Fun LONG Weekend

Yes I am blogging in the middle of a MONDAY, because I don't have school today! Yay Colombus!

We have had a fun weekend! Friday night, we went to the Creek vs. Woods game. I will not say much further. It was our first loss this season and I was wet and cold. But fun for us to sit with my teacher-friends! (Friday was also my dad's 55th birthday!! Celebrating tonight!)

Saturday morning, I slept in and we headed up to Montgomery for a senior portrait shoot of the lovely Kristen Bean. Wow. She may be the most beautiful girl ever. She was so easy to shoot! There really wasn't a bad photo!! After her shoot was finished, two of her volleyball teammates came over for a mini-shoot. All in all, it was a three hour shoot with two total hours of travel - WHEW! But what a fun day!

Sunday morning, we went to the 2nd service at COF (which was awesome, as usual) and then headed over to my parents' house for lunch. Kristen was there with Andrew, and Natalie's mom was in town so she came too! We missed Jonathan though :( That evening, we headed up to the Woodlands for "Sunday P.M." at Woodlands Church. We got to hear our good friend, Jimmy Needham, sing and then headed to dinner with another great friend, Justin Keller. PF Changs was delicious, but the three hour conversation was even better! We are blessed to have a friend like Justin who believes in us so much! How wonderful to spend an evening speaking encouragement into each others' lives!

Today, (my day off!!), I slept in till NINE and decided to go for a run. I went FIVE WHOLE MILES without stopping!! Oh. Wow. I know that's not even 1/2 of what I signed up for in the half-marathon in Austin this coming February. Holy Moly. BUT, I am VERY proud of myself! Doing some laundry right now, and later, we'll be heading to my parents' for my dad's birthday dinner!

FUN WEEKEND!

We're back! (Let's see how long this lasts!)

Howdy!

After a long hiatus, we have lots and lots of news... NONE of which include pregnancy (sorry if that's weird - it's just been a popular question lately!!)

I haven't blogged since our 2 year anniversary in May - so let me fill you in on our crazy summer and where we are now!! Warning - this will be in list-form - just because.


Ellen:

- finished going to night/weekend school and got my alternative teaching certification and signed on to work at Cy-Creek High School (where I went to school!) to teach A.A.S. (Advanced Academic Strategies - basically, study skills - a required elective for freshmen). I am LOVING teaching!! I am literally doing student ministry in a public school setting. Unbelievable. I am so grateful for the opportunity!

- just chopped all my hair off - this is now the shortest my hair has ever been! Brave, but fun!

- my dad just taught me the mandolin (BEAUTIFUL instrument!) for me to play at a bluegrass gig last night with him - so fun!!

- I am missing singing, but will be trying to fit more of it into my schedule.


Randy:
- Monologue Culture - Randy is still working hard on the development of MC! We just had our 1 year anniversary a few weeks ago! For our second year, we have moved to focusing on being a web-resource. Check out the new site, http://monologueculture.com.

- Randy Olive Photography - is actually developing quite nicely!! This is a HUGE passion of ours and a huge prayer being answered! So far, we already have TWO weddings booked for this spring and LOTS of family shoots and senior portrait shoots on the calendar!! SOOOO fun!! Check out THIS new site too! http://randyolive.com

- Mission Centers of Houston - Randy is still working part-time for MCH 2 days a week and is loving it. Please pray for this amazing non-profit missions organization who is REALLY struggling financially right now. They do TOO much good work for God's kindgom and for their community for them to have to close down - PLEASE pray or even send money or food or clothes!!

- Randy has also been doing quite a lot of contract design work as well! (busy man!) He has been doing a lot of T-shirt design work. He is such a wonderful artist - he's getting to use his talents and actually get paid for it! Thank You, God!

- Randy has become a gourmet chef around the Olive home - not that he wasn't before, but, man, he is good - and I love him for it!! YUMMMMM!!

- Randy looks amazing as well :) He has lost 25 pounds since January and is totally embracing health! So this part could actually be in the next section about the both of us :) because you all know how much I love being healthy... seriously - it is a passion of mine!


