The Kvasnickas

A big sister

2012-01-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

Bella is super excited about being a big sister. I know...I know...this is actually a ridiculous statement because she's a dog. But I am 100% certain that Bella has known since the very beginning about this very big change that's coming in our lives. There's lots of little changes that we've noticed about her over the past 8 months, but the main thing is how protective she has become over me.

Bella is just about to turn 2 years old, so she is very much a puppy...even though she has a full-grown body. She is super playful and hyper and loves to be as close as possible. Her favorite things are running and jumping, and sometimes she will get excited enough to jump on the couch...even though it's not allowed. (Don't tell Justin) Ever since we got pregnant, she's been much more gentle with me.

We've heard lots of advice about bringing a baby home to a pet, so we have some plans in place to help with the "adjustment". I think Bella will do absolutely wonderful. She is so sweet and very maternal when she's not sprinting full speed after a frisbee.

Justin and I like to think that Bella and the baby will become very good friends and that she'll be very protective of him too.

Baby Shower at the Doctors Office

2012-01-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

This week at work, my co-workers threw us a baby shower! It was such a sweet time and a lot of the staff that I work with got to be there. Justin came too since he is still off school for the winter break. None of the male doctors that I work with were there, so Justin was the only guy! Here is the group shot of everyone after we opened all of the gifts.

Tina is one of the other nurses that I work with at the office. She made this incredible diaper wreath. It has all kinds of things attached - from baby shampoo to onesies and stuffed animals and even a bone for "Big Sis" Bella!

Here is a close-up of the diaper wreath. I thought it was so precious and so creative. So far, I still haven't been able to take it apart so that we can actually use everything on it because it is so cute!

It will be such a fun time to bring the baby in for his first newborn exam because I already know everyone in the office and how everything works. I told Justin to be ready for that appointment to last 2 or 3 hours since everyone will want to meet our little guy.

I have really enjoyed working with everyone in this office - from the receptionists to the nurses and the physicians. Looking back I clearly remember the anxiety that I felt over getting a new job when we moved here. I can see that God's hand was totally at work. He divinely placed me here and his purpose was so great, despite my fears and anxieties. And not to mention, I've learned so much about kids and parenting from this job too. I am sure all of the advice that I've given to first time moms will come in very handy when it applies to our child...then again, it's always nice to hear another person say that your child is okay.

We feel so blessed by this shower, but even more by these (mostly) women who I have been so lucky to know and work with while living in New York.

A Not-So-White Christmas

2012-01-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year and I've been meaning to post some pictures from the weekend for awhile now. We spent Christmas in Ithaca this year with my family, because 34 weeks pregnant is too far along to fly across the country, especially during a holiday.
Bella didn't mind that we stayed here...she thought everyone came to visit her. Plus, she got lots of treats and gifts for Christmas herself!

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner on Christmas Eve before the Christmas Eve service at our church.

Here we all are on Christmas morning with our stockings!

My parents with their stockings!
For the big meal on Christmas Day, Justin fried a turkey outside. Can you believe that we had NO snow on the ground on Christmas!! It was pretty chilly outside though. Justin and my mom both worked very hard to prepare a delicious meal.
Here are the guys with the turkey fryer. I stayed inside...worrying that someone was going to burn off their eyebrows.
Bella especially liked snuggling up against my dad's legs while he was reading on the couch. She made sure that our guests felt right at home.
We gave my family a tour around Ithaca and showed off the waterfalls. Here we are in front of one of the falls in town.
Almost 35 weeks on Christmas day!
We are so grateful that my family was able to come up and spend Christmas with us. We promised them a white Christmas, but weren't able to deliver on that promise. But we still had a wonderful time with them and enjoyed spending our second Christmas in New York.

Siesta Scripture - December 1 through December 15

2012-01-02T17:53:00.001-08:00

I have found it difficult to sit down and blog very much over the past month or so about anything other than "documenting" an event. I know it's because there is a lot going on right now...we're currently preparing for the birth of our first child, Justin is starting to interview for a post-graduate job and we're anticipating a move back to Texas after his graduation. And all this is supposed to happen in the next 4 or 5 months!

Blogging has become a way for me to sort my thoughts and in a way, to think more deeply about things, however, I'm not really using it for that right now. I'm almost as bad at returning phone calls and I haven't been disciplined about having intentional conversations with people here. All this adds up to what I would call a "lack of deep thinking" on my part and probably a lot of missed opportunities. I think most new and expectant mothers would probably identify with this feeling, but it's not something that I want to become who I am.

I know that a lot of things change when you have a baby. I am already starting to experience some of those changes and I expect that even more dramatic changes are coming soon. These are exciting to me (and some of them are scary) but I don't want them to hinder my relationships- with others and especially with Jesus. I'm praying these things for 2012.

All that to say, I very much enjoyed memorizing scriptures over 2011. I am glad that I committed to putting them on the blog- one, so I would have all of them in one place and two, so I would be accountable to actually doing it. Reflecting into words what God has taught me through this "goal" or "exercise" has been most of the deep thinking that I've done at all recently. The OCD part of me wants to memorize two more for January 2012 since I didn't begin Beth Moore's challenge until February 1st last year. However, I am realizing that as I approach my due date, I need to simplify some things. I also feel as if I should recognize scriptural truths that I have previously learned instead of continuing to pile more information into my brain without allowing it to process. I want these truths to come to my mind when I feel angry, distressed or sad. I want them to be a part of my life...not just something I memorized with no application.

So the last scripture that I memorized for 2011 was Jeremiah 31:3:
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."

It is always indescribably amazing to me that God loves us, even in our current condition. He didn't require us to clean up and make ourselves worthy to be his bride, otherwise, He would still be waiting on us.

Skype Shower

2012-01-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, some of my mom's sweet friends in Waco got together and hosted a baby shower for our little one. The only problem...I live 10 states away and was too big to comfortably travel home to be at the shower. So we had the shower over Skype!

It actually wasn't a problem...we knew all along that the shower would be held over Skype. It was one of the most thoughtful things and it ended up being a lot of fun for everyone....especially Bella. It was her first baby shower. Here we are before the Skyping started. Here's the view from Waco...where everyone else was. This is when I make the joke that the camera adds 10 pounds...
My mom and my aunt Rita in Waco at the shower. Rita is about to be a grandmother too! My cousin and his wife Sarah are having TWIN boys in April! We are super excited for the play-dates to come!

I feel so blessed to know some really amazing friends who want to celebrate the birth of our son with us, even while we are living in New York. (This is me holding the evite invitation that was sent out for the shower.)

I am so thankful for these friends and for the showers that have made me feel so loved. We are so incredibly grateful!

My Husband, the Photographer

2011-12-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Justin played "photographer" for me a few weeks ago and took a mini maternity session in our backyard. Here are a few of my favorites...We decided not to have a professional photographer take a maternity session for us so Justin tried to make them look professional. I think they turned out lovely...and neither of us know anything about photography!It's amazing to me that these pictures were taken just a few weeks ago, because I look so small in them. It's amazing how much our little guy has grown over the past month!
I'm not sure what Justin said to make me laugh...but he was such a great sport and worked very hard to take "professional-worthy" pictures...overall, I thought he did a great job!!
My plan was to take another session once the snow was on the ground...but we don't have any snow yet! Can you believe it? While I'd love a white Christmas, you won't hear any complaining from me about lack of snow. If we get some before the baby is born, maybe we'll have another session.

34 week update

2011-12-20T18:39:00.001-08:00

Let's be honest, when you're pregnant, your thoughts are basically consumed by this little life that hasn't even been born yet. You think about him or her most of your day, sometimes to the point that it's hard to concentrate on your actual real life. This makes it very difficult to think about much else to talk about with others. I've tried not to obsessively talk about pregnancy, while at the same time, I've tried to write down a lot of things so I would remember it later. I've kept a personal journal, but I have wanted to write some things publically. Since I turn 34 weeks tomorrow (aka 7.5 months), I thought I'd blog some of the things going on right now. I now wish I would have done it sooner, so here it goes...I totally stole this from my good friend Taylor, who is also pregnant. She posted her 16 week update today.

How far along? 34 weeks tomorrow

Heartbeat? at the 33 week appt last week, it was in the 140's.

Total weight gain/loss: so far, 28 pounds gain. It's a bizarre thought to weigh so much, but I'm totally happy about it...no feelings of self-conciousness when I step on the scale

Pregnancy Symptoms: This week, I started with the swollen ankles and hands...grrr. My hands are also red, which my doctor told me would happen...and dry, but that may be from cold weather and lots of handwashing. I started having back pain around 20 weeks, and that is still present, but not any worse. I'm always thirsty...I drink about 3 liters of water a day without even trying. Plus I wake up about 3 times a night to drink even more water. And I'm also always warm (or let's be honest, SWEATING from feeling hot)...so it's a good thing I live in upstate NY right now. I'm totally comfortable in short sleeves when the temperature is in the low 40's.

Maternity clothes: Taylor had this on hers, and I just didn't take it off. But basically I don't wear anything that's not maternity except for one pair of scrub pants that stretch. I love my maternity clothes but am slightly concerned that they are not going to cut it when it finally starts getting cold...and I'm not really interested in buying more. I'd rather buy baby clothes now.

Sleep: I have become the most high maintenance sleeper. I have two body pillows...one on either side of me, so I'm completely boxed in by pillows. About half of my nights are absolutely wonderful and I only have to get up to go to the bathroom once (plus my water chugs...which I don't have to get up for). The other nights involve me waking almost every hour to pee, drink, eat, write a list, stretch out my legs, etc. My most favorite middle of the night snack is a piece of bread...very random, but definitely fills me up.

Movement: I LOVE feeling his movement. It's one of my most favorite things. I feel like he moves at all hours of the day, but he rarely wakes me up. He's always been very low, so he kicks my bladder more than my ribs and lungs...that's fine with me. I feel claustrophobic when he moves up too high. I love figuring out if he's moving his knee or elbow or foot.

Food cravings: Fruits and vegtables...and don't forget the water. Seriously, I cannot get enough fruit. And last week I craved Papa John's cheese pizza. We ate that on Saturday night and it was delish.

Labor Signs: I started having the pre-labor contractions last week (week 33)...maybe averaging about one or two a day. They usually resolve when I sit down. I know they're a good thing, but oh man. The doctor will also start checking progress in 2 weeks!

What I miss: sleeping on my stomach, being able to bend over to pick things up, jogging

What I am looking forward to: I can't wait to see his little face, other than that, maybe a nice glass of wine

Siesta Scripture - December 1 through December 15

2011-12-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."
Jeremiah 31:3

Is there anything better than God's promises to us? His love is the reason we have hope. I love verses that are simple and reflective of God's love for us. They are humbling, because honestly, what have we done to deserve his love?

Hi how are you today? Please go pee in a cup now

2011-12-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

OB-Gyn visits for pregnant women are an obvious reality. I have found that the more times I go, the more comfortable I am and the less exciting it is. I remember the first few appointments thinking things like "Today is going to be so exciting when I get to go to the doctor!" or "Today, my life is going to be radically changed!". While I was finding out some life-changing information at those early appointments, I have found that no, my life really wasn't all that changed between week 8 and week 12 of pregnancy. I don't have those anticipatory thoughts before office visits anymore, but I am finding that towards the end of pregnany, my life is very much changing.

I will say that it never gets old to hear your child's heart beating on a doppler.

The week 8 appointment was a roller coaster for me. It was the very first appointment and I expected to get some grand confirmation of a positive pregnancy. I also had been waiting 3 weeks for this appointment since calling to schedule, so anticipation was at an all time high. I expected to hear the heartbeat and be told some grand information about how different my life was now, maybe even receive a warm, fuzzy birthday card for the baby with the due date on the front. I got no such confirmation or card and they didn't even try to hear a heart beat. They did however, take about a liter of my blood. I felt nervous about returning to work with a bandaid on my arm since none of my coworkers knew I was pregnant. I thought for sure they'd see the evidence of the blood draw and know my secret.

Ultrasound appointments (week 12 and week 20) were super exciting visits, but I don't have anymore of those scheduled. Evidently my office abides by the rule that they don't perform and then charge your insurance company for unneccessary tests. While I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't see the baby again after the 20 week sonogram until he is born, I do consider it such a blessing that there is no need to look again. As a nurse, I've seen ultrasounds on other body parts than a pregnant uterus and performed tests like bladder scans...and honestly, I always kinda thought those were neat. It's amazing how a machine can look inside a person's body to determine what's going on inside. Those were nothing compared to this. Ultrasounds of a fetus are hands-down the most amazing thing that I've seen. Maybe I feel that way because I was looking at my own child, but I also think that in general, it's such an amazing site to see a live little human in there opening his mouth, waving, kicking, swallowing and blinking. Seriously amazing...hard to put into words amazing.

I had my glucose test done at 28 weeks and honestly I thought it was going to be a lot worse than everyone prepared me for. I will say that it probably was not a wise decision to schedule this appointment at 8:00 am because I had to drink the glucola drink at 7:00 am. My office is fancy, I guess, and offers different flavors for the drink. (I had never heard of anything but orange). Since I cannot stand any kind of orange drink...I chose the lemon lime. After the first sip at 7:01, I looked over at Justin and told him it wasn't so bad. By the end of the bottle I was holding my nose and whining "I hate it...I hate it...I hate it. It's BURNING my throat. Maybe I don't have to finish these last few sips". Justin (always a rule-follower) gave me a look that indicated he was not sympathetic of my whining and I better finish or he would tell the doctor on me. I finished and did not vomit...which I considered a success despite the whining. I passed the test...which made me feel like I deserved some kind of award (or at least a shopping trip to the closest store shoe department).

Today I had my 33 week appointment. I'm at the point that I'm going to the doctor every 2 weeks now, and (side note) the OCD part of me is going crazy that I'm actually on odd weeks instead of even weeks. So far, I've had a very pleasant experience with the practice here in New York and have mostly left each visit with very positive feelings. (I won't get into the time that the check-out lady was a little short with me and I immediately went out to the parking lot and sobbed)....

They're always very complimentary of my blood pressure, like I actually have any control over it. I know, I know...lifestyle can make a big difference, but I see my vital signs as something that God has blessed me with, not something that I've worked really hard for. Especially since I pretty much eat whatever my son seems to want...even if it's a chocolate chip cookie at 9:30 in the morning. But I'll take the blood pressure complements because they always come shortly after I've walked out of the lab feeling embarrassed that my pee isn't the lightest colored cup of the bunch. (sorry if that's TMI)

So those are just a few of my thoughts from my OB visits. Everyone says to write stuff down because you won't remember it...so there it is.

75 percent

2011-12-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

Congrats to my super-smart hubby! He's 75 percent finished with Business school!! That means just one semester left baby!Here's Justin celebrating with some fireworks last weekend!!

Christmas Tree How-To

2011-12-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

I recently saw a news story about people buying their live Christmas trees online. WHAT!!

I think this brings laziness to a whole new level. I have no problem with fake Christmas trees or going to the Lowe's down the street to buy a real one. But purchasing a tree online? Really? So I thought I'd give a tutorial on purchasing a real live Christmas tree...it requires putting away your computer and your iPhone and leaving your house. So bundle up and get ready for some real fun!

First, find a Christmas tree farm and bring a friend along to help you find the perfect tree. This friend should ideally have had a bathroom break BEFORE the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree begins.

Your tree should be an ideal height for your home and should look good from all four sides. You must walk completely around the tree to determine if it is good enough for your type-A personality wife. Once you finally find your tree...CELEBRATE!! And get out the saw that you brought with you or that was provided to you by the tree farm. Or...you can pretend like you don't need the saw and try to use sheer strength to remove the tree from the ground...After you get tired, use the saw to cut down your tree. Next, find a strong, muscular man to help you carry the tree to your car. It helps if he is also very handsome!The strong, muscular, handsome man should also be tall so that he can tie the tree to your car. That way you can sit inside the car eating a candy cane with the heater on. After you get home, find a perfect place for the tree in your house. Placing it in the stand before cutting the ties is always a smart idea...Find your friend again to help you untangle the lights for the tree. Finally, enjoy your tree and explain to your friend that her tail might knock the tree over if she gets too close. Merry Christmas from the Kvasnickas!

Thankful

2011-12-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

This year, we were able to spend a week in Texas for Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving day at Justin's parents house and had a delicious meal prepared and served by....

The GUYS!!

They all worked very hard to make the meal just perfect...and I think they had a good time too. I was very impressed with their teamwork, as well as the fact that they wore aprons all morning long. I thought they looked great!
Here's Jason with the turkey! Justin took a picture of us at the table before we dug in!
Happy Thanksgiving!

The day after Thanksgiving, we drove to see the Risters in Waco. We had a second Thanksgiving meal there with all the cousins! It was so fun too...but I didn't get any pictures on my camera.

We are so thankful for our families and thankful for the time we were able to spend with them.

Siesta Scripture - November 16 through November 30

2011-12-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

There are many scriptures in the bible with the message that we are to live open-handedly. We are commanded by Christ to sell our belongings and follow him. We are warned against the powerful grip of idolatry and the fact that wealth can prevent a relationship with God. These verses, I think, are probably convicting to all of us, as Americans but we have no idea how to go about obeying them. We have SO much. We are SO overwhelmingly blessed with "stuff". But is all of our stuff really a blessing? Or is it just stuff that keeps us from focusing on eternity?

I think it's also hard to act on some of these commands because as Americans, most of us have all of our needs met. Are we really supposed to sell all of our stuff and give the money to the poor? If we do that, what do we gain? And is it even logical? Will the poor just use the money to buy cigarettes? I think instead of facing these commands and examining them for what they are, we spend a lot of time rationalizing them away by using logic. We are missing a very big part of Jesus's teaching because of this logic, and it's leaving a very large gap between the wealthiest citizens of this planet and the poorest. It's also leaving a void in our hearts and souls. In the book of Acts, people were living in community together and sharing with one another so that nobody was in need. Our world, our country, even our churches today do not resemble that model. God is teaching me a lot in this area and I could continue to ask questions, throw out rationalizations and then counter those rationalizations.

So in saying those things...the scripture I just finished memorizing is this:

"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

1 John 3:17-18

Pregnancy brain

2011-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

I recently realized that I haven't really blogged all that much about the very biggest thing going on with us right now...pregnancy. I pretty much blame everything irresponsible that I do these days on "pregnancy brain", so I think I'll go with that here too. As I'm starting to experience some panicky moments now that I'm in my 3rd trimester (how is time flying by so fast?), I felt like I should try to document at least part of this crazy and amazing experience.

I will say first off that God has revealed himself to me in brand new ways through pregnancy. It is so amazing to me that in God's divine plan, he allowed a way for us to be a part of his creation of life. Think about it, the development of a newborn baby could have occured in any way that he saw fit, but he specifically designed women to be able to maintain a developing infant while he creates life. It is amazing and humbling and honoring.

I see a lot of kids on a daily basis at my job and sometimes the conversation goes something like this:
Mom: "See...that nurse has a baby in her tummy"
Kid: "Oh yeah...Ok...Hi baby"
...or something similar. It's such a complicated concept but children readily accept that somehow it is actually possible that there is a baby in my tummy. That kind of faith and acceptance is how God wants us to approach him.

Another lesson I'm learning is how it feels to worry about your child. He isn't even born yet and I worry about things. I've always been a worrier...if you're supposed to call me when your flight lands and I don't hear from you...you better believe I'm watching the news for any headlines of plane crashes. I also assume if you call me more than two times in a row (or...on the other hand, if I have called you more than two times with no response) that something terrible has probably happened to you. Unfortunately, this child has no chance of ever missing a curfew without me sending out a search light for him. I am already anticipating that God is most likely going to use motherhood as a way to redeem some of the anxiety that remains in my heart....hopefully all of it.

