More than 10 years oh my!

I just got an email from my alma mater (does anyone else think that is a weird word?) Anyway it was to update our files so they can post a new directory. One of the sections asked you to write in 300 words or less what has happened in your life since graduation.... how do you put 12 years of your life in 300 words or less....well this is what I wrote, do you think that sums it up pretty well ??? Let me know what you think.

It seems as though I just graduated yesterday, however it has been more than ten years since I was a Messiah student. After graduating from college, I taught Health and Physical Education for five years in Clearfield, PA. Then I moved to Lewisburg PA to work for a church, where I served as the Youth Director for the last 7 years. During my time at the church I was diagnosed with Multiple Schlerosis, that has been a very challenging experience, however very faith empowering, as I depend each day on God's strength to keep moving. Most recently I got married to Joel Snyder, a youth pastor at a church in Richfield, PA. I have recently left my youth director position at the church to join my husband as a volunteer in his youth ministry. My time is now spent traveling, speaking at seminars, teaching at the local schools, and counseling teens and couples. It is amazing to see where God can take you in ten years.

I need my pictures....

So I actually have a ton of things to blog about from over the past few months however, most of them require the pictures that I have taken to go along with them and since I am a bit new with my blackberry I am not sure how to get them off. I know lame excuse not to blog but it is the truth. I kinda feel like my funny thoughts are not funny unless I have the picture to go along with the blog!

In other news.... does anyone know how to get your songs from Itunes off one computer and put them onto another, I have tried several methods and none have worked up to this point, so I am all about suggestions....Also I have a blackberry now and I don't really know how to use it that well so if anyone has any suggestions there - I am all open - I don't do well reading manuals!

Okay there are my thoughts for the day! Have a great one!

Pray for my brother Braedon

I just happen to be really missing my brother (in Christ) Braedon Tabor. He was one of my youth group kids and then after going to school a couple years he came and spent a year with me as my intern, the guys just loved him and his music, so I thought I would do a tribute blog to my friend Braedon who is traveling the world and sharing the gospel, if all works a planned I believe they will be in India this month. Here is a song that he wrote and loved to sing for us! We love you Braedon and we are praying for you

Airport Fun

If I was as cool as my husband I would be able to immediately download the cool pictures that I took on my phone and camera from the conference and write all these really cool blogs about my weekend in Columbus, however...I am not my really cool husband and I don't have the ability to do that so you will just have to wait for my cool pics and cool comments, instead you will just have to feel sorry for me that I am currently stuck at the Columbus airport for a long period, but the cool part....some of my great friends Stephanie and Cheryl are stuck here as well so we get to chill together. God makes good out of situations that could be very frustrating...to be honest...this down time has been a real blessing, talking with them is both encouraging and empowering! What a blessing they both are. Once I get my pictures up, I will post one of the three of us.

First Day at NYMC

So the morning started out a little rough...my flight was changed to an earlier time, almost missed the flight - they were going to charge me 15 for my luggage - so I took a pair of essentials and sent the suitcase with my husband...a little awkward to do that in the middle of the check in station at the airport. Quickly headed through security just to find out that my husband's bag actually had contraband in it and all the contents had to be spread out all over the table including my essentials...then I have to hurry to the plane that left at 10:20 instead of 11:15 as mentioned on my itinerary. Needless to say I was the last one on the plane.

In between flights - I got a call from the bank stating I had overdrawn by 200 dollars - wow fun stuff when you are in a different state, but thank goodness my husband was able to save my butt on that one...too bad for late fees.

I arrived in Columbus early , but was pleasantly surprised to find a couple guys with conference signs who were helping us get to the hotel without taking a cab....thank goodness. I avoided my first cab trip thanks to my new friends Troy, Denton, and Jeff (there was another guy too but I can't remember his name, sorry!) We had a great time.

It was so fun to have all the affinity group leaders back together again - I forgot how much they make me laugh - I can't wait until tomorrow. It is going to be a great day! I am however a little nervous about the 8000 cheerleaders who are in the ball room right next to ours....hmmm that could be very interesting. Last year it was the cat convention this year it is the cheerleading convention.

Fun Times In Columbus!

