Out at the "K"

Last Friday a group of us went to the "K" (Kaufmann Stadium) for the KC Royals vs. Detroit Tigers game!!! We had a blast even tho it was a million degrees outside! It was beautiful all week then it decided to get HOT on the night of the game! lol The Royals lost by 1 point...go figure. LOL The last point was an unfair game tho. Oh well, we still had a blast, and laughed all night! Here's a few pictures of the night! :)

Here is a video of part of the fireworks after the game!!! They were awesome!!! The fountains are amazing too!!

Fireworks 082208

Amanda came to visit...

Amanda came to visit Sarah and I a couple of weeks ago! We had a great time hanging out with her!! I'll try to post some pics soon...

Disappointed

So, a couple of months ago I entered a photo contest for a local radio station's weather calendar. Below is the email that I received today. :( Guess I'll have to try again next year...

Krista,

The final selections have been made, and I'm sorry you did not make the final cut. We appreciate your submittals and please try again next year. I think you will find the calendar provides a nice representation of the Kansas City area. We had well over 1000 photographs submitted and it was very challenging to find the right mix for the calendar.

Thanks for your interest, and please do try again.

Sincerely,

KC Weather Calendar


Oh...and btw... while I'm talking about photo contests... If you have read previous blogs, you know that I entered a bigger photo contest several months ago. I think it was a scam. :( But, we'll see if anything happens by the end of the year. Maybe one of these days I'll get in one. :)

A small little blessing...

Ok, so its the small things in life that makes you thankful. My check engine light came on in my car on Sunday and I was freaking out because I was afraid it was going to be some crazy expensive thing wrong and I don't have alot of money right now (who does? lol). So, I just prayed a simple prayer, "God, you know I don't have alot of money right now, I'm trying to get my bills paid off, so please just either fix the problem, or help whatever it is not to be expensive." So when I got my car checked out today (I was sick so my friend Jonathon took it up there for me). They checked it out, and come to find out, I had a bad grade of gasoline. THATS ALL IT WAS!!! It sounds so silly, but I was so thankful, because God answered my prayer! :) He's amazing!! and I have to give Him credit for it!!

Ethnic Enrichment Festival 2008

Every year we go to this festival and we always have a blast!! This year was bigger than ever! There were over 60 countries represented with different booths for each country, artifacts you could buy, food, music, ethnic dances, etc.

Gin and Ken are HOME!!

They FINALLY made it home from Africa!!!!! It was SOOO good to see them again!!!! Although they will be on the road alot now that they are home, at least they are here!! :) They had some wonderful experiences in Africa, and their pictures are wonderful! These are a couple of pictures of us eating breakfast together when they stayed at our house!! :) Love you Gin and Ken!! :)

Everyone gathered around the table eating breakfast!

My Dad...since I couldn't get him in the picture! :)

Night Out on Tara's Birthday!!

A couple weekends ago, a group of us went and hung out together. We went and had dinner at Jack Stack, then went to The Melting Pot for dessert. LOL It was SO much fun tho!!!

C2 Life Group

Some great things are happening in our C2 (College and Career) group!!! God is doing a work and it is so amazing every week, when we are at Life Group. We are always looking forward to what will take place! Here is a copy of what Bro. Sanders wrote for our C2 Blog. God is awesome!! The presence of God was so thick, you could literally feel him wrap His arms around you!

What a wonderful presence of the Lord visited our group on Wednesday, July 30. The intensity of His presence was tangible. We were missing several people yet still had 26 in attendance. While we gathered in our basement, I could sense that this woud be a special evening. Bro. Larmie, who normally leads us in worship, was unable to attend so I was prepared to have someone else lead when I realized that what we were about to talk about would need no worship song.
We began to talk about hearing the voice of God and then acting upon what we heard. We dealt with the several times that Jesus said, "He that hath an ear, let him hear." It is all too often that while we have ears, we tend not to use them.
In our conversation we came to a verse in Zephaniah 3 that declared that the Almighty would save, rejoice over us and then will joy over thee with singing. At the close of our discussion, the anointing of the Holy Ghost was very near, and we began to pray. As we prayed I felt that God was beginning to speak, and yet some were not hearing. As we calmed our prayers I challenged the group with what I thought God was wanting to take place - He was wanting to sing. He was wanting to take care of the song that night. We began to pray for one another and while that was blessed and anointed, it didn't seem to break into a dimension where God desired us to walk.
Then all of us in unison raised our hands and lifted our voices to heaven and there was a breaking of the Spirit that began to sweep over us. Tears had already been flowing, but added to those tears was a strength of God that could physically be felt. All of a sudden Andrea Blaszyk began to speak in tongues in the most authoritative, powerful voice I had ever heard her pray in (and I have heard her a lot through the years!). It was one of those moments that you thought would be followed by an interpretaion, but after about four minutes of Andrea speaking like this, the Holy Ghost prompted me to tell the group, that this is not for interpretation, it was God singing!! He was singing and rejoicing over us just as Zephaniah promised!! Andrea went for another five minutes before she calmed down. When we realized that the God of glory was rejoicing and singing over us, we all broke forth in tears and wonder and amazement came across the room because we truly had an encounter with the Almighty. Thank God He likes to sing!
- T. Sanders

