouldn't. We like to celebrate, we like to win. Duh, you will choose the team that will do that.

I just don't get why people insist that you have some type of "connection" to the school or town, in order to root for them. That is just lame. You root for your team (for your own reasons) and I will root for mine.

All this to say, chill out. And quit being so dadgum defensive. Let people enjoy being on the winning end.
the end.

-Kells

health

hey friends,

my name is Kelli and I'm taking steps to improve my health. It's lasted now for almost an entire week. Considering my run after this previous times, this has been better. Wednesday at our lifehouse (bible study with church) after our lesson was over we got into talking about health and fitness. One guy had lost 40 lbs on P90x, a girl lost 15 lbs just by working out, one girl just started going to classes. She made a funny statement: "When you sign that marriage license you are doomed in gaining some weight." Unfortunately, this has been my case. And the case of many women around me.

Teddy and I continued to talk about it that evening. We knew we needed to adjust our budget so we could eat healthier & be able to work out. This is important. Ultimately, this will affect doctor visits and meds that follow that. We got up Thursday morning and went for a walk/short run around our park. Friday I went walking in the morning again. Saturday we went on a walk/run in a different park mid morning. Sunday we didn't.

What happened Sunday was adjustments to our budget so we could add in a gym membership. We've been members before with Freedom Fitness, but didn't utilize it enough. Our commitment we made was we would use our membership/workout 20 day out of the month. This allows some flex on weeks where it might be harder to get to the gym. But even if we went for a walk/run while we are out of town that counts. If we do meet our 20 days then we will continue to allow it to come out of our over-all budget. If we do less then that, then we have to pay for our membership out of our actual allowance money (side note: money that we can do anything and everything, without question from the spouse....wanna know more, ask me. It's genius idea I learned from other couples)

Monday we went and signed up again. $10 a month for each of us. Not bad. Teddy worked out in the afternoon (off work) and I worked out before dinner. Today we are going to work out together after dinner. Most of the time I will probably work out in the mornings. Teddy's schedule is a little difficult to work with because of his 12 hour shifts. He's even considering waking up at 4:30am to go work out, shower, and be at work by 6am. Whew!

We are trying to take baby steps with eating healthy. That's the hardest part. But we are going to take steps towards this and try HARD.

We did take before pictures. Yes, we want to get healthier, but also more fit. I could definitely lost 15 lbs & shed some inches. So I'm hoping that in this we not only change our life style but we end up looking good too. :)

You wanna be healthy with me?
-Kells

yummy chili!

I decided for dinner tonight I would make a new recipe...Chili! I've never made this before, so I was pretty excited. I found this recipe a while ago, but waited and waited to buy the ingredients because I think chili = cold weather. But whatever, I finally broke down and bought a few things we needed, the rest I had already! (love that feeling)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Debdoozies-Blue-Ribbon-Chili/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

* 1 pound ground beef
* 1/4 onion, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1-1/4 cups tomato sauce
* 1/2 (8 ounce) jar salsa
* 2 tablespoons chili seasoning mix
* 1/2 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
* 1/2 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.
2. Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.


YUM! We had saltine crackers with it. It was good. One thing I changed: I used just one can of dark red kidney beans, instead of two halves of two different kinds. These ingredients were for a serving of 4. If I had 2 pounds of ground beef I probably would've done servings for 8, and freeze the extra.

happy weekend!
-Kells

weekend update!

oh goodness this weekend was great. GREAT I tell ya.

This past Tuesday was Teddy and I 6 month mark of marriage. He came home with pretty flowers that I've been caring for all week. He told me we would go on a date Friday night.

When I came home Friday after work he was all smiles. Ready to take me out. He had even picked out a dress for me to wear. That has never happened in our relationship & it was just the special touch. Before I could put a dress on he wanted to go bowling first at like 4:30. So we did! We whooped me in both games. :)

We came back home & got all spiffy.We went to dinner at Olive Garden. It was SO yummy. When we got there one of the students involved in CRU was working. He told us to sit in his section & he could give us some free stuff. He truly blessed us. Our dinner was SO yum, salad & bread, and TWO different desserts. Conversation was fun. We wanted to go to the Tech choir concert after dinner, but we were there a little bit longer then we expected. So we rented a movie and went home.




I felt so cared for & loved. I love how my husband works hard to make me feel special to him. He's truly a gift.

Yesterday, we slept in until 11am. Got up and made waffles for breakfast/lunch, lounged around watching football, went to the grocery store together, took a nap watching football, then went to church at 6:30. The pastor preached for 30 mins, then we watched the UT/Tech football game on our HUGE 20 foot screen. Then had AMAZING worship at halftime. It was the perfect day...except the football loss. I loved the day with Teddy.

