Journey

OK, first of all it has been forever since I last posted and that is an issue. Second, the ol' blog could definitely use a face lift, geez it looks awful & these pics are so outdated!

Anyway, I entitled this blog journey b/c I feel like that is what I have been on for last year. For those that know me well you know I have had stomach issues most of my life. I finally went and got a test run to see if I had Celiac Disease, basically an intolerance to wheat, rye, barley, & oats.

My results came back negative, however, this could be attributed to the fact that I had been eating mostly gluten free for almost a year prior, sometimes that can effect your test results. Yet despite testing negative I made the decision to continue to eating gluten free b/c it simply makes me feel better. And let me tell you, I feel great! The only down side is that sometimes I still like to think I can eat things with gluten and then I get an awful stomach pains. But, for the most part I stick to my diet and I feel pretty good.

So, along with sticking to my gluten free diet I have decided that this year is going to be a turning point in how I view food and what I am willing and unwilling to put into my body! We only get one turn around on this planet and only ONE body, so I decided enough is enough, no more processed junk and useless calories. That said, I'm thinking about trying a vegan diet. No, I haven't jumped off the deep end! This decision has nothing to do with being an animal activist, b/c I'm not, it isn't that I don't like meat, which I do, it is just a personal decision that I have decided to pursue. I already consume only small amounts of dairy, and I hardly ever eat red meat mostly b/c I cannot stand the sight of raw meat. So, my hope is that this transition will not be too much a shock to my system.

Also, this new food journey may prompt me to blog more and make more of an effort to get my thoughts out. I love to write things down and it isn't until I actually sit down and start typing that I realize how much I miss the written (typed) word. Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great New Year, filled not with only with resolutions but REVOLUTIONS!

P.S. I'm going to work on the blog!

Summer Eleven

Summer is here and so far this year in Kentucky it has felt like a Texas Summer!! It has been so hot and humid I feel like I moved back to Houston! Which reminds me, for those of you that are from Texas reading this I miss y'all. I so wanted to try and make it there this Summer for a visit but it doesn't like that will be happening this year! This mostly has to do with the fact that Chris and I bought our first home!

In my last blog we were in the process of moving in with my in-laws and saving for down payment. Things ended up working out really well through that whole situation and we ended up being able to get a little house with a giant fenced in yard. Chris and I are happy and you have never seen to two happier dogs in your life! Al loves his new yard so much that he rolls around on his back in the grass on a daily basis. Rona is obsessed with trying to tree squirrels, catch birds, and protect her place and people. Chris and I have been immensely blessed and are truly cherishing this time together in our new home.

In other news, Chris was laid off from his job in March which was a huge concern since we were trying to save for a house. We spent a lot of time praying and completely went on faith that God would provide him with a new job. Within a week and a half Chris got a job offer! Nothing but God can be attributed with that small miracle! I am still at my same job and probably will be until we have children. I would love to be able to stay home but only God knows if that is going to be possible. As for right now, things are going great and we look forward to whatever the future holds.

Absent

I didn't realize that I haven't posted anything since this summer!! Things have been busy and I have not made time to sit down and write anything. Bad excuse, but it is the truth. Anyway, Chris and I had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas. I actually got our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving which made for a really relaxing holiday season. For New Year's Eve Chris and I went to Cincinnati for the weekend and we had a great time! We found this great restaurant that just opened called SMOQ (pronounced smoke) they had THE BEST food ever. For our appetizer we had fried ribs, sounds awful but it was AMAZING! Then we went to a local place and listened to live music and rang in the New Year. The next day we went to IKEA and bought a coffee table! That was a big deal since we have been w/o a coffee table for like a year.

So that should bring things up to date, or at least into the month of January. So far this month has been busy! Chris and I are moving out of our condo and into his parents house for a short while so we can save mega bucks for a down payment on a house of our own. We have been slowly moving things into storage for the past few weeks and over to my in-laws. We are going to be moved by the end of the month. I almost wish we would have rented a storage unit a lot sooner, it has given us so much more room in our closets!

This weekend my fabulous friend Sarah is coming for a visit! I am so excited to see her! I have been cleaning and doing laundry like a maniac but the condo was a total mess from moving so it needed to be done. I have no idea what we are going to get ourselves into but whatever it is it'll be a blast b/c when we get together there is no tellin' what may happen!

Marriage

I was recently reading The Southeast Outlook, a free publication from one of the local mega churches in Louisville, and it had this 4 page spread devoted to members of the church that have been married for 50 plus years. One couple mentioned in the article have been married for 69 years!! The husband is 98 years young and they have been married for the vast majority of their lives. Their story, like many of the others, was so touching and insightful to read. Several couples mentioned how important it was to marry a Christian, to always keep Christ at the center of your relationship, not to go to bed angry, and last but not least to take your vows seriously! However, they did all seem to have one really common denominator and that was that most of them admitted that marriage is work and you have to work at it to keep everything running smoothly.

