Jars Of Clay - Flood (Original Version)

This song brings back some fun memories.

Introducing Isaac Kupfer

I finally have a "Great Cousin." Apparently, he is actually my 1st Cousin-Once Removed but I like "Great Cousin" better.

My cousin Pete and his wife Gina have been married for 3 years and this is their first child. This adorable little child is my first 1st Cousin-Once Removed. :) I can't wait to meet him.

Born: April 22nd, 2006 at 7:55am
8 pounds, 6 ounces

Both mommy and baby are doing great.

FRIENDS by Michael W Smith

My friends are amazing. I hope they know that I love them.
I decided to dedicate this song Ben. I believe is dancing with Jesus right but we are friends forever and nothing...not even death can change that.
We miss you so much.

Spring Cleaning is Fun!

Steve and I started doing some Spring Cleaning last night. His sister, Sarah, is coming into town and she is alergic to everything so Steve thought it would be a good idea to make sure everything is clean. We made a long list of everything that needs to be cleaned and straightened and then what we wanted to do first.

First, we went out to dinner to Texas Roadhouse. I love that resturant and I didnt really want to have to wash more dishes. We still had some resturant money in our budget for this paycheck so it was ok.
Then we came home and started cleaning. It was just a nice day outside. Hopefully soon we will be able to start riding our bikes to places. We want to start riding our bikes to work once it gets nice. That will help us get in shape and save money on gas. Seems like a win-win situation to me.

The apartment looks pretty nice now. We didnt get alot done but we got some. I worked on our bedroom and tried to get all our laundry washed and put away. Steve worked on the loving room straightening everything and dusting. We went shopping the other day and Steve got a Swifter duster and I think he found his new favorite toy. He was going all over the apartment dusting everything, sometimes more than once.

5 (ish) Things All Kids Should Know

"What are five things I want my kids to know before they grow up?"

A few people in my circle of influence have started a "tag game", I guess. They answering the above question. My pal Corey Mann put his in songs, which doesn't surprise me since he loves music so much. I thought it would be fun to answer the question with my own songs. Even though I don't have kids, I am thinking back on all the things I have learned in my years of middle school ministry. I realized the other day that I have been doing ministry long enough that I have former 6th graders in their 2nd year of college. Yikes. I sometimes think back and wonder if I made any kind of difference in their lives. I hope so.

I thought of more than just 5, but oh well. It's my blog I get to make the rules, right? :0)

1. Wait For Me by Rebecca St. James
2. Someone Like You by Jamie Slocum
3. We by Joy Williams
4. Mirror by Barlowgirl
5. American Dream by Casting Crowns
7. The Last to Be Chosen by Ray Boltz
8. Small Enough by Nichole Nordeman
9. Bless the Broken Road by Rascall Flatts
10. I'm With You By Avril Lavigne
11. If We are the Body By Casting Crowns
12. Tommorrow by Annie
13. Revolutionary Love by David Crowder Band
14. Her by Everyday Sunday
15. Sometimes He Calms the Storm by Scott Krippayne

Most importantly every child needs to know they matter to God and that they matter to you!

Happy Birthday Steve!!!

Today we celebrate the life of a great guy. He is my best friend and I love him more than words can say.

For his birthday last night we tried the resturant Rib Shack in Granger. Neither one of us had ever eaten there before. Damian, the Bones, and some other friends met us there. It was a good time.

It is suppossed to be a nice day today, so we are going to have a cookout with some other friends for dinner tonight.

Happy Birthday, my love!!!

My Dad is 50 Today!

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!

Hope you have a good one.

April 15th = Evil

Does anyone else hate taxes?

Steve and I brought our tax information to his dad this week and finished our taxes. We get a refund from the but we owe money to Federal. This annoys me to no-end. I don't think I would mind it so much if I thought my taxes we being spent responsively, but when my tax money is being wasted it does not make me happy. Maybe the next President will be more fiscally responsible. One can hope, right?

His dad did our taxes both filling as single and as married and we actually owed more as single, so good thing we got married. Just kidding...We didn't get married for the tax benefit.

I am looking forward to getting the Economic Stimilus check this summer. I thought it was going to be like a loan on text years taxes, but his dad said it's tax-free income. So yeah!!!

We plan to use to pay off one of his credit cards, so then we will only have one credit card left. Our Debt Snowball will really start rolling then. :0)

Weekend

This weekend was a good weekend. Steve and I both worked Saturday until 4. After work, we ate dinner at TGI Fridays, then rented some movies, and had desert at Cold Stone Creamery. It kinda reminded me of the night we got engaged. That night we ate at Fridays then Cold Stone. We rented Mr. Magorium Wonderful Emporium and No Reservations. Both movies, I thought, we very good. Mr. Magorium was a fun kids movie. No Reservation was a pretty typical Click Flick but i was a fun date night movie.

On Sunday after church, Steve cut his hair then we went to work. We were pretty busy at work. It was VIP Friends and Family Night. Everything was an extra 10% off including sale and clearance items. I like saving people money and getting lots of commission of those sales is a good thing too. Steve said he was busy in Appliances too.

