Fall Update: FOOTBALL

As most of you can imagine, we have spent every weekend in some way consumed with FOOTBALL. I am not complaining...especially when it means we get to go to the games because I love spending time with friends and family and every game includes one or the other!

This football season started with a great weekend at DreamRanch in Guntersville with our dear friends the Johnstons, Glasscocks, and Picklesimers. It was a great way to start the season and great get-a-way for me and Joe as he has continued to be busy with work. We honestly felt like we were on a mini vacation as we were tucked away on a mountain in Guntersville. It was so beautiful and serene! And of course it helped (for the boys) that Bama did win their first game of the season (VA Tech...I think). We had an overall great weekend. Here are a few pictures from our time with our friends:

A few weekends later, we went to Oxford, MS to see our friends, Hannah and Daniel (see post below). We have made it a tradition to go to Oxford once a year for a football game and of course to spend time with our friends who we've missed so much. This year met all expectations that had been made from the years before! We had a great time with Hannah and Daniel, "groving", eating, facebook stalking, eating, and of course eating! We discovered some amazing restaurants in Oxford, one which has made it on my favorites list, Volta. The Stephensons are always amazing hosts and are ready to entertain. Oxford was a bit chaotic because of of the Bama/Ole Miss game and supposedly had the biggest turn out ever for a game. Despite the rainy and cold weather we enjoyed our time with the Stephensons and again...a winning football game.

We didn't take pictures at the SC game which was Homecoming, but it was a fun and eventful game as well. The team won again and we had a great time with Joe's family. It's never a dull moment when all of the Denson boys are together. :)

Next up was Tennessee. It was a beautiful day for a football game! We got to see Stephen and Stephanie since we parked at Stephanie's house (Thanks Steph!). We hung out with them for a while and got to see Natalie and Patton, who also took advantage of Stephanie's house...only 2 blocks from the stadium! We then met up with Joe's brothers and dad for some quick tailgating and then it was off to the game. Again, a great day with friends and family...and another (close) win for Bama.

Ole Miss Bound!

I haven't had a lot to post about in recent weeks so I thought I'd update you all on our weekend away! Over the past 2 years we have managed to go to Oxford for an Ole Miss game. Year 1 was to see Bama vs. Ole Miss and Year 2 was to see Samford vs. Ole Miss. Well today we leave for Year 3 (Bama vs. Ole Miss again). The best part about this weekend is not football...oh no. It's being with our dear friends Hannah and Daniel (aka Haniel). They moved to Oxford 3 years ago for Daniel to go to Law School. We have missed them greatly but look forward to this annual reunion! Here are a few pictures from last year.

Oh the BUSYness

I have definitely stepped out of the blogging world for a while. Life has been crazy and our days very "busy." BUSY has been then theme over the past month as Joe has been working long hours crunching numbers but thankfully TODAY ends most of that! It has been a tough month for both of us (as it always is) but again we have made it through and are excited about some good time together.

In my time as an "accountant widow" as my friend once called it, I found myself filling my time with reading (and of course some TV watching) as well as spending time with friends and some of the youth. I have been so thankful for the people in my life!

A side note about my reading... I just finished Same Kind of Different as Me. What an amazing book! My friend, Kelley, encouraged me to read it several weeks ago and I have been trucking through it (I'm a slow reader). This story of these two unlikely friends was like nothing I'd ever read except the stories of Christ and his desire to reach the "least of these". It reminded me that there are opportunities to reach out and show others the love of Christ without having to go overseas. There are opportunities in my own community! It was also an amazing testimony of God's grace in the life of someone who by the world's standards would never be influential, yet he is being used to change the lives of many. Anyway, I could go on and on...

But I won't. :) Again, I hope to post more soon. For now, I am going to enjoy having Joe home and the BUSYness of tax season behind us. Maybe I'll even brush up on my cooking skills. :) Any great (and extremely easy) dinner suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

O Happy Day!

Well, I have been back from Hungary for almost a month now. Joe was in Peru for 11 days and is now back as well. We have so much to update everyone on I honestly have no idea where to begin. I hope Joe can give you some updates on his trip to Peru. I know I have loved hearing about how the Lord used their team. They had over 100 kids each day for basketball camp and 20 prayed to receive Christ. Again, I hope he can update with his perspective on the week because I know I can't do it justice.

So for me...I have finally gotten my thoughts (and pictures) together for a Hungary post! I titled the post "O Happy Day" because it truly was a week full of Happy Days, and the song that continued to resignate throughout our youth camp was "O Happy Day" by Kristian Stanfill. It was amazing to see our kids, along with the Hungarian kids jumping around and singing...

