Getting in Contact

The festival has been quite the experience thus far! Physically and mentally exhausting in a good way. Every night there's something going on. The first pic is of us girls at the dance party from last Friday night where our live musicians from dance class played live. It was pretty incredible having their talents accompanying our groovin'. The other pic is from a 'Contact Jam' that took place a couple nights ago. A Contact Jam is when a bunch of dancers get together to simply improvising by making contact with their bodies creating new moves. We didn't actually participate but we hung out and I played with my camera trying to catch cool moments. Needless to say, I can't believe my time here is already half way over, and I will definitely have some processing to do when I get home.

Dancing in Maine!

So, here we are in Maine at the Bates Dance Festival. We are having such a blast! We've been here for six days now but feels like weeks. We take four classes a day, two technique and two academic. One of my classes is a "Teacher Toolkit" class which is so helpful exchanging teaching principles and practices with other high school dance educators just like me.


These are just a few of the girls we've met and gotten close to. [Heather, Amy (from Texas), me, Keisha (from New Orleans), and Sinnamon (from Long Beach)]


The festival is on the beautiful campus of Bates College. This is the adorable New England home we get to stay in these 3 weeks. It is just across the street from where we're dancing. It is so peaceful and relaxing.


It definitely is more humid out here than CA but not bad at all. The weather has actually been beautiful, with rain a couple days, but also blue skies and cool temperatures for the summer. The campus also has such beautiful brick buildings all throughout. Speaking of...


This building I passed by yesterday while walking to one of my classes. This is for you Dana! I couldn't believe it...how ironic! =) So, just know, that yes, Dana, there is a building named after you on a college campus in Maine of all places.

Looking Back...

Hey guys. I loved how Carolyn posted all that God has done when she looked back over her last year. So, I took her advice to do the same. No wonder God tells us all throughout Scripture, over and over again, to REMEMBER! Remembering His faithfulness, taking the time to reflect...I wonder how much it would increase our faith and our joy if we did that more often?! So, here's in a nutshell, Jud & I's last year:

1. Made the big move from Long Beach to Pasadena
2. Got our first "real" pet, Olly!
3. I experienced bike riding to work for 6 months
4. God provided an amazing doctrinally-sound church at Calvary Bible Church
5. I started dancing professionally again, auditioning and joining Benita Bike DanceArt Co.
6. With the company, I got to travel to and perform in Kentucky
7. God provided the money to visit Jud's family for a week in Wisconsin
8. My grandpa Tures went home with the Lord on January 1st
9. Jud was laid off from his job with Fastenal
10. We experienced 6 months of unemployment...lean times...but God was faithful to us! The blessing was that during that time, Jud got time outdoors, hiking almost daily in Eaton Canyon and also took classes becoming a certified docent (nature teacher) there.
11. We lost Olly for 6 weeks
12. Some times of pain & illness with Jud having two herniated discs, a torn meniscus, and me getting shingles.
13. The Tures family had a wonderful, much needed, family reunion and memorial for my grandpa, aunt Robin, and uncle Dennis.
14. I put on my first full production with my students, our Spring Dance Concert 2009!
15. We got Olly back!
16. God provided an amazing job for Jud at Felikian's Carpet One, stable, enjoyable, and close to home!
17. Jess completed her first year of BTSA (a 2-year teacher's program required before becoming tenured)
18. And now Jess is going to Maine for 3 weeks to dance on a dance educator scholarship!

As you can see, flipping through our year at a glance, it is amazing how much can happen in just 1 year. But, it is also so encouraging to see that there are always going to be challenging times and lean times, but after that comes blessing! All praise and glory be to God for it all! I hope you find encouragement when you look back and reflect as well.

"...always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father..." Ephesians 5:20

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Weekend Away before Maine

This last weekend was Jud's weekend off and our last weekend together before I leave for Maine to attend this year's Bates Dance Festival. All praise to God, I received a full scholarship to attend this 3 week festival as a high school dance educator. I get to take dance classes all day every weekday I'm there! I'm really looking forward to it. Plus, I get to go with my friend Heather who received the same scholarship and was the one who told me to apply in the first place.