Today, Teddy had to work 6am-6pm. I woke up at 8:30am and have been doing all sorts of things. Teddy wanted me to bring him a pepsi from home & his Systematic Theology book from home so he wouldn't be bored at work today. So I went up to the old jail to give him those things then went to United to get quarters for laundry. Started 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned up the living room, did the dishes, swept the floors (wood floors always need to be swept), folded 4 loads of laundry, had my time with the Lord, finished the movie we started Friday night (i fell alseep--and wanted to finish), and about to cook dinner. I would like to call this the ultimate wife day. :) It's truly becoming a joy to do laundry for Teddy. Strange I know...I used to hate laundry. But the boy needs clean undies & work clothes and I love making it my responsibility to make sure that happens each week. His job is stressful, so if I can make it non-stressful at home--I try to do so. The Lord can change hearts, i mean seriously, I never thought I would say I like doing laundry & cleaning. :)

Anyways, that was probably a boring post for you. But this blog is also for me so I can look back on the years & smile. This is a weekend I can definitely smile at.

have a wonderful day!
-Kells

my heart

I don't understand my heart sometime. Why the Lord has given me a heart filled with compassion for people I don't know walking through struggles? It's fine, but I'm still got off guard sometimes by tears streaming down my face as I pray for a person I don't know.

Last week I was captivated by a story I heard on K-Love. If you listen to Sanctus Real on Klove or Air1 you might already know this story. But the lead singer Matt & his wife, Sarah, just had a baby boy at the end of last week. His name is Bowen Matthew. precious.

Well they found out in April he was missing part of his heart and the chanced of him living was pretty slim. (enter tears) Well they had they finished to full term & delivered. He had heart surgery Monday & it went well. Then it turned for the worse that night (again enter tears, while driving) The baby is still alive right now. If you want to follow the story fully go to www.bowensheart.com It's such a sweet story. And while you are at it, say a prayer for the family. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ZQKzzyaJI go watch this video. It's the story behind Josh Wilson's song Before the morning. Tim (the guy speaking) is a pastor at my church & they also did Teddy & I's pre-marital counseling. Their little boy has the same condition that Bowen does.

This summer I was also captivated by a random story. A student from my Branson summer project invited me to a facebook group to pray for this guy named David Camp. I don't normally just join random groups but for some reason I wanted to read. So I started reading everything & my heart was hurting for him & his family. I literally did everything I could to make sure I could keep reading (on facebook) updates on this guy (all the way on the East coast). I prayed and prayed. I still think of his girlfriend at times, because I cried and cried out of compassion for her. He did pass away & with God now. He apparently was a great person who loved Christ & people.

One of my friends father died this summer. I cried and cried for her too. My heart was just SOOO heavy for her & her family. All i could do was pray, because I lived far away.

It's a pattern that has happened a lot. I can't even keep count the amount of stories or people I have prayed for and cried about because of the result of my heart hurting for them.

You might find all this crazy. But, I truly believe the Lord gave me this heart to pray for others. And the Lord consistently brings new stories into my life--so I can pray.

-Kells

Ten things...Monday

Normally, I will plan during this time. But...I'm done. I did quite a bit of planning yesterday afternoon. So this morning is pretty easy going. I saw my good friend Katie ( ) did this for her Monday & thought it was fun.

Here is goes:

10. Teddy came home from work this past Tuesday and informed me his schedule for work is changing. BOO. We had really enjoyed M-F 7-3:30pm schedule. Now he is working 12 hour shifts. He will work 4 days one week & 3 days the next. I mean sure, he will have 4 days off every other week. But this schedule doesn't give him free weekends. It just changes week to week. Which drives me NUTS. Even yesterday (sunday) he had to work 6am-6pm. = boring day for me at home.

9. This weekend was our church Experience Life (elife) 3 year birthday. We got to celebrate by going to church Saturday night. I love this church. We have been going for almost two years (Nov). We are officially the 2nd fastest growing church in America (2010). There have been at least 1500 people who have made first time decisions to enter into a relationship with Christ during these 3 years. That just makes me smile. 500 people come to weekly prayer (WOW!). The Lord is truly doing something in Lubbock

8. Last night the cowboys lost. I was brought up to hate the cowboys. But now I have married a man who is die hard cowboy fan. TENSION. :) Let's just say I root for the cowboys bc it makes my husband happy. I would prefer them to win bc it makes my husband happy. But for the record, if the Broncos play the Cowgirls (whoops!) I will forever root for the Broncos.

7. As I blogged a while ago about our sprint towards being debt free. All we have left is Teddy's truck. woohoo!! We are chasing it down & demolishing it. :) Oh & we just re-evaluated our budget...meaning we switched some money around. We reduced eating out money & put that towards groceries. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO COOK/EAT AT HOME. It really is a must but not necessarily fun

6. I need a hair cut. It's been 3 months & I have a slight "bob" cut. So when it starts growing it can look silly. I think I need to grow it out again so I don't have to get it cut as often. It doesn't work on a tight budget.

