A Walk in the Park

New Mexico Vacation

2010-04-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's funny to think we have to leave Hawaii to go on vacation =). But our first official vacation was just a few weeks ago. We traveled to New Mexico to spend some time with my family. Here are the highlight pictures!

Hello Chuy's!! Yay, for REAL mexican food, oh how i've missed you!

My Crazy Family:

Like Mother, Like Daughter...notice they both have their mouths open!

This was my second time to see Annie, the first was a week after she was born! She's the cutest little squirrel in all the world, and actually made Tim and I start thinking about having one...maybe

My Dad's Full Colonel Pinning Ceremony:

My wonderful, dear, dear friends from San Marcos Christian Church drove almost 10hours, round trip, in terrible weather conditions just to make a surprise visit to see Tim and I. I was so touched, I couldn't keep from crying. Oh how I miss my church and love them dearly!!

We have lost everything.

2010-03-07T18:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life really does go up in smoke... and in my sister's case in fire and explosions and everything else terrible that you can imagine. Last week, I spoke about living in joy when life's tragedies are at bay. For my sister, and her band, ADDISON ROAD, this is not that time in their lives. I do pray, daily, that they will reach a season of peace, when they can just breath a sigh of relief because everything is as it should be. Honestly, sometimes we never reach that season this side of eternity. Sometimes the blows keep coming one after the other, and all we can do is pray to keep our heads above water. Fortunately, we do have a God who loves us dearly and walks beside us through each difficult day, sometimes hour. A God who gives us the strength to keep fighting and a peace that passes all human understanding.

My sister spent the last week packing everything she owned, truly everything. Packing her daughter's toys and books and special blankets, her cute clothes and DVDs and food and baby supplies, seriously everything. They were going to be on the road for TWO full months. We would be visiting their home (at the end of March), long before they would be seeing it again. They were going to be traveling for two whole months, and like any good mom, and musician, and seriously, like any good woman, she packed it all. And she lost it all.

Their RV broke down (for the first time) a day before they had to be in Nevada. At the time they were in AZ, and since they had to be in Nevada for their next concert they were forced to rent rental cars and drive the whole way. It's a long story, you can read about it here, but what it amounts to is this...

Imagine you packed everything you and your child owned, and not only everything you owned, but everything you could afford to own, you don't have the money to replace it, and now you are watching it burn to the ground. I realize stuff is stuff, it's just stuff and in the whole scheme of life it doesn't really matter in the end. Having your daughter to hold, being so blessed to have not been on that RV when it exploded, walking away with your life and your husband's life and your daughter's life, that is what's truly important, and of course my sister knows that. But to know you've lost it all, well truly, it will bring you to your knees, which is exactly where it brought my sister.

Joseph's words ring loud and clear: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."(Gen.50:20) Maybe the evil of this world intended this devastation to break their spirits, to turn them back, to lead them home, to give up the fight, but God says, NO! I will use this for good, and I will continue to receive glory through the work you are doing.

I will leave you with this thought... Sometimes I do wonder why my life has been so easy, why I still have all of my possessions, why I haven't been asked to sacrifice it all for the Lord, to give up everything and subject myself to the insanity that people like my sister and other missionaries around the world have done. I don't think I have the answer to that question yet, but I do know this, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48)

I have been given much, I don't know why, but I do know because of this, much more is required and demanded of me. I pray I never forget that, because that is my sacrifice, as small as it might be, giving all of what I've been given is all I can do. Don't deny me the opportunity to sacrifice for my Lord. In the big scheme of things there are others who sacrifice much, much more than I do, like my sister, but that doesn't mean I don't have the opportunity and responsibility to sacrifice as well.

If you are in a place where you can, and you'd like to join me in sacrificing for Addison Road, you can do so here. And if not, please keep them in your prayers.

Living in Joy

2010-03-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas music makes me happy. No matter what the day or week or month brings, if I put in a Christmas cd and dance around the house, I immediately feel better. Well, dancing is not really required, but it does help.

Sometimes I wonder why life has been so easy for me. I read and hear and listen and watch people tell about the tragedies they experience, the hardships they face, the struggle with marriages or children or money, and my heart breaks for them, yet I can’t help but think, why haven’t I walked that path, why has my life been so easy? I guess I’ve always compared my life to other people’s lives, and their problems always seem so much bigger than mine.

Some days I feel guilty for living this life, guilty that life is not harder for me. That to be truly Christian is to struggle through life, to bear the burdens of life, and to take on more when we don’t feel weighed down enough.

How foolish am I? I don’t think Christ delights in our suffering. He doesn’t delight in the burdens we carry around. In Christ, we are free, truly free, free to lay down those burdens, even free to live a life of fullness and abundance.

I’m not saying it’s easy to lay these burdens down, especially when you are in the midst of trials and suffering and blow after blow. No, I think those are the times when Christ helps us put one foot in front of the other, when he helps us get out of bed in the morning or afternoon or evening.

But when we’re not in the midst of trials, there is joy in letting go of the little burdens and delighting in the abundance that’s around us. I’m not talking about worldly abundance, wealth or fame or security or anything else, but heavenly abundance, the type of abundance that only comes from being made into a new creation in Christ, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). Seeing things with new eyes, even when life takes an unexpected turn, or you find yourself in uncharted waters.

In my own small way, I’ve faced hardships, I’ve faced uncertainties, and some days I’m really good at relinquishing those fears, other days I sit inside the hole I’ve created in myself and pout. But when I really think about my life, when I take a good, long look at it, I realize that my life is beyond what I could have ever dreamed up or imagined. I realize I’ve done more, seen more, experienced more than I ever believed was possible. And I realize how very fortunate I am.

Fortunate to have married a man after God’s own heart, to be a military spouse on a huge mission field with so many opportunities to share the love of God to a hopeless and dying world, to get to travel and live in exotic and foreign locations, to meet new people, to experience new cultures, to seek God’s direction in my life, and to depend fully on Him for my next step.

Some days it’s hard, some days I feel out of place, some days I struggle with my own insecurities. But on those days, I force myself to stop, to listen to Christmas music, and remind myself of what I have, where I’m at, and whose I am. Then I realize I’m pretty stinken lucky.

Maybe the hardships will come, maybe the rough days are ahead, but when that time does come, I hope I’ll be able to look back and cling to the God that has brought me here and know He will never leave me, nor forsake me.

2010-02-22T14:06:00.001-08:00

a few other things....

whale watching, and kite surfing:

What I Love about Hawaii...

2010-02-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

On any given day, I might encounter any of the following...

my sweet husband asleep with our new little kitty, booger:

a beautiful sunset:

Tim experimenting with his cooking skills, and I get to be the taste-tester!

a night out on the town, celebrating valentine's day:

randomly stumbling upon the cast of LOST:

Big Island Christmas

2010-01-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas on the Big Island, and yes, that's the actual name of the island. They weren't too terribly creative in naming it. But it actually is a pretty big island. I mean we spent over a week there and only saw half of it. But the half we saw, i fell in love with!

It's the perfect Christmas island. I think we'll make it a tradition, while we're here, to spend every Christmas on the Big Island. What other place in the world can you swim in 95 degree, volcanic heated ocean pools, and then drive "home" to your little cabin that's nestled in the 45 degree weathered mountains and start a fire? I would venture to say, no where else in the world, at least not in the 30mins it took us to drive from one extreme to the other. We lit fires every night, snuggled in our winter clothes, played in the heated ocean water, checked out the black and green sanded beaches (amazing!), we even drove up to one of the highest points in the world (if you're counting from sea level to the top) and actually drove above the clouds to watch the sun set and the millions of stars shining above us. Oh, and did i mention the actively erupting volcano?? Yeah, that was pretty cool too! It was a beautiful trip and a perfect Christmas.