National Youth Workers Convention

So tomorrow morning my plane takes off for Columbus OH - I am so excited about this conference, it is so different than any other conference that I have ever attended....it is relaxing, but still informative, and renewing all at the same time. The goal is that is would be more of a conversation, instead of a sit in chair and soak it all in type of thing. The speakers are real genuine people that care for you whether you work for a church full time or part time, or volunteer...they care about you if you work for a mini church or a mega church. I am honored to be a part of this organization that cares so much for the souls of those that are called to love teenagers and college students. Keep checking back throughout the conference for updates as the weekend progresses...I am looking forward to Caedmon's Call - I would just love to meet them...we will see if that can happen! I will keep you posted. I will also be Twittering while there so check me out on twitter.com/sisterfishbait

Amazing!!!!

First an apology for being so delinqent on my blogging, as you can imagine I have been crazy busy making so many transitions over these last two months. And speaking of two months two marks the milestone of two months of wedded bliss! Which is why I chose the title that I did for this special blog.

Last night I decided to have a girl's night for my five new nieces. We had dinner and dessert and then make giant kisses with chocolate and filling. As you can imagine, there was chocolate all over the place in the kitchen and dining room and lots of dishes to say the least. I went to bed knowing that tomorrow after work I would be cleaning frantically to get ready for our house guests who are watching our pets this weekend, while we attend a marriage conference. (PS Thanks so much Andrea and family - you are the best!)

Anyway - I left this morning before my husband got up and went to Lewisburg for work, after work I rushed back home knowing that I had a ton to clean and pack and all that fun stuff.

As I walked through the door, I noticed flowers on the table, beautiful white lillies, just like I had in my bouquet at our wedding, with a card from my husband wishing me a Happy Two Month Anniversary, I almost cried, however there is more, I looked up and noticed there were clean dishes lining the dining room table, I rushed to the kitchen and found all of the dishes in the sink were cleaned, the kitchen was spotless (besides the boxes that still need to be unpacked) I almost couldn't hold the tears back, I think that was one of the most romantic things that my husband could have ever done for me, I love the flowers, but the dishes sent me right out the door, down to his office to thank him, what a man.... little did I know that had I walked a little further I would have found the bed stripped and the sheets washed and ready to be made......oh my goodness, I can't believe what a great guy he is!

And to just add to this he wrote a blog this morning about "Different but better" how things have to change when you get married, and before he sent it, he had someone else read it to be sure that I wouldn't be upset by it, wow - did I find myself an AMAZING MAN or what.

I am so excited to be married to this man, and it was well worth the wait and I can't wait for the next two months, two years, and two decades that I get the priviledge to be called Mrs. Joel Snyder.

A Football Post, Not a Wedding Post

I am almost shocked at myself...but here goes, I am sure that all of you are expecting a wedding post and actually I was expecting my next one to be a wedding post also - however, I just read a story on ESPN about a football team (yes, football, Joel will be so proud of me!) that brought me to tears. So please take a moment and read this awesome story!!

Life of Reilly

There are some games when cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly

Melinda Wright

Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

"I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!"

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

The Highlights of Ninevah

So as the wedding is getting closer, God is continuing to work in my heart on the wonders of Ninevah... first... today on my way home from Ninevah I stopped for gas and it was only 1.82 a gallon - that is definately a plus since I will be doing a lot of commuting during my first several months of becoming a Ninevite.

Another wonder of Ninevah is the people - there are some very nice and welcoming people in the community, they even like my dog! Which is a plus! The workers at the Mennonite Church of Ninevah are also very welcoming to me and my dog - the secretary even has treats for Tucker upon arrival - if only they had treats for me as well...maybe next time.

The Ninevah Mall - to some known as the Village Merchants, to others known as the Richfield Walmart...they have great service there - the cashier was so nice she even volunteered to do some wedding favors. They have clothes, groceries, furniture, decorations, basically everything.

Ninevah has a nice park that is within walking distance so Tucker will enjoy that. I am sure there are many wonders still to come but those are just a few that I have found in recent trips to Ninevah.

There is however one new downfall (literally!) to Ninevah....some of the houses there are made for people with really small feet and have really steep stairs that are easy for people with big feet to fall down on...I know from experience, with a small bruise on my hand to show for it.

Oh Ninevah - you will one day win my heart I am sure, just as the man from Ninevah has done already!

Dave's Bear!!!