I was sick yesterday and stayed home from work. I dont usually like to admit when I'm sick but I felt pretty awful. After work, my sister invited us to go with some other friends to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the Dollar Theater. It was a fun movie. I never really watched to cartoons as a kid so it was fun to see the movie as an adult.

When You Feel Like You Failed

Oasis was a bit hectic tonight. I had to kick out my first student tonight. In 8 years, I have never had to kick out one of my students. It was pretty heartbreaking.
I know I shouldn't feel like I failed because I did all I could, but I can't help it. Did I miss something? Was there something she wanted to talk to me about that I missed? Where is her anger coming from?

I only had 2 students in my group tonight. After the one went home, I talked to the other student about what happened. I assured her that I had no ill feelings for the students. I just had to enforce the Oasis rule about respecting the leaders. At Oasis, we take dispecting leaders very seriously.

I am really proud of the remaining students. She is an incredible student and I hope she realizes that she has control over her future.
"Show me your friends and I will show you you future" - Judy Gregory

I threw the Eagles Nest guide out tonight (sorry Johnny) and we just talked about life.
The remaining student prayed us out an the end of the night. I hope she knows how much I wished tonight would have been different.

Where Did It Go?

Where did March go? I remember the first weekend of March, but after that it is all a blur. I can't believe it is almost over already.

Catalyst Conference Dave Ramsey

Indescribable Montage

Louie Giglio - Indescribable tour

Ben Hostetler

Benjamin J. Hostetler
Feb. 13, 1980 - March 3, 2008

MISHAWAKA - Benjamin J. Hostetler, 28, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, formerly of Mishawaka, passed away March 3, 2008, in his home. Benjamin graduated from Mishawaka High School and Oral Roberts University. He was currently employed with the City of Tulsa.

Benjamin is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Ann (Steinbach) Hostetler of Tulsa; his parents, Lawrence and Kathleen Hostetler of Mishawaka; sisters, Julie (Kyle) Kosey of Garner, NC, Lucy (Jeff) Porter of Schaumburg, IL, Rita (Christopher) Burgo of Walkerton and Esther (Mark) Filpus of Granger; brothers, Joseph (Dawn) Hostetler of Brownsburg, IN, Mark Hostetler of Eau Claire, WI, and Gregory Hostetler of Columbus, OH. He is also survived by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, James and Linda Steinbach, and his sister-in-law, Amy Steinbach of Arlington, TX, formerly of Mishawaka. Benjamin was preceded in death by a brother, John; maternal grandparents, Joseph and Eugenia Arata; and by paternal grandparents, Roy and Georgette Hostetler.

Friends may visit with the family from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 15, in Thallemer, Goethals & Wells Funeral Home, 503 West Third Street, Mishawaka. Services will be held in the funeral home chapel at 1 p.m. Saturday, with Deacon Ron Moser officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger.

Memorials may be made to Elizabeth Hostetler.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

Benjamin was loved by all and will be greatly missed!

Dallas/Tulsa Trip/Ben

Steve and returned from our trip tonight. I had planned to blog tommorrow morning after a nice night sleep about the trip, but plans changed a bit. It's almost Midnight and I'm still awake.

Thursday: The day started out pretty early because I had a contact appointment at 9:30. After the appt. we took of for Chicago to meet up with Damian. Damian was going to drive us to the airport and use our car for the weekend. The planes went off and landed without issues and mostly on-time too. We had an hour lay-over in Atlanta then headed off to DFW. We got into Dallas in the evening so we went straight to our hotel and went to sleep.

Friday: Friday morning we woke up early again to start our drive to Tulsa, OK. It was a 5 hour drive from Dallas to Tulsa. We had a good time in Tulsa. I think Liz was very happy to see us. Ben's family (all of them) we all in town all at once. There was about 19 people in her one-bedroom apartment at one point Friday night. He has a great family. We sat around singing praise and worship songs. Ben seemed like he was doing well. He was in good spirits and seemed to be feeling alright. We spent the night at Liz's Friday night.

Saturday: Saturday, we got up and Steve made us a great breakfast. It was funny that he did too because Liz said Friday that she hasn't made a meal in about 2 weeks. We hung out with the family a little more. Then we drove back to Dallas to meet "Mommy and Daddy Steinbach" and Amy for dinner. We went to Spring Creek barbeque which is the great barbecue resturant ever. After dinner, we went back to the Steinbach's and showed them wedding photos and chatted. Then we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Sunday: Sunday morning we got up and met the Steinbachs for church. I forgot to warn Steve that their church was really charismatic so it was fun to see his reaction. The people there are really nice though. Church started with breakfast and 8:30, then Sunday School, then the church service that ended around 1pm. They were finishing up there Missions Week. It was interested. The speaker was a missionary from Africa and he was very passionate about his work. Later that night the church was having a Missions Banquet so we went to that too. They were serving barbeque and it was good.