I've heard it said, a picture is worth a thousand words...well, here are a thousand pictures worth thousands of more words, which i'll spare you from reading!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cross it off the List!

2009-12-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

The training has been intense, the miles have been long, but finally we have something to show for it! Our marathon is complete!! Yay!!! This is a week of celebration, not only for my legs, but for my tummy as well. I’ve made a dozen batches of cookies, laid on the couch and watched movies all week long (well, at least the past two days, and mostly because I couldn’t get off the couch because my legs hurt so bad!). But we did it, we accomplished what we set out to do, we ran 26.2 miles, and we ran it in the time we had set for ourselves.

Thank-you for all your support, prayers, well-wishes, texts, e-mails, and blog comments. There is no way I could have run this race without them!! Of course, Tim ran with flying colors, with little to no problem at all. I’m pretty certain he could have skipped through the whole race, running at my pace. But he was gracious enough to keep my speed and encourage me the whole time! He wants to run it again and attempt to beat his previous time (3:30, or something like that).

Well, the race itself was AWESOME! We hit no walls at all, even though everyone told us at mile 18 you'll feel like crashing and burning. Mile 18 came and went, and I kept thinking, oh my gosh, at any moment it’s going to happen, I’m going to get sick, or hit the wall, or cramp up. But nothing happened, I felt the same, and just kept running.

The last two miles were the most excruciating, but that's because Tim had us sprinting to make our time! Really, the worse part of the whole thing was walking around after the race and feeling like your legs might fall off. We were pretty sore the next day, extremely tired (we had to wake up at 3am the morning of the race), we've got some swollen knees and possibly pulled IT bands, but Tim assures me to give it ice and time and I’ll get over it (love being married to a Physical Therapist!). Besides that, I feel like a million bucks!

A long time ago, I made myself a list of things I wanted to do before I died, and although it sounds silly, this was one of things on the list. I’m so excited I get to cross it off! For most people, this is probably not a huge accomplishment, but for me, a non-runner and a non-workout enthusiast, this is pretty big. Now, I have no idea if I’ll try to run another one and beat my existing time, but I have to say the race itself wasn’t that bad. It was the actual training for the race that was killer.

Oh, forgot to actually tell y'all how we did... Our time was 5hours 7mins, which Tim says was faster than his first marathon. Bragging rights for me, so he says, but seriously, I was just happy I survived!! We crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with our arms waving in the air, it was very ROCKY style. You can check out the pictures here. All in all, it was a really fun experience, and i'm glad i did it!

Marathon's Tomorrow!

2009-12-12T16:02:00.001-08:00

Tim and I will be running our first marathon together tomorrow morning. It's not Tim's first marathon, it will be his third, but it will be my first and i'm a little nervous! So if you get this in time, send up a little prayer that I'll survive my first 26.2 mile run! Lots of Love!!

2009-12-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

We had our first visitors last week. Tim's sister, Ruth, and her husband, Stephen, sacrificed their Thanksgiving to come spend a few days in Hawaii with us =). It was wonderful having family here, especially for Thanksgiving, lots of mouths to feed, which always makes me happy. The week flew by, but we were able to incorporate lots of sight seeing, hiking, beach time, and of course plenty of yummy food!

It's different being so far away from family around the holiday season, but what a wonderful place for them to come visit! My family will be coming for New Years, and Tim and I are planning on skipping Christmas and taking a vacation to the Big Island! Hope you and your family has a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T23:26:00.000-08:00

Yay, for family, friends, and food! There's just so much to be thankful for!!

Twilight Mania

2009-11-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, i'm one of the millions of people across the globe that waited in line for hours last night to see the opening night of New Moon. And it was SOOOOOO worth it! I realize some people just don't get the whole Twilight craze, and that's cool and all, to each his own, but if you've read the books, then you know what i'm talking about!! The books are incredible, lots more depth than some teenage heart-throb. I could attempt to explain why the books are so mesmerizing, but to save time, i'll just say read them for yourself and then make your own opinion.

Unfortunately, the first movie was very disappointing, in my opinion, because they didn't stick to the book script at all. It was too theatrical and lovey-dovey, and just silly. But this second movie, with the new director, was AMAZING!! They did such a wonderful job keeping with the script and plot of the book, and the characters really came to life.

It was insane though! The whole island of Oahu was sold out. When we arrived at our theater at 8pm to watch the 12:01am showing, there was already a three hour+ line waiting to get in. They had to open 12 movie screens, and each theater was full to the max. We got awesome seats and managed to be in the largest movie screen room! It was SOOOO much fun, i felt like i was in college all over again, which is fitting since we were surrounded by mostly high school and college kids!

And i do have to say, I have the absolute BEST husband in the world! Because not only did he go with me, he bought our tickets early, he waited in line with me, he brought me hamburgers and french fries and starbucks to snack on while we were in line, and he even walked to Borders to buy us magazines to read! What a man!! =) And to top all of that off, when we finally got home at 3am, he set his alarm for 6am to get up and go to work. And he did all of this because he loves me. How could i ever, ever ask for more?!! We had the best night ever together! It was so silly and crazy and fun; i'm so lucky to be married to my best friend!!!

Running Blues

2009-11-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

It's official, after 3hours and 18 miles of running in one day, I officially HATE marathon training!! In the past 11 weeks, i've run a little over 400miles, that's more than anyone should run in their lifetime!! And i still have about 200 miles left before i even reach the marathon and get, yes get, to run 26.2 miles. This is officially the dumbest idea i have ever had in my entire life. Whatever possessed me to run a marathon needs to be taken out of my head, trampled on, and never be allowed to see the light of day again!

I know, I know, you're probably thinking, 'oh what a huge accomplishment, how wonderful to be able to tell your kids one day that you ran a marathon', HA!! Are you kidding me, it is SOOO not worth it! And besides, i don't even have kdis!! Ok, so now you are probably thinking, 'why in the world are you still running? why haven't you quit yet?' Are you kidding me??? If i quit now, then it would completely erase the 400 miles i've already run, it would be like they never even happened. So i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and both hurt my feet very badly.

Yet here i am, 4 weeks away from the marathon, feet aching, back sore, toes bleeding, and of course, LOTS of complaining, but i'm still running. Running, and Running, and Running... as if my life depended on it, as if each step takes me a second closer to crossing that finish line, as if some day i'll look back and remember when i was young and capable of running 26.2 miles in one day without dying. Yes, maybe one day i will look back on this time in my life with joy and jubilation, and maybe even feel proud of this accomplishment, but until that day comes, i truly HATE marathon training!

Our Home

2009-11-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

We'll have our first visitors in just a few weeks, and we are so excited! Having company always motivates me to clean, organize, and hang more pictures on our walls. So that's what i'm in the process of doing. Unfortunately, this process is going rather slowly. I really do enjoy cleaning, organizing, and hanging pictures, but I have to motivate myself to get in the mood to do all these things, and lately, well, i just haven't been in the mood.

