hagerfam

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

2010-12-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

It's official, I am a terrible blogger. So here are the pictures I promised almost two months ago. You probably forgot I even said I would post these, but these are from our 5-year anniversary trip to New England. We flew into New York and drove up the coast to Maine, then back down through the mountains. Here are the coast pictures. And yes, this trip was months ago :)

Any Julia Roberts fans? This was the Mystic Pizza from her very first movie.

The very first Baptist Church in America

Oldest library in America

The towns there were so cute and each had some sort of big fall contest or theme. This town had the biggest pumpkins you have ever seen all up and down main street. We should have stood next to these to show the size, but trust me, they are BIG!

ahh, pretty.

Our splurge of the trip was spending two night at this amazing bed and breakfast in Maine! This was the view of the harbor from our porch.

More views from the bed and breakfast. This was totally the highlight of the trip!

We figured there should be at least one pic of us...

We also made a point to visit a bunch of Ivy League schools while we were there. Georgeous!

Northeast Pics!

2010-10-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok so our vacation to New England was amazing! We went to so many cool towns, it's going to take more than one post to show you guys everything! I'll start with some great fall foliage pics from the few days we spent driving through the mountains. It was so peaceful and beautiful!

This church in a tiny mountain town was just picture perfect!

There were tons of cute covered bridges.

This sign points to the home that was the inspiration for the movie "The Sound Of Music". It is even still owned by the Trapp family. I guess I could have posted a picture of the actual home, but these trees are just so pretty!

It was so pretty there, the pictures just don't do it justice! We also spent a lot of time on the coast, I'll post some of those pics soon!

VACATION!!!!

2010-10-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

So we haven't really been able to celebrate our anniversary for the past few years, it just has always fallen on a bad week where we were either moving or at a conference or something. So we have been saving up to take a 5-year anniversary trip to make up for it! We are leaving tomorrow and will spend the next 10 days driving along the coast of maine, then taking in the awesome fall leaves throughout the countryside. We are so excited!!! I'll be sure to post pics of the trip soon!

Recipes anyone?

2010-10-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm not really used to cooking for large groups, but for the church plant we have started meeting on sunday nights in our home and eating together. I am on the hunt for recipes that are easy, inexpensive, feed lots of people, healthy, and still taste good. Luckily a few friends in Austin hooked me up with some awesome recipes (and a kitchen aid mixer- I know, ah-mazing!) to help us out with this. I would love to keep building up my recipe collection, anyone have anything good???

Blog Remodel!

2010-10-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's white. And simple. And not finished, but almost. :)

Finally!!!

2010-09-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I have been completely MIA these past few weeks. You will be happy to hear that we are finally moved into our new house in Norman OK, and that we finally have our internet hooked up again!!! I promise to be better about posting now that we are getting settled. Pics of the new place to come soon!

And to all our friends in Austin, we miss you all already!

For Sale!

2010-08-24T14:15:00.001-07:00

Anyone want to buy a super cute couch, oversized chair, and ottoman? We love it, but are wanting to buy a larger sectional couch from a friend that will fit more people, since once we move we will need a lot of additional seating as we begin the Church Planting process! Asking $500 for the set or best offer! :)

Winston's new "bed"

2010-06-04T20:07:00.001-07:00

So Winston's new favorite thing is to relax for hours inside of Jeremy's gym bag. Yep, right on top of his gym shoes and sweaty t-shirts! We did nothing to give him this idea, he just started doing it. He doesn't want to lay down anywhere else!

This is his bed, the soft comfy blue mat. He will literally walk right around it and go straight for the smelly gym bag!

So close!

2010-05-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

Wow, you guys think I'm really daring! :) Those of you who guessed tattoo were close, my sister and sister-in-law both got tattoo's, but I settled for a cute little stud on my nose instead! I've been wanting to get it pierced for forever, but have been way too scared of the needle! So glad I finally did it! I wish we had taken a pic of all three of us after. Oh well- here's one of my newly pierced nose anyway!

Guess what I did in California...

2010-05-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

No seriously, guess!!

I am on my way back from spending the week with my family in California. Both of my sisters were there, along with me and Jeremy and my brother and his family. It's the first time since 1994 that all four of us siblings have been together! Crazy, I know. So of course we had to do something memorable. Leave a comment with your best guess, I'll post a pic with the answer soon!

Happy guessing!

Gosh it's been a while!

2010-04-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Ok ok, I know. I've completely slacked off on the Hager Fam blog! Here's a quick update on what we have been up to. Well, more like things we would love prayer for!

First, Church planting!!! August is getting closer and closer, and we still have a lot to do to get ready! We are about to start the exciting process of fundraising, please pray for us in this!!!

Second, my sweet grandpa passed away the other week. He lived a long life of 87 years, but came down with pneumonia and his body just couldn't fight it off. The very same night, my dog Rusty also passed away from a tumor. She was 16 years old- my family got her from the pound when I was in middle school- so she lived a long full life as well. Needless to say, it was a very sad week. We will be traveling out to California next week for a memorial for my grandpa and to spend time with family.

