...and none of it was Vanilla...

This week we took a little trip to Grapevine, Texas to a beautiful hotel and convention center called the Gaylord Texan.
Every year they open up this huge exhibit filled with ice sculptures that weigh over 2 million pounds! They keep the room at 9 degrees in order to not melt the ice...so the complimentary parka's were a huge help.
This place had so much crazy stuff...including an ice bridge, ice slide and an ice santa. All larger than life...we had a great time with great friends! Hope you enjoy!

Tis the Season

This past Sunday marked our last Radius of 2008!
What a great night to end such a great semester of blessing...and celebrate the love of our God.
It was an awesome night...and it just keeps getting better!

Apparently, the only pictures we got on our camera were of our fruitcake eating contest...that, and Jeremiah with a Rudolph nose...not sure where that fits in. But nonetheless, enjoy!
Thanks for keeping up!
You may now return to the edge of your seats...
-Scott & Ashley

Christmas Build-up

::Once again...it's been all too long since the last update. So you can all rest your fingers from clicking back and forth daily to our site...because--Hark! There she blows!

Our Christmas season started about the same time that most of yours did...and that was the Friday after Thanksgiving.
We started the day by waking up at 4:30am...and heading out into the wilderness of Black Friday.
This was my first experience with Black Friday Shoppers...and man...i loved it! Well, with the exception of all the lame folks that i wanted to knock out--which was everyone, minus Ashley...sometimes :).
But it was a greatly productive day for us. And i stress the "for us" part...because i don't think we bought for anyone but ourselves. Tis the season, right?

We then headed home...busted out the decorations, and went for it! Decorations everywhere...apparently, everyone was so excited, just not much help.
For the first time, we were able to decorate the outside of our house for Christmas! After an almost life threatening incident with a ladder, a broken bulb, a three trips to Wal-Mart (still Black Friday..stay with me.) for a better staple gun...we were ready to go!
We decked it out this year! Well...decked it out in my sense of the word this time of year...but it was a great day to welcome in our second Christmas together in Dallas.

Thanks for keeping up!
-Scott & Ashley

update...not upchuck

By my calculations, it has been approximately 3 months since our last post. Whoa, my bad!
To be honest, i haven't had anything overly exciting to blog about...and don't think that today is any different.

I just thought i would update you on our lives...

Let's see...September, i don't even know what happened in September, let alone to September.
Youth kickoff had to be the highlight of the ministry side of our lives. September 14 we kicked off our school year. We had 60 students show up--I was blown away! Since then, we haven't hit 60 again, but we're getting closer and closer. God is truly blessing our ministry here at Collin Creek, and bringing more and more students into our lives for us to minister to.
I keep pulling up my calendar to see what else went on in September. Ryan's birthday was in September. Ashley & I bought him Pee Wee's Big Adventure on DVD. I specify DVD because that movie is so old, i wondered if it was even on DVD...in case any of you were wondering if it is or not, it is! Can you say, Adobe?
Now, for those of you still reading this, you can agree that with the subject matter i am covering, really...nothing noteworthy really went on in September...well, except Fall rolling into town, and even that isn't anything to party about!

Let's move along...October was an insane month! Ashley is climbing the corporate ladder at her job. She filled in for a girl for 3 weeks and became the Assistant to the Head Hancho, himself. She had a great time, and really got a chance to prove herself...even more so by working 55 hour weeks for those three!
She has now, almost officially, moved up to be the assistant to 3 of the other partners! We're stoked on this! Like I said, Ashley has proven herself over and over again, and is even designing, starting and heading up a mentoring program within the firm! Yes, she's that good!

We took a weekend trip up to Bartlesville to see Terry and Annie who were in town from Montana. It was such a good time to catch up, hang out and make fun of people. We miss those days!

October held Halloween in its bowel's. (doesn't make sense to me either...)
The day started with Ashley going to work, and me going to the golf course! A few buddies and I went to golf. Now, i haven't even picked up a club for over a year by this point, so i was a little hesitant. But all in all it was a great day! I hit my first PAR. It was a par 3. Pretty impressive, huh?
That night was a good time! Ashley made chili, carmel apples, rice crispy treats...and i grated the cheese!
We had about 12 couples from church over...hung out, laughed, played Scattergories & Mario Bro's, passed out candy and ate a whole bunch of food. It was a fun night!

