Overdressed

I JUST heard one of the songs from the most recent album that Caedmon's Call put out. It's coming SOON and I can't wait. The song I heard was Reason and it's AWESOME. If you want to get a good deal, go to the website at the right and you can get 2 for $12.
Can you tell I'm a huge fan?

North Carolina Trip

Well, sorry for the absence, we have kind of been all over the place. Our most recent trip to North Carolina was awesome and I thought I would share some of the pictures with you. We went for the first part of the trip to watch our nieces play in the fast-pitch 10 and under world series! They did great and came in 3rd place. This week they are in Alabama at another big tourney! It was so fun to watch them and get to spend time with fam. Joel surprised me and we went and did some hiking at Chimney Rock, got to see and hike places from Last of the Mohicans. We also did some driving on the BLue Ridge Parkway which is beautiful! He then surprised me and took me to a Bed and Breakfast which I have always wanted to go to. We went to Cherokee country and learned a lot there and then hung out in Charlotte with a friend of mine who I haven't seen in 15 years. When I was in Elem school, Taylor had big brother big sisters and this lady, Tani, was my big sister. I helped in her wedding, but haven't seen her since although we have kept up through letters and pictures. It was fun to have JOel meet her and her fam.
It was a great trip!
Enjoy the pics and if you want to see more go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9513&l=8d4c1&id=717665241

Unexpected surprise

So, I have to brag on my husband. When we first got married he told me that he never wanted to be one of those people who never did little things to show me he loved me. He didn't want flowers to JUST be on Valentine's or cards to JUST be on our anniversary-he wanted me to know DAILY how much he loves me. Today was such a day. I came home from work to a beautiful bouquet (sp) of flowers-orange and yellow roses- which are my two favorite colors. Now, I admit, he brings me flowers often and I LOVE that. He even made the neighbor lady jealous and she went on to tell me how lucky I am to have a husband who does this. I agree. I just felt so loved today when I came home and saw these. He really does such a wonderful job of showing me DAILY (like he promised) how much he loves me. I'm a lucky girl!

COFFEE! NEED COFFEE!!

You Are an Iced Coffee

At your best, you are: hyper, modern, and athletic At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you're out with friends Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

What have you been learning from YOUR job?

Well, I admit that I learn new things in my job everyday. I learn new things about how to save lives. What can I say, I'm a nurse. But, more importantly, I learn more about people each day-good, bad, and well ugly.

-THere are some VERY...interesting people in the world. Some that make you smile
Some that make you question things, and some that well, challenge you.

-The old saying that "bad things happen to good people" is really true. It's been
One of the biggest challenges I faced working in the ER and Pediatrics. It's
to see bad things happen to anyone, but it seems that a lot of times really bad
things happen to really good people. It's hard for anyone to see, but hard to
reason through it when I know that my God is in charge of all that happens. It
has made for many interesting and late night chats with Joel and I.

-THe outcomes of a lot of challenging situations are all in how I react to them. A
recent song that I have been listening to is "Hallelujah" by Bethany Dillon. I
have been trying to download it to the area in the margin to the right. But I
have listened to it every day before I go to work. It says:Hallelujah, Hallelujah, whatever's in front of me, I'll CHOOSE to sing Hallelujah". Not always
an easy thing to do.

-People notice a lot more than you think they do.

-I need Jesus hand in everything I do-especially my job.

-I meet people at their most vulnerable time a lot of times, what I do with that
responsibility is really important and needs to be taken seriously.

-It's a fine balance between compassion and being too involved. Some people are able to callous themselves to "do the job", I can't do that, but I am finding it hard sometimes to not become jaded with all the different kinds of people I meet. I don't ever want to become jaded becauase to me this is more than a job, it is what I am called by Jesus to do.

SO, what have you learning from YOUR job. Whether nurse, housewife, teacher, etc. what have you learned?

CLEVELAND ROCKS!

We recently took a trip to Joel's old stompin ground, Madison, OH. If you have never heard of it, that's ok. Most people haven't. It's right outside of Cleveland. We met up with some of JOel's friends from High School. We sailed on Lake Erie, hung out with kiddos, went to an Indians game, went to Cedar Point, camped. We had a great time. Enjoy the pics!

Wild Thing!

The hair after the ride!

For those of you who know my mom, these pictures of her on a "hog" have got to just be classic! Even the purest of heart have a wild side!
Also some fun pictures from Father's day with my bro. Enjoy!!

