Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts

1.15.2012

T minus 1....... ish

Alice is in bed. Andrew is at a meeting. Amy is home. Emma is too--inside her mommy.

Today at church was a bittersweet day as we sent off to the mission field a young woman who has attended Village since she was born. Obviously I haven't known her that long since I grew up 3,000 miles away, but since moving to Orange County and becoming a part of this church I have been so blessed by her friendship. I can't imagine how hard it must be to leave, yet how exciting to know that the Lord has prepared her for this purpose. Having grown in the Lord alongside her for the past several years has been such an encouragement that it will be hard not seeing her regularly. But I count it a privilege to be able to pray for her as she goes. Part of those prayers I hope will include keeping each other updated on how the Lord is at work in each of our lives, no matter how many thousands of miles apart we are. Ironically, she leaves tomorrow, which is my due date. So we've been "counting down" to the same day for different reasons for quite a while. I'm sad that Emma didn't make it for her departure, but am so thankful for technology that allows us to send pictures & emails and even SEE each other "live" on Skype. Can't wait to hear how the Lord uses her!

Before I lose it completely, a quick update. Tomorrow morning we have another appointment and I'm praying there will be some progress. Friday night I was up from about 2-3AM with regular contractions (about 6-7 minutes apart). Around 3AM I decided to type out instructions for anyone taking over the "Alice Routine." I wasn't keeping track of the contractions at that point, but by Saturday morning they'd basically stopped. Unfortunately I didn't actually fall back asleep until around 5:30 or 6AM. Bummer. Last night I slept better though. Tonight I hope to do the same. Unless Emma has other plans. I wouldn't mind. As if there were any doubts.

12.29.2010

The Christmas Story

Here's the Christmas story via our friends' daughter Gracie. This is great!

10.11.2010

Meanwhile, In Garden Grove . . .



First things first, there are hundreds of new photos (mostly of Alice!) if you just click the link to Web Album 2 on the right side of the page.

Last night, Amy and Alice and I visited our friends Jacob and Sarah Ailes in the hospital and got to see and hold their baby girl, Lucy Amanda Ailes. Sarah's blog details the meaning of Lucy's name, which I think is very thoughtful. That, and I'm a Narnia fan!

October is a busy month. This Friday is our "dateiversary" and we'll be celebrating six years since we started dating/courting/going out/"liking" each other. It's a surprise to Amy where we'll be going, but it's going to be a blast!

I have an exam on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

On Sunday I have a missions team meeting after church on Sunday and then we have a youth fellowship night that evening.

Next Wednesday I fly up to Oakland to help move my 86-year-old grandpa move out of the house he bought in 1954. It's time for grandpa to move to an assisted living place across town from my parents. It will be a bittersweet time as a lot of family says goodbye to the home Grandpa raised a family in. I'll be driving home on Saturday. Amy and Alice will meet us in Santa Clarita so that Grandpa can meet his great-granddaughter.

Then, on Reformation Weekend (Oct. 29-31), we'll be in Santa Maria celebrating my maternal grandmother's 75th birthday.

Phew! A lot's going on, but God is gracious in supplying strength and his power is made perfect in weakness. Amy continues to work hard at Pan-Pacific and I'm working at church and going to school full time. Alice is growing up so fast and we're amazed at her alertness. She brings lots of laughter and joy into our lives.

So often I'll see something while driving and think, "I should totally blog about that!" only to forget about it until I'm going to bed or before class or before church. Maybe some day soon I'll stop and blog about one of those things.

9.30.2010

Gospel For Life

I'd like to direct you to my friend Eric Durso's blog to check out the series he is blogging about called Gospel For Life. So far, it's been helpful and clear and I highly recommend it to you as food for thought or as resource.

8.27.2010

Some things

Well, it's Friday of my first week back in school and there's a few things to update y'all on.

Tonight is the final night of the summer softball season. We get to play twice: at 8:00pm and 9:15pm. The later game is against Bloodline, a team made up of a large extended family in our church (along with some friends) and our rivals. I'm really looking forward to it. This is my fourth summer playing softball with the men from our church. I love it because I get to play a sport (which doesn't happen much anymore), but more than that, I love it because I get to know people in the church that I wouldn't get to know any other way. Also, our games have tons of fans in the bleachers because bunches of people from the church come and watch our games, which just adds to the fun.

