PROJECTS!!!!

We have family coming out for the holidays. Five visits from 9 different people starting next week until the middle of Jan. We are excited but I need to do a lot of work around the house to get it prepared for visitors. Here is how it's going so far, not quite done but much better than is was before.

Oh and here's my Ham from Thanksgiving it turned out really good, I was surprised I could make a Ham

I Didn't Know

So tonight was small group night and I realized that I haven't been real with myself, or others for the past couple months and even worse I didn't realize I was doing it and that it was eating me inside. Tonight, God brought me to a place of humility and authenticity I haven't felt in a long time. I have a tendency to get in the habit of keeping my problems to myself and trusting that God will take care of them. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trusting God with your troubles but their is also a place for fellowship and prayer in helping you through your problems and denying  yourself and others of that is a huge mistake. So tonight one of our friends felt a strong need for our group to come together in prayer and fellowship and share any burdens or praises we had laid on our hearts. "Easy" I thought,  I just needed to really listen to others share and remember to pray for them this week. WRONG. As people started sharing I felt this huge need to share something too. What was it? Then something came to mind. "No" I thought; that's nothing big and I trust that God will take care of it so I don't need to share that, do I? My heart felt heavier, and heavier with each beat. Finally after struggling with the holy spirit in my rebellion I finally gave in. And as I shared my burden, I began to get really emotional. I didn't even know this problem had dug such a deep whole in my heart that I'd react this way because of it. It felt so much better to be able to be in that place again were I can be real with others and share and relate with people who need my support and I there's. I missed that feeling of humility and even though I hate crying in front of people, there is a sense I comfort I feel through it. Comfort that people, other than my family and husband, care for each other and long for relationships outside their own family. Relationships through God our Father. Those relationships are some I treasure, desire and need to walk though life and with God. 

Thank you God for bringing us to this awesome group of people we can call family. Thank you for giving us opportunities to love on each other through You and share our struggles and praises with each other. Thank you for always knowing what we need and providing us with the things we need to be closer to You. Thank you for these blessings and thank you for loving us even through our flaws. I ask that you continue to reveal yourself through these relationships and give us the tools we need to lift each other up.

ROMANS 13

Election night was a disappointment for me. I just went to sleep because I couldn't watch tv anymore as worry came upon me in my weakness. But I woke up the next morning and realized that our country is going to change.  I feel that most people seemed to come together on election night and even the day after. Again what McCain said was very uplifting and humble on his part and again very positive and willing to unite; along with Bush who was willing to corporate with our president to be. And the world was hopeful too, when does that ever happen? Whether or not our country will unite even if it's just for a moment, well we'll have to see, but at least that day it felt like it could be possible and to me there was a sense of hope for peace I think we all long for. Whether you are democrat, republican, independant, ect. you can not deny the sense of accomplishment as a nation with the biggest turn out at the polls we have ever seen, we care about our future, we care about our country and we can agree on that. And again this country is great and I am proud to be an American, anything is possible here. For those of you who have travelled to other countries know what I mean. And as a christian, God has a plan for our country and the world with our new elected president. THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR IT! All what we should do now is pray for Obama and his family, with loving and humble hearts, and let God take care of the rest. And for me I'm not worried about if things will get better or worse, whatever happens is PLANNED to happen for a PURPOSE. If our economy gets better or worse, fine. I can't take money with me when I die. All that matters to me is that in this country we are FREE to worship God where ever and when ever we want. We need to come together in relation with God and do what He wants us to which is respect our leaders and pray for them even if we don't agree because they are human. Our purpose, and what we were made for was relationship and fellowship. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and for anyone it would be a tuff job, this is why prayer is so important. Will we ever live in international harmony? No. Will things get worse? maybe. Can things get better? of course. But through it all I will never give up on the hope for peace one day, because heavenly peace will come, that is certain.

