Junior High Camp

Well this week was the most incredible experience of our ministry life so far.

Last summer we had camp, but as I have said before, I just did not put any heart into it (seeing as though our wedding was the same week and I had laryngitis- haha crazy time).

This year we dove head first into planning camp, praying for the students and preparing ourselves for what God was going to do- but I NEVER thought God would work in these students' lives as much as He did.

Some setbacks happened a few weeks before camp which discouraged us but we were determined to make this about the students and not dwell on things that were no longer in our control. There are several things we wanted to do differently but God had a different plan and I knew He was testing our trust in Him. I could feel Him saying "Will you trust me if I take this away? What about if you don't have this anymore? What if this happens?" and each step of the way Jeremiah and I said "Whatever happens, we can handle it with God."

We started off not thinking we would have enough kids signed up (we had to pay for a minimum of 100 kids- whether they signed up or not, that was our contract with the camp. As of 2 months ago we only had about 50 kids signed up- that was soo scary thinking we would lose that much money- we don't expect to make money off of camp but we definitely did not want to owe tons of money. The day we left for camp we took 119 people with us to camp! That was a miracle by God, we gave out many scholarships to kids that would not have been able to go and we even had to add another cabin of boys because so many students signed up. It was INCREDIBLE!

I got SUPER sick last week and was not able to help as much as I could, but I pushed through it and God really gave Jeremiah extra strength and energy to be able to take care of me and get camp in order. Miraculously, I was over my sickness the exact day we left for camp. God never ceases to amaze me.

The camp was amazing, students were eager to hear from God's Word, to make new friends and play some awesome games! Jeremiah, for the first time I believe in his time at PVC, really became the face of the jr. high ministry and he was so excited to feel and be seen as their pastor and not the worship leader or the helper. It was amazing to see him come full circle, grow in his confidence and really let God use him and to see the students embrace him.

Our students are going through some amazingly hard things in life, they were hungry for answers, questions about life, my small group of girls asked hours worth of questions about the Bible and questions about God- I was blown away by the questions and discussion we had and the other mentors said they had the same.

We had about 20 students raise their hand that they accepted Christ for the first time and a majority of the students took Pastor Greg's challenge on the last night to stand up and live their life for Christ. The whole camp was called Fl!P- all about flipping their lives from what the world teaches to what God teaches. I cried on the last night, watching the students tune in to Greg's message and really challenge themselves. I am so proud of our junior highers and our leaders.

Junior high ministry is one of the least rewarding in the sense that they usually take and take and take from what we give, and we rarely see thanks in return. This past week I was moved to tears in thinking that this is the exact ministry God has called Jeremiah and I to and that we are rewarded in seeing life change from the students and are encouraged that they are becoming prepared to go to high school. I am so thankful that we have people supporting us either through prayer or being apart of the junior high ministry. God has called some amazing volunteers to join us and we are so thankful for people who have a heart for junior highers- without them, we don't know where we would be!

We are home now, after Sunday at 12:30 we will get to settle down, have a date night and get ready for our vacation in a few weeks! This summer is going to be great!!

One Heck of Summer So Far

Well it's been 2 weeks since I graduated and it has been SO eventful (great and horrible at the same time).

After graduation, I knew I had 2 weeks of "free" time before jr. high camp madness, but I never expected those 2 weeks to be totally full from the start.

I had a day with Jeremiah, just to ourselves, and Tuesday was the most uneventful day of the 2 weeks. Wednesday I went back to the school I student taught at and helped with the talent show and whatnot and Thursday the madness began. Thursday I had a zillion things to do after graduation, thank you cards, organizing things around the house and Friday morning I got the best call ever... "Hello Mrs. Hann, I am calling to schedule an interview with you for Country Place Elementary School for the music teacher position."

I just about panicked and called Jeremiah and my family... haha didn't even have a job, but just an interview freaked me out! So I started looking up interview tips and questions and whatnot. Saturday was the Phoenix Children's Chorus alumni concert so I got to see some old friends and loved watching Jeremiah play bass.

Sunday came around and I got another phone call.. "Hello Mrs. Hawn (haha), this is the future principal for Littleton Elementary School and I would like to schedule an interview with you for the music teacher position at our school."
WHAT!?!? This was unreal!