"O Happy Day, happy day, when you washed my sin away....

I'll never be the same, Forever I am changed"

~ This was the first weekend at the lake with the Paulus youth group. Our group and theirs got along great!

A few of us hiked up to the top of the mountain to enjoy a beautiful view of the countryside!

It's amazing how you can hear a song so many times but it takes a certain moment for the words to really hit! Well, because of Hungary and the way the Lord moved and is moving in so many hearts I can say (and I know the rest of the team would agree) that I will never be the same and I pray that my view of people and for the lost world has changed dramatically.

We led a youth camp over the course of the week. Throughout the week we taught English, played a ton of fun games, and just hung out with the kids. They LOVED us! Because of the relationships that were made, they were very interested in what we had to say and "why we were so happy". Each of our youth shared testimonies each day of how their lives had changed since knowing Jesus. Hearing young people talk about faith was so new and different to the Hungarians, yet they were so interested because because they could see something different in our youth. The Hungarians could not understand that you can have a personal relationship with Him and that you can pray to God without having to go through someone else. Hungary is considered "Post-Christian" which basically means that Christianity (the Catholic faith) is a thing of the past and not something that many of them put a lot of emphasis in. And for those that do know about Christianity, they think of all the rituals and rules and miss the part of it being a relationship with a loving God. So we were some of the first people they met that had this "new view" of Christianity.

There were 3 kids who accepted Christ and others who had so many questions. It was neat to see them wrestling with questions and hear them asking some things that even we as Believers wrestle with. One girl in particular couldn't understand why bad things happen if there is a God. Mark talked to her at various times throughout the week and I have actually been able to keep up with her through email. For all of these kids, our goal and our prayer was to plant a seed and to connect them with the Paulus Staff and youth group so that they could continue to hear the gospel and see the gospel lived out through the lives of the Believers in their city!

~ Converse Youth Camp - what a great name when the whole week was about building relationships...

what better way than to "converse". :)

We were able to see the sights of Budapest on the Saturday before we left. The missionaries, Janos, Ildiko, Sanyesz, Zoli, Andras, Sarah, and Christine and Esther (their daughters) took us to some great places where we learned a little more about the history of Hungary but mostly just enjoyed the beautiful city. We also ate at an amazing restaurant (translated it means Mama Elizabeth's Kitchen). It was a great ending to our week. However, the fun did not end there. We ended up with a whole day layover in New York after missing our flight back to B'ham. It was a nice transition to getting back to the states and allowed us to wind down as a team and just have fun!

~ Around Budapest

~New York and fun times in the airport!

I have posted several picture collages, but this is only a glimpse at the pictures taken. Also, the pictures and even my thoughts cannot do the week justice. I was truly amazed at how the youth responded to the culture in Hungary and they saw a need so much greater than they had imagined...a need for Hope and Joy in a Savior. We all were truly burdened for this city and pray that through the ministry of the Paulus Movement, some of these kids will come to know Christ as their savior!

Life as I know it

I have so much to catch everyone up on, but have not had the time or energy to process everything that has gone on over the last couple of weeks. I am back from Hungary and cannot wait to share the amazing stories of that trip! The Lord truly did above and beyond all that we could have imagined. I will be posting on all that soon!

As for now, Joe is in Peru! We had about 2 days together before he left (2 days that I was still in the grogginess of jetlag). Their team is safely in Pucallpa and will begin their basketball camp and construction project tomorrow. It's always hard being apart, so pray for us as we have 8 more days until he comes home! Also, pray for the team as they serve the people in Peru.

This weekend I got to spend some sweet (but short) time with my family and not just my parents and brother, but my extended family. My cousin, Luke, got married. It was a beautiful wedding and I will share pictures of that soon. His wife, Leah, is an amazing young woman and I'm excited to have her in our family. I also got to catch up with Sarah (and Ryan) and Rebecca (and Tyler), my two cousins...2 of my favorite people that I rarely get to see. It truly was a great weekend!

~ Stair-step cousins. Sarah, Me, and Rebecca.

~ My family before the wedding. I was the 5th wheel. :)

~ Me, Stephen, and Stephanie at the reception.

More to come soon...

Hello from Hungary

Well, we have made it! After 17 hours of traveling, we landed in Budapest around 11:45 this morning (that is 4:45 am B'ham time). We drove through Budapest on our way into Diosd. As you can imagine, we are exhausted but have been able to keep pushing through to overcome the jetlag. Tonight's sleep will be amazing. :) Tomorrow we are off to Lake Balaton to meet the Paulus Youth ministry. They are finishing up their annual church retreat. We will spend the day with them preparing for next week's youth camp outreach.

