Summer 2012

Our summer has been surprisingly eventful, particularly toward the end.  In July, we went on a vacation to the Washington coast with Stephen's parents and alllllll his siblings, including Mary and Tim and their two little ones, and also Cari's boyfriend, Eric.  We just spent a week at a resort town in the process of development, walking on the beach, hanging out and playing games at the house, swimming in the pool and relaxing in the hot tub.  We each took turns cooking dinner.  We had some very tasty steak-and-veggie kabobs by Cari and Eric, a yummy Mexican meal by Tim and Mary, and Stephen and I made spaghetti.  It was a very relaxing, laid-back vacation all together.


Shortly after the family vacation, Stephen shot his first paid wedding gig.  There is a lot invested in wedding days, so he was under a lot of stress leading up to the wedding day, and also some in the photo editing phase as well.  But he finished it, and the couple was very, very pleased with the photos, for which we are very thankful.


In August, one of my college friends got married, so I flew down to Idaho and stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousin and attended Mindy's wedding, which was butterfly garden themed--very pretty!  They put a lot of humorous personal touches to their ceremony and the reception was one big, fun party, complete with a photo booth and props. :)  I got to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones and had a really good weekend all together.  I am really glad I got to go.

My car's A/C stopped working sometime earlier this year, and we finally took it to get checked out in August, and found out we had to get a new part and the whole thing had to be reassembled.  God graciously provided the money for us, and we fixed it toward the end of August. In the same month, I had to get a new car key, because the buttons on my remote-entry car key didn't work anymore!  And today I got into a rear-end car accident (I was rear-ended by a car who was rear-ended by a car), but I'm not hurt at all and the damage to my car is very minimal.  The accident was not my fault at all, so insurance will be taking care of everything.

We've had an Indian summer this September, with temperatures in the high 80s and 90s.  I think the weather is trying to make up for the very cold and dark beginning of summer we had!  For now I am totally okay with sunshiny weather....I know those cold dark days are coming again!


Our church got a new music pastor, an answer to prayer after 3 years of searching for the right person.  Our church is now able to do so much more music-wise than we were before, because our temporary worship leader was doing so much other work in his position as Communications Director.  Now at our women's Bible study, Mark (the new worship pastor) comes and leads us in worship with a guitar, and we don't have to sing off a CD!  I am especially thankful for that.

Another answer to prayer is that Stephen got a nice raise this year, and we are so grateful for God's provision there!  Now it is actually a possibility for us to move into a bigger apartment, although we won't be taking advantage of that just yet.  For now it does ease up our budget some, and we'll hopefully be able to start putting more money toward debt repayment.

Overall, I think this year has been an incredible year of growth for us and our marriage.  I've grown in my faith in leaps and bounds, and as I've spiritually matured, I'm maturing in other ways.  Praise God for His faithfulness!  I sense good changes coming up for us.  I'm hoping to find my niche in the church we attend, although I'm not sure what that is yet.  And Stephen will be leading our regular small group Bible study again.  This year we will probably be going through 1 Corinthians to go along with our pastor's sermon series. You can pray for us through that.  We want to help our fellow brothers and sisters deepen their faith, as many of them are new Christians or just aren't sure how to grow deeper.  So you can be praying especially for Stephen as he bears the responsibility of teacher, and for me as I try to figure out where I fit into the mix.

Those are the biggest pieces of news.  Thank you for your prayers and your support!  You don't know how much it helps. :)

New Year 2011

Well, we've gotten our new year off to a good start. We joined an 8-week Sunday night Bible study called "God's Big Picture." I also joined the women's mid-week Bible study at our church. We'll be going through Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself" study until June. Our small group starts tonight, and we'll be taking them through a great study called A Biblical Portrait of Marriage. Stephen and I have been through it once before, but it will be new to our group. And I think it will be as helpful to them in their marriages as it was to ours.

The start of the new year also means dental work for me, usually, and this year has proved no different. Today I had a root canal re-treatment done on a tooth that was treated once before, but apparently the bacteria were never fully eliminated. The endodontist packed medication and antibiotics into my tooth today and we are hoping to see the infection disappear over the next week so she can refill the canals and I can get a new crown put on it. (The current crown is about 5 years old and in need of replacement.)

The root canal re-treatment and new crown will wipe out our benefits once more, so next year when our benefits roll over, we'll probably be doing this again, on a tooth on the upper left part of my mouth. It's the same situation: a failed root canal treatment in need of a redoing.

God was gracious to us today--we were worried that the tooth they worked on was cracked, and the good news today was that it wasn't cracked. So praise Him for that! A cracked tooth would have meant an extraction, and a replacement tooth costs about $6000! But He has provided for us once again and will continue to do so. I am thankful that the other tooth that needs working on is not bothering me much.

Well, that's all the news for now. I'm pleased that the year is getting off to a pretty good start. Praise the Lord for his goodness!

Welcome, 2010!

Stephen and I are at his parents' this weekend, so I have some time to relax and gather my thoughts. It's always like a mini-vacation when we come up here for a weekend. His family is big, but very laid-back in their daily ins and outs and I enjoy it immensely.

We welcomed 2010 with a low-key New Year's party with a few friends from our young marrieds' group--Sara, Jason, Rachel and Ethan. Sara and Jason had little Levi Allen on January 27th and Stephen and I currently lead our small group in a study of Colossians. I also joined (with Rachel) a women's Bible study. They meet when they can, but generally 2 or 3 times a month. We're thankful that the Countryside women have welcomed us fairly-newlyweds into their group and hope to learn a lot from them about our relationships with God and our husbands.

My sister, Sam, joined the Marines this year and will be shipping to boot camp April 5th. Thank you for prayers for her physical, spiritual and emotional well-being as she undergoes the training necessary to make her a proud fighter for the American people. Thank you also for prayers for my family as we release her completely to God's protection and care.

I am still pursuing a job in floristry. My honest hope is to start in a humble position of cutting and cleaning stems while I gain experience. Pray that God will open and close doors to me as I seek His way and His will.

Thanks for reading this and sharing your love and support with us. We love you guys.