BIG NEWS!!!

Dustin and I are having a GroeneBABY!!!

After a little bit of a struggle and testing of our faith, which you can read about here and here, we are officially 7 weeks pregnant.  YAY!!!!!!! The picture above is from our Dr’s appointment yesterday where we saw the heartbeat for the first time.

Just a little flicker on a monitor and it means our whole world has changed forever.

There is a verse that is close to my heart for all those who are going through what we experienced. I hope it encourages you today.

“What a wonderful God we have-he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials.

And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

God is so faithful.

Blog Birthday!

Today is the one year birthday of ThatGirlKate. Last year a group of blogging friends: Mark, Judi, and Josh Brage convinced me to give it a go. 180 posts and 50,000 hits later, this little blog has come a long way in just a year. Yes, most of those hits are from people searching “Lorenzo Lamas” or “pee pants” but still, they are hits, right Judi?

Blogging is an art form that is intimidating, alluring and challenging all at once, and it’s the author who is putting that kind of pressure on themselves. Just like any other art form, it takes time to grow and find your voice. Looking back over the last year of posts, I am a little stunned at some of the things I shared, some good and some bad. We all know what it’s like to post something that you regret, but that comes with the territory. You learn and move on. I am amazed at some of the posts that ended up being a real encouragement to others in their walk with Christ, making the scary transparency and vulnerability totally worth it. If God wants to use my insecurities, my downfalls and my questions to strengthen someone else, then so be it.

This year has been one of the hardest I have ever faced in my life. There have been some very dark, stormy seas. My prayer is that by 2nd birthday of my blog it will be filled with stories of life, hope, joy, miracles and maybe even a little new edition to our family. Something that we have been believing and praying for for a year and a half.

Thanks for reading my silly, little blog. I love each of you so much.

ThatGirlKate

Here is some of my favorite posts from this past year.

My hall of fame, if you will.

Snapshots from my childhood

Adrian Sudbury

Little Katy’s Summer To Do List

Music That Changed My Life

Chubby Girl vs Giant Pancake

Sleeping Man in Foyer

It’s about Process not Perfection

Dustin and I had an amazing conversation today about what we are both learning (with help from the Holy Spirit and Celebrate Recovery). Dustin was explaining how all his life he thought if he could just take care of sins, maybe not every sin, but at lease some, then he could lessen the weight that would hinder a closer walk with God. Like heavy stones tied to our necks, we drag ourselves along, hoping for some relief and an easier walk with Christ. In this struggle there is lack of true relationship with Christ. We try to tell ourselves it is all FOR the relationship, but the truth is it is all for perfection. We want the perfection so we can enjoy the relationship. We want to feel worthy to be called into unity with such a holy, perfect Lord. We want to feel justified and the only way to do this is to be rid of all sin, to somehow accomplish being sin-free, on our own.

We (or maybe I) have confused perfection with relationship. I have thought, this is all for YOU Jesus. My hearts desire is to be like you, to be a worthy vessel. I want the CONTROL of perfection, I want to be in charge of the steps of reaching this “perfection”. Instead Christ is calling us to join Him in the process. The process of looking at these past hurts, the past really bad choices and offenses; seeing how they effect my everyday decisions that ultimately lead to everyday sins. HE says to us, “let Me be in charge of the process. Let Me free you from the bondage of perfectionism. Let Me heal you from the past and establish your future.”

A process is about: relationship, unity, teamwork, honesty, setting and achieving goals, growing together, learning together, going deeper together.

Perfectionism is about: isolation, frustration, exhaustion, anger, resentment, an unattainable goal.

God is asking me, us, to surrender the perfectionism. Submit to the process and let Him reign over the changes and character adjustments that need to be made. He is asking for relationship. He is asking for honesty. He is asking to be let in.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20

Marriage advice from…Will Smith?

I was watching Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People the other night (lame, I know.) The first interview was with Will Smith, a guy that I hate to love. Anyway in the midst of his ego-stroking (his success and money, how it is guaranteed he could be President if he ever chose to run) he actually said something strikingly wise on marriage and this is what it was:

“Being married is the most difficult thing you’re ever going to do in your life.  And anybody whose married and divorce is an option, you’re getting divorced.”

Pictures from the Coldplay show

waiting for the lightrail and gettin’ pritty, pritty excited…

“clocks”

Chris Martin doing his stand up routine.

“in my place”

“The Scientist”

just a personal show in our section, no biggie.

just got to hold chris martins hand for a second, thats all.

no big deal.

For video of full songs visit my facebook or click HERE.

A word of advice on marriage:

Hardships bring depth, and long-suffering brings faithfulness. Those are 2 pretty important things in marriage. Too many marriages are thrown away due to a lack of long-suffering, quitting when times get tough. Some people reading this may personally know me, you have seen my marriage first hand and you might think that is easy for me to talk about “long suffering” because I am happy in my marriage. The joy people see in public is from the trials we have endured in private, we have felt frustrated and discouraged, but Christ is sufficient. He is the one who fulfills. He is the one who heals. He is the one who works in us to be new, whole and pure. Through Him we can have everything we have ever wanted in marriage. Without Him we will never have what we want in marriage.

Sigur Ros Concert-Red Rocks

Here are some pictures from the Sigur Ros show Shelley took me and Dustin to. We then took Angie and Fletcher. It was like a real-life example of Pay It Forward people, minus the annoying kid from the 6th sense, whats his name…oh Haley Joel Osmond. Yeah, minus him. Anyway, here are the pictures.

When looking through binoculars, one must match.

When there is a camera present, one must always be ready for the picture.

When at Red Rocks, one must always take a picture with the stage and city behind.

When taking a picture with a friend, one must always smoosh your head together.

When at a Sigur Ros show, one must be quite serious.

My friend Kate was also at the show, but I didn’t get to take a picture with her. Instead here is a picture from her 25th birthday party from the 6th of this month. I love Kate.

The Best Summer Ever.

I have loved this summer. I have made incredible friendships, laughed really hard, had some late nights, ate me my fair share of pancakes, enjoyed Rockies games, concerts, art shows, and pool time with a few good books and a fabulous husband.

I love summer. We are 3 days away from September officially marking the end of long, warm nights and walks around the pond with our bug zappers. It means the door is closed on all those camping trips, road trips and hikes we talked about. No more Sonic or star gazing in the damp grass. It means sweaters, hot chocolate and turning 25. The cold makes everyone anti-social, they all run inside and go to bed early.

Don’t forget me when the sun sets at 5 o’clock.

A New Painting!!

Dustin and I just finished a new painting that I am really excited about. You might be thinking right about now, “Kate paints? I didn’t know that she painted!” Well compared to Dustin, no, I do not paint and I have no talent. But I do like to be creative and

every now and then things are put on to a canvass.

Here is our new painting called “Elise”

Just to give you an idea of the size- that coat is big enough to fit on me-or for you technical people, it is 6′x4′.

Watch Out Chris Martin…

Shelley and I are coming for you-November 21st-Pepsi Center.

We call this “The Lions Mane”

The Mean Green Drumming Machine.

The Groupies.