time flies omg...

So... pretty exciting things in the past few days.
1. we gave the money we had received for the GCM to Jennifer's mom about a month ago. All the money goes through her so people can get the tax deductions, but then she puts the money into our account. And... this week she put all our money we've received so far into the account... and it's double what kyle and i had sent her a month ago! So yayyy jesus!!! We don't know yet who sent us the other donations, but we will. But this means we have enough money for our plane tickets! So.... we're flight searching! Feels good to finally be taking this step... it definitely makes the trip more real. And... quickly approaching! I can't believe time is going by so fast! It's middle of december... what?!?!
2. Cassandra, one of the missionaries already in Africa, and the one we're meeting up with, emailed me this week as well. And her and her interns are in Mozambique right now... (doing exciting things with Iris ministries.... look it up. it'll blow your mind.) But the three of them got prophesied over by someone, and part of what was said was..."i see you guys as the olympic rings... there's 3 of you now, but God's sending you two more for this season. There will be five of you. And you have gold medals..." haha. it's a funny prophecy... but really encouraging. Encouraging because kyle and I are the other two!!! and it's just a simple confirmation from Jesus... He knows we're coming, He's preparing a way for us. We're going to be doing incredible things over there!! yayyyy
3. We have decided to fly in and out from Atlanta... which means I get to go home!!! I'm so excited! I definitely miss the south and my family and friends. I can't wait to be there!!
yesssssss chick fil a. haha.

The only sad part of time flying by so fast is... packing. Once again, I have to pack up my belongings, decide what I can give away, what I need to keep.... I HATE PACKING. haha. I've moved every year or two years for the last 7 years! I don't want to anymore. haha. good thing Kyle's such an organizational freak. We balance each other out :)

And... tomorrow we get to go snow shoeing... and chop down our own christmas tree!!! that's so legit. i'm pretty pumped.

until next time....

waldo and wanda

haha... kyle and I on halloween!

couldn't get a better pic... but we're pretty cute i do believeee!

boo

been a long time...

but it's been a great 2 weeks for kyle and me!!

so much has hapenned I feel.

1. I am now another year older. and wiser. 24!!! weirddddd i feel so old. haha. But I had a most wonderful day of birth thanks to my hubby who planned the whole day for us. It was pretty much a food fest... brunch after church, followed by a visit to the Chocolate Factory, after some shopping it was a movie complete with popcorn, and finally dinner with dessert. haha... there were no breaks. I woke up the next morning at 445 am for work.... STILL with a tummy ache. haha. but it was a great day!!!!

The friday night before we went to a huge halloween bash that was held at an old warehouse in Bend. We went because my coworker choreographed a dance that was performing that night. Kyle and I dressed as Waldo and Wanda... we were super cute, and a hit. I'll post a pic... which doesn't do the costume justice... we couldn't get a pic of our whole bodies. But it was fun! We also went to a haunted house... which the scariest part about it was when Kyle touched one of the "actors" and she FLIPPED OUT. yelled at us sooo loudy, cursing and throwing a fit. definitely scary. haha. whoops.

2. had a crazy week at work with the new holiday shipment coming in. All week I was coming in at 6 am and basically redoing the whole store. I had a lot of fun though making up the new windows, and doing all the fun creative visual stuff. I definitely like that a lot more than dealing with the customers..... ahaha.

3. Kyle and I... especially Kyle, have been busy busy busy reading reading reading. Between the two of us we've finished over 4 books in 2 weeks. ha. one of them being Danny Silk's "Loving your children on purpose". No we are not pregnant... haha. But it's such an amazing book on how to teach and love on your kids. It'll be helpful in Africa.... but also for all relationships in life. It actually was really helpful and had to do with the husband wife relationship as well. A lot of growing taking place. Speaking of Kyle and I... today is our 2 month!!! wahoooo. time FLIES i'll tell you that.