November...see, we're already here! November has been interesting...and when i say interesting, i say that in conjunction with the rest of this blog.
November--we voted! Now, in Texas, they have this little ditty called "Early Voting". It is when you can vote anywhere in your county (not just your polling place like you do on Election Day!). I, for one, really wasn't sure what this was all about. So i neglected to "Early Vote".
Ashley, along with about 99% of the people we know, decided to take advantage of early voting. It literally took Ashley about 43.9 seconds to vote! She was in, she was out and on with her day.
I waited for voting day. All i heard was, "Bring a book, you'll be standing in line for hours!" Well folks, i walked into my polling location...i was in, i was out and on with my day. I even went to Starbucks and used my "I voted" sticker to get me a free coffee. (Which everyone that had an "I voted" sticker could do.) So, this "early voting" business just might not be your golden ticket!

November is also the end of the regular season of High School Football! We have literally spent every Friday (and sometimes, Thursday) night at football games. It's been a great season! But not so sad that it's over...

Speaking of over...so is this blog. Because there you have it folks! An update on the Stevenson's lives in Texas.

Hope you enjoyed the read. It's been an exciting three months as you can tell! So whipe that sweat off your brow and return to the edge of your seats!

Love and miss you all!
-Scott & Ashley

Climb, Climb up Media Mountain

Luckily, our world can now return back to normal…the Olympics are over! Now, to be honest, I was kind of over the Olympics on day 3. Ashley on the other hand loves the Olympics…and I mean: L.O.V.E.-spelled-out-in-sign-language-because-you-cannot-speak-during
-the-olympics, love’s the Olympics. Now I must admit, I don’t miss the games. I think what really threw me off were the horrible ribbon-dancer competition…and the even more horrible news anchor that interviewed all the winners throughout the games. Now, my beef with this lady isn’t anything huge, except for the fact that she was the worst interviewer I have ever seen. How awkward could you make these two weeks? Now, I do have some evidence to back that statement up. After Michael Phelps won one of his eight gold medals, he walked over to this lady and she asked, “How do you think you did out there?” Sure, a valid question, but really lady! He just won the gold medal…how do YOU think he did?
I am also going to be giving Michael Phelps a run for his money. Ashley and I just got a two-week pass to a health club down the road. They have an Olympic size swimming pool. I will be posting my 50-meter swim time as soon as we get that figured out. Regardless…Peace out, Beijing!
So, this morning the contenders of “Dancing with the Stars” were announced. I have never been a huge fan of this show, and this year’s line-up will in no way change my opinion! First of all, it’s not the fact that I don’t really care about the folks on the show, but the fact that this is the largest group of contenders ever on “Dancing with the Stars”…as if they don’t draw the show out long enough, they added more dancers, and even made the season premiere a 3-hour show. What the heck can possibly go on in those three hours? Can’t they skip the commentary, background stories and lame interviews and just dance for 45 minutes and call it a night. I mean, that would totally open up a slot for episodes of Cavemen…if that was the case I would be locked in on ABC all night. But who am I?
Anyways, I am really excited for this new season on Television. I am almost caught up on the Office…I have watched 3 of the 4 seasons! Love it. I might be giving up on Grey’s Anatomy. I think this past season was a bit of a stretch…we’ll see how long it goes!
Wipeout! Does it get any better than this? I mean, the first 35 minutes of this show make me LOL, every time! I am still trying to figure out a way to get on this show, I think I could do pretty well! But until I get to jump across the “Big Balls” I will be content with living vicariously through these folks.
Those are really the only shows on my lineup. I do have a life, you know? But hey…sometimes it’s nice to just veg-out. I am also learning guitar…first lesson is Wednesday night! I’m sure we’ll have plenty of updates on that one.
Until then, once again, you may now return to the edge of your seats because that’s all I got for now!
-Scott

