It's been a while. . .

Wow, long time since I have posted here! So much as changed! Let's start with dogs, because everyone loves puppies. Since my last post I've had 7 different pups from Guiding Eyes come through my home. 

Krista I started for a few months. She ended up getting released at IFT and was adopted by a family in NY.

Galaxy I raised from start to finish and after a few months of harness training she was released to MSA. MSA is a detection agency and she now is a bomb detection dog in California.

Fritz was another starter puppy. He graduated as a guide dog and is now working in NC.

Lynx I raised start to finish and he just graduated as a guide dog and is working in Alaska.

Rizzo I finished raising and she graduated as a guide dog and is working in Michigan.

Legacy I co-raised with a friend and she was medically released at a year old. She was adopted by a family in CT.

Idaho is the pup that we are currently raising, he is almost 7 months old and such a cutie!

Now onto my life updates!

In January 2017 I remember thinking I needed to reach get my health under control. I was gaining more weight and was at my heaviest. I felt not great about myself, but also physically I did not feel well either. In February (around my birthday) I decided this was it. I needed to make my health a priority. I completely changed my eating habits and started working out. I started out slow, barely being able to run at all, but through a lot of consistency I started being able to run more and more. I dropped about 50# in a few months time and was feeling great! I felt great inside and outside and I never thought I could "do it" and keep it off. For the most part I have stayed around the same weight and continue to work out and try to eat healthy. God has been so good to me and I am thankful to be able to treating my body better to help me better serve God's kingdom.

Photo on the left was from December 2016 and photo on the right was May 2017.

Another life update was in June 2017 I met a guy. . . We met online and immediately hit it off. We talked for several weeks over texts and the phone and met for the first time on a warm June day. We went back home and thought about it for the weekend and on July 4th, 2017 we officially started dating. My first boyfriend! I was so excited and happy that God had finally placed someone in my life!

In August 2017 my family and I went on a family vacation to the Adirondacks and I fell in love with those mountains. God's creation is AMAZING and being out in nature is such a beautiful thing! 

On top of Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks

Over the next several months David and I got very close. We spent as much time together as we could, talked on the phone SO  much, and did dates that helped us learn more and more about each other. We read books like The Five Love Languages, For Men Only and For Women Only, and Is This the One?, which was a book that had a lot of great date ideas for us. We made God a priority in our lives separately and together. Through our relationship we really wanted to make sure God was at our center because we know a marriage can only be successful if God is in the middle. Honestly. . . I knew right away David was the guy I wanted to marry. However, we waited until February 17th, 2018 and on a beautiful winter morning, he proposed to me in my home town. It was perfect and it was all captured on camera because my sister and friend were in on it!

In May 2018 I took a fun girls week trip to FL with two of my greatest friends. We went to Disney a few days and it was the first time I had ever been! It was such a great week and I had such an amazing time! I can't wait to go again!!

At Epcot!

As soon as we got engaged in February we were in full swing planning mode! We had to plan a wedding in 7 months as we set the date for September of 2018! It was a crazy time, but such a fun few months and so exciting! I cannot think my family, friends, and David for all of the help they provided to make the day a success! 

These are a few of our engagement photos from May. They were taken in an apple orchard with the beautiful apple blossoms!

Also in May I graduated from college! What a relief to be done and have a college degree! God is so good and helped me get through those classes in such a busy time.

David and I with Lynx at my graduation.

September 2018 was a beautiful month. At the end of the month surrounded by family and friends, David and I said our vows and made a covenant to each other and to God. We vowed to put each other first, put God at our center, and stay together through the good and bad. These past 6 1/2 months have flown by! It has been an adjustment, but not in a bad way. My whole life I have wanted to be a wife/home maker/mother and now I am able to do two of those three things!

First kiss after being pronounced husband and wife!!

group photo with our bridal party

me with my wonderful bridesmaids

This is a special photo as the apple crate has the symbol for Mott's which is where my Dad used to work. We also took our wedding photos in the same orchard we were at for our engagement photos.

Another bridal party photo in the church.

David and I went to the Adirondacks for our honeymoon. It was such a grand week with fun outings, beautiful views, and getting to know each other more.
 

We drove to the top of White Face Mountain and took in the beautiful sights.

Where we stayed had a cute lake we could kayak in!

I am going to make an effort to start uploading more often. . . I am not making any promises, but I am going to try to. More posts will be coming with another fun trip David and I did. I pray that through this blog God will use me to help spread the love of Christ to all around.

God bless,

Bethany

October Breed Eval - Margo! :)

She's definitely Wonder Women :)

Operation Christmas Child

For as long as I can remember, November didn't just mean the beginning of the holiday season or Thanksgiving, it also meant it was time to head to the dollar store and shop for little toys, school supplies, hygiene products, and some candy to pack away all snug in a shoe box to then be shipped off to some child in need in another country. I'm talking about filling a shoe box for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. For information about packing a shoe box and where the closest drop off location is to you go here http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/

I can't say enough how much I LOVE this organization! It is so much fun to get in the Christmas spirit so early, I love picking an age of a child and gender that I want to shop for this year. This year I picked a boy 5-9 years old. I usually end up doing a girl, but this year I picked a little boy, I filled his box with cars, planes, and other boyish things. :) I hope this little boy who gets this box is blessed by the gifts and that he knows that someone is thinking about him. Most important though, I hope this little boy finds the HOPE and LOVE of Jesus Christ this Christmas. On top of Samaritan's Purse giving out these boxes to children they also share the gospel with every single child, and that, that is the best gift of all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Keith came shopping with me

getting ready to pack the shoe box!

This is a time lapse video of me packing the shoe box

All done!

Julia, Keith, Dahlia, and Mitchell

My two favorite charities!!! Guiding Eyes for the Blind and Operation Christmas Child!

One year!

It's hard to believe that just over a year ago I was packing up my car and getting ready to take the drive down state to start my new life. MY.NEW.LIFE. . .  I couldn't believe it, was I really ready to take this step? Was I ready to move out on my own for the very first time, to have a real full time job for the very first time? I honestly didn't know the answers to any of those questions, but the excitement of starting my dream job made me feel like I could take on the world! This year has been full of ups and downs. I've had days where I missed my family and friends back home so much it ached, but thankfully I've made great new friends who are there when I'm down.

All in all this year has been one of the best I've had. I'm so thankful for this job, where I get to work with some great people and incredible dogs. I'm thankful for the opportunity to grow in ways I didn't know I could and I look forward to keep on growing and learning in the years to come. 

My favorite quote when I moved here was this,

"Home is where you will always have a place, where you will always feel loved, and you will never be alone." I didn't think my little apartment would feel like home, but it's already starting to and I love my little Brookside Cottage. I'm still trying to find that church that I feel at home at, it's been a struggle to find a place that I feel comfortable at after being blessed with such a great church family back home, but I am trusting to be able to get in touch with a church very soon. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5 & 6"

A friend told me that the first year goes by the slowest and you feel like you've been here longer then a year, but then you blink and it's been 10 years. I can't wait for the next year ahead of me (and the next 10+ years hopefully with this organization). We'll see what new adventures I find in year 2 and where things will take me. I know it will be full of fun, exhaustion, happiness, and memories.

August Breed Eval - Liza, my grand pup!

July Breed Evals - Charby and Orly

June Breed Evals - Kismet and Peter