Seeking.Learning.Loving.Laughing.

Wedding Website

2010-08-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

Oh and just in case any one wants to hear about all the great wedding details check out our website!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/MichaelAllen&BethanyChristian

Engagment

2010-08-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

And yes the next exciting news which I am sure everyone must know by now is that I am engaged!

Here are just a few pictures to relive the day...

And we are getting married in 3 weeks! It is so close!!

It was such a great day! One of the best! So excited to marry Michael... so so very soon!

Graduation

2010-08-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

I am super behind on blogging!!! It has almost been a full year since I have posted! So much has happened I don't even know where to begin... Let me do a quick recap....

1. I graduated from college (well technically I still have 2 units pending)
2. Well maybe that should be saved for a whole separate blog post.... so wait for it....

Possible Christmas Card?

2009-12-01T00:47:00.000-08:00

On thanksgiving I had Michael sister take some pictures of us. I know I am corny! But they actually turned out really cute. What does everyone think? Which one do you like the best?

Thanks Kristen!

Massuman Curry Night

2009-12-01T00:29:00.001-08:00

It is a good thing that Michael and Leanna love Thai food as much as I do! Every time I mention that I am craving some Thai food I always know I can ask either one of them and they will be more than willing to me cook for them! So here is one night!

Table for 3!

I caught Michael mid sentence saying "Babe this is so good" haha.

Even though she has the country hand gesture mixed up... she is still happy to eating.

Leanna and Michael giving each other high fives for deciding to become a friend with a Asian.

New Moon Opening Night - We are True Fans!

2009-11-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

So the opening night of New Moon was last night!!! It was so amazing. Being true fan that we are we had to look like vampires which entailed dressing in black, baby powder on our faces, red lipstick, and dark eye makeup! We also are such true fans that we waiting outside in the freezing cold for 3 hours before the movie started just so that we could get good seats. So here are some of the pictures from the night.

All the girls aka the true Twilight and soon to be New Moon fans.

Favorite picture from the night!!!

Cat fight with the sisters!

Possible roommate Christmas card for this year???

Such a good boyfriend to go with me and all the screaming girl fans. That is love. :-)

We got quite bore while waiting so everyone thought Michael and I should try to pretend to be each other, but I couldn't stop at laughing at what he looked like with my vest on. Clearly he thinks he is good at imitating my smile and stance.

Welcome Nail Biters

2009-11-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

I thought this was so funny I had to take a picture of it!

High School Girls Retreat

2009-11-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I was able to be a leader for our High School girls retreat that was in Carlsbad. It was at a church called North Coast Calvary Chapel, the church was beautiful! It overlooked the ocean and mountains. The conference was called Unveiling. It was a really fun 24 hours conference. I got to be in a hotel room with my small group girls who are juniors in high school. They are teaching me so much! But it was also a huge blessing to be able to be with other Moms who went as leaders and just sit and talk with them and listen to their wisdom. Here are some pictures to recap the weekend.

My girls on the morning of the 2nd day. Left to right Jenna, Callie, and Hailey.

We all got henna tattoos for free! Can you guess which one is mine? (Faith Hope Love, the one on the right side)

Michael's Grandma

2009-11-10T13:42:00.000-08:00

Here are two pictures of an amazing women... Micheal's Grandma.

I am glad that I had the chance to meet her and to spend time with her. She was such a huge inspiration to Michael.

Picnic Looking Over LA

2009-10-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

So I decided that because Michael usually plans our dates that I would surprise him and plan something special for our 10 months. I have always wanted to go on a picnic to this park that is in the middle of LA and it overlooks the Hollywood Hills and Downtown area. The Griffith Observatory is actually right next to where we had our picnic. The day actually turned out to be perfect because there was no school for me and Michael always has a 4 hour break on Thursdays from classes. Originally I was going to just drive up at the time he was going to get out of class and tell him to come with me. But he told me the day before that he had a meeting and I had to tell him so that he could get out of it. This park is like 20 minutes from where he lives. So pretty and a great couple of hours to just spend time with him and get away from the craziness and busyness of life that we are both in right now. So here are some picture... I realized before the date that we really haven't taken many pictures together this semester so I kind of was camera happy.

