Alone Time in the Mountians

Rick and I had a great weekend up at camp. We go there Friday evening and just hung around and I cooked dinner for my husband for the first time! I cooked pork chops in the skillet, green beans and canned yams. It wasn’t a lot but it still made me very nervous!
Saturday we got up, I cooked breakfast (still nervous) and we got ready to head up to the slopes. We made it up there, got our lift tickets, rented my board and Rick realized that he left his snowboard boots back at camp. We went back and got them and were on the slopes by 12:30. I went snowboarding last year and even though I fell – alot – it was still fun. This year was a different story. I got very frustrated with myself. I was having a difficult time with re-getting the hang of it. I fell a ton – falls that hurt, sprained my ankle couple times, twisted my knee, hit in the back with a tree, cracked my head . . .and that is just all of the big stuff. I made it down once, went to Starbucks and stayed there the rest of the day. I was so upset. I wasted our money and I wasn’t getting the hang of the sport that my husband enjoyed. After Rick was done snowboarding we meet up with some friends of Rick’s that live/work at Snowshoe. We went to a chocolate tasting and had Mikey work on Rick’s boots and bindings. Tracey and Mikey gave us free lift tickets and Mikey gave me a free rental on Ski’s, so we decided to come back on Sunday and I would try skiing to see if I liked that better. We didn’t get back to camp until 10pm. I was sore, my cold was getting worse and I was not looking forward to the next day.
Sunday we slept in, I made pancakes while Rick worked outside. Around noon we loaded up and headed back to the slopes. I clipped into the skies and away I went. It was so much easier than snowboarding. I understood how it all worked and I was able to control my movements better. I fell only a handful of times (I never go the hang of standing back up) and I was really liking it! My body was sore and my muscles were screaming at me to stop, but I stayed out there for about 1 ½ hours – 10 times down the bunny slope! :0 ) I can’t wait to go again – next time my muscles will be fresh and I will attempt going on a ‘big kid’ slopes. :0)
We spent the rest of the evening at camp. I took a much needed nap while Rick worked outside. We made a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The perfect ending to a great weekend . . . . . or so we thought. I had to go inside to blow my nose and I looked over at Spunkette’s cage and the door was hanging wide open and no Spunkette in the cage!!! I ran outside yelling for Rick to come it. We started hunting for her – but after we unset the mouse trap and looked around the burning hot furnace. We finally found her behind the couch and we trapped her and Rick scooped her up in to his safe arms. :0) I was feeling so upset that I had left the door open and it was my entire fault. But later on we were just sitting around and watching her go crazy with her chewing and saw her open the door with her body!! We both jumped up and ran for the door before she could get out again. Rick got a couple of zip ties and we had to close her door permanently. We have a very clever little girl on our hands! :0)
We packed up and cleaned camp and left early Monday morning. We were both sad that we had to leave so soon. It was such a relaxing time with just the two of us.

Spunkette

I haven’t blogged in awhile. It mainly has to do with, when I am at my parents – they have no internet. And then this week, I have no internet in my room because my computer has decided to reject it. So, I am sitting at Panera Bread.
Last week was a very long week. By Tuesday I was missing Rick so badly!!! I thought that I could do it – be away form him for just 5 days. I mean, we dating long-distance for 2 years!! It wasn’t supposed to be that hard. Wrong!!! I don’t ever want to do that again! (at least in the near future :0) )
My Dr. visit didn’t go as well as I had hoped. He needs to do a CT Scan but insurance has to pre-certify it and that can take up to two weeks!! And the Doc wouldn’t say anything that he thought until he sees the scan. So, I left there with no answers or hope for surgery. I was very bummed.
The rest of the week, I worked a little bit at the daycare. Because I have been ‘trained’ in every class room, I get to move around a lot and see all of ‘my’ kids. I love all of them SO much!!
Staying with my parents and siblings wasn’t that great. I hate there house and how cluttered and dirty it is. I am still not used to my mom working full-time. I want her to stay at home and take care of the house and cook real dinners. Just like it used to be. I feel like my brother is missing out on what our family used to be like and then way it should be. But at the same time, I know my mom enjoys her job and they need to extra money. So I guess I need to just grow up and get over it. :0)
Rebecca cut my hair last week. I was her first girl haircut! She took off at least 4 inches on the front and about 2-3 inches on the back. (I will post a pic soon) She did a really good job. But it wasn’t supposed to be this short. She still needs to work on her length judging! :0) I think that I am going to have her even up the back with the front next time I see her. It is going to be pretty handy having her around! Free haircuts from now on!!
Last week, I got all of my supplies that I needed for my new pet. And on Monday of this week, I went on a hamster hunt. I wanted to find the perfect hamster. So, I drove 60 miles around Richmond to 5 different stores! But I found her. She is a young hamster but not a baby. That means it will be easier to train her to like us and play with us. She is white and gray and her name is Spunkette Rover the third. Right now she is extremely skittish around us. But I am hoping it is just because she is in a new environment with new people. Rick seems to like her. He talk to her and is trying to let her get used to his scent. And the other morning as he was leaving for work, he walked over to her and told her bye. How sweet! :0) I am just slightly disappointed though. All she does during the daytime (the hours that Rick is at work) is sleep. And as soon as Rick gets home, she is awake and playing around. The whole point of me getting a hamster was because I was lonely during the day and needed a friend. Some friend! :0) I know that hamster are nocturnal, but all the other hamsters we had didn’t stick to that role as much as Spunkette.