Since i haven't posted pics of our house yet, I decided to make this blog a before and after glimpse. This will give you an idea of our traumatic move-in experience, and will testify to the fact that we really weren't exaggerating, it was horrific, and a good learning experience. Prepare yourself, these pics are pretty shocking! =)

Before the movers delivered our stuff, borrowing Army furniture:

After the movers came and destroyed our stuff. Literally, they just opened each box and dumped it upside down. Fun, huh?

But don't worry, we've learned we can pretty much survive any crisis! This is our house now. The downstairs was set up for my book club, so normally we don't have 15 chairs in the living room, but you get the picture! You'll just have to come visit to see the upstairs =).

Kauai Continued

2009-10-29T17:39:00.001-07:00

Kauai

2009-10-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our first trip to another island was awesome! We found out why Kauai is considered one of the wettest places in the world. And the rain didn't dampen our moods or our fun, we had a great time hiking, checking out sites, and just enjoying some quality time together. I think Tim and I have learned the secret to traveling, make the most of wherever you are and whatever you're doing, just make the most of it. It's all about attitude, and although we were very wet this entire trip, we had the very best time together!!

We took so many pictures that i'm just going to start with one slide show and add more on as time allows me. Oh, and we took this trip a few weeks ago, on Columbus Day weekend.

October is a beautiful month!

2009-10-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

October is my favorite month, and not just because of my birthday, but because of the way it feels and smells and looks. There are pumpkins by the doors, the leaves change colors, it feels cooler outside, AND starbucks serves their pumpkin spice lattes. Everything feels warm and cozy and snugly (is that a word?). Of course, in Hawaii this is not really the case, BUT i like to pretend this is the case, and i have a pretty vivid imagination so this works out pretty well for me.

I get all bundled up and go to the movies, where they have the A/C kicking, and wear my fall clothes and pretend the leaves are changing colors, which actually some of them do, although they'll be blooming again next week, but whatever. Then I walk to the commissary with my pumpkin spice latte and buy as many pumpkins as i can to decorate my house with, and i bake as many pumpkin recipes as i can to serve to my friends. I'm learning it's what you make of things, what you make of life, you can really learn to be happy anywhere, you just have to be a little creative sometimes!

Yet, I am a little sad October is almost over, and i'm even more sad i haven't blogged for the entire month, because honestly, we've been up to sooo much! I guess i'll just have to fill you in with some pictures, and maybe November i'll do a better job of keeping up. Oh, and by the way, we finally got internet at our house, YAY!!! Now i have NO excuses!!

Tim surprised me with the perfect gift: an organized, surprise birthday weekend. He knows i love surprises, but he also knows i love order and organization. So he made me a notebook with a timeline for the whole weekend, and i got to choose what events we did. It was the perfect birthday weekend and such a sweet surprise! Of course the weekend included shopping and the cheesecake factory!

I love birthday presents!! Thanks to everyone for their thoughtfulness and love!

Tiger loved all the presents my Mom sent me via mail...he loves to eat the boxes! Thanks Mom!

Random Birthday Pics...

Love/Hate Relationship

2009-09-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hawaii and I have a love/hate relationship... well, ok, honestly, it's more of a crazy love relationship, but there are a few things that, if I'm being completely honest, I HATE about Hawaii.

1st- I hate that I have to shave my legs every day, because in Hawaii one day without shaving can become a monumental day, in a very bad way. And although I’ve managed to go one full week without shaving my legs, I wasn’t brave enough to wear shorts, so I ended up wearing jeans, the only person in Hawaii to wear jeans. Perfect.

2nd- I hate having so much free time in Hawaii. Not that my life wasn’t mostly devoid of free time before I came here, but free time here becomes dangerous. There are too many good books to read (and not so good ones, only discovering that after I read them), the sun is always beckoning, the beach chairs longing for sand, and me longing for a good tan. It becomes too easy to grab a few good books and head to the beach for a nice, long day of ocean waves, crispy skin, the smell of sun screen (or lack of, in my case), and the sun bleeding down with all of its 85-90 degree force.

3rd- Which brings me to my third hate, I hate having enough time to read 5 good books at the same time. Not even waiting to finish one, I start another one, knowing that whatever mood I’m in I can just grab the one that’s most appealing and pick right back up where I left off.

4th- I hate that Hawaii is stocked full of adventurous things to do. They even give it the name, like it’s not enough to call it sky diving, it has to be “Adventure Sky Diving”, adventure hiking, biking, snorkeling, surfing… you get the picture. And well, you can’t live here without trying out all the adventurous things to do, otherwise, you’re labeled as the “non-adventurous type” and seriously, what woman at 27 inching her way to 30 wants to be labeled non-adventurous. I mean that’s all I’ve got left, the young stuff is over for me, it’s all down hill from here, without my adventurous spirit I’m just a 27 year old, weeks away from turning 28 without kids yet still battling baby fat (or whatever they call post-pregnant woman stuff). So each week I tally up all my bruises, and pray that by next week they’ll be healed enough to go out and bruise them again.

5th- And finally, I hate that we ended up living on base. Not because our house is a lot bigger than expected and my lack of decorating skills is sickeningly obvious, nor because of its location being 6 minutes away from Tim’s work (walking distance), obviously these are all very good things. But because it offers every stinkin’ club under the sun. And honestly, who can resist signing up for the gourmet cooking club, bunco club, book club, wine club, yoga club, sister surfing club, adventure club (of course they’d have an adventure club), and women’s bible study club, especially when it’s free! I’ve never been so busy before in my life, and I’m a busy person. I feel like I’m getting the sorority experience I never got in college, except everyone’s included and you don’t have to submit a picture and have girls you don’t know point out all your flaws before accepting you, all you have to be is a military spouse, which I can’t imagine someone living on base whose not.

Yet, this was suppose to be three years of sabbatical for me, three years of refining my Greek and Hebrew, three years of polishing up and preparing for more school in the future, three years of study and thoughtfulness, maybe even three years of preparing for kids, or having kids…. hmmm, oh well, I’m just having WAY too much fun! Stupid Hawaii.

September in Pictures

2009-09-30T20:23:00.001-07:00

Mom's group hanging out at the beach! Yes, I don't have kids, yes, i'm in a mom's group, yes, it's a blast! We take turns watching kids and surfing.

Still cooking all the time, and of course, i'm always up for new recipes! Maybe someday i'll open my own pulled pork sandwich/breakfast cake diner.

Recovering from our 2hr. run/marathon training (yes, two hours of non-stop running!). I didn't look that happy this week, after 2hrs 30mins, amazing what 30mins can do to you. I thought i was going to die... running a marathon was the worst idea i've ever had! Next time i pull something from my "i want to do this before i die" list, i'll tell myself i've already done enough and be happy in my pain-free life.

Tim surfing the small waves...

Tim surfing the BIG waves... note to self, when the wave is bigger than you, don't surf (this is my rule, not Tim's!)

There's never a shortage of rainbows in Hawaii... i always feel like walking around and singing that Kermit the Frog song about rainbows...you know, the one that goes like this: why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side (don't pretend like you don't know the song!)

Our backyard, this is what we see when we look out our back window (minus a few houses!). No one told me there would be mountains in Hawaii...the best of all worlds! I love it here!!

Picture Update

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

Disgruntled Days...

2009-09-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

I woke-up this morning feeling disgruntled. Disgruntled at nothing and everything. Disgruntled at our stupid cat for trying to paw its way through our closed bedroom door at 5am. Disgruntled at our central AC house for always feeling hot in the morning, no matter how cold we turn it down. Disgruntled at our tempurpedic bed, because I’m pretty sure it’s the main culprit for hoarding all the heat in our bodies and then allowing it to linger there in bed.