My little brother the mighty hunter made the Grant Family proud with the first ever Bear! It was so crazy to go home for thanksgiving and walk out to the garage to see this huge bear laying in the back of my dad's ranger. The funny part about the whole thing is that the bear had been trapped and moved out of our township one year earlier and was taken over 50 miles away, but as creatures of habit, she made her way all the way back to our property, just to meet my brother. She was aged at about 12 years old and dressed out (that means her weight after being gutted, sorry to be gross) at 209 pounds. I am guessing that my wedding present is going to be bear meat!

And the winner is...

Okay for all those that picked 108 - you are the winners of the RSVP contest....and I must say that I have never had so many people second guess themselves about RSVPing and the funny part is that all those that were unsure were some of the first ones to reply - so great job to all my friends who were quick replyers it makes my job easier!

So it is now less than two weeks from the wedding and I still have lots to do - actually I don't have a ton to do - It just feels like it and since the wedding is so big there are some added legistics that make me feel less organized, however I did get quite a few things checked off the list yesterday thanks to the help of Jeanne and Joel - you guys are the best!!!

It is now almost 6am and I am up and ready for the day, I think I am going to do a walmart run before it gets crazy, get all the stuff that I need for breakfast tomorrow and then get some much needed office work done. That is the plan we will see how it goes...oh and take lots of meds today since my body is not happy with the recent treatment - hence being up since 4am.

Six Days Remaining

Okay for all those that have voted so far in my poll I would like to give you a little update on what is happening with the RSVPs - so at this point we still have not recieved over half of our response cards back.....we are still missing 194 cards...now I know that they still have six days to respond, but seriously people should know by now if they are coming or not - for my sanity, please just send the cards in already - I need to be sure we can fit in the church and pay the caterer! Okay that is my little venting/reminder for the day! Hope all is going well with you readers, and to answer the question - no, at this point I am not too stressed, give me a week or two and let's make sure all the dresses fit and then ask me :)

Nineveh or Bust!

This title - though catchy, may cause some people to be upset, however I feel as though this is a perfect opportunity to share what has been going on in my life and in my heart. My hope is that by the end you will understand that I mean not to hurt anyone's feelings, or show disrespect for anyone's community..... so with that as my disclaimer...here's what went down.

As you know - In one month I will be getting married, so that leads to many changes, some of which are really exciting and some of which are going to take some time to work through and process. Anyway - the decision was made that I will work full time at the church until Jan. 31st and then I will work part time from that point until May 24th. This will allow time for the kids to have some closure and so forth.

Well this week in youth group was the week for me to tell my Branching Out students, the middle schoolers, I had told the high school students the week prior and now it was time to break the news to the younger of my kids. The lesson that day just so happened to be on Jonah, my kids were in groups and they had to act out the four chapters of the Jonah. As the students began to act it out, I had a strong realization that I was acting like Jonah, maybe not outwardly but in my heart. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and he said no way - then the great fish came....you know that part of the story, so Jonah says fine God - I will go to Nineveh, but I am not going to be happy about - even though Jonah went his heart was not in the right place.

Well, as I sat there convicted about my own heart being in the wrong place, I used my leaving as an analogy of Jonah - but I had to admit to my kids, my heart is just like Jonah's - I know I am to move to Richfield, but I don't want to leave what is comfortable, I don't want to leave my kids, my church family, my friends, my favorite little house....I have a bad attitude about moving. It is hard to admit that we have a hard heart to our kids, but I think it helped them understand that I wasn't leaving them, but God was moving me to a new place to do a new ministry.

I then told the story to the parents at our meeting the following day...one of the parents jumped up and said we should make a sign for your car on your wedding day that says Nineveh or Bust! So lately I guess I have been like Jonah and I have seen Richfield as my Nineveh, I am so excited (and a bit nervous) to get married and start a new life, and my goal in this next month is to allow God to change my heart so I am not just saying that I am willing to go, but I have a joyful heart about going as well!

Secret Lives of Bees

I just got home from a fun night out with my favorite Hackenberg Sisters.... we went up to the mall to return some things and then went to see the movie - which I had heard was good but had never really seen an advertizement about it. Anyway - it was a great movie!!! We laughed and we cried - it wasn't even really a girlie movie - it was educational (and acurate according to the Hackenbergs and they know their bees) and it was well done. I highly recommend seeing this movie - I would not say that it is appropriate for kids but young adults and up - it is a must see. Check out the trailer.

http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/screenplay/vi437321753/

My New Raspberry

Okay - so I finally broke down and changed my cell phone service from Verizon to At&T because that is what Joel has and let's just say it will save me lots of money especially after getting my last cell phone bill when I went over by 435 minutes - you do the math! It was really bad.

