little bits of my life

New Year, New Education

2008-02-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

As of December '07 I was an offical graduate of UOP with a BA in Human Service Management. I am still substitute teaching, I can not believe it has been over a year now since I started.
And now crazy me I just started my Masters in Education! I am excited and at the same time proud of myself, I am the first in my family, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles to have a degree. To me it is new start for my family.
Okay now about my wonderful husband and kids. We are celebrating 10 years marrage this Valentines Day. Craig is working still as a sheet metal worker, but he also is an instructor for the JATC ( which is the apprenticeship program he graduated from).
Brian is 14 now and in 8th grade! He is doing Nevada Virtual Academy and doing well with it. Loves team roping, riding his horse, competing in Brazian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.
Brianna is 8 and in the 3rd grade. She love riding her bike, loves school, her friends and she too takes Brazian Jiu Jitsu.
Hope you all are having a good New Year.
oh and if you are reading this, I am still a bad speller!

pictures

2007-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Check out www.nicki73.mulitpy.com

Apex

2007-07-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last hour reading and watching blogs that belong to friends and people I have not seen in a long time. Mostly people who are still on the adventure that started 10 years ago, a small group of age 20ish, talented and totally awesome group of people. I love the slide show Greg put together, if you get a chance read his blog and view the pictures. I guess God has put Apex on my heart alot lately, I really miss the close community. And now that my good friend Samantha is back it feels like old times, we might have to come visit Apex next month and hangout.
Not much new with the von Collenberg family, Craig is still in the sheet metal union as a journeyman and teaches one night a week at the apprenticeship. He does the teaching of math at home with the kids (so not my thing). I am finishing my BA in December, then on to my masters. Brian is team roping, diving and just being a normal teenage boy, oh and loving being home schooled (who would have thought he would like it so much?). Brianna is enjoying her friends, and so happy Summer is back to live in Vegas!
We are still attending Canyon Ridge, we left for a year to be with Travis Fox and The Core church. But came back to Canyon Ridge when he did. We miss the small church community and are praying about a house church. I think we are going to start something with Samantha St. Ours and family. For now we are just praying about it.

Princess Brianna

2007-04-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Floyd Lamb State Park, we fished and rode in a horse buggy. Brianna pretended to be princess and waved to the people as we passed. It was fun! I so cherrish these moments, my kids are growning up way to fast! Brian was with us but he was to busy for pictures.

Fall

2006-10-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

I really love this time of year. I have to say it is my favorite. I weather is not to cold yet and not too hot. But I especially love the rain this time of year. It is refreshing, almost like it washes my soul clean. For some reason I feel inspired by it, like I could conquer anything that come along. When it rains I feel energize, like I could clean my house, write a book or blog ( which I seem to do everytime it rains lately). I feel so alive when it rains, like my true feelings for everything are enhanced 10 times. I think I will just sit looking out my window for now and read my bible. Then I will go clean.

The Rain

2006-10-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

I love the rain! Especially today, I have enjoyed listening to it and Brian's baseball game will be canceled because of it. Which is good news since I have school tonight and Craig gets up at 3am for work. I am so glad it only rains a few days out of the year in Vegas.
All is well with the von Collenberg family these days. Both kids love school this year and have good grades. Craig loves his job and I have only 10 months until I finish my BA. We are still attending The Core and love it. We are praying about moving or not moving, our lease is up the end of Nov. and we really would rather buy then rent again. We just know that God is in control over that one. Maybe He will open the door for us to move out of state, that would be great. Only in His time, only in His hands.

maranatha prophecy

2006-08-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is worth listening to http://calvarychapelcostamesa.com/maranathaprophecy/

Harvest Crusades

2006-07-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

Craig and I plan on checking this out, if anyone wants to join us let us know. It looks like a good time. We might even spend the day in disneyland without kids, how fun!

feelings

2006-07-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my niece and nephew in New Mexico, they are so cute!
They are my step brother children.

