my 25th post

I know people normally post 100 things about them on their 100th post, but who knows if I'll ever make it to 100 anyway! Since this is my 25th post I thought I would put up 25 random things about me....

1. I really hate scary movies. I think life is scary and sad enough, and that I should only watch things that make me happy!

2. I am super close to my family. I talk to my Mom like 5 times a day, and normally atleast 1 or 2 of my other relatives each day...Dad, Aunt, cousin, sister in law, etc.

3. I'm convinced that our puppy Bear is the cuddliest dog in the world, and I never thought I could love an animal so much. I'm dangerously close to being one of "those" dog owners! Sorry Care :)

4. Matt and I have hearts for orphan ministry. We feel called to serve in this area, but aren't really sure how yet. Right now we help sponsor an orphanage in Africa, and we hope to go work and serve there in the near future.

5. I love Oklahoma State University, and still say that there is nothing like the pride that graduating from a University will give you. If they win, it feels like I just won some award, and I'm equally as sad when they lose.

6. Quality time is the way to my heart. I love spending time with people I love, and it totally recharges me. Quality time with friends and family ranks WAY up there on my favorite things to do with my time.

7. I love the relationship my husband and I have. We have worked hard for it, and still do everyday. Having a good marriage doesn't come naturally, it takes work, but it's some of the most rewarding work I've ever done.

8. I really dislike when people are racist or discriminatory. Really, really, really dislike.

9. I miss college.....a lot. Sleeping in, working out whenver, spending lots of time with friends...good stuff all around! Plus, the real world is pretty stressful.

10. I'm a country girl at heart. I grew up on a farm, have hauled hay, given animals shots, and helped farm animals have babies. I was recently buying dog food for Bear in the large 40 pound sack, and the cashier's eyes got really big when I just picked it up and tossed it onto my shoulder. He was on his way to help me take it out to my car. I did it without thinking, and then he started laughing at me. :)

11. I really like all kinds of music....red dirt, old rock, acoustic, Christian...you name it, and I will listen to it. I'm totally okay with Hank Williams, Jr., Bebo Nornman, Ben Harper, or .38 special.

12. I am a really happy person. I'm smiley, affectionate, and if I see you will really truly be genuinely happy to see you. I've always been that way. If I'm having a bad day, I'm more worried about making your day better with a smile and a hug, than being mopey about my bad day. It may come off as me not being genuine, but I am. That's just me! :)

13. In a few months I will be a licensed counselor, which kind of scares me to death. I'm not even really sure what I want to do with my degree. At this point, I feel like it will probably be something in the area of adoption.

14. As you would assume from number 13, I'm a listener by nature. You could talk for 4 hours straight, and I would totally be good with it.

15. Old rap music is one of my guilty pleasures. You just simply can't beat old school Mase. :)

16. I could live on fresh salsa. Fresh vegetables are some of my favorite foods.

17. I've had some of my best friends since we were 6, and I promise you when we are 76 we'll be just as close. My kids will call them Aunt..... and I am already an Aunt! :)

18. One of my favorite smells in the world in the smell of fresh laundry. Most candles and air freshners in my house are trying to mimick that smell.

19. One of my lifelong dreams is to take my babies on a vacation to Disney World. I think it should be a huge family vacation where all my sister and brother in laws and their babies all go, and we spend a week wearing those really cool Mickey Mouse ears, take pictures, and use it for our Christmas cards that next year! :)

20. One of my life long goals is to be a stay at home Mom, jury is still out on whether that will ever be financially possible or not.

21. I love buying people gifts.....seriosuly. I think it's so fun to try to find something for each person that I love.

22. I am a worrier. I worry about all kinds of things. Some are legitimate and some really just aren't..... For instance, I worry about poverty levels, the number of people that die of AIDS everyday, my Papa having to spend time by himself, my family members being safe when they drive, etc., and then I worry about whether my flowers get enough sun, if Bear likes his toys enough or not, and how disorganized my office is.

23. I love baseball. I went to a million of Cody's games growing up and all the way through college. The Atlanta Braves are my favorite team. My husband is going to coach baseball this year, and I am pumped!

24. My wedding day was absolutley everything I thought it would be. I think about it all the time, and how thankful I am that God allowed me to marry Matt. I've never felt more loved on a day in my entire life. My friends were incredible, and family was overwhelmingly loving. I could tear up at the thought of that day pretty easy.

25. I think that we should love people right where they are with no expectations. That is what Jesus does for me, and that's what my goal is for loving others.

So there you go, some info about me. Do we have anything specific in common? What's something interesting and random about you?

School's Out Forever!!

So this past weekend I finally graduated! I guess they say never say never, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm never going back to school again!

Working full time, learning how to be married, and going to school full time have made the last 3 years busy and stressful to say the least. Matt has been more than incredible throughout this whole process. In fact, would you like to know who ironed my dress for graduation? Yep, you got it!

Friday night he also suggested that I go get a pedicure. I agreed, I mean who am I to argue?? So as a result, my feet were way cute for the weekend!

We didn't get many good pictures at the actual graduation, but of course there always seems to be something funny happen when I'm involved. Since I graduated with my Masters, while on stage I was to get hooded. When the professor tried to put the hood over my dorky hat he almost knocked it off! I grabbed it in time though.... Crazy.