Silently repeating Philippians 4:6-7 to myself

I know I always like to see people's belly shots...so here are a few of mine. I'll spare you a week by week. Here is week 28 (right after I got back from my weekend in Texas in early November)And here is a pic of me today...31 weeks along.
I'll write more pregnancy posts later...I don't know if it's really all that interesting to anyone else but I'll entertain myself into thinking that it is. When you're pregnant, it's hard to imagine that everyone you know isn't thinking about YOUR pregnancy at EVERY moment of the day like you are.

Showered

2011-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

This post is WAAAY overdue, but I still wanted to document it and post pictures. While I was in Texas a few weeks ago, some of my sweet friends threw a baby shower for us! It was the sweetest and most perfect day and I was (and still am) so grateful. They made it so perfect and beautiful...I wished it could have lasted a whole day. However, I thought it would be a good idea to wear heels (it wasn't), so my feet were glad that it was only a few hours.
So many friends came and I was so overwhelmed and felt so loved. I wish I would have taken a posed picture with each of my beautiful friends...here's the only one I got of me and Laura.
Here's Molly and I before opening gifts.Me and all the hostesses: Molly, Lauren with baby London, Amy, Tami, Noelle and Taylor! I am so blessed by these girls! And one of my favorite pics from the whole weekend...here's me and my mom! She's going to be such a wonderful grandmother!

Thanks to everyone of you that came. You made me feel so loved. And thanks to the hostesses for still loving me even while we are living on the other side of the country!

Siesta Scripture - November 1 through November 15

2011-11-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Oh I am so late posting this! I love this verse...always have. I love verses that simply honor God and give him praise.

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever."

Ephesians 3:20-21

A Day at Baylor University

2011-11-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I traveled to Texas for some time with family and friends. Justin didn't get to come this time, so I was traveling solo. Going home never gets old and the time there never seems long enough. My mom picked me up from the airport on Friday afternoon after I spent my day finding out that it's not as easy to travel through airports when pregnant. (Airplane seats are incredibly small when you're larger than normal, and I seriously was almost run over by a man in Detroit on a moving walk-way). Baby K was craving some real Mexican food since he hadn't had any since August, so I figured it was only appropriate to fill his belly (and mine) with some Uncle Julio's fajitas! My brother and dad met us there and it was such a fun night for the four of us to spend together. Baylor Homecoming is such a unique and fun event. I don't know if any other university has anything comparable. I got to see some of my most favorite girlfriends...Here's me and Cara at the Baylor Homecoming parade on Saturday morning.

The Ruby's were at the parade too, but I didn't see them until the end. I was so excited to meet little Lawson! I think he was excited too!

Heather and I at the tailgate before the game. It was such a beautiful fall day and the tailgating has gotten so much better since we were students.

We sat in the fancy seats at the game this year. The best part was that the Bears won the game...and the unlimited supply of ice cream sandwiches!

It was a lot to pack into just 24 hours in Waco, but I had such a great time! Justin and I will be back in Texas in just two weeks for Thanksgiving!

Siesta Scripture - October 16 through October 31

2011-11-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

I've always loved these truths found in Psalms. I feel like these three verses are quoted often, but rarely altogether, which is funny because they're written as one. I love how many of the Psalms convey in words just how joyful we can be because of what God has done. It's not a false joy that eventually goes away.

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:22-24

A Good Southern Woman

2011-10-29T07:18:00.001-07:00

I remember our move across the country like it was yesterday. I remember feeling a lot of contradicting emotions - fear and excitement were the main ones, but there was some dread, some relief, some anger and some happiness. It was confusing,and felt much like a whirlwind. One of the things I worried about was "changing". It's a silly thing to worry about, because over each year, we all change. We should. We should grow and learn. We should not stay the same.

I think as much as we talk about finding our identity in Christ, it's very hard to do that exclusively. There's a whole list of things that I identify with or feel as if they describe me on the left side of my blog. I imagine that each person in the world has a list that describes them as well. I'm not saying that we shouldn't find our identity in Christ, we should. But we were created with certain affections, individual interests and specific quirks. Each of us is a masterpiece created specifically by God, not thrown together half-heartedly and definitely not evolved out of something less.

One of the things that God created me with was a strong affection for the South. I am thankful for this and it was one thing that I didn't want to change when we moved. I think after living in the Northeast it has changed...it has grown stronger. So I thought I'd share some tips about how to remain "Southern" while living in the Northeast. It's not hard when many of these things are a way of life that you've always known, but some of them stand out as very counter-cultural in the Northeast.

1. Do favors...Help people move, give people rides home, cook meals for people. Consideration can never be overdone.

2. Have a stocked kitchen...I don't know if this is just how I was raised, but I find it absolutely necessary to have all of the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch stocked in my kitchen at all times. It makes me nervous when I'm running low on brown sugar or eggs. You never know when you're going to need some chocolate chip cookies and you don't want to be unprepared.

3. Host in your home...invite people into your home. Pray with them at your dinner table. Allow them to see pictures of your family and the things that you value enough to have sitting out on your mantle. This is more than just having friends over to watch a game. This is engaging and loving others.

4. Grow something outside...this can be frustrating in a new climate. You have to give up some of your old tried-and-true favorites and grow plants that actually will survive in your new climate. Even if you don't love the new plants, do it. Here's a picture of my hydrangea. It actually began blooming in the fall after I almost killed it twice this summer. Lesson learned: hydrangeas are known as a Southern flower for a reason...

5. Attend church...nobody should be confused that attending church assures salvation and labels you with the word "righteous". Finding a church in the Northeast may be difficult, but it's so important. Attending weekly will refresh you and encourage you, and remind you that you're not the only Christian on the planet. (A feeling I never once felt in the South)

6. Wear your cowboy boots weekly...and wear them proudly. I have found an exception to this rule...when there's two feet of snow on the ground, you should NOT wear your boots. They are NOT warm, they were NOT created for snow sludging and they will NOT last if you treat them with such disrespect. PS...how cute is Taylor Swift here?
7. Follow world news...a good Southern woman knows what's going on in the south, as well as the east, the west and the north. Do not allow others to influence you that just because something isn't occuring in the Northeast, it's irrelevant.

8. Stay true to your teams...contrary to the belief of many New Yorkers, there are other sports teams besides the Yankees and the Giants. Be loyal to them, even when they have hard seasons. Be humble winners and gracious losers...even when losing to the Yankees. And do your best to inform everyone how important college football really is to the fabric of American culture...football, not hockey. This is not Canada.

9. Write thank you notes...this will go a long way. Showing gratitude and appreciation also cannot be overdone.

10. Bake things from scratch...I know, I'm going back to the kitchen. But any good Southern woman can make many things from scratch, not just cookies. A good Southern woman in the 21st century knows which dishes are worth making from scratch, and which ones can be store-bought. This is a lifelong lesson I'm still learning and hope to be well-versed in this by the time I'm 65. Lesson learned: It's worth it to make apple pie from scratch.

While I'm sure that we have changed and grown as people since living here, I think that change is imminent no matter where you are or what your circumstances. We are still grateful for God's love and his grace. We are still comited to his will and we are so grateful that his plan for us is bigger than ours.

A perfect fall day

2011-10-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today was the most beautiful fall day, complete with sunshine and crisp air...AND this most perfect day fell on the weekend!! Thank you Jesus for such a blessing of a day. I felt like the sunshine made me smile more today. We decided to enjoy every bit of this day and headed to one of the local pumpkin patches. Here's a few pics from our pumpkin adventure...complete with Justin impersonating a scare crow in the corn field next to the pumpkin patch. I love him more everyday.

Whose belly is bigger?

I also thought I'd share some pretty pictures of the fall colors right now. The leaves started changing a couple of weeks ago. I haven't taken as many pictures this year of all the leaves, but it's been equally impressive as last year in my opinion.
This pictures was taken from my front porch. The trees on our street are so beautiful right now. This is Buttermilk Falls. It's right in town and literally takes 2 seconds to turn off the main road to take a picture. I've seen it in all 4 seasons now. Fall is the best!!Here's some others that I love. I didn't edit the color scheme in photobucket, even though I was very tempted. The first pic is another view of our street.

Since we are nearing the end of our time here, we have started to think about what lies ahead of us as far as moving when Justin graduates in May. Regardless of where we go or what God has in store for us, I have so enjoyed fall in the Northeast.

Siesta Scripture - October 1 through October 15

2011-10-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV

Is there anything that we cannot do with God going before us? This verse comes from the "pep talk" that Moses gave to Joshua and the Israelites before they began their conquest of the promised land. This verse can also be applicable in our lives today. Many of us are not facing battles like the Israelites, but we are still fighting in some ways. Some of our battles are in our own hearts, others are in overcoming fears involving our circumstances. I find this verse to make a lot of sense in regards to sharing the gospel. I've loved just sitting in this verse all week and focusing on just one of God's promises to his people.

Something else that has overwhelmingly blessed me this week is this song from Matt Redmon's new CD.

"Every step, we are breathing in your grace. Evermore, we'll be breathing out your praise. You are faithful, God you are faithful".

I want that to be my daily life.

SIesta Scripture - September 15 through September 30

2011-10-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, where has the past month gone? I can't believe October is almost halfway over. So this is being posted a little late, but nevertheless I enjoyed memorizing this scripture back in September. I felt like this scripture was very "alive" in its truth and conviction. I have not been the subject of too much discipline in my life, good or bad, and I also would not describe my life as being marked by "peaceful fruit of righteousness". The scripture made me think a lot about being considered righteous. I've never considered righteousness attainable, only that we are considered righteous when we are covered by Jesus. Romans 3 talks about how none of us are righteous, and the entire theme of the Old Testament shows that we could not be made righteous by following the law. So what does Hebrews 12:11 mean?

I looked into other translations, and they provided me some clarity. NIV says that discipline "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace". The Message words it as maturity in (your) relationship with God.

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:11, ESV

Apple Picking...officially a tradition

2011-10-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Now that we've lived in upstate NY for over a year, we are starting to feel like old pro's when it comes to life here. We have even started to repeat some of the activities that we enjoyed last fall...let's call it, creating traditions. One of the things that we did last fall that we really enjoyed was apple picking. Everyone here goes crazy during the fall for apples. Last year, we went kinda late in the season, so we made sure and went early this year when most of the apples were still on the trees. Last year, we "picked" most off the ground...which isn't nearly as fun as picking them from the trees.
Here's an action shot of Justin. He was very good at reaching the apples that were higher up in the trees...you know, the ones I knew we just had to have. Here I am...pregnant and picking apples...I was also the only one sweating the entire day. Ah...hormones. Confession: I also ate probably 5 apples while we were there. Ok, maybe it was 6 or 7. This year, we went apple picking with our friends Alex and Virginia. And it was a beautiful (hot) and sunny day...we had a lot of fun and got a lot of great apples!Fall colors are everywhere now. I love them and I've just started taking pictures of all the leaves. One of the things I don't remember from last year is the way that these vines turned bright red before anything else. I took this picture right outside the orchard as we were leaving.
So I've been a little lazy in the kitchen and haven't made anything with our apples yet, but that hasn't stopped us from eating them. I've had one almost everyday...the Macintosh's are the best so far! I am planning to make apple butter, apple cake and maybe a crisp. YUM!

World Trade Center Memorial

2011-09-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

During our recent trip to NYC, we visited the Memorial to the World Trade Center that just opened. Here are some of my pictures from the hour or two that we spent there. In short, since it's hard to describe, I thought it was done really well. Seeing pictures and videos of the memorial don't really do it justice. They created the place to feel so peaceful and still in the middle of what is still a construction zone. Some of the buildings are not finished yet, but the finished part was already so wonderful. The sound of the water and the green grass made it seem so relaxing. I thought that it really honored the people who died there ten years ago. Every single person's name is somewhere, mapped out strategically between the two fountains that designate where the north tower and the south tower once stood.

We're standing in front of the north tower fountain. The building behind us is about halfway finished and is going to be the tallest building in Manhattan (maybe the country?) when it's completely built. It is also part of the memorial, and even just halfway built, it was super tall.

I found myself feeling more like I was visiting a gravesite than a memorial, which I wasn't really prepared for. I very quickly realized as we went through security that some of the "tourists" around me were carrying flowers. This was not a tourist attraction to them. These people were coming to find their lost loved one's name on the fountain of the building they died in. It began to hit me that they were going to visit the burial site of their family member.

The top left picture is the fountain where the north tower stood.

To the right is a picture of a family tracing the impression of a name from the south tower fountain. Long white sheets of paper and crayons were available for people to create impressions of the names on the fountains and many people were doing it. Flowers were everywhere. We even saw a group of people, including children, praying by the north tower fountain. It was an incredibly moving place and I felt lucky to be able to see it this way. I imagine that in 50 or 60 years, people will visit the site like they visit Pearl Harbor now. Right now, it is real and fresh and raw.

I didn't know this story, but there is one tree, right next to the south tower fountain that survived the attack on September 11 and the subsequent 10 years of rebuilding. It stands very simply with supports all around it and it's a different type of tree then all the other ones in the park. People were constantly taking pictures in front of it and looking at it in awe. I imagine that the tree provided a lot of inspiration and gave a lot of hope to people who have spent the past 10 years trying to rebuild.

I LOVE NY

2011-09-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

So for over a year now, we've lived within driving distance of NYC...one of my most favorite cities in the world. We have definitely not taken advantage of living so close...so when we heard that our friends Kyle and Stephanie Simmons were planning a visit, we jumped at the chance to meet them for the weekend!

Here's my picture of us arriving at Grand Central Station. Every time we arrive, I feel the need to take a picture, even though it's the one place that we go each time we visit. We've found that the easiest and quickest way to get to Manhattan is taking a train into GCS. I think it's become one of my favorite buildings in the city...it is just so beautiful! This time, I also felt the need to try to do the Flash Mob Dance routine from the cell phone commercial...do you know the one? I laugh every. single. time.

Our hotel was basically across the street from Grand Central...which meant not very much walking with luggage. I was a big fan of that. I was an even bigger fan of this beautiful arrangement of lillies in the lobby of our hotel.

We wasted no time finding things to do with Kyle and Stephanie. Kyle figured out that the only way we could get tickets to get into the 9/11 Memorial (which opened 2 weeks ago) was to buy tickets on the New York Water Taxi. The boat ride was really enjoyable and it dropped us off right at Battery Park so we could walk to the memorial. We were able to see the city from the Hudson river and it was seriously one of the most beautiful days I've ever spent in the city.

(In case you're wondering, the Memorial is open and is free to the public, but you have to reserve a time to go inside. Those times are all booked up through December 5 at this point, so we were able to get a time that had already been reserved through the water taxi. It was done very well...it wasn't really crowded, and there was no pushing and shoving through security.)

Here's that beautiful view I was talking about.

I'm putting my 9/11 memorial pictures in another blog, but in short...it was incredible. I think every American that can go should see it...even the ones that live in NYC. :)

After an incredible lunch at Chipotle and some more walking around...my body told me that pregnancy and the city don't mix, so we headed back to our lilly lobby hotel and I took a 2 hour nap. I told Justin that it should be OBVIOUS that I was tired, because I really had no desire to go shopping.

Saturday night, we saw Spiderman on Broadway. Oh...it was amazing. It was really one of the best shows I've ever seen. The music, the costumes, the special effects...it was all incredible. I'm pretty certain Justin will dress our son as Spiderman for his first Halloween next year. Since I'm not a rule-follower, I took a picture inside the theatre of the set before the show. I was reprimanded immediately afterwards by my rule-following husband.

Here we are after the show.

By Justin's request, I'm posting this video of one of the songs from the Broadway show. I don't know if it's just me, but after I see a show, I am always obsessed with listening to the soundtrack for a few weeks afterwards. If you like U2, you will love the entire soundtrack. Enjoy!

After Spiderman, we all decided that getting cheesecake at Junior's would be a fantastic idea. It was...and the weather was the most perfect night to sit outisde and talk and laugh. It's the only time in the past 5 months that I can remember staying up past midnight. We even saw the Naked Cowboy walk into the parking garage next door to Junior's and drive out in his Maserati. We were all left to wonder...does his profession REALLY support that purchase? Really?

We finished the weekend on Sunday morning at Redeemer Presbyterian and by eating lunch at Carnegie Deli. We had such a fun weekend! Thanks Kyle and Stephanie for letting us come and enjoy it with you!

Frogs and Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...

2011-09-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

We wanted to officially announce that...

We're having a BOY!

I know most of you already heard this news about a month ago when we had our 16 week sonogram, but I wanted to wait until we had our official 20 week sonogram to announce him as a "him" on the blog. This is mainly because we've all heard those stories about someone who originally thought they were having either a boy or a girl, only to find out later that the early sonogram was wrong.

I'm so in love with this sweet face!

He was being a little stubborn and wouldn't look at us for a 3D picture, but I love these little feet too. I think they are so precious!

Bella is also super excited! We keep telling her to get ready for her brother.

And finally...since I've received some requests for belly shots, here I am at 8 weeks and again at 20 weeks in the same outfit.

It may not look like too terrible of a change from this one picture, but I have definitely felt change...physically and emotionally. Being pregnant is such a full body experience. I cry about the silliest things...and if you have been pregnant, you know that pregnant crying is way more intense then regular crying. My sweet husband has been so patient and tries to understand and help in whatever way that he can.

Physically, God is teaching me to release control of my outward appearance. My scrubs still fit for work thankfully, but most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, especially pants, may as well be packed up until we move back to Texas next spring. I had no idea how I would respond to stepping on the scale and seeing numbers that I never before would have accepted. So far, I've gained 10 pounds and I'll say that I have felt very peaceful about all of it so far and I'm excited about the "bump" making it's appearance. There's nothing I've experienced that I wouldn't do over again for this baby boy. He is such a miracle. He reminds me of that daily now that I can feel him moving inside!!

Preparing for baby

2011-09-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Um...woh! Nobody said anything about how stressful it would be to start shopping for baby things. This is unlike registering for your wedding. Wedding registry, I thought, was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. Not only do you get to pick out things that you think are stylish and wonderful, but then people actually are generous enough to buy those very things for you.

Baby registering is a whole other story. Instead of asking yourself, "Would this look nice as a centerpiece on my dining room table?" you ask yourself a thousand questions with much deeper implications. Has this been crash tested? Is it safe around a 75-pound puppy? How long will the baby be able to use it? What if I never even use it once? Will it try to collapse on my child if I'm not watching? What if my child figures out how to swallow a small piece of it? Almost every item you scan causes a mild anxiety attack to a pregnant woman. I've read reviews about all the big things...but maybe I need to be reviewing things like bath towels and bed sheets.

There's only one picture of me smiling during the whole process...at the very beginning of the day, before I realized the anxiety-provoking decisions I was about to have to make. Justin did great...and even solicited advice from other shoppers who looked friendly. I, on the other hand, threw in my hat for winning "customer who asked the most questions in the shortest amount of time" at each store we visited.

And just for fun...here's a picture of Justin trying to convince me to register for something that he really wanted...the Justin Beiber movie.

If you are a mom and you have information about things that you bought and never once used...or things that you used every single day until your child graduated from kindergarten, send those suggestions my way. I'd welcome some experienced advice.

SIesta Scripture - August 16 through August 31

2011-09-08T17:52:00.001-07:00

I can't remember how I came across this verse, but a few days before our trip to Texas, it jumped out at me. It kept coming to my mind throughout our trip because it was obvious that our land needs healing. From the dry drought in Texas to the flooding that's occuring right now where we live in the northeast, it seems that "natural disasters" have been very evident in the past year. In fact, I feel like they're becoming more severe and more common with each year that passes.