NO TIME

So, i am assuming that with the latest update being over a month ago...that the visits to this blogspot are pretty few and far between. But nonetheless, i am here...shoving an update right up your right nostril.
Today is Monday, August 18th. And it is raining. Ashley and I love the rain. Mainly because we don't have to pay money to water our back lawn. But also because it means a night inside. Not that we don't ever have a night in, but regardless, a default to a night in is always refreshing.
Anyways..let me catch you all up to speed on what's been going on in our world since the last update.
We went to Alaska with my family. I don't want to write a blog about our trip, mainly because half of the people who read this were on the cruise, but also because i don't want to wear one of those stinky tan velcro braces that the carpel-tunnel folk wear. Needless to say, the trip was amazing! It was a great time being away and with the people you love. Good food...good times...good laughs...and even more good food. It will definitely be a trip to remember!
After the Alaskan cruise, it was really back to reality here in Plano, Texas! Back to work for us!
These few weeks have seemed to fly by. From our arrival home to this past weekend, i gotta admit...nothing exceptionally exciting. At least nothing exciting enough to write in a blog.
Except for the huge tarantula that Ashley and Georgia found in our garage and fought to the death on. RIP Ashley. Just Kidding, but seriously...it was big..and i just saw the picture!
Now, the question might be asked: "Scott, where were you during this time of this feat?" Well, God ordained this time for me to be out of town, mainly because i know that He knew my reaction would be to go inside and double lock all entry ways into the house...leaving the girls out to fend for themselves. I don't do spiders. Well, spiders like that spider. However, for those of you who know me and my past, i am getting better at dealing with these animals. I'm growing up.

This past weekend, Ashley was out of town on a company lake trip. She had a blast! She came home sore after waterskiing in her "land" clothes! She's super crazy! I was so proud of her!
Our dogs have been a royal pain in the anus. For real! Mia, our punk-beagle, has managed to get out of our backyard 5 times in the past week! Luckily, she stuck close to the house. So, we'll obviously be fixing some holes this week.
Leo...well, you really can't go wrong with Leo. Except when he is licking lotion of your legs...but these past few weeks have been exceptionally difficult with Leo. You see, we bought a box fan for our room (we don't have ceiling fans yet...that's next month!). Leo loves the box fan, and wants to be where the box fan is blowing. So we tend to kick him off our bed about 6-8 times a night.
As you can see, the excitement of our lives is looming overhead! But there's fireworks on the horizon! Youth Group started back up last night...and you can bet that we'll have plenty of stories about that! We are also heading to Disneyland for Christmas with the Higley family! We're stoked on that! Can't wait to see you guys!
Until then, i hope you enjoyed this taste of our July-August months from Texas. We love and miss you all so much! More to come...keep checking back!
You may now return to the edge of your seats!
-Scott & Ashley

a serving full of purpose (part 1)

Camp 2008 is over...but man, what a great week!
Camp started on Tuesday and ended yesterday (Saturday) morning. The week was intense.
I gathered my group of 28 to make the two hour drive to Hawkins, Texas on Tuesday morning. We stopped at Sonic which really was a bad start considering the bathroom facilities at the campground.
We pulled onto the campground at 1pm and the 10 months of planning officially kicked off.
Being a camper, i always hated the first and last day of camp. The first day usually consisted of administration, rules and getting yourself acclimated...and the last day was always packing up, cleaning up, eating breakfast and then of course, the dreaded all-camp picture.
Being on other side of the spectrum, the camp leadership side, the first and last day of camp weren't so bad. Our check-in and check-out process' went smooth. The rules weren't so bad (in my opinion). There wasn't much trash to pick up and we had our stuff packed up quick! It was great. We had a great team of leadership in order, so it made it all go so smooth.

Being on the directing team for camp made it so much more intense. We were literally up from 6am until 1am. Everyday!
The days started off with a counselor/leadership prayer time. And what a way to begin each day! Waking up at 5:40am to get to a 6am prayer time after 4 hours of sleep does something to you. And plus, you have to fully rely on the grace of God to not rip out every campers right-lung when you are that tired.
This year, my arena was games and teams. I sit on a team of 5 that really don't have much creativity on the game aspect, so it fell into my hands. Not that i have any problem with this. I like games. Plus, i have an excuse to not play the nasty games because i was in charge of points and that would make it unfair.
Regardless, the games were a success. How do i know, you ask? Well, we had at least 3 visits to the nurse (some we're just the hypochondriacs, of course) during every game! They were tired, beat up and on the last night cheered because we didn't have a night game. Most might be offended at this. Not me. One, i don't get offended too easily, and two...i didn't want to play a game either. Everyone was exhausted. It was the last night of camp!
I used some of the time during the night rallies and morning seminars to prepare the game for the day. This put me in the back of the room during most of the sessions. And i have to say that this is the place i wouldn't have given up for anything.
I was able to watch each and every one of my students engaging in worship. Engaging with the words of the speaker. Engaging with the Creator.
I sat back and watched. Watched them raise their hands. Sing. Smile. Hug. Cry. Laugh. Talk. Sleep :). I sat in the back with tears in my eyes as i saw students experience God for the first time in months! I had conversations that i thought would never happen. I watched as 7 of my students from Collin Creek walked out of the back of the room to accept a call into some kind of full time ministry. I watched students give their life to Christ for the first time. I saw them fall to their knee's and say "i am no where close to where i need to be, but i want to be there. And i will work with everything in me and with the help of God i will get there." I felt a change in me to better myself for this amazing group that God has blessed me with.
How many of those are real and not just emotion? I don't know. How many of those will actually follow through with that? i don't know. But if one out of the hundreds of commitments made changes someone's world...than the months of planning, the lack of sleep, the time away from family...was all worth it. A purpose will have been served.