Mo Mass 2008

MOMass was awesome this year!! I wasn't able to go on tour this year due to my work schedule but I met up with them in Joplin and hung out with them while they were in Kansas City! It rocked and was alot of fun! Here is a pic of the chorale!

The Life Church-Kansas City

I found this video online, this was taken for our "My Church" campaign. "I Love My Church, Because..."

I LOVE my church. Sometimes we take things for granted and don't really realize how blessed we really are. I am SO blessed to have such a wonderful church. Words can not describe how thankful I am to be apart of such a wonderful church and to have the BEST pastor. Pastor and Sister Gleason are such wonderful people and I thank God for them!

Travelin' Redneck Style...

Okay, This is just wrong on SOOO many levels!!!! LOL Sarah and I were traveling to St. Louis for the last night of Campmeeting, Friday night, and this is what we saw on the highway!!! LOL Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!! LOL

Gotta love nice Customers!!!

Okay, so the funniest thing just happened to me at work! I have been dealing with this customer off and on for awhile assisting him with his Total Loss vehicle. He is the nicest and sweetest (older) gentleman. He always thanks me 10 times over for helping him (It's just Customer Service, no biggie. lol) and he said that American Family was just great and that he didn't know what he would do without me! lol Then he proceeds to say, "If you weren't a married women, I'd ask you out!!! Or if you were a waitress, I'd give you a BIG tip!!!" HAHAHA

It just cracks me up when people say stuff like this. LOL Hey, at least he wasn't a grumpy customer! lol Gotta love it! ha!

Proud to be an American!!!!!

My heart is so overwhelmed right now. I just got done watching an episode on the internet of Extreme Home Makeover. It was about this Marine that had served in Iraq, and one of his legs had gotten blown off by an explosion he was in. His wife divorced him, and he has 4 children to raise on his own. He got an artificial leg, and he still does everything he did before. He was an amazing dad and you could tell he loved his country. To see the love that he had not only for his family but for this country was amazing. It definitely makes you think. I am SO thankful and proud to be an American! If you think of all the countries that are less fortunate, who have nothing. They have no running water, no electricity, barely any food, and run around barefoot because they have no shoes to put on their feet. How spoiled are we. We get upset if the a/c isn't working, if we have "no" food in the house, or we run out of time to go do something we just "wanted" to do. We don't need all that we want. I am SO thankful for this country. Yes we have had our trying times, but we need to pray for the leadership of the United States. That God would protect them (not only them but the entire country), that God would give them wisdom on how to handle certain situations that may arise, and that God would place the leaders in office when it comes time. Every time I have gone overseas and have come back home. It never fails...every time I step my foot back onto American soil, its that feeling of, "I am HOME". I thank God for this country and everything that he has blessed us with! I thank God for our soldiers and for our freedom!!!!!!!!! I thank God for the United States of America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I love this song!!! In fact, when we were watching the fireworks on the 4th, they had this song playing, and it gives you a whole new look on things. Enjoy!

4th of July Weekend!!