I receive daily emails from a pastor in Dallas who writes devotionals relevant to the day's breaking news and cultural ideologies. On September 7, he wrote a devotional titled "Texas Wildfires and the Compassion of God". I always think that the topic of why God allows bad things to happen results in some interesting discussion. I think there are a lot of mis-truth out there, and people have a hard time understanding how a bad thing could be caused or allowed by a loving God. I think it's also hard for us to sometimes say "I don't know the answer", especially when we have a sincere desire to honor and respect God.

Our land needs healing in more ways then one. It's not just our physical land- fields, rivers and trees- that seem to be out of control. The people in our land are hurting. They are lost and seeking truth, they are lonely and seeking love and they are empty and need to be filled. God tells us what our responsibility is as believers in Christ. I love that this verse tells us specifically what we need to do, (because I like clear instructions)...humble ourselves, pray, seek the Lord and turn away from evil. And I love that God's promise is equally clear of what his response will be to our obedience.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

I don't believe God withholds his mercy or his grace from us, but I do believe that he allows us to endure difficulties so that we will turn to him. I believe he wants us to realize our need for him, instead of us simply making him an afterthought. I believe that he wants the best for us, even if it means that we aren't comfortable or convenienced. And I most definitely believe that he is our best for us.

Facelift

2011-09-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

By request from my father-in-law, we now have a countdown to our due-date on the blog. I was absolutely amazed at how many options for pregnancy tickers are out on the internet...I chose one with fruits and vegtables...because seriously, how fun is that? This week, Baby K is the size of a sweet potato, but I honestly do not like that picture of that sweet potato...our child does not look like that, in fact, I don't really think that sweet potatoes look like that. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! I'm almost certain you will!

While adding this new element to the blog, I thought I'd give it a facelift with some new family pictures and fresh designs from my favorite blog design site...The Cutest Blog on the Block. I personally think their selection is the best...and best of all, it's free!! Enjoy!

Texas Week

2011-08-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Stars at Night are Big and Bright!!

That's right...we just got back from deep in the heart of Texas! We spent the last 8 days in Texas with so many people that we love so much! Our trip began in Dallas for a few days, followed by some time in Waco with the Risters and concluded in Austin. It was pretty exhausting, but we had SO much fun.

We got to see tons of friends! We seriously have some of the best friends that anyone could ever imagine. I tried to remember to take pictures everywhere I went, with everyone we saw...but there were so many, it was almost impossible to take that many pictures.

Amanda and Emily both live in Austin, but our friendships began in Waco, where we all grew up. I've known both of these girls for a very long time and love the phase of life we're all in. Can you guess how many babies are in this first picture? If you said one, you're wrong...there's actually 3!

We ate some great food too! The town we live in has a lot of local restaurants, which is all fine and good...but none of those restaurants serve any decent Tex-Mex or BBQ. Justin and I loaded up on both during Texas Week.

We spent a lot of time with family too. This first picture is my mom, me and my aunt Rita (my mom's sis!). Can you tell we're related?

Justin and his brother Jason were gearing up for their golf game. I can't remember who shot the best, but there was plenty of trash talk going around.

If you haven't heard, Texas is in the middle of a serious drought. I wish we could trade weather with Texas for like a week. Maybe that would be enough rain to fill up this creek that was completely dried up outside of Austin.

The main purpose for our trip to Austin was that one of Justin's college roommates was getting married. We had a great time at the wedding! And remember that BBQ I mentioned earlier? Their rehearsal dinner was at Salt Lick...I don't think there's anything better. And...did I mention that we absolutely fell in love with the city of Austin?

I was in absolute heaven because they gave hill country peaches as wedding favors. Did I mention that the only pregnancy craving I've had so far is fresh peaches? I may or may not have taken more than my share of peaches in my little burlap sack.

It's incredible how no matter how long it's been since a visit, Texas always feels like home. Friendships pick up where they left off and old places still feel familiar. I also found it incredible that neither Justin or I were bothered by the extreme heat...in fact, we enjoyed it. I think it just shows that you can handle anything in moderation. We very much hope that God will call us back to Texas when Justin is finished with school...Did I mention that graduation is less than 9 months away?

Siesta Scripture - August 1 through August 15

2011-08-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this a little early because in less than 12 hours, Justin and I are heading to Texas!! There are so many things I love about Texas...and I don't intend to spend my precious time there writing on my blog...

I found some great pics on piknic.com that remind me of Texas...charming, right?

Little Baby K has made me crave peaches. And I am NOT talking about the peaches that grow in New York...those are kind of a joke. (sorry New York) I need some real peaches...the ones that you have to wash your hands after eating because half the juice ran out when you bit into it. Plus, isn't that bowl just lovely!

Rocking chairs on porches...mmm...love it! I know that's not just a Texas thing...but it's something I love doing with my family at home. I'm getting the impression, however, that due to the recent weather in Texas that we may have to drag the rocking chairs inside with the air conditioning and just look out the windows.

So back to the real point of this blog...I am not sure if I've ever read this scripture, but I think it should be written in every Christian's heart and mind. Sometimes sharing the gospel can become something it's really not. On one end of the spectrum, you can become over-eager, about-to-explode, and hyper-vigilant, OR on the other side, you can be filled with mind-blanking fear. Paul breaks it down simply...What if we all approached it this way? What if we all truly were motivated by love and had pure intentions all the time? What if we all had clear consciences and believed sincerely that the gospel is what every person we meet actually needs to hear above all other things? I am certain that many of my "small talk" conversations would look very different.

"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

1 Timothy 1:5, ESV

Introducing...

2011-08-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't already heard, we wanted to let everyone know that we are expecting a little Baby K! We should meet him or her around February 1, 2012! We are super excited and feel very humbled by such an incredible blessing!

Please join us in praying for our little one. I know this is just the beginning of trusting in the Lord to reign over this child's life. There is so much peace in knowing that this is His child, not ours and that He is in control of this little life. Thanks for your prayers!

The Last 365 Days

2011-08-02T18:18:00.001-07:00

Exactly one year ago today, Justin and I ended our residency of the great state of Texas. On the morning of August 2, 2010, we drove out of his parents driveway in Dallas, TX and began a 25 hour drive north and east to Ithaca, NY. I cannot believe it has been a whole year.

I think about all the things that are different now from that very day. We've experienced lots of challenge and lots of growth. We've formed some incredible relationships and seen parts of the country that we didn't even know existed. We've driven to Canada, picked apples straight from a tree in an orchard, experienced 4 WHOLE seasons and learned to snowboard. At other times, we've felt homesick, out-numbered and frankly, miserably cold.

We wouldn't trade this experience for anything. We've been truly blessed by our church, our friends, my job and Justin's opportunity at school, among other things. We miss our home, but we're grateful that our God is bigger than the state of Texas.

Bella has been a little homeisck too...

Disclaimer: My sweet puppy willingly participated in order to make this photo possible.

Siesta Scripture - July 16 through July 31

2011-07-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year, I made a commitment to myself and before the Lord to take part in Beth Moore's "Siesta" scripture memorization team. Click here to see that blog and get an idea for what Beth Moore has put together. I thought I'd revisit the issue a little bit for a couple of different reasons.

I'd like to first say on the record (does my blog count as "on the record"?) that I have personally benefited SO MUCH from the program that Beth has developed. Before making this commitment to myself I found the "task" of memorizing scripture daunting, if not impossible. It's a rather large book, and sometimes I like to come up with excuses...maybe more than just sometimes. I have found in the past 6 months that I actually do think about scripture on a daily basis, however, I had no focus or direction. The reason this has worked for me so far is because for two whole weeks, I don't have to worry about memorizing every inspiring verse that I read...which is obviously an overwhelming and impossible goal. I just have one verse. One at a time. And that's how Beth designed her program.

Secondly, I have actually personally struggled with the fact that I decided to commit to posting my verses on my blog. The main reason behind my struggle is because the last thing I want to do is sound prideful. I'm not bragging. I'm not showing off or striving to appease my fear of man. A few months ago, I almost stopped posting them because of this very fear. I didn't want anyone to think that I was attempting to appear "more Godly" or "more spiritual" or whatever lingo you use. I still don't want that. However, I believe that I've adequately searched my heart and I am simply looking for some accountability through these posts. Maybe you live in a place or are surrounded by people who do not know the Lord. If so, I think you'll understand what I'm saying. There are moments when you actually want someone to pointedly look at you and say..."How are you doing in this area of your sanctification?" or "I've noticed that this sin has crept into your heart, how and when are you going to repent?". Accountability is precious and painful. But more precious than painful.

And thirdly, a confession...which makes me believe that it was truly the right decision for me to post my scriptures. About a month ago, I almost quit. But my conviction was that maybe, just maybe, one person is encouraged by the scriptures that have encouraged me. Maybe there was also a little bit of the fear of man thrown into my decision not to quit..."Would anyone notice that I made a commitment and then fell through after only 5 months?" My answer was that I would notice, and that sanctification sometimes requires personal discipline.

So all that to say, I actually came across the scripture that I just finished memorizing on another friend's facebook page. I cannot remember who it was that posted this verse, but I felt so drawn to it and was able to memorize it easily. It also very perfectly fits into the sermon we heard at our church this morning, which I think is just one example of how alive scripture is, even now, 2000 years after it was written.

"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace."
Romans 11:6, ESV

Paul is writing that even though men and women were unable to obey the law that was given to them, he has still not rejected them. He has made a way for a remnant to be reconciled to him. I've recently found so much peace in that word, "remnant". I've recently learned just how many times Paul had to preach against the idea that added man's effort to Christ's sacrifice. 2,000 years ago, they wanted to observe specific holy days and require circumcision...today we want our Christians to abstain from alcohol and go to church on Sundays. It's all very similar...we're putting emphasis on our efforts to earn our justification before God, instead of recognizing the power of grace. So this verse is such a reason to be joyful and I was so encouraged by whoever it was that posted it on her facebook wall last week.

Obsessions

2011-07-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've recently become obsessed with some things that have taken my mind (and time) away from my own personal blog. "Obsessed" might be a strong word, especially if you sit and think deeply about the implications of an obsession, but in reality, I can't get enough of some of these things. Many of these are things that my husband and I have been able to share together and THAT, my friends, makes them cherish-worthy.

At one point this winter, I will confess that I was becoming quite a blog stalker. I was writing blogs, reading blogs, linking to strangers blogs after reading blogs. It got a little carried away. I'd normally respond to that confession with the defense that "what else are you supposed to do when there's two feet of snow outside?"...however, one day, my husband looked over at me with sad eyes and said "I feel like you care more about your blogs than me."

OUCH!

I began making a point to stay off my computer. I know this happens to other couples...snowed in or not. You suddenly look up one day and you're both sitting in the same room together, but your both enamored by some piece of technology. And you haven't spoken a word to one another in hours...maybe days. We never got there, but Justin's comment to me was a wake up call.

Then they started airing that commercial where the girl signs her parents up for facebook and complains that they only have X number of friends. She states how pathetic they are and that "This is living" as she's sitting in front of her computer. Meanwhile, her parents are out kayaking with their buddies.

Lord, don't ever let me become addicted or "obsessed" with meaningless-ness.

In thinking more about it, I'm so grateful for even the minor ways that marriage teaches us sanctification. If Justin hadn't said what he did, I very well could have sunk more into a 2-dimensional world of blog stalking, social media and...ok, I admit it...shopping on Zappos.com. I'm not knocking any of those things specifically, but I do think it's wise to look at how much time I am spending on a certain activity or interest. Is it building up or tearing down? How is it affecting my marriage?

So...on to the summer "obsessions" that I truly believe have brought Justin and I closer over this summer...in no particular order.

1. Summer: There is no greater feeling than the sunshine on your face after a long cloudy winter and spring. No greater feeling. I can't explain it to sunny-climate dwellers. We are obsessed with summer and everything you can DO in the summer! Grilling out, gardening, swimming, hiking...I could go on. And most of those things, yes, you can do in the winter. But oh, they are so much more enjoyable in 78 degree weather. We are NOT obsessed with the fact that nobody has central A/C up here.

2. Friday Night Lights: Deep breath here. How did I never watch this show? We are ob-sessed. We signed up for a Netflix account just so we could watch this entire series. We began Season 1 in May and are about to start Season 5...which is available by mail DVD only right now. You'd think it would make us homesick for Texas, and maybe it does, but in a great way. We both love Texas more since leaving.

I want so badly to say "Texas Forever" and "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, CAN'T LOSE" but I realize that all the rest of you have been doing that for years. I just now understand...

3. Reading: I've never been a great reader. I've always wanted to be good at it, but the odds are against me. I'm a slow reader, with a short attention span and a puppy who wants to play. However, I've been able to read some incredible books this summer. Obvi...Francine Rivers is the author of two of my recent reads.

4. The DIY Network: So in the back of our minds, we are starting to think about the process of moving away from Ithaca, NY. What? That surprises you? No seriously, this has been a good home for the two years we are here, but we very much would love to buy a home, maybe take on a remodeling project or two and give Bella the backyard she's always dreamed of. As an outlet for thinking about our future move / house purchase / renovation project, we've begun watching the DIY (do-it-yourself) network on a pretty regular basis. We discuss how great it would be for the Yard Crashers guy to find us in a Lowes. Or how we would argue less and appear much smarter than the couples on Renovation Realities. I plan to fill our hypothetical yard with these...and then teach Bella that they are neither toys or friends.

Aren't they lovely?

5. Bella: I know...I know...she's not a NEW obsession. Her new obsession, however is jumping on the couch when we're not looking. Or when I'm napping...she thinks it's fun to jump on my back and smother me. Yes...I'm speaking of a specific occasion.
May our "obsessions" never overshadow Jesus Christ. May we always fix our eyes on him and may we spend more time in his presence than in the presence of our televisions and computers (even if we ARE watching something as great as Friday Night Lights).

Siesta Scripture - July 1 through July 15

2011-07-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

This is a verse that I have loved for a very long time. I have actually memorized it in the past, so it was not a new scripture to memorize for me. However, I just wanted to spend a few days voicing it to myself. It's incredible to think of the God of the universe taking great delight in me or rejoicing over me. I also love the image that comes to my head when I think about being "quieted with love". Aren't you picturing the strongest dad in the world holding a small child in his lap? Maybe that child was scared by something but now is no longer afraid because of her father's protection. Maybe her little face is buried in his chest and his arms are completely double-wrapped around her. That's my picture.

"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

Thousand Islands

2011-07-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth of July weekend, Justin and I took a little road trip up to the Thousand Islands. As a couple of Texan's, neither of us had ever heard of the area, but locals here raved about it, so we thought we'd check it out. The Thousand Islands is the area bordering New York and Canada (just northeast of Lake Ontario) where the Saint Lawrence river flows out towards the Atlantic Ocean. There are something like 1,700 islands speckled throughout the St. Lawrence river and New York's elite can purchase an island for themselves. Here's a map for the visual learners who did not follow that paragraph of directions at all.

The big attraction is a castle in Alexandria Bay, NY called Boldt Castle (or Heart Castle). The story behind the castle is that Mr. Boldt purchased Heart Island in 1904 for his wife and decided to build a castle for her on the island. When construction was about 95% complete, Mrs. Boldt died of tuberculosis and all construction was discontinued. Mr. Boldt never returned to the island and the castle was abandoned until sometime in the 1970's.

Justin and I took a boat cruise which took us up to Canada and then dropped us off on Heart Island so that we could walk through the castle. Here's Justin waiting in line to get on the boat. Cue pushy, loud tourists speaking every language on earth but English.

It may sound dorky, but we very much enjoyed the historical background stories that the tour provided, as well as views of some of the most amazing houses I've ever seen.

This is Tom Thumb Island...the smallest island in the Thousand Islands. It has one tree and one shrub. I don't know who owns it, but I think you could probably buy it for like $100,000.

Cruisin...

This is the shortest international bridge in the world...or so we were told. The house is on the Canada side, and the American Island has a garden on it. And the same family owns both islands and the bridge.

We were official tourists...as we ate ice cream every time somebody was selling it.

The flowers at Boldt Castle were gorgeous. I had to restrain myself from taking only pictures of flowers. It's very crazy to think that this area of the country averages 100 inches of snow a year when they have flowers this beautiful.

To continue with the story about the castle...at some point in the 1970's a group purchased the castle (I'm not sure who they bought it from??), but the purchase price was $1. That's right...one dollar. In all fairness, the castle was almost literally falling down. They've spent millions of dollars over the past 40 years restoring the castle. One of the requirements is that they can't add anything that wasn't originally built, so once they finish the restoration, the castle will still only be 95% complete.

On Sunday night, we drove over to the town of Clayton, NY from Alexandria Bay to watch their firework show over the water. Clayton was much less tourist-y and we found a table at a little bakery right on the water to watch the show. We laughed at how early we would have had to arrive at a fireworks show in a large city to get seats like the ones we snagged.

Here's the view we had while waiting for the fireworks.

The sunsets in the summer up here last about 45 minutes long. This one was especially beautiful and we had nothing else to do but sit and watch.

It was fun to watch fireworks with Canada in the background.

Happy Birthday to our great country!

Siesta Scripture - June 16 through June 30

2011-07-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have found a lot of peace in this scripture and I hope to find even more. What I mean by that specifically is that I literally repeat this verse (sometimes outloud) to myself on a daily basis. We all have things that we're anxious about. Yet we're commanded not to be anxious. Not only are we commanded against it, but we are told how to combat it and given the promise of peace when we do. I also love that this peace is described as peace that is beyond our human understanding. It's easy to have peace when circumstances are going well. But that kind of peace is not hard to comprehend or understand. I wonder what we would look like as a people if we all wrote this scripture deeply on our hearts and took its command seriously.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 4:6-7

Summer Strawberries

2011-06-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Justin and I went strawberry picking. I know what you're thinking, and no, it is not cheesy. It was so fun. I did learn a valuable lesson though...don't sit down in the strawberry patch while wearing your favorite khaki shorts.

Have I mentioned on my blog that I'm growing some strawberry plants on our patio? Well, to be correct...only one of them has sprouted, and it has yet to grow any fruit. I'm afraid my efforts this year have been in vain and fruit doesn't grow until year 2.

We drove about 30 minutes north to Grisamore Farms, where they have all sorts of pick-your-own produce. I want to go back in a month for blueberries...they're my new obsession. As we walked through the strawberry field, you didn't even have to bend over to smell the strawberries. It smelled delicious and Justin had to keep reminding me of insect poop to keep me from eating all the strawberries instead of just picking them.

Justin had a great time...he only wanted to pick the biggest ones. Evidently the ones I was picking were too small.

I love this picture! It makes me feel so summer-y.

The spoils!! We picked just over 5 pounds of strawberries in about 45 minutes. I absolutely wanted to stay and pick more, but you have to eat strawberries fast and I don't think we could eat any more strawberries this week then we already have.

Every summer, I make a batch of jam from fresh fruit. I've typically done peach, but I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to make strawberry jam from fresh strawberries!

Jam-making has a bad reputation I think. It's not as hard as people say it is...Here's my recipe that I tweaked from a bunch of online recipes.

Ithaca Strawberry Jam
2 pounds of strawberries (about 4 cups), hulled
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp Pectin (Sure-Gel)

You don't have to use Pectin. I've made jam before and I've actually never used it until this time. I didn't notice any difference in cooking time or in flavor. However, most recipes out there call for the whole package, but I didn't do that, so maybe that's why I didn't notice a difference.

1. Mash hulled strawberries in a bowl. Add sugar and pectin. Allow mixture to sit for 10-20 minutes so flavors will blend.
2. Pour mixture into a pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir continually until mix reaches the "jell point".
3. Bring a smaller pot to a boil and place the jar you plan to use in the boiling water. The jar must be hot when you pour the jam inside or it will crack.
4. Transfer jam to hot, sterile jar. I don't process my jam, because we eat it right away. But if you need to process it, leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process the jar in a water bath.