Ellen and Randy (TOGETHER) -
- This summer, we had the opportunity to work at THREE student camps!! (If you know us, then you know we are ALLLLL about camp!!)

(1) Randy had the honor of being the camp speaker for Faithbridge J-High camp at Carolina Creek for a week - I may be partial, but he was AWESOME!! And the kids thought he hung the moon!

(2) Next, we volunteered at Champion Forest High School Beach Camp as co-team-leaders! Go team GORILLA MONSOON!! It was a fabulous week in Panama City Beach, FL and brought back many memories as we both (separately) had attended that camp as teenagers. Randy was also the room leader for Andrew (my little bro) and all of his buddies... SCARY!! Who trusted THAT situation?!?!? :)

(3) Lastly, we both went as chaperons with some good family friends as an individual group at Discovery Camp (GO TEAM AWESOME... yes - seriously our team name we chose for ourselves!!). It was a great experience and very cool for us to connect with our smaller group of kids!

- We have our first NEPHEW!! Jaxon Olive was born on July 30 to Jesse and Jeneen Olive (Randy's older brother). Randy got to do his newborn shoot - he is just the most precious thing! I haven't gotten to meet him yet, but I love him already!! Yay for being and aunt and uncle!!

- ALSO, together, we have decided to run a half-marathon this coming Valentine's Day in Austin, TX!! A new fitness goal for both of us!!


Hopefully, I will blog more often, so I won't keep having to write novels on here! Happy weekend!

TWO YEARS!!!

And now the BEST blog of today (I wanted this to have its own entry)...

Today is our 2 year anniversary!! On one hand, it feels like just yesterday (I can vividly recall EVERY single detail of my dream wedding!), and on the other, we have experienced so much life and love these past two years!!

- perfect wedding
- fun honeymoon to Cancun (want to go back!)
- moving into our tiny, one bedroom/one bathroom, 3rd floor apartment
- family cruise for Ma and Pa's 50th wedding anniversary
- starting my senior year at A&M
- meeting our Cypress Family (Blake and Robin Jackson, Justin and Natalie Kirtley)
- first married Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, birthdays, etc.
- buying our first HOUSE together!
- directing the most amazing summer camp ever
- GRADUATING from A&M!!!!
- resigning from our perfectly comfortable and secure jobs as youth pastors...
- starting a new ministry that God called us to and gave us clear vision for (Monologue Culture)
- visiting NYC during Christmas to celebrate our first and second anniversaries (I know, ann. is in May! Oh well...)
- Randy working part-time for Mission Centers of Houston - and growing in his graphic design
- Randy Olive Photography really taking off
- Ellen subbing / starting teacher certification program

I KNOW I am missing things, but see what an adventure God has given us to share?!? I LOVE IT!!

What an adventure! I am so thankful that God chose Randy for me - I have learned so much from him and from marriage!

(Now to answer everyone's favorite question... kids??? If we end up sticking to our plan, then this time next year (after our 3 year anniversary), we'll start trying. As much as we are looking forward to growing our family, we are in no rush! We are really cherishing this time we have together to grow individually and as husband and wife!)

Dedicated to Mark Shook :)

I had a SPECIFIC request to update my blog from the one and only, Mark Shook. So here you go, Mark. :)

Hmmm - lots of updates (no pics yet).

Our photography (www.randyolive.com) is really taking off and we are LOVING it!! We just made a HUGE upgrade for our website - which should be launching any day now!! Keep your eye out! (and pass our name around!)

Randy is hard at work with Monologue Culture and with the Mission Centers of Houston. He is also going to be the camp pastor this summer for Faithbridge J-High Camp!! We are ALL about camp, so this is a huge honor AND it's fun!! So he's also busy planning out his messages for that week.

I (Ellen) started substitute teaching right before the rodeo started and about five weeks ago got into a long-term assignment at Cypress Creek (where I went to high school!!) teaching Freshman English. I NEVER thought I would be back at Creek, but I love it! My team is awesome and they're a huge help! Through subbing, I decided that it would be a wise decision for me to get my alternative teaching certificate, so I started a summer program and will be certified June 30th!! It looks like I will be teaching full-time this fall at Creek! Seriously cannot believe it. God has provided hugely in this new area of our lives. I will receive a full-time salary, get to invest into students' lives, AND still get to pursue ministry, M.C., and photography with Randy AND my music in the summers!! It all makes sense now why God would nudge me towards this career move.