In other exciting news, our friends the Rehrers are in the process of adopting a little girl from Africa! That's really exciting and something Amy and I have tossed around as an idea for the future. It will be fun and informative to see them go through this process.

Some people have been waiting - with bated breath no doubt - to hear about why I shaved my head. In fact, I believe my mom's exact word was "yuck." Thanks mom. Anyway, two weeks ago I was trying to hustle so I could get to church in time for our weekly staff meeting. I needed to shave and my sideburns were also getting a little long, so I decided to pull out the hair clippers and give the burns a little trim. However, in my rush, I forgot to put a guard on the clippers! So when I whooshed upwards with the clippers, my sideburns did not get trimmed, they got shaved! Not only that, but I went past the sideburns.

I called Amy and told her what happened. I said that I thought I would have to shave my head. She said not to. I took a picture with my phone and then sent it to Amy. She said I should shave my head! That's the story.

7.30.2010

Another New Daddy

Check out my friend Eric Durso's blog. He blogs much more consistently than we do and has some good thoughts on the recent birth of his daughter Emma.

3.02.2010

Eric and Ashley

Check out my friend Eric's blog post about their little girl who's just a few months younger than mine! The video is priceless, but Eric's words are wise and godly.

1.04.2010

New Goals For A New Year

What's this, a blog siting? An update? Say it ain't so!

Yes, folks, it's a new year and time for a new commitment to this blog. Amy and I felt like the last four months of 2009 went so fast, partially because they were so full. That's part of the reason that blog updates just haven't happened. However, I'm determined to be a much better blogger in 2010. I know that I've said that before, but this year I want this blog to be a place where I discipline myself by forcing myself to write out thoughts, link to important/significant/funny websites, keep family and friends updated on life, and post pictures.

So for today, go here to view six new photo albums from the fall and winter of 2009. There's lots of great church/family/friends/vacation pictures.

Before I sign off I wanted to say that this year my goal is to post at least twice a week on this blog, so be sure to check back MUCH more frequently than normal.

3.27.2009

Amy's Hair Cut and Other Stories


This is for you, Lisa. And if you want a few more pictures, they are on the second Web Album in the sidebar. Wow, I've posted twice in one month!

Tonight we're having dinner at the home of a family at our church. The husband/dad has a personality very similar to Happy's and, we've been told, makes some really good meat. I'm looking forward to the evening, which I'm sure will be filled with laughter and really, really great jokes :-)

Tomorrow morning we'll be helping some friends move to an apartment just down the street from their current abode. I think we have a free Saturday night after the move.... whoa.... more than likely it will be filled with homework. Some times I think back on college and wonder why I thought life after college would include more free time. Does life ever slow down? My co-worker told me yesterday that she thinks we are always busy. I sort of just stared blankly at her. Some days I need a reminder of why I do all the things I do, but most days I don't even think about it. What a blessing to be a part of a church where we can stretch ourselves and serve others with joy!

As a youth group, Happy challenged us to read through the Bible in a year. Right now we're in Proverbs and Titus. It's been a little while since I've read Proverbs, but it's pretty much killing me every time I read it--mostly in the wisdom area. How much I have to learn! I'm thankful for all the examples of wise people the Lord has put in my life (one of them being my husband!), but I look forward to heaven even more when I see these glimpses of how far off I really am. Praise the Lord that His mercies are new every morning!

5.11.2008

Ouch!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, we're still here, still alive, still kicking, still in love. I'm sitting at our kitchen table typing on my laptop with the whirring of the overhead fan, the soft "on" static of my paused iPod speakers, and the muted sounds of people playing at the park surrounding me. Amy is asleep in bed, recovering from wisdom teeth surgery on Friday.

We both didn't go to work Friday, slept in a bit, and drove to the oral surgeon's office in Huntington Beach a little before 8:00am. Amy was a bit nervous about having her first surgery, but it was over in barely half an hour. I sat with her for awhile as she groggily woke up from the anesthesia, and then we went home less than two hours later than we left. I went to CVS and filled the vicodin and penicillin prescriptions and tried to help Amy out. We watched two movies on Friday (Shrek 3 and August Rush) and just generally took it easy. I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that I did a lot of reading!