Monday: Monday morning we had to meet our flight at 7:15 in the morning. They were both good flights. We had a layover in Atlanta again. This layover was almost 3 hours long. We arrived in Chicago to meet Damian at about 2:00. After a quick dinner with Damian, we drove back to South Bend.

I was going to talk about how nice the weather was in Texas and First Class flying but it just doesn't seem that important now. We didnt get to sit in First-Class but the flights between Dallas and Atlanta had a First-Class section on them. It really didn't look all that exciting but it may be cool to try once.

We were about to go to sleep on Monday night when "Daddy" Steinbach called Steve's cell phone. He informed us that Ben had passed away at 8:15pm Monday night. It still seems so sureal to me. I can't believe he is really gone. We just saw him on Saturday. Steve made him breakfast and he looked great when we left. I'm really glad now that we took the time to make the trip down there.

Liz told me Monday that he went quietly and peacefully. She said his family was all in the room at the time and they were singing praise songs and praying. I imagine that it looked a bit like Friday when we were there.

At least we know now that Ben is now up in Heaven dancing with Jesus. He is no longer in pain. Even though I wish he was still here, I can take comfort in knowing he is truly happy right now.

I know that God has a purpose in this so we will just have to wait and see what that is.

Please keep Liz and Ben's families in your prayers, as well as all their friends.

Liz Hostetler

7819 S Wheeling Ave, Apt 44L

Tulsa, OK 74136-8626

(918) 488-0775

Here is her contact info in Tulsa if you want to get a hold of her.

Benjamin Hostetler: February 13, 1980 - March 3, 2008

February Couples Night

Wow. I can't believe I haven't written about Couple's Night yet. It was pretty fun. Steve and I ran around all morning trying to get the apartment clean and ready.
We actually cleaning it up pretty well and put some pictures on the well. It feels more homey now. I really like it. As soon as I finished cleaning the kitchen, Steve decided it was time to start cooking the bread. But he didn't make to big of a mess and he cleaned up after himself. He really enjoys making bread. The smell of the bread and ribs cooking in the apartment really made the place smell great.

Tabby and Greg arrived first around 4:30 and Greg helped Steve bring the Grill outside. It has previously been hanging out in our living room. They came early because they wanted to use our stove to finish cooking their potatoes and green bean casserole. Which were really great, I might add.

Steve, Chris, and the girls arrived shortly after 6. The girls got fed and Erin picked them up and took them home. Erin was their babysitter for the night.

I love hanging out with these people. Sometimes I can't believe we have been friends for close to 20 years and other times I know exactly why we are still friends. These are people that I can count it. It is also nice that our husbands seem to like each other. The chocolate fountain was a big hit. I knew it would be. We didn't put the fountain out until the girls left so we didn't have to worry about them wanting to stay and eat chocolate. Steve brought the fountain out and put it in the living room right on to top of the white table cloth. I know...what was he thinking. It got chocolate all over it but it's ok. We can clean it. It was just an old piece of scrap cloth anyway.

We are planning the next Couple's Night was sometime in June. We are thinking of maybe making it a family event at Potato Creek. Tabby also suggested having a Fajitas Night.

A New Addition to Our Family

We have a new addition to our family. My amazing parents got Steve and I a grill for Christmas. Steve put it together last night and he spent part of today just admiring it. Steve cannot wait to use it. We are going to Christen it for the first time next weekend for Couples Night. Steve said even if it's snowing, he plans to be outside grilling for our friends.



Greg because he is awesome is coming over today to help Steve set it up. Yum! I can only imagine all the great food we are going to make on it.

The Game Plan

This weekend was a very relaxing weekend. We didn't do much and I like it that way sometimes. Steve had a part-time job interview at Sears on Saturday and they offered him a job in Appliances.

Saturday night we were sitting around the apartment and decided we should go out and do something. I can't wait until it stops snowing so we don't have to stay inside so much.

Saturday night, we went out to the dollar theater (which now costs $2). We saw The Game Plan. It was a pretty good movie. It was pretty predictable but I thought it was well done.

I enjoyed that it was a real kids movie. It wasn't a kids movie filled with language and over sexualized images like most kids movies have been lately. You can actually bring your kids to see this movie.

I totally recommend this movie. Adults will like it too.

Part Time Job

I got a Part-Time job yesterday. I will be working part time at the Sears on Ireland a few nights a week. I'll be working in the Hardware section. They were originally going to put me in the Appliance section but I guess they changed their mind.

I start the job on Friday. So if you are in the area and need to go shopping, you should stop by and visit.

Steve is mostly excited about the Sears discount that we will now get. Hopefully this will be eliviate a little bit of our money stress. We are sticking to our budget pretty good, but it is getting kinda tight lately.

Steve donated Plasma last Saturday in South Bend and got $35 and he wants to to go again this weekend and he should get $50 the second time. That should help us too.

If you want to go too, you can go to Biomat on Western. The first time you go though, you might want to have someone else drive you. I had to pick Steve up on Saturday because they wouldn't let him drive home because he passed out twice afterwards.

Taser Party

Taser parties for women

We should have one these party's. What do you think?
What are these people thinking?