Spontaneous

If someone, like your husband, gave you $25 to spend on whatever you want, what would you spend it on? I was going to buy a coffee then save the rest until after Christmas. Buuuuttt the spontaneous bug bit me! I really should back up to the beginning though.

Normally I work Tuesday through Saturday. But this week they needed me to work Monday so I worked a half day Monday and a half day Wednesday. Let me tell you, those afternoons off were well spent and thoroughly enjoyed! Both Monday and today I packed my running shoes, kindle, Bible, and lunch, and headed for a nearby park after work. I went on my run with my latest running partner:

Meet Pepper Spray! I'm not totally sure it's actually that dangerous out, especially when I avoid sketchy areas, run in the daylight, and run in populated areas, but running with Pepper Spray is better than running by myself!

After my run I sat in the sunshine and read my kindle while I ate my lunch, and then I read my Bible. That is one thing I love about Vegas - this fall weather is not unbearably hot like the summer, but warm enough that I can wear running shorts and soak up the sun! I then proceeded to my favorite Vegas coffee shop, MadHouse Coffee! It's got some amazing drinks. And it's local! Last time I tried the blended Nutella Mocha. MMMMM. This time I fell for the blended Red Velvet Mocha. And again, it was delicious. 

After sitting and reading again while soaking up more sun and enjoying my Red Velvet, I was going to head home. Buuut here is where the spontaneous bug bit me. I drove past a way cool park and a tiny farmer's market! I actually drove completely past it then turned around because I decided to stop! I'm glad I did. There were probably 18 vendors, but they were all very friendly and offered delicious samples with no obligations. I tried turkey jerky, teriyaki beef jerky, homemade hummus, a strawberry, and two samples of kettle corn. I ended up spending the rest of my $25 on this:

Ya that's right. I spent my gift money on homemade hummus, a ring, and brussels sprouts! Yes I might be crazy, but this spontaneous afternoon made my day :) The only thing that would have made this afternoon better would have been if my husband had enjoyed these activities with me...

Welcome To Our Home!

I love our little apartment! Let me take you on a tour. Here, come on in! 

Walking in our front door puts you in our dining room. 

This is some awesome garage sale art on the wall that is slightly to your left when you walk in.

The dining room table sits off to your right, with the china hutch on the wall behind you. The sliding glass door to our patio is on the other side of the dining room table. 

This is from the living room looking back at the front door/dining room. The table is hand-me-down and the hutch is garage sale!

If you keep walking straight you will be in our living room! We have a super cool leather love-seat that is a steal of a find from a garage sale! As well as a hand-me-down leather ottoman, garage sale rustic glass top coffee table, upcycled garage sale bookshelves, and our TV in the corner. I'm super proud of my hubby for his work on the bookshelves - this summer he replaced the back with barnwood! And I love the rustic hint to our living room. 

Our upcycled garage sale bookshelves!

All the wall art is from garage sales, except the far left one, which was a gift :)

From the living room you can turn left and enter our bedroom through double-doors. Our walk in closet is on the left right as you enter. And a big black papasan chair sits to your right. You will be facing our bed, which is adorned with one of my favorite items in the house: a handmade headboard, made by they hubby! We also have a window seat and have since added curtains to cover the build in shelves around the window seat.

Door on the left is to the walk-in closet. Door on the right is to the bathroom. The mirror is another awesome garage sale find!

The mini quilt on the wall was a wedding gift, hand-stitched by my grandma with cloth used for various things in our wedding! The other wall art is a DIY project I have to Jason for our first anniversary. And of course the headboard...one of my favorite things in the house! Thanks babe for making it!

 Further up on your left you can walk into our bathroom, and if you walk through our bathroom you will be back where you began. You will be facing the entryway, and our built in desk will be on our left. On your right is the open entry to the kitchen, which is the perfect size and has lots of counter space! 

Above the kitchen sink...

 Please note one of the most exciting items in our kitchen.....the dishwasher!! After not having one in Wyoming we appreciate it so much! At the back of the kitchen is a door to our pantry which also has the washer and dryer. 

Here is a highlight of some of the wall art in our apartment.

Does that make you feel like you just walked through our apartment? I hope so. If not, book a plane ticket and come visit! But unless you want to sleep on the floor between the coffee table and the kitchen table, I'd suggest booking a hotel room. I love our cozy little place. And it's so much faster to clean than our two bedroom, two bath split level apartment in La Grange! I feel so blessed by the home God provided for us. A huge thanks goes out to our support team that helps pay our rent. You guys are awesome!

Viva Las Vegas

To live in Las Vegas means...

You lock your front door even when you are home.

There is a plethora of vanity license plates on cars.

You have to remember your alarm code and disarm it when you walk in or out the door.

Being outside in the afternoon usually means you will feel warm and sweaty no matter what activity you are doing.

You can drive 45 minutes and never leave the city or repeat a route.

There are palm trees!

For the most part everything is colored in shades of red, brown, and tan. (Until you are on The Strip, that is.)

There are too many choices for grocery shopping: Walmart, Fresh & Easy, Trader Joes, Vons, Winco, Costco, Albertsons, Smiths, Target Greatland... And there are usually five or six of each choice within 5 miles of your location at any given moment!

In-N-Out!!

Fans and AC are blasting almost 24/7.

You have to pack away the brand new Oaklie winter jackets that you got for Christmas and you love.

Four way stops are overused, and so are stop signs.

Starbucks runs the coffee market.

Two-thirds of the grass you find is artificial.

You can't leave butter out on your counter to be perfectly room-temperature spreadable. You have to refrigerate your butter...

HARD water = Brita water pitchers + hard water stains....

Your apartment complex has three pools and you swim almost every day.

Most roads are at least 3 lanes.

You have to have a sense of humor.

Your car is always steaming hot when you get in it.

Feeling cold is rare.

Sheets, blankets, and comforters are for decoration only.

There is so much to do...from shows, plays or concerts, to festivals, shopping, markets or events. As well as disc golf, hiking, running, and attractions such as Lake Meade, Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Boulder City, Mount Charleston...

There are sooo many places to eat out at that you could pick a different place every day and not repeat! There's the familiar: Tropical Smoothie, Little Caesars, Dominoes, Sweet Tomato, Beni Hana, Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panda Express, Denny's, Chipotle, In-N-Out, Famous Daves, Panera, Great Harvest, Five Guys, Sonic, Johnny Carinos... And the new: Rubios, Cafe Rio, Chilies, Macaroni Grill, Joe's, Jason's Deli, China-a-go-go, Hard Rock Cafe, Ranch House, On the Border, Rasing Cane's, Chuckecheeses, Weinerschnitzel, P.F. Changs... Practically every restaurant you've ever wanted to go to is here in Las Vegas.

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!