Reconstructing Beauty- FRIDAY!

Ladies-

In need of a ladies night with snacks and games and wanna come see some handmand goodness? Check out Reconstructingbeauty.blogspot.com for more info!

October Goodness!

I think I solved the problem. I use Picassa for videos and photos so I used up all the space. I still need to delete some of the snapshots but I ended up paying $20 to upgrade my space. So now instead of being maxed out on space, I'm only using 6%! Not bad. Just thought I would share in case any of you have that problem!
Anyway......... Back to my orginal post. October was a super fun and busy month for us. I should have been updating more throughout the month, but you know how that goes! Growing up I hated that my birthday was in October because I thought it had the most boring calender pictures. But now.. here's to what has turned into my favorite month of the year!

Orchard- What's an October without going to the Apple OrchardOur amazing roommate, Angie, received a ton of apples from her mom. I used some of them to make applecrisp. But Angie was busy in the kitchen making, apple pie, apple butter, apple cranberry crisp, applesause, apple tarts. She is a wonderful cook and blesses us in more than one way!

Speaking of rommates. Our old roommate Andrea Siebring got married to Paul Goodrich. It was an amazing wedding. I mean look how radiant she is! That smile didn't leave her face the entire night! Andy got to play worship and we were the host couple. We love them both very much and look forward to continue doing life together.

Howie's Annual Trail-ride, Howie (my dad's trailride name) had about 30-40 riders at the ranch. Great time to be with family!

Birthdays- My birthday was on the 25th and Andy and I had our first night away from Zander. My mother-in-law, Shelley, picked Z up in Cedar Rapids, so Andy and I could enjoy the day together. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we took advantage of it by going on a 15 mile bike ride or so and frisbee golfing. We also got to go to a movie, out to eat, the Piano Lounge, then stayed at the Marriot. It was an amazing weekend. About one hour before we were to pick Zander up is when I really started missing him, but most of the time, I was able to enjoy being with my amazing husband.

When we got home from our weekend, Angie made these super tasty cake balls! Oh boy were they good! She said they were way easy, but I'm not so sure! I mean look at em!

Also, two special birthdays this month were my nephew Dax's 1st.

And we also got to celebrate Bridgette Baumhovers bday with dinner and games! Love you guys!

Halloween- Zander dressed up as a lobster. Here's our playgroup. From left to right. Zander Bishop, Liam Baumhover, Lili Helwig, Claire Schumacher, Lydia Anderson, Maya Leckliter, William Kampman.

Here's our pumpkins we carved. Andy and I worked together to try and make "The Bishop Family" on the top pumpkin. Angie did the world. Sweet stuff!

Lastly, Guess who turned 5 months on October 26th. That's right... my sweet little boy!

For all October Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsbishop/October2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSJ96HD1prOYA#

New Workout!

All of us in the Bishop household have started a new workout routine called P90X. Here's a little bit of how it looks on a day to day basis.

Our morning starts with a 5:45 am alarm. So we need to pump each other up!

Next we need to properly stretch the hammies
and the groin region

The tough part comes when we get out the weights.

and the resistance bands

Then to release some tension, we get into some hardcore YOGA

Finally, we hit the showers! Whoa!

We love our recovery shakes, that feed our growing muscles!

3 of my favorites!

Andy, Zander, and Starbucks. In that order :)

EWOW- Different kind of Confession

I am a follower of Jesus and believe that everything written in the Bible is true and inspired by God. I try, although I fail, (last post) to live my life to give Him glory. I am a sinner and I need the grace of God, that is why I try to live for Him. Although my works do nothing for my salvation. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Why am I sharing this? Because many times my actions don't match my hearts desire. And The Word doesn't match up with our culture either. Confessing Jesus goes against the grain of where we live. Everything in our environment screams at us, “Have it your way. You have rights.” It’s an act of courage to stand up and “give thanks,” to confess the Lord as our only Savior, to say, “I’m not my own I belong to another; I’ve been bought with a price.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” Romans 5:8

The courage to confess our own shortcomings is difficult, and the courage to confess Christ as God’s loving provision for us is equally as difficult in a culture that tip-toes around talking about spiritual things. This is one of the things God has been laying on my heart this week. I'm so fearful, to talk about spiritual things. I can't even talk about my true beliefs because I am afraid I'm going to offend somebody. We can talk about politics even though we don't agree on that, why is it that we can't talk about spirituality. Although, when I think of this, I don't have much to contribute to political conversations so is that it? Is it, we don't talk about spiritual stuff, b/c we don't have much to contribute to the conversation? Or is this b/c we are fearful of what "man" will think of us? Or maybe another reason... Let me know your thoughts? Why don't we talk more about spiritual stuff in this culture. I have a couple international friends, and they can share, talk about it, and not think twice about it? Why is that? I talked a little bit about this with my mom the other day, and she said even if we believe the same thing, the intensity of what we believe is different. That can be true I guess, but I'm tired of feeling chained up and fearful of what others will think if I say something. I want to be freed from this. Just the fact that I hesitated to post this is evidence of my fears!!:)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Gal. 1:10