I will post a few pictures soon, but for more updates visit the Youth Blog!

Sweet Summertime

Well, for many people Summer began in June, but for Joe and I this past weekend was our first time to get away and relax, spending a lot of time in the sun and enjoying time with our families. We spent the July 4th weekend with our families at the Densons' lakehouse. It was great to get away with no agenda and eat, sleep, and have fun on the lake. It truly felt like a mini-vacation and I was so thankful for that time. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

(Me and my parents...I was so glad they came!)

(Joe and Bear going for a swim.)

(Lura, Ms. Martha, and Mrs. Denson enjoying the sun)

(Dad enjoying a nap with the dogs)

Next up...Hungary and Peru. I leave on July 16-26, then Joe goes to Peru July 30-August 9. We are so excited but will appreciate your prayers. I will keep you all posted. :)

Hale County and a New Beginning

I had the privilege of going with the youth on a mission trip to Hale County, which is part of the Black Belt. It was an eye opening experience for me as I find myself thinking that taking the Gospel to the nations skips our own community and state. I realize that is very ignorant on my part, but for some reason it's easier and more comfortable for me to pray for and participate in global mission, but I so rarely consider the needs of those so close to me!

Hale County is in a poorer part of Alabama, however, the people we worked with were full of joy and content with what they had! We started our day by serving on work projects and ended with a day camp for kids. They were so excited to see us as many had participated in our camp 2 years ago. We shared many Bible stories with them and several of our youth shared how Christ had changed their lives and shared about some of the challenges of growing up. It was great to see young people sharing their faith and truly reaching out to the kids.

I will say that I was the hottest I have ever been in my life and at times I had to remind myself of my purpose on the trip and ultimately on this earth! However, I never heard a complaint from the youth as they demonstrated Christ's love by dying to their selves and serving despite the conditions we were in.

So on to the new beginning...I am making a small career transition as I am going to be the new youth "intern". So this week was a great time for me to get to know the youth that I didn't know and grow closer to the ones I did! I am so excited about this. Through different circumstances in my life, the Lord is showing me that this IS what he has for me at this time and that I am in the midst of his GREAT PLAN! I'm so excited this is part of it! :)

In closing (I sound like I'm preaching a sermon), I want to share a verse that a sweet friend reminded me of a few weeks ago. It's Proverbs 16:9 and somehow I had missed it all these years.

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

~ Our group ready for a hard day's work!

~ Spelling LOVE after a Bible story on love...I think we lost the "E"

~ The sign before we started painting (an after shot will be posted later)

~ Getting creative on how to reach the top of the sign!

~ Enjoying some shade while planting the shrubs.

~ She said "Child, sit down...I'm gonna do your hair"...so I did. :)

~ Katherine and Mary Claire - hard workers!

~ Christian and I in the midst of digging.

~ walking down the dirt road...it's like a scene in a movie

~ Sweet Ceyen. Victoria was helping him put together his game that he won.

A little catching up...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted.  I knew that keeping up with a blog would be a challenge for me.  I hope to get better and better especially throughout the summer as I have more time and more to blog about.  But, to back track a little I wanted to share about Joe's 10K race he ran over Memorial Day...

He was challenged to do this after running a relay leg of the Mercedes Marathon back in February.  Then after being challenged by himself he was challenged by my father!  He couldn't let him down!  So Joe agreed to run and hoped to have plenty of training along the way.  Well, most of you know he has been engulfed with P90X, doing a workout each morning (or evening) to try to keep up.  He has accomplished this goal and this week will complete his 90 day workout...that was all a side note to say he really did not have much "training" time for the race.

So, as race day approached on Memorial Day, Joe felt far from ready to take on a 10K (6.4 miles).  I even persuaded him to wait and run it next year.  However, he RAN and finished the race with endurance!  It was so fun to see him come across the finish line.  I felt like a proud parent.  Here are a few pictures to recap the day:

~ It's like "Where's Waldo"...can you find Joe?

Our Anniversary Celebration

As I mentioned earlier, Joe and I have been married for 3 years and had a great time celebrating our 3rd Anniversary on April 22.  It's been a busy month and with our anniversary falling mid-week we did not plan a special weekend getaway (plus we had just gone to NYC).  

So, we went to dinner at Hot and Hot Fish Club.  Neither of us had ever been there, but after Wednesday, it has risen to 2nd Place on our list of Birmingham favorites.  Flemings will probably always be our #1.  It was an amazing night and truly a special way to spend our anniversary together.  