I was talking about Apex with a friend of mine today and for some reason I have had a feeling of sadness ever since. It was even worst when I decided to read my friends blogs who have moved away. I know we all move on with our lives and sometimes that means moving away. I think my daughter might have really started the sadness when she started talking about her dear friend Summer and how much she misses her.
I did get to witness Brianna and Eliza pick up with their friendship just like they had only been apart for a few weeks. It is so awesome to see them growing together, and Eliza even though she is older is shorter. ( Just a little humor to lighten my sadness)
To all my friends that have moved away, I miss you and love you. ( And you know who you are!)

new church

2006-06-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks our family has attended a new small church. We meet at The Crossing at 6:06 pm and only have 25 members, which includes the worship band, the pastors and congration. We love it! God shows up everytime! We have been seeking a new church since we left Apex and have been to 3 including Canyon Ridge. It was so awesome how we found out about The Core. We were running late but really wanted to attend a service at Canyon Ridge, which we had not been to for almost one year. We ran into Travis Fox while checking in Brianna to her class. That is when he told us about The Core, Travis was a part of our house church when he first moved here. And had told us about his dream of the kind of church he always wanted to be a part of. And now he is lead Pastor of The Core. Starting in July there will be a family service were kids are included in everything, even though our kids sit with us now, it should be even more exciting for them. Check out the website: www.thcorelv.com

My Mom Cont.

2006-05-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

So my Mom found out today that she is cancer free! Praise God! It was so hard not to cry in front of her, she has been though so much the last year. I felt I needed to be strong for her, but really I felt like crying. ( I am crying now too) But I also wanted to yell at the top of my voice and scream how awesome God is. ( We were at Brian's baseball game tonight when she told me) So to all my friends who have prayed for her, I thank you. And God I give you all the glory and thank yo for taking all my worry.
- On another note, I saw my good friend Michelle Hunt today. I feel bad about having to cancel dinner plans Tuesday night, but God wanted to make sure we ran into each other. It was good to chat for a minute and can't wait to hang out again and get caught up. Love ya!

My Mom

2006-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

My mom had a few scans done this last week to see if the chemo and radiation got rid of the breast cancer. And the radiologist said they look negitive. She does have to see her specialist to be for sure and make sure no damage was done to her organs. Praise God he is so Awesome! She is excited and doing good, she has most of her energy back and even was able to walk the outlet mall with the kids and I on Friday.
It is so scary everytime I think about losing my mom, we are so close. We took a meal to the Clark family Friday night, and just seeing their pain and sadness. Made me think more about losing anyone in my family. I feel so blessed that my family knows Jesus.

Old and young friends

2006-05-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great time visiting with Jules when she came to Vegas. Baby Caleb is so cute and sweet. Brianna and I couldn't get enough of him! It is so awesome to hear how God is working in Jules and Steves lives. Go Jesus Go! Steve should be home be now, so enjoy your time together, you sure make a beautiful family. Hugs and Kisses Col family from the von Collenberg family.

Spring

2006-04-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

I love spring time, the weather is perfect and the flowers are beautiful. But everyone in my family has allergies and 3 of us have asthma. That doesn't make for much fun outside.
My mom is done with her radiation, she has some tests to take and then off to Chicago to go over them with her Doctor there. We are praying for good news, and her hair is long enough for Brian to spike for her. So she keeps asking him to come over and do her hair. Thank you friends who have been praying for her.
We got a cocker spaniel puppy ( lady) 5 weeks ago and it died 1 week later from distemper. Horrible experience, still trying to get the store to pay their part of the vet bill. They replaced the puppy with another ( daisy)but it is not the same, we love the new puppy, but sometimes the kids get sad and miss lady( the first puppy). We still have our husky and she has been good with both puppies. I am just so glad she didn't get sick, sometimes I think she is my third child she is so spoiled.
Please pray for my sister, she goes back to court on the 4th of May and is trying to get full custody of her kids back. She was clean one year on Easter and we went to church together and had dinner with them. She is doing good, God is so awesome!
Peace and Blessings to all of you our friends,
the von Collenbergs