Weekend Away at Home...Part 2

So, blogger is doing some funny things right now making it hard to post everything together. Joel and I got to go away for the weekend and visit home...confused??? From the pictures you can probably tell we were in Upland and Hartford City to visit mom and dad, among others. It has been awhile since we got to visit Kim's fam for an extended period. It just happended to work out over Father's Day weekend.
One of the highlights was of course visiting mom and dad, but we also got to visit with others. Mom and I went and had custard and coffee with our longtime friends Colleen and Kelli. This was such a treat for us to get together and just catch up. We counted and we hadn't gotten together since before Kelli left for Laos-over 5 years ago! Lots has happened since then, but it was so encouraging and uplifting to be with them and just to be. Thanks Kel and Colleen.
On Friday, Joel and I went and visited friends from Marion and of course went to La Charreada! Vitaly came from Indy, Jeremy and Michelle are adjusting well to baby Eily (not such a baby anymore) and Shannon and Liz are expecting baby boy Hawk literally any day. It was so fun to get together with them and catch up. Michelle made an awesome dessert and we had fab Honduran coffee-compliments of Jeremy! It was fun to see y'all.
On Saturday, I got together with my long time friend Missy. Unfortunately, I have not pictures, but we pretty much look like twins after I got the blonde thing goin. Not sure if you can tell in the pictures, but the one with all the Marion gang, I am BLONDE! It is so fun too! When Miss and I got together, we talked about how it's like we didn't skip a beat. We picked up right where our last conversation left off and just kept goin. I love that. I love that I have such a wonderful friend that I can do that with. Love you Missy!
I have some more pictures I am going to post later. Just to give you a heads up, my mom is on a motorcycle! I know you all can't wait.

Weekend Away at Home...

Joel's graduation

WE had a great time last weekend celebrating Joel's graduation from seminary. He graduated from North Park Theological Seminary with an MDIV/MBA. He graduated with high honors! I am so proud of him and all his hard work. He did such a great job and we both learned SO much during our time here. It has not been easy all the time-we knew it wouldn't be, but we thank God so much for bring us here.
We had a fun party with all kinds of people. Lots of people from church came which really was special. For those of you who haven't seen the apartment, here are some pictures of different parts in the background.
Congratulations to my graduate! I'm so proud of you!

Our Anniversary in Pictures

Our Chicago Anniversary

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Amy W @ http://amysfrontdoor.blogspot.com/

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Things about me!

1.) I joined the blogging world after Julie Lamb sent me an email about it. After that I was totally hooked and have found so many people to re-connect with. I love blogging and love keeping up with people!

2.) My addictions are CHOCOLATE and Starbucks (specifically grande skim white chocolate mochas with no whip!) coffee. My husband would say I am addicted to T.V. too.

3.) I am so ashamed to admit this, but I am terribly dis-organized and a HUGE procrastinator. I wish I could be different, but it has worked so far for me. I am working on it, but well...after 28years, it's not an easy habit to break!

4.) I love adventure and I love to travel. Since moving to Chicago we have had a lot of adventure and done a lot of traveling. Most recent was Ecuador (our future sight as missionaries), Alaska and Japan. I LOVED Japan! Probably explains too why my favorite food is SUSHI!

5.) I like to read books of my choice, but I hate to read books I am forced to read (such as for school). As bad as it is to say, I have yet to read an entire book in undergrad or graduate work that I am asked to. Luckily I don't get graded on that! And DON"T TELL MY MOM!

6.) I love surprises! My husband luckily knows this and surprises me all the time! I love it! Most recently for our anniversary, we went downtown Chicago and stayed in a hotel (another favorite thing). We did all kinds of stuff downtown andhe surprised me with a beautiful necklace!

7.) I love adrenalin. It explains my last 2 jobs well, working in the pediatric ICU and now in the ER. I love the high pace and high skill that it takes to do this work combined with care. That's why I love nursing. God truly has gifted me (not to be cocky). But I can't imagine doing anything else. I LOVE MY JOB!

8.) I love pictures! If you saw our apartment you will know this immediatly.

I am tagging:
Christa
Lisa P
Erin N
Jen A
Jo Ellen Hummel


4.)

5 years!

Happy 5th Anniversary to my wonderful, amazing husband!

The time has flown by.

I love you more today than I did 5 years ago today. I'm so excited for the journey so far and for where God is leading us.

I will post more pictures later from our anniversary celebration!