I got super sick on Sunday but sucked it up on Monday for my interview, I felt very confident in the interview but there were 4 other people interviewing. I get a call on Tuesday evening "Hello Mrs. Hann, this is Mr. Matera from Country Place Elementary and I would like to recommend you for hire to Human Resources for the general music/choir position at Country Place." (I ALMOST SCREAMED!)

Well after much counsel, I decided to go on the second interview I had on Wednesday, got a call Wednesday evening saying "Hello, Mrs. Hann (she figured out how to say it correctly) I would like to recommend you for hire to HR for the music position at Littleton." OH GEEZ.

So long story short- I felt more pulled towards Country Place and their direction for the music program (while Littleton was a great, warm environment). I accepted the position at Country Place.

So this week amidst a great sickness (severe UTI and a viral infection in my stomach), I leave for camp on Monday, and a week from this Monday I go down to the Department of Education and get my teaching certificate and soon after go down to the district to sign my contract :)


I am soooooo nervous to actually be a teacher, alone, on my own- my OWN classroom. I already subscribed to a music teacher's magazine that I LOVE and have several things I want to get for my classroom. YAY my dream has finally come true and thinking about actually having a FULL TIME pay check is unreal!


thank you for all of your support, encouragement- next year will be but I know I have great people around me to help! :)

College Graduate!

Well the day came and went... college came and went and now I'm a college graduate. It hasn't really sunk in that school could officially be over for me. While I would love one day to get my Masters and maybe even Doctrine (I have big dreams haha), I also know that I could be done with schooling.

I am in a period of waiting right now. I am not nervous about it, anxious, upset... anything like that... I am relaxed, curious and kinda interested to see what God will do with an open plate. I have put my application, resume and whatnot into several districts, I get my certification within 2 weeks and then let God work in whatever area He wants me to be in. I pray that is full time teaching music somewhere.

Graduation was incredible, a very good ending to a long, great 4 years. During college I learned to be independent, I grew closer to my family, I met some of the most incredible people in my life, some of my best friends, made my relationship with Christ my OWN, dove into the Word, met my best friend of all times, married my best friend, got our own house, finished school, lived off of 1 salary for 6 months, taught 926 kids and learned most of their names, and now.... it's done.

I am so blessed and ready for the summer to recharge and spend time with people I have not spent time with in a long while!

Enjoy these pics from the day :)

Weigh in!

Well we didn't post our weigh in last week but in the past 2 weeks I have lost another...

3 Pounds!!

J has lost another 5.5 pounds!!!

So I am down almost 13 pounds

Jeremiah is down almost 17 pounds!!


HOW EXCITING! It is a slower process then I originally thought but worth it thinking by the end of the summer we could be at our goal weight as long as we stick to it!! :)

The eating is becoming so much easier (sometimes we cheat more often than we planned on- little snacks here and there)

We boosted up our work out with weights and cardio and today we did our workout class tonight and we OWNED that class! We didn't have to stop at all really ( and it was a new lady filling in and she was TOUGH)- 10 minutes of straight cardio and then 5 minutes of weights- no stopping.

I feel incredible, I have so much more energy and a great confidence about myself. I usually start something like this and don't make it longer than a week or so, but with Jeremiah pushing me, encouraging me and seeing results in himself, we are unstoppable!


Tonight is whole wheat chicken enchiladas for dinner- the recipe is great if you want (kind of a cheat night for us but we LOVE them and love that we don't waste calories anymore, we don't live to eat, we eat to live and it has changed our marriage and our friendship).

Thanks to everyone supporting us and those of you who have jumped on the band wagon and doing it along with us- GOOD LUCK!! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Question for you!

Well now that I have this summer to unwind a bit... (this year has been more than eventful- marriage, buying a house, last semester of school driving 90 miles a day, working at 3am, student teaching 40 hours a week with no pay, passing my AEPAs and as of next week- graduating). I have junior high camp in a few weeks, and our vacation in June. Other than that I am planning on teaching voice, looking for a teaching position and catching up on life!

My question to you is:

What do you do to relax, unwind, refuel... what fills you back up?? I'd love to hear your thoughts and encourage others to take that time! :)