Disgruntled at the time, for being late and not early, when I wasn’t suppose to sleep in today. Disgruntled at our annoying toilet that always makes sounds like the ocean and Tiger for always sitting in the bathroom watching it, hoping to see it get up and walk away. Disgruntled at my miserable feet for being covered in blisters and aching even though I have to run another 5 miles today.

Disgruntled at my silly husband who at 3 in the morning abruptly turned, leaned over me, and said, “tough, tough, tough, tough, tough” in his most annoyed voice, then resumed to steal all the blankets off of me, and turned back over the opposite way. Disgruntled that I felt amused (he was dead asleep) until I realized he wasn’t budging on the covers thing and I froze the rest of the night. sigh.

I think your suppose to have a bible study, or pray, or meditate for a while, when you wake-up feeling disgruntled at the world. That probably would have been a better idea than my decision, to sit on the couch and sulk.

Our women’s bible study is doing the Beth Moore study on the book of Esther. The bible study is called, “Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman”. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a bible study focused on the “toughness” of being a woman. Not that I don’t find it tough to be a woman, on the contrary, I find it extremely tough being a woman, especially on certain days out of each month. But I grew up hearing over and over and over again that men and women are equals. That women are capable of doing all the things men can, and vice versa. That yes, God created us uniquely, but that He also created us equally. That God can call women, equip women, and send women, just as He does for men.

So I tend to shy away from the studies that place women in the “delicate flower” roles. The high heels, make-up, sit at home and watch the children play around your legs while never getting one hair out of order, type bible studies. I’m just not a big fan, because honestly it hasn’t been the reality I’ve seen so far. Although, if you are that woman, more power to you!

Anyways, I’m quickly learning that Esther wasn’t that woman, and that God still used her in a very mighty way. It’s a good reminder that God continues to call women to do mighty things. Just as God called Esther to change the course of history, to encourage a people who felt forgotten and scattered and lost, to remind them that God still cares, that they are still God’s people even in the midst of exile, even when they felt abandoned.

And in that sense, it’s a good reminder for me, that God can still use me, even when I feel lost, abandoned, or forgotten by God or those around me. The book of Esther reminds me, that even in the mundane, trivial, disgruntled days, God can still use me in mighty ways, to do mighty things for His kingdom, and fortunately that doesn’t require me to be mighty. It only requires me to have faith the size of a mustard seed (Mt. 17:20), and to seek God with all my heart. Those are two things I think I can handle, even on disgruntled days.

DELAY

2009-09-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay! I'm sure most of you thought Tim and I fell into the ocean and were eaten by angry dolphins, or maybe you thought Hawaii doesn't receive internet connection, that it really is like the tv show LOST, and some evil, weird guy named Ben is jamming all the satellite devices on the island. Well, the sad truth is, i've just fallen behind on life and i'm only beginning to catch back up. So to spare you all the gruesome updates and details, I'll just post a few pics and write when i have a bit more time. The last few months have been packed full of adventures. Life here seems new in every possible way, but we are truly enjoying this new season of our lives!

celebrating our 4 year anniversary (yeah, that's actually the ocean behind us, not a painting or picture!)

our first camping trip

first sun rise on the beach

Tiger checking out the new house (not a great pic of the house, i'll blog about that later!)

Tiger, after eating a quarter of foam, surgery, and a huge, fat bill! stupid cat!

tan lines, waterfalls, late night suppers...

more to come soon!!

Sky Diving, Birthday Cakes, and Slides

2009-06-03T17:41:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was Tim's Golden Birthday, or at least that's what he kept telling me. I'm still not exactly sure what that means, but he did turn 29 years old on the 29th of May, which in my book is a pretty cool thing. Of course this meant we had to go ALL OUT for this special event (even though we end up going ALL OUT for all of his birthdays, but this little fact did not matter). By pure mistake, we miscalculated our dates and ended up checking out of one hotel a day early, and the Hale Koa, the hotel we were suppose to be checking into, didn't have any vacancies for that night. Fortunately the Hilton Spa and Village, which has to be the largest hotel I've ever seen, had availability, ocean front with breakfast included. What a way to spend Tim's birthday weekend! The Hilton has 5 towers for sleeping, 5 different swimming pools, about a 100 different restaurants, and it's very own lagoon and penguins. This place is a monster! It was the perfect place to stay.

Here's a pic from our room

Every hotel in the background is part of the Hilton, seriously, every single one! Also their lagoon is in the background:

SKY DIVING

There are moments in each of our lives when we wake up and think to ourselves, Dear Lord, what have I done. I believe each person has this experience at one time or another, and none of these experiences can be belittled by others nor forgotten by ourselves. This experience happened for me this weekend. Sitting in a plane 14,000 thousand feet above Hawaii, starring at nothing but the vast ocean and thick white clouds below me, the thought flashed through my head, Dear Lord, what have I done!!

Rewind a few weeks before this moment… Since this was Tim's "Golden Year Birthday", I decided we had to do something big, and what could be bigger than Sky Diving over the Pacific ocean! Seriously, what better place to sky dive than in beautiful Hawaii. What better way to take in all the sights, sounds, and wonders of the land than jumping out of a plane 14,000 feet over all of its beauty.

In all honesty, this was the scariest, most exhilarating, craziest thing I have ever done in my entire life, and had you asked me 5 years ago if i would ever Sky Dive I would have given you a resounding HECK NO!! But I'm so happy I did it and will never do it again!

Tim's instructor, Crazy Dan:

My instructor, Insane Stephan:

Rest of Tim's Birthday
After our skydiving experience, and about two hours of recovery for me, we checked into the Hilton, rested for like 30 mins, and then I dropped Tim off at his massage apt. What birthday is complete without a full body Swedish massage at the nicest massage place on the island?! While Tim was massaging away, I went and picked up his traditional "surprise" ice cream cake, his favorite! Later that night we went to this really cool restaurant to celebrate. It was a perfect day!

Finally, the Hilton pools were SO cool, they even had water slides!

p.s.

2009-05-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

WARNING- There are a lot of pics below. If i were you, I would open up this page and let the pictures run through first, and then come back to look at them. Otherwise they'll run extremely slow, AND i would push the little plus sign at the bottom to speed up the slide show. Just a little tip for our family and friends interested (for all others, dismiss the slideshow, because it's way too long for the average viewer)!

Our First Month in Hawaii

2009-05-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

Catch Up

2009-05-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we've kind of slacked on picture taking lately, BUT we finally bought a super nice Canon camera this weekend, so hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more pics soon!

Tim's first day of work started today. It's still hard to believe we've been here almost a month and Tim is just now starting! For the past month we've been "house hunting" or at least that's what our permissive TDY says =). We actually found a house, or more like they offered us a house, the first week here. It's on base in the new housing area they just built two years ago. It's two story, three bedrooms, and tons of storage space, and will hold all of our stuff, which is pretty amazing!

We did look at a few houses/condos off base, but they are extremely small, very run down, and the only perk would be if we could find a place right on the beach. Unfortunately, only a few people luck out with finding those places, and normally they pay a lot more than our BAH would offer. So living on base just seemed like the smartest move.

