The Workin' Girl

Finally I get to do a post about work!  So as some of you know, I recently (two or three months ago) started working at a butcher shop....which I love!   So I thought I’d share a few pictures of my place of employment and some of the crazy people I work with ;)

This is Rose, the little troublemaker of the bunch ;)  She’s always ready to pull a prank or do something silly...but I love her!  She makes Saturdays very enjoyable!

This is Carolyn...aww!  I love Carolyn so much!  She’s like a second grandmother to me.  She has such a kind heart and a sweet personality ;)

This is my boss....this picture expresses our relationship very well ;)  As I’m sure you’ll be able to tell by the end of this post, everyone loves to carry on ;)

This is Tammy...she’s a very fun person, and I have a special place for her in my heart, cause she’s the one who really helped me and made me feel welcome my first day working at market.  She and I are at Eastern market in this picture ;)

And Ben... He doesn’t work with us anymore, but we all loved him. (Not that we don’t anymore)  He is tons of fun and loves to pick, and he really just made long days at market very enjoyable ;)  I think the thing I like most about Ben is the fact that he can have fun and carry on, but he’s also a strong Christian and I can have a good serious talk with him ;)

Ah... the market crew (minus me and Ben)  (From right to left) Nathan, Tom, Carolyn, Tammy, Mary, Mahl, and Mark.  Love them all!

So, there’s my post about work! (Sorry, I couldn't post pictures from the kill floor) I don’t have pictures of everyone, but the “butcher boys” probably wouldn’t want to be in a picture anyway ;)

Record snow for 2014!!! (So far)

Our first huge snow in 2014!  Well, not huge I guess, but we have about 10 inches at our house where its level.  The drifts are much deeper ;)  But wow!  Its so cold!  High of 18*F today but with the wind chill its below 0*F.  Brrrr!!!
I went out yesterday and got some pictures since its so beautiful!  Enjoy!

 I love the texture of the snow from the wind :)

 I think this picture is probably my favorite!

 Our driveway...yea, I'm not going down in my car any time soon (its a huge hill in reality.  This picture is deceptive)

Looks like the ocean...;)

And since everything else is freezing...why not the eggs too?

(This egg is fresh from the coop)

Latest Performances

Well, Sunday night we performed again for my church at a family night concert.  It was a blast!  We all played really well and had tons of fun!
I'll post some of the videos here, but sorry, they're really bad quality.  People started clapping and talking, not to mention that the gym is terrible for sound, so...all that to say, try to hear past the scratchy sound ;)

I'll actually just post the links here, since I was able to edit them on YouTube and they sound 100% better!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCaquLIroQI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-6YiJbApm8

Thanks for watching Guys!  Drop me a comment on YouTube or here and let me know what you think!