If you're following my family's health journey, we are all doing great!! We have lost over 150 pounds!! My mom is the biggest loser - having lost 40 pounds since January!!! We're not even half way there yet; I can't wait to see our results by the end of this year!! AND to celebrate with everyone in COLORADO!!!

Hope everyone (aka. Mark Shook) feels adequately updated now. Love you all!

Lucky

I am so lucky to have Randy. He truly is my best friend. I love this song - I think it was REALLY written for me and Randy :)


"Lucky" - Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat

Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

our lives lately...

Well, March in Houston, TX means it's Rodeo time! Randy and I are working at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at Sills Funnel Cakes making thousands of funnel cakes.

The rodeo lasts for three weeks and tomorrow starts the third week (we're almost done!). The Sills are a great family who I grew up with - I actually used to work the booth when I was in high school. Let me tell you, it is exhausting. Randy and I usually work anywhere from a 7-12 hour shift and when we finally get home, we smell sooooo bad and have batter and powdered sugar all over ourselves. 1st stop: laundry room, then: shower, last: bed. We need the money and we're also greatly helping out the Sills family - so it's a win-win!

If you're going to the rodeo this week, PLEASE stop by! We're in the big, white food tent in between the dome and the reliant center (livestock show). After this week, our lives will be back to normal! (haha - like we are ever normal.)

Ellen and Randy

♥ What are your middle names? Lynette and Leland

♥ How long have you been together? 5 years this summer (married 2 years in May)

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? a few months.

♥ Who asked who out? Randy asked me out - AFTER I told him I was very attracted to him :)

♥ How old are each of you? I am 23, Randy is 26 (will be 27 in 2 weeks!)

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? Mine (because of location)

♥ Do you have any children together? not yet - but in a few years! When it's the right time, I know that journey will be so fun!

♥ What about pets? none - although Randy would really like a dog. No thank you.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Time - Randy does NOT like to be late anywhere!

♥ Did you go to the same school? No

♥ Are you from the same home town? No... I grew up in Cypress, TX and Randy in Jonesboro, GA

♥ Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. Book smart - me. I edit everything Randy writes. Technology / mechanical - Randy!

♥ Who is more sensitive? Surprisingly, me

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? We don't eat out all that often, but Chipotle, Chilis, Chick-fil-a, (see a "ch" theme! ha!), and our favorite place is Escalantes!

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? New York City and the Caribbean!

♥ Who has the craziest exes? Neither - but Randy knows all my exes (they're cool with each other) and they like to give me a hard time and make me feel awkward!

♥ Who has the worse temper? Both, but Randy

♥ Who does the cooking? RANDY!! lucky for me, Randy really is like a gourmet chef!! and he LOVES to cook!

♥ Who is more social? Both, but probably Randy

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Um - unfortunately, neither of us! BUT when I do clean, I clean to perfection.

♥ Who is more stubborn? both, but probably me!

♥ Who hogs the bed? We're pretty good, but I'd say Randy

♥ Who wakes up earlier? On weekdays: Randy; on weekends: me

♥ Where was your first date? lunch date: Jason's Delil dinner date: Chilis in College Station

♥ Who has the bigger family? I have a bigger extended family, but Randy has a HUGE immediate family!

♥ Do you get flowers often? No

♥ How do you spend the holidays? Mostly with my family (because we live in Texas), but every once in a while we fly out to Georgia

♥ Who is more jealous? Neither of us

♥ How long did it take to get serious? After only a few months of dating, I definitely knew I would marry him!

♥ Who eats more? Used to: Randy, but since the "diet," I'd say me! I eat a lot of little things all throughout the day

♥ Who does/ did the laundry? We are bad at this, but I do all the laundry, and he puts away his own clean laundry

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Randy DEFINITELY!