Anyway - so with the new service I got a new phone - I am not good with technology so I was just going to get a basic phone that I could text, call and take pictures....well they were having a sale.....a big sale - they had a blackberry that was 235 dollars but then after rebates it was only 50 dollars. That is cheaper than all the simple phones. So now I have this fancy phone and I can't even figure out how to use it. So if you call or text me in the next couple days and I don't return your call....sorry it is because I can't figure out my phone. I am assured that I will at some point love it, but right now I am just frustrated....I wonder if that is how married life is going to be....????

Oh and one last thing - I know that my phone is a blackberry, but since it is red I am going always refer to it as my raspberry!

Billy Graham turns 90!

I was going through my email today and got a message that said that Billy Graham was turning 90 years old and I could send him a message. I am not sure if he will actually read my message or not, but I figured it was the least I could do - wouldn't be amazing if he got thousands of email messages from people around the world.

I have never heard Billy Graham speak personally but I know many people who have and many people who gave their lives to Christ because of him. He is a faithful servant of God who models Christ in his actions, and in these days that is something that can be hard to find.

Anyway if you are interested in sending him a birthday wish you may do so at https://www.billygraham.org/bgbirthday.asp

The Man, The Myth, The Legend!

So here is .....the man that is crazy enough to want to marry me! He is an amazing Godly man! He is strong and stubborn (oh I mean bull headed) just like me! We are a perfect match. Actually in many ways we are opposites. I love camping, he loves his bed (or couch). I love to listen to music all the time, he is fine with quiet in the car. He has to have a TV in the bedroom - I don't even have a TV with cable in my house. I love details and organization and he let's just say doesn't really care too much about the details unless it is a production then details are very important.

As much as we are different, we are similar - we share a passion for God and for kids to know Him personally. We love to laugh and have adventures (especially if they includes not camping) We love life and hope to live it to the fullest! He is my best friend and he has been a rock for me on so many occasions. I hope to be that for him as well.

So here is my "hubby cakes" to be! I will get in trouble for that later, but I am the only one allowed to call him that, just like his football players are the only ones that can call him "Babycakes" so unless you are me...don't call him that....or else!!!!!!

Anyway that is Joel Wade Snyder, my man!

The Ring

Well it has been several weeks since I have written and to be honest - the reason....I have been planning a wedding!!!! I would have blogged about the engagement sooner but I wanted to wait until I got my gorgeous ring!!! I have included a picture...the picture is not the best quality and does not do my ring the justice that it deserves however...I think you will see just how beautiful it is. Joel and I are so excited about getting married...the planning is going fairly well so far, we just need to get a florist and a caterer, oh and we need to pick out some music - so if you have any suggestions for good, clean, but fun dancing songs feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. Our wedding date is Dec. 13th - less than 3 months - so crazy, but so exciting!

The Pink Brothel

A fun title for a fun house....so a couple weeks ago, I decided to go along with Joel to a football meeting in Wilkes Barre (sometimes that is the only time we get to see each other, especially during football season) Anyway - it was nice to be able to chat and catch up a bit. But back to the Pink Brothel....we found a well lite parking lot and I did some work in the van while he was at his what was to be brief meeting..(over an hour) As I sat there I looked out the window and realized that I was staring at the largest pink house I have ever seen in my life...had it been another color it would have been amazing. Anyway as I sat there one of my friends called and I was telling him about the pink house and he said, isn't that the brothel house that was in the news....hmmmm - I wonder, anyway - I just thought that it was funny that I was in the parking lot of a random town looking at a pink house.

Relief Finally

So as I was just looking back at many of my recent blogs about the steroids and the treatments and such I was realizing that I didn't really follow-up in the past week with some great news....they worked!!! They meaning the steroids. For the first time in months I feel good (at least my body does!) I can take Tucker for a walk - which makes him and therefore me very happy. I cleaned my bathroom closet, my hutch, part of my office, I have been like super woman on these steroids....it just feels so good to finally feel good.....but with the good does come some continued side effects...the racing feeling of my heart, the anxious thoughts, and feeling like I am running around and talking at mock speeds, but to me that is a small price to pay when I finally feel good physically. So if you ask me to go for a walk - I will probably say yes, but I must warn you...I may not be nice (but it's the steroids I promise, well okay...plus a little of my own fistyness!)