Guilt Free Ice-cream

Like a lot of people, one of my biggest downfalls when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle is sweets. I love desserts. I like candy, but I love desserts and ice-cream, especially in the summer or after a long day. I do believe in moderation more than elimination, but someone needs to tell to my heart, because it seems if I eat one sweet I just keep eating more and more, so it's almost all or nothing!

I've been inspired by with some "guilt-free" ice-cream recipes I have come across. So far I have only had time to try one, but it was a winner! And soo easy to make!

The original recipe was: 1 bag of frozen berries, 1 cup of yogurt, and 3/4 cup of sugar. 

When I made it I completely eliminated the sugar, used Greek yogurt, and squeezed in half a lime for a little zip. The taste was really nice! It is more like sorbet and not anything like a chocolaty caramel ice-cream, but way better than no dessert at all!

You're Going Where?

You may have heard rumors about us moving to Las Vegas. Yep, it's true! Jason and Lauren Koemans are moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. Don't worry, I didn't expect that either. Here's how it happened:

Frontier School of the Bible is a three year program to receive an associate's degree. For a bachelor's degree students have the option of doing a 9-12 month internship anywhere as a "fourth" year. As Jason moved towards the end of his third year at FSB, we began to pray about an internship opportunity. Both of us felt like we would be willing to go anywhere. Well I know now that I should have been more clear with God, haha.

A church in Byron Center, MI, had caught our attention early in the year. Michigan had always been a place I was drawn to because my grandparents live there. The head pastor of the church had taught one of the lecture weeks at FSB and the youth pastor was the son of FSB's dean of students. Jason and the pastor had spoken and the pastor had told him to stay in touch. He seemed like the ideal pastor to intern under. We tried contacting the church and pursuing an internship, but they were hard to get a hold of and slow to contact us. By April we began to feel like we were trying to force ourselves into a position that wasn't open, and we began to feel pressure to find an internship before graduation in May.

Shortly after that Jason came home from class and told me his teacher had shared with them about a church, Las Vegas Bible Church, that really could use an intern to help with the youth and music ministry. As he told me, I thought to myself, "Oh, that's nice. I'm sure God will provide someone for that internship but there's no way it's for us." But I was soon to be proven wrong.

On facebook a few days later we got a message from a FSB grad that Jason had worked in youth ministry with. He said, 

Hey Jason,  dude I miss ya. I know this is totally random, but I just need to put a little bug in your ear so my conscience leaves me alone. I have no clue what you're planning on doing after graduation, you probably already have things lined up for internships or whatever. HOWEVER, may I simply throw your way something to pray about. Pastor Nathan Reichert and Las Vegas Bible Church need a person/couple with a big heart for youth (which I've seen in you first-hand) and giftedness in music...

Needless to say after reading that I was hooked. More like God had hooked me and I knew even though I would have never picked Vegas, He picked it for us. So we began to pursue the internship at Las Vegas Bible Church and the doors just kept opening wider and wider!

As of August 27th we will be living in Las Vegas for at least a year! Jason with be doing a pastoral internship under Nathan and will oversee the youth and music ministries. We are praying that we can both get jobs soon and we are praising God for the faithful team we have behind us - all of our rent is covered by monthly support and all of our ministry and lives are covered by prayer. God is good!

Just Josie #6

Josie has been soo full of cute and memorable moments lately...plus I'm totally soaking them all up because starting Sunday the "moments" together will be much fewer!

If you read the last "Just Josie" you would have started to get a picture of how excited Josie is when I stay at my parents house. It really makes her day. Every time I'm there she asks how long I'm gonna stay, and if I'm gonna stay forever. I melts my heart, and it hurts it too, because I know I won't be right there in that house with her forever. Last night I spent the night there in her and Heidi's room. She was so.excited. that the "three sisters" were having a sleepover! It was precious. Before we fell asleep she said it was time to pray. So I asked her to pray that my car would be fixed. She said, "Oh Lauren, you can take Heidi's car." Then turned to Heidi and said, "Heidi, can Lauren take your car?" It was cute how she tried to problem solve right away!