And besides, we had a semi-sign, as I like to call it. Tim's Clinic Chief, who has been here in Hawaii for like 6 years now, is living in the house right now (they are moving to OK in June). His family lived off base the first four years and moved on base two years ago when they built these new homes. He says it's the absolute best place to live, Tim can walk to work, AND there is a Starbucks on his way into work! How perfect is that =)! We'll be in walking distance to the PX and Commissary, and did I mention Starbucks!! And we are only 15 mins away from the beach (our favorite one!). And of course since the island is pretty small we can pretty much get anywhere we want in one hour top.

So for the past month we've been living at the Inn on Schofield Barracks. It's a decent hotel, nothing fancy for sure, but very roomy. Unfortunately, our 30 day stay is up, so we are being kicked out at the end of this week. So we'll be moving to the Hale Kola, which is located ON the beach in Waikiki, the most famous beach here! I can't wait!! I'm going to lay out on the beach and by the pool and on their little roof top layout place every single day. The international market is only steps away from where we are staying, which offers free Hula Lessons, yoga classes, and lots of shopping every day. And I'll be able to wake-up each morning and go for a nice long run on the beach! So, I think i'm set. Hopefully I'll get a little more surfing practice in while Tim's at work, and maybe a little snorkeling.

Ok, basically this is our catch-up blog, hopefully we've caught y'all up on our lives here in paradise! Tim's birthday is this weekend, we're going to go all out and stay at the most expensive hotel in Waikiki (only because the military will be paying for it...not sure if i'm suppose to say that =), and then we'll be going skydiving on Saturday! Yes, you heard me right, skydiving! SO lots of prayers for me on Saturday. Hopefully, we'll be able to take pictures... we'll see.

We can't wait for you to come visit us, we'll be in our new house by June 15th, so come anytime after that!

Rock Diving or Jumping

2009-05-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

I never imagined myself to be a particularly brave person, but the more years i'm married to Tim, the more this crazy side of me comes out! Today we went to this beach that's famous for it's 30 foot rock that insane people climb to the top and jump off into the ocean. We went to this same beach last week, and i made up some lame excuse for not jumping. So today Tim decided it was time to face our fears. The key to jumping off a thirty foot rock and plummeting into the depths of a turbulent ocean, is not thinking. That's right, you have to climb to the top, go out on the ledge, and just don't think. Glance down at the ocean, just to make sure it's still there, then look straight ahead, find something to focus on, and pretend to jump right towards it. And then whatever you do, don't forget to hold your nose really tight and make your body become as straight as a toothpick, otherwise you'll drink in way too much salt water or you'll be known as the person that did the belly-flop heard around the world! Trust me, we heard plenty today. SO Tim jumped before me, and caught my first jump on film... (and yes, i did jump a second time!) here is my amazing jump!

2009-05-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

up close and personal =) come visit us soon!

2009-05-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Just thought this was a cool backdrop and a perfect song! Hope you enjoy, i'll post some clearer pictures in the next slide show!

Surfing Lessons

2009-05-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Before the lessons:

Today was our first day to try out the waves here in Hawaii! We signed up with the Air Force base rec. center for lessons. This was our first mistake... Air Force, what can you expect (=)!! j/k dad!). After all of 5 mins of "lessons" they loaded us up in a boat and we headed out to sea to try out what we had "learned". At this point, I had learned to make sure my right foot was on the back of the board and my left foot forward. That was pretty much it.

They parked the boat about 10 miles off shore, near this beautiful rock arch that was randomly in the ocean, and we jumped ship from there. The waves were intimidating at first as we paddled along with our bodies slowly moving up and over giant waves, but for the most part, even though they were large, they weren't breaking and so we were safe. Or so we thought.

Then came the point where they told us to paddle... "paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle"... they would scream and we would lay on our board and act as if we were swimming an Olympic race without moving our legs until the wave reached us and pulled us forward with all of its furry.

My first wave was a nightmare, a ginormous wave, that looked to be about 5 foot tall. In all actuality, it was probably only 2-3 feet, but to me, it seemed life threatening. When that first wave hits you, it's almost as if you go from 0-80mph, in two seconds flat. Your board is no longer viewed as your safety net, but your death trap, and it viciously spins out of control as the waves slowly devour it. This is exactly what happened to me. I attempted to stand, and made it to a crouched position before the board was enveloped, and then... the fall.

Falling face first into a crashing wave is one of those life revealing experiences. It reveals if you are mice or men, if you are bigger than the wave or the wave bigger than you. As i fell backward, staring straight into a monster wave, salt water pouring into my mouth and nose, the torrent of the water pulling me down deeper and deeper, I realized i am smaller than a mouse and terrified of drowning in a deep ocean.

After my second wave, and actually standing for all of 30 seconds until the wave behind me engulfed my board once again and i took in another gallon of sea water, I called it quits. I paddled my way to the boat and took my place next to the eleven year old who had quit a few minutes before me. I spent the next half hour sun bathing and watching sea turtles swim around our boat, and of course watching Tim excel at everything he does.

Some days I wish i was fearless, but most days i'm very content in the safety of my own little boat sun bathing and playing with sea turtles. Unfortunately, Tim is normally not content with this way of life, so we'll probably try our surfing skills out once again... tomorrow.

Thoughts along the way...

2009-04-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

We’re traveling to Prague with Tim’s parents for Easter weekend. We’ve been on the road for eight hours now on a trip that was only suppose to take four. I hate traveling. We had a stahl, as they call it in Germany, for about two hours; two hours of stop and go and feeling my stomach jump from my belly to my throat every two seconds. I’m a terrible car traveler. I get tired, and sick, and nauseated, and grumpy; I hate traveling in vehicles. Yet we are finally moving again, and only have about an hour and half before we finally make it to our little bungalow.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited about this weekend. Tim and I love Prague, it’s the first place we actually traveled to together, our first time to hold hands, to dance close together in a club that took us forever to find, our first time to walk through an ancient city and have it come to life right before our eyes. We can’t wait to go back and reminisce through the place where it all started. But I could have definitely done without the long trip to get here.

It’s road trips like these that make me miss home. Traveling in a land far away, with people that I love but that I also don’t know as well as my own family (of course not including Tim), inching my way through traffic, foreign signs, bathrooms you have to pay to use, and I begin to long for home more than any other place on earth. I love adventures, I love to travel, I love meeting new people and seeing new countries, but they are places I only want to see for a little while and then I want to go home.

Home for me is not really any particular place. My family is scattered in different locations, and their homes never really feel like mine. Rather, home for me are the people, my people, my family. Of course, my family is like most families, we can drive each other crazy in a second, but there is something comforting about being with them, even when they drive me crazy. They know all about me, my faults, my inadequacies, my failures, my annoyances, my religious and political beliefs, my lack of religious and political beliefs, my stubbornness, my temper, and they still accept me fully and love me fully (well most of the time!). Not to say I don’t drive them crazy, but I’m sure you understand what I mean! We are a family, and when we are far away from each other, I think we each long for home in our own special way, to be with each other once again.

Tonight, as I sit and stare at the full moon following our car as we hurry along; I can’t help and think of my older sister, and long for home. Jenny and I are only ten months a part, Irish twins, which really means for one month out of the year we are the same age. Maybe not a big deal to most people, but for a little sister who got to be the same age as her cool, older sister once a month every year, wow, that was something special. Jenny has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. When we were little kids, we’d do everything together. Climb trees, build forts, perform cheers and sing songs to anyone who would pay to listen (having them pay was Jenny’s idea), have tea parties in the woods and invite all the little creatures, create tent towns, roll down hills, and sit on the couch and watch Sesame Street together. Having a sister who was only ten months older than me, always meant I had a friend.

