I am still here...promise

Hey all :)
SO yeah, sorry I haven't written in so incredibly long (what has it been 4-5 days lol).
The reason that I haven't written in awhile is because...I really have nothing to write about! Life has been full of: work, work, work, and more work.
But you know what? That is ok. I really actually enjoy working (except for the exhaustion part) so it hasn't been that bad.
Here are a few things that I have learned from work in the past week:

~Raid (the ant spray) is like grease when you spray it on the floor. ALWAYS wipe it up or people will slip and fall.

~Inflatable fun houses for kids are AWESOME! We have a HUGE one at work and this week we had to set it up for a birthday party. Well, tell me how can anyone set something up like that and NOT try it out? I mean, come on? So me and my friend Katie decided to race. Yeah, it was hard! There was this one point were we had to climb up this kinda ladder thing and we both kept sliding down b/c the "ladder steps" we so stinking small. I figured out you had to climb up sideways but there were like no holds so yeah, the sliding backwards continued! KATIE has done it many times before so (sniff) she (sob) won BUT ONLY BY LIKE 2 SECONDS! (hah i am such a poor loser lol). Anyway, it was really fun but now I have cuts and scratches all up and down my arms but hey...it was for a good cause! hehehe :)

~Brom (an older lifeguard kinda like my grandpa) is definately a great friend to have at work b/c he works his magic and gets me food. Seriously today he sneaked me like 3 pieces of pizza. He is amazing :)

~The copier is possessed and basically hates me. I swear it can sense when I am using it cause it automatically jams! hehe :)

~I can park better now...well kinda (hah! no comment)

~Whenever I go out somewhere now I see a billion people I know FROM THE "Y".

~I have perfected my professional, secretarial voice "YMCA, Katy speaking, How may I help you?" Yeah can you hear the professional tone????? You have no idea how many times the phone has rang at home and I have picked up and almost said "YMCA, Katy speaking, How may I help you?" even though I should totally do that sometime just to see what would happen :)

ANYWAY, I hope that didn't bore you to death :-p

Seriously, have you ever had one of those God-moments were He shows you how self-centered and ugly you are? They hurt. But the pain is so worth it when He makes you realize that even though you can't fix yourself He can and wants to and will make you more like HIM.

I am excited I get to start making headers for a friend's new blog she is creating. I am PSCHYED (hope I spelled that right) to be able to do it :)

Ok, I am done...that was my past week in a nutshell...kinda sad huh? hehe :-)


SO I just thought I would give you a small taste of all that it entails to have 3 teenage girls in the house. See, we were invited to be servers at one of our really good friends wedding and I just found (and photoshopped hehehe) some pics that were taken that day:
The 1st pic is pretty self-explanatory (duh). 2nd~ Jen's hair. Gorgeous huh? It is long and thick (INCREDIBLY THICK) and I did not have to do it that day :) Mom ended up doing it BUT I got to brush it out...3rd~ Me, blowdrying my hair, upside down, WHILE taking a picture (yuppers I am talented!
This next set: I like to call it the many faces of Abby whilst she is having her hair done by me! I thought it looked absolutely gorgeous when it was done but as you can tell it was somewhat uncomfortable for her at times! I love how in the very last one she looks like she is in prayer :) Maybe she was...hehe anyway, I thought she looked beautiful :)



















Then there was me...Jen took this pic and I thought it had cool photoshop potential! Here is the final product:

















All-in-all it probably took about 45 minutes to get 3 girls ready for a wedding...I think we turned out pretty decent! At least we don't look like the country hicks I mean girls that we all are at heart :)



















So yeah, there was a trip back a few months for ya'll. I do not know why I never posted these before! I am off to fold some laundry and then to bed! Babysitting tomorrow and then a fullllll day after that :)
Blessings to you all and good night!