(Most of these were taken with my timer on my camera)

All the food! I realized afterward I had bought way too much stuff. But the menus for the picnic was: Hummus on whole wheat pita bread with carrots, celery with peanut butter, devil eggs (which is actually one of Michaels favorite snacks and I didn't even know), strawberries, and a special surprise dessert I will reveal in a bit.

He loves strawberries.

My dessert creation that I was excited about making was whole wheat flour tortilla, peanut butter, honey, sliced bananas, chocolate chips, and then I rolled it up. It turned out great! I was so proud of myself!

Our view was really pretty. So cool. Mountains and Hollywood hills.

Michael got a little tired after we ate all our food.

This one is my favorite... and it was done with my camera timer... love my skirt blowing in the wind!

The last one before Michael had to get back to class.

Great sun shining day with such a handsome man. :-)

Happy 10 Months!

2009-10-08T01:03:00.001-07:00

Who would have thought that 10 months ago from today that I would fall for such a handsome man. Celebrating 4 1/2 years of great friendship and 10 months of love!

Freshman Year....

Sophomore Year....

Junior Year....

Senior Year....

And now...

I love you so much Michael! Happy 10 months!

Improv Ice Show

2009-10-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

So there was this random Improv Skating night that Tina got tickets for and asked me to invite some friends! So I invited Candace and sister Aubrey to come. The Goo Goo Dolls performed live and then there were lots of Olympic Ice Skaters there too.

Aubrey and I started the night excited!

It was a sister sandwich with Candace and Aubrey. They were the bread and I was the meat.

Gangsta vests.

One of my childhood heros Kristi Yamaguchi hosted the night! Love her!

Nancy Kerrigan my other childhood hero. I wanted to be her. I didn't even know she was going to be there but I almost cried when she came onto the ice! Such a dream come true!

This was the finale!

Tina! Thanks for getting us the tickets and a fun night!

Roomies Roadtrip to AZ

2009-10-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

A quick 36 hour trip our to Casa Grande, Arizona two weekends ago to see Leanna family and home. We decided to have a roomies getaway and it turned out to be a blast! Lots and lots of laughter and good times together. Here are some of the pictures from the weekend.

This first one is early in the morning (if you can't tell from our sleepy faces). We got up at 6am to leave so we could make it for the party in time.

The whole point in us going home with Lee was to surprise her niece gabby for her 6 year old birthday party. So Leanna dressed up to fool her family and Candace and I dressed up as presents!

In Arizona apparently they have these misters everywhere! They were so cool... AZ is very hot... I think it might even be hotter than Thailand! Leanna thought it was funny.

Quick Starbucks stop for energy for our ride home!

Back Seater...

Front seater....

In the car on the way back we got a little restless.

Love you roomies thanks for a great weekend getaway!! Next stop VEGAS!!!

Michael Moves to LA

2009-08-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

So the much dreaded day has arrived for me. Michael moved to LA on Saturday and I am so happy for him and the opportunities he is going to get to use his gifts. His apartment is amazing though! They are called the Park La Brea Apartments and they are right next to The Grove (where all the movies stars do their shopping).

The first picture is of his apartment. His room is all the way to the right side 4 down from the top (with the open shades). This is us at The Grove. We got free Tshirts from a radio station.
Michael in his room. The view from his living room. Hollywood hills and downtown LA.These pictures are from about a week ago but they are from our last date night before he moved. He bought me a gummy snake! It was so cool! Loved it!
Missing you. But glad you are able to pursue your dreams for these next 4 months.

Christ In Youth Conference

2009-07-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

This past week (Monday to Saturday) I went to CIY with my church that I intern for the High School Ministry. It was not too far away at Biola University. Our church brought around 40 high schol students. The focus of the week was kind of a reflection of Moses life and a study of his life. It truly was an amazing week. Here are some of my highlights of the week:

1. The second night about 80% of our students stood up in front our youth group to confess the sin in their life that they had been bonded to for year and commited to not letting it have a hold over thier lives.
2. One of the boys in my smal group rededicating his life to Christ.
3. On our free afternoon taking our students to The Ringling Brothers Circus (it was a surprise event)!!!
4. It was a very much needed time for me and my walk with God to just get back on track and be encouraged.
5. Hearing Michael express to me his desire to want to work with CIY someday to help them film documentaries oversea someday.
6. Realizing the idols I have in my own life and being able to set boundaries and get accountability for those things that take away from my relationship with God.