Over the 4th, Melodie and Linda came to visit Sarah and I in Kansas City!! Yay! We had a BLAST and I am so thankful that they got to come! :) Each morning I cooked breakfast which consisted of biscuits, cheesy eggs, cinnamon rolls, and either bacon or sausage. When they got into town on Thursday evening we went to eat at Buca de Beppos! It was so good! On Friday (the 4th) we went shopping, then went downtown and went to Liberty Memorial area then went to eat at Jack Stacks BBQ before we went down to Riverfest to watch the fireworks. We hung out down there for awhile and then watched an awesome fireworks display!! :) Afterwards we went down to The Plaza to Starbucks and hung out till like 1:30 am! LOL The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we were having a great time, not even realizing what time it was! lol Saturday, we went to get pedicures, met Sarah for lunch at Pizza 51 (they have they best pizza, ever!) and got a HUGE pizza for FREE!!! Can anyone say Amen?! lol Then went back to the Plaza and shopping for a little while went back home and hung out. So it was a blast hangin' with the girls!! I'm SO glad they came!!! Love you girls!!

Memphis '08

WOW!! What can I say about this trip?! It was beyond amazing!!! It was truly what I needed the most! Church was awesome, had a blast with friends, heart to heart talks, we laughed so much it hurt, no sleep, but had a BLAST!!!!! There are not enough words to express how glad I am that I was able to go on this trip. I think we laughed for 5 days straight! lol Believe it or not, but I didn't take as many pictures this trip for some reason, but I'll be adding more once I get some from other friends. :)

Carnival for the Homeless

On June 21st, our church hosted a Carnival at one of the Homeless Shelters here in Kansas City. We had a puppet show, games for the kids, food, drinks, and live music! We had a great turn out and it was alot of fun....minus the heat! lol Here are a few pics...:)

Ashlyn's Visit!!

So, I've been super busy and have not been able to post anything lately. But a couple of weeks ago, my oldest neice Ashlyn came to stay with us for 10 days!! We had a BLAST together and did a ton of stuff! It started out on Fathers Day and we went mini golfing with my parents. It was so much fun! (those pics are already posted). Then throughout the week, we went to the Downtown City Hall Observation Deck-to look out of the 30th floor deck, the Marble Company and watched them make a marble-it was awesome! We went to Crown Center, Union Station, Liberty Memorial, the Plaza, ate at Fritz's- they deliver your food by train, played in the sprinklers-it was SO much fun!!! She got to go to the bookstore with Aunt Darla, to the mall with Grandmommy, and went to take pictures of flowers with Granddaddy (they love doing that). So it was a BLAST and we all had a great time!!! I was sad to see her go back home, as well as she was sad to leave. But, I'm sure we'll do it again soon! :)

I need your help!!

As most of you know, a few months ago I entered a picture that I took of Downtown Kansas City into an online photo contest! It was selected as a semi-finalist and it will be published into a book, this year. Well, I just found out that I have now been selected as one of the finalist!!!!! So, this is why I am asking for your help!! :) Please go and vote for my picture, "Enlightening".

Please click here to submit your vote!!! (You will have to copy and paste)
http://picture.com/voteforme/photovote1.asp?PID=2609194

I need all the votes I can get!!!

...Saved and Single...

My friend, Melodie, sent this to me and I loved it! :) To all my single friends out there. We are not alone!! Just because we are single, does not mean that we are "weird" (as Sis Debbie Saiz says). We are perfectly normal. Alot of people think that if we are single that we can't do anything, that we have too much time on our hands, or whatever the case may be. However, that is not true. I think single people are one of the busiest people ever because we get involved in almost everything there is to get involved in. Get out there, go meet people, travel, do things that you have always wanted to do and explore. Remember, you are not alone!

Saved & Single
~ Author Unknown~

What makes you think that just because I am an attractive woman of Godly intelligence that I'm incomplete without a mate?

Who told you that without a man, Something's missing from my life?
And if so, what would that be?

Love?
I love myself
And more importantly I love the LORD.
He told me that when I delight in Him,
He will give me the desires of my heart.

Security?
I have everything I need according to His riches in glory.

Intimacy?
Now, how's a man going to get to know me
When he doesn't even know who he is in the Lord
See my Father told me, I'm above a ruby's worth
And a gem does not seek It is sought
I'm single and that's all right with me

See, it's not that I oppose relationships
It's that I detest co-dependency
As a woman I know it is not my role
To chase after any man

Esther 2:14 reads
That I am to wait on my king and when he's delighted in me. He
will call me by my name.
My Lord does not intend for me to be needy or desperate.

I am to be Cherished, Relished, Valued, and Honored, it’s not my job to convince him or Convict him of that,
My mate will already know it And consistently show it
And he will stay on his knees daily Not just to adore me
But to praise the Lord for The virtuous woman he has found

So, when you see me by myself
I'm not alone
I know what I have coming to me
I'm single and saved, and right now that's all I need to be!