4. Africa... Kyle and I got ALL of our vaccinations last week. 5 shots total. our arms were sooorreee. But we're good against most everything! yay. and we picked up our malaria pills already.

plus... we began a little project. We went to the fabric store and kyle had a great idea to make bags. The bags are AFRICA inspired and rugged. however... extremely durable. Kyle got his mother's sewing machine, and we set it up next to mine and made a little mini factory at the ranch. For a week straight we were creating... we've made 4 bags total... each one getting better than the next. they're actually quite awesome... so if you're interested in buying one... give us a ring. the money goes to a good cause!!! It was a great project for us, and definitely something fun for us to do together. yay bonding :)

the first picture is of our pumpkins!!! Kyle did the perfect jack o lantern, and mine says, "me gusta pumpa"... which means.... I love pumpkin!
yayyy. it was fun, and made it feel like halloweeeeenie.

and the second picture is FINALLY.... the painting Emily Clarke did of us. it is AMAZING, and now hanging up in our apartment. Don't forget to go to her website. It's on the previous post. yay art.

well... that's about it. :)

mbwa juu ya gari

what a great week!
This weekend we had my bestie kathryn bowen come visit! It was so good to have a friend... i'm still getting used to not being around hundreds of people ALL THE TIME (dream center). hahah. We were the definition of veggin out... kinda. We watched movies and pigged out on junk food the whole time... haha. Still... it was great.
We also had a lot of progress concerning our AFRICA adventures! We both got our yellow fever vaccinations, started learning Swahili, and continued our weekly skype meetings with Jenn and Jona. We also received major breakthrough!!!! I have been blessed to experience God's provision for many years now... but it is still new to kyle. He has been learning to trust that God will take care of us financially, and that His provision is not something we earn. It is part of our inheritance as who we are as His children. This Monday we were blessed blessed blessed by a friend! What perfect timing God has! He is faithful!!!
This week was also a great week of fellowship. We had lunch with our new pastors here at Celebration Church, as well as dinner last night with another church family. It feels great to be welcomed into the community!!!
Just this morning Kyle and I woke up early and made our way over to the DMV... and I am now truly oregonian... haha. I passed my test and received my new Oregon License!! Let me tell ya... oregon doesn't mess around. The test was way harder and longer than the Georgia test. I'm just glad to have passed first try. ha.
Although, I am now truly a citizen of Oregon... I am so glad I work at Banana Republic. Not only are 2 of my coworkers UGA alumn, but this Monday, a Georgian came in to shop, and she is from Alpharetta as well! She invited all of us to an SEC party her and her husband are having. It just feels great to have a little bit of home with me at work. I mean... where else in Bend has three UGA students?? come on...
PLUS!! i'm super happy... because today is OCTOBER 20th... and it's sunny and 70's outside... praise the Lord. Maybe we're going to have a light winter....

Also... I have attached a picture of the painting we received from Emily Clarke. She is an INCREDIBLE artist and painted a picture of me and Kyle. PLEASE go check out her blog, she is amazing. http://www.emilyclarkestudio.com/

PS... I'm going to post on the blog how to donate money to the GCM. It'll be on the right hand side, always available.
What's great and unique about the GCM... is that 95% of the money that comes in, goes directly to the missionaries and ground projects. Other companies take about 40% and up of donations to go towards marketing and administration. When you donate to GCM... you know your money is going to good things.
LOVE LOVE

and that's whats going on in BEND.

werrrrkkk

So... just an update of our thrilling lives!
This week I began working at Banana Republic! It's been great, but there's so much to learn and know! It was quite overwhelming but heading into week 2 I feel much better. It's pretty fun, and it's actually quite perfect. One of my coworkers is from Los Angeles, and is a hip hop instructor!! YAYYY. I've been looking up dance studios but didn't find one quite right. Ron works at this place called the Vibe here in Bend, and they do hip hop and lyrical! My two favorites!! Perfection. All I need now is my knee to be healed! ha.
Kyle's continuing at Les Schwab; it was a tough week, but he's doing well. He was even blessed with 2 days off this week so we were able to play! yayy!!
On his extra day off we went and saw The Social Network. Not what I expected, but still very good. Craziness how facebook has just blown up. I remember when my friend Chloe kept bugging me to join but I was like... no it's stupid. haha. woops.
Also! This Sunday we were asked to lead BLAST... Celebration's kid's church. haha. We thought we were just going to help someone else... but we were actually put in charge and the only one's in there. It went so well though! We taught the kid's that God love's to talk to us, and how to hear his voice. We explained the ways he talks to us, how we know it's him and so on... then we had them listen to what God was saying right then and had them draw it! It was a lot of fun, and those kids are pretty amazing. They were all 5 and 6 years old... but had quite the experiences with our Father. :)
Well.. that's all that's hapenning with us!
love love