time flies

2006-02-23T23:01:00.000-08:00

wow time flies, I am on the computer everyday doing homework and reading from my online books and always forget to blog, even when I read everyone elses blogs.
So life is like a run away horse and I am just along for the ride these days. Everyone is great, Craig and I just had an aniversary, Brian turned 12 in Jan. Both kids are doing good in school. I have an interview with the school district to sub teach next week. I am still in school and have about 1 year left for my BA, then on to my MA in educational counseling. Some days I feel like school will never end. Craig is now a foreman at work and they are talking about making him a General Foreman on their next big job. Brianna is doing good and is getting ready to lost her 6th tooth.
Pray for my mom Kitty she is half way through her radiation for breast cancer and is very tired, even more so than she was with her chemo. But we are praying it will bring her closer in her walk with the Lord.

Amy don't feel bad about the olympics they are on too late for me to stay up and watch. And Brianna wants to know if Eliza got her message yesterday, she wants to talk to her.

Rock climbing

2005-12-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days we just had to stay away from the house. Too many people in one house can make a person crazy. We took Brianna and Brian rock climbing today. Brianna only made it 1/4 of the way up and then got scared. But she had fun. Even my kids are counting down the days until we move.

Packing

2005-12-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

I don't understand how we have so much crap, and the sad thing is we have a 5X10 storage unit full of more crap. I hate packing, it makes you realize how much crap you have. At least I only have to pack it and not move it, but then I have to unpack it too. Yuck. Ladies add that on your list of what Men are good for.

All I want for Christmas...

2005-12-03T21:58:00.001-08:00

is my two front teeth. Brianna lost her fourth tooth today. Which means the two top teeth are out and she will not stop singing. It is so cute! Right now I can't get the picture to attach, I will attempt it again tomorrow. And I am sorry Carder family if my kids call and bug you but they can't wait to see you all!

Sleep anywhere?

2005-12-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

You know your tired when you can sleep on top of a table.

We were having biblestudy a few weeks ago and I walked outside to see how the little kids where and there was Brian asleep on the kids table.

Brian says " I was tired that day!!"

Oh well it was cute and it gave me a good laugh.

cookie dough

2005-11-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

I am reading everyones bloggs and decided I wanted to eat cookie dough. Can you really get sick off raw cookie dough? My mom always said so growing up. I am so excited that my favorite cookies, oatmeal-chocolate chip comes ready to slice and bake. Or for tonight just slice and eat.
Everyone in the von Collenberg family is doing good. Public middle school is somewhat of a struggle for Brian, but he loves his gutar class and can watch someone play and pick it up. Amazing! Brianna is doing good in 1st grade in private school, she lost her front tooth a little bit ago and now the other one is loose. She is already singing "All I want for Christmas is my two from teeth." I am so looking forward to having 3 weeks off of school for me! I am looking forward to spending time with the kids while they are out of school too for Chistmas break, or Winter break for public school, even though Brianna's Christian private school also calls it Winter break, whats up with that. Craig is working lots of over time, 10 hour days and weekends. Which is good for our bank account but sucks for our family time.
My mom is doing good, just two more Chemo treatments in Dec. and she is done, then she starts radiation in Feb. She has not gotten sick once but is tired alot.
Well that is a pretty good update. I promise to try to write more for those of you who read this, I am on the computer everyday but always forget.
Off to the fridge for more cookie dough.

Back in the blog mode again

2004-11-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yes I am putting all my past blogging problems away and starting fresh.
So it had been so long since I blogged that I couldn't remember my password. So I am starting with a fresh new blog. This blog with not contain anything that will offend anyone. So if you were offended by my last blog, sorry. I just will have to keep my mouth shut on this one.