15 DAYS!! :)

So sorry these posts are so few and so much time passes between!
There's so much to write about... what God's doing in us, pictures and stories from wedding planning and showers and school... and a new car!!! And all I have time to do is pop in and say...

WE GET MARRIED IN FIFTEEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!


Yay!! Gotta get back to the plans...
:) LOVE YOU!

24 DAYS!!! :)

Updates are few and far between...
And I'm sure it's got something to do with the fact that we're getting married in 24 days!
But anyway... I saw this little cake stamp and it just reminded me of all of you that will be sharing a delicious cake with me in a few weeks and I thought I'd post a little to let you know I'm still alive and we're still getting married!! :)

Pray for us, if you would.
Life throws something new at us every day.
There are several big things you can pray for...

1: Neither of us have a car that works well. Mine is great, except that sometimes it simply won't start. (It always happens after I drive more than 20 miles at a time.) It's been in and out of the shop over the past two weeks and the guy told me yesterday, "I simply cannot figure it out. I'm sorry." Great to hear from a mechanic who focuses on starters, battery and alternators. Huh. Don't quite know what we'll do about that one.

2: The wedding is CLOSE!!! There is much to do these last 24 days. We're having fun putting everything together and figuring out all the little details... but it's hard to find time for everything and each other in the midst of working full time and planning full time and all the other stuff going on. We have had some amazing wedding showers together and bought our first purchase together for our house as a couple: a bed for Claxton, Ryan's dog! :) We've been told he needs to stop sleeping with Ryan BEFORE I move in... so this week has been rather rough on both of them... but really exciting at the same time. I think Claxy knows what's coming. And he seems to like his cute little brown and blue bed!

3: We're not really sure where we'll go or what we'll do after we get married. A new pastor will begin at North Vernon Church on October 25, 2009. Needless to say, that won't be us. We will be moving soon, Ryan is looking for a job, and we'll need to find a house. God's got all the details we know and trust... it's just gonna take some time and a lot more praying to figure it all out!

So that's what's up with us. Pray for and with us please!!
We are desperately seeking God's direction and will for our lives together!
I'll leave you with a picture of my men... :)

gamel gamel!

i just wanted to reiterate the fact that...
I LOVE GAMEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! (aka camels in english)

i'm going to marry ryan michael goode in TWO MONTHS!!!!!

i am so excited today that i'm giddy!!

can you believe we're getting married in only two months?!? there's so much to do... but it's so much fun!! plans are rolling!! and i'm really excited about moving as well!! let me update you a little on the lives of ryan and kara so you'll know where we're headed these next few weeks and months! :)

this sunday at church, ryan announced to the congregation that we have taken our names off the ballot for pastoral candidacy at the north vernon church of the nazarene. we will be filling in as the interim pastor until a new pastor is found, but we will be leaving the north vernon church. we are then moving to country squire lakes, a large community outside of town, and will be living there and doing compassionate ministries under the umbrella of shepherd community in indianpolis, indiana. :) we are so excited about this new opportunity to interact with people and share Christ's love! we will not be starting a church, but will be focusing on meeting our neighbors and meeting needs around us. the largest growing area of poverty in the united states today is located in rural communities. meth and other drugs are a huge problem in jennings county. our teen pregnancy rate is one of the highest in the state of indiana. and there is much poverty right here in our backyard. ryan and i have prayed and sought God much over the past few months and really feel like He is calling us here, to north vernon, to jennings county, and specifically to CSL in order to be the hands and feet of Jesus. we're looking for a place to either rent or buy or rent-to-own in the next few weeks, and hopefully i'll be moving out there before we get married, and then ryan will join me in october. ryan is looking for a job as he will not be employed by the church any longer. i'm working at the middle school, but always looking for a full-time social work position, hopefully where i will work with teenagers, mental health, and drug/alcohol addictions.

pray for us as we begin this adventure and mission and our lives together!

God is working!! and we are SO excited to be used by Him here in jennings county!

Some Summer Stuff...

Wow, so this summer had really flown by... and I haven't spent much time on this blog! School's back in session (I've been here for a week now!) and wedding plans are rolling. How awesome and crazy is it that Ryan and I get married in only 64 days!?! :) I'm so excited... and have so much to do!! :) Anyway... here's some pictures for you to enjoy! :)

Two weeks before Jonathan and Kate got married in July, my Mom's side of the family threw a joint bridal shower for Kate and I. Here's some pics from that...

...Here's Kate at her picnic table

...This is me at my picnic table

...Here's the delicious food that my wonderful family made...

Jenni & Aunt Nancy, Aunt Lori & her girls... hope I didn't leave anyone out!

It was yummy!! :)

...I made Kate a cookbook-scrapbook as a gift...

and it was so much fun to show it to her!

...Ryan's Mom Cindy and his neices Breanna and Kylie

were able to come to the shower in Ft. Wayne with us! :)

One week in July we took these five teens canoeing... it was a blast!!

...Leslie - Sheryl - Evan - Hannah - Ra'chelle

On July 19, 2009 Ryan and I celebrated our one-year anniversary (of dating!) :) We got dressed up and went to this incredible restaurant downtown Indy, and had THE most amazing cheesecake for desert! It was sooo much fun! :)

On August 8, 2009 Ryan turned 26!! We spent the weekend celebrating despite his sickness (headache, throat, flu symptoms)... but he was doing ok on Saturday, his actual birthday...

Friday night I had Ryan help me pick out the cake of his choice and then we baked it from scratch... he chose Red Velvet... it was so much fun to make!!

That cake took SO much red food coloring!!

I went to two different grocery stores to get enough! Crazy!

Here's the finished product!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!! :)

It was sooo good (and SOO red!!) and moist!! Yum!

Good pick, Ryan!

Saturday Ryan and I went to a Breakfast Prayer Group and then headed to Indy for a district meeting he had to be at. Before we went though, I busted out the Birthday Princess hat and made Ryan wear it to celebrate... I did fix it though as he is obviously not a princess! ;)

He looks so enthused!

Happy Birthday!!!

On our way to Indy we got stopped by a tractor parade!!

It was so funny!! But another great way to celebrate! ;)

For dinner, we went to Olive Garden in Greenwood

and I gave Ryan this gift afterward... it's the Kindle 2.0 from Amazon...

He was SO excited!! You can check it out here...

it's an electronic book that you can load tons of books on,

and it accesses newspapers and magazines.

We went to Barnes and Noble then and hung out for quite some time

while he played with his new Kindle!

And here's my last picture of Ryan and I from the summer... hope you liked the pictures!! :)

my little brother is MARRIED! :)

Friday, July 24, 2009 my brother Jonathan became a married man.
Here's some sweet wedding shots of Jonathan and my new sister Kate. :)













And in just three short months... 89 days... I'm getting married too! :)

God is Working!

God is working,
He's still working,
God is working even now.

Though we often don't know just how,
God is working even now!

Hallelujah!!
He's working even now!
Hallelujah!!
He's working even now!

Though we often don't know just how,
God is working!
He's still working!
God is working even now!

MORE TO COME SOON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!!!