Jenny was one of those people who could make an entire room fall in love with her in a matter of minutes. All she had to do was walk in a room and people would flock to her side. I was always amazed at this quality she possessed. It was as if she had magic fairy dust she would sprinkle on all the little people she met, which made them immediately fall head over hills. I would always sit back in admiration and wonder as my sister, with her big heart and contagious smile, would brighten up a room in seconds. In high school she was nominated for every award possible, most beautiful, most charming, most personality, most caring... She had hundreds of friends and she befriended everyone, the cool, the un-cool, the nerds, the jocks, even all the mentality-handicapped kids knew and loved her; literally out of our 4,000 member school everyone knew her. And I was fortunate enough to be her side kick.

Most people didn’t know me, but honestly that didn’t bother me one bit. I was more of the quiet type; whereas she had hundreds of friends, I was very content with my three or four best friends. Jenny and I didn’t always see eye to eye, in fact in high school there were times I literally thought we might kill each other. I would say things to push her buttons and then wait for her ‘crazy’ side to appear, which normally didn’t take long to come out =). But no matter how much we hated each other we always had each other’s backs, and that has never changed.

She always knew the right things to say to cheer me up, even when no one else could. When I would leave some place defeated, she would remind me of my worth. When I would feel friendless and alone, she would remind me of my courage. When I felt far away and lost, she would remind me of the home that was always waiting for me, the family that always loved me. It’s amazing to realize that 27 years later she is still reminding me of these facts, whispering them in the back of my head, reminding me no matter how far I go, home is always there waiting for my return.

Some people can go their whole life and find lots of best friends along the way, but those friends can come and go. I am fortunate enough to go my whole life and have the same best friend, a friend that comforts me even when I’m thousands of miles away from home, even when she doesn’t even realize it.

Picture of Perfection!!

2009-04-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

I still haven't met her, but i'm pretty sure she's the most perfect thing in the world!! I know once i finally meet her i will confirm this fact!

Auntie Melissa!

2009-04-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

She's perfect in everyway, I just can't wait to meet her!

Welcome to the world little Annie, I hope we can make it a happy place for you.

2009-04-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

My Sis is having her baby today, and I’m stuck in Italy!!! AHHH, please pray it goes ok!! I’ll send pics as soon as I receive them!

Vacation of a Lifetime!

2009-04-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we've been in Europe since April 3rd! We have had a wonderful, relaxing, exciting time, and the trip is only half way over! I've attempted to write a few blogs along the way, but haven't had a chance to post anything since we rarely have internet access. But here is a quick update from the past 2 weeks!

The movers came and went and were finally able to load everything up and carry it away. Hopefully, everything makes it to Hawaii in one piece, but we aren't really holding our breath! We spent our last night at our good friend's house, Andy and Alyssa, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor. We hadn't really thought ahead to the fact that we would be pillow-less and bed-less for that night!

The next morning, after saying all of our good-byes, we drove 12hrs to Mississippi to catch the military hop to Germany, which is FREE for all active military families. Amazing!! We spent some much needed time visiting with my wonderful grandparents, about two days, and then headed to Jackson, MS to catch our flight.

The military flight… well, truly there are no words that can adequately describe this experience. Just imagine a plane with no windows, no rows of seats, no heating, no sound control, and no proper bathrooms, and you will have a small glimpse of the nine hours of enjoyment we had to endure! BUT it was free, and for Tim, that’s all that matters. In all honesty though, it really wasn’t that bad. They gave everyone a pair of earplugs, which came in very handy, and we were actually able to lay down on the ground underneath our seats and sleep for most of the trip. Although, we definitely didn’t dress warm enough, the cold was almost unbearable, but had we worn our long johns, toboggans, and gloves, we would have been happy as pie!!

So yes, we made it to Germany on Saturday evening, and were able to relax, enjoy a nice dinner, and head straight to bed. This is so much better than arriving in the morning and fighting to stay awake all day long to ward off jetlag. We spent the first few days just traveling around the little German towns close to where Tim’s parents live. We went to the Mannheim Easter market, the beautiful park, and the TV tower to eat lunch the first day. We spent the next day in Heidelberg, the city where we had our first date! We took pictures of the Starbucks we met up at (yes, even back then I loved starbucks!) Found the restaurant we ate at, climb up the poetry path where Hemmingway wrote one of his books, and walked up the steep stairs to the castle gates. It was a full day, but we had blast reminiscing.

Here are a few pics from the first couple of days!
beautiful Germany:

our first day:

Tim and his mom:

our first date:

poetry path:

Heidelberg

Saying Good-Bye

2009-03-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Saying good-bye has to be the hardest part about being a military family. I haven't really been a military wife for too terribly long, but we've already had our fair share of good-byes. Unfortunately, I think this will be our hardest yet (at least in terms of moving to a different place). We've had movers at our house all week, and this morning as I look around the living room it doesn't look like my home any longer. It's full of boxes, there are no paintings on the wall, no welcome home feeling, just a cold, empty room. It's eerie how a house full of boxes can easily change from our house to just some random place we are staying in until the movers come and pick-up everything on Tuesday.

So we're having to say good-bye to our house, our beautiful neighborhood, our sweet neighbors, and worst of all, our cat. Tim and I took Tiger to the airport this morning at 5am. We left the house at 4am, and no one was in a good mood, especially Tiger. We attempted to give him some children's benadryl to calm his nerves, and I'm pretty certain it only made it worse. Not only did he act as if he were dying after we dropped a few dots on his tongue, but he actually started foaming at the mouth for about an hour after the medication was given. It was a nightmare, and I'm pretty sure we made it a thousand times worse; instead of calming his nerves, we just added to the terrible situation.

Having to say good-bye to an animal really shouldn't be that hard. It's just an animal, not a person, not a child, not some long lost friend you'll never get to see again, it's just an animal. But surprisingly enough, it's extremely hard. We brought him to the airplane cargo warehouse, and the guy at the front desk, although attempting to look sympathetic, after checking Tiger in, brought him to the outside portion of the warehouse where it was like 40 degrees and left him outside to wait an hour before someone would be by to pick him up. And when I asked if Tiger could stay inside until that time, he looked at me, laughed, and said "No". It was a rough morning.

We're saying good-bye to our house, our cat (at least for the next two & 1/2 months), our church, our family, and of course all of our PT friends. And as surprising as it is to me, i'm actually sad, I mean really sad. San Antonio has been great, the Army-Baylor PT program has been incredible, my Seminary and church have been unbelievable; every place we've encountered here we've made life-long friends and it's going to be very hard, and very sad, to say good-bye.

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE!!!

Tim graduated with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy on Thursday March 26th from the US Army-Baylor Program at Ft. Sam Houston. We are all so proud of Tim and all of his accomplishments! It's amazing to me to look back on this man's life, his very short life at that (only 28 yrs old), and see all of his amazing accomplishments. West Point, Electrical Engineer degree, graduated with top honors, Ranger School, Airborne School, lead an infantry in Iraq, and helped build an orphanage in Afghanistan, and then applied to a program that he was completely not qualified to attend, no biology classes, no anatomy and physiology, no idea about the human body or any type of medical information, and yet was still accepted. I'm talking about amazing stuff here, things I never imagined one human being could accomplish, especially not in the span of 28 years, and yet Tim has accomplished them, and least to say, I am very proud of him. But the thing that is most impressive about Tim, is that you would never know he had accomplished any of these things, because he is so extremely humble. And not just one of those, oh, i'm so humble, everyone look at me, no he is genuinely humble, and gives all the glory to God for every accomplishment he has ever achieved, which is truly a great accomplishment.