Saturday was more of the same: laundry, reading, soft foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce, etc.), and the Indiana Jones Trilogy on USA. This morning, Amy didn't take the vicodin so she could stay awake at church. She has been a real trooper and is ready to head back to work

Also, we have neglected to announce that we got a new used car! Several Saturdays ago (April 26), Amy and I headed over to the Angel Stadium parking lot for the semi-annual Enterprise Car Sale. Enterprise teamed with several local credit unions to sell '06, '07, and '08 cars. We went armed with our Consumer Reports magazine, wanting but not needing to buy. After driving the V6 and four-cylinder editions of the Hyundai Sonata, we decided to see how much it would cost with the number-crunchers. It was too much, and so we headed back out on the lot and ended up driving a 2007 ruby red Kia Optima. Amy liked it better than the Hyundais and so we decided to go back to the numbers game and see what kind of deal we could get. After much discussion with each other, looking through the magazine and calling my dad, we decided to do it! Amy really loves "her" car and I now get "my" car back.

Last weekend, we took the new car up to Santa Clarita because Amy was helping host Heather's bridal shower at my parents' house. On Friday night, we went on a fun quadruple date with Nick and Christie, Brian and Becca, and Travis and Katy to Black Angus. We got to catch up on a lot of things, eat (too much!) good food, and laugh a lot. The next day, my dad and I helped the ladies set up for the shindig, and then jetted out of there so as to flee the girliness! That night, we celebrated Trevor's 17th birthday at Chili's before heading home.

A lot more has happened and will happen, but (do I always say this?) we will try to keep you better informed and perhaps offer some thought-provoking links as well. I leave you with a picture of a (not our) 2007 ruby red Kia Optima:

2.05.2008

Super Tuesday

Don't forget to vote today! I thought it would be fun to have all the many, many readers of this blog leave a comment stating who they voted for and one or two sentences on why. Let's see if we can get some good discussion and maybe ten or so comments by Wednesday or Thursday.

10.18.2007

Memories

I know, it's been a long time since we posted, and even longer since I've posted. I could write about what's been going on in my life, but I'd rather write about what's been going on in my head lately--memories.

About this time of year is my favorite time of year. Growing up in New Hampshire, this is the season when the leaves started changing colors and the temperature began to drop. The air smelled crisp and fresh and cool. I LOVED it. My mom once told me that she thought I was her most "New Englandy" child and was surprised that I've ended up in southern California. I think that some times it's good to recognize that the Lord has plans that may be different than what we want, and that's okay. But I do still get my "autumn fever" (it's a bit like spring fever, except I get it in the fall :-D).

On Saturday, Mike (my brother) came to visit and we drove to Oak Glen, in the mountains, to pick apples. Two weekends ago I went up to the mountains for the Ladies' Retreat with my church. I must say that the 45 degree evening that we found ourselves in when we arrived was simply delightful. The whole weekend was on the chilly end (upper 40s to lower 50s in the daytime and upper 30s to lower 40s at night) and while many of the women expressed their belief that it was freezing, I enjoyed being brought back to New England autumn weather. It was wonderful!

The events of the past two weekends has brought me to thinking about memories. I keep finding myself reminiscing about anything and everything in my past--from 8 years old to 23. Just a little while ago I was crocheting at my desk and watching a slide show of pictures run across my computer screen. There were pictures of my family visiting for Tom's graduation from boot camp in July. There were pictures from apple picking on Saturday. There were pictures from our wedding and several of the weddings we've been to over the past year. There were pictures of friends we still talk to and ones we've lost track of. But, they all made me smile as I thought about the memories.

What's the point of all this? I think I'm starting to realize that my memory is an incredible gift from God. Even if I can't list out the events of my life or tell you about each particular birthday or holiday, it's such a blessing to be reminded of some sweet memory and smile as I play it out again in my mind. I think of how the Bible talks about itself and how the stories of old are for us to learn from. They are examples for us to follow. We talked about God's faithfulness at the Ladies' Retreat and how it's good to look back and remember ways that God has been faithful in your life. We wrote out lists to help us remember and then spent time thanking God for all the ways He has worked in our lives. Since then I've been trying to enjoy every moment. Some days my focus is better than others, but today I was thinking how blessed I have been.