Figuring out the jell point can seem confusing or complex, but it's really not. You will notice a difference in the consistency while stirring. My test is to stick a spoon into the mixture and pull it straight out. If the jam drips off the spoon, it hasn't jelled yet.

Of course you always want to make sure and have a cooking buddy in the kitchen with you...just in case you drop anything on the floor.

Texas Trip

2011-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I took a MUCH-NEEDED trip to Texas. Holla! I originally booked the trip so that I could attend my 10 year high school reunion, however, I had LOTS of other people I wanted to see!

The weekend began as I stepped out of DFW airport into what I thought was an outdoor sauna...oh no, wait...it was just Texas summer. This is not to be confused with Ithaca summer...which maxes out around 85 degrees during the day. People here seem to think that's something worth talking about. There's a specific feel to an evening when the sun goes down and it's still over 90 degrees. I can't describe it to anyone here...but it feels like home.

My long-time friend Amy Marable, whisked me away from the airport and straight to the nearest yogurt store. This was very appropriate as 1.) I was already melting and loving it and 2.) Ithaca has no build-your-own yogurt cup stores. I have no idea why Ithaca has not embraced the yogurt industry...I think it would be HUGE here. Even in the winter...people still line up at the ice cream shop when there's snow outside.

I may or may not have put more peanut butter cup crumbles in my yogurt cup than actual yogurt.

After spending some great time with Amy and her two sweet daughters, another friend of mine, Tami Spencer, wisked me to the nearest Cantina Laredo, one of my favorite restuarants. (I'm liking the use of the word "wisked" so I'm going with it). This was appropriate as well as 1.) Ithaca has NO real, reliable Mexican food and 2.) I had already woken up from my peanut butter cup coma and was ready for more food. Everything is bigger in Texas, right? Including my waist.

So dinner with 5 of my most favorite girls was perfect! One of the best things that one of them said to me was that it was like I had never left. I love that I can pick up with these girls right where I left off. I am so blessed by their friendships.

After dinner, my brother Ryan picked me up from the restaurant and we headed to Waco for the weekend. We had so much to catch up on and the drive with him was one of my favorite parts of the weekend...even though the East Coast clock in my brain was telling me that it was bedtime.

I spent some GREAT time with my family this weekend. We did lots of eating, napping, and catching up. My mom and I spent some great time together....we went on a walk, to the mall and even relaxed in the swimming pool.

So back to the high school reunion...

I originally booked my flight on this specific weekend so that I could attend maybe one or two of the events planned for the weekend. Two weeks before the reunion, an email went out. The reunion has been post-poned! I didn't let the news get me down...and I certainly didn't cancel my trip. We simply made other plans...and we had a fabulous time.

So my girlfriends from high school and I put a time capsule together the summer that we graduated. I actually had no recollection of doing this, but my name was signed on the lid of the capsule, so I'm assuming I was actually there. It strangely made me feel much better when a couple of other girls didn't remember doing this either.

Those of us in town utilized the weekend to go through that time capsule piece by piece...picture by picture...love letter by love letter. Some of the things we felt valuable enough to save and put in a box for ten years was quite amazing. An old backpack with school work inside still. A 6th grade class schedule. A Hawaiian lei. Some feminine hygeine products. Even some "mean girl" letters that were quite hilarious now. What were we thinking? Other items were quite meaningful...we all wrote what we predicted everyone would be doing. It was lots of fun and certainly didn't feel as if 10 years had gone by.

A group of us planned to have dinner at Ninfa's on Saturday night...oh yes...that's Mexican food for the 2nd time in 24 hours. Can you say "Heaven"? The group of 20-ish turned out to be something like 40 people. I think our waiter wanted to confiscate everyone's cell phones so people would stop texting other people to come over.

Here's Beth and Ashley. I couldn't possibly sum up my friendship with each of them in a blog, but in short...they are so special to me and always will be.
Here's a group shot of almost everyone (minus spouses) that came to the "Unofficial Reunion". There's talk of the real reunion being rescheduled, but this was just perfect in my opinion.

Sunday was spent like a normal Sunday, plus it was father's day. I have such a great father and felt really lucky to spend the day with him. We took a picture at his Father's Day lunch, but it's on my mom's camera. On my final day, my mom and I drove through Fort Worth on the way to the airport. My aunt Rita met us for a quick lunch and we had a blast. Can you tell they're sisters?

So very quickly...for my short-attention span readers...here is a synopsis of my Texas trip.

Baggage claiming. Airport exiting. Begin sweating. Peanut butter cups. Baby girl Molly. Sunglasses required. Sweating profusely at sundown. Legit queso. Great friends. Blessed. Drive to Waco with my brother. Exhausted. Breakfast on the patio. Walk with mom. Schmaltz's Saturday lunch. Family. Pool swimming. Time capsule opening. Old friends. More Mexican food. Belly rubbing. Lots of pictures. Lots of hugs. Lots of laughing. Sunday morning worshipping. Fathers Day lunching. Sunday afternoon napping. Broken suitcase fixing. Breakfast for dinner. Girls lunch with Rita and mom. Flight delayed. Flight changed. Flight arrived. Bella and Justin picking me up. Exhausted. Blessed.

Siesta Scripture - June 1 through 15

2011-06-21T16:40:00.001-07:00

I've known this scripture for a long time, however, I've never had it memorized. Sometimes the things we have known for a long time, we take for granted and don't allow them to be written on our hearts. So I wanted this to be on my heart. Not just something I recognize when I hear it.

I love this scripture because not only does it show how God loves us and created us individually but it states His control over every little detail.

"For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
Psalm 139:13-14

Rainforest Anniversary

2011-06-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary this past May 30. Two years! I know it may not seem like a long time to some of you old pro's, but I have no idea where this past year has gone. I must admit, (although it's probably not a surprise to anyone), that I've spent parts of this year wishing for them to be over (ahem...January through April). Winter was rough for both of us. There's not one part of me looking forward to spending a second winter up here, but for now, we're simply enjoying the summer weather...which really feels more like spring to us.

Our anniversary happened to fall on Memorial Day Monday this year, so neither of us had to work...so we spent the whole day together. What a treat! In the afternoon, we headed to a town about 30 minutes away called Watkins Glen and jumped on a hiking trail like we had never been on before.

This was by far, the most incredible hike we've done here...and I'm not just saying that because we've been cooped up all winter. It was really unbelievably beautiful. I kept saying how I felt like I was in a rain forest.

This is a waterfall that you hike underneath...can you see the people getting soaked under it? During other parts of the year that are more dry, I think this waterfall dries up. I'm so thankful we had a chance to see it.

Justin had a great time!

Here's the other waterfall that you hike underneath. Can you see Justin on the other side waving?

Again, here's a picture that just captures the beauty so well. I even like how you can see people in the picture so there's a scale for how impressive it all was. I found it so peaceful the way the sun bounced off the leaves combined with the sound of the rushing water.

Here we are underneath that large waterfall where it was cold, dark and LOUD!

Siesta Scripture - May 16 through 31

2011-05-31T16:49:00.001-07:00

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that we live in a broken world. Bad things happen to good people, and good things to bad. Seemingly unfair circumstances pepper our news everyday...in the form of personal crimes, natural disasters and corruption in governments. There's not a person on earth who hasn't uttered the words "that's not fair" or "why did that have to happen?".

Because of our sin, we are objects of destruction. We live in an imperfect world because we are imperfect people. God didn't create the world to be the way it is. But in his creation, he gave us a choice to love him; much in the same way that we want our spouses or children to love us by their own choice, not by our oppressive force. Jesus will return to claim those who love him, and we will spend eternal glory with him. The "end times" has recently been in the news, with claims of the end of the world upon us. Even though there's a lot more to it, I am encouraged by what scripture tells me about Christ's return to earth. I found this scripture very easy to memorize...

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21: 3-4

Marriage and Barack Obama

2011-05-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a conversation that Justin and I had the other night...

4:35 am
L: "What are you doing up?"
J: "Bella was crying by the door to go outside, so I let her out."
L: "Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't even hear her."
J: "That's ok, but I can't talk about it now. I was having a dream about Barack Obama (matter-0f-factly) and I was enjoying it."

10:30am
L: "Do you remember what you said to me last night?"
J: "Yeah...(excited) I was having a dream about Barack Obama. We were just hangin' out...like we'd been friends forever."

6:30pm
J: (After seeing Barack Obama on TV)..."YO WHAT'S UP DAWG!"
L: (flatly) "Oh yeah, there's your friend."

Marriage is really fun sometimes!

Adventure at Five Thousand Feet

2011-05-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I did something very out of character for me. I went flying with a friend of mine in a very small plane. This plane was tiiii-ny. Emily and I were actually there to provide extra weight for a pilot learning how to fly a new plane. (We were calling ourselves the ballasts...but I don't really know what that meant.) Do you see how this is a scary, high-risk behavior? If not, let me repeat myself. I went up in the air...in a plane that seats only 4 people...with a pilot who I'd never met before...who had never flown that type of plane before.

Here's Emily and our pilot. And you can kinda get an idea for how small the plane was. I chose just to try not to think about it.

I took this picture of our pilot's instructor trying to open up a map. Again...notice the plane size. It felt like a compact car inside. I thought it would be funny to take a picture showing that our pilots were "lost" 5,000 feet up in the air.

It ended up not really being very funny, because they were getting out the map to cover up the pilot's eyes. Evidently, one of the training requirements is to fly the plane with no visibility outside. As soon as we realized what they were actually doing, the map was no longer funny, but a small reason to panic.

It was a beautiful view from up in the plane. However, it wasn't just a nice joy-ride. We were not informed (this was probably on purpose) before getting on the plane that the pilot needed to get checked off on certain turns and simulated situations. At one point, without giving any warning to the "ballasts" the plane's engine was shut off to simulate engine failure. My heart told me it was not a simulation...I'm quite sure it jumped into my throat when that plane engine "died".

We also did lots of turns where the instructor told us to look at the horizon because "it will go much better for us". Those were his exact words. I rebelled once and looked inside the plane during one of the turns...and I was instantly sorry. However, I never got nauseated, which kinda became a source of personal pride for me. We did politely ask them not to do "zero gravity" while we were "ballasting".

I have no idea if that's a word...but I'm going with it.

I took this picture (below) of our house. I'll spare you of trying to describe where in the picture we live because I'm certain that a.) you don't care that much or b.) you'd get confused...but just know that this is our neighborhood.

We SURVIVED! No barf bags needed!

Emily is a nurse with me at the pediatric practice here. She has become a very sweet friend and a fun person to work with! I'm very grateful she asked me to come along (as a ballast).

And as a side note, I thought I'd take a moment to brag about my brave, knight-in-shining-armor husband. Last weekend, Justin bravely attacked and killed a predator lurking outside our bedroom window...which is ground level, I might add...since our first floor is half-way underground.

Justin was so brave and killed him on the first try...I, on the other hand, stayed up on the balcony the whole time with Bella and our next-door neighbor screaming and giving directions. Somebody needed to give instructions and take pictures!! We totally thought it was a Copperhead, but evidently, those don't live in New York. Everyone at work was very clear with me that there are no poisonous snakes in New York...so we looked online and the internet told us it was an Eastern Milk Snake. Poisonous or not...that thing was not staying alive.

Here's Justin disposing of the body. Thanks for being so brave J!

Siesta Scripture - May 1 through May 15

2011-05-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

I just finished memorizing Proverbs 24:17-18. It's obvious...I chose the verse solely based on the reaction of some American citizens to the death of our country's number one political enemy. Justin and I watched the presidential speech late that Sunday night and promptly went to sleep when Obama stepped away from the microphone. The next morning, I was disheartened by the news coverage on Good Morning America. I wasn't sure why...it was great news, a reason to celebrate, right? Then I saw a group of people standing outside the newsroom holding up the front page of the newspaper with the headline that read "Rot in Hell". Who wrote that? Do they know the implications of that phrase? My heart was suddenly broken, while at the same time, I felt guilt for being so un-patriotic. I didn't know how to feel, so I prayed about what my heart response should be. About 24 hours later, the Christian community spoke out against the celebrations in America...even some non-Christians voiced the same thought. Facebook and Twitter were filled with quotes and scriptures stating how hate multiplies hate, and we are no better than those on the other side of the world who rejoiced on 9/11.

So while it may be a cliche scripture to memorize at this time, I don't mind. Scripture was given to us for us to learn to fight against our flesh. It's one thing to read a scripture and nod your head in agreement, it's quite another to put something into practice that goes against your fleshly desires.

"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him." Proverbs 24:17-18

Hobby Time

2011-05-14T13:45:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, I was feeling quite frustrated with the weather outside and decided that since it was not yet warm enough to lay out next to a swimming pool while reading a Francine Rivers book, I would need to find something to occupy my free time. You see, I'm very used to pulling out my swimsuits in March, but this year, the big accomplishment in March was putting away my snow boots.

Oh that reminds me, does anyone have a swimming pool here? I can't imagine it would be worth the maintenance over the winter, but if so, I'd love to be friends this summer.

So I started thinking about all the things I wish I knew how to do better (or at all).

Speak Spanish.
Play the piano.
Use a sewing machine.
Plant a vegtable garden.

Well...nobody speaks Spanish here. We have no room for a piano or a sewing machine in our house. And I don't have a yard to plant things in...only a second-floor patio. But I wasn't stumped for long...

For my birthday, Justin gave me some pots to plant things in, along with bulbs of some of the flowers we had in our wedding. (Cue sigh)...Oh, and a big bag of potting soil. I might be the only girl in the world who thinks a big bag of dirt is a great birthday present from her husband...I'm replaying the scene in Father of the Bride where Brian gets Annie a blender as a wedding gift.

I made no assumptions about what role Justin felt like I should be playing in our marriage and instead took my gift as a cue that I could spend some money on planting some great things on our patio. I headed to Home Depot a few Sunday's later and came home with seeds to plant blueberries, strawberries and some other climate-appropriate flowers. I also bought a started kit for some herbs, which are doing quite nicely now.

Here's the parlsey (left) and cilantro (right). Justin was quite dissapointed when I told him that we couldn't start using them for another couple of months.
Here's one of my pots with some sprouts (I think calla lillies). I know a lot of my flower selections were probably not the most practical. But I figure I can make some mistakes with a lot less pressure when I'm using a pot.

So to be honest, the planting didn't take very long and when it was all said and done, I was left with a couple of pots of dirt that needed to be covered up because it was still getting below freezing at night. My thirst was not yet quenched, but I was out of "hobby" money.

I headed to Michael's to find a new hobby...and began my journey of learning to knit.

I know...I know...Justin has already teased me and called me a grandma. I don't care. The idea sparked in my head as a modification of my sewing machine goal...as well as that I was trying to find some cute things to buy for a baby shower up here. It was slim pickin's...and then I started thinking, what if I could MAKE cute baby shower gifts and not have to buy lame ones from Target! I could teach myself to knit!!

Even standing in the back of the craft store, I was doubting my attention span, so I bought one of the cheapest bunches of yarn and some knitting needles for like $2. That way my investment wasn't too high. I sat down in the store and started thumbing through a knitting book that cost $29.99 and felt like I was reading Chinese. I decided I'd try to find some "How-To" video's on YouTube and checked out with my yarn and needles for less than $5.

To my delight...I found some great videos on YouTube. Here's my first project that was supposed to be a small square.

After making more lop-sided squares, I started getting bored and realized if I didn't start a project, I'd soon quit this new hobby. I asked Justin if I could knit him something (to which he responded he'd like for my first project to be a blanket)...and so I began working on his scarf. Here's the progress so far...it's about a foot and a half long...

This scarf is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I still have intentions to knit other cute things later, but unless I want to buy some new needles, I have to finish one project at a time. I can't just put this project down because I'm bored with it and start something else...something I'm notorious for doing.

I'll post a picture of Justin wearing the final product...hopefully it won't take until next winter for me to finish.

Four Seasons

2011-05-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's been extremely interesting living in a place that has four actual seasons. Although at this point, I'm not sure if spring exists here...at least not the spring I know and love.

We got a glimpse of summer last August when we first moved here. It was fantabulous. (Fantastic and Fabulous...start using it, I'm certain it will catch on). Summer in New York is much different than Texas. In New York, the grass is still green in August...not scorched. The temperature hovers around 85 degrees and people complain that it's too hot. While that may sound a little crazy, I remember being glad it didn't get any hotter, as our one window unit was struggling to keep our upstairs cooler than 80 degrees.

Here's Bella enjoying New York summer.

Fall in New York was double fantabulous. I have always loved fall in Texas...I mean, what better relief than when the weatherman stops saying the words "one-hundred" in front of each day's high temperature...and I still think it's great...but my first fall in New York was much like how I imagine people felt the first time they watched TV in color.

Here's Bella enjoying New York fall.

Oh winter...I love and hate you at the same time. There's a coziness that comes when everything is covered in snow and you can smell someone's furnace burning pine logs. It's nothing short of lovely when your heated floors greet your feet in the morning when you get out of bed. However, there's also no way to describe how annoying it is when yet again, you're late for work and your windshield wipers are frozen solid to your windshield, there's snow all over your clothes from cleaning that windshield, and your fingers are so frozen you have to run cold water over them so they won't feel frost bitten...I digress.

To end on a positive, there's not too many things out there that are more fun than watching your puppy enjoy snow for the first time.

And Spring...as I said before...I'm not sure spring really exists in New York. We've had a few "spring-like" days and I think I've worn shorts outside twice. Most of those days have been on work-days, and I've found myself contemplating whether or not I should spend those days outside, soaking up sunshine...I haven't called in...yet.

Here's Bella soaking up some spring sunshine.

Bella's not too picky about what season it is outside. She's pretty content no matter what.

The News

2011-05-07T11:26:00.001-07:00

Did you know? Have you heard yet? Justin finished his first year of grad school this past Friday! He's half an MBA!

Everyone told us that this year (well, both years really) would go by quickly. I'd say they were right...right up until we got to the middle of April and it was still 30 degrees outside and not one tree had sprouted any leaves. At that point, it still felt like February outside, so it did NOT seem like time was "flying by". So needless to say, May kinda snuck up on us and then suddenly, Justin was finished with his semester.

Here's Justin on his first day of school back in August. I love this picture because I think it looks like Bella is trying to pose professionally too. (Disclaimer: No judging the blandness of our home in the background...we had just moved in and the walls were still bare...you know me better than that).

Justin and the "Big Red Bear". This was taken at the one basketball game we attended this year...which we won!

Justin started his summer internship today...so he officially took the weekend off before jumping right in. He's working on a project for Cornell which sounds incredibly complicated and if I tried to explain it on the blog (or in words for that matter) I'd just mess it up. Basically, he has an office in the School of Engineering and I'm quite certain at least one person has to report to him and call him "sir". We keep it as Southern as possible.

Congratulations Sir! We are so proud of you!

Siesta Scripture - April 16 through April 30

2011-05-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I really loved this scripture because I felt like it speaks to many of the characteristics of God. Isn't that why we read and meditate on scripture in the first place...to know our Lord? Verse 15 tells us that God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, loving and faithful.

"But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant."
Psalm 86:15-16

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-05-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my mom's birthday! My mom and I have have had lots of great times together. Here we are at the M&Ms store in New York City last Christmas.

A bond between a mother and daughter is special...mom's teach their daughters the most important things...like how to play Pac-Man.

In some ways, we're much like "sisters".

Happy Birthday mom! I hope that you have felt very special today and know that you are so loved. I am so thankful for you, and love the fun times we have shared over the past 28 years. Some of my most favorite times are when we just laugh together. I wish I could have spent the day with you shopping and brunch-ing at Sironia. Hope your day was wonderful...

Easter Cupcakes

2011-04-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone!!

I was trying to think of some fun things to do for Easter this year, all of which needed to take place inside, since it's been raining non-stop since it became too warm for snow. Evidently places other than Texas get a lot more precipitation. So I came across a recipe for a rainbow cake...and I thought to myself, "self...that would probably brighten up your day!"