On strict orders from my mom, I am posting about my wonderful couple days back home in Indiana!
I was so excited to get to spend time with my mom and dad for my mom's birthday. We had cake and tons of food out at our fav restuarants.
On Friday night, I got to spend time with some of the girls (and one boy) that I went to high school with. A lot of these I haven't seen for 5 or 6 years! It was such a priviledge to be in the presence of so many women (and men) of faith. Like Kelli said, my cheeks hurt the next day from so much laughing! What a great feeling. It was so amazing to catch up on each of their lives and see where they are and what they are doing. Just a re-cap for my mom.
Going from this picture of all of us. You know me and what I am doing. Carrie K is a nurse and paramedic. Please keep her and her fam in your prayers. Her brother was recently killed in Iraq. Bethany H is doing her residency right now in Indianapolis at Riley Children's. I always knew she'd be a great doc. WIsh I could work with her! Kelli is back right now from Laos and is seeking God's will on what is next. Geoffrey H and his fiance (Lydia) were back for one week planning for the wedding. They live in China and will after the wedding. Melissa lives on the south side of Indy with her husband who is a policeman. Her little girl Sydney is precious and looks just like her. It was so cool to see her as a mom. She's great at it! Allison lives in Muncie with her husband Chad. You can't mistake her little boy as being hers. WOW! THey look so much alike. His name is Jackson. Heather and her husband (Joel, good name!) live in Noblesville. He is finishing his masters and she is working at Taylor. She's going to be taking a trip to Ecuador soon! YEAH!
Jennifer and her husband live in Arizona! She likes it hot! She is just as fun as ever! She is working on getting her counseling license. How cool would it be to have her as a counselor?!
We also talked to Ashley on the phone. She couldn't come. Her and Ryan live in Noblesville. She recently became an AUNT!
Can I just say that this was such a highlight for me. It is so awesome to literally be able to watch people grow up and then reconnect to see where God has brought them from and where they are now. They really are changing the world!
What a blessing to be in the presence and to catch up.
God is good!







Mom and Dad Carter

Allison and Jackson and Mel and Sydney

THe ones that stayed later! Sydney wanted to hang with da girls!



Allison and Jackson

Sydney and Mel

The smilers! I just love these girls. They have helped shape who I am today! Colleen and Kel

Past and Present

Yes, this is a VERY old picture. Kelli will probably kill me when she sees this, but I just have to post a blog about my good friend Kelli.

Number 1, I am so excited because on Friday, I am getting together with friends from high school who I haven't really seen SINCE high school. This is such a treat for me and I can't wait to catch up with everyone.

Kelli is one that I am so excited to see. She has been teaching in Thailand for the last 5 years and I haven't seen her for that long. You see, Kelli has a special place in my heart, because she is the first friend (after my mom) who was an example of Christ to me. Even at THIS young age that you see here, Kelli showed me and told me about Jesus and truly lived it out-and she still does.

I can't wait to see her and the others who I haven't seen in years. There is just something about being around people that haven known you since you were a kid. I will post pictures when I get home!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

I just wanted to send a Happy Birthday to my mom! I wish I was there with her today, but wanted to say Happy Birthday anyway. She's the most special and amazing lady I know and I am proud to be her daughter. She has been such an example throughout my life. She has been an example of Christ to me since I was a kid. I remember when she used to read the Bible to me each night before we went to bed.

So this post is for my mom. The most amazing woman I know. I love you mom and Happy Birthday!





(My Aunt Donna and Mom)

Slackin'

Yes, I have totally been slackin in the blog world. Minimal posts to other fav blogs, no posting on our blog for, well awile. Can I be honest and say I just haven't done it. Not to mention that nothing has really happened lately worthy of blogging. I have had some ideas of things to blog...

~I was going to do the "can you pass 8th grade math thing" Then I looked at it and realized for sure I WASN"T going to spend the time on that and I pretty much knew there was no way on God's green earth I would pass it!
~The dogs have done some really cute stuff, but I can't ever capture it on camera. It's usually them coming up to smell the camera or them turning there back side to it (NOT SO BLOG-WORTHY!)
~Talk about the new research paper I am writing for Major Psychopathological Disorders! It's actually interesting (to me), but must not be TOO interesting since I am blogging instead of writing it!
~I may end up posting this still, but I will do a dry run. Had a conversation in Curves the other day about what the ladies categorize as gross. Now granted one is a teacher so I'm sure she sees gross things, but her biggest thing she can't handle is when kids wiggle their loose teeth in front of her...well, many directions to go there, but do you think I could MAYBE one up her since I"m an ER NURSE! HELLO!
~Going to blog about our new addiction to 24, but realize that we are on season 4-you all have BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT!

So instead I came up with this. At least it is something! Hopefully my life gets more interesting. Research papers and Epidemiology homework...not so fun to blog about! Are we really THAT boring! DON"T ANSWER THAT!
Peace to ya!