It's Katrina's Birthday Month!!!!

Well... it's October, my favorite month! I'm so excited to be here in Bend, Oregon. I'm absolutely loving married life! I have the best husband in all of the world! And I'm truly enjoying discovering my new city and all of it's charm. Why, just the other day, I was sitting by the river talking to my mother on the phone, when a group of highschool boys asked if I wanted to smoke some pot with them. When I laughed and shook my head no, they proceeded to ask me several times if I was sure. ha. Yes. I'm sure. And while I've been enjoying the town...
Kyle has been busy working 9 hours a day at Les Schwaab Tire Company. Les Schwaab basically owns all of Bend and the surrounding cities. You cannot go anywhere, watch tv, listen to the radio, or enjoy a local concert, without hearing about how amazing Les Schwaab is. And Les Schwaab IS amazing... they are employing my dear husband for these next 3 months and we are extremely greatful!
I on the other hand, have spent the last 2 weeks job hunting! When I'm not begging for employment, I spend my time reading, enjoying downtown Bend, cooking, watching Grey's Anatomy, and knitting! Oh ye, I also have been running around Bend trying to take care of all my name changing duties. I currently have been studying up on Oregon driving rules, because I have to retake the test to get my new license... yesss.
But thankfully, yesterday, I got hired by Banana Republic! Thank you Lord! I will now get to use my fashion degree and actually have a retail job. Go me. ha. I start this Monday, and I am so excited! I actually really love the Gap Inc. company, and am excited to start working my way up!
Also... Kyle and I have found a local church that we really enjoy. It's called Celebration, and they are very hungry for the things of the Kingdom! We've gone twice now... and both times have been very exciting. Just this last week they asked Kyle and I to help run their children's ministry. We'll be working with 5 to 8 year olds, and teaching them about the Supernatural! I'm sooo pumped, and I think this is a great way to get me prepared for Africa!
Kyle and I also started last week our weekly Skype dates with Jennifer and Jona Toledo. The two of them are absolutely amazing, and we are so privileged and honored to be under their leadership and a part of their family!!!! They are the leaders of the Global Children's Movement. Please go to their website and check out everything that they're about. Also this week, we are meeting Cassandra Basnett. She is a missionary working with GCM and has already been in Africa for quite some time now. Her blog is pursuingnormal.com and it is AMAZING. It's a great way for you guys to go ahead and start seeing what's hapenning in DRC and Kenya! Plus, see pictures! Also, I highly recommend reading Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It talks about the oppression of women worldwide, and how we can prevent it, and turn it into opportunity! One of the chapters I just finished talks specifically about the DRC and how necessary missionaries are needed there!!! It's a difficult read (emotionally) but is really eye opening.
And that's what's going on in the lives of Kyle and Katrina. Love Love

woops

correction on the wedding photos link:
http://www.dstottphotography.com/2010/09/20/kyle-and-katrina-oregon-wedding-photographer/

enjoy!

Welcome Home!

Hey everybody!
So... Kyle and I did it!... we got married, had an AMAZING honeymoon, and now we're back home... Bend, Oregon. Our home base.
As most of you know we plan on moving to AFRICA in February, so this blog is for all of y'all to keep posted on our crazy adventures!
We'll let you in on our future plans, preparations, and our everyday life!

For now... enjoy pictures of our wedding! We had an incredible photographer... Dylan Stott from StottShotsPhotography. http://http://www.dstottphotography.com/2010/09/20/kyle-and-katrina-oregon-wedding-photographer/