I grew up in a home with a mom and a dad who loved me and worked hard. We had a home and always had food to eat and clothes to wear. We went to excellent schools and each received a quality education. My siblings and I had fun together--playing "Clean-up Crew" and climbing trees, sledding in the winter and jumping in piles of leaves in the fall, playing tag with the neighbors' kids and waiting for the school bus in the morning. We grew up camping a lot, fishing with mom & dad in the canoe and finding earthworms and salamanders under damp leaves. We went to the beach and teased dad when he couldn't find the blanket without his glasses on. We visited cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents when we could and spent time with family friends. We had cookouts, pool parties and picnics, went on hikes, bike rides and hayrides and I loved it all!

Then I went to college all the way out in California. Every time I hear the song "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie Chicks (by the way, I'm not a big country music fan) it reminds me of my mom as I left for college because it was her song for me. College was another blessing as I met many Christians who had walked with the Lord longer than me and wanted to help me learn what I was doing. I had professors who invested in me both inside and outside of the classroom and new friends who wanted to love me and get involved in my life. I learned about and studied the Bible in class and on my own and the Lord has been faithful every step of the way. Then I got to spend an entire semester studying in Israel! What a blessing to read the Bible and be in the place where it actually happened! It was already an amazing semester, but God decided in His great grace to allow me to meet and get to know my husband during this time. I can confidently say that I wouldn't have picked Happy out of a crowd, but now I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world! He has been the biggest blessing of my life (aside from the Lord saving me) and I couldn't find words to express how thankful I am that God brought us together. Happy continues to be a godly example to me on a daily basis as he seeks to serve our Heavenly Father in all he does. To top it all off, I've been a part of three church families that have loved me and encouraged me and given me opportunities to serve the body of Christ.

This post is getting pretty long, but I hope it has challenged some of you to look back over your life and thank God for all that He has done and continues to do. It's too easy to become focused on myself. It's too easy to forget all the ways I've been blessed and gifted. It's too easy to get comfortable and discontent and always want more. I hope you spend some time today thinking over your life and praising God for anything and everything you can. He truly is the Giver of all good gifts!

9.25.2007

Magic Mountain


Saturday was my first trip to Magic Mountain. I know I went to college for four years just down the street from said theme park, but I was also a poor college student. So, it was my first time and it was so much fun! We met at church at 7 am and organized the caravan for the trip, leaving around 8:00. After the nearly 3 hour car ride up there, making our way through 2 major construction SIG alerts on the 5 freeway, we arrived at Magic Mountain at 10:45. I think we finally got in the park around 11:15. Despite my dislike of rush hour traffic, I was thankful for the nap on the way up! Once we arrived, bought tickets and organized groups, my group headed over to Revolution (at least I think that's the name of it). We waited in line for a while in the pouring rain and then the ride was shut down when we were about 25 feet from the front of the line. Bummer. We waited for a little while, thinking it'd be better to stay more dry and wait for the ride to re-open so we could be first... especially because most of the other rides were closed. Then we finally left for The Riddler's Revenge and the rain cleared up! The best part about standing in that line was finding a soggy $20 bill on the ground :-D After that was lunch and more rides. We went on Goldrusher, Scream, Colossus (I didn't go on this one), Goliath, Revolution, X.... and maybe some more... I really don't remember since the day was pretty crazy. But it was fun! And I think X is pretty much the most amazing roller coaster I've ever been on :-D Check out the pictures from our rainy day at Magic Mountain, if you feel so inclined, and have a lovely Tuesday!

9.04.2007

Labor Day Weekend

This was the sunset that Happy & I watched on Sunday night! It was BEAUTIFUL, even if the beach was the most crowded I've ever seen it. Our Labor Day weekend was relaxing, fun and REALLY STINKIN HOT! For those who live in Santa Clarita, I'm VERY sorry. We were in Anaheim on Saturday and it was around 100 degrees. I would much rather be absolutely freezing than hot, but I've heard the heat wave is supposed to be done soon. Is it dumb to pray that it doesn't get so hot? I'm seriously hoping that this winter is really rainy and cold. I'd love it!

