Kindness of a Friend

Sometimes, i can't get over how kind people are. Sometimes, the sweetness of a friend completely blows me away. the words that are said between friends, that servant hearts of many, and the things that tell you that they were thinking about you. Laughing with a friend is such a treasure to me, deep conversations, the feeling of trust between a friend and you.

Today was one of those days that God just reminded me how wonderful friends are, and how incredibly blessed and encouraged i am through them each day. My sunday is always spent sitting in the gameroom doing homework from 3 til Midnight. I had some really fun interruptions from my usual homework game time deal! Today, i had some really sweet visits and phone calls from friends that warmed my heart so much! the conversation i had with tyrone and the encouragement i recieved through affirmation, the popcorn visit with Laura and a few minutes of fun chatting, the gift of a pizza dinner from darryl and really quality conversation, and the phone call from steph about snacking on corn (:))...and the random dropins or conversations i had while counting people...they all just seemed to come one after another that made me bubble up inside:).

I'm pretty glad that God made us to need friends...I'm glad He made it that we needed others:).

Bridemaid update

Stephanie Campos

Stephanie Campos is one of the most special persons in my life. She has been such a breath of fresh air to have on 6W and to have around. I met Stephanie my junior year of college when she was placed on 6West. I'm so glad she was! I love each time we've had together throughout the last year and a half with coffee dates, shopping trips, laughing gas times, late nights studying, crazy strawberry photoshoots, and sleepovers! I love how she has been around for so much of my relationship with Ryan and she's always there to get excited with about wedding plans or engagement stuff! When i asked her to be my bridesmaid i was blown away with the privilege of having her in my wedding, and I'm so excited for her to stand next to me up there when I marry Ryan. God gave me an amazing woman to have in my life as a friend, and i praise Him constantly for her! I know that I'll always have Stephanie in my life, whether we're near or far away. Earlier this year when we talked about bridesmaids and weddings and such, she had said, " a bridesmaid is someone that will always be involved in your life..." and guess what? Thatz her!:)

Fall break 2007

Millenium park - beautiful summer day!

getting her ready for her birthday surprise...Paul came to visit!!:)

one of our many shopping trips:)

serenading a couple with our jamba juice drinks and wet hair...

a pic from our photoshoot:)

Bridemaid update

Lindsay Norman

I asked Lindsay to be a bridesmaid before she headed over to Ukraine in the middle of the summer. I wanted to ask her in person before she was off, and December would be the next time i'd see her, so i just could not wait and i HAD to ask her!:) Lindsay's such a special person in my life. We don't talk all the time, and we don't email frequently, but Lindsay's the friend that when i see her, nothing has changed, and we go back to being exactly how it was before!:)
I have actually known LIndsay since she was in the nursery years and years ago at CBC. I would come in and help out in the Nursery with my mom, thinking i was big shot Kristine, watching all this little people. I was actually not much older than them, but i felt like it;). Anywayz, I've known Lindsay since then, but we weren't really friends until my Senior Year of Highschool. I just moved back to Beaufort, and I went on a girls' retreat to a beauty bash kinda of thing. We were at a campfire, and started talking. Turns out we had the same college dream, of going to Moody Bible Institute! Since then, we had many coffee, uppercrusts, and downtown dock dates. Bible study group outings, and good conversations. She was there at the beginning of my relationship with Ryan and listen about my first encounters of Ryan, because i called her to update her on the new boy in my life!

Each time i come home, our friendship never changes and i love it!:)

Lindsay and I on our first trip to Ukraine!

Lindsay's visit to Chicago

Beach time with Lindsay - senior year of highschool

Preparing for Ukraine for the first time!! Training in balloons

Party at the Sands...Springbreak freshman year.

Upper crust date - sophomore year of college, spring break i think?

The Clarkster

This is the kid that i wish could be my ringbearer for my wedding... Clark Schurman, my favorite 3 year old in the entire world. He and I have so many fun times together, at the park, playing trains, going to fun museums, cooking, repairing things, playing hockey, etc...he's the most active and most fun three year old i have ever met, and i absolutely adore him. Not to mention i totally love his entire family. They are so incredibly sweet, and his mom, Dani, has become such a good friend of mine. I love her so dearly, and i look forward to our times together. She even has a new baby girl, Lily Nicole who is completely adorable. Whenever i go over to their house, I'm so encouraged to be there. Clark's parents are believers, and its so evident in their lives with their children and what they do.

I love their family so very much.

Here are some of my favorite memories with Clarkster

trip to the children's museum

Biking and playing outside

He came over to Moody to go to the Park with me and play!

and i just love this one...its one of the only pics i have of him where he isn't moving or running to do something:)

Can you tell how special this little boy is to me? and how much i absolutely love him?

Senior Retreat

I didn't take very many pics at all from Senior Retreat, but here are a couple good ones. Lol...we did Alot outside, but i never took my camera with me. Here are some of the indoor things.

here we are in our room watching Highschool Musical

the secret code that was on the coloring sheet. we had alot of disney princess color time in the morning while we talked and relaxed.;)

three of the roomies: Jenny, Bethany, and Amy

Smores!

Late Late Night Facials

creeping around the late hours of the night

bus ride home.:)

Alli Keeport, dear friend since freshman year

Sleepover fun:)

Alexandra and Jacqueline and i had a sleepover saturday night:) it was fun-filled with dancing, singing, wrestling, chasing, eating, sugaring;), and movies! (two to be exact, the golden compass and hairspray. I've been babysitting these girls for three years, and they've been such fun to watch them grow up!:) Jacqueline has her two big front teeth in and looks so cute. alexandra is growing up to be such a great help to have, and loves to cook and bake and tell jacqueline what to do. we have so much fun together and i gotta say i love these girls:)





Fun getting ready for bed:)

"Daddy Vince"

Calling him, "Daddy Vince" started this summer. He's the kind of man that everyone just respects so very much, the kind that gives wisdom through every word he says and the kind of man that you just cherish the time with him and his family. But it wasn't till this summer that the name kinda became true....