5. I'm now on day 13 of the "Four Sevens" (also mentioned earlier in my blog) 13 straight days of being in the word (going through Luke). I definitely found myself waiting too late at night and really not wanting to do it. Sure, sometime it's good to continue out of obedience...but I don't want my heart to do this out of obligation. But those days when it feels like that, I push through. And good thing--because 2 days later I really had a desire again.

4. Yesterday I slept until 10:50am. I cannot tell you the last time that happened. I haven't been able to sleep that well, so that could explain it. Even last night I just tossed and turned. I realized I had work stuff running through my mind. That doesn't happen to me that often. Even at one point last night I said, "What do you want God?" I prayed for a little bit & fell back to sleep for a little bit. I'm dragging this morning.

3. Ever since my wonderful husband cleaned our living room we have done a great job at keeping it that way. Sure, there is some stuff left out over night & maybe 2 days in a row. But it still feels good to walk in to a semi-clean place. :)

2. I would guess majority of you don't know this (considering lots of random people read this) But I have eczema on my calfs. It comes & goes...but usually around this time on it can start to flair back up. I didn't want to go back to the dermatologist again to have them tell me I have eczema (duh) and prescribe me the creme. All I want is the creme, but its' been 2 years so there is no way they would give me the prescription randomly. So I did some research online and found out about Cortizone 10: Intensive Healing Lotion with a focus on Eczema. I thought, score! Well I used it for 2 days straight and it REALLY worked. So if you have eczema & don't want to spend the money for the doctor....go buy this for $9.99. :)

1. Tomorrow my husband and I have been married for half a year. WHOA NELLY! I can't believe 6 months have passed us by already. It has been wonderful. I truly love being married & working through the ups & downs that come with two sinners living closely together. The saying that marriage isn't there to make you happy, but more holy is TOTALLY true. :) i love you Teddy!!!

Have a good week everyone!!
-Kells

spiritual breathing

you may not know what Spiritual breathing is...so let me explain.

Spiritual breathing is like physical breathing in that:

1.You "exhale" by confessing your sins immediately to God and claiming His forgiveness
2.You "inhale" by asking the Holy Spirit to control and empower you and to keep you from returning to sin.

Usually we don't think about our physical breathing. But spiritual breathing is something that requires conscious action - a readiness to "exhale" or confess our sin and to "inhale" or trust God to fill us with His Holy Spirit.

Enter story:

Today I was doing some laundry at our apartment. We have 4 washers & 4 dyers. I think there has maybe been one time that all washer were full in the past 6 months of living here. So it works for us. We do enjoy going to the laundry mat together. But today I needed to wash Teddy's work clothes, towels, and randomness. I only had two loads to do. When I got down there all were open. SCORE. Because this also means I can use the washers closes to the dryers (easier to transfer). Started my loads & came up stairs. My clothes were in the washers for MAYBE an hour. I thought I needed to go change them to the dryer. I walked down stairs and found my clothes in two piles on a counter in our laundry room. Immediately I got VERY aggravated (sin). I mean SERIOUSLY? There have been times that we have 4 loads to do but only two washers available. So you know what we do...TWO loads & then another two when we remove our clothes. This person apparently couldn't wait. And really my clothes did not sit in that washer long. So in a pissed mood (sin) I moved my CLEAN clothes off a FILTHY counter to the dryer.

I thought to myself...If they move my clothes out of the dryer because they are ready to dry their clothes...I will take their clothes out & put mine back in. (revenge=sin) Urgh, they are so selfish (sin). Gross, I don't want them touching MY laundry.

sin more sin and a little bit more sin :)

I walked back down to see if my clothes were dry & they were. But this person took someones clothes out of the dryer (they had been there when I started drying) and put them on the filthy counter. And started two of their loads in the dryer. I just don't get it. How about you dry one load because ONE dryer is open? How about you wash TWO loads because two washers are free? URGH.

I came back up stairs to start folding & that when I realized how AWFUl my thoughts were. I don't even know who this person is. I even had the want to just open the dryer and shut it so it would stop drying their clothes. hellllllo sinner. AWFUL.

I immediately started this process of spiritual breathing. it helped. Why let something so little ruin my day? pointless. I confessed, received forgiveness, and moved on.

I hesitated writing this because I didn't want my feelings to surface again. But mostly what you just read happened before praying. I wanted to show you a real life instance of how you can apply spiritual breathing to your life. We sin constantly. CONSTANTLY. Mine today was in my thought life. What happens in your thought life?