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Happy Fathers Day (to those of you that are fathers)!!! We had alot of fun today!!
Last night, I spent alot of time with my Daddio playing Yahtzee. Our family LOVES that game and plays it all the time. We had a good time playing as you can tell by the pictures! Ashlyn (my neice came in and is spending a week with us). Dad has to work on Sundays :( but we met him for dinner and then went mini golfing afterwards. We had alot of fun!!! I thank God for my parents and love them very much!!

House Sitting

I have been house/dog sitting for 3 weeks! I love it!! Here are a couple of pictures of Pooh Bear and Tigger...They are hilarious! Pooh Bear has been very excited to spend a couple of days with Tigger (only been watching him for a couple of days).
Pooh Bear
Tigger

Something new in KC...

So, I discovered something new the other day on my way to work! I had to work in one of our satelite offices on the Kansas side. I'm always looking for something new in the city, and I found something last week! It's the Rosedale Memorial! It reminded me SO much of Europe and I got all excited, and decided to try to figure out how to get to the top of this hill! lol After about 10-15 minutes, I found it!! Here are a few pictures of it!

KC Storms

We have been having alot of storms here in Kansas City the past couple of weeks. One night last week we had 10-12 lightning strikes, one of which hit a gas barrel that held over 1 million gallons of gas!! The first picture is one off the internet, but the second one (in the daylight) was a picture that I took from my job, you could still see the smoke billowing up in the sky the next day, and I was about 20 miles from where it was happening! It burned for 36 hours!
The bottom 2 pictures are pics I took on my cell phone during our T-storms!

Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day!! :) It's been a great weekend! My sister Robyn and the kids came down on Saturday and we hung out and made homemade salsa (YUM)! Jeff didn't get to come down this time tho. :( Sunday was church and then Sunday night we went to 'Celebration at the Station' at Union Station, in Downtown Kansas City!! It was a blast!! It was a little hot at first but once the sun went down it was a beautiful evening! There was a big group of us that went and we had a great time! The Kansas City Symphony played patriotic music and then there were fireworks afterwards over the Liberty Memorial! Then tonight we hung out and my Dad grilled out and we had an awesome dinner! :) Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

"Silent Praise" - 'The Presence of the Lord is Here'

Check out this video: Dramatic Sign "The Presence of the Lord is Here"



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This is the video of us signing today!!!

"Silent Praise"

Here are a few pictures from church today. :) Church was awesome today and God did many wonderful things!!! :) Our sign group "Silent Praise" did the song "The Presence of the Lord is here" and it was Awesome!!!!!!! In the sign team was: Venita, Paulette, Bethany, Darla, Melody, Calandra, Tara, Me, and Kayla. There are also a few pics of the TLC choir. :)

Mothers Day '08

Happy Mothers Day for those of you that are Momma's! :) Today after church I went with my Mom and my Uncle to visit my Grandparents gravesites to honor them (especially Big Mom) since it was Mothers Day. It was so hard. This is the first holiday that we have spent without Big Mom. It was so hard to see Mom break down again. She was VERY close to my grandma and we all miss her VERY much. It was so sweet tho, my Mom gave Big Mom and Big Dad a card and we stuffed it in the flowers so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. It just broke my heart to see my Mom like this. Our family went out to eat afterwards and we had a great time together! As you can see by some of the pics! haha

Jennifer's Baby Shower

Today, I drove up to St. Joe for Jennifer and Brady's baby shower for Baby Bradyn. It was sooo good to see them again! I can't wait to see this little guy!! :) He will be here before we know it!

Fiesta Kansas City '08

Last night we went to the Fiesta KC. We ate at a 50's Diner at Union Station then walked "The Link" over to Crown Center and went to the Fiesta. It was a lot of fun! A few of the pics are kinda blurry but you can still tell what it is.

Weekend in St. Louie!!!

I just got back from spending 4 days in St. Louis! I met one of my best friends there, Dorenda, and we had a BLAST!!! It was sooo good to see her and get to hang out with her again! We don't get to hang out often enough because we live so far away from each other. So we met up in St. Louis for a long weekend! We did tons of stuff!! We stayed with my sister and her family so I got to see them as well!! I got to see several other friends...and I failed to get pics of them...but next time we will! :) Love ya Ren...glad you got to come down this way!! :)