Where am I in the World Today?

My life is crazy.  Ok, so from the 8th through the 20th of May I was rushing all across the state of Michigan enjoying time spent with FFA members all over for their end of the year banquets.  What a blast!  Lots of good food and excellent company!  BTW, I'm always amazed at the accomplishments of the members in this great organization.

 A few of us at Fremont!

 Two of the best friends I've made while in FFA....I'm going to miss them like crazy!

Visiting Grant!!!

Then at the end of the week my whole state officer team got to tour DTE energy (over on the east side of MI, consumers takes care of the west side) and got to see some pretty cool stuff in there.  Then that evening we got to stay in their suite at a Tigers game at Comerica Park!  Ok, I'm not a huge baseball fan but I couldn't complain.  It was 72*, our suite was right over home plate, it was sunny, we had all the food we could eat, and the Tigers won the game 6-0.  Cool stuff. :)  Then that night we stayed in the nicest hotel I've ever been in.  Anyway, it was a great way to end a great year.  It has been quite the experience getting to know 10 other girls and 1 guy and serve our state association members together.

What a year it's been!

On Saturday evening I headed back to Tekonsha to load up my car with the rest of my belongings, said goodbyes to my family and headed to Ohio.  There I picked up some other essentials (such as farm fresh meat) and said goodbye to everyone there in Tedrow.  Then off I headed to Columbus where Daniel's aunt and uncle were kind enough to let me stay the night.  Early Sunday morning (like 4:30 early) I woke up and hit the road, making it to Jacksonville NC by 3:30 PM.  So I am officially moved to NC and am enjoying the time we can spend together.  

Life is always changing and I'm not always sure where it will take me.  Being a Marine wife makes planning a challenge and I never know what is exactly going to happen.  But with God, unselfish love, and dedication to each other we will make it.  BTW, there are more details coming on this.....

Oh, and so on the 20th, my Dad, sisters, and Ben went to the first goat show of the year.  Things went fantastically to say the least.  My doe Thea (a three year old) went Grand Champion 2x and then Best in Show 2x as well.  This finished her (a doe needs 3 Grand Champions to finish), making her our first finished champion!  What an exciting weekend!  My 2 year old doe Athena was also looking great and went Reserve Champion 1x.  Elizabeth's doe kid out of Gala also did quite well going Grand Champion 1x.  Anyway, it was a good way to kick off the year there.  My dad also informed me that they are planning to head to Colorado now for the National show!  Sounds like fun to me....and hopefully our does will look good!

 Abigail cleaning up Athena.

 Elizabeth with our CHAMPION!  She showed her and did an amazing job.  Aren't they both beautiful! ;)

Anyway, so that's just an update on what my life has been like lately.  I'm starting to get into a bit of a routine and am still looking for a job (hopefully nannying).  God has been so good to me and I'm so thankful to Him.  To Him be the glory!

May you all have a blessed day.

~Bethany~

Spring Break 2012

Last week my sister came to visit us in NC over her spring break!  It was so fun to show her around our new place and all the wonders it holds.  :D  We did get out to the beach one day and here are a few of the pictures we took.

 The beautiful lady!

 Gone crazy!  lol

 This person must already be crazy.

 We look like two wild women. :D  The wind was amazingly....um....windy.

 The future looks so bright!

 I am an epic fail at jumping.

 I love my man!!!!

 Such a lovely lady!

I just thought this was a cool picture.  I love the footprints, the reflection, and the bare feet!

Hope all you students had an awesome spring break!  

~Bethany~

Our home!

Greetings from North Carolina!  I know it has been much too long since I've posted anything on my blog.  Since then, Daniel and I have moved to a little cottage on a "lake" (that's what those around here call it, as a ex-Michigander I object).  Anyway, here are some pictures of our new home!!!

 Our bedroom. :)

 The bathroom!

 Living room.

 Another angle of our living room. :)

 Best part of the house, the kitchen!!!

 An attempt at seeing the whole kitchen, dining area, and living room together.

 The laundry "room".  (In our bedroom)

Our view outside!

 From outside.

That's us!!!! :)

So you are probably wondering a little about the blog name change.  Guess it's kinda obvious, but anyway I figured it's about time.  Asher Acres is still part of my life but not primarily.  Thus the name change.

Well, I've got more photos coming but I'm going to close for today.  Enjoy a wonderful day!

~Bethany~

He's Coming for a Pure Bride

Every little (and not so little) girl dreams of her wedding day.  She plans the colors, the attendants, the food, every detail that she can think of.  To a young girl, her wedding is essentially the beginning of "real" life.  Up to the wedding however, a girl keeps herself pure.  Her desire is to present a pure bride to the bridegroom.  Excellent, right?

Until I was married I realized that I had the wrong focus the whole time.  While keeping myself pure in mind and pure in body for my future husband was all good, my focus should not have been to give my husband a pure bride, but to give God a pure bride.