The trip back from Frankfort to Germany was difficult. Mr. Vince had a tremendously high fever and kept going in and out of consciousness. He moved from the back of the plane where he started feeling sick, to first class where he could recline. His fever was so high that each time i dipped the four clothes that surrounded his head into ice cold water, his fever would suck all the cold out of those wet clothes and replace it with a hot wet pad. i kept rotating the ice clothes around his face, dipping one in, and replacing another. He was burning up, but at the same time he was freezing cold and we had bottles of hot water under the three blankets that we had covered him up in, trying to warm him up and cool him down at the same time. the flight attendants and passengers all kinda watched bewildered at what to do, but were oh so kind and helpful. we had to stay in DC overnight as Mr. Vince went to the ER straight from the plane in DC, as we rushed past customs.

We had just finished an amazing trip to Ukraine. He was with the business symposium and i was at the orphanage. the trip back was challenging, but God worked it out so that we made it home for Mr. Vince to rest. Ever since the challenge of the trip back this summer, he's called me his daughter, (adopted of course, which made it believable when the flight attendants and hospital and customs guards asked him who i was), and i had called him "Daddy Vince."

So that was then...this is now:)

Today, i found out that Daddy Vince is gonna play a HUGE part in the next part of my life. I'm so thrilled...so so so thrilled. Ryan's also thrilled, because he had the chance to get to know Mr. Vince in China. Daddy Vince is going to marry Ryan and I! He'll always have that special spot in our life when we think back to our wedding day, because he's going to make us official husband and wife!:) I'm so happy that he'll play that part.

Not only that, but Ale Grace his daughter, will be a Junior Bridesmaid in my wedding;) She's my little sister's best friend:)

My two crazy cats, Ale Grace and Ashley Grace....my Junior Bridesmaid and Junior Maid of Honor!

sleepover 06 with the girls

Doggy Date with the girls:)

girls looking absolutely beautiful!

ok, more on wedding stuff later:) these just got me really excited today:)

Sisters...

God blessed me soooo much for giving me sisters. I love being the middle one, an older and a younger sister. Giggles just seem to attack us when we're together - laughing at each other and with each other is just so fun. i think back to the days growing up together and the fun memories we're blessed to be able to look back on. some don't have this relationship with their sisters or brothers, but this family is strong with the sister deal.

I was out to lunch with a friend, and something she said intrigued me, "Kristine, its amazing to see how well you and Ilene are getting along. You work together, you live together, your together alot! and you're still getting along." its true though. We've been blessed with such a solid relationship, one that we just can't seem to get enough of. Ilene has been sick the past few days, and its been kinda fun taking care of her, babying her with massages, soup, and entertainment. Ilene is such a great roommate as well as sister, as she inspires me each morning she gets up at 5:30 to do her quiet times.

Ashley, my little sister, is always on my mind, as i think about her growing up, and how i wish i could be there for everyday of it. I got to have the summer with her, and i loved it so much. hanging out with her is never boring, and i loved getting to talk to her about everything in the world. I love seeing how hungry she is to grow, and how excited she is to know more and more about God. She's growing beautifully, and is gorgeous, inside and out. she just turned 13, which i can't believe, but she's so wise and discerning for her age. not to mention, she's crazy to be around and laugh with:).

Its funny because ever since i got engaged everything has been like, "we HAVE to do this before Kristine gets married," or " its our LAST Christmas together as a family!!!! (or last Thanksgiving, Spring break, etc...). We cherish the time together, and even with a new marriage in a year, they'll gain a brother that they never had!:) what fun girls can have together...so so so fun. I've thought about a year from now, and how that'll look, and it looks like it'll be a blast. ILene's for sure my Maid-of-honor, and ithink we'll make a special spot called, Junior Made of Honor, for Ashley Grace:).

Anyways, my sisters are amazing. absolutely amazing.

The end of school begins:)

Senior year, baby! can't believe its here. I look back at the last three years, and I can't believe its almost over. Moody's almost over, and I'm almost graduated! WOW! so many people hit senioritis and just wants to get out of here, but man, I still get excited at the beginning of the year to be back with friends, classes, and activities. i love being in college, and these'll be the only four years of my life like this!

memories keep flooding my mind from freshman year, to sophomore year, to junior year...so much has changed, so much is different. Some things i wish were entirely different, some i wish were exactly the same. but it has been the best three years of my life, and i'm so excited for the year to come, as i finish my last year at Moody, plan a wedding, and enjoy this year of growing up...

Freshman Flashbacks

Salome and I at Freshman year...our Christmas card pic

Micaela, Bryant and I at Chili's - our weekly ritual for chips and salsa

this boy asked me out to Junior/Senior Banquet, my freshman year;)

Salome and i at sophomore year. study date:)

the boy i ended up falling in love with:) this is Ryan and I at my sophomore year

Ski Retreat - sophomore year

Canada trip - fall break sophomore year
beginning of Junior Year - scavenger hunt with steph and the bro/sis



Junior Year- fall break with the girls

Ryan and i - junior year - thanksgiving in Kansas


Junior Year - Christmas with the girls:)


Tenessee trip - Junior year
Ryan and i - Junior year at Junior/Senior Banquet...

Sal the roomie and I - Junior year - still causing a ruckus on campus

Beginning Senior year - Salome's wedding:) college roomie got married
I'm engaged


to this man:)
and i love him.


me and my friend, RAchel - the ra
i love 6W
and heres where i'm at at this point of my life:)
can't wait to see what God does next...