Love

Hey all :)
So I learned a very important lesson about God's love in trying to teach Levi a lesson about love...
1st of all-I have been babysitting these boys for about a year and Levi is really my little buddy :) It is neat-this family has really enfolded me and made me a true part of the family and I really feel like Levi is kinda (in a way) mine. Just because I have taken so much care of him...anyway.
Levi started pre-school this year (he is 4) so now 2 days a week I am at their house at 7:30 and then take him to preschool by 8:30. As many of you know, I was studying to be a sign language interpreter for the deaf and one thing I taught Levi right before school started was "I love you" in sign language. It is so cute, ever since then when they are lining up at school to go to class, as I am walking out, me and Levi sign "I love you" to each other.
ANYWAY, I do have a point here people :)
This morning, we were running late. I was in the kitchen writing a note to his mom and he was getting his shoes on (he got them on by himself, on the right feet, I was so proud of him!). On the counter next to me were some pieces of gum and just as I was finishing up the note, he came up behind me and grabbed a piece of gum. I promptly told him no. He (with all the innocence of a 4 year old) said: "Mom always lets me" and I said "No Lee" while taking the gum from his hand. This resulted in him commencing to sob his eyes out. So, there I am with a sobbing boy on my hip and a pen in my other hand trying to finish the note and console him at the same time.

It would have been SO EASY to just say "Ok Lee, have your piece of gum". I knew that if I gave it to him he would stop crying and when we got to school he wouldn't be clingy/not want to go. BUT, I didn't. See I knew that they do not allow gum at school and I also knew that his Mom would allow him to have gum when he got home from school. I proceeded to tell him this as I was getting my shoes on, getting his backpack, and trying to get out the door (keep in mind we were running late).
Then I said something that the Lord turned around and directed to me as soon as it came out of my mouth.
This whole summer I had been trying to instill in Levi and his brothers that when I said no or told them to stop doing something it was not because I did not love them or want them to have fun. Instead, it was because I knew that there was something better that they could be doing or I just plain didn't want them to get hurt. Some of the time (like with Lee this morning) I knew that there would have been consequences (he probably would have had it taken away) and I wanted to save him from that altogether. He would just need to wait a little bit longer...
Anyway, I was carrying him to the car and I was telling him as we went (he was still crying): "Levi, remember how I told you that sometimes I tell you no not because I don't love you but because I do love you. Just because I said no to gum RIGHT NOW doesn't mean that you can't have it later. You just have to WAIT and when you get home, mom will give you some." He calmed down after he remembered that and as I was putting him in his carseat he said "I don't want to go to preschool". I sighed and said "But Lee then we can't sign 'I love you' to eachother". So he was like "oh ok" or something like that and we went to preschool and just as he was going to the line he turned his little face up to me and looked me in the eye and then signed "I love you" 1ST without me signing it to him! I smiled at him and signed it back and his teacher thought it was the cutest thing ever. She was like "Awww, what does that mean Levi?" And he looked up and said "I love you". It was so precious!

I was thinking about how ften we say "God, I want this or this or this now!" And He looks at us and says "No or just tells us to simply wait. It is not because He doesn't love us or wants to "spoil our fun". It is BECAUSE He loves us and He knows what good things are in store for us if only we would allow Him to take the "gum" from us and just surrender to Him and trust in the fact the He knows better then us when it comes to our lives. Remember giving Him the whole pen for our life story thing? Well today I was challenged to give Him my gum :) What can I say? When you babysit 4 year olds sometimes those analogies just come up :)

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

So anyway :) I hope that made some sort of sense :) Blessings to you all!

oh wow...

SO I was just looking at the last post I did...who on earth are those two girls? Because I am sure I would NEVER drink directly out of a mt. dew bottle! NEVER :-p

SO yeah, not much going on. I really didn't get much sleep AT all the past two nights and I have been having to get up at insanely early times in the morning. Of course, as soon as I get home (I had to run dad to the car shop yesterday and babysit this morning) I go right back to bed BUT STILL I am exhausted :)

Life is very ordinary (did I mention not much is going on?) but here are some things that have been happening in the Case family household:

~Mom got sick and tired of the wallpaper in the living room so she decided to paint it and get a new border and curtains. It is a working progress BUT it is almost done :)





~The kids and some friends of ours want to make a movie. Guess who got volunteered?
"Katy-everything else" That includes: camera, make-up, wardrobe (cause I am "REALLY good at that"), editing, planning...
Yes that is what the email actually said :) hehe. I don't mind at all. It will be fun :) Who knows if it will happen but it would be fun :)

On to some more serious stuff...
Thought I would share this with ya'll. I borrowed it from Meredith:





"The first duty of government is the protection of life, not its destruction. The chief purpose of government is to protect life. Abandon that and you have abandoned all." -Thomas Jefferson

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate." -Psalm 127:3-5

I am off to bed. Blessings to you all and good night.

