wonderful Christmas.... number 1

this Christmas, just like last year, we are getting to spread it out for a few weeks with multiple different families!

Our first one was spent in Albuquerque with my mom's family! We had a WONDERFUL time. We ate lots of really good food (including smothered green chile burritos!), saw old friends, went to church, opened presents (I got a new camera- which I am loving!), went to an afternoon tea served by Aubrey (more on this later), played games, relaxed, and saw Andy's family. I had so much fun with my whole family and was reminded how blessed I am to have them in my life. Our time went by way too fast, as always... but it just makes me look forward to the next time we are all together!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and had time to reflect on our great King that was born to us!

next year's Christmas card...

what do you all think??

Chase and I went to Tech campus this week to look at the lights and took Paige with us... and of course I wanted to take pictures of us. I found a perfect corner that had great lighting in the night and so I set up the camera to take a "timed" picture of us. While the timer was counting down Chase was trying to get Paige to join the picture and I kept saying, "don't worry about it... she is not gonna stay" and then all of a sudden the camera flashed and took this picture! haha... I really wasn't mad, just had this face. Priceless....

Merry Christmas Eve!

25 years...

a few weekends ago I went to Albuquerque to see the 25th anniversary show of Christmas Joy! For those of you that do not know what Christmas Joy is... I will tell you! It is one of the greatest dance shows out there that is very near and dear to my heart. It is the true meaning of Christmas (Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection) in dance. It truly is a God glorifying show and makes me want to worship and praise Jesus every time I see it. I was in this show from my 6th grade year until I graduated high school, so I have lots of memories related to this show and the girls I danced in it with.

For the anniversary over 60 alumni came in for the show! We had a little reception with desserts and mingling before the show- which was great to see everyone. Karen Alwin's, the owner of the dance studio I grew up in and the former Artistic director of Christmas Joy, dream was to have her alumni come in for the 25th anniversary and go up on stage again.. so that is exactly what happened. We all went up on stage and took a bow after the finale! Karen retired from Christmas Joy and so it was a really special time!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and felt the true "joy" of the season through our Savior and King!

here are a few pictures from the night/weekend...

its been a while...

wow! time has flown by! I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost a month! we have been pretty busy over the past few weeks....

one, I resigned from my job two weeks ago. Which I know some of you are thinking- what, in this economy?! It was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in the process of moving overseas so far. However, I feel confident about it and know that God is going to use this time without a "full time" job to strengthen my relationship with Him, help Chase & I to prepare to "go", and allow us to focus more on where God is leading us. It has been a bittersweet time at work, because I have been blessed with my job, with the people I work with and with what I have learned since being there. I will miss everyone and hope to stay in touch. I am planning on nannying the Hubik (a couple from our church) boys (one is 2 and one is about 9 months old) starting in the middle of January. I may end up substitute teaching as well-- who knows! I know I will be doing a lot of reading with our RMP (more on that later) program with Redeemer- which I am excited about... my "bold" prayer this year for myself is that I will finish every book we are assigned to read! (not something I have always done in the past!)

two, chase and I finally finished our applications with an organization!! It was a long drawn out process for us, but we finally mailed them in and are headed for Florida for a conference on January 2nd!! We are super excited and can't wait to see what this is all about and to finally get this process started. We will be sure to update you on it when we return.

three, we have had lots of Christmas festivities... my work/client dinner at Cagle's Steak house, Chase's work/client party at the Overton Hotel & again at Double Nickel Steak house, I went home for Christmas Joy last weekend (separate post on this), our small group Christmas party, office Christmas parties, a December church-wide prayer gathering, Christmas with my dad and Linda this weekend and Christmas shopping in-between all of it!

four, we have both been sick! I got sick last Saturday with a cold/sinus stuff and got Chase sick on Thursday! We are both on the mend, but still stuffed up...

I think that is all that has been up with us. We are ready for Christmas (which we will spend in Albuquerque this year), for rest, and to reflect on all the blessings of 2009. We pray that you all find your hope in Christ this season and enjoy your time with family and friends!

turkey day in Dallas

we spent thanksgiving in Dallas this year and had tons of fun with family and friends! we ate way to much yummy food, baked delicious desserts, chase went duck hunting three different times, I went shopping on black Friday for the first time!, and we all packed in Sherry & Scoot's room to watch our wedding video! it was a memorable trip! we are so thankful for our family.

BAM

You all probably remember this little guy.... this is our nephew that was adopted into our family a little over a year ago. It is amazing to see how God has used Bennett to remind us all of His love and how He saved us when we were left for dead, He feed us, clothed us, cleaned us and adopted us into His family.

We got to see Bennett this weekend and watch him walk... well run around, dance and say a few words ("bye, bye", "da-da", "ei-ei-ei-o"). Being around our nieces and nephews makes me wish we lived closer to watch them grow! They are all growing up way too fast!

Bennett Walking and Talking

Bennett Dancing! (and me shacking the camera... sorry!)

thankful...

there are so many things to be thankful for this time of year. In the spirit of "thanksgiving" I am going to list a few things I am thankful for this year...

• God's abundant grace and patience upon my life as I press into Him during stress and worry about work.
  
• God continuing to lead us to pursue moving to the gulf in about 14 months and attend a conference in January! (more on this later)
• Chase.... he loves me, cares for me, listens to me, supports me, prays with and for me, makes me laugh, takes care of me, shows me Christ's love daily...
  
• Paige... I know this may come as a surprise to some, but I really am thankful for her, I have grown to love her and enjoy her company :0) (this is our dog for those that don't know)
• Our family-- who continues to support us, love us and pray for us. We are so blessed to have three wonderful sets of family to care for us. (wish we could see you all more often!)
  
• Our Friends--I appreciate their love, laughter, and company.
  
• Sweet blessings-- for example, a few weeks ago, jord drew me a bubble bath with candles and everything (in a best friend sort of way...), just because she is great and wanted to bless me! another example, my mom's care packages... for thanksgiving we got fall decorations- which I love! another example, my sisters and old friends calling, "just to say hi and to see how things are going!

... and so much more!

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances..." 1 Thes. 5:16-18

enchanted rock...

a few weekends ago we went camping with our good friends amy and geoff vernon! amy and i had been planning this trip since march-- i can't believe that it is already over! we had a great time cooking yummy food on the fire, drinking coffee from our french press, sleeping in our tent from our wedding for the first time, hiking for 3 and a half hours on the "rock", playing cards, roasting some'mores, and walking around Fredericksburg on Sunday! thanks for a memorable trip amy & geoff... we love you guys!