Camp is a mountaintop experience. It's so easy to raise your hands when everyone else is. It's so easy to say i believe, when you know you're being backed up. It's so easy to say this is going to be changed when they have access to nothing but trees, water and 150 other Christian teenagers. But when these students drop themselves back into the grind of friends, family, school, work...LIFE. When it comes down to actually following through with these camp commitments in their personal world...i pray they stand firm in the truth they know in their hearts.

This camp took so much out of me. I have never felt this kind of exhaustion. I have never felt this kind of physical ache. I am 300% beat. But i can say that beyond a shadow of a doubt that if it came down to it...i would do it again tomorrow for any of those students.
The Spirit was there. Barriers were broken. Lives were changed. And God was glorified. The planning process for Camp 2009 has already started. And i can't wait. But until then, i have my work cut out for me.
I don't want Camp 2008 to stay at Brookhaven Retreat Center. I want it to be fleshed out in everything we do.

This is all i have for now...i'll be back for more later.

Not sure...

July is here...but also, pretty much done with.
I figured out that i will be home a total of 9 nights in the entire month of July. Not that the things that i will be gone for are a bummer by any means, i just know how fast August is going to come.
Let's see...This past weekend we hit the road and went down to Galveston, Texas. It was an easy 5 hour drive! We met up with some good friends from college and really had a good time. We brought both dogs and they had a good time barking and being annoying along with the two dogs already in Galveston. But it was a good time watching them play and have fun.
Leo is a water dog. He swims every chance he gets. Mia is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.
For those of you who don't know much about Galveston, let me fill you in. It's an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Not sure how many people live there, or how big the island itself is. The only thing i do know is that the humidity is about 437% everyday of the year. So it's hot...and it was a holiday weekend so i think it is safe to say that about 90% of Texas was also in Galveston during that time.
We tried to hit McDonald's, but they actually stopped taking orders (all-together) in order to catch up with all the other orders taken before. There was a family that literally had 30 hashbrowns to go along with their 25 pancake breakfast's. Surely, once that order was filled they were bound to take orders. Nope....not a one. We left. That was strike two in my McDonald's book. The first one was getting rid of Wednesday night "Buy a Big Mac Meal and get another Big Mac for a penny." People are dumb sometimes.
Needless to say, we had a great time in Galveston. We surfed, we swam, we ate, we talked, we played games and we got to catch up with good friends. It was an awesome weekend.

Today is Monday. Tomorrow, i head to youth camp. I seriously have been counting down the days for this to finally be here, and it almost is. I have a list of about 35 things that i need to get done in the next 3 hours before i pick up the camp speaker, but i felt that if i wrote a bit, that would help clear my mind and get it organized a bit. Hasn't happened yet. Non-stop phone calls, reminders, emails, text messages and people make that hard, but hey...so is life.
I am excited about camp! I really am. We have been planning these next 5 days since November 1. And finally, the test of our preparation. Are we really as prepared as we think we are? Probably not. But hey, we won't know until we're in the middle of it. That's all part of the excitement, isn't it?

So i get back from camp for 4 days, and then jump on a plane to head to Seattle for the Stevenson Family Cruise. This, i cannot wait for! Family, fun and food. What else can there be? The big soda cup! More to come on this one....

Well...i need to jump back into reality and get some things done.

That's all i got for now...until next time--
You may now return to the edge of your seats.
-Scott

Diet Coke, Oil & WiFi

I am sitting in the lobby of the McKinney Toyota Dealership waiting on my oil change. Although i don't feel great about spending $60 on an oil change and tire rotation...i do get to enjoy unlimited Diet Coke and free internet. So i guess i will be okay.

We're starting a blog. We're not the first, and i know we're not the last...but we both thought it would be a good idea to be able to keep in touch this way too.

So...welcome to our blog...a glimpse into the lives of the Scott and Ashley Stevenson...enjoy the ride.

You may now return to the edge of your seat.
-Scott