Going through the Archives

Hey all!
Was going through old pics and found these ones of me and Beesh from earlier this spring :) And just an esplanation for the 1st few photos: DAnny spewed Mountain dew over Beesh and Me...it was gross!
Ahh...memories!

Please pray for...

Hey all!
This is just a quick post to ask you all to pray for me Grandpa Kelley. He sprained his ankle really bad a few days ago and yesterday he woke up and it turns out that on top of that he now has gout...IN THE SAME ANKLE! Plus he has a really nasty cough so yeah if you could just keep him in prayer I would really appreciate it :)

This is us at my 18th birthday party:

16 Random Facts About Me

LeanneAnnette sent me this:

Obligatory copypasta:
Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a note with 14-16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose however many people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

1. My middle name is Dee which is my Mom's middle name and it is quite amusing to lead people on when you tell them your middle name and they start going "Ahh....deanna, ahhh....danielle, ahhh..." and all the while I am just sitting there laughing and going: "No it is just Dee!"

2. I am when it comes to foods...like I can not stand (and never have been able to stand) hot chocolate. Tuna...LOVE the casserole, HATE it any other way. Hot stuff...HAH...it hurts my mouth (i admit it I am a wimp lol). Love combos (celery and peanut butter, apples and peanut butter, almost anything with ketchup (except oatmeal and macaroni.) I am not really a lunchmeat sandwich type of person (LOVE subs) but I do make a mean turkey, mayo, provolone cheese, and ketchup sandwich ;)

3. I collect books and I currently have 2 floor to ceiling bookshelves and then 2 other bookshelves all overflowing (need to start filling up my closet shelves). I especially love to collect childrens books and old classics.

4. I have ran full speed into a tree before. It hurts and is embarrasing. :-p

5. I can cook...with a recipe :) I have tried to get creative and it normally involves smoke alarms and fire (well not always...) I do love to bake though!

6. If I could do anything in the entire world I would probably be a hair dresser/cosmotologist and design hairstyles...

7. Me and my 3 siblings are all a year and a half apart, for a few months out of this year our ages will be: 18,17,16, and 14.

8. I am not really a girly girl...I do not mind getting all dressed up or whatever but I also don't mind herding cattle and dehorning bulls (both of which I have done).

9. My greatest desire is to be a stay-at-home wife and mom (which is pretty weird to some people I work with).

10. I am a people person and can talk for 2 1/2 hours about absolutely nothing and make it very interesting (what can I say it is a gift! lol)

11. I really struggle with personal evangelism...while I am a people person, I am terrified about going up to someone and presenting the gospel...working on it and it is becoming easier :)

12. I can mimic accents really well. Us kids have a distinct one since Mom is from CO and Dad is from NY, mix that with some pensalvania dutch and you get a great mix!

13. Me and Beesh and Valerie probably hold the record being able to talk the fastest at any given time. Sometimes we will get going and jen will look at us and be like: "what?" Honestly sometimes I can't even understand us!

14. I love love love to journal and write things out. I guess it is my outlet [one of them :)]

I tag (You obviously do not have to do this if you don't want to. If I didn't tag you, I would still love to hear your answers!):

leanneannette: Because she has been a true blue friend and I appreciate her a ton
Lamentations3_21_24: she always comments at just the right times :)
Gracenglory75: she is the only one I allow to call me Katie Dee (she is my role model)

And that is it...I really did it for my xanga friends :)
Blessings to you all!

Promises...