In other news, my boss had her baby yesterday! I heard he was 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21" long. His name is Colton (not sure on the spelling of that) and I'm told he's absolutely adorable. It seems like there are a lot of babies being born around me right now. By the way, the baby in our web album is the one I held on Saturday. He was a week old! When he was born he was only 6 lbs. 2 oz. so he is still really tiny. SO CUTE! But don't worry, I'm not going to do the "I'm pregnant" joke again ;-) Seeing and holding babies makes me realize.... I can wait! Plus, hearing the stories of not sleeping makes me think... I can wait! For those of you who are so ready for Happy & me to start having babies... Hopefully you can wait too :-) Meanwhile, I'll just hold other women's babies and say how cute they are and then give them back when they start to fuss. But seriously, what's with all the babies?!?!

But, since I am back at work, I do need to get to my invoices. I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend, even if it was stiflingly hot. I'd love to hear any stories.... but since no one ever comments on my posts, perhaps I shouldn't get my hopes up (YES, that is a guilt-trip!). Back to work for me! Have an excellent short week!

8.23.2007

Rescuing the Fish



I found this yesterday and realized I never put it on our blog. I think it's pretty hilarious.

8.07.2007

The Big Present



This video is 3 1/2 minutes long, but you do get to see the whole reaction of Andrew/Happy getting his first iPod. In my opinion, he doesn't seem all that excited, but he's gotten more and more excited as he's learned how to use it. I think it was a successful birthday :-)

p.s. I've added more videos to the sidebar (some were in older posts) and two more web albums were added as well. Congratulations to Jake & Amber!!! Pictures from the wedding can be found here and pictures of Andrew's Birthday are here.

6.14.2007

Some guy at Disneyland :-)

As promised, here is the video of Kobe Bryant at Disneyland. You can see his wife walking ahead of him once they turn the corner. She's pushing a stroller. I didn't notice her until I watched the video later. Then again, I didn't even know that Kobe was married.... I'm so on top of things like that.



I've also added pictures to our web albums from our day at Disneyland and our afternoon at the beach on Sunday with some of the couples from our young married Sunday school class. Oh, and there will be more videos on the sidebar as Happy tried to get out of the hole he was buried in. Quite hilarious.

p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

5.30.2007

Some Thoughts

After the long weekend, I had the largest stack of invoices EVER. I just finished all of them. Some times that is the best feeling. I'm DONE! ....until the mail comes tomorrow :-)

Since we've been pretty bad at updating our blog over the last few weeks, I figured I should post even if I have nothing in particular to post about. But, then I realized that it'd be really boring to read and no one would want to comment and encourage my writing. Then I remembered that people commented on the "I'm pregnant... just kidding" post. But I decided I wouldn't give my dad-in-law heart failure again.

So here's what's been on my mind and heart lately: I've been quite challenged by some situations that bring up my biblical counseling training and it's really exciting, but I can't exactly share the details of that. I will say that it is a wonderfully undeserved blessing to see God working in the hearts of His children! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness! Praise the Lord for His perfect plan in our lives! Praise the Lord for His holiness and His justice and His grace! Praise the Lord that no matter how crazy life seems to us, He still knows what He's doing and it's not out of His hands! What a blessing to rest in that hope :-)

5.07.2007

Non-Monday Morning

This morning didn't feel like a Monday to me. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm feeling better than I normally do on a Monday. I've put a little thought into this and I think these are some of the reasons for the non-Monday feel of my morning:

1. I spent an hour on Saturday doing the Advanced Tae Bo workout video and then did it again this morning. Despite all the sore muscles in every part of my body, I think my energy level has increased.

2. I went to bed last night after praying for the motivation to get up in the morning and exercise. I think God gave me the right perspective on it--I'm not a morning person.

3. Ruth is getting married on Saturday!!!! I'm a bit excited about going up on Thursday with Abigail and Heather to spend some time with Ruth before the wedding :-D

4. I just read Gunner's blog from last Thursday, which put to words much of what I've been thinking about and learning. What a blessing!

5. The project I've been working on is ALMOST finished! I worked on it for a while on Sunday afternoon and now only have "finishing touches" left. My goal is to finish it tonight.


But for now, I'd better get to my invoices. Have a wonderful Monday and praise the Lord because His mercies are new every morning :-)

5.02.2007

Our New Apartment

I know we moved in February and it's now May, but I finally got around to taking pictures and have added them to our web albums. ALSO, there are pictures of our day at California Adventure and Disneyland AND our double date with Nick & Christie in Santa Monica on Friday night. Phew. Yeah, I know, I'm shocking you with all these pictures. Leave comments!!!!