Ok those are just a few of them there are so many more things! But here are some pictures of the week too!

Monday we took the upcoming Seniors to Red Robin as a special celebration of the torch (leadership) being passed onto them this year! It was yummy!

Dress up day!

Pretty much the whole group! Can you find me?!

All the students on the bus unsure at this point what our "Surprise Outing" is going to be!!

Elephants at the Circus!

Britney, Becca, and I at the Circus!

My small group making houses out of gum and toothpicks for an activity we did the last day to give an example of the foundation we set for God abiding in us.

One the final night we were each given a envelope with a challenge in it. It was our choice if we wanted to open it or not but the speaker told us if we opened it that that would be our commitment saying we would do whatever the card said. There were a hundred different choices as to what were in each card. The point of the card was to over the next year have this card completed. I chose to open mine and here is my task! I am excited!!!

Need any Coupons?

2009-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

I somehow have been getting a lot of coupons in the mail. So last Saturday I thought I would see if I could put them to good use. I spent about an hour cutting out all the different ones I thought I would use and this is what I came up with! Lets see how much money I can save!

Frame Design

2009-07-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

With moving into an apartment there are many expenses that I was not aware of. So with that I have to be creative with things. I came up with the idea of going to different thrift stores and just getting picture frames and wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. But I ended up really liking it! What do you think?

Congrats to Mr and Mrs Jacobs

2009-07-12T21:06:00.001-07:00

I have known Matt and Becca both since Freshman year of college. They both have been very good friends to me and a lot of my memories from college are with them. They have dated for almost 3 years now and yesterday I had the privilege of attending their beautiful wedding which was at the Muckenthaler Mansion here in Fullerton. Becca looked gorgeous and the wedding was so much fun too! There was even a special touch of Thailand at the wedding with the saw paper fans my mom helped order for her guests to fan themselves.
Michael was in another wedding that day but he made it for the end of it!

Foltz Visit

2009-07-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Foltz have spent their summer in Santa Cruz and it has been great to see them 3 times this summer. They have been a 6 hour car ride away but on their way here they stopped to visit me and then on the way back they also stopped for 2 days. I can't get enough of the little ones and it is always fun to get time with my big sister Marisa. Jon also was so nice and took car of a lot of stuff I didn't understand about my car. We also made a nice dinner in my apartment too!

Summer Summer... what more can I say!

Silly Collin.

My always happy little Hayley Baby.

4th of July

2009-07-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little behind on blogging! For the 4th of July some of my friends went down to Matt and Becca's new apartment which is in downtown Long Beach. It was really fun to go close to the pier and watch the fireworks show and then had a bbq at their apartment. Thought I would share some pictures of the time.

Becca and Leanna waiting for the fireworks to start.

The whole gang. Theo, Jessie, Michael, Becca, and Lee (minus Matt).

Me and my cutie pie, happy to be together on the 4th of July.

Crossroads

2009-07-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

It seems that my whole life people continue to ask the question of me

“What do you want to do (fill in the blank)”

-When you grow up?”
-When you are done with Joshua (my discipleship program)?”
-When you go to college?”
-When you are in college?”
-Once you graduate?”
-for a job?”
-With your life?”

The majority of my life has been me wondering “What do I really want to do” and more importantly “What is God calling me to do”. I spend so much time thinking about my future especially right now as I do not have a full time job and I am once again “looking” at my future. I am graduating in December and when I was younger my view of going to college was that you go to college to practice and learn more about what you want to do with your life. Then after going to college you have your future/job planned, set out, and once you graduate you begin that journey.

But right now I feel more confused about what that is, even more than when I started. The only thing that I know right now is that I love God and I want to serve people. I so desperately want to be in a place where I am able to use my gifts and abilities to serve God and to serve other people.

But where is that and how can I find that magical place? And do I continue to search for jobs that I don’t feel like I am really using my gifts but that will pay the bills?

Bottom Line is:

Love God. Love People. Serve God. Serve People.

But is there more?

Sacrifice

2009-07-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

The other day after a conversation I began to think about what the balance in relationships should be. A lot of what being in a relationship is, is giving up your own desires and wants. Love is about sacrifice and learning how to love selflessly. But then there is also the factor of not wanting to lose your own self and the things that are really important to you.