Isn't it beautiful!?!

Well, I'd love to take credit for that creation, but I decided not to make a rainbow cake because it called for TWO boxes of cake mix...and I only had one. So instead, I made rainbow cupcakes and called them Easter cupcakes. Literally...I was giddy while making them!

I was really excited for Justin to bite into his first cupcake...here's his reaction! Ha! Priceless!

If this doesn't make you smile...I don't know what will!

Even clean up was fun....

Don't worry...we licked the bowls after the photo shoot! :)

I can only imagine how fun this would be do to with children! We also had an Easter egg hunt in our house, but didn't take any action photos of that.

Doggy Daycare

2011-04-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ok...I'm officially "that" dog person. The one that talks about my dog like she's my child. The one who tells stories about her thinking other people care. I'm aware of it...and that's the first step. Now that I'm aware...I can certainly start dealing with it appropriately. Before I start dealing with it...I thought I'd give a little update on my sweet girl Bella (because I know everyone else cares a whole lot)!

Bella has settled into a little bit of a routine. She goes to "Doggy Daycare" on Tuesday mornings. She LOVES daycare, and to my delight, she's become appropriately socialized to other dogs and I didn't so much as have to lift a finger myself. (OK...I had to lift a 70 pound lab into the trunk of my car...but who's counting) Here's a picture I pulled off the daycare's facebook page. Bella's not in the picture, but these are some of her friends. I'm 100% certain I've never seen her lying down on this bed....there's way to much to do at daycare to be lying around.

**ANNOUNCEMENT**
Bella has met someone. Allow me to introduce everyone to Bella's boyfriend from daycare.... his name is Hammer!

I know...I was shocked too. (And in all seriousness, where did his owners get the name "Hammer"??) I thought her taste in selecting her boyfriend would have been a litte different. Justin and I have a lot of fun teasing Bella about Hammer. We may or may not have sang to her "Bella & Hammer sitting in a tree, L-I-C-K-I-N-G". We may or may not have harmonized while singing. Who am I kidding? That did NOT happen...harmonizing, I mean.

One of the best things is that they give Report Cards after a day of daycare describing their activities, and who their best friends were that day. I took a picture of her first one back in December. I think they're hilarious...and I always bring them to work and show them to my coworkers who seem to care (because they ALL do).

Now that it's gotten warmer outside, (and Bella has been appropriately socialized), we have made a few trips to the dog park again. Here's Bella playing with her friend Charlie, who belongs to some of our friends, Peter and Teresa. Charlie is from Boston. He has as much energy as Bella...maybe more. Charlie has a better mom than Bella does...she took him on a walk everyday this winter. Bella's mom did not.

We love you Bella...no matter who you choose for your boyfriend!

Oh...what's that? You want to see the daycare's facebook page and watch videos of the dogs playing together? Ok...click here!

Siesta Scripture - April 1 through April 15

2011-04-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Seriously a great verse...

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

1 Corinthians 5:17

HaPpY BiRtHdAy DaD!!!

2011-04-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's birthday!!

Even though I live far away, I hope you've had a fantastic birthday today!!

Happy birthday Dad! I hope you know that I love you and am so very thankful for you. We have so many fun memories together, from driving out to Ruidoso, to practicing softball in the backyard, to conversations on the back porch. I look forward to many more memories together and as a family! I am so blessed that you are my dad-un!

Follow Me

2011-04-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here's something that I've been incredibly convicted about over the past few weeks.

In order to be one of Christ's disciples, we must FIRST follow Him. It's pretty simple. It's something that when you grow up in church, you've heard it a million and one times. But think about what this requirement means to you, as an American in the 21st Century.

Backing up a little bit...a few weeks ago, our pastor here challenged us to think deeply about things. He theorized that we are so busy that we rarely make time to think on a subject more than surface level. As soon as I became aware of this, I realized that I'm guilty. I'm not inclined to dig deeper and think about things. Dang...that stinks to realize about yourself.

So I started recognizing a pattern within the Gospels of Jesus simply stating to people "Follow me" and the responses from the disciples were immediate. Then throughout Jesus's ministry on earth, he tells other people that they need to do the same thing. Here's a few examples:

To Peter and Andrew: "And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:19-20 (also Mark 1:16-18)

"As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him." Matthew 9:9 (also Mark 2:13-15 and again in Luke 5)

It's easy to read over these scriptures as if they're no big deal. But "thinking deeper" about it, these scriptures describe an event that was a HUGE deal for Peter and Andrew and Matthew. I'm picturing Peter and Andrew looking much like the guys on "Deadliest Catch" organizing their load of fish they'd spent the past month on the water fishing for. They were probably about to go into market and make a lot of money...but then a man walks by promising to make them "fishers of men". (I'm willing to bet two fish sticks that Peter and Andrew had no idea what Jesus meant by that.) However, they didn't question his intentions or interview him for credibility. They didn't run a background check and get back to him the following day. They simply stopped what they were doing and walked away from their careers. They didn't even collect pay for the work they'd done previously. They simply walked away from it.

I'm picturing Matthew sitting in what can only be described as a first-century bank. He's on guard because he's in posession of a lot of money, but he's also a little cocky about the great job he's recently received from the Roman ruler over his town. He's willing to work hard to make it to the top and he's learning to ignore his conscience when it comes to ripping people off. He's learned to live with the nervousness that comes with this job, because his profession by definition means he takes money from people and then gives it to the Roman Empire. Men in his profession were also known for "taking a little off the top" for themselves, so needless to say, they probably didn't have many friends outside the industry. Then one day, Jesus walks by, accompanied by the "Deadliest Catch" guys that Matthew had ripped off the month before. Jesus says "follow me" and Matthew leaves his life of wealth and responsibility to follow him.

There's no indication that these men knew who Jesus was when he approached them. Maybe they'd heard of him. But they definitely did not yet know that this man was God in the flesh, their Savior and Redeemer. Fast forward 2,000 years. We do know these things about Jesus.

Yet do we follow him? Do we live in a way that we would IMMEDIATELY drop our lives if Jesus walked by our work places or homes, came inside and said "follow me"? Or do we hold onto the safety of our 401K plans and roofs over our heads? Do we allow fears of persecution to hold us back? It's easy to say..."well Jesus wouldn't require that of me". BUT HE DOES!

Take a moment to think about this scenerio playing out...and don't use the logic that Jesus wouldn't require this of you. Scripture applies to us too. Mark 10 describes "The Rich Young Ruler" who asked Jesus what he needed to do to earn eternal life. In verse 21, Jesus charged the man to sell everything he had and follow him...and in verse 22, the man "disheartened" rejects Jesus's charge. The man chose "stuff" over life. I think Mark 10 could also be describing "the rich, young American's", who have more wealth than any previous generation and most of the rest of the world. These Americans play by the rules, they don't commit adultery, lie or steal, and they even obey their parents. But ask these American's to give up their iPhones, their college degrees and their air conditioned homes. I'm not saying we need to be martyrs, but seriously, think about if this happened. It could...and if not, then it is certain that someday the state of our hearts will be revealed.

Here are a few other scriptures that reveal just what exactly Jesus requires. He requires these things because he is better than them. He requires these things so that we will find joy. It's just so hard for us to see it that way.

"Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." Matthew 8:18-22

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:37-39

May we begin to see earth as a temporary place and life as a temporary gift of time. May our eyes be fixed on our King and not on his footstool.

Finding Good Luck in the Caribbean

2011-04-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Before our cruise, I made a point to buy a single-use waterproof camera. I knew we'd probably do some snorkeling or swimming that we could use a waterproof camera for, and I had a hunch that we might swim with sting rays in Grand Cayman. Well...two weeks later, I've finally gotten my "waterproof" pictures back and downloaded them onto my comptuer. It's funny that it felt like such a hassle to actually go to a drug store to get the pictures developed into a CD and then return to said drug store to pick up the finished product. It really wasn't a hassle, but it was slightly more work then hooking up a USB cord from my computer to my camera.

What a fast-changing world we live in. I remember when all of my pictures had to be developed in a store. And then remember how they'd give you the negatives in case you wanted to print more? I actually kept all those negatives in a shoe box so that I'd have them just in case. Can you guess if I ever went through them to find a picture to reprint? I can't remember the last time I printed a hard copy of a photo...maybe our wedding? I was actually worried the drug store would require me to get prints instead of just a CD. They didn't...whew.

Ok...that was a tangeant. I'm done.

So we went swimming with sting rays in Grand Cayman. It was amazing...and not scary at all, even though it probably would have been smart to be a little more cautious than we were being. Our boat pulled up to this sandbar in the middle of the ocean, where the water was only about 3 feet deep.

We soon realized that the dark shadows in the water weren't shadows at all...they were the hundreds of sting rays that live off the sandbar! I took this picture with my head underwater...no zoom. These sting rays definitely had no fear of humans. They'd swim right up to you and brush by your legs, just like a cat does. Not a good place for a jumpy person.

The guides told us that "if you kiss a sting ray once, you get good luck for 7 years. If you kiss a sting ray twice, you'll have good luck 14 years. If you kiss one three times, you go to jail because you're doing something bad with that sting ray."

Here we are getting our 14 years of good luck

Justin was actually a little more fearful so I was very proud of him for holding the sting ray.

We all became pretty good friends, but decided against bringing one home to New York. We were pretty sure Bella wouldn't like a sting ray living in the bathtub.

Siesta Scripture- March 16 through March 31

2011-04-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

"Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5

One of the things that I find so fascinating are prophecies of the Old Testament about Jesus. It's incredible to me to think about the lives of the OT prophets. They had conversations with God that are not like the ones we have with him. God would tell the prophets things that I'm sure they didn't want to hear. The prophets were beaten, exiled and killed for the messages they brought to Israel, because it wasn't what the people wanted. God's messages that Israel would be destroyed but that God would raise up a redeemer to save His remnant were probably not all that popular. Nobody wants to hear that their country is going to be destroyed!

It's mindboggling to put yourself in the shoes of the prophets and the fears they must have faced. I wonder how I would respond to being charged with sharing a message like that. I wonder if I'd have enough faith or if I'd waver because of fear of persecution or even simply becoming unpopular or disliked. This verse in Isaiah is a prophecy about Christ years before he was born...and it's a prophecy of hope. I wonder if Isaiah knew what he was saying...or if anyone understood what he meant at all. They knew a Savior was coming, but they didn't know what he would look like. Many of them didn't recognize him when he came. This verse brings Christians all over the world hope for a future in glory. I wonder if it brought hope to Isaiah or his generation of people.

Caribbean Vacation: Part 1

2011-03-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Justin and I just got back from an amazing vacation. We went on a 6 day Caribbean cruise which was a much needed break from snowy New York. I am in love with all of my pictures, so I narrowed down the best ones (and the ones with the best stories). Then I decided that I'd write two blogs so as not to overwhelm any readers. Here we are heading out last week. It was snowing at home, so we couldn't break out our warm-weather clothes until we arrived in Miami.

Oh warm weather! What a blessing! We got on the boat last Sunday, March 20 and immediately began enjoying ourselves. Here I am on the top deck of the boat before we left the port.
Pina Coladas pool side was a much needed change of scenery from the snow and ice.

Here we are after dinner in the Chic Dining room.
For the most part, we spent our evenings after dinner on the top deck watching March Madness games on the big screen TV overlooking the pool. It got a little chilly because of the wind, so they provided blankets for everyone. It was perfect!

Sipping coffee overlooking Key West on Monday morning was perfect.
We didn't purchase an excursion on Key West...we just walked around the island until we found a beach. We stopped into this amazing toy store and played around a little bit first thing after getting off the boat. Justin was a great sport and went along with my obsession of taking pictures. We had to wait in a line to take this picture. Totally worth it. This is probably the most "touristy picture" we took.
Here's the beach we found on Key West. We relaxed here a little while before walking back to the boat.

The water was a little chilly in Key West, but it was incredibly beautiful.

Self-timer shots!

Oh my goodness, there were huge azalea's everywhere. I felt like I was in a botanical garden pretty much the whole day.

Justin and I tried to take a picture in front of our ship at each port that we stopped. Here we are in front of our ship at Key West.

Justin ate more soft-serve this week then I've eaten in my entire life. It was actually quite amazing. I had my share as well...

Keep reading if you haven't already had enough....

Caribbean Vacation: Part 2

2011-03-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

So here is the 2nd blog post from our cruise. I apologize for posting so many pictures, but we saw so many incredible things! It is so amazing how beautiful and magnificent creation is, while at the same time how detailed and precise. I truly believe that our creation actively worships our creator every single day. We had fun towel friends in our room each night. I have no idea what this animal is...but I felt like he looked like a ghetto superstar with his arms crossed and wearing Justin's sunglasses. On Tuesday night they had lobster on the menu. I thought it was funny that Justin got sunburned that day and kept calling himself a lobster...then later that night, we ate lobster! It was delish! Here's Justin looking like a lobster and eating a lobster. On Wednesday...we woke up in the Cayman Islands! We signed up for an excursion that day to swim with sting rays and snorkel the reef. On our way to the excursion, our driver stopped and let us see the Seven Mile Beach. Oh...seriously, it's so beautiful. I wanted to memorize the way it looked, smelled, felt, etc. Here we are on our little boat heading out to the sandbar where the sting rays live. How cool is this! This is a picture of people standing out on the sand bar playing with the sting rays. I was so excited...like seriously excited. I think this picture captures the color of the water beautifully. And if you look closely, those dark spots in the water are the sting rays. We saw a dolphin on the way back from snorkeling. It was really amazing!! The dolphin "chased" our boat for a few minutes and everyone (including myself) spent those minutes running back and forth around the boat trying to snap pictures of him. So here's the picture of me and Justin in front of our ship at the Cayman Islands. The story behind this picture is actually the reason why I posted the pic because obviously it's not a good one. So we're standing in line to get on the tender boat, and I ask the woman behind us if she would be willing to take our picture. The woman was rather large and very loud. "Ohhhh...of course I'll take y'alls picture...which button is it...oh, that one...ok, hold on...ready?...one, two...hold on...I don't think I got the boat in the back...ok I think I can see it now...ok now you ready? OK..." (during her monologue, this large woman is bending and stretching around trying to angle the camera...and her body, it would seem, so that she is getting the best possible picture. The line is starting to move and we're standing...waiting and smiling...SNAP (as she snaps the picture, she is also making the motion to hand the camera back to me. My first thought was...oh that's going to be horrible...but I am NOT asking her to take another picture. Here's what we got after it was all said and done... After getting back on the ship, Justin challenged me to a putt-putt game. Here's me...after I sunk my first (of three) hole-in-ones. Needless to say...Justin didn't challenge me again! The friend in our room on Wednesday was a stingy ray! How exciting! On Thursday morning, we woke up in Jamaica!! Our excursion for the day was the Canopy ziplining tour. We drovce 45-minutes up into the jungle and got our equipment and a safety demonstration, Jamaican style. We then spent the next hour or so flinging our bodies off platforms in the jungle, which I'm sure was a good 2-3 hours from the nearest hospital. Actually...it wasn't really scary. It was incredibly beautiful, and I very much enjoyed the Jamaican people....they're some of the friendliest I've ever met. After we finished ziplining, we walked about 10 minutes through a beautiful garden. I kept thinking it was probably their nature reserve, or a maintained arboretum...but I think it was really just how it looks naturally there. Here's a tree that I thought was stunning...they were everywhere and were so tall. Here's the picture in front of the boat in Jamaica. This shot amazingly only took about 3 seconds and didn't require any backbending or yelling from the photographer. Most incredible towel friend of the trip had to be the monkey. I have NO idea how they made him. Here we are on our last night on the boat. If you're thinking about how tacky the decor is...you're right. The boat was designed with an 80's theme, although you didn't hear us complaining about anything. We had an amazing trip and really enjoyed our time away from school, work and winter. It was just what we needed to recharge and relax.

Siesta Scripture - March 1 through March 15

2011-03-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

I love the scripture that I just finished memorizing...what a treasure!

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion, therefore, I will wait for him"."
Lamentations 3:22-24

Birthday Week

2011-03-09T19:50:00.001-08:00

To be honest...there's a lot of different things I could write about. I've been taking lots of pictures to document some fun recent things. This week has been especially special...as Justin and Bella both have celebrated birthdays! Justin's birthday was on Monday...which was also the day of the biggest snowstorm so far this year. We each were given half days off because roads were impassable...(and that's saying a lot for Central New York...where plows are as common as pick ups.)

We woke up on Monday morning with about 2 feet of new snow on the ground. This was especially surprising to a couple of Texans because it's March. March is a "spring" month!! That's what I learned in Kindergarten on the seasons chart. March is for flying kites, St. Patricks Day and rain that brings flowers. March is NOT a "winter" month. Evidently...that's not what kindergartners learn in New York.

THIS is what happens to mailboxes in March. Notice the lack of kite flying and flower-making rain.

We both received early morning emails/phone calls notifying us to stay home until noon. However, Justin didn't waste much time lying around. He tackled the challenge of digging us out right after breakfast. Here's the damage...there's a sidewalk under there somewhere.

I think Justin enjoyed digging us out. It's a new experience for us...obvi. I obviously enjoyed sipping coffee in my PJ's and watching Good Morning America. Not a new experience, but always a fun one!

Yay! Justin found the sidewalk. I personally think this picture of Justin with the shovel is the most ultimate winter picture I've taken so far.

Justin's not "all work and no play" on his birthday. He and Bella played in the backyard for awhile and Bella LOVED it! Obvi...

After a fun morning off, Justin headed off to school and I went into work. Here's a picture I took of the parking lot across the street from my office. The plow piles (that's what I call them) are ginormous! Notice their size compared to the cars...
On Monday night, we celebrated Justin's birthday at home. I cooked a few of Justin's favorite things, including bruschetta, wedge salads, salmon and chocolate cake. Here are the crazy party animals!

I'd like to give mucho credit to this new recipe that I tried for Justin's birthday, Cedar Planked Salmon. I found it on a website that I've just linked on the side of my blog, A Year of Slow Cooking. This salmon was SOOO good and I made it in the crock pot (I know right...I'm in love). And it was totally fun to use the cedar planks since our grill is covered in the aforementioned 2 feet of snow.
Justin's a sucker for chocolate cake.

27 candles was a lot...but he got 'em all! Happy Birthday J!

Tonight we celebrated Bella's birthday...and before you judge me, you try to come up with entertaining things to do when winter spans all the way into March. For Bella's birthday, I bought her some Doggie Ice Cream at the store. (stop judging)

Happy Birthday Bella! I know...I know...she's a dog. But again...this was totally entertaining. (Disclaimer: Justin blew out the candle)

Bella got a birthday present too! (still no judging allowed) Although I'm pretty sure that I was much more excited about it then she was...

Bella found a few new toys in her present, and since I began writing this blog, she's already successfully destroyed one of them.

Whew....ok I'm pretty exhausted from all this party planning. But it's been a fun week!

Siesta Scripture - February 16 through 28

2011-03-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

The scripture that I just finished memorizing over the past two weeks is 2nd Corinthians 12:9

"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

I don't have a long blog to write this time. But I have loved sitting in this verse over the past two weeks. I think the promise that God has enough grace for all of us is really amazing. Think about all the sin in the world...God's grace is bigger than all of it. I also think it's incredible how when we are weak, He is strong. If you think about it, the way Americans think is directly opposite of this Biblical truth. We think that if we look good, then God looks good. We rationalize that if we become the "ideal Christian", maybe people will think that God is worth their time. So we spend our time trying to build up our own reputations and our efforts trying to get people to like us. Really...the only thing this does is build up our own egos, because for the most part, I think people can see through it.