Thursday Thirteen

Top Thirteen Movies in the Delp Household
1.) Patch Adams (Joel's Fav)
2.) Schindler's List (Kim's Fav, yes it is a weird fav, but I appreciate history about WW II)
3.) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4.) So I Married and Axe Murderer
5.) Simon Birch
6.) Hotel Rwanda
7.) Amistad
8.) Gross Pointe Blank
9.) Matrix Trilogy
10.)Lord of the Rings Trilogy
11.) Forest Gump
12.) Braveheart
13.) Crash

In the true spirit of one of favs that didn't make the list...High Fidelity (yes we are John Cusack fans), what's YOUR top 5?

Easter Morning

HE IS RISEN!

Maunday Thursday

Observance of Maunday Thursday

In observing Maunday Thursday, we are remembering Christ’s last opportunity to be with his disciples in the Upper Room. In John’s account of this evening, Christ said “A New Commandment I give you, to love one another”. The word Maunday comes from the Latin word “mandatum novum,” which means New Commandment.

He then went on to demonstrate his love for his disciples by washing each of their feet, which was a surprising act since footwashing was usually done by the lowliest of servants.

And as we know, he also instituted a ceremony of bread and wine by which we can remember his sacrificial love for us by dying on the cross. So in remembering Christ on Maunday Thursday, we are reminded anew to take seriously this New Commandment that he has given us to love one another as He has loved us.

OH CANADA!

I just recently found the camera and I am finally able to post pictures from our mini vacation to Canada. We went to a small town called Searchmont about 40 minutes North of Saulte St. Marie. We stayed in a very cute cabin with a beautiful view, a wood stove, and even cable!. The main thing we were able to do was RELAX! It was much needed. We also went skiing for an afternoon and snowshoeing! We had never done that before and had a great time! It's a major workout!! We also watched a lot of the March Madness games which was lots of fun!
GO BUCKEYES!!!!
It was a very nice time for us to get away and just be together for a bit.
Enjoy the pictures and enjoy this Holy Week.
Blessings!

Not so wordless Wednesday...

This is the newest book we are reading for our small group. It is really good so far...I highly recommend it.

Anyone else read this book?

What did you think?

Ecuador Update

I know I have had this picture on here before, but I just love it and it makes me homesick for Ecuador.




It has been a while since we have talked about Ecuador. This is mainly due to not really having any news to tell. Well, in the last few weeks, we have gotten some new info regarding our plans for overseas mission work.


About 3-4 weeks ago, we talked to the president of missions for our denomination, trying to figure out where God was leading and what directions we were to go. In that conversation, it was decided that we would stay here in the states for at least 2 more years while I finish school. We thought we would be really disappointed about this because we just want to get there!! But, we had a great peace regarding this decision and truly feel this is where the Lord is taking us. It was decided however, that we would be in conversation with leaders from the National Covenenant Church of Ecuador and through this we would develop relationship in hopes of coming alongside the National Church to develop an orphanage and medical clinic in a developing area of Ecuador.


It was a great relief to realize that the president as well as others are excited to have us go. We have felt in the past that maybe this was TOO big a vision, wondering if people would really be on board with this. But, through this conversation as well as others, we realize that people ARE excited to have us go and even view us as "a new generation of missionaries." HOW EXCITING! We are looking forward to the conversations over the next months and years and to see where that leads us. They seemed extremely excited to realize that we were ready and willing to go wherever, and we are actually hoping to go to the places where others don't want to go-the jungle, the coast, etc.


We are excited to see where this leads. Thank you for your continued interest and prayers.

Go Buckeyes!

GO OHIO STATE! All the way to #1!

What's your favorite team as we go into March Madness time?

My Everest is CONQUERED!!

So maybe this should not be considered "my Everst", but for the last little bit, this was my Everest. I had to completed this book for my book club by last Wednesday, or I would not be able to choose the next book. This was a huge incentive since I have a book I really really really want to read. Anyway, I spent all on Wednesday reading the last 200 pages and finished it with enough time to make dinner and dessert! I was very excited!
So, what did I think? Well, it was a classic Steinbeck book from what I hear. I haven't read many. I was excited to finish, since most people that I talked to had not read this book, I am happy to say I have. Parallels! It has so many parallels to life, the classic good VS evil that has plagued mankind since Adam and Eve and particularly for this book-Cain and Abel.
WOuld I recommend???
YES. If for no other reason than to say that you have read a classic! It is a classic and captures much of the essence of mankind. The way it is written-PHENOMINAL! He does such a great job in writing this. I would recommend, but I admit, I don't think I will read it again. The first time was good enough.!