And last, on a more positive note, we have found a new fertility specialist that is helping us get to the bottom of why we haven't been able to start a family yet. He is great, and we are feeling very optimistic about everything! Please pray for us that God would bless us soon with a healthy pregnancy, but even more pray that we would desire God's will above our own, and that we will continue to trust Him with our future even if we are never able to conceive.

Well, that about does it! I'll try not to wait a month and a half before posting again!!!

new photography blog!!!

2010-03-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

So a while back I started a photography blog, but it just wasn't working out for me. So I finally got a new blog to post all my favorite pics from photo sessions! Check it out...

nicolehagerphotography.com/blog

There's not much on it yet, but I'll be better about posting on it now... promise!

Oh Winston...

2010-02-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

This is what Winston does when its cold outside. That's a space heater he's sitting in front of in case you couldn't tell!

He'll keep moving around so that every angle of his face gets as much heat as possible.

He always has to be actually pressed up against it, it's hilarious!

Hawaii!

2010-01-26T13:36:00.001-08:00

We just got back from spending a week in beautiful hawaii with Jeremy's family! His dad and stepmom were so generous in treating us to a great vacation. Here are some of the highlights!

Here we are at the beach in front of Mama's Fish House. Great food and of course you can't beat the scenery!

Here's the whole group. From the left, Jeremy & Nicole, Morgan & Jeff (Jeremy's brother and his wife), Jeremy's Dad Bo and Stepmom Dottie, and then Dottie's daughter Ashley and her boyfriend Brian.

Here's the sunset from the balcony of our condo. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this!!

We got to go whale watching. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip.

This one swam right up to our boat, Jeremy got this great pic when the whale was about 15 feet from us!

A little bit of Hawaiian flair...

Us eating at another amazing restaurant. Yum!

We got up a 3:45 am (yikes!) to drive to the other side of Maui and take a sunrise bike ride.

Once the sun was up we put on our gear and headed down the mountain!

At the black sand beach the sand is made of volcanic rock that has been ground up really fine.

Of course there were amazing waterfalls!

And scenery that looks like a painting.

Here we all are again on our last day. Thanks so much Bo and Dottie!!!

A White Christmas!!!

2009-12-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas in Oklahoma, where we had our first white Christmas! It started Christmas eve and we got 16 inches. It was a record for this part of Oklahoma in December!

As you can see, Bauer LOVES the snow. It's like he was made for it! We could barely get him to come inside.

Notice there are no pictures of Winston playing in the snow.... He pretty much stayed inside and sat in front of the space heater the whole time!

Addison

2009-12-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

My niece Addison....

Is the cutest.....

Little girl ever!

Christmas season has begun!

2009-11-29T10:45:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! We decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Why wait?

OKLAHOMA!

2009-11-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we are pretty close to making a final decision. As of right now, we are pretty sure Oklahoma is where we will be moving this summer to Church plant! We are still praying and trying to do whatever we can to make sure this is where we need to be, but everything seems to be pointing us there. We are so ready to start preparing for this exciting journey!

We came up to Oklahoma this past week to start checking out different neighborhoods, meet with some pastors and Church planters, and visit family and friends. It was a great week! We can't wait to start putting down some roots, and be a part of what God is already doing here!

Noooooooooooooo!!!

2009-10-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

It happened. My computer crashed. Yep, the computer that I do all my work on. UGHHH! Thank goodness I back up everything, and even though the computer was beyond repair they were able to recover all my files. (WHEW).

The upside? I get to get a new computer!!! Apple store here I come!

Together For Adoption

2009-10-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

We didn't get to go to this conference, but a bunch of our friends did. We tuned in to some of it online and it was amazing! Whether you have thought about adoption or not, you should definitely check out this site! http://togetherforadoption.com/

Bats anyone?

2009-09-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's brother came down for a visit this weekend, and we decided to check out the bats. Apparently Austin is home of the largest urban bat colony in america. They all stay under this one particular bridge during the day, then all at once they fly out at night. June and August are the best times to see them because they will come out while it is lighter. I was able to get a pic of the first few stragglers, but by the time they all came swarming out it was way to dark to photograph!!

East coast? West coast? Right in the middle?

2009-09-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

We are a month into our second year here and still don't know where we will be moving next summer to Church plant! During the next few months we hope to get some guidance and clarity from God. I'm posting this to ask for your prayers as we sort through our options!

Right now we are looking at Oklahoma as one possibility. Jeremy is from there and we both love the Norman/OKC area. Another option that is just as likely is to head northwest, possibly to Boise. We just feel drawn there and are planning to take a trip out there for Church planting scouting purposes sometime this fall. And finally, the northeast is on the list of places to consider. Our trip to Boston and New York definately made us more interested in that part of the country as well!

So you can see the difficulty of deciding between so many places that are all so different, but so appealing! Please be praying for us as we begin to narrow down our options and hopefully choose a location in the next few months!

Boomer Sooner!!!

2009-09-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Winston and Bauer are ready for football season!

yes, we're those people. Not really, but since we don't have kids yet (see previous blogs) this is as close as we can get!

