School's OUT!!!!!!

well, it is finally the end of May and summer-time is here. for some, that means absolutely nothing. for others, that means moving on to a new school, going to college, starting a new job, the list could go on and on. however, for ben and janie, it means a few things. first of all, school is out for janie!!! YEA!!!!! no more getting up at 5:00 and leaving by 6:30 to get to school on time. instead, i am going to be working at christensen photographics, 9-5, monday through friday. it is my very first 9-5 job. well, sortof. when i lived in colorado, i worked at a church, and i was always there at 9 but i would usually leave before 5:00 because of hanging out with kids and going to meetings and stuff. SO, i will be the senior picture sales rep and i'm looking forward to it. i started this week after school hours, and for the first week, it will be pretty slow, but then, it's going to pick up quite a bit. i'm excited about getting to make others feel good about themselves and giving them some of the most important things for right now in their lives.
for ben, summer-time doesn't mean a whole lot more than the regular year. he will have 2 weeks off towards the end of june and beginning of july, so hopefully he'll get to work on his website, blogs, and the house a little bit. but, other than that, he'll still be truckin along at vip and leading worship at church. we've been so blessed recently by vip. ben has really enjoyed it and he has been home by 7:00 every night for the past month or month and a half, and he hasn't had to work hardly any saturdays!! praise the Lord for that. and thanks to all of you who prayed for us through his job and mine as well.
another thing that comes with summer is that many people go on vacation. this year, we're not going on a long vacation, but we are getting to go to see the braves play the red sox with both my parents and ben's dad and his girlfriend, meri! we're so excited about getting to see pop and meri and it's always fun to see a ball game! so, that will be our mini vacation this summer...but who knows. we might get to go somewhere over labor day! anyway, sorry i haven't posted in awhile. i have been really really busy (that's probably why people don't look at this too often) but i will try to do better this summer. i hope everyone is looking as forward to the summer as i am.

The Marathon is OVER!!!

well, i've been so busy this week i haven't been able to post anything. BUT i did want to tell you that i finished the marathon! YEA!!! i also BEAT my goal of 2:19! I finished in 2:16 actually and i really had a good time. Ben was there the entire time cheering me on (in training and at the finish line) and i feel that i have accomplished a life-long goal that i had. some of these pictures ben took and others are from the marathon people that you can buy them from. anyway, i had a good time and i am glad that it's over. ben and i have talked about doing a 5K in september together and i really hope that that happens. i think that it will! we'll keep you posted though!
this is the picture right before i took off...
 
and at the start line... 
in the middle of the race (not the best ever:))... 
and finally at the finish line with my amazing husband!...