Her new house

Checking out her jeep

Sleeping . . .always sleeping

Time

This weekend, Rick and I did a lot of traveling. We left Richmond on Friday, drove to Charleston, then rode with his parents up to New Cumberland, WV. I was in the car for a total of 10 hours. Not fun. We went up cause Rick's grandparents and his great-grandma live there.
Saturday was Rick's 27th birthday and his Great-Grandma's 104th birthday. We had a little party at the nursing home and Rick's Aunt Beth and her family drove over for the party.
We had a good and relaxing time up there, but today we had to drive (again!) back to Charleston because everyone has to go to work tomorrow.
Rick is going to Richmond alone this week. I have a Dr. appointment for my sinus problems. This will be the first time that we have been apart since the wedding. I know it will be ok. I mean, we dating long-distance for a little over 2 years. So I know that I can handle a week of being apart. I just don't really want to. Plus I am staying the week with my family. I hope that I have a good time with them all and not get too frustrated.
I have been researching what cage I want to buy for my hamster. There are some many out there! Always before when I had hamsters we just had an aquarium. But this time I want to get the fancier looking stuff. Plus it will be easier to travel with. I am supposed to be buying my hamster in 7 days! But if I decide to order his cage offline and if it doesn't come this week, then I have to wait for another 2 weeks! I will not be able to handle another week in Richmond without my Spunk Rover III.
Rick and I are trying to plan out our weekend trips. We don't have very many 'free' weekends until June! But it's ok, I like to go and be in different places. It means no routine. Which is fine by me.

Broken Heart

Last weekend, Rick and I went to the Campus Ministry Collegiate Conference in Gatlinburg TN. We went down early and saw my family. This was my third time attending and every year I come away with something deep to think and pray about. This year the speaker was someone I have heard speak multiple times, Mark Nelson. He is a great teacher and he has always made me think. He spoke on the four Moves of Nehemiah and covered the whole book. 1) a move to a broken heart (Chap 1-2) 2) the move to rebuild the wall (Chap 2-6) 3) a move back to God (Chap 7-9) and 4) the move to responsibility (Chap 9-13). On the first move, Mark showed a video that really had an impact on me.



As I watched it, I just realized how selfish and how focused on 'me' that I have become. I have forgotten that there are hurting and hungry people in the world. Mark was saying that Christians need to pray the prayer of 'Lord, break my heart for the things that break yours'. But don't pray that unless you really, truly mean it. Cause God will break your heart and you will be moved into action. I sat there and had tears in my eyes, cause I couldn't pray that. Not yet. I have been praying for God to change me and I am trying to let go of what control I think that I have in my life. But I am still struggling with letting go completely. I want to so bad . . . . . . but am scared.

This is my story

I wrote this essay for a school assignment my freshman year at Johnson Bible College. I have changed and updated a few things in it but it is my life story. It gives background to how I became the person that I am today.

