Tomorrow marks the four year anniversary here in Hollister! I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by. So much has happened!! I remember when we tried out for the church, at first I was not for it at all!!!! Then the second service I totally fell in love with the people. I remember I went out to eat with the young people and some of the adults after church and I remember feeling a little weird but they were SO wide open and hilarious!!! I am SO GLAD daddy took this church I can’t imagine being anywhere else!! At first I hung out with the young people a lot!! One of my first friends was Jessica who I miss SO MUCH! We went to youth ralleys, conferences, youth congress, west coast and a lot of other meeting together. However we always ended up going in the wrong direction!!! One year on our way to WestCoast which is in Fresno we got to talking and we were all the through SAN JOSE before we realized we were going NORTH!!!!!! And the same thing happened on the way home! We were like 20 minutes from Bakersfield before we realized we were going SOUTH!!!! We had so many adventures including meeting a VERY goodlooking guy at Youth Congress that GREATLY resembled Orlando Bloom! …. Anyways… very goodlooking …… =)

I also hung out with Matthew and Amanda a LOT! Never imagining that I would one day be married to him. He says he chased me for 2 years before I said yes, I”m not so sure thats how it happened!!! At first the timing wasn’t right and we obeyed our parents and did not talk or hang out for about a year. In that time Matthew made a vow to God that he would pray instead of pursue me. THAT is when I began to notice him. On my way home from work I would see his truck parked at the old church, and in the mornings and on saturdays. I was drawn to that so much, something in me began to change. We started to talk a little here and there …. I still went out with other guys but I would call Matthew and talk to him about my “dates” and things that I liked or didn’t like and he just listened and never spoke bad of anyone. THEN we went on a non date date !!! And he was so funny and cute and such a gentleman!!! We never ran out of things to talk about in fact I think we pretty much got kicked out of the restaurant!!! After that I was hooked!! We dated a WHOLE 3 weeks before he asked me to marry him!!!! <<<<In the middle of the proposal Amanda walked outside and saw what he was doing and said OOOOH NOOOO!!!! LOL!! We have grown to love eachother a lot since then!!! She’s the sister that I never had! Anyways continuing on>>> we had known eachother as friends long enough to know that this is who and what we wanted! It hasn’t all been easy or roses. I had to grow up a LOT!! Him too. But I have never stopped loving Matthew and I think I love him more now than I did the day we got married!! He was so kind to me during all my “illness” and surgery and the HORRIBLE side affects of the medicine I had to take!!! I sometimes still can’t believe I’m married sometimes!! It’s almost been 2 year!

Now that we are married our friends have changed. We hand out more with the married couples in the church than we do the young people! Its kinda weird! But I have always hung out with people older than me. Like Greg and Monya. I miss them! I do wish that God would send some new couples to the church that don’t have kids !! We will eventually have kids but NOT YET!!! I am quite content to just be us two right now. In the time that we have been married I have made some very good friends, some that have been totally unexpected! I can honestly say there is not one person in our church that I do not like!!! Every person in Hollister is dear to my heart. I have people that I can talk to, hang out with, eat with, have over to my house, call just to chat, pray with, have someone pray for me, EVERYTHING !!! And I’ve made many acquaintances and friends in this great CA district!!

A LOT has happened in the 4 years that we have been here. In Hollister yes I am the pastors daughter but I’m also my own person. In Hollister, I have truly become myself, found myself. I have found the place I want to be at until … forever. Unless God calls us elsewhere. I have found the love of my life. I will eventually have children that both sets of parents will spoil to no end. And hopefully the church will love too! I continue to grow and experience. To learn more about the wonderfully amazing God that we serve. I have TRULY found out that God will not put more on you than you can bear. That you will never go hungry, not have a roof over your head, have clothes to wear. God had provided for us so many times. In Hollister I have been broken, shattered to pieces, and then nurtured back to myself and been given even more than I was Spiritually and Physically. Hollister is my home. I love my church. I love what God has done. I miss the people that have left or backslid, and I rejoice for the new people that have come into our church. I cannot name every person that I love or hold dear to my heart. I can’t list everyones attributes and things that I love about you. I love everyone. You are all special to me and will continue to be as long as we are here. Thank you for accepting me!!! Laughing with me or at me, for helping me to become a better person, being there when I needed someone to talk to, praying for me, encouraging me, allowing me to sing to you, letting me be used to pray for you, receiving me, and letting me be ME!!! Happy FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY !!!!!