What is really beautiful is when a person humbles him or herself and points people to Christ. When we stop trying to bring glory to ourselves, we are able to point our lives towards Jesus, which is what we've been created to do. Now to be clear, I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to air out your dirty laundry every chance you get, just so you can claim humility. Self-deprication is not the goal either. Paul is also not saying to sin all the more so you can receive more grace. My thought is that if you can look back at a time in your life and see how God has moved in your life and shaped you into something better, that progress feels good personally. That progress should be attributed to the Lord working. That progress is evidence of Christ's power on us.

Dear Texas...

2011-02-25T17:36:00.001-08:00

Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed a sweeping new trend found mostly on social media outlets where people write funny, quirky remarks to inanimate objects. These posts or tweets usually go something like this “Dear (inanimate object of your choice)…complaint. Sincerely, (person’s name or a smart remark)”. I always find the “letters” funny, because they’re usually a person’s attempt to cover up a complaint with a funny jab. The trend has become tired, as Americans usually become bored with things very quickly and we mostly have very short attention spans. So many people are no longer writing public love notes to inanimate objects that annoy them, and society has pretty much begun to move on. Every now and then, you might see one, and I thought I would write one today…my first one, to be exact. This one will be more detailed, less clever and very heartfelt.

This love note is not going to be a complaint masked as a joke. This love note is to my very first, and true love…the great state of Texas. Ok, maybe Texas is not my very first and true love, but I do love my Texas. And in honor of Texas Independence Day coming up on March 2, this letter is a public confession of my love, while at the same time, an apology for appearing as if I don’t still possess my love. So here it goes…ahem…

Dear Texas,

I know I haven’t been around much lately. In fact, I am well aware that we didn’t spend Christmas or New Years together and for that, I am sorry. But I do, after all, live in New York. I’m not trying to put a price on my love for you Texas, but $400 is really just too much money for a weekend getaway together.

While writing to you, I should be upfront and honest. I have developed some feelings for my new state. While you can never, ever be replaced, New York has some really great qualities. I won’t go into too much detail so as to spare your feelings. And for everything that I love here, I’ll reaffirm you with something great that you have to offer.

To start, let me just say that I have enjoyed experiencing four seasons for the first time in my life. I wish you wouldn’t have held out on me when it came time for fall and winter over the past 27 years. The month of August in New York was the most beautiful August I’ve ever experienced, mainly because I could actually spend some time outside. And I was amazed by the Northeast fall. The colors…oh, Texas, I can’t even describe them to you. I wish you could see them for yourself. Even with all the colors, I felt a huge void this fall as the Northeast is not college football country. Texas, you’ve taught me that college football is a necessity of fall. And well, that necessity was missing.

Most currently, I have a love-hate relationship with snow. I think it’s incredibly beautiful, and I think that 4 days is just not long enough to be considered a winter wonderland. I will say that Texas, you never produce a shortage of snow days. Even though you can’t give your residents beautiful snow all winter long, you certainly provide for everyone’s safety when there’s a chance of temps dipping below freezing. New York doesn’t give us snow days. It also doesn’t care if the hill we live on has not been plowed. New York tells me…life goes on…deal with it.

Finally, Texas…I have a bone to pick with you. Why do you have to be such a buggy state? There are hardly any bugs here, even in the summer. Since moving here, I haven’t seen one roach at all…and that is something I can get excited about. While you are filled with bugs, which I hate; you’re also filled with a lot of things that I love…to name a few…our friends and families, outlet malls, Mexican food, and gospel-preaching, God-fearing churches. I love all of these things, and there’s a shortage of all of them here in Central New York.

Texas, please be reassured that you will never be replaced. How could you be? No other state could sustain itself as a free-standing country. No other state flies their flag at the same level as the Star-Spangled banner. No matter what these Giants fans say, the Cowboys will always be America's team. If you need further reassurance, re-read this blog from August 2009.
Most importantly, no other state will ever be home.

Sincerely,
Your Cowgirl

Siestas - February 1 through 15

2011-02-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of January, I decided I wanted to accept a “challenge” by taking part in Beth Moore’s 2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team. Click here if you want to know more about it…and to see why “Siesta” is part of the title. She is such a doll. In short (and if you didn’t click on the link to Beth’s blog) the challenge is to completely memorize two scriptures from the bible each month. So you pick a verse to memorize on the 1st of the month and another to memorize on the 15th. Continue this way and you’ve memorized 24 scriptures over the course of a year. I love this challenge, and I think if you struggle with memorizing scripture (like me), it’s a perfect way to get started. I love having the deadline, which pushes me to completion while also giving me 2 entire weeks to just sit in a scripture…you pick your own, so you can pick something specific to what God is teaching you individually. Love it.

If you’re interested in starting now, I would encourage you. I didn’t commit to this until February 1, so I’m just now getting ready to pick my 2nd verse of the year. At first, I started feeling discouraged that I didn’t begin on January 1 like everyone else. But then I remembered some wise words that I heard a long time ago… “If you forget to eat a meal, you don’t give up on eating forever. It actually makes you hungrier for the next meal.” Such is the same concept with any spiritual discipline. Those words changed the way that I allowed guilt to creep in when I felt like I wasn’t doing something well enough. Those words mean that there’s no longer room for guilt.

Beth lets you post your scripture on her comment feed as a source of accountability. I figure a greater source of accountability is on my own blog. So I’m going to post my scripture at the end of the two weeks that I’ve spent memorizing and reflecting on it. If nothing else, it will serve as a source of accountability for me, but hopefully, it can be a source of encouragement or hope for you. So here it is, my scripture from February 1 through February 14:

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

Usually the thing I find most difficult to memorize is the reference…numbers aren’t my thing. But for a few days I had to just sit in the phrase “restore, confirm, strengthen and establish”. I found that simply reciting them didn’t stick in my brain. So I had to begin thinking about what each of the words actually means. It helped to think of the words secularly…what does it mean to “restore” a house or a painting? What does it mean to “confirm” a reservation? What does it mean to “establish” residence of a country? etc. etc.

Restore: to bring back to a former or original condition, to bring back into existence
Confirm: to make something right, to make valid or binding by a formal or legal action
Strengthen: to give strength/encouragement, to make powerful, to equip with a weapon or increase in size
Establish: to cause to be accepted or recognized, to ordain for permanence

After defining the words in my mind, the verse suddenly clicked. I became amazed by how good He is, that he is going to do these things for me. He’s not going to restore a painting, He’s going to restore me. The rest of the verse is very filling to. He has called me to eternal glory…that is so exciting. He’s not just allowing it, he’s not giving it to me for a short time to make sure that I’m grateful enough, He has intended for me to spend eternity receiving grace from him and sitting in his presence…aka his glory. It makes the first part, which is a promise that we will all suffer, seem very miniscule…kinda like a parent saying “after you’ve finished your chores, you can have a bowl of ice cream.” Well, of course I’ll finish my chores if it means I can have some ice cream…it’s totally worth it.

If you are doing this with Beth already, I'd love for you to post your scriptures on my blog when you've finished memorizing them every two weeks.

"Today, Tomorrow, and Always"

2011-02-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I received my facebook invitation to my 10 year high school reunion. I put this lovely piece of knowledge in the back-burner of my mind, but am now realizing that June is right around the corner...(Thank You Jesus, because I'm ready for some warmer weather). I've just now begun to seriously think about actually making the trip back to Central Texas for the blessed event.

It's funny to think over the past 10 years...facebook didn't even exist yet, and now it's the only way I'm connected enough to know about my reunion. In fact, I think it's the only way anyone in my class knows about it. I'm 100% confident that my generation will be responsible for the demise of the postage stamp and the sprial-corded telephone as mediums for communication. The next generation may altogether decide that as a human race, we no longer need to speak and can communicate only through text messages and emails. I take that back...this process may already be underway.

The world was very different in May of 2001 when I graduated high school...or maybe I was just much more oblivious. No, I think it was really different. 9/11 hadn't happened yet. Nobody had ever heard of Osama bin Laden. You could get on an airplane with your bottle of shampoo in a carry-on. Every American truly believed the USA was the wealthiest and biggest super-power country in the world. Well, at least I did at that time. It's amazing to me how fast the world is changing. I remember as a teenager thinking that my parents didn't understand the world I was growing up in. I'm confident I will have no idea what kind of world my children grow up in, and that's really scary.

I have great memories of that time...I remember how great the music was....Top 5 songs of 2001: Lady Marmalade, Fallin' by Alicia Keys, I'm Real by J-Lo, Family Affair by Mary J. Blige and Butterfly by Crazytown. OMG...what were we thinking? I can hear those songs blaring in the background of a slumber party where us girls inevitably thought it was a good idea to paint our toenails and then go jump on a trampoline. We were special.

I remember prank calling boys...mostly our guy friends who we'd all "dated" at one point or another over the past 6 years and who already knew we were dorks. I remember calling the radio station to dedicate songs...then being dissapointed that the DJ never re-played our voices on the radio. I remember actually eating rolls of cookie dough and not gaining weight. I remember watching Saved By the Bell on Saturday mornings. I remember how all the girls on my cheerleading squad had to teach me how to have rhythm so I wouldn't embarress them...I also remember going to the movie theatre with those same girls on opening night of "Bring it On" (yes, the cheerleading movie)...we may or may not have been wearing our cheerleading uniforms.

I remember trying to make my Junior ID look like a Senior ID so that I could leave campus for lunch. I remember football games and softball tournaments, and how pep rallys somehow made me feel like a rockstar. Oh man....I was really special.

I go back and forth in my mind about how badly I want to make the trip down for the reunion. Part of my brain tells me that going back may open old wounds. I'm a very different person now then I was in high school, for which I'm very grateful. I did and said things at 18 years old that I don't agree with now, things that if I remembered them all, would most likely embarress me now. The other side of that leaf is that I'm glad I can at least see some progress in my life as I get older. I should be clear that if I'm referring to progress within my own heart and mind, it can only be attributed to Jesus Christ. He is the only redeemer of my sinful past. He is the only good...like the song "He is good when there's nothing good in me".

Another part of my brain...the more "social" part of my brain, is excited for the opportunity to see some of the people that were such a big part of my life 10 years ago. Friends that no matter what happens in the future are always a part of my past. Plus, almost all of them wrote in my yearbook that we'd be BFF's forever and that they thought I was a really great person who would go far in life! I'm sure they'd all be incredibly disappointed if their BFF didn't show up.

So I'm considering it. And trying to remember the song Butterfly by Crazytown, because I can't quite remember that song...or who Crazytown is. Give me N'Sync. Give me Brittney vs. Christina vs. Jessica. Or ask me if I can remember my old high school fight song...I can...plus, I remember the moves from the pep rallys! Go Lions GO!

Event Planner and El Presidente

2011-02-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

Winter in Ithaca is in full swing, and we've been told not to expect the cold to let up for another couple of months. So to keep ourselves from freezing outside in the cold, we keep ourselves busy inside with friends! Justin and I have become pretty involved within the Johnson School community- I'm one of the two social chairs of the Joint Ventures (aka the "wives" club), Justin is the president of both the Johnson Christian Fellowship and the Texas Club (shout out), and we are both on teams in the Thursday night bowling league. Get excited...my team even got shirts!

We plan weekly events for the members of Joint Ventures that usually take place on Wednesday nights. We do all kinds of things- happy hours, pot lucks, Pilates, weekend brunches, bunko nights and more! Next week we're going to a local restaurant called waffle frolic, where they build your waffle any way you want it! I've had a lot of fun working with the entire Joint Ventures Board to make our social events fun this semester.

Here's a few of us enjoying desserts at this fabulous little place in the Commons called Madeline's. More pictures from JV events in blogs to come!

Here's about half of my bowling team last Thursday. We got our shirts in this week, so I'll have to post a more "unified" team picture later. Only 4 people get to bowl at a time, so we switch off each week because we have 9 team members...bowling is a very popular Spring semester event.

Here's Justin's bowling team...they're a little more serious about bowling and less about socializing. This is most evident in the fact that Justin's team is in 1st place out of the 16 teams. My team is 11th...which only means to us that we don't stink the most! Very exciting!

We had the Johnson Christian Fellowship over to our house to watch the Superbowl on Sunday. Let's just say...we had a full house. Justin even fired up the grill on the patio after spending the afternoon shoveling a pathway through the snow to get to the grill. Too bad half our guests were vegetarians...so come on over if you'd like a bratwurst, we have lots of leftovers!

Some of the guys standing around the food during the half-time show.

So overall, we keep ourselves pretty busy and have made some really fun friends here. We've actually found ourselves busier during the week and counting on our weekends for downtime. I'll post more pictures of everyday life later...and I promise, one will be of us girls in our bowling shirts! Stay warm my friends!

Stirring affections for Christ

2011-01-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today after church, Justin and I decided to try to capture some of the beauty of our snow-covered town with some ammature photos. A long time ago, I heard our pastor in Dallas say that we as believers should incline ourselves towards things that stir our affections for Christ. We should surround ourselves with things that bring worship to our hearts. The pastor shared how he always felt his affections stirred for Christ when walking through cemetaries, stating that it caused him to pause and feel small. For the longest time, the best example of this in my own heart is flying on airplanes and looking down at the world. When flying 40,000 feet in the sky and looking across the horizon of clouds, how can you not feel amazement? I have found that fresh snow also makes me feel this way, it stirs my affections for a great big God who conceived something so beautiful. It makes me feel peaceful and hopeful and still.

We walked through the cemetary behind this cute little church that always makes me smile when I drive past it. I can totally relate to the feeling that a cemetary can humble you and make you feel still, but on a cold day like today with my hyper puppy on a leash, I was a tad bit distracted by my frozen, numb face and my puppy leaping through the snow.

Cornell has some beautful land around it. The campus sits up on a hill with little creeks and rivers winding all over the place. Many of the rivers have created deep gorges and there are waterfalls all over the place. Beautiful bridges span across these rivers...very Dead Poet's Society.

Frozen waterfalls are beautiful I think. Of course, I think they're amazing when they're not frozen too. Waterfalls are one of those things that I believe stir my affections for our Lord.

Many of the frozen waterfalls and creeks have been frozen over for weeks and now are covered by snow. Footprints of animals (and people, in some places) interrupt the stillness of the snow, which I find quite interesting. I always try to guess what animal made the tracks, and I'm sure that I'm always wrong...because I usually guess that it's bear tracks. At least, I hope that I'm wrong...

Sunshine is a major treat in the Northeast.

This is the top half of a huge, frozen waterfall that's on Cornell's campus. The picture can't even capture the view in person (so come visit us!!). Basically, the water is still flowing down, but it's underneath all the layers of ice. The pool of water here actually spills over again, creating another frozen waterfall below. It was breathtaking!

View of the stream post frozen waterfall on the other side of the bridge. Do you see the 50 foot long icicle hanging from the gorge wall? A-mazing! Again, the water still flows underneath all that ice and snow.

Here is Taughannock falls...we've visited here a few times since moving here. Click here to see that waterfall back in October. It's a 2 mile hike to the base of the falls, but we opted to just take a picture from the top. I don't even know if we could have hiked to the base, pretty much everything down there was covered in snow and ice, and I'm certain they don't send snow plows down there.

When I see icicles, I almost always think of that movie "A Christmas Story" when the kid lies and says an icicle broke his glasses, when he really shot his eye out with his Red Rider gun. Then the mom tells him that icicles are known to kill. I'm quite sure these really COULD kill someone...We haven't had any like this at our house, but I always tell Bella to stay away from them anyways.

I felt very much in awe of creation today, that God conceives and sees all of the things that we see, and parts of the world that have never been seen. It's all in the palm of his hand. I also found it amazing that throughout the day, other people seemed to be doing the same thing that we were doing. People are hungry to marvel at something...they proved it to me today by driving around to look at waterfalls. They proved it to me by strapping on cross-country skiis and heading outside...because let me tell you, that sport doesn't look fun. People want to be a part of something bigger then this 75-85 year life we have here, and whether they know it or not, I believe that God uses his creation to stir their affections for their creator.

New Yorkers

2011-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

So January is almost over, and I haven't written a blog in like 3 weeks. When I don't write anything for that long, the result is that I have a million thoughts to blog about. How do I possibly write down everything I've been thinking about? How do I organize my thoughts so that they are readable and not confusing? I feel the pressure to write everything as quickly as possible, all in one really long paragraph. Well, I won't. Because that's hard on a person's eyes, and frankly, it would probably be really hard to follow. I said that I have a lot of thoughts, not a lot of organization to my thoughts.

So I'm forcing myself to categorize my "thoughts" into blogs by topic/event, and if I get a chance to write them all, then I will. If not, oh well! First topic/event----we went to the city again last weekend!

Justin had a reception through an organization from A&M undergrad last Friday night in Manhattan, and I jumped at the chance to go to the city again. I know this is dumb, but I'm starting to feel like NYC is my city. It's the closest fun place to go, we know the drive pretty well now and can pretty easily work the train system to get in and out of Manhattan. I think that the drive/train commute is totally worth it to spend a weekend in such a fun place!

Saturday morning, we met my oh-so amazing friend Tarra for brunch. It was a great little place down by NYU, I think it was called Five Points, that served excellent brunch...and very fabulous-looking Bloody Mary's on two of the tables near us. I promised her she'd be featured on the blog...so drumroll please, here she is in all of her fabulousness!

Tarra pointed us towards Broadway where we would spend the next few hours shopping, and frankly, I was literally in heaven. Justin was a great sport and let me shop in any store I wanted to go into. I definitely don't consider myself a shop-aholic. I don't even conider myself to have a shopping addiction, which I would think is an accomplishment after living in Dallas for the last 5 years of my life. But I DO enjoy browsing styles, comparing sale prices and finding bargains for things I need. I'm in no way a trendy dresser with a taste for designers, but I LOVE to look at them. And truth be told my friends, the Ithaca mall does not provide much, if any, opportunity for looking. We turned off Broadway onto Canal street...mainly for the experience. And oh, an experience it was!

After shopping, we went back to the hotel to thaw out and get ready for dinner. We found a southwestern style restaurant in the West Village called Agave. It was perfect, and I fell in love with that area of the city. No tourists, no bustling around. And I had some enchiladas that were, well Southwestern, which is not exactly, but is close to Tex-Mex! Here's Justin, trying to find the restaurant on the map before we left the hotel...he thought it was so funny every time he pulled out that map, because I would immediately get embarressed. This time, I made him figure it out in the hotel room instead of down in the subway.

After a perfect dinner, we headed over to Cafe Wha? for a fun night of live music, dancing and sangria! By the end, we were dancing with everyone from our table- which included two brothers from Brazil, a couple who most likely just moved to the US from Russia and a bachelorette who's getting married in India next month and her best friend. Our story of Texas-transplants living in upstate NY sounded so boring.

If you've never heard of this place, picture the best wedding band you've ever heard and multiply them x10. Also imagine a dark room underground with as many people crammed in as possible with a ceiling that's 2 feet too low. The 9 person band was amazing, and I was pretty sure that Ludacris was playing the drums and the two guitarists pictured were Rod Stewart and Andre 3000.

Fun weekend in NYC!

I have to say, that one of the highlights of the weekend for me was attending Sunday morning service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. What an amazing morning of worship!

Snowboarding on New Years

2011-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Wow it's actually 2011! I can't believe how time is flying by! A lot happened in 2010 and I'm sure 2011 will be no different. In 2010, I became a nurse, we took a leap of faith and got our sweet puppy Bella, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary, Justin started his MBA program at Cornell, and in order to do that, we packed up our lives and moved to Central New York. I don't really know what's in store for 2011, and I'm not a big fan of New Years resolutions, but I have faith that the Lord will guide our steps as he chooses. I pray that we can live by the statement John the Baptist makes in John 3:30..."He must become greater and (we) must become less."