It's been waxed

Don'​t get me wrong​ I am a repub​lican​ but lets face it, thing​s haven​'​t been worki​ng out the way we'​ve hoped​ for us, far from it. I think​ no matte​r what the outco​me was in this elect​ion,​ chang​e was in our futur​e;​ wheth​er the presi​dency​ went to McCai​n or Obama​.​ Histo​ry has been made and I think​ we can ALL, left and right​,​ be proud​ of what had happe​ned this past year:​
1. first​ women​ as a candi​date for presi​dency​
2. first​ women​ up for VP
3. first​ Afric​an Ameri​can as presi​dent
and
4. the bigge​st turno​ut at the votin​g poles​.​

This year has openn​ed up so many oppor​tunit​ies for every​ Ameri​can.​ There​ are no limit​ation​,​ NONE!​ This prove​s it, YOU can be whate​ver YOU aspir​e to be. LIVE YOUR DREAM​<​ IT CAN COME TRUE.​ This is what the USA is all about​ and the world​ is watch​ing.​ :).

ps- NO MORE ANNOY​ING CAMPA​IGN COMME​RCIAL​S-​-​-​YES!​!​!​!​

$36.17

Okay so $36.17 is what I paid at the gas pump this morning to FILL UP my almost empty tank. $36.17! WHAT! I can't remember the last time I paid that much to fill up, and with a car that goes over 400 miles on one tank. :). Just seems too good to be true or to last longer than a couple months, but hopefully it does. Nick and I went to a costume party at a fellow small grouper. The theme was super heros so I think you can guess who we were. We played pictionary and taboo. We had a ball! i still need to carve our pumpkins, I'm kinda slacking but I'll get it done. Can't wait for the little trick or treaters to come visit us. Hopefully we'll get a lot of them. There's also a haunted house down the street we may go visit, see how Maryland does Halloween!

Ravioli Soup, Stir Fry, and a Very Sweet Note

First I'd like to just thank all our friends and family back in California who have made us feel so loved. We've received many e-mails, phone calls and letters from lots of people, which doesn't make us feel like we've moved across the country. I received the note above from my adorable friends from my former job which just put a huge smile on my face; they are great. Today we went to our small group which was really great. We are reviewing different couples from the bible, good and bad, and are having discussions about them. I think this is a great opportunity to learn how to be more loving and respectful. We have a few fun events planned through small group including a costume party and hopefully some volunteer opportunities. So all in all things are great and we hope and pray they will just keep getting better.

Pumpkins, Cider, and a Blackberry Pie

Fall is here, the leaves are falling and it is beautiful outside. Nick and I went out to pick pumpkins yesterday, and yes we had to get one for Lilu too. We picked up some homemade cider while we were there as well. It was such a pretty day and we really enjoyed the 30 min ride to the farm. After the ride we went grocery shopping and picked up the best blackberry pie I've ever had. MMMMMM. We had it a la mode, which is the only way we think a fruit pie should be eaten. Things have been very slow out here. Nothing extremely interesting has happened except for a change in career paths for me. I have been really thinking of what I want to do for the rest of my life, or better yet, what is going to fulfill me in a career path. Ever since India, we have had a very strong desire to travel internationally and help those who are in great need of aid but never really had the resources to do so. We have even talked about joining the Peace Corp or other types of aid organizations. Well, overseas opportunities are obviously not an option at this point in our lives but there are so many other opportunities to work with other organizations. I was watching T.V. sometime last week while nick was at work and saw a segment on UNICEF and it just clicked; that is what I should be doing. So I did a lot of research that day and found out that I have a lot of work to do in order to get to where I want including going back to school for a masters. It is a little scary realizing that what you have been pursuing for the last five years is not the thing you should be doing and now you have to work again with a clean slate. But luckily I am in the perfect area to pursue this passion. DC is just a hop skip and a jump away and there are tons of schools out here with programs to support me. I just couldn't imagine being happy in any other career. So I brought this idea up to Nick that night and he looked at me as said "that is exactly what you should be doing." Yeah! something to look forward to. So a lot of prayers and a lot of work and I should be on my way. Please pray for us and my job searching. Until next time.