As far as I can tell from my short time being married is that we are all imperfect, sinful people that come together for life, and try through God's help to refine and bring each other closer to the Lord and closer to each other. It is a daily decision to be committed to one person for the rest of your life. A constant ebb and flow of emotions, work, love, and just plain ol' life. I think all of us married couples out there would agree that if you want your marriage to be successful you have to make time for each other. I'm not talking about just sitting in the same room and watching T.V. together, or both reading while sitting next to each other, I am talking about true quality time. Actually talking and communicating with your spouse about your day, your thoughts and dreams, hopes, and fears, making a deep connection. Ha, now please don't get me wrong, I honestly don't have it all figured out and I ask God daily to give me patience and to love Chris through respect and submission. As I say all the time "I'm a work in progress" and always will be! I can only hope that God gives Chris and I the kind of marriage that lasts for 55 yrs in which we can say "while 55 years seems like a long time, it has passed so fast that our wedding seems like only a few days ago." That is quoted from James and Virginia Rowe.

insurance plans and the weekend

UGH, so I am up to my ears in health insurance quotes, plans, coverage, and mostly questions. I understand that insurance is something that everyone needs to have and that it is a necessity in life, however, why the heck does it have to be so complicated!! I honestly have more questions than I do answers. I also don't understand why most of the quotes that I saw online don't include maternity on a FAMILY health insurance program. Which makes absolutely no sense to me, don't most married people have kids? So why doesn't it come standard on most plans? See questions and more questions. Oh well, such is life I guess.

Chris and I have had a good weekend, we haven't done much to speak of but it was still a good weekend. Friday night I went over to a good friend's house and talked until almost midnight, it was much needed conversation. I love being around her and her family they always remind me of God's love and that He is in control of EVERYTHING! On Saturday Chris got up at the butt crack of dawn and went fishing with the teenage guy that he mentors, while I stayed at home and caught up on my sleep. I also got some of the house cleaning done, which, as always seems the never ending task. Then we finished up the evening watching movies and eating junk at my in-laws. Today we went to church, the grocery store (ick), and then I took a nap (love). Overall, not much to right home about but we lead a simple life filled with love and laughter.

The old has gone the new has come...

So I decided to delete all the old postings and start from scratch. They were from last year and really don't accurately represent our lives right now. WOW, so a ton has happened since last year that I am not really sure where to begin! I guess I will start with the past few months. Chris got a new job working with an electric company that is renovating the base at Ft. Knox. All I can say is that this job is truly a blessing from God! Chris is really enjoying it and will hopefully be there for the next few years. As for me, I am still working at Evergreen Christian Preschool in the nursery and I love it. Currently, we are saving money for a house and/or anything else that God may decide to throw our way. We are discussing starting a family but that we are also leaving that in up to God and His divine timing.

I spent all last week at Youth Camp with the junior high and high school students from our church, it was AMAZING!! I think I was probably challenged as much if not more than the students. One the focuses of this week was on India. We learned that 3 million people in India are professing Christians, the other 997 million are unsaved. As a result of this there has been a huge breakdown in the family system and the value placed on human life. When women give birth to baby girls often times the babies are killed within a few hours to 1 day of their birth. Families of girls are expected to have huge elaborate weddings and most people are unable to provide that for their daughters so instead they take their own children's lives.

However, there is hope, in one of the villages a safe place was created to give families a way out of having to kill their baby girls. (To protect this ministry and the people working for it I will only refer to it as The House.) If an unwanted girl is born a family they can leave her on the doorstep at the House and the baby will be taken care of and loved. For awhile nothing changed, then Grace came and everything changed. Grace is a precious little baby girl with two clubbed feet that was left in a box on the doorstep of The House. After that other children starting coming to the house and now school aged children and younger are able to come to this safe place and escape the abuse in their homes and have the opportunity to hear the gospel. For many of the children that come to The House they live in a war zone of domestic violence, poverty, and constant fear. Most of them may only be able to eat while they are at the house and as a means of escape many of the children do not leave until it is time to go to bed.

One the challenges presented to the students this week was to give sacrificially of their own spending money to help provide support for The House and the ministry organization affiliated with the House. The students raised over $7,500 in one night!!!! That, my friends, is the power of God! Please keep India in your prayers, that lives would be changed and souls would be won over to Christ.

Another challenge presented to the students was "Going Beyond". This is about taking your passion and your burden and going beyond the status quo. Some of the students that had a passion for cheerleading and a burden for children came up with the idea to have a cheerleading camp for handicapped kids and donating the proceeds to The House in India. Others thought of having a charity dinner at their church and sending the money to India or other orphanages that needed assistance. I feel so challenged by "going beyond" that I am praying for God to show me a way to combine my passions and my burdens to be beneficial for His Kingdom.

How will you "go beyond"?