We are so blessed to have the cabin in our family and the freedom to get away up there when we need it or just long for peace and quiet. It was so peaceful up there, especially when the ski slopes across the street are empty, covered with grass instead of snow. The only things you hear are the chirping of the birds and the mountain bikers riding up and down the hill. We got to sleep in, make pancakes for breakfast, turn our minds off while channel surfing, watched the movie "Traitor" (which we highly recommend), walked a bit around the village, spent way too much for the delivery of a medium Domino's pizza, and got to bond as a married couple away from our life here in Pasadena.

Fireworks in Big Bear!

For 4th of July, we headed up to the cabin to see fireworks by the lake and mostly to see the family. It was so great to spend time with Jenni and her boyfriend Gabe. They are really fun to hang out with. We've been wanting to get to know them better as a couple and its amazing how much God can multiply an evening together. We not only ate dinner together, the four of us, but then watched fireworks with Jenni's friends and my parents at the park near Big Bear Lake. Then, back at the cabin, we stayed up late playing dominoes. Sunday morning we left early to not only get back for Jud to work but to take Jenni & Gabe to the airport. It worked out great though because we got the 3 hour car ride together and that was a lot of fun!

Back to the Sierras!

Last weekend before Jud started his job, we went camping in the Sierras with his family.

We went fishing in the creek next to our campsite. That was a first for me; I've only fished in lakes before.


Jud & I hiked half way around this lake to find the perfect little spot. We crossed a stream, snow, and lots of bushes. It was amazing, we could see the fish right below us in the clear water before we caught them.


We caught 5 fish total (Jud 3, Me 2) mostly rainbow trout, but also a couple brown trout


Here's Kellie, Caitlin, Riley (Jud's cousin) and Dennis (Riley's boyfriend) just outside the lake. Isn't the snow in the background beautiful!


We had beautiful weather the entire time except for the high winds during the night. It did drop down to 35 degrees the last night. I slept with 3 layers + my mittens and scarf all while sleeping in a severe weather sleeping bag. Let's just say they weren't the best nights of sleep but it sure was fun being in a tent again and hearing the roaring creek next to our campsite.


This is Karin & Bob's dog Mookie. She started to shiver from being cold, so we thought we'd help her out a little by giving her Kellie's hooded sweatshirt. Is that not the most hilarious thing?!

God Never Fails Us (even in the "lean" times)

So.....as many of you know, God has had Jud and I on this amazing journey for the past 6 months. We have been trusting God, waiting on God, praying earnestly for God to provide a job for Jud. At first, we saw it as a time for Jud to find the "perfect" job for himself. But, as time went on, we realized that we needed to leave this up to God solely and let Him choose for us. Our faith was strengthened when we saw God come through every time at the end of each month. We saw Him provide in ways we'll remember hopefully always. He never failed us!

Last week, Jud was called into a 2nd interview for a sales position at this business. And before we knew it...God had provided a job! (And in this economy, we were thankful for any job). But, God does not just settle for something, He chooses the best for our holiness and growth in becoming more Christ-like. There are so many amazing blessings about this job: it is not only a full-time permanent position, but it is owned by a wonderful family, the business has been rooted in Pasadena for over 30 years, it is only 3 miles from home (we feel so blessed to both now work in the same city we live in), and it provides the variety and people interaction that Jud was wired for by God. Jud's first day on the job was today and he loved it! There will be lots of intense training for the next 3 months learning all the details to the carpet and flooring the company sells, but Jud loves learning new things and is great with interacting with people. He has already clicked with Andre who's training him and they even made a few sales today already! I am so proud of Jud for persevering in these past 6 months, trusting in the Lord no matter what. We praise God for knowing what we need when we need it, for providing when we least expect it, and for giving us His best when we don't deserve it. We know this job was from the Lord. Please pray that we would continue to praise Him and thank Him, remembering His faithfulness toward us. May we live our lives and work at our jobs FOR HIM, and HIM ALONE. All glory be to God!