 

3 Years of Bliss

I cannot believe it!  It has been 3 years since Joe and I said our vows, pledging our lives to one another and to the Lord.  It has truly been an incredible 3 years.  Sure there have been some "hard times" but the JOY of being married to such a wonderful man is worth it all!  These are my TOP 10 things I love about my sweet husband: (in no particular order)

1. Joe is very patient with me even though I can be a bit hard to handle at times (I know none of you can imagine that).

2. He is an incredibly godly man who leads me and sets a great example for me.

3. I know one day he will be a great father - hopefully to little boys who can throw the baseball with him (I gave up trying a long time ago).

3. He has a funny, goofy sense of humor.  Even though his quiet, mature side is what most people see, others of you know what I'm talking about!!!  :)

4. He makes my lunch almost every morning!!  While I know this is mostly to save money, I think it's incredibly sweet.

5. He is very devoted to all that he does (including P90x).

6. He always encourages me and makes me feel beautiful and special (and as girls, we have moments where we definitely don't feel this way).

7. He makes me feel good about my cooking even when I know it's not that great.

8. He has a heart for others and truly cares for others' interests before his own.

9. He knows how I like my coffee and makes it perfectly every time.

10. He reminds me often of our vows and the commitment we made to one another and to our Lord.  He keeps us both focused as we continue this wonderful journey together!

Well, I will definitely update after our Anniversary dinner tonight!  Thank you for your sweet calls and emails, wishing us a Happy Anniversary.  It truly is a blessing and a joy to reach another year together!

The right fit...

Well, I have been blogging for 2 weeks now.  I'm not quite comfortable with the blogging because I don't have a catchy name and I am constantly wanting to change the background!  I have decided...BLOGGING IS LIKE SHOPPING FOR NEW SHOES!  You have to keep trying new things until you get the right fit!  So, here it goes...I'm changing my background.  It just wasn't the right fit for my blog.  :)

NYC

As I mentioned, Joe and I recently went to New York. We went as a vacation, anniversary, birthday trip, but got to visit friends along the way. Andy and Emily York have been in NY for several months now with Andy's work (he is one of Joe's fellow accountants at E&Y). They were so gracious to let us stay with them! We were able to experience the city as "locals", bypassing a lot of the tourist sites and seeing a lot of the city we had never seen before!

                  

We flew into White Plains, NY and took a 30 min train ride into Grand Central Station.  It was an adventure, experiencing every kind of NY transportation (bus, train, taxi, subway).  We woke up Friday morning to SNOW!  I know it looks like rain, but trust me...there were huge, quarter-sized snowflakes falling.  It was truly amazing considering we don't see snow like that in Alabama!    

We saw where several movies have been filmed throughout various areas of the city: Central Park, Central Village, Grenwich Village, and the Lower East Side. We also ate at some fabulous restaurants that we would have never discovered on our own. My favorite was The Stanton Social. It is a tapas restaurant (you order a ton of appetizers) and had amazing selections. Joe enjoyed The Little Owl, which is the restaurant at the bottom of the "Friends" building.  We also had wonderful dessert at Cafe Lalo, where a scene from "You've Got Mail" was filmed.  I can honestly say I liked everything I ate!

                                                             

                          

          

We also spent a day to walk down 5th Avenue, Wall Street, and Times Square.  We saw Mary Poppins one night too, which was an amazing show.  I felt like a kid again as I hummed along to "Just a Spoonful of Sugar".  Mary Poppins was always a very classy lady to me and she has continued to live up to her reputation through this great show!  

  

On our last two days in NY we spent time in Central Park and made it a point to make it on the Today Show!  Central Park was quite an experience as there are many people sharing their "talents" with the community.  We saw roller skaters (yes...on 4 wheels), musicians, street dancers (like on American's Best Dance Crew), and those people who spin those stick thingies.  It was very entertaining.  For those of you who know me well, I was in my element, getting to sit back and people watch!  

As for the Today Show, IT WAS FREEZING!  We got there at 6:45 and had a great spot.  I quickly realized I was not going outlast the cold.  When they raised the "blinds" in Sudio 1A, we quickly found our spot and were on our way to our 3 seconds of fame!  Yes, we were seen for a split second during the weather segment. :)  I was thrilled!  At that point we left and went across the way to Dean & Deluca and enjoyed a nice hot cup of coffee while watching the stronger of the spectators endure the wind on the Plaza.  

You can't tell, but Meredith was waving at me!!  

And I love Natalie Morales and her great sense of fashion. :)

So that was the end of our trip!  We walked around before getting back on our train to White Plains.  Joe and I had an amazing time together and with Andy and Emily.  You know, "busy season" for accountants can be pretty draining (as it can for their wives) and I know this little vacation was just what we needed!!