So cheers to you Tim!! I know God has great plans for you, and I know He will continue to use you to touch the lives of many soldiers and families who desperately need God's love and saving grace. We are all so proud of you!

Our family at the Wed. night celebration dinner:

Tim, Joe, and Cyrus

Our first friends in the program...I would have been lost without being able to rant to Alyssa about OBC!

Our good friend from church, Charles and Tim:

Us at breakfast:

The whole family at graduation:

Uncle Bill and Aunt Terry, they have always been here for us, and we'll miss them a ton! Thanks for coming to every important event in my, and now Tim's, life!
We love you!!

Dave and Amy, our good friends that we'll miss a ton, but hopefully see in Feb 2010!!

That Good Ole' Baylor Line:

All the girlfriends i'm going to miss:

A Little Cry for HELP!!

2009-03-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Moving always has its difficulties, a military family definitely understands this, BUT this move has a set of difficulties that we have yet to figure out a good solution for. Our problem...well, we can't really say he's a problem, because in all honesty he makes us laugh a lot, he's super cute, adorable and fun to have around!! Yet, we are still completely stuck and have no idea what we are going to do with our precious hairball when we move to Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, we ARE NOT giving him away, we just have to find a babysitter for 10 weeks!!

Ok, Ok, let me attempt to make this a bit clearer! We found out a few months ago that Hawaii has strict pet policies, and all animals have to go through a 4-month waiting period before they are allowed to enter the islands. Unfortunately, we found this out too late, and Tiger (our cat) still has 10 weeks left before he is cleared to enter the islands. Their quarantine policy states that if animals do not meet their 120 days at home, they will be quarantined in Hawaii for 120 days. 120 DAYS, seriously, who does that?!?! For all of you animal owners and lovers, you can imagine our shock and concern about placing any animal in a small crate for that extended amount of time. All of these poor little critters who have to be quarantined in Hawaii live in small crates stacked up on top of one another, all in the same room, no matter what type of animal and are ONLY allowed out of the crate when someone comes to visit them, and then only for 30mins!

Anyone who has a pet, knows they grow on you. They aren't just seen as some crazy animal that roams around your house, they are viewed as family, especially the ones that you've had since they were little. Tiger is just that type of animal to us, he's like our little kid, and we can't imagine having to place him in quarantine for 120 days. But unfortunately, that's our situation right now, UNLESS we can find someone who would be willing to help us out.

So this is our little cry for help. We hope to find a loving home to ‘baby-sit’ our sweet cat for 10 weeks while we are away, and then put him on a plane and fly him to us in Hawaii. We realize this is a big favor to ask of anyone, and we only ask because we are desperate, and fearful of what 120 days of quarantine might do to him. Tiger is a 3 year old black Tabby Cat. He is an inside, de-clawed cat that wishes he were outside most of the day! He is like normal cats and sleeps quite a bit, but he also enjoys playing with his toys. He is a very well behaved cat; he doesn’t bite or chew on things and definitely does not tear up household items. I think he would do better with a small dog or no pets, than with other cats. But we are willing to try anything at this point! Of course, Tim and I would provide you with everything you need to care for him, plus extra money to say THANK-YOU! If you think you might be willing to take on this task, or know someone who might be willing, please let us know!

Here are a few pics of Tiger, to tug at your emotions and your heart!

This is Tiger when he was just a little baby!

Tiger when he was a little older:

Tiger playing in his clown outfit (doc. made him wear it!):

Tiger asleep on Tim:

Tim telling Tiger to go back to sleep!

Tiger asleep in his new Christmas present:

Tiger's favorite place to sleep, clean clothes!

From one Insomniac to Another

2009-03-12T04:02:00.001-07:00

It’s 5am and I’ve been awake for the last two hours, which means since I fell asleep around midnight, I’ve had about three hrs of sleep. I’ve been lying in bed for the past two hours thinking of the normal things I think about when I can’t sleep. Wondering if astronauts are in space right at this very moment, wondering why the fire alarm above me keeps turning from green to red back to green again, wondering if my legs might really fall off if they stay in one place for too long, wondering if the house caught on fire which window I would jump out of and which one I would throw Tiger (our cat) out of, wondering if lack of sleep really equates to less years of life. If this is true, then I calculate that I’ve already lost about 10 years of my life, and at the rate I’m going I might be dead by the age of 50. These are the thoughts of an insomniac. Sleeplessness has become a hobby for me. In fact, I could probably win a gold medal for sleepless nights. Not that I don’t love to sleep, in fact it is one of my most treasured things in the world. If I had to choose sleeping over anything, food, water, shelter, friends, family, heck, even sex, sleeping would always come in first place. But that’s the irony of an insomniac, they love to sleep, they just can’t actually make themselves do it. Normally, after all these thoughts have gone through my head I begin to rehash the conversations of the day, the things I should of said or would have said had I been quick enough on my toes. The interviews I bombed, the words of encouragement I didn’t share, the grace I could have given more of… this can go on for hours. Eventually, I realize my tossing and turning is keeping Tim awake and so I attempt to gracefully exit the bed without him noticing. Sometimes he catches me and forces me to “try harder”, luckily tonight he didn’t =). I don’t think I could have handle another minute starring up at the ceiling wondering if it might snow today. Hopefully, one day I will learn the art of sleeping, or maybe just find the magic key that will turn my brain off, OR just find a really good doctor that will prescribe me blissful sleeping pills!
Well, I hear Tim’s alarm, which means he’ll be looking for me very soon. I better rap up this session before he finds me “not trying” again. From one insomniac to another, peaceful dreams, or thoughts of dreams.

Cooking, Cleaning, and Leasing!

2009-03-11T13:27:00.001-07:00

Yay! Our house is finally on the market! Now all we need is for someone to lease it!! Unfortunately, the day it goes on the market is the day Texas decides to unleash a monster cold front! Seriously, where did this come from? I was wearing shorts yesterday, and today i'm afraid to go outside for fear of frostbite or pneumonia. So i'm guessing there won't be many brave souls wanting to view our house today, but maybe tomorrow.

I do have to say, it took us FOREVER to find the right property manager. We searched high and low, and all we found were terrible rates and crappy management systems, BUT low and behold good 'ole Royce was found! Amy and Dave, our good friends here, gave us this guys name... he's prior military (36yrs), caters to military families, and has unbeatable prices, great recommendations, and it's a family business. Seriously, what more could you ask for?? Quick shout-out for Royce, but no kidding, if you are a military family and you're looking to buy, lease, sell, or rent this is the place for you! So if you're looking, look no further, check out the Royce Simmonds group!

On another happy note, I think in a previous life I might have been a chef. Ok, maybe not a great chef, and I probably stole other peoples recipes, BUT a chef none the less. Last week I cooked FIVE new amazing meals!! I only took pictures of a few, which is probably fortunate for you, and none of them were actually MY recipes, but they still tasted pretty doggone good! I wish you could have been here to enjoy these meals, especially since we had a TON of left-overs, which we always SAY we'll eat and a few weeks later they walk themselves to the trashcan. So here are a few pics that made the book...and yes, i have a photo book filled with pictures of meals i've cooked (i'm that pathetic!)
This might not look very appetizing, but it was fabulous! Everything made from scratch...roasted garlic pork, spanish rice, and fried whole okra, with homemade dipping sauce! YUMMY. The second pic was some italian dish that Tim loves, I can't pronounce the name, so you can be certain I have no idea how to spell it! But i made it with homemade italian meatballs that were baked in the oven, which really baffled my mind!