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Married ladies and single girls alike.  It's not too late to be that pure bride of Christ!  If you don't feel that you are the purest bride (for we want the best for our King!), turn away from sin and come to His saving forgiveness.

Single girls, refocus your attention to remaining pure from your future husband, to your current heavenly father.  Your future husband will be thankful to receive not only a bride pure of body, but one that is pure in Christ.

When you become that pure bride of Jesus, this is the beginning of true life in Christ.

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:7-9 

Who's ready for the wedding?!?!

~Bethany~

Till Death Do Us Part

It's a new year.  And, it's official.  On December 23, 2011my best friend Mr. Daniel Schrock took my hand in marriage, making me the happiest girl in the world, and.....Mrs. Schrock! :)  The whole wedding, ceremony, reception, moments leading up to it, and every moment since has been completely wonderful.  Publicly I'd like to thank my wonderful parents and family as well as Daniel's parents and family for helping with everything.  There were also numerous friends who helped make everything go so smoothly!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!


Now I don't have the professional pictures back yet and I will share them once I receive them.  I'm going to share some sneak peaks though of pictures taken with Abigail's camera. 

 We loaded all the wedding supplies into a trailer and hauled them all away to the church.  You can see my dress hanging in there. :)

 The kitchen.  Yes we spent some time in there.  :) 

 The tables were beautiful!  Each table had a ribbon down the middle with center pieces of real pine boughs, holly berries, pine cones, one big candle in the middle, and three little candles scattered in the greenery.  Abigail did a TON of work on these!

 The girls spent a bunch of time on the head table and it looked fabulous!

 

When the lady who did my hair put on the veil she started crying.  Hmmmm....

 

 Waiting.....waiting.....waiting....watching veggie tales because the nursery had nothing better in it......

 Me waiting.  Can't you see frustration and anxiousness written all over my face?  I was totally ready to walk down the isle NOW.

 Me and my adorable junior bridesmaid, aka my sister Elizabeth.

 L-R bridesmaids - Rebekah, Elizabeth, Rachel

 Family photo before the wedding!!!

 My wonderful parents.

 My parents put together my bouquet and this was probably less than an hour before the ceremony started. :D

 My superfantabulous husband!

 Isn't he handsome?

Well, I'll share more when I get them.  Until then, may God bless you in this new year!

True Love

I'm sure you're all ready for a nice mushy gooshy wedding update at about this point, right?  I mean it has been how long since I've posted anything here. 

But yes, we are now only 17 days away from the 'Big Day' and I can hardly wait!  It has been super busy here, finding dresses, shoes, decorations, food for 300, and so much more!  Yet we are getting so close and I'm so thankful for a wonderful family has has been amazing through this whole experience. :)  Mom is getting the food, Abigail is overseeing the decoration, I am looking over the little details of the wedding (scripture, vows, bulletins, attendants for everything, music, etc) and it has been fun! 

I was priviledged to visit Daniel over Thanksgiving in North Carolina.  Let's just say....it was beautiful there.   I left Michigan when it was 28*F, dead and brown.  I arrived in NC where it was 75*F, sunny, and green.  Well....at least MI has season....:)  Anyway, it was a wonderful time and we were thankful for the few days that we had together. 

Getting to the real point of this post however. I have had several showers in the past month and at the first one all the ladies were asked to write down a piece of advice for the bride and groom to keep.  Later that afternoon I was going through them all and found them all very precious and something I will probably keep forever.  However, there was one that especially stuck out.

This note was from a sweet middle aged friend of the family.  She and her husband have two children in their young teens. She wrote:

"Have coca dates together and take time to snuggle with each other.  Take time for a silent I love you to share between you ~ three quick hand squeezes, I LOVE YOU. 

The woman's husband is dying of cancer.

When I saw this I knew THAT was the love that I want.  I think it's a love that comes from God, and a love that grows from patience, an unselfish love.  It also reminded me that time is short and we should make it sweet. 

So I encourage each one of you, if you have someone in your life to love (and it doesn't have to be a spouse, fiance, boyfriend, etc), to love them to the fullest today.  You never know how much time you have with them.  Life is short, so love with an unselfish and everlasting love. 

In Christ,

~Bethany~

P.S.  Please keep that family in your prayers!

Pictures and National Convention!!!

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I got our engagement pictures taken by my friend, Rebecca.  I think she did a fantastic job.  It was freezing that morning, below 32*.

Daniel went back to base in NC and will see him again over Thanksgiving.

That's the wedding news for now. :)

Other than that, I'm at the FFA National Convention!!!!  I am actually sitting in a social media workshop right now learning about the importance of advocating agriculture through social media.  Interesting how a blog, facebook, twitter, or youtube can make such an impact on an uneducated individual!

This week I'm going to be with fellow state officers all week, meeting tons of new people (there were 55,000 FFA members who attended last year), and competing in Marketing.  It should be a fantastic week!

~Bethany~