After graduation Matt and my parents had a reception for me and all of our friends and family came. We had a fantastic time, and it was way more than I deserved!

eyes that tell a story....

So I've already told you about how excited we are to be involved with sponsoring a child from the Kebebtsehay Orphanage in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Well excited, may be a tad bit of an understatement.

We are a part of a sponsorship group that mostly came together through blogs to sponsor this group of children. So many wanted to be involved that our group now sponsors 3 orphanages, all of which are in Ethiopia. There are still spots available for sponsorship in the 3rd orphanage so if you are interested please send Amy an email. I'm sure she will be more than happy to help you get involved! :)

So recently, we got the information on the child we would sponsor. We had been been praying for him/her since we joined the sponsorship group, but to get to connect our prayers with this sweet face was incredible. We aren't allowed to share her name, but I wanted you to see her picture.

Her eyes tell a story, and I think it's one that needs to be shared.

This is "H". She is 3, and she is already in kindergarten! What I wouldn't give to sweep this baby up and hold her for hours. Matt and I are going to do our best to love her the way she deserves to be loved. We are far away, but I hope someday she understands how precious she is to us. These sweet eyes have seen and been through a lot in their 3 years, and I hope that having us (and the One we serve) in her corner will help somehow.

If you think of it pray for "H", and pray that the Lord would help us to be just what she needs as she grows up, whatever that may be.

Cardboard and Jesus

One of my friends sent this to me in an email, and I've probably watched it 10 times. Cry every single time. There is something about how simple and raw it is. You can tell that there is still pain associated with the situations, but that Jesus has healed and is still healing them. I can't stop thinking about what my cardboard testimony would look like. I often under estimate the healing that He can bring. Good stuff people, good stuff.




Have you ever heard of this? Seen it done before? I wonder why something so simple is so powerful? I think sometimes we make things harder than they should be. Thoughts or opinions?

Anniversary Trip

So Matt and I's anniversary is coming up in July and we are trying to figure out a fun way to celebrate it. We decided we would like to go somewhere fun just the 2 of us for 3 days or so, but then the hard part comes of trying to decide where.

First, lets talk about our anniversary trips in the past....

Honeymoon- Cabin in Colorado Springs, white water rafting, hiking, etc. It was totally perfect.

1st year- Grand Lake- We rented a cabin that was grosser than you can imagine (think mold and bugs in the shower) and couldn't even get in the water for some reason which I can't remember. We tried to hike but we couldn't. It was pretty much a TOTAL bust!

2nd year- Nada- We were saving money for this awesome couple's fun destination wedding in Montana.

So what should we do for year 3? We have tossed around the idea of a long weekend in Vegas. I think we kinda decided that trip would be more fun with a larger group, so maybe we can talk the gang into that one in the near future.

We also thought about San Antonio to see the Alamo and shop, but that's like 9 hours or something crazy if we drive, and we've been told we would need a car, so flying isn't really an option. We even tossed around the idea of Memphis, Branson, and some closer (aka cheaper) places.

So what do you think? Any advice or ideas on how/where to celebrate 3 years of marital bliss with this handsome man???

Go with the flow???

So lately in the Bolz household most things have centered around this question. Should we try to plan or just go with the flow???

It seems like at this point in our lives everything is so up in the air, and trying to sort all of it out and figure out what would be the best often seems near impossible. Things like houses, babies, jobs, ministry decisions, and even small things like vehicles and golf carts. It just totally seems never ending right now.

It's so interesting to talk to people about being a planner or not. I tend toward the planning end of the spectrum, which is often a dangerous thing. I have stuff all planned out, and of course things change and the Lord has a different plan for us! I work to be better at trusting and being patient, it definitely does not come easy for me. Matt is definitely better at it, and doesn't tend to get impatient.

I often think about the fact that if I'm constantly planning for the future, I'm going to miss the amazing things that the Lord is doing right now....today.

So, how does it work in your or your family's life? Plan or go with the flow?

Dunsky.....

I am done with school.....almost.

I passed the last part of the required tests for me to be awarded my Masters Degree. The only thing that stands between me and my degree is one statistics test. So just take a guess at what my motivation is to prepare for that thing....yeah, non-existent!

So this last part of my exam was an oral defense. I had to go in and sit down and then 3 professors began asking me questions regarding information I had learned in the program. I had to answer questions, and give a defense of my test scores. I did pretty well on the test, so that part wasn't too stressful, but still nerve racking at the least. After all 3 of them had asked me several questions, my statistics professor who was on my committee said they had just one last thing for me to complete. He wrote out a complicated statistics problem, handed it to me and asked me to work through and solve it. My heart dropped.... I looked up at him and he had a huge grin on his face. He told me he was only joking, and then I started nervous giggling. I'm sure it was lovely.... He is one of my favorite professors, and we've always had a good relationship full of joking around and teasing. It was totally par for the course, but in my emotional state it was nearly disastrous!

They then asked me to step outside so that they could calculate my scores. After 5 minutes or so, they asked to come back in and then congratulated me!

I'm so relieved and so grateful that it's all coming to an end. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts getting through this rough time finishing up school!