I am a Young Life Leader

I lead Young Life at Brier Terrace Middle School where I attended in middle school.  It is a blast to hangout with 7th grade girls, go to their sporting events, live life with them and share Jesus.  Middle Schoolers listen to every word you say, and it is really cool to see them grow up and also to see how they view the world.  They make me laugh and my heart gets bigger and bigger every time I am around them.  Tonight, I got to give a club talk where I shared about my life and something that I have learned from Jesus.  Tonight I talked about when I was in the 8th grade and I broke my collar bone while playing soccer.  I talked about how a girl fouled me so hard that when I fell, it broke.  I talked about how I couldn't play soccer, which was my life at the time for two months and how I wanted to retaliate.  I then talked about what Jesus says about when people hurt or wrong you and what you should do.  It was really cool sharing about Matthew: 5:38 and how back then people would do "eye for eye and tooth for a tooth" and sharing with the kids that even though that girl fouled me and broke my collar bone, I should not in return brake hers.  But that Jesus tells us to do the opposite in Matthew: 5:39: "Do not resist an evil person.  If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, you should turn to him the other also."  It is a hard lesson to learn and even for adults to consistently think before we react when people do wrongly to us.  It is very difficult.  And without Jesus, there is no way, I could not retaliate for everything bad that has been done to me or my friends and family.  I am very thankful that I have Jesus in my life.



Here is a picture of me and some leaders at neon club.  It is a lot of fun dressing up to each theme.  This was earlier this fall.


Thanks for letting me share this incredible joy that I have in my heart with you.


-Hayley

Valentines Day

I saw a picture of a pug with a heart on them like this floating around on facebook and knew I had to try.  Rudy did awesome with it on him in the kitchen watching his daddy cooking.  Rudy is a sucker for food.  But when we tried it later on the couch, it was very difficult as he was not interested.  These shots are priceless and make me laugh every time.

Sean made this delicious fettuccine alfredo (my all time favorite dish) and salad.  We had a nice cozy night in for Valentines Day and it could not be more perfect.  This was our 7th valentines together.  1 while dating, 1 while engaged and 5 being married.  Crazy!!!

Hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day!!!

-Hayley

Afraid to Create

I am so afraid of creating art or something meaningful in my life.  I thought I was lazy and didn't have the time, but lately, I have come up with any and every excuse not to create.  I am too busy, I want to watch a show instead, it takes to long to set up my space, to put everything away, yadda yadda.  It is me.  I am my own worst enemy when it comes to creating art.  I actually love creating, but I think it is at the end, when it is said and done and I stare at my tapestry and am so extremely critical of myself.  WHY?  Are people going to tell me that is sucks?  Well, then they suck, lol.  What am I creating for?  My house, for relief, to relax, for my own personal enjoyment?  My husband and my best friend are my best cheerleaders.  It is pretty funny actually, I could take a piece of foil roll it up in a ball and they would both give me praise.  That is why I love them.  But honestly, I need to get over myself, use a talent that God has given me and create something!!!!

So with that being said, I am going to create a painting.  I have been oggling (is that even a word?) over the birch trees and I am going to try.  If I screw it up, then I can start over and create something else, but at least I attempted, or am going to....

So world, and to myself, here I go!

I used acrylic and painted this for Sean.  There is even a little heart with our initials.  Hope you like it, Sean sure did!

Thanks for reading along!

-Hayley

We Don't Have Kids

This is what my life looks like and I am okay with that.  I have a lot of friends who are pregnant or have kids and that is awesome and Sean and I want to have kids one day.  But we are enjoying the moments we have with each other and with our little Rudy who we treat like a kid.  So I am okay with dog toys laying around the house that squeak and dog hair on my clothes.

Rudy has so much character that he acts like an actual person and that is enough for us right now.  If you are tired of me posting pictures of Rudy on instagram or on here, then sorry, but I am not sorry because he is a big part of my life.  

My Home Office

My home office is my actual office for my job as a regional admissions counselor for the University of Idaho where I went to college and played soccer.  That is why the room is grey and yellow, the colors for U of I.  It is really nice to work from home and this space makes it feel like a professional office that is separate from the rest of my house.  The only exception is that Rudy stops by from time to time.

My soccer jersey my senior year.

I really like post it notes.

Cheap black out shades.  I now have actual curtains.  

Rudy checking out the office.

Thanks for touring my office with me.

-Hayley