"The refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your
wasted years
This is our God
So call upon His Name, He is mighty to save
This is our God

A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort
in our sadness
This is our God
This is our God

So call upon his name
He is mighty to save
This Is Our God

A fountain for the thirsty, a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the faithful
This is our God
So call upon His Name, He is mighty to save
This is our God"

~This is our God by Chris Tomlin

"My soul finds rest in God alone;
My salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
~Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)

NYC in detail :)

Hey all!
So as promised...I will be concluding the pics post, and video post with an actual post post about my trip (if that made ANY sense whatsoever! :-p
So Friday morning, I woke up with a very sore throat. Heh, oh if I only knew what that was to foreshadow!!!!! Anyway, so it got a little bit better and by 4 I was at the church and at 5pm we pulled out. We drove and drove and drove and drove until we got to a church in PA were we were supposed to crash. It was like in the boonies! I mean, middle of no-where BUT it was really cool :) The guys were upstairs and the me, Laura, Jacquelyn, Jacquelyn's Mom, Heather, and Andrew's Mom were all downstairs. There were 9 guys and 16 ladies and that was amazing in itself cause were I come from the guys NEVER outnumber the girls :) So we all bedded down and me and Laura talked for a bit and as soon as I turned over it was like I couldn't breathe. That resulted in my getting around 4 hours of sleep. So the next morning I was up at 5am and after washing my hair in FRIGID water had my 1st cup of coffee in a lonnnnggg time :) We ate our breakfast and were on our way by 7am.

Ever been in a car with 11 other incredibly overtired people on the way to something really exciting? It is a blast!!! So we actually got to NYC at around 11am. One of the 1st things I saw in Queens? A tank. For real! So anyway we got to the church and started blowing up balloons and getting stuff ready for the community outreach. At 12 the outreach started. I was elected official photographer so besides doing that I went on prayer walks, helped with the crafts, and handed out stuff to people passing by. There was another church there that did like this really good program complete with puppets for the kids. It lasted for 4 hours and let me tell you, so many people were able to hear the gospel and be ministered too. It was a really neat experiance! Plus it was good to just be able to minister to the pastor and his wife that hosted us.
We spent the night at the pastors house. He took Me, Jac, Laura, Andrew, Scott, Jordan, and Mr. Zuber to drive through times square at night. THat was really cool! And then on Sunday we attended their church and then left for home at like 1 and got home probably around 8:30. It was definately a whirlwind trip!
I guess that because the trip was so short I didn't really get to connect to as many people outside the team as much as I wanted to but wow, did God do some amazing things people's lives even though we were only there for such a short time...
I felt so blessed to be able to experiance the trip itself. It really opened my eyes to alot of things in my life that needed to be dealt with.
So yeah...want to see allll the pics? Here are the links just click on them (you do not have to be a member of facebook to view them, ANYONE can):

NYC Part 1
NYC Part 2
NYC Part 3
NYC Part 4
NYC Part 5
NYC Part 6 (Last one!)

Hah! do you think I took enough pics? I didn't take allll of them but most of them I did :) Anyway, that was a really bad summary or whatever but hey at least I am done!
Blessings to you all :)

I'm BACK :)

Hey all! So much to tell you and share with you!!!!!! Thought I would share this video with you (it was the pics now a video)...it is me (duh :-p) sucking helium for the 1st time ever. And no, I am not faking, I was sick this entire weekend (hah LOOOONNNNNGGGGG story) and so that combined with helium...HAH...yeah you get the picture. Anyway, so what made me want to do this? Ummm...after blowing up like 300 balloons and using up 1 full tank of helium it just...is this urge :-p lol! Anyway, a guy on the team ,Andrew, inspired me to give it a shot. We had just gotten back from the outreach and we were all exhausted and hot and sweaty and me and Jacquelyn were at the church and she had managed to save one balloon for me. Then, b/c Andrew wasn't there to watch the momentous event she filmed it and she was laughing at me the entire time. Then various people from the team watched it and all concluded that I sounded like a telly tubby. Sigh...great to have a reputation :) And now I am sharing it with all of you and no this is NOT my normal voice! Remember that:




Night all :) And I promise (if all goes well) that I will actually write about the trip tomorrow :)

New York City Pictures (well a very few)