My name is Julia Lynne (Ronk) Petry. I was born in Knoxville, TN on October 25, 1986. My parents are Paul and Rachel Ronk. When I was 11 months old, my parents and I moved to Haiti to be missionaries. My parents had a heart for the Haitian people and tried to teach them agriculture and about the word of God. Over a course of 11 years my family helped start 6 churches and a school with over 400 students.
Also in the 11 years we had three more additions to the family. Sarah is 20 years old and is married to Joe and they live in TN finishing up their college education. Rebecca is 18 and is in Cosmetology College. My brother, Jacob, is 14 and in junior high.
When it was time for me to start school, the only 2 options were to send me to boarding school 20 hours away , or to home school me. They decided they wanted me to stay home and be involved with the family and the mission. When I was 9 years old, on March 24, I recognized that I was sinner in need of Christ’s forgiveness. I had all of my Haitian family around me to encourage and celebrate with me.
When I was almost 11 years old, my dad had a nervous breakdown and needed to be hospitalized. I was forced to grow up fast when it all happened. I was put in charge of taking care of my sisters and brother, when my mother was trying to care for my dad and the mission. In a matter of less than 2 years, my dad was put in the hospital 2 other times for his depression.
In 1999, we had to resign from the mission, because my dad could no longer handle it. We moved to Beloit, Wisconsin. We did not know anyone in Wisconsin, but my parents believed that this was what God wanted of us. My dad went through 3 jobs in a year, before he was hired on at the electric company as a meter reader. We were finally able to by a nice little hobby farm and settle down.
When we moved back to the United states, my parents gave us the choice to either go to real school or remain home schooled. We decided that we wanted to remain home schooled. I did go to a co-op and took some classes that were taught by other home school moms or dads. My mother was a stay at home mom and wife, and sold Home & Garden Party products on the side.
I had a hard time adjusting to the American way of life. I have the best childhood experiences of growing up in a different culture and would never wish any other thing but for a long time I was hurt that God would make me go through all this pain when we were only trying to spread His message. I started to take it out on the Haitians and my whole upbringing. I never spoke the language with my family and I hated it when they would start talking about “Remember when we did this is Haiti..”. I tried my hardest to forget my childhood, when my parents tried to keep it alive for us. It has taken me almost 5 years get over my hurt. Now I get excited when my family starts talking about Haiti and the different experiences they had. I have forgotten a lot of my childhood memories and now I cherish what my parents are able to tell me .I still sometimes struggle with my painful past , but know that God will help me through. I am anxious to see where God will lead me in the future.
I have taken a missions trip every year of high school. My freshman year my family and I went back to Haiti for a month long visit. It was a little different going back, because I had become so American and was not the same little girl that the Haitians remembered. I saw things through adult eyes and understood more of what my parents went through while we lived there. While we were in Haiti, I helped paint school rooms, visited and encouraged different churches, visited the elderly and the sick, and helped with a childrens program.
The spring of my sophomore year, my sister and I went on a singing tour with the Continental Singers. We performed about 50 times and traveled in many different states out west. We also went to Canada for a couple of our performances. Our group had the unique opportunity of performing in a juvenile detention center for rapist and murderers. That was our best performance and we had over 40 of the kids accept Christ. We were not able to go and personal pray with them, but to this day, I still pray for them all.
My junior year I went with my youth group and we did outreach activities in St. Louis. We served dinner to the homeless, had lunch with the seniors of the community, helped with many different childrens activities and had a snow cone out reach.
For my senior year I was not sure if going on trip was really what God wanted me to do, or if it was my desires. An opportunity came up in m y church to go over to Ukraine and help a missionary give out Christmas gifts to orphans. I prayed and God kept opening doors and provide all of the funds and on December 26, I flew to Ukraine. I had never been to another country where I did not know the language or the culture. It was a huge growing experience, and I will never regret going. I helped make Christmas for over 300 orphans in one area. I hope to return one day and help more with the orphanages.
In 2005, I started to attended Johnson Bible College under the Teaching English as a Second Language program. I lived with my aunt and uncle off campus and started to bloom into the person that God meant for me to be. The fall of 2005, my family moved from WI down to family property in Alum Creek, WV. That was a huge adjustment for all of us. We knew nobody and had no friends. But soon my family became really involved at Kingsway Christian Church in Nitro WV.
In the fall of 2006, I met this really annoying guy from my parents church and we started to talk and e-mail. By Thanksgiving we were dating with the possible intent of marriage in the future.
In the fall of 2007, I decied to change my major to Chilrens Ministry/Preschool Daycare Director. I feel like God has giving me gift with working with kids and I want to make that my career.
On August 23, 2008 I became engaged to my first and only boyfriend. I love Rick with all my heart and wanted to serve God beside him for the rest of my life. I went back to JBC for my last semster of living at campus.
On January 31, 2009 I became Mrs. Rick Petry. Today marks our first month anniversay and I have never been happier.

This has been my life. I can not wait and see what God has in store for me and my marriage in the future.