Consider that question and start spiritual breathing. it's a refreshing way to connect to Christ.

-Kells

profile of the obsessed

From the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan (chapter eight)

I just finished this book. I was very challenged. I think I need to actually read it again because I started it this summer but didn't pick it up all of July. I picked it back up last week & really wanted to finish it. I'm usually terrible at finishing books....so I'm excited! So yea...

Pray before you read this blog post. Pray for an open mind!

Obsessed: To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic.

-People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly, without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them and who can never love them back.

-People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.

-People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him (1 John 2:4-6; Matt. 16:24-26)

-Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo. A person who is obsessed with Jesus will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth. As Martin Luther put it, "There are two days on my calendar: this day and that day" (Luke 14:25-35; Matt. 7:13-23; 8:18-22; Rev. 3:1-6)

-A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be "humble enough," and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more know (Matt 5:16)

-People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving His people. (Matt. 13:44; John 15:8)

-People who are obsessed with God are known as givers, not takers. Obsessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly away of those who are poor around the world. (James 2:14-26)

-A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.

-A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.

-People who are obsessed are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or their failures. Obsessed people don't put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace.

-People who are obsessed with God have an intimate relationship with Him. They are nourished by God's Word throughout the day because they know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them for a whole week, especially when they will encounter so many distractions and alternative messages.

-A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort. Obsessed people know that true joy doesn't depend on circumstances or environment; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately come from God (James 1:2-4)

-A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the best thing he can do is be faithful to his Savior in every aspect of his life, continually saying "Thank You!" to God. An obsessed person knows there can never be intimacy if he is always trying to pay God back or work hard enough to be worthy. He revels in his role as child and friend of God.


yep, so you just read that. :) I need to continue to read over that again and again. I thought it was great. Really convicting, really powerful. Hope you were challenged as I was.

Feel free to write comments. I would love to hear what you think.
Oh & I would recommend the book to you. :)

-Kells

saturday morning

....TV sucks. :) We don't have cable so on Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons after church there is NOTHING on TV. Apparently, college football started today. I would have no clue because all I see is infomercials, cartoons, and garden shows. I mean literally, I'm watching this garden/back yard show.

Teddy just left to play golf & grab lunch with Brett & Calder. I think I'm gonna clean around here for a little bit, make a grocery list, and spend time with Jesus.

Guess what happened a year ago today?


We got engaged!!! :) In 10 days we are celebrating 6 months of marriage. All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD for short engagements. I can't imagine having a year long engagement and barely be married at this point. That would be weird. I tell everyone that if you can have a short engagement DO IT. Totally worth it for many different reasons.

What's been happening lately? Well again, work has taken off. I've been busy busy busy & tired tired tired. Holding conversations for hours and hours with different people is exhausting...but fun! We have met SOO many people during this last first full week of classes. We were praying that we would have 200 people in Bible studies this first week...and we had 206! PRAISE GOD! God is clearly at work in the hearts of students, that they would take the initiative to engage in Christian community & study the Bible together. It was truly an amazing week!

This week I enjoyed being part-time. At first I felt guilt leaving campus early or running errands. But I constantly have to remind myself that I'm part-time...it's just hard to make that adjustment from the past 2 years to now. I was able to go to the bank, pharmacy, grocery story, eat lunch at home and get gas one day during a 2 hour break I had. I felt like I had LOTS of time with students this week too. It was a good balance.

My car started messing up last Saturday. My a/c kept going off & on. It continued all week & made me sweat ALOT in my car. :) Well Wednesday I noticed a sweet smell, but also a burning smell too. When Teddy got home from work we decided we needed to take it to the shop. On the way there it started over heating. So Teddy guessed it was my radiator. Well, indeed it was. Of course I had my moment of not trusting God with our finances. We were thinking it was going to be around $1,000...but it was only $427. I know I say ONLY...but we thought that was a SUPER blessing. We were able to pick it up yesterday afternoon.

I've started this 28 day devotional on the 1st. It's called the four seven's. It's something that Crusade has made. It's great so far. We are walking through the book of Luke. I spend time in prayer, read the passage, answer some questions that are thought provoking, and pray again. All together it's about 30 mins a day. I've definitely found it rewarding so far. Today is day four and so far I'm finding my desire to spend time in the Word is increasing. :) yay!

OH GOSH, I just realized this garden show I'm watching is on PBS. What on earth am I doing watching PBS? ha!


So on this past Monday I came home to a CLEAN home. Teddy had the day off and used it to clean our living room and kitchen. I was beyond grateful!! I just kept saying Thank You over and over. It was such a sweet thing for him to do. It makes it so wonderful to come home to a clean home. LOVE IT.

I will leave you with my current favorite picture of us :)


Have a wonderful Labor day weekend!
-Kells