For New Years Eve day, we decided to take advantage of having the entire day off together to go snowboarding! Justin, in true-Justin style, found a great deal at Laborador Mountain (about 45 minutes away from our house) for a snowboard lesson, green slope lift ticket and board, bindings and boots for $25. You definitely don't see prices like that in Colorado! Neither of us knew how to snowboard...Justin had never tried it, and I'd taken only one lesson about 4 years ago with my dad. So needless to say...we were the beginning of beginners. Our instructor was amazing...and had us up on boards on our own after about 3 hours of instruction.

Here I am throwin' up some deuces...evidently I forgot that I had my mitten on...so you can't tell. But you can picture it...

When you're on a snowboard and you're a beginner, you spend most of the day sitting on the ground. Luckily we each only had one big painful fall over the course of the day so we were still smiling at the end of the day.

We had such a fun time and can't wait to find a weekend to go out again. By the end of day we were pros! Ok maybe that's a stretch...but at least we weren't the beginning of beginners. We were able to successfully conquer the bunny slope!

We think it is so cool that we live so close to ski slopes now...in fact, there's about 4 or 5 other mountains within about an hour drive from us. To a couple of Texans, skiing usually means taking an entire weeklong vacation and spending a lot of money. This was just a regular Friday for the people up here. We've definitely found a hobby to make the winter season a little more fun and a little less drab!

We spent New Years Eve night with some of our Cornell friends...eating some yummy dinner and watching the New Years ball drop...for the first time we were watching it in the same time zone!

There is love that came for us

2011-01-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

I just found out that a friend of mine, a coworker from my old job, passed away unexpectedly yesterday. She is around my age, and moved out of state a year and a half ago with her husband so that he could pursue an MBA and was basically just living a regular life until yesterday. She took her lunch break from work, went out to her car to drive home and her heart stopped. I don’t know the details of what happened to her physiologically, I think it’s too soon to know, but all I know is that her heart just stopped. How does this happen? Why does this happen? What is her husband feeling right now? What is her mom feeling? How unfair it must feel to lose her.

Because I’m in the generation that I am, I pulled up her facebook page. I looked at her pictures from New Years Eve that she posted on Saturday. I re-read an email that she sent me in August, encouraging me as a new “grad school wife”. I read another email that her husband had gotten a job in New York and they’d be moving to the city in May. She was so excited. She had so many plans. And now, she’s not alive. I can’t even wrap my brain around it. We get so caught up in life and our own plans that we forget that we have no control over anything. We don’t control the steps we take, we don’t even deserve the next beat that our hearts pump. The fact that we eat healthy, work out 3-5 times a week and sleep 8 hours a night does not give us the control that we think it does. The truth is that our lives are completely controlled by our maker, He does what He wills, He gives and He takes away.

It is at times when circumstances seem terrible, pain is overwhelming, and life seems unfair that the only promises that any of us can lean on are from scripture. There are many scriptures that show the Lord’s stance on our pain.

Psalm 34:18 “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit”.
Psalm 55:22 “cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you”.
Hosea 13:14 “(He) will ransom them from the power of the grave, (He) will redeem them from death.
Matthew 11:25-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain”.

There are hundreds more. The bible clearly states that the Lord will provide us comfort. So in order to provide comfort, He must understand our pain. He must feel compassion. He must care that things are hurtful to us. Scripture is also filled with human beings who experience unfair things, painful losses and broken hearts. Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers, Job was stripped of his family, health and wealth, every single one of Jesus’s disciples died horrible martyr deaths (or were exiled after living through being boiled alive), John the Baptist was beheaded at the request of a teenage girl to a drunken king Herod, and the list goes on. These situations weren’t fair at all! Today is no different. Bad things happen, and Christians cannot just look the other way and pretend like they’re not painful. I think it’s a big mistake not to ask the question “Why?” My thought is that if you’re asking why, and you’re really looking for an answer, you’re digging into scripture to see what it says.

So I’m in the process of digging through my bible for some answers. I should have done this a long time ago to find some of these answers, but I confess that I’ve been lazy. I have no answers. So I thought I’d write some of the things I’ve found, while at the same time, (1) asking you to send me any scriptures on the topic and (2) challenging you to seek answers from the Bible. I challenge you to use scripture, not quotes from another person, not a sermon from a pastor somewhere. Find truth in the Bible.

I’m reading through the prophets of the Old Testament right now, and I found something in Ezekiel last week that I underlined. Here’s what it says, that holds a very important promise.
“Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God, so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:30-32

God is revealing about Himself here something very important. He does not find pleasure in our death, (or pain, or suffering). He does not sit and watch us suffer as if he’s watching a sit-com on TV. He is pleading with us via Ezekiel to stop committing crimes that deserve death. He doesn’t want us to be punished, He doesn’t want us to die.

This aspect of God is so apparent throughout scripture, yet humans somehow default to blaming God for bad things happening. How is His love for us so apparent? He became a human being…a perfect, sinless person (the only perfect, sinless person in history), and he took our place by sacrificing Jesus for our atonement. God pleads with us to stop sinning…we can’t do it…He doesn’t want us to die…we don’t listen…He sends Jesus Christ to take on our punishment…and we live.

Another scripture that screams at me is Romans 8:28-30
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

If you’ve read those verses a million times, re-read it and try to grasp what it’s saying. There’s a lot there. To break it down to just the meat: God wants good for his children, and He is making us like Jesus. My bible commentary states that “the “good” in this context does not refer to earthly comfort but conformity to Christ, closer fellowship with God, bearing good fruit for the kingdom, and final glorification”. So to claim this promise, you have to believe that there is a goodness that you may not know. There is a goodness that is better than your comfort, your convenience, and your personal preference. Just because something doesn’t seem fair to us right now, doesn’t mean that there is not a greater plan and purpose from God. It may be difficult to really believe that when you are hurting, but it is important to remember that God doesn’t change. Scripture is more accurate than our feelings, even though our feelings are strong. That’s why the Bible tells us over and over that God is our ultimate comforter.

The bible is full of promises to us. I think the book of Genesis is especially crucial when trying to understand why our world is so broken. God did not create this world to exist in this “fractured” state. He did not want sin to enter the world, but He created us with free will. Our free will fails us every time. Yet it also allows us to choose Him.

When you hear of tragedies occurring- like my friend who passed away yesterday, like the deaths of many of my pediatric patients, like so many of the other things that just don’t seem right, I hope that you’ll dig into scripture. I hope that you’ll find promises that can provide some clarity and meaning behind the pain. I hope that you’ll share what you find with me.

"I wanna be a part of it...New York, New York"

2011-01-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas this year in New York City!

We had the best time in the city and got to do all kinds of wonderful things. It was such a fun way to spend the holiday that was different and definitely memorable. I was actually kinda surprised at how many other families had traveled to the city to spend their Christmas holiday in a hotel room, but evidently people do it, because all the tourist spots were packed.

Our first stop was the M&M World in Times Square! It was amazing and I'd never seen so many M&M's and M&M merchandise. You could buy coffee mugs, t-shirts, puzzles, board games, Christmas ornaments, notepads...anything you can possibly imagine to buy, they had it with one of the M&M characters on it.

They had every type of M&M possible in every color imaginable. I must be like 8 years old, because I thought all the colors were so beautiful!

Moving on...we headed toward Rockefellar Center and 5th Avenue! We stopped inside St. Patricks Cathedral where mass was about to begin. We didn't stay for mass, but walked through the beautiful church and warmed up. Justin had to take off his hat out of respect, however, I don't know how much more respectful this look was.

We strolled down to Cartier...where we went inside and gawked at diamonds. Not even one sales person approached us, so I guess it must have been obvious that we weren't serious shoppers. Here's a picture of my parents acting out those jewelry commercials where the girl is so excited to receive jewelry for Christmas...hilarious!

We kept walking, and ended up down by Central Park and the Plaza hotel. We tried to pet a horse in Central park, which didn't really work, and then we tried to walk into the Plaza hotel, which also didn't work...evidently all you can do is walk into the front foyer room and then walk back outside. Not the Home Alone 2 experience we were looking for. We did have some fun at FAO Schwarz! We saw the big piano and played with a stuffed giraffe that costs over $900!! Here's Justin and Ryan in the Lego's section. Notice that Justin's hair is still standing tall!

On Christmas Eve, we had the opportunity to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall! Oh my goodness, it was so amazing! The Rockettes were phenoemenal, and part of the show is in 3D now...so we wore the glasses and everything.

Hands down...best part of the production is the live nativity at the end.

Christmas photo of the kids!!

So the big joke of the trip is that I really wanted to see the window displays at Saks 5th Avenue, but we kept forgetting to do it when we were in the area. So after literally walking down 5th Avenue two other times on Christmas Eve day, we went back out so that we could see the windows at night. Nobody was as impressed as me. But I thought they were stunning!

We stayed at a great hotel that was right in the middle of Times Square. It was great and one of the best parts about the hotel...they serve warm chocolate chip cookies at check-in...and when you're leaving to go out in the morning...and when you get back to the hotel after dinner...and if you're hungry up in your room, you can walk down to the lobby and they'll give you another one. We joked that if they had charged us for each cookie we ate, we'd be in a lot of trouble.

Here we are having Christmas Dinner at Ruth's Chris. Again...I was amazed at how many people were out. The restaurant wasn't taking anyone who didn't have a reservation because they were already so full. I couldn't believe how busy everything was...I thought Christmas day would have been slow, but no, it was the same busy city. Can you tell how excited we were for our steaks??

After dinner, we had tickets to see Wicked...we were all so excited. My mom started telling these people on the street that we were seeing Wicked (we're so obviously tourists) and they were actually going to see it too. So we all had this great idea to take a picture in front of the Wicked sign on the street. However, the pic looks more like we're posing in front of the Parking sign. Regardless, we all loved the show. It was fantastic!

After Wicked, we went back to our hotel and found out that the flight that my family was taking home was cancelled already because of the blizzard that was coming. They ended up re-routing their travel plans, which meant our plan to go to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for church on Sunday was nixed from the itenerary. It was probably the only day in history that it was a better option to fly out of Syracuse than out of New York City.

We had a great time and will remember this Christmas for a long time. We are so grateful to my parents and brother for traveling up to New York for Christmas so we could spend it together.

Bella's 1st Christmas

2011-01-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Each year, I become very excited for the entire month of December to come. I love Christmas-time, and all the "social events" that come along with it. The calendar always seems to fill up very quickly with Christmas parties, hibachi grill dinners, drives through neighborhoods with the best Christmas lights and candlelight services at church. Our December here in Ithaca has been busy, but I'll admit, not as "hustle bustle" as we're accustomed to.

To be honest, coming into the Christmas season, I was pretty disappointed to be so far away from home and missing all of the fun, festive things we usually do at Christmas-time in Texas. It's difficult not to feel left out when all of the things that became traditions for us still occured without us. So while we very much missed being home in Texas for Christmas (the entire month of December really), we celebrated here in New York together.

One thing about December in New York- there's snow on the ground. Snow totally makes it feel more like Christmas. Our first real snowfall happened on December 1 during the work day. I freaked out, and asked my boss if we were all supposed to go home. After about a weeklong reality check, I realized that snowplows actually work pretty well and that it's best to wear gloves when scraping ice off your car. I've learned that windshield wiper fluid can actually freeze and that if in doubt, I should wear my snow boots and not my regular shoes outside.

So while snow makes you feel like it's Christmas outside, it definitely adds more hassle to life. Justin has become an excellent snow shoveler, which I appreciate more than I can explain.

We continued our tradition of baking Christmas cookies and decorating them. We also watched Elf about 4 or 5 times this month!

I think this picture is funny because we're both supposed to be holding our "favorite cookie". Justin picked up the ugliest one from the bunch.

Bella really enjoyed her first Christmas. She had no idea why she kept getting new toys, but seemed to love them all. I tried to get her all toys that I thought she couldn't chew up. This one was torn to pieces in less than 15 minutes. Fail...

Justin and I got dressed up only once, for the Johnson Business School Winter Formal. The semi-formal was held on Cornell's campus right after a talent show called the "Johnson Jollies". However, I had picked up some kind of bug from work that week, so we actually didn't even make it to the dance...just the talent show. Overall a fun night, and Bella totally wanted to go, but I wish I would have felt up to dancing.

Here's me and Lindsay, Laura, Virginia and Sarah after the talent show and before the dance. Should have gotten a picture of the guys but maybe next time.

So we definitely didn't have a packed schedule full of things to do for the month of December, but we did enjoy our time together. We also got to spend Christmas Day in New York City with my parents, which was absolutely perfect (blog to come on that). I won't lie, I miss that we didn't get to attend some of our normal Christmas events, but I'm content about it. One way that I'm looking at it is that because we didn't have so many events going on, we were able to be more still this holiday season than we've ever been before. Instead of running from party to party and getting stressed about finding the perfect Christmas gifts for everyone, we were able to focus more clearly this year on what the reality of Christmas is.

It is so easy to focus on the holiday and not on our Lord, and I am guilty of it. Please don't let the commercialization of Christmas overshadow the humility of Jesus becoming a baby to be our Savior. Please don't let stress overpower your life at Christmas, so that you're too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus and thank Him for making a way for us to be reconciled to Him. Please don't think that attending Christmas parties is more important than knowing Christ. We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas...and thank you to everyone for sending us Christmas cards. We loved hearing from you and seeing your families!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

We hope that y'all have a wonderful Christmas! Rejoice over the meaning of this day. The Savior of the world is with us...He is the Light of the world and has saved us!

"Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings, Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth"

Advent

2010-12-22T19:22:00.000-08:00

This year, I’ve heard the word “Advent” used a lot more than in previous Christmas’s. I don’t know if this has to do with the area of the country that we live in now or if I just never paid too much attention to the term. Up until this year, I’ve associated the meaning of the word with a calendar that counted down until the day that we got all of our Christmas presents. While I’ve been blessed to know the true meaning of Christmas for a long time, I’d like to think that each year, as I "supposedly" mature, there’s a new depth of gratitude and humility that I experience as a Christian. I should always be learning new things.

So back to the word “Advent”…the church we’ve been attending lights Advent candles every week. I have received daily devotional emails from James Denison surrounding the topic, and the Christian radio station has spoken about advent on a pretty regular basis during December. So what is it really? Wikipedia says it is a “time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.” It also describes advent “as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ’s return.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it was like for the Hebrews living before Jesus was born into our world. They were living under the rule of the Roman Empire, had little to no freedoms and little to no communication with God. They were overtaxed, overworked and had no home. Over 500 years before, their ancestors had been conquered and taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Many of them had only one hope, which was placed in the prophecies of the Old Testament that God had promised to send a redeemer for them. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come back and reclaim the surviving remnant of His people, that he would raise a banner and gather his exiles. But neverless, they were living in a constant state of waiting….waiting on the Lord to send their Messiah.

I imagine that the Hebrews woke up every single day hoping it would be the day that their Messiah would come to save them. I believe they walked daily praying for relief from the Roman oppression they were suffering. They wanted something better and they wanted to be restored to their God. It’s easy to see why some of them did not recognize Jesus as their redeemer because they had waited so long for a warrior to come and save them. I imagine they hoped their Savior would bring judgment to their oppressors, and that they even expected Him to punish those who had wronged them. Jesus did not come that way at all. Jesus came to fulfill the prophesy that “the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.” Jesus came as that child, not as a warrior.

So while some of the Hebrews were disappointed that Jesus didn’t come to avenge them, the rest of us were given the greatest gift ever. Everything changed when God humbled Himself into the form of a baby and became a perfect sacrifice for us. I think of how excited the Hebrews were before the first coming of Christ, and I wonder why we don’t wait for Him that way now. How many days do I wake up hoping that it’s the day that I am restored to Jesus? Well, in theory, everyday. But literally, never. If we’re honest, I think we’d all say that there are a lot of things we still want to do here…on earth. We want to get married, have children, achieve a certain goal, graduate college, climb that certain mountain, discover that cure for cancer, etc. But all of those things really do pale in comparison to the glory of God. And when the 2nd advent does occur, I believe with all of my heart that climbing mountains and having children will be the last thing on my mind.

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. " (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Lake Effect

2010-12-14T18:11:00.001-08:00

Did you know that there is such a thing as the temperature being so low that it can't snow? I learned this today from one of my coworkers. I thought she was trying to play a trick on me. Evidently, once the temperature gets low enough, it's impossible for it to snow. I had no idea. I need to do some research about it, but I guess I believe it, becuase I don't have any knowledge to refute it. Well that's what the weather did today. It was supposed to snow 4 inches, but it didn't because it was too cold outside. When I looked on weather.com, it used the word "blustery" to describe toady, which I didn't even know was a word to describe weather. I have a lot to learn still.

I have been doing some reseearch about something else though that is a winter phenomenon here in Central New York, and I thought I would share my new knowledge, because I had never heard of this before moving here. It's called "Lake Effect". If you're from Texas, and you've never lived anywhere else, you've probably never heard of this...like me.

When we first moved here, somebody mentioned the lake effect nonchalantly, and I thought they were referring to our small local lake here, which I could probably swim across on a good day. This lake, is the largest of the Finger Lakes (a bunch of long skinny lakes right next to each other that resemble fingers if you're in an airplane looking down), and we live on the east side of the lake. What I was told about lake effect is that when you live east of "the lake", you get a bunch of snow and cold weather off the water of the lake. I thought it was weird because the lake here isn't any bigger than any of the other lakes that I've lived near, so why should this one create such a strange, dramatic weather pattern.

Well, little did I know that "the lake" being referred to was actually Lake Erie. Ever heard of it? If not, it's ok, because I probably didn't know 6 months ago, but it's one of the Great Lakes. The REAL lake effect is when a "mass of sufficiently cold air moves over a body of warmer water, creating an unstable temperature profile in the atmosphere", causing lake effect snow. It causes clouds to form above the lake, which turn into snow storms as the clouds are pushed eastward by winds. The most common place for this to happen in the country is east of the Great Lakes.

Here's some more information I found, for those of you who wish you had chosen meteorology as your major in college. If you don't care then just skip down to the next paragraph..."The intensity of lake effect snow is increased when higher elevations downwind of the lake force the cold, snow-producing air to rise even further. The most likely setting for this localized type of snowfall is when very cold Arctic air rushes over warmer water on the heels of a passing cold front, as often happens in the Great Lakes region during winter. Winds accompanying Arctic air masses generally blow from a west or northwest direction, causing lake effect snow to fall on the east or southeast sides of the lakes. Whether an area gets a large amount of snow from lake effect is dependent on the direction of the winds, the duration they blow from a particular direction, and the magnitude of the temperature difference between the water and air. Since cold air can hold very little moisture and the low level of the atmosphere is quite unstable, clouds form very rapidly, condensation occurs and snow begins to fall. Lake effect snow is lighter than snow that forms from frontal stratus or nimbostratus. Areas of relatively high elevation downwind of the Great Lakes generally receive heavier amounts of lake effect snow than do other locations in this region. The only other lake that produces significant lake effect snow in the United States is the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts and Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia, on occasion, produce what is called bay effect snow. Bay effect snow forms in the same manner as lake effect snow, only over the ocean."

So basically we're spending our time trying to stay dry and warm. Bella's fur coat must be really amazing because she doesn't seem to mind the temperature at all, even on her little paws. She sticks her face right in the snow and looks like she has a Santa beard. As for swimming across the Finger Lakes, maybe we'll make that a goal for one of the summer months, because right now...it's starting to freeze over.

House Husband

2010-12-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Announcement: Justin is taking his last final for the semester right now! He has worked so hard all semester and has made me so proud. I definitely think that even though he is a part of an Ivy League Business school, he stands out as one of the top students in the entire program. In about an hour, he'll get to spend the next month of his life relaxing and being a house husband! Hopefully he'll have a great time recovering from the semester, getting ready for next semester, and playing "homemaker"!!