So I began to think about the things that are important to me and if I were to let go of them they would change too much of me. There have been points in my life where I have given things up that were important to me. I chose to sacrifice and to put the other persons need in front of my own. Yet later I wondered why I gave that thing up because it was something that I really wanted to do, yet I missed out on.

It comes down to this, I know without a doubt in my mind I love this person. But is it asking too much to give up this one good desire and passion I have.

Will this time be different than the others….

Or will I be able to look back in love….

Pray for Kate

2009-07-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

I ask you to right now say a prayer for Kate McRae. Her family is good friends to my family. Just about a week ago her parents took her to the doctors and found that she has a malignant and aggressive tumor on her brain. She had surgery yesterday and the prognosis is not good so far. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes right now. Here is a video of her parents expressing their story and specific prayer request for her.

For updates on Kate or to learn more about her story. Please go to this website http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Welcome the Turtles

2009-07-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

My big purchase from Chinatown this past Sunday was turtles! My roommates and I bought 3 so we each could have own own. I named my Squiggles. Candace named her's Squishy. Leanna named her's Pow (Leanna us all to name them Boom, Boom, and Pow but Candace and I refused).

In Chinatown right after the big purchase.

Turtle love.

A Day in Chinatown

2009-06-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my roommates and I took my sister Jenny to Chinatown in LA. It definitely felt a lot like home. The smells, the sounds, the people, and the foods all reminded me so much of Thailand. It was actually kind of like night market in Chiang Mai. We had lots of fun and took lots of pictures! Here are just a few. My next blog will be about my favorite purchase of the day!

Candace, Me, Jenny, and Leanna on the street.

We do love to shop.

Sisterly love

My roommates Leanna and Candace.

Fun hats

Jenny is here!!

2009-06-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

My little sister, Jenny landed in the wonderful California on Friday! We have been having a great time together. Since we do not get to see each other that often we have been catching up on old times, laying out by the pool, and watching movies (Jenny has been at camp for the whole summer and so she hasn't been able to watch TV). Yesterday we went to Chinatown and is was a lot of fun! We took lots of pictures so I will be posting them soon. So keep checking for updates!

I am an Animal Lover

2009-06-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old pictures from my childhood and saw the many of them have a common theme. I am an animal lover.

Seeking....

2009-06-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today started out a good day but turned into a stressful day. It is weird to think about how when I was in high school, the trials I faced seemed like they were so huge. Now looking back at them and they seem so simple. Each trial faced as life goes on continues to feel so much bigger than the last. In high school I worried about leaving my friends for the summer or if I should stay with my family or try to find a job for extra “spending money”. Now it has turned into worrying about not being able to be hired by anyone or how I will pay for this months rent. Sometimes I wonder why some days seem so easy and other days feel like the world really is on my shoulders.

One these reoccurring days of the past month I am reminded of a speaker in my discipleship program where he challenged us with this thought. He told think if the moment that our walk with God was the greatest? Think of why it was the greatest? What were you doing for it to be at this point? Then ask yourself why am I not at the point right now?

On days like today where I feel like I am not in that much control of my own life I think about this that question.

I am reminded of my life theme verse from Jeremiah 29:13

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart”.

Question answered.

First Limo Ride

2009-06-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

I am currently interning at Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach for their high school ministry and loving every minute of it. This past Saturday night we had our little commissioning time for the 8th graders that are moving into high school. We "kidnapped" them and took them in Limos and then on a scavenger hunt. It was my first limo ride. Not exactly what I thought my first limo ride would be like full of sweaty teenagers. But it was still rockin!

Becca's Bridal Shower

2009-06-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

Two Saturdays ago I was able to go to one of my good friend (since Freshman year of college we starts a big butts club) Bridal shower. Becca will be getting married to Matt on July 11th and I cannot wait for their wedding. It is crazy to think how they both have been good friends of mine throughout my college years. I am so happy for them and wanted to share two some pictures from the shower. Your day is almost here Matt and Becca!

This picture is of some of girlfriends. Leanna (my roommate), Tina (Fellow MK friend), and Charity (she is going to be famous some day).

New Things

2009-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

So I finally broke down... I decided since everyone in my family, my mentor, relatives, friends, and many more all have blogs I would convert too. It will take me a while but I think I will get the hang of it. Any suggestions feel free to add! I am a newbie at this.