10 Reasons to Read the Bible (LYWB)

Here are ten reasons to make reading the Bible a priority this year. 1. It's a way to talk to God, and hear Him talk back! Wouldn't you love to sit down for coffee with God and listen to Him share His heart? Well, you can! Sort of. I'm afraid we can't have coffee with God this side of heaven. (Although I sure hope there's coffee in heaven!) But you can hear from God through His Word. Did you know that 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is breathed out by God? It's not just God's ideas or what someone guesses God would say. In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul put it this way, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers" (emphasis added). Yes, men played a part in recording the Bible, but Paul reminds us that it's not the words of men; it is ultimately the Word of God. It is God's thoughts in His own words. If you want to hear from God, the Bible is a great way to do it! 2. The Bible is a good teacher. How do you get to know the God of the universe? How can we study Him outside of a Sunday school classroom? The answer is—yep, you guessed it—by reading the Bible! Second Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is useful for teaching and for training in righteousness. Romans 15:4 says that the Word was written for our instruction. The best place to learn about God isn't through our feelings. It isn't through what other people tell us about God. It isn't even through great books about God. In the study of God, the Bible is our best teacher. 3. The Bible is alive.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is "living and active." My Bible doesn't breathe. It doesn't have a beating heart. I haven't noticed it doing any jumping jacks lately. So what does this passage mean when it describes the Bible as "living and active"? It means it's more than just a book. The words in the Bible do not change, but their impact on us does. It is the only book that has ever been written that is capable of meeting us right where we are in every stage of life and giving us tailor-made truth. 4. The Bible is a good surgeon. The rest of Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." This verse describes the Bible as a very sharp sword. It does more than just entertain us, or enlighten us, or inform us. As we read the Bible, it does surgery on the parts of us that need to submit to God, leaving behind healthier, holier hearts and lives. If you've got junk in your life that needs to go (hint: we all do!), you need the Bible to do the cutting. 5. The Bible feels good!  Romans 15:4 says, "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." The Bible is designed to be a great source of encouragement and hope. True, not every passage in the Bible will give us a warm fuzzy, but the overarching themes of the Bible—that God loves us, that He is willing to forgive us, that He is preparing a place for us, and that He will eventually defeat all that grieves us—ought to comfort and inspire us. Do you need encouragement? Open your Bible. 6. It works like a pair of glasses. In addition to assuring us that the Bible is breathed out by God and useful for teaching, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that it is helpful for "reproof and correction." That's a fancy way of saying it puts a magnifying glass over our sin. I'm not very good at seeing my own sin. It's so easy to justify, make excuses, and compare. But sin (even the sin I don't see) works like acid, eating away at me. Left unchecked, sin will eventually destroy me. That's why I'm thankful that the Bible has the power to expose my sin, even the sin that's hard for me to see. 7. The Bible is a gird. First Peter 1:13 says, "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (ASV). When was the last time you worked the phrase "gird up your loins" into a sentence? It's not a term we throw around much anymore, but it provides an image of securing clothing with a belt, of preparing for action, of bracing ourselves. The job of a gird is to secure, support, and surround. God's Word has the power to protect us from enemies we can see and enemies we cannot see. It braces us to live our lives for Christ, come what may. It supports and holds us up when our world starts spinning. It provides sure footing in a broken world. 8. The Bible is a grid.  Another word for grid is a filter. The Bible is so much more than a list of rules or stories. It can be a filter you use to see your life more clearly. You can take the questions, doubts, and concerns you have throughout your life and squeeze them through the grid of God's Word and find answers every time. 9. The Bible is a tether. Here's a shocker: 90 percent of young people from Christian homes will ultimately abandon their faith. If something doesn't change, there's a good chance you could be one of those girls who grew up in church, heard the teaching of Jesus, spent years trying to follow Him, but eventually decided to follow a different path. God's truth has the power to keep you connected to God Himself. But here's the kicker—you actually have to know God's truth to be tied to it. If you don't know the Word, if you don't make a habit of studying God's truth and applying it to your choices, and if you don't "gird yourself" up with what God teaches you throughout the Bible, you will find yourself unprotected, unsure, and untied from God. 10. The Bible is a fairy-tale castle. Amusement-park goers often experience something called "museum feet." It's a general feeling of being lost or exhausted that comes from hanging out in such a large space. Having museum feet could give park-goers a bad experience or cause them to give up and leave the park. But if architects include a large visual landmark such as Cinderella's Castle, Spaceship Earth at Epcot Center, or Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios' Harry Potter attraction, park-goers are less likely to become overwhelmed. The Bible works the same way. Life is big. It is easy to feel lost or overwhelmed or like you want off the ride. But when we know God's truth, we are anchored and protected from the feeling of "museum feet." Truth gives us a point to come back to when we feel alone, small, or afraid. So how about you? Why do you read the Bible? Is there anything on this list that inspires you to read the Bible more in the year ahead?

General Announcement

Just a general announcement that I now have a youtube channel (Twang and the Gang) on which I'm going to be posting videos and interviews with myself and my gang.  Check it out and drop a comment!  Its still way at the bottom of the page.... The only video I posted so far is Christmas With Twang and the Gang, so you can find that just by title. :)  Here's the profile picture to make it easier to find:

FREEZE part 2

So here's the rest of the pictures from my amazing time at camp!