Who knew getting pregnant would be so dang hard?!!

2009-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, many of you know we have been struggling with infertility for the past two years. As difficult as it has been, I wouldn't change a thing about what God has brought us through. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready at any time for this trial to end and for us to be blessed with a family! My desire to be a parent grows more and more every day. But I am so thankful for the closeness to God and to each other that we have expereinced through everything.

There's a verse in the Bible that says it is better to be in a house of mourning than a house of laughter. I never really started to understand that verse until this past year. Nobody wants to go through times of mourning. But think about what our lives would be like if we never had to experience anything hard. We would never grow in character, never feel like we need God, and never experience the peace and joy that comes as we draw nearer to Him, leaning on Him for strength. Going through our miscarriage last year was one of the saddest months for me, but in a wierd way also the sweetest. My marriage became stronger, my friendships deeper, and most importantly I learned to trust God more with my future, and feel His presence more in my life because of it.

It's tempting to want everything to go my way all the time in my future. I want my family, job, finances, and whatever else to be just how I plan. But even more than I want all these things, I want God's best for me, and if God's best for me means struggling with infertility than that's what I wan't. He is good and I can trust Him, even if I can't see or understand why things happen the way they do. To aviod the trials in life would be to turn my back on experiencing God, and He is worth walking through this for.

Dominican Republic!!!

2009-09-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

We had the amazing opportunity to lead a mission trip to the Dominican Republic a few weeks ago! We spent the week prepping and painting a new edition to a school called Makarios. It's a school for kids in poverty who can't afford to go to public school. (Public school is not free in the DR, leaving many kids without the chance to get any education!) For more information on Makarios, click here.

Here are some pics of the week!

Jeremy painting away!

Laura loving on one of the kids

We did a lot of painting and sanding cement walls

Here's the whole group.

Riley, Jeremy, Nicole, Laura, Cara, Bradley, Katelyn, Graham, and Grace

Boston & New York.... possible church plant destinations?

2009-07-28T20:22:00.001-07:00

So we just got back from a trip to the northeast to check out some possible cities to Church plant in. We went with another couple who is interested in Church planting, as well as a few students who wanted to check out grad schools.

First we went to Boston for three days... we walked A LOT and saw about as much of the city as possible!

Then we took a bus to New York and stayed there three days also. Again, a lot of walking!

Aside from the usual tourist attractions, we made it a point to walk around the different nieghborhoods and areas of each city, getting a feel for what life is like for the locals.

We also got to meet with church planters in each city. It was great, we got a lot of advice and perspective on the challenges that come along with planting in the northeast. We still don't know if that is where we will end up... but it is definitely an option!

Surgery!!!

2009-06-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that we have been trying to start a family for almost two years now. We started to suspect endometriosis as the problem, so I (Nicole) had a minor surgery about a week and a half ago to check things out. They ended up finding quite a bit of endometriosis, and a large cyst, and were able to remove it all. They can't say for sure if this was the cause of our fertility problems, but they do think our chances will be improved now that it is removed!

Please be praying for us in this area. Endometriosis grows back, so our best chances are in the next six months. We will keep you all updated!

Learning in Washington at SOMA!!

2009-04-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

We recently got to go to an amazing conference in Tacoma, Washington put on by Soma, a local Church. It was so great and really inspiring! They really know how to live in community centered on the gospel, something that we seem to let slip all too often! Here are a few of the things we learned:

*First, the lost art of story telling. Our culture, like most cultures, connects with stories. So why do we primarily teach the Bible with an outline and bullet points? We got to experience hearing the full story of God, from beginning to end. At first we were skeptical, thinking we already know all the stories, but it was amazing and humbling how much the Lord taught us through it.

*And second, how to really create and live in community centered on the gospel. Most of us have settled for a shallow version, but when we truly become family with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and invite others into that family, it's pretty incredible!

These will definitely be a big part of our vision in the years ahead, so stay tuned for more writing on these topics!

*Awesome pic by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashishmalgi/2694301620/

It's about time...

2009-03-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we have been meaning to start a blog for the longest time, but for some reason writing that first post always seemed so intimidating! Well, we've been in Austin for about six months now, and I've decided that it's now or never. So here goes!

For those of you who don't know our story, we moved to Austin for a two year residency to get some training in church planting. (Basically, starting a church from scratch). This means that in another year and a half, we will leave Austin and go wherever we feel the Lord leading us, hopefully with a team to work together with, and start a church. It will look very different then you may think, probably starting in our house and then spreading to other homes as it grows. It's a long, difficult process that absolutely requires tons of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is why we want to start this blog. We want you to all be in the loop on what the Lord is doing while we are here, so that you can be praying for us and helping us as we set out on this scary but exiting journey! So I, well we, will be doing our best to post as often as we can!

As of right now we have no idea where we are going to go when we plant, so that is a definite prayer need! Please pray that the Lord will let us know where He wants us and that we will have no doubts in our minds that we are going to the right city! We will keep you all posted on our progress!

Thanks for your prayers!!

[image by: noel zia lee]