September Update...

September is most definitely flying by! In only 7 more days it will be October! I am giddy that yesterday was the first day of Fall! From now until right after my birthday (January 27th!) is my absolute favorite time of year! I love everything about Fall!

Life in the Ellis household is going well. I have been in a bit of shock trying to adjust to teaching full time and supporting Tyler in ministry. I am exhausted. I have been putting in long hours everyday at school and then bringing work home to do in the evenings and on the weekends. I am trying to find balance and take time for myself; I'm learning how to do this. I am so thankful for Tyler and for his patience with me. There has been more than one day where I have been an over-tired, grumpy girl! He's so good about figuring out what I need and taking such good care of me. I am blessed with a wonderful help-mate!

Although I have been exhausted, I absolutely love my job. I really can't imagine doing anything else. Yesterday, my kiddos were doing a Fall painting project and I was walking around the room helping them and I had a moment when I just stopped and thought, "Wow, I get paid to do this." Tyler and I weren't called to jobs that are going to make us millionaires, but we sure do feel fulfilled and love our jobs. I'm pretty sure not every millionaire can say that.

I totally need to update my blog with pictures of my classroom, life, etc, BUT if you remember, our camera decided to die on our vacation in Florida, so I have nothing for you. We will be buying a new camera next weekend when we go out of town for date night, and then I will finally have some!

Homesickness

Missing all these faces right now...

The last few weeks I have been so homesick...the kind of homesickness you feel in the pit of your stomach. The kind that makes you burst into tears at the most random times. I think a lot of the reason I have been feeling so homesick has to do with starting a new job and feeling yet another big change. I am very thankful for my new job, but with it comes the stress of a new thing. I have only seen my parents and brother once since the start of the new year and it was for a mere 36ish hours as we were passing through Redding during our move to Washington. I am really missing my family. I miss the Ellis family a ton too. When I fell in love with Tyler, I also fell in love with his wonderful family. I gained 3 brothers and a sister, not to mention my 2 beautiful nieces. I miss watching Leila and Sadie grow. We have just been through so much change and I am longing for the familiar. Have I also mentioned that we also do not have a Target or a fro-yo place here? (I think I have lamented about it in previous posts, but just thought I'd mention it again.);)

Tonight as I was sitting at the dinner table in tears (I think my tears often seem to surface at the dinner table because it's the time of day that Tyler and I process through our day together) I was telling Tyler that one thing that really helps me with my homesickness is to remember ALL that I have to be thankful for. First of all I have Christ in my life who has and continues to guide me through all of the big changes, a wonderful husband who loves and cherishes me, supportive family and friends who rally behind us even from far away. Tyler and I both have great full-time jobs (many people can't say the same right now) We have food, clothes housing, and transportation (many people on the east coast are facing losing all of these with Hurricane Irene on its' way...definitely saying prayers for them right now). We have the means to do fun things. We belong to an amazing church where we are loved. We both have an education that can't be taken away from us. We are blessed abundantly. Sometimes it's easy to dwell on the not so pleasant things, but when I reflect on my many, many blessings I soon realize how good God is and that He has us right where we are supposed to be.

Summer Craziness

This summer has been crazy and has absolutely flown by. I really can't believe August is already half gone. Summer 2011 has been a good one, but a busy one!

After kicking off our summer with the Urban Plunge trip and a fun day trip to Seattle, we jumped right into more summer activities. At the end of June Tyler and I both volunteered at VBS. He was in charge of recreation and I was blessed to be a VBS teacher. I came down with a wicked flu 2 days before VBS which left me feeling pretty fatigued throughout the entire week, but it was still fun to be a part of an AWESOME VBS!