 Sledding!!!!   There is a tube chute down the mountain that goes sooo fast!

 Football....yea, I didn't play...

 Game night...Egyptian Ratscrew (aka Slap)

 A very stressful game of Spoons

Apples to Apples...

 Making Gingerbread Houses!

 So there is the finale of my camp trip!  I miss it, but I'll cherish all the fond memories I was able to create!

FREEZE 2013

Hey everyone!
I'm back from camp after four days, hence the reason I haven't posted.
Anyway, a group of about 23 of us from my youth group drove up to Williamsport to Camp Susque for an extended weekend of great fun ;)  I absolutely love being at camp!  And its in the mountains so everything is just beautiful!
  Here's some pictures that were taken by the photographer, and I'll post the rest later once they are sent to me.

 Signing up for chores...everyone is required to sign up for a weekly chore, whether its setting tables, or cleaning up or filling the woodbox.

 Playing ice breaker games....ugh.  Actually, these weren't too bad.

 Cheif John...

 Worship time in Hemlock Hall...

 Trying to decode some Latin phrases that our speaker typed up for his lesson.  I had no clue, but they ended up being phrases like: 

without sin, but able to sin

sinful and not able to not sin

without sin and not able to sin

I can't remember the last one, but the speaker was referring to Adam and Eve with the "without sin, but able to sin" and he was referring to us when he said "sinful, but able not to sin" and to us after glorification as "without sin and not able to sin".

 Storytime before bed ;)

CANADIAN BEAVERS

So I guess I better explain this game.  So basically there are two teams lined up on two sides of the field.  When the leader yells "Canadian Beavers!" everyone must run and try to get to the other side without being picked up by someone on the other team.  On the flip side, you are supposed to be picking up people as well and carrying them with you to your side of the field.  Yea, so not as easy as it seems.  People fight.  Thankfully once your feet are off the ground, you are helpless and are carried like a sack of potatoes to the other team.  You then become one of them.

 I generally tried to avoid the pile-ups so I didn't get smashed.  This usually happened when trying to tackle a larger Cheif.

 I was successfully caught quite a few times...disadvantage of being small...

Hehe ;)

 Blob Tag....at one point the tow sides charged eachother...I'm not sure what happened after that....

 Family Groups.  When you arrive at Susque, a game is usually played to help everyone find their families.  All the kids are split up in no particular order and assigned a Cheif or a Miss as their "parent" for the four days of camp.  In your families you meet and discuss the speaker's lesson and just get to know eachother.  Your family group usually will do activities together pr play as a team for games.

 My family... ;)

 Ultimate Frisbee in the rain/snow/sleet....crazy, hu?

 All 103 campers...

Our speaker, Cheif Tom (bad picture) hehe!

 Playing Pictionary and competing as families.

Well, that's where my post will end for now.  I'm waiting on some pictures, so once they are sent to me I will post them.  This year at camp was German themed, so we had a German Dinner called Christkindl.  We ate some German foods like a sweet breat called Stollen and we had a hot drink called Gulhwein.  There was nothing alcholic in what we had though.  Bleck!  It was nasty!  Tasted like rotten grapes in my opinion ;)

Here's a sample of the schedule we followed for the time we were there: (except lights out was usually around 11:45 and I got up at 6am to get a shower, so I was wiped out)

8:30	Breakfast
9:00	Clean Up
9:15	Games
10:00	Speaker Session
11:00	Family Groups
12:30	Lunch
1:15	Organized Free Time
4:00	Family Feud
5:30	Dinner
6:30	Small Group Games
7:00	Worship
8:00	Coffee & Board Game Night (or Night Game)
10:30	Devotions
11:15	Lights out

Anyway,  it was a great year, and I loved camp so much...i really wanna go back!  Can't wait until next year!  

Happy 2014 by the way!