Also my parents have been wrestling with how to discipline her. Spankings don't really bring a change of heart to her plus she absolutely hates them, to the point of screaming and struggling to get out of my dad's arms. Of course he doesn't want to spank her if it's going to do this to her and not even change her heart. So they tried a new approach yesterday. They made a list of things she has to do before she can have a snack (pickle & chips). This list is:
1. Eat breakfast
2. Get ready (brush hair, get dressed, etc)
3. Eat lunch
4. Be obedient

So yesterday my dad was home at lunch time with her. She asked him for a pickle and chips. He got out the list to see if she had followed it. Since she hadn't had lunch yet, he got something together for her and she scarfed it down as fast as she could. Then she again asked for a pickle and chips. He told her, "Josie, I heard from Heidi that you didn't obey on the first time when you went out with her, so that means you can choose a spanking and then a pickle and chips, or just no pickle and chips." She chose a spanking. Her only request was that he didn't spank hard! Then she laid cooperatively in his lap. Afterwards she was soft hearted and even apologized. Then she got her pickle and chips! Obviously she will do anything for those!

I definitely will miss that girl. And I love her with all my heart. I had a lot of good sister time yesterday! Including a wonderful lunch date with Heidi. I love both my sisters sooo much. (And of course my brother too.)

Just Josie #5

Josie has always been interested in figuring out all those "family" terms like "brother," "daughter," etc. Once she has it figured out she will talk about it too, such as, "Dad! I found your daughter Lauren!" Or, "Mom has 6 brothers." Just when she thought she knew how to properly use all those terms we threw a new one at her - I got married and added the "in-law(s)."

Now it's also been hard for her to figure out that I'm "home" but not living in her home/my old home. When I come over she always asks, "Are you gonna stay forever?" So this afternoon when I stopped by the house quick, I ran in to say hi and to tell her that I would be back in the evening to stay the night. She got real excited and said, "Lauren how long are you gonna stay?" I told her it was just the night. Then she goes, "Oh, and then you go back to your new parents?" That girl cracks me up! She is trying so hard to understand all this. So I told her that I don't have new parents, I just have two families. All she wants is for me to "stay forever."

Second Half

Only 13 days after Jason's first ever half-marathon we ran another half-marathon by his request! My dad joined us as well. The race was in St. Ignatius, and it was beautiful! You had the Mission Mountains ahead of you and pasture land around you! It was all part of the "Good Ole Days" Festival, so afterward was a yummy pancake breakfast at the Senior Center! Our only complaint was that the course was advertised as "mostly flat" but the race was actually uphill for 7 miles! All in all it was a blast.

 

Jason was first in his age group (out of 5) and third overall! His time was a PR at 1:39:49. Let's just say I finished. Haha. I did get third in my age group (out of 5) and my dad got third as well! 

That's How We Celebrate!

We took a couple days to celebrate our one year anniversary!

Friday July 27 we enjoyed dinner at Montana Club, 

partially paid for by the gift card Jason won through his golf tournament!

Saturday July 28 began with an early morning tee time for Jason at the Ranch Club Golf Course, compliments of me! I joined him in the cart and we had a good time. The course is very pretty!

We continued that day with a shopping trip for a new vacuum, which left us with extra cash to spend since we found one for a better deal than the one we returned. I also got to shop for some sandals, which was my gift from Jason.

After a couple hours at the river to cool off and relax, we headed downtown to enjoy another dinner. We had planned on going to this new restaurant downtown, but when we got there realized it was not at all what we expected and quickly left. We chose the Silk Road instead, classy cuisine from all over Europe! We enjoyed a multi-course meal, all very delicious!

Monday July 30 was our actual anniversary, and we enjoyed a homemade dinner with Jason's parents. Jason also surprised me at work with a pair of Toms! And I gave him the gifts I had made for him (blogged about earlier).

Just Josie #4

The other night my brother was making loud slurping noises while he drank his water. 

Josie piped up and said, 

"Nathan, God did not make you to be a dog!"

Better Half

For me, running is a passion. I find enjoyment in it. For Jason, it is getting to be that way, but for the most part it is "work." That being said, it meant so much to me in March when he said he wanted to start running with me and run the Missoula Half Marathon with me in July! We began training...he ran some 5ks in the meantime and I ran 2 other half-marathons.

On July 8, 2012, was the big day. Here's how it played out:

Wake up before sunrise to get to the race start at 6 am on Blue Mountain Road by the Peak Gym.

Jason said he'd probably stay with me until mile 4 or 5, like our training runs. 

But no. By mile 1.2 he was looong gone!

So we each just did our own thing.

The course is very pretty, and there are people cheering you on, sprinklers to cool off with, and even inspirational signs!

Once you see the Higgins Street bridge you have come about 13 miles and suddenly you get a second wind... You can tell Jason is running fast! It felt like I was sprinting...but in the picture it doesn't look like it haha.

Once you finish there are refreshing snacks and loving fans to greet you:

And huge grins for a successful day!