Here is a cute picture of Tyler and Gigi, his little girlfriend from VBS. She was very attached to him the entire week.
The week prior to VBS I interviewed for a teaching job at Moses Lake Christian Academy. The following week I was offered a 2nd grade teaching position! I am very excited about this new opportunity. Tyler and I talked a lot about whether I would work part time or full time here in Moses Lake. With Tyler being in full time ministry, I really want to support him and be available for different activities. I taught 3 days a week in Riverside and absolutely loved my schedule, Moses Lake definitely does not have as many part-time teaching opportunities (they are actually pretty hard to come by). We put our decision in God's hands and He made it very obvious that I was to be a full time 2nd grade teacher at the academy. School hasn't even started yet and I am already feeling the pull between my job and Tyler's ministry. I am already finding myself having to tell people no and having to have good boundaries so I do not take on too much. Tyler is so super supportive of my new job and understands that I won't always be able to be at every event or go on every trip. It's hard because I want to do everything and I hate telling people no (I must admit that I am not very good at this, but I am working on it), but this is a perfect time for me to trust in God to help me find balance. I have worked very very hard to finish my Masters Degree and now it's time to put it to good use!:)

On July 17th Tyler and I celebrated 2 wonderful years of marriage. I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. He challenges me to be a better woman and follower of Christ. It was fun to spend some time on our anniversary reflecting over our last two years as husband and wife. We have been abundantly blessed and can't wait to see what this next year holds for us. We are going into our 3rd year of marriage knowing that we must find balance between our very important commitments to ministry and teaching and our very important relationship as husband and wife. That may present some challenges, but as long as we put God at the center of our marriage I believe He will guide us and help us find that balance. We celebrated on the 17th with dinner out, a walk by the lake, and ice cream. We had to leave the next morning for a youth trip to Portland, but we knew that we would celebrate even more on our trip to Florida at the end of July.

My sweet hubby and I before dinner out on our anniversary:)

As I mentioned above, we took off on July 18th for 5 days of Youth Quake in Portland with our junior highers! It was a great week of serving, learning, and of course some fun! We had a great time getting to know our students even better (trips definitely make you bond quickly!).

Me with some of our students helping clear a trail as part of a service project. Let me just tell you, I have never had poison oak before, but I got the nastiest case of it during this project. It's been almost a month and it's still healing!

The day after we got home from Youth Quake we headed out to 3-6th grade camp at Camp Wooten (which is about 3 hours away). I woke up the day we were leaving with a fever, terrible ear pain, and a sore throat. I had actually had a sore throat and ears the whole time we were in Portland (the summer has just not been kind to me: first the flu, then poison oak, and then this!) and it progressively got worse. I was in denial and hoping it was just allergies. I went up to camp but had to come home just a few hours later. It was awful. I got into the doctor a couple days later and found I had a double ear infection. No fun at all. I was bummed I had to miss out on camp, but with how sick I was it was much better for me to be at home. I missed Tyler terribly the next 4 days and just wished he was home to take care of me! I was thrilled when he finally came home.:)

Three days after Ty returned home from Camp Wooten, we left for Florida! I won't bore you with too many details, but we had an AMAZING time! Disney World was wonderful! I want to go back already! I am such a Disney girl! We had a spectacular vacation and got to truly celebrate our anniversary and my completion of my Masters! We lounged by the pool, spent time with Mickey and Minnie, ate out at yummy restaurants, had ice cream every single night, slept in, stayed up late, laughed, and just enjoyed being together. We weren't quite ready to come home, but kept telling ourselves that the sooner we were home, the sooner we could start planning our next vacation! :) I will post more pictures of our trip in a separate blog, but here are 2 fun ones!

Celebrating with Mickey and Minnie:)

Just this week we experienced our first Grant County Fair! We had a great time. I think my favorite part was the funnel cake! It was our first small town fair and another reminder of just how different Moses Lake is from So-Cal. I love the sense of community here and the slower pace of life. Businesses actually shut down during fair week...it's a big deal (and so foreign to Tyler and I!). I wish I had some pictures of our night at the fair, but did I mention our camera died in the middle of our vacation.:( Time to buy a new one I guess!

We are entering the Fall with excitement and anticipation. Youth group will be starting back up in about 3 weeks. Tyler is planning some awesome events for the fall. School starts for me in just a week and a half. I will be living out my calling to teach....so blessed. The holidays are just a few months away and we are planning trips to see both of our families. Life is full and busy, but good.:)

4th of July 2011

We had a blessed 4th of July! We spent the afternoon and evening with some friends from church. We BBQ'd at our apartment, played Apples to Apples, had yummy dessert, and then went down to the park to watch the fireworks! Here are some pics of our fun!


Our friend Liz waiting for fireworks!
Ruth and Tyler!

Jeff and Amy!


Patriotic flowers make everything a little more spirited...even if they are only carnations;)

The counter waiting for food:)
Our festive table:)

Seattle

Back in June our dear friends Emelia and Emily were in Seattle for a visit with friends. We of course had to go see them! Tyler and Emelia were especially close friends during college. I like hearing their hilarious stories from their Simpson Days. Emelia has an amazing heart and she is loved by us Ellises! Emily holds a special place in our hearts too! She was the missions coordinator when Ty and I were at Simpson. Emily is so genuine and is passionate about missions and social justice. Tyler and I have actually been able to meet up with her 2 times in the past couple of years so we feel blessed!
I had been itching to visit Seattle for the 1st time and let me tell you, I LOVED it! We were only there for about 7 hours, so I can't wait to go back and see more of the beautiful city!



I loved the market!

Tyler is trying to hide his excitement;)
It was fun to visit the random shops at the market! Emelia thought this would be a good pick for our friend Josh!

Urban Plunge 2011

It's so not acceptable that I haven't blogged in almost a month! I am going to catch up starting NOW!

Back in June we took our first youth trip with a small group of our junior highers. We spent the weekend serving in Spokane! This serving weekend has traditionally been called "Urban Plunge." It was awesome to watch our students serve and work hard. We also got to take them on a neighborhood exegesis where they spent time reflecting on neighborhoods and living conditions different from their own. It was a great weekend and we have great students!

Team pic! In the back row on the far left is Liz. Liz is in Moses Lake for the summer completing an internship with the children's/junior high ministry and we were blessed to have her as another leader on the trip!

Derek doing yard work:)

Cute Tori:)I adore these boys! Such hard workers!

Ty and Alex taking some time out for a little fun!

Sam working hard!!

No youth trip is complete without a game of Ninja!

I think my most favorite part of the weekend was hearing the students give their testimonies in front of each other. I was definitely in tears. It was awesome to hear what God has done AND is doing in their lives. Us leaders shared our testimonies too and I think it was good for the kids to know more about each of us. Many of the students were very nervous about sharing and they weren't alone. Sharing my testimony always makes me nervous. I felt sick to my stomach before sharing with them. It's always hard for me to be vulnerable, especially when it comes to sharing about my health issues and the challenge they present in my life sometimes. However, they are a huge part of my testimony. God has been so faithful and deserves praise for what He has brought me through and the strength He continues to give me. Even though some things make me feel vulnerable and are very personal, Tyler and I both felt like I should share some of these hard things with the students. I think it's good for the students to see that their leaders can be vulnerable and to hear about what God has brought us through. It was a blessed time with our students.:)

Tyler and I continue to be radically blessed by our new church and the students we get to work with!

Tyler Turns 25!

On June 4th Tyler turned 25! A quarter century!


So handsome on his birthday:)

We had a great day celebrating. We slept in, I made him a big breakfast of french toast, turkey bacon, and eggs, we lounged around the house, went to dinner at Red Lobster in Tri-Cities, and ended our night with Frozen Yogurt at a great shop we found in Tri-Cities a few weeks back (we're hooked!). The night before Tyler's birthday we had friends over for dinner and shared his birthday cake with them. We knew the 2 of us couldn't and shouldn't eat a whole cake ourselves so I made it a day early so they could help us eat it (I still ended up throwing 1/3rd of it away after a few days!). I made the famous Ellis chocolate cherry cake...so yummy.

Our wonderful day briefly turned not so wonderful when we walked out to our car as we were leaving for dinner and discovered our car had been keyed. Not only was it keyed, but our hood was keyed with profanity. I was shocked. We live in a good area and it just proves that it can happen anywhere. I really can't believe how badly some people behave. Err. Anyways, we tried to not let it get us down and ruin our evening. We filed a police report the next day and are in the process of getting it fixed (our whole hood has to be re-painted). Thankfully, a father of 2 of our students does auto body work and is doing the work for us. We trust him completely and know he will make it all better. Life never gets boring around here!;)