Finally, we went out with some of our good friends this weekend to my FAVORITE mexican restaurant CHUY'S, oh how I will miss good mexican food in Hawaii! After the wonderful meal, we headed to Amy's for some games and DESSERT. So this is my final pic, promise, but it's a picture of the chocolate cheesecake (Barefoot Contessa Recipe). First time to make it, and amazingly it was incredible, to die for, if i can say so myself =).

Last but not least, thought i might leave you with a pic of my WONDERFUL (can't say that enough, seriously he's amazing!) husband's attempt at cleaning this week. Here's a pic of him and Tiger cleaning, or supposedly cleaning (they are putting away clean clothes together...yes, those clothes might look dirty, but in fact they are actually clean!) In all seriousness though, he has put a lot of time and energy getting our house ready to be put on the market, thanks babe!

Well, that's it for today, i'm off to bake some cookies in hopes that they'll warm me up and maybe i'll put in the Sound of Music, cold days deserve a good background movie. Hope wherever you are, you're bundled up and happy!

.....................Something Heavenly

2009-03-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

I feel like my house is a perpetual mess. The more we clean, the worse it gets, and unfortunately, we really don’t have time for it to get worse. As of today, we have three weeks left, let me say that a little louder, THREE WEEKS LEFT!! Three weeks to clean, well really, more like scrub, scrub every baseboard, wall, counter top, floor, scrub inside and out of every cabinet, door, garage… everything. Three weeks to finish painting, to pull the dead things growing in the backyard and attempt to make the grass look alive again…three weeks to put the house on the market, to pray that someone comes along and rents it before we leave, and three weeks to say good-bye. Good-bye to a place that we’ve actually fallen in love with. I love San Antonio and I love New Braunfels and I love San Marcos! Everything about this place is perfect: the food, our church, our dear church friends, the weather, the time Tim spends at work and the time he spends at home (which is a GREAT ratio!), my work (or at least the place I use to work!), our friends from the PT program, our family close by, everything about this place is perfect. Good-byes are never easy, but it’s always nice when they are accompanied with something good…you know, like moving to a tropical paradise =), or a place where you already have good friends, or a place that you know will make you a little more stronger and adventurous. That’s kind of what the military life is all about, you never know exactly where you are going, but you always have the potential of making it into something good, a place where you can walk away and say, we’ve fallen in love and it will be hard to say good-bye! But I guess that’s kind of life in general, we always have the potential for making it into something good. So here's to a clean house, happy good-byes, and the potential for good!

Jenny's Baby Shower

2009-02-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, I realize this blog is more for writing than posting pictures, but as of this point my brain is so tired from trying to get everything ready to move, process off base, find tenants for our houses, and a good leasing company, etc.... that I really don't have much to say!! But I did want to attempt to catch everyone up with our life here in San Antonio, at least for another month, and show off some fun pics for our family and friends to enjoy. So, I hope you enjoy!

Graduation Pics

2009-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Graduation

2009-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, thought I would attempt to catch up with the last few months.... SO here are a few pics from my graduation. I am very fortunate to have such a loving and supportive extended family! My grandparents have made it to every important event in my life, and my aunts and uncles have always made such a huge effort to be at every graduation, wedding, and basically any life accomplishment. I feel very fortunate and I hope I can be just as great of an Aunt to my new niece Anniston. Thanks to everyone who made the trip out, and a special thanks to my Dad who assembled a beautiful celebration dinner and helped make all the hotel reservations!

My Wonderful Aunts!
My Mom and I walking to our seats... my Mom graduated with her Doctorate and I graduated with my Masters, and yes, we were able to walk down together!
Waiting to walk the stage, hoods in hand

Yay, we graduated!!

Christmas at our house!

2009-01-13T10:56:00.001-08:00

This Christmas instead of heading down to my parents house to be with my sisters and their husbands, they came to us! Although we missed a few favorite traditions, Tim and I were able to start some of our own, for the very first time. Here are a few pics of the blessed event:

We didn't really have time to go to the tree farm and cut down our own, one of my favorite traditions. So instead we had to settle for an already cut tree, it was from Montana or Wyoming or one of those really cold places where perfect Christmas trees grow. We bought the tree 5hrs before the family made it to our house, 5 days before Christmas, which meant the tree was 50% off; they were practically begging us to buy it. I think we discovered a new Christmas tradition! Figure we'll keep it up until it dies just so the tree can fulfill it's Christmas destiny; maybe we'll make it into a Valentine's day tree or even an Easter tree, we'll see how long it lasts.

The turkey was a daunting task, Tim nor I had ever cooked an animal this large, and we were not quite sure what we where to begin. But as not to appear incompetent or nervous, thus frightening those who would partake of this delicious beast of a creature, we decided to fill the turkey with as many things as possible...carrots, celery, potatoes, pineapples, apples... really any fruit or vegetable we could get our hands on, and then to top it off we soaked it in butter =). It was Tim's first turkey...and it was the best turkey i've ever tasted!!

Our family feasting!

Everyone together for Christmas Eve...I was taking the pic!

Christmas could never be complete without our annual reading of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! (It's Ryan's favorite tradition!)

And Of Course No Christmas is complete without some fun, competitive games!

Finally, Christmas wouldn't be the same without attending our traditional Christmas Eve Service. Although this year, the service was especially important to me as I was honored to lead in the reading of the Christmas story and serve communion to a group a people I have grown to love and cherish. They have become my second family and this church my second home. FCC San Marcos truly exemplify the meaning of Christian generosity and hospitality.

So from our family to yours, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and a New Year filled with all the best hopes and dreams that life can offer!

Blessings and Peace

A glimpse of 2008...

2009-01-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

A glimpse of 2008...

Hello Family and Friends, this is completely new for me, but I figured it's high time we joined the blogger world! 2008 has been a remarkable year for Tim and I; full of new friends, new destinations, and lots of exciting changes! We've spent the last two and a half years here in San Antonio, TX, and of course since Texas is my home state (mini-country) I've been in-love! Tim is finishing his doctorate in Physical Therapy, and will graduate in March '09. He has really enjoyed the program, the professors, of course the students, and he's learning to endure his internship =). I just graduated with my Master's of Divinity; three very long years in coming, but I already miss the insightful wisdom from my teachers and friends.

God has blessed us in so many ways, and each new day seems to be filled with new miracles and new opportunities to invest our lives in the people we encounter along the journey. What a joy it has been to serve as the associate minister at First Christian Church in San Marcos for the past seven months. We have met some life-long friends that I hope we'll continue to see years down the road.

Our time here in Texas is slowly coming to an end, and the moments I get to spend with my family are becoming more precious and important than ever. Luckily, our new destination helps to ease the sting of leaving behind my family and homeland, because in three short months we will be moving to Hawaii!!

From the moment I met Tim, our life together has always been an adventure, a journey, something new and exciting. I think maybe God always intended our lives to be that way, always surprising us with the new and unexpected, even if the new seems bad at times (or really is bad) something unexpected always seems to blossom out of it...well, at least that's been my experience.

So here's to our life, some days it's a walk in the park, others it's a trial to make it through, but it's our life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.