Here are the stats:
* For Jason's first ever half-marathon, he ran a 1:41:45! Finishing 126/754 overall for men and 17/50 in his age group.
* For my third half-marathon, I ran a 1:54:50, which is my personal best! I finished 241/1784 overall for women and 29/170 in my age group.

The best part was the next day when Jason asked if we could run another one -- that one being a mere 13 days away! So we signed up!

Just Josie #3

On Sunday August 5 Jason got to preach at both services for Florence Carlton Community Church where he is the summer intern. After the first service he and I stood by the door to greet people on the way out, and Josie wanted to stand with us. A lot of the people wore name tags, so even though she'd never met any of these people, she would read their name tag ahead of time and then when they got to her she'd say,

"Hey (name)! Nice to see ya!" 

With MUCH enthusiasm AND the official "pastor's handshake" (two-handed).

She'd make a great pastor's wife ;) or just a great official greeter!

End of Chapter One

Here we are already a week into chapter 2 of forever! It's amazing how time flies and how many things can happen in one year! Our first year of marriage looked like this:

Wedding Day -- July 30, 2011

We thoroughly enjoyed our wedding day! It was so special and for the most part exactly what we wanted!

Honeymoon -- Maui!

We played mini-golf on a glow-in-the-dark course! That was fun!

And more mini golf at a beautiful tropical course!

 Can't beat watching Hawaiian sunsets!

And it was super fun to grill on the rooftop!

We also got to visit an aquarium, shop, eat out, relax, take surfing lessons, and snorkel at Molokini. Jason planned our destination, what a great surprise!

Livin in LaGrange, WY -- August 2011 - May 2012

We were in La Grange WY because Jason was completing his last year of at Frontier School of the Bible. I worked in Nebraska (90 miles round trip) at a vet clinic during our time here. He graduated May 11! It was so good to finally not be long distance for college and to experience it all together!

Our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs...some spent in Montana and some in Michigan.

In March we led a missions group from Frontier School of the Bible -- serving the lost and our fellow believers in Missoula.

In April there was Jason's senior banquet...

And also in April a mini-getaway to Westminster CO!

While there Jason ran his first major 5k race and I ran a half-marathon with my friend Jilanne. 

We also enjoyed a day of shopping and playing (including mini-golf again!)

Our first Easter as Mr. & Mrs...

And our first visit as Mr. & Mrs. to Las Vegas, NV, our soon-to-be home!

Our first half-marathon together! 

The Missoula Half-marathon on July 8, 2012.

And our second half marathon together...only 13 days after the first! 

The Buffalo Run in St. Ignatius on July 17, 2012.

Our first year of marriage has been wonderful. Not perfect, not without lessons and learning, but still wonderful. In some ways marriage has been different than I expected, mostly because of naive misconceptions about the reality of marriage. Overall though, marriage has been better than I expected! I absolutely love being married to Jason Paul Koemans!

"For better or for worse are so much more than only words...and I pray every day will be the proof that I mean what I say when I say, 'I do'"

Made With Love!

Originally, my husband and I were not going to spend money on gifts for our one-year anniversary, and instead just spend money on doing something together. But I still wanted to get make him something, and I was inspired by Pinterest. 

I saw this tutorial for canvas wall art...

And tried my hand at it. I didn't like attempt number one:

The stickers that actually stuck the best didn't have cut outs for the insides of the letters (like "e" or "s") so they showed up funny and I didn't have the time or skill to hand cut them. Plus I thought the font was weird... On a side note this project was a lot harder than I thought. The stickers are hard to peel off without leaving pieces behind and it's hard to have enough letters without buying six sticker packages to get your whole phrase.

But attempt number two was a lot better, except one thing - not wanting to waste the first two of the four canvases I tried to "re-do" them. The grey-on-yellow one worked well...but I don't know if I like the yellow-on-blue one...

We even used them in our photo-shoot for anniversary photos!

And will hang them in our bedroom once we move to our new apartment!

I also was inspired by The Dating Divas blog to make a jar of dates - 10 dates for $2. Here's how my date jar turned out: 

(I'm not gonna detail the dates yet because they will be a surprise to Jason as he picks them one-by-one. Hopefully I can document and blog about the dates once we've done them!)

I also was just super impressed by my gift-wrap skills:

(Yes I did re-use tissue paper and ribbon from our wedding gifts!)

PS: We were blessed with a gift card for a restaurant and a place to stay, so we ended up having some "gift-money" as well!

{Several more anniversary posts will follow!}