Congrats to Justin and to being 25% of the way done with his Masters!!

Tim-brrrrrrrrrrrrr

2010-12-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...that title is incredibly clever and yet, also accurate. You'll see why...On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Justin accomplished one of his life-long dreams by cutting down our very own Christmas tree! We bundled up and headed out to Moore's Tree Farm, that's only about a 15-minute drive. It was such a cute, cozy little place that was full of Christmas charm.

The farm provides saws and tree dollies so you can wander around all day long until you find your perfect tree. Lots of other people were out looking for their own tree, but the three of us were determined to find the perfect one.

Bella tried picking a couple of the shorter ones that were more her size. We told her we wanted one a little bit bigger than that one.

After much deliberation, we found the perfect tree! Justin set to work with the saw while Bella supervised...

The tree was actually much easier to cut down then I expected.

Bella actually supervised most of the day while Justin did all the work.

It took us awhile to get the tree up and ready for decorations...especially since we took so many pictures. Bella was pretty much confused about the whole thing.

She was, of course, exhausted afterwards. And I took advantage of her exhaustion to take what I thought was a really funny picture!

The finished product! Our townhome smells like Christmas!!

Welcoming snowflakes

2010-12-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it is upon us. We made it snowfree all the way to December 1, but on that first day of December, the heavens let loose in full force...and haven't let up since they started. People keep telling us that "this is nothing". I beg to differ.

In the past week, I've learned a lot about living with snow. Yes, I still think it's beautiful...and kind of exciting. But I've begun my journey towards developing the love-hate relationship that people up here have with the snow. When we lived in Texas, I loved snow...because it meant I got to stay home. When life goes on despite the snow, it becomes a major inconvenience. You have to get up earlier, and start defrosting your car when you start the coffee maker. You have to use an ice-scraper...I've never even owned one of these. Now I have a 3 foot long scraper with 3 different scraping options. It's actually quite amazing.

I've already had about 3 near-heart attacks from driving. And I'm learning that if I want to wear cute shoes anywhere for the next 4 months, I'm gonna have to carry them in my purse until I get to my destination. Bella's paws have to be wiped down every time she comes inside, every single time.

We wanted to take pictures for our Christmas card in the snow this year...and I was actually starting to get worried that we wouldn't get any in time. Boy...I don't think I'll worry for snow again. I'm pretty sure we've gotten over 12 inches just this weekend..."this is nothing", my foot.
Bella loves the snow...as you'll see in the next few pictures and videos. It's really fun to watch her play. She tries to catch it and slides around on the patio. She gets it all over her face and tries to eat it. Here we are trying to take a picture for our Christmas card...we have about 20 shots of me and Justin smiling with Bella trying to get her frisbee instead of posing for the camera.

So instead of taking the pictures, we let her run....

and run...

And RUN some more...she really can't get enough of it.

We threw the frisbee until she was pretty tired and then we were able to get ONE good shot...which was the last one we took. You'll see it on the card later! :) Oooh...what a teaser!

So in case you didn't know, we live in one of the regions of the country that gets the most snowfall...for the entire country. Sorry Colorado, you don't win. Syracuse wins...and they're just a happy 50 miles to the north of us. In fact, most of the top 10 cities are within a couple of hours of us. Oh, joy...Here's the list to prove it.

Thanksgiving daydream

2010-12-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to stretch out Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, as long as possible, I'm going to revert back to the month of November in my mind and pretend like there's not a foot of snow outside my house, but instead a bunch of brightly colored leaves softly floating to the ground. During this daydream, I'm going to rev up my thankfulness and make public my list of things that I'm most grateful for. At the end of this blog, I'm afraid I will have to face the truth that winter is upon us here in this great state of New York.

So in no particular order...here is my list of things I'm thankful for...
1. I'm thankful for the sacrifice that God made for me through the death of Jesus Christ in order to justify me to Himself.
2. I'm thankful that friendships don't have to end just because you move away
3. I'm thankful that I'm a nurse
4. I'm thankful that it's easy for me to remember people's names after meeting them only once
5. I'm thankful for my puppy dog Bella
6. I'm thankful that my parents have been faithful to their marriage vows
7. I'm thankful for heaters in the winter
8. I'm thankful for my husband
9. I'm thankful for my DVR
10. I'm thankful for hot showers
11. I'm thankful that I can buy things online and they're delivered to my doorstep
12. I'm thankful that facebook allows me to keep up with (ie. stalk) anyone I've ever known
13. I'm thankful for Dunkin' Donuts Coffee
14. I'm thankful that I live in the United States and for the freedoms given by our country
15. I'm thankful that the Village Church in Dallas podcasts their sermons
16. I'm thankful that I've never disliked someone I worked for
17. I'm thankful that I learned how to type on a typewriter instead of a cell phone
18. I'm thankful for Google
19. I'm thankful for Francine Rivers books
20. I'm thankful for my job

I know there are a million more things that I am thankful for, but I don't want to bore anyone. Sometimes it's a really good thing to take the time to sit down and think about how much we have. Even if your list isn't all encompassing, or even if you miss some of the big things, it still makes you realize how much you have. We are so blessed.

50 FREE Christmas Cards from Shutterfly

2010-12-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

I love this time of the year, and now that we live in a place where snow falls (almost everyday this week, to be exact), the Christmas season has come even more alive. I love receiving Christmas cards in the mail...I haven't received one yet, but I guess it is only December 4. I seriously do get excited each time I check the mailbox. I'll be sure to announce who my first card is from on the blog, because I'm always the most excited about the first one. I know we don't have any children yet, but I find a lot of joy in making our own card too...

With hundreds, maybe thousands, of Christmas card options at Shutterfly, click here to get started with options for their entire Christmas card collection, here for their Christmas photo cards, and here for their custom holiday cards, I am already struggling with which one to use this year.

Last year, I went with a simple one photo design, but this year, I think I might try one with multiple photos featured. I'm mostly drawn to them now that we have a sweet (and growing) puppy, who is way more fun to look at then me and Justin. I also find myself drawn towards the more traditional or classic designs with red, green, and white colors. I don't just look for multi-photo options and color schemes when choosing my card, the message is important too. Christmas has an incredible message of hope. When paired with Easter, the two holidays represent the entire reason we have hope. Shutterfly has a great selection of cards that portray the true meaning of Christmas, which you can see here....or if you like a different design but want to change the text, you can customize almost any card to say exactly what you want it to say.

Justin and I have been waiting for the first real snowfall before taking the pictures for our Christmas card this year. Luckily, we've seen a lot this week...it's snowing right now. And Bella is really anxious about getting out there to play. So we can finally get started on our card!

Do you have a blog? Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? There is still time...the promotion ends on December 10. Click here to go to fill out the form for information on how you can get 50 free Christmas cards. And if you'd like a Christmas card from the Kvasnicka's this year, email me your address at leslie.kvas@gmail.com.

Eat mor turkee

2010-11-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year meant a trip to Texas for us! Justin hadn't stepped foot in the Lone Star State since August 1 and we were both ready for some sunshine, some Tex-Mex and some turkey. We had plenty of all three and it was wonderful! We opted to travel on the less crowded days and flew home on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, so we spent the day Wednesday in Waco doing things we love. Those things included working out (outside!!), shopping and...

Eating lunch at Chick-fil-a!!

We also had the chance to meet Trent and Amanda's sweet new daughter Kinley Brooke. She is perfect and absolutely adorable and it was wonderful to see some good friends!

We had Mexican food twice...once in Waco with my family at Chuy's...and once in Dallas with Justin's family at Mattito's- it was SOOOO good!!

Here's the dining room table ready for Thanksgiving dinner. I LOVE Thanksgiving! I think it might be my favorite holiday. You get all the food from Christmas and football, and none of the shopping stress. We had too many people at the house this year, 15 in all, to all sit at the fancy table, so we had a "kids" table in the kitchen too.

Here's my mom and my aunt Rita relaxing after our feast!! The two of them, along with my aunt Debbie and my grannie cooked an amazing Thanksgiving meal. We obviously spent the day watching football, and although the Cowboys didn't win on Thanksgiving this year, we still had a great time!

Here's the family picture we took of my mom's side. We have the greatest families!

Here's a picture of Justin and I before we left Waco to spend the day in Dallas with Justin's family. I don't have any more pictures of the trip unfortunately, but we had a great time in Dallas too. Justin and his dad decorated the Kvasnicka's house for Christmas. We also were treated to a half-gallon of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream.

To be honest, it was very hard to leave Texas this time, for both of us. We not only felt like the trip was too short, but it just felt so nice to be home, in familiar places with our families. I'm afraid if Bella hadn't been waiting for us in New York that we wouldn't have come back at all! :)Just kidding! Justin has been working very hard and is finishing up his first semester right now. He'll start his finals next week on December 9!

How to win an iPad for free!

2010-11-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

I’ve recently become very bothered by our culture’s seeming need to reward bad behavior. It seems like it usually occurs without a conscious realization, but after the fact, you realize that something seems very wrong. Of course, if you don’t take the time to think about it, you might just go through life not realizing at all. Or you might find the irony of it all even humorous.

A few examples that easily come to my mind occur on a regular basis at my workplace. Patients are rewarded for bad behavior all the time. For example, if a patient arrives five minutes late for an appointment, they will most likely be called before the person who has the next scheduled time but arrived 20 minutes early. The main reason is because different types of appointments may last longer, so we try to ready patients for physicians in the correct order. I don’t know if this is how all offices work, but this is how we do it. The logic of why we do this makes sense, but it doesn’t really seem fair to the person who shows up on time or early.

The other example I can think of at work are patients (or parents) who are mean. Patients who yell or complain usually get their way because they’re louder and because I’m in a service industry and “the customer is always right”. Of course that rule has a bend in healthcare, because if a nurse is advocating for the patient, and you’re in the way of that…the nurse is right. Hands down. If you don’t know, a large part of pediatric nursing is dealing with the parents. They become easily offended, they expect extra special treatment, they ask to speak to your manager if you don’t review their entire chart and memorize the health history of their children. And what is the response to these irrational, overbearing, and overall mean people? We apologetically approach them with a promise to provide better care for them and that we know they deserve the best. I digress…

The rewarding of bad behavior is all over television too. I won’t even get myself started on the shows “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”. But back in the dark ages when I was a teenager (this was only 10 years ago but seems like a lifetime because of the drastic change in culture), it was frowned upon to be the pregnant cheerleader. That opinion seems so far gone now. I would not think it too far-fetched that somewhere a 15 year old is trying to get pregnant just to be on these shows. I know many people who love these shows, so I might be stepping on toes, but I just kinda see it as bad behavior being rewarded. Where’s the show about the teen who makes straight A’s, never succumbed to peer pressure and tried drugs in high school and got a scholarship to college? I’ll admit that wouldn’t be all that exciting…but still.

Another example: Yesterday morning, Justin and I ate breakfast while watching the news that covered some incredibly troubling stories. At first glance, they might seem humorous to a viewer, and the reporter covering them chuckled as she read the stories. The first story involved a pair of women who began camping out in front of a Best Buy a whole week before Thanksgiving. The camera guy pans across their tent in the parking lot and zooms in on the bottom of one of the ladies shoes, which are propped up on a cooler as she sits in a folding chair. Other shoppers, looking entertained /confused, are walking into the store to buy what they need. These women have put their lives on hold for an entire week to camp out in front of the local Best Buy…really? What could they possibly need so badly? How much money could they earn at a job in the week that they’re spending sitting around not contributing to society? Would it be enough money to cover the cost of paying the extra money instead of being first in line for Black Friday sales? Don’t the people at the beginning of the line get trampled by the crowd anyways?

The worst part about this story is that the manager of the Best Buy dubbed them “the First Black Friday Shoppers” (as if that’s a title to be proud of)…and gave each of them an iPad! WHAT!! Part of me just feels like this is SO wrong! This lazy, non-contributing, pointless behavior has been rewarded with an iPad. Who is paying for these people to support themselves on worthless, wasted days like this…please don’t tell me that’s where my taxes go. I can just see how this rewarding of bad behavior is going to encourage other idiots to follow suit and make themselves useless.

The second story is worse…because I know for a fact that yours and my taxes are paying for this man’s existence. Evidently there is a prisoner out there somewhere, who is suing his prison because he’s being tortured by other prisoners. Guess what they’re doing to him? They’re forcing him to watch the same movies over and over again because the state won’t pay for the prison to have cable TV stations. The man has already tried to sue the prison five other times unsuccessfully. So far, this man has not been rewarded in any way I suppose because he hasn’t won any of his lawsuits, but he’s certainly not being punished for his stupidity. He’s also being treated well enough in prison that this is the biggest complaint that he can come up with. I know a lot of law abiding citizens who have worse lives than you do brother…

So to wrap up, I wish there was something I could do to decrease this cultural phenomenon of rewarding bad behavior. But I really hate conflict, and I don’t like ruffling feathers, so I don’t see myself sending people home when they show up late for their appointment, or refusing to provide care to a child whose parent is a ranting idiot. However, I will try to not watch 16 and Pregnant…I can’t make any promises though.

Cultural differences: No Shoes Allowed!

2010-11-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

People that live in colder climates are almost always certain to do one thing...remove their shoes when they walk into your house. This has become a non-negotiable thing, we've noticed, here in the Northeast. People do it...all the time. Even when the weather is nice, dry and sunny outside, which is rare. When they walk into your house, they remove their shoes...no questions asked, no prompting required. This very obvious cultural norm has created some awkward feelings a few times for us, the seemingly hospitable Texans from the south...because this has not sunken in as a habit for us yet. I feel so rude when someone has to ask me to take off my shoes. I feel like a child being reprimanded for touching white walls with paint-covered hands. "I'm so sorry" I say...but I don't really know why I feel so bad.

I think it's because most people have shoe racks in their entry-ways...a poor-mans mud room, if you will. I don't necessarily notice the "mud room" when entering a house or apartment, but after the reprimand, I realize the mountain of shoes located within 2 steps of the front door. Obviously my host doesn't want shoes worn in their home, because every shoe that they own is in the entryway, not in their closet. I feel like an idiot, they say it's no big deal, and I'm left in someone's home barefooted or wearing Christmas socks in September feeling anything but a representative of Southern Hospitality.

All that to say...I'm learning a new set of manners that requires you to take off your shoes when entering a private home. Which means I need to purchase a few more pairs of Christmas socks.

Frisbees, Flowers and Rainbows

2010-11-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or is it really crazy that November is half-way over? I feel like time is FLYING by! I've been at my job for over 2 months now, Justin is finished with 3 core classes and half-way done with his second set classes, and Bella just turned 8 months old!

So we've had a lot of fun over the past few weeks as the weather is cooling off. Most of the leaves are on the ground so it looks more like winter then fall. We haven't had our first real snow yet, but we're all holding our breaths for it to come any day now. Most mornings involve defrosting ice off the windshield and most of the days are cloudy, but I have a great winter coat that keeps me so warm! I'm currently shopping for snow boots on Zappos.com and after that, I think I'll be completely ready! Bring it winter!

One thing about cool, cloudy weather is that it makes you feel sluggish. I've made it a point to visit my gym a couple of times a week to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder. Here's a picture of my gym....Isn't it beautiful? All the windows overlook the river, so as I'm running on a treadmill or lifting weights, I can watch the crew teams wisk by in their big, long, skinny boats. It seems so Dead Poet's Society.

Other highlights of the past few weeks...I saw the origin of a rainbow on my way home from work one evening. There was no pot of gold in that tree...I drove right past it.

I made an apple cake with some of the apples from when we went apple picking. I got the recipe recommendation from my friend Kambry, but had the recipe the whole time in my October Southern Living magazine. That issue had some of the best recipes so go back and look at it if you just glanced at it quick...it also had a great Tomato Soup recipe that was fantastic! Back to the apple cake...I'd say it's one of the better desserts I've ever made...thanks Southern Living!

This group of girls is my main social group outside of work. They are all wives (or fiances) of students in the business school. We all pretty much met through the Joint Ventures program, the organization through the Johnson school for spouses. This past week, we all took over the leadership positions of the organization for the next year...me and Kim (right next to me) are the social chairs! Get ready to party Ithaca!

Oh and to explain that picture....Sarah, (middle...white dress) is not wearing a wedding dress, even though it might seem like it. She is performing in a play...well, Operetta, to be exact...and we all went to see her perform on opening night!

We got Bella a frisbee and she LOVES it! She gets so excited when we say the word "frisbee", and she's started this new thing where the hair stands up on her back like a mohawk. This is the best picture I got of her hair standing up...can you see it? It is really hilarious...

Justin bought me some flowers "just because"...

We got Bella a new bed to sleep on, and she LOVES it! I just wish she would wake up later than 6am every morning. Maybe she gets up so early because she likes to nap with her dad during the day. Being a student...and a puppy really wears you out!

I'm currently listening to (and obsessed with) Taylor Swift's new album! I think she is fantastic and will be incredibly upset if Hollywood turns her into Brittany Spears. I think she also helps prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I'd like to take some fun pictures at work for the blog, so stay tuned for that. I'm really enjoying my work, my patients and my coworkers. Working in an office setting is definitely different, but has been such a blessing...more on that later!

Restoration

2010-11-06T12:00:00.001-07:00

I recently started reading a new book...what a shock, I'm reading like 12 books right now. And I love it...again, what a shock, I love all the books I read. It's called The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller. One of the things I love about this book is that it calls certain questions of faith into the light and makes the reader think about them.

As a person who fell in love with Jesus as a child, I've found that I never asked many of the really important, "grown-up" questions about my own personal faith and about my Savior. As a child, with a child-like faith, certain questions don't come up. Certain "problems" with Christianity don't seep their influence into a child's mind. That fact is actually quite beautiful to me, and is one of the things that I think Jesus was referencing in Matthew 18, when he said to the disciples to become like little children in order to enter heaven.

As an adult, these questions come up. We can't ignore that fact. We also can't sit back and act like there are no answers. Faith is absolutely not a matter that can be proven, like a scientific theory. But when real, logical questions come up, or when doubts find their way into your mind and heart, it is your duty as a believer in Jesus to seek out an answer. A real answer. Otherwise, you will never have anything but a childish faith. You will never know anything about the God you claim to serve. You will never be able to answer anyone elses questions. That is what this book is about to me...it's about questioning your own faith, seeking out truth to answer those questions, and to be able to share those answers with others who are seeking.

The reason that I'm writing this blog though, is because I was incredibly moved by one of the pages, and I wanted to copy it on to my blog. So I don't know how to do a real APA reference from an author, so I guess I'll just say that everything from now on is not my own...it's from Tim Keller's book...and I'm not a plagerizer. Tell me this isn't so beautiful...and exciting!

"For the one who suffers, the Christian faith provides as a resource not just its teaching on the Cross but also the fact of the resurrection. The Bible teaches that the future is not an immaterial "paradise" but a new heaven and a new earth. In Revelation 21, we do not see human beings being taken out of this world into heaven, but rather heaven coming down and cleansing, renewing, and perfecting this material world. The secular view of things, of course, sees no future restoration after death or history. And Eastern religions believe we lose our individuality and return to the great All-soul, so our material lives in this world are gone forever..."

"The Biblical view of things is resurrection- not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater... Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost."

There is more, but I'm not trying to type out the entire book. I am saying that if you need some good reading, pick up this book. I'm also saying that if you wonder why this world seems like such a horrible place, you're right...it is horrible compared to what God will do when he fully restores his followers to Himself. And that restoration involves taking everything that is bad now and making it glorious then. Tim Keller compares it to having a nightmare that your family dies and waking up to realize that they're actually alive. He describes the immense joy of realizing the truth and the gratitude he feels in comparison to the day before the dream.

C.S. Lewis says "They say of some temporal suffering, 'No future bliss can make up for it,' not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory."