saying goodbye

i've started saying good-bye to people here at my church (work). i've done things for the last time. in fact, all i have left is one coffee time with the staff and one sunday morning with worship and children's sermons and then it's all over.

i'm tearing up as i write this.

coming into this job right out of college i never thought that my church kids would mean so much to me or that i would worry about them like i do. there have been days that kids have been in my office in tears because things weren't going right for them at school, they were being picked on, things were rough at home with mom & dad, all sorts of things. i've hugged them, cried with them, given them advice, and pointed them to a professional in a different field if that's what they needed. then i've gone home and continued to cry for them. i never, in a million years, thought that their hurt would become mine.

there have been difficult kids, ones that i sometime wish would just be quiet. there have been quiet kids, ones that i wish would just talk. there have been kids that have such big hearts, that just care about other people all the time. there have been kids with hurting hearts, ones that never seem to catch a break. there have been kids with learning disablities, ones that just, for two hours, want to be treated like everyone else. and somehow, over the past 3 1/2 years we became one group. we came from different backrounds, different social groups, but we became like a family, meeting every wednesday night for 2 hours.

saying goodbye to 'my' kids has really forced me to be present with them. i noticed myself really slowing down and listening to their stories instead of rushing to the next thing. i found myself just sitting and smiling while they were all chatting together, enjoying that they are one group. i found myself not getting annoyed that i was listening to the same story again. then i got a little sad that it had taken the end of my time here to force me to slow down and really enjoy them. why was i always so worried about what was next? so stressed to get everything done? i'm not saying that i've neglected my job during this time, but i have slowed down. and it's been wonderful.

i did ok during our last wednesday night together. during lenten dinner i talked with a few different moms about my next adventure and i was emotional. i made it through middle school youth group wtih no problem. the senior high youth group kids threw me a great going away party (angel food cake, 12 pack of diet coke, peanut butter cups, blow up dinosaur, mini mouse coloring sheet- love those kids!), and i was ok through the party- i didn't cry at all. then i went to walk out of the youth room for the last time. i took a good look around and thought about all that i had done in that room and all that those kids had taught me in there and i lost it. i cried the whole way home, then i cried some more. the mr. doesn't really know how to deal with me this week. then i opened facebook on my phone and saw these:

it's kind of blurry, but it's wonderful and it made my cry a lot.

:)

 

there have been lots of nice things on twitter too. mrs_knopf if you want to check those out. and nice emails. and cards. and kind words. and hugs. sunday is going to be brutal. how do you say goodbye to the people that took a risk on you? the people that learned with you during your first call to ministry? the people that you love so much that have come to take up a huge part of your heart?

 

please pray for me.

 

tomorrow my parents are coming to help finish packing things up and to put boxes in the cargo trailer. then saturday is moving day. back to our northern town saturday night, then church one last time on sunday morning. i'll be back on monday from our new apartment to let you know how it went.

 

love, mrs. k

so what wednesday

time for my favorite day of the blogging week!

so what wednesday with shannon!

here's what i'm saying so what to this week:

 

*if getting cable installed at the new apartment in time to see that bachelor on monday night was priority #1?

*if i didn't go to the dentist the whole time i lived in this northern town? tisk tisk, i know.

 

*if i like to watch scooby doo when i get ready in the morning?

 

*if i had lefsa for dessert after lunch the other day and we aren't between thanksgiving & new year's?

 

*if i don't get ice in my fountain pop? if i'm paying for 32 oz of pop, i want 32 oz of pop.

 

*if i get panicky when things don't go how i planned?

 

*if i sometimes eat ice cream right out of the container?

 

*if my emotions have been all over the place this week?

 

*if i wrote my 'hey, that's pin-tastic' post on friday then forgot to post it on monday? oops.

 

*if i love cooking in my crockpot? i love coming home to a yummie smelling house & dinner ready to go!

 

what are you saying so what to this week?

head on over to life after i 'dew' to link up, see what

everyone else is saying so what to, and to check out shannon's

great new blog design!

 

love, mrs. k

 

closet challenge/what i wore

last fall shannon from LAID starting doing something called challenge your closet.

the idea is that you make outfits with stuff that you already own.

i joined along with her and did really great for the first month. i'm pretty sure the only new clothing/accessory thing i bought myself in sept. was new sunglasses for $5 from walmart.

 

then my friend lacey came to visit in oct. and we went shopping.

and it was downhill from there.

now, i'm not going to lie to you, i have a problem with shopping. i do it far to often and i buy way to many things that i don't need.

with the exception of food & shower supplies the mr and i could probs stop shopping and be fine for a year (if not longer).

 

now that we're having to pack everything we own for the move (to a smaller apartment!), it's painfully obvious that we have to much crap.

so, i'm doing the closet challenge again.

i'm done buying stuff for myself that i don't need.

that includes: clothes, accesories, nail polish, bathroom stuff... basically anything that's just for me.

 

and- bonus!! i get to link up with lindsay over at the pleated poppy for her super fun link up party called 'what i wore wednesday'. if you've never checked it out- you should. so many people link up with so many cute outfits!

here are two of the outfits i wore this past week:

i wore this on friday night to go to the boys varsity basketball game then out for drinks with some friends and it was a total hit!
chambray- old navy
black long sleeve- maurices
scarf- american eagle
mint skinnies- JCP (new!)
flats- k*mart?

most of my weekend was spent it yoga pants and sweatshirts because i was skiing with kids from church- so much fun!!


this is today's outift. i love this sweater :)
sweater- JCP, but i took it from my sister's closet, love you kt!!
watch- premier designs
jeans- american eagle
flats- k*mart?

love, mrs. k
 

 

hey! that's pin-tastic! valentine's eddition

i'm finally back for hey! that's pin-tastic! with the lovely AP from ILYMTC

 

this week i'm sharing all about our valentine's party at youth group.

all of my ideas came from pinterest :)

 

pin

i made these cupcakes

but mine went a little like this:

it was hard to know how full to make the muffin cups- which btw are festive for valentine's too :)

they kinda looked heart shaped but not 100%

so i made sure the icing was in a heart so everyone would get the idea.

except one boy. he thought they were baked that way so they would be easier to get out of the muffin pan. which is true, they were easier to get out, but that wasn't the point.

 

pin

we played this game- which is way harder than it sounds!!

i gave them a 2 minute limit and the team with the most q-tips in their bucket won.

and i gave away movie theater boxes of candy instead of red hots.

the game in action :)

 

pin  link

we played two games from this website:

the valentine relay and the heart grab.

for the relay i cut out tissue paper hears (1,188 of them) and then the kids had to suck the hearts up with a straw and drop them in the bucket. so funny! i had them go head to head on this one and whoever got the most (out of everyone) got a box of movie theater candy.

for the heart grab we had a big bucket of red hots (regular ones- i couldn't find heart shaped ones) and atletic sock (new!). they put a sock on their hand and had to grab red hots one at a time and put them in their buckets. i had them go head to head on this one too and again, whoever got the most total got the candy prize.

 

the we exchanged valentines.

and, of course i needed pin-tastic valentines too!

 

pin  link

50 homemade valentine ideas?? don't mind if i do!

i decided to go with the swedish fish and a note that said

'valentine, you o'fish'ally rock!'

the kids not think i was a witty or funny as i did.

 

head on over to ILYMTC to check out everyone's pin-tastic creations!

love, mrs. k

 

 

 

coming soon!!

i'm working on some great posts for next week! come back to check out my pin-tastic valentines day, the return of the closet challenge/what i wore, some so what-ing, and more!!

 

aside from that i'm trying to wrap things up in my office, pack our whole lives, and say goodbye to people that i have come to care a lot about :(

 

happy friday!
love, mrs. k

greatful journal

back in january i posted about my 'word of the year'. for 2013 i chose 'thankful' or 'greatful'.

*side note: i always get really close to writing grateful instead! totally different meaning!

 

i wrote about how the first days of the year had gone well and i shared with you that i basically suck at journaling and writing things down as they happen.

 

but, this is different. it's one thing a day. well, actually it happens to be lots of things each day, there are lots of things each that that i'm thankful for. and yes, some things are repeats. and no, i don't write down every single thing each day that i'm thankful for, i'd be writing all day everyday.

 

and here we are on day 52 of 2013 and i have not missed a day. or if i have missed a day, i think back and write it in.

 

things that i've been thankful for already this year have ranged from fountain diet coke, to doctors that know what they're doing, to kisses from mickey mouse, to safe travels, to great friends, to ikea, to my sister, to the mr for getting my car unstuck and back in our garage, it really goes on and on.

 

and if i'm being honest, this little book has totally changed my outlook. some days you're getting ready for bed, the day is almost over, and you just feel a little crappy about the day, you're just down about something. forcing yourself to look for something good in your day makes you happier.

 

i've also used the book to document big things in our life. i've been writing down what days things happened with my new job (phone interview, in person interview, offer, acceptance, etc.). and i've been keeping an account of our baby journey. i'm sure that years from now it will be nice to look back and know how things really went and how we felt about them while we were living these events.

 

love, mrs. k

 

so what wednesday!

it's time to vent with so what wednesday again!

thanks to shannon for hosting this every week!

 

so what...

 

*if i since last wednesday i've 'cooked' two crock pot meals & tacos? the rest has been take & bake pizza, sandwiches, eating out ect.

 

*if we're moving in a week & a half and i have lots of packing left?

 

*if i don't like the way the mr drives my car?

 

*if i have a big weakness for candy? especially when caramel is involved.

 

*if i've been watching the bachelor on my computer a day behind? and so what if this causes me to avoid all social media on monday nights?

 

*if i'm super excited about new followers?! hi ladies!! please don't leave once marcy's giveaway is over :(

 

*if i'm a little jealous of this cutie's valentine's pictures? seriously shannon- she's the cutest!

 

*if i haven't done my valentine's pinterest post yet? monday? maybe?

 

what are you saying so what to this week?

head on over to life after i dew to link up and see

what everyone else is so what-ing!

 

love, mrs. k

moving=motherhood??

hi new friends! thanks for following along!

 

for those of you that may not know, i work in an ELCA (evangelical lutheran churches of america) church in northwest minnesota as a youth director. i've been at my current church for 3 1/2 years, it's the first church i've ever worked in full time. this is a big deal- most first call youth directors stay for 18 months, my father in law doubted that i'd even make it to a year- i showed him!!

 

but the town that we live in (and that my church is in) is 95 miles from hometown, mn. and it's a really boring 95 miles. so from the time i came here the mr and i knew that this was a first job for me. that this is not where we were going to live forever. every now and again i would check the youth ministry website for job postings. but nothing was close enough to home. (the mr and i share a hometown, and both sets of parents still live there.)

 

that all changed on dec. 18th when i saw a youth director job open in fargo, nd. only 45 miles from hometown, mn :) i applied, did a phone interview, did an in person invterview, and then was offered the job!! whoop whoop!!

 

but then i had to tell the church i'm at now.

ugh.

i cried and cried and cried.

 

you see, when you work in youth ministry, the kids at church kind of become your kids. i know a lot about them, i help them to figure things out in their faith journey, i support them, i go to their games, i go visit them at work, i take them to bible camp, i take them on mission trips, they come to me when something isn't going well and they need advice.

 

granted, it's not that way with every kid k-12 here at our church (there are 275 of them, i'd die). but it's that way with enough of them. they each have a place in my heart. i've cried with them and for them. i've been behind the scenes celebrating for them when good things happen in their lives. i've come to love them.

 

and now i'm moving.

 

some other blogs that i read are written by mothers that are expecting their second child or recently had their second child. these women write beautiful posts about how they love their first child so much and they just don't see how there will be room to love a second as much.

 

that's how i feel right now.

 

i love all of these kids at zion lutheran church here in our northern town. i feel like my heart is full of them. they have it all. well, all of it minus the part that the mr occupies. i have no idea how i will ever be able to love the 'new' kids as much. i have no idea how they will fit into my life.

 

but i have faith, and hope. because those moms that i just talked about, have their second child and they say that their hearts just grow, that there is just room for everyone.

 

hopefully the same holds true in youth ministry.

 

love, mrs. k

just incase you haven't entered yet!

for the first time ever i sponsored a blog!!

i sent the lovely marcy some monies and she's been promoting me ever since! my followers here on this littly bloggy and on twitter have increased lots! thanks girlfriend!!

 

anywho, marcy & her sponsors (me included!) have teams up to bring you a great vday giveaway! a giftcard to victoria secret...

in the amount of

$110.00!!!
go enter quick tho! the giveaway is only live today!!

 

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Just enter below for your chance to win!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

WITH MY BEST KIM RICHARDS CLAP I AM SENDING YOU HUGS, KISSES, AND LOTS OF LUCK!!!

happy love day!

hello new friends!!

 

if you're stopping by from the giveaway happening over at mustache diaries good luck!! i'd love to win a $110 gift card to vickie's today!! if you're a friend that's been around for a while and have no idea what i'm talking about head on over to visit marcy and get entered to win some goods for yourself. but go quick- the giveaway is only live today!!

 

in honor of valentine's day i'm going to share some of my fav pictures of me and the mr from the past year :)

our "we've been married for 6 months" smiles

at a demo derby this summer

at the vikings game for his bday

i swear he has other hats...

date night for my bday

finally printed off our first wedding picture in time for our first anniversary

christmas at his grandparents

 

i love this man so much and i am so blessed to get to call him husband.

forever and ever. amen.

 

love, mrs. k

that one time i went ombre

i tend to jump on the bandwagon for fashion trends. i just jump a little late.

 

not this time! i love the ombre hair look. and i'm not really sure why because i hate it when people's roots are super visable. but there's something about the ombre. it's a littly funky & a little different without making a big committment.

 

so mid december i went to visit my stylist. i showed her a bunch of pinterest pictures (you can check them out here) and asked if she could make my hair look like them. she said "... sure? i'll have to wing it cuz i haven't really done it before tho." normally that would have sent me running for the hills. i love my hair, it's long and healthy and beautiful. no taking chances here. not kidding, 3 summers ago when i cut 8 inches to donate to locks of love i cried. more than once.

 

but something in me said go for it. so we scheduled an appointment (a 4 hour appointment) for a few days later.

 

we had to dye it twice. the first time didn't have the effect we were looking for. ugh...

 

then she curled it up and gave me some sweet 'beach-y' waves. i had to know how to get those waves. it couldn't just be a secret that salons were keeping from me and it couldn't be a difficult as pinterest made it seem. actually pinterest makes it seem easy- actually achieving said look is the hard part.

 

anyway- my stylist told me how to do it. hallelujah chorus!!

 

this is the one sweet little tool that you need:

a cone curling iron! $25 at your local wal*mart. your welcome. for loose beach-y waves you need to take bigger sections of hair and wrap them around the barrel. start at the base where the barrel is biggest and wrap towards the bottom or the skinniest part. then you alternate directions that you wrap so that your curls/waves aren't all going the same way. this takes a little finnesing (sp?) but you get used to it, you have to hold the iron upside down. so for me, being right handed, i hold the red part in my right hand and wrap my hair with my left hand. i usually look like monkey while doing this because i have my arm up over my head. whateves.

and this is what you get:

i usually grab medium sized pieces of hair. my hair has a hard time holding curls so then as the day goes it gets looser & beach-ier.

 

y'all i get so many compliments on this! i've had people ask if i got a perm, i've had people stop and ask my how to do their hair like this, i've had people tell me they aren't fans of the ombre look but that i can really pull it off. i don't know how i feel about that last one.

 

then there are days that i'm to lazy/i like sleeping to much to get up in time to do this to my hair and this is what it looks like:

this is my hair naturally- all i did was put a little volume mousse in and blow dried it. no straightener no nothing. seriously- does not hold a curl well at all.

 



i was worried when i first had it died that i wouldn't be able to wear it straight. i thought i would have to curl it so that you wouldn't be able to see 'the line' between the light and dark. but no worries- there isn't a line! i love it! thanks stylist amanda!!

love, mrs. k



newlywed blog hop

linking up with kelly from today was a fairy tale for her newlywed blog hop!

today's topic:

how the mr proposed.

 

the mr and i started dating on dec. 15, 2007.

on friday february 12, 2010 the mr got down on one knee.

 

kind of...

 

i lived here, in our nothern town then & the mr still lived in hometown, mn. so he came to visit on the weekends. we had decided that we weren't going to do valentine's gifts because we both had spent a little more that we planned on for christmas. he sent me flowers at work. aww...

then when he got to my house this is the conversation we had:

mr: do you want your present now or later?

me: what?! we said we weren't doing gifts!
mr: well i got you something anyway. do you want it now or later?

me: umm... now?

then the mr started to get down on one knee

and i started to cry.

his knee was almost to the floor of my living room when he stood back up and said,

just kidding!! why are you crying?

 

are. you. kidding. me?

did he really just do that?!

 

he thinks he's hilarious.

 

fast foward to friday february 11, 2011.

same situation. me in our northern town, the mr in hometown, mn.

he comes up to visit for the weekend.

i was making spaghetti and getting ready to bake muffins but i was out of eggs. so i called him and asked him to stop & get eggs on his way into town.

he showed up with the eggs & flowers for me.

(this makes it sound like he buys me flowers all the time- he does not.)

he asked if i could take a quick break from cooking and come into the living room because he had something to show me.

this is the conversation that followed:

mr: i love you

me: i love you too

mr: forever

me: oh, that's nice

mr starts to get down on one knee

i stop him

me: if you are not serious this is not funny

mr: no, i'm for real this time

mr: and you're the only girl i'll ever love

pulls out a ring box

mr: sarah, will you marry me?

me: yes!!!!

and i cried again. for real this time.

 

i called my parents and i said "mom, do you want to go wedding dress shopping?" she was so excited. then she put my dad on the phone. he already knew :) the mr had gone to ask him on monday. my dad said that was really my decision but he'd be happy to have the mr in his family. then they had a drink to seal the deal. my mom was so mad that my dad had kept the secret from her.

 

my engagement ring and wedding band.

why is it so hard to get a good picture of those darn things?!

 

here's the post that i wrote about getting engaged right after it happened- bonus! you get to see how cute my mr looked when he propsed :)

 

next week we'll be chatting about my favorite part of wedding planning.

 

love, mrs. k

 

 

 

 

it's everyone's favorite time of week again!!

so what wednesday with shannon!

 

here's what i'm saying so what to this week:

 

*if i always park in the same general area at the grocery store? that way i always know where my car is when i come out :)

 

*if i prefer letterman to leno?

 

*if i try to hit my snooze button when the mr's alarm goes off?

 

*if i like me feet? i think they're cute! even if the mr thinks i have 'chunker toes'...

 

*if i was more excited than some 4 year olds to meet cinderella & snow white?

 

*if i feel like i need to be involved in all conversations that are going on around me? it's bad when i sit in the middle of the table when we're out with a large group of friends.

 

what are you saying so what to this week?

head on over to life after i dew to link up and see what everyone

else is so what-ing this week!

 

love, mrs. k

 

moving!

hi friends-
i'm so so so sorry that i have been a space case lately and haven't been around these parts much. but i've been a little pre-occupied with other things. the main one being that the mr and i are moving!! we are leaving our northern town and heading south. kinda. just two hours :) i've accepted a new youth director position at a church in the fargo/moorhead area. we are super excited about this move. we're excited to be closer to friends and family, we're excited to be in a larger/growing community, we're excited for a new adventure that will be ours together (when i moved here we were just boyfriend girlfriend so it was kind of just my adventure). but we i'm sad too. i'm sad to say goodbye to my first big girl job, and my first grown up house. i hurts my heart and tears spring to my eyes everytime i think about saying goodbye to my kids here. i'm scared that we won't like the new place as much as we think we will. hopefully those are all normal feelings...

a few other things were keeping me busy that i never told you about too!
#1- girls weekend!! i got together with some of my girlfriends from high school in the twin cities. oh- what a good weekend, my soul needed that. it was so nice to laugh with them, share good wine & good food, shop, play our music to loud & dance around, watch magic mike :).
and my friends are beautiful so that helps too:

 

#2- california! every winter, late jan/early feb i get to go to this fun thing called the youth ministry network extravaganza! this year's event just happened to be in anaheim, ca. home of the happiest place on earth :) (the extravaganza and disney did my soul good too!) my friend ashley and i flew from fargo to santa ana on thur jan 24. our flight was delayed by a solid 8 hours because it was to cold to get the plane started. ugh. we eventually made it to cali & the hotel (after almost an hour in an airport super shuttle cab- a litle scary). fri the 25th was disneyland day!!

this is what i wore to disney:

 a set of sparkly minnie mouse ears, a tutu, and micky & minnie bobs :) the man working the ticket gate at disney welcomed us to tutu heaven :)

and this is my friends and i with minnie mouse

yup, 3 tutus. best day ever!! in frontier land they had a man playing the guitar with woody from toy story and he sang us a song, "and a tu tu tu that's six!" disney is hands down the happiest place on earth.

we also went to disney's california adventure on monday night where i got to kiss lightening mcqueen:

ca-chow!!

also while in cali i experienced some firsts:

my first 7-11 slurpee. tasted just like an icee to me. not sure what all the hype is about. we got these on our way to check out the crystal cathedral- i wish we could've gone inside! that place was amazing!

my first meal at an in-n-out burger. it was good & cheap. but still just a burger. nothing to write home about. but, man, that place was busy!! we got these on our way to see chelsea lately. yup, we were in the live studio audience :) and if i'm being honest, i prefer to watch shows on my tv instead of live. you wait in line a long time then you wait in the studio for a long time, then the show isn't very long, then you're done. but i'm glad that i can say i've been to a live taping now.

overall the second half of january was awesome. now i'm trying to find my new sense of reality as i finish things up in this northern town and prepare to move to another one. hopefully i can find the valve that shuts off these water works for a while!

love, mrs. k