The Month of May: Josh & Amy Get Hitched

The month of May is not over yet!!!  We started the month with family visiting Carbondale and we were fortunate enough to be able to fly home to Oregon straight from our vacation for more family!  Never can get enough of family time!  Anyway, we got in late Wednesday night and stayed through early Monday morning.  Here are the main events in Oregon...

Grill Master Ken: Pizza Edition

The Month of May: Honeymoon

The Roth family got to go on our first ever week-long vacation!  While we were extremely grateful for the opportunity to get away to Eagle Crest for a few days after the impromptu wedding, it did not quite feel like a full honeymoon.  (Probably because we were like "um what just happened"...."wait are we married now for real?" the whole time)  So fast forward three years and voila, trip to the Virgin Islands it was!  We decided on the Virgin Islands because we were able to find some really incredible deals, they spoke English, and no currency change was necessary.  Also, after doing extensive honeymoon destination research we felt attracted to the vibes of the Virgin Islands. Particularly St. Croix which is the largest and least populated island.  Most of the island is protected natural habitat and of the three islands it is the least 'touristy'. 

Highlights of St. Croix, VI

Pre-workout (STL airport)

The Month of May: Family & Milestones

We had the wonderful privilege of hosting family from Oregon for the first week of May.  My parents flew in Friday evening and we spent the weekend doing "Carbondale Life." Dad and Chris did a meat run, Mom and I did the farmer's market, we had a gym party, church and serving, and finally supper club.  We tried out a few local BBQ places for my dad to sample and judge.  17th St. was the first place since it is very close to where we live.  Dad says it was "ok," which I tend to agree.  But it is always a fun experience to go the original restaurant in Murphysboro. 

The Month of May: New House

Well we decided to say goodbye to city life and give country living a try.  By God's wonderful blessing we were able to find an absolutely perfect place that had our name written all over it.  It is about ten minutes from downtown Carbondale.  We are renting from a couple that has owned the farm for over 80 years!  Our house is smack dab in the middle of it all.

A Year Later....

Well looks like it is time for my annual once-a-year blog post....yikes, has it already been a year!? Time flies when you are having fun.

Ok so year at a glance:

Fall &Winter 2013

Rachel - I was offered a Teaching Assistant position in the Kinesiology Department.  Saying bye to working with my good pals Mallory and Liz was a tough decision, but it turned out to be a great opportunity and a good challenge for me to overcome. Teaching is seriously terrifying.  When I agreed to take the position I had no clue what I was getting myself into!  I have a whole new respect for teachers that is for sure.  It is not easy to keep those dang kids entertained and try to fit some knowledge into their noggins at the same time! I taught Walking and Jogging for Health and Fitness and Diversity in American Sports.  Fall semester was rough, I would learn the material the day before then have to create a lesson plan and turn around and teach it the next day.  I most definitely learned more than the students did.  Not to mention creating quizzes, exams, assignments, and grading!  I learned a lot of cool things that worked, and some utter fails....mostly my jokes. It's cool, at least I think I'm funny. Spring semester was thankfully much easier since it was the second time around. On the other side of it, I can say I'm glad I did it.  It really really stretched me to step outside of my box and I think I grew a lot from it.

 Davies Hall (Kinesiology Building)

Highlights of Recent Shenanigans

Hello Strangers!

I have been absent due to an intense spring semester of school, followed by a month of a major mental break, and now....back into school.  It never ends!  Just thought I would do a quick overview of some of the highlights from the past few months.  One of these days I will get back into updating this thing on a regular basis.

Missing everyone and always have friends and family in our hearts <3

Ty came down and celebrated Easter with us!

I competed in a Crossfit competition in Chicago, IL. Events included hand-stand push ups, lots of pullups, hand walks, broad jumps, burpees, wallball shots, pistols, and double unders among others.  Had a great time and I am continuing my intense crossfit training for my next competition coming up in September in St. Louis.

 Chris and I visited Lawrence, KS for a strength and conditioning clinic at KU.  Had some delicious cuisine including specialty french fries and the most delicious peanut butter pie of all time!

Spencer surprised me with a visit!  I had no idea!  We ate at a few BBQ restaurants, had legendary Pinch Penny Pub pizza, took a day trip to Nashville to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, Broadway st., and Spencer's favorite - Dukes of Hazzard museum!

 We had a fabulous Memorial day weekend out at Lake of Egypt celebrating Liz Smith and Mitch Jordans' bachelorette/bachelor party for their upcoming wedding.

It's grillin' season again in our backyard.  Got the firepit all stoked and ready for some flame grilled steak. Yuuummmm!

Had the best weekend ever celebrating Liz and Mitch's much anticipated wedding!  She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen and they were both glowing with love for each other.  Chris and I had a really fun time mingling with friends and cuttin some rug at the reception!

This summer I am taking classes and writing my Thesis proposal for the fall and training. Chris is also taking a class and training.  In our limited down time we have been enjoying cooking up some delicious food and spending time with awesome friends.  Life is good!

Parable of the Lost Son: Baby Steps and Big Realizations

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, "father, give me my share of the estate." So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into the field to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 

When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!" I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: "father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be call your son; make like one of your hired men." 

So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, "father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servant, "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

God is doing amazing work in my life.  He is slowly but surely warming up my ice cold heart towards him.  I am learning to trust him with all areas of my life.  With every thing that I give up to him I feel like a newer and lighter person.  I am also learning that he loves me.  As a daughter that has squandered wealth and lived a wild life, it is hard to understand the love and forgiveness he provides.  It is baby steps, but they are steps nonetheless. Being excited about Jesus is such a wonderful new discovery, even with the tiny steps forward I can't imagine ever going back.  

Just some small insight into my life :-)