Christmas & married

This Christmas was our first as a married couple. It was very fun to start traditions with Ben and think about what we want our holidays to look like for us. We thought it would be fun to have a "candle night" which we decided is when you do everything by candle light. So obviously it makes for a simple night of game playing or talking. Cooking was too difficult to do by candle light - I wound up turning on the kitchen light - so I think next year we will have to prepare ahead of time or get take out...But that was our Christmas Eve Eve. We really liked it, it was fun to have a change of pace right before Christmas to hang out together, laugh, and play.

Decorating was very very fun! I bought a few things to make the house feel warm and cozy but left most of what I wanted to buy for after Christmas to get 50% off...But even with the few decorations I had the house looked like Christmas. We got a tree and put white lights on it. We have somewhere around 30 ornaments and then I bought a box of 50 cheap red ones from IKEA to give some color and coordination to the tree. I hung the Christmas Cards we got on ribbon in the dining room. I think the dining room was our most decorated room :) We were pleased with how our house was decorated. We were very happy to have a house for our first Christmas :) After Christmas sales were awesome! I got reindeer stocking holders, lighted garland, ornaments, snowflakes, bowls, tons and tons of lights to decorate the outside next year, a very pretty tree skirt, and a pretty red table cloth. After thinking about the table cloth (which was only $5) I thought that it might be good as curtains in my living room. I have some tan ones up now and I thought that it I made those panels and the red table cloth into equal widths I could have tan and red curtains. I am trying to find someone with a sewing machine so I can borrow it and try my hand at making the curtains!

Back to actual Christmas: We spent Christmas Eve with my family at my parents' house. I made enchiladas for our Mexican feast. We ate dinner, laughed, opened a present which is always fun to get a taste of what the next morning will be like. I opened coffee cups from my sister Joanna (matching ones for me and Ben), and I don't remember what Ben opened that night. It was nice to be with my family, we watched A Christmas Story and I fell asleep...I didn't even feel that tired but apparently I was! But we went home and I loved thinking that I would be waking up on Christmas with my husband!

We had decided to open our presents to each other (except for one which was already at his parents' house) He gave me a set of camel color flannel sheets and a set of cream color 1,000 thread count sheets. He also gave me a plum color, warm and pretty throw :) I gave him the movie A Christmas Story, a crock pot cook book, and with his parents bought him a 32 G ipod touch. He really wanted it but didn't think he was going to get it because it was out of everyones' price range. But we were able to split the cost and give Ben what he really wanted. And it has proved to be worth the cost and really is the "funnest ipod."

We went to his parents house at 7am Christmas morning to be with them. It was fun but different to be with them rather than my family. I was struggling with being sad but at the same thoroughly enjoying our time with them. I am so thankful that his family and I all get along well and can have fun together. They have Christmas music playing and try to make it as dark as possible to make it feel like early morning through the whole present opening.

We went to my parents' at 9 to have another Christmas morning :) My family does it later in the morning because we like to sleep in and we wait for my dad's mom, our Nana, comes over. 2 of my cousins live here now so they were over as well. 10 people made for a busy Christmas morning! We always make sure to have a fire going and coffee cups handed out before we start. We had a great time with my family but left shortly after noon to go to Ben's grandparent's.


I am so out of time...I will write about the afternoon later but need to go hang out with my sisters right now. I have like 1 more week with them living in phx before they move to tucson again :(

Arabelle

I was making chocolate white chocolate chip cookies Sunday night for a cookie party Monday night which was super fun! We had family things that evening so I didn't start making them until almost midnight. I had taken the 4th batch out of the oven and they were cooling on the cookie sheet when I totally feel asleep on my couch. My dog had never ever eaten anything she wasn't supposed to but decided that this was her night! She ate 2 dozen of the cookies i had cooling on my table! I didn't even think about them being in her reach when I put them there! So I woke up about 3am and freaked out! She seemed just fine but I know chocolate isn't good for dogs so I woke Ben up and we decided to call the animal hospital. I was ready to load her up and take her there but we decided to call first. Thankfully the vet said that she didn't have enough to be fatal because of her size :) and told me to watch her and expect vomiting or diarrhea. She slept in our room that night so that if she started making weird noises we would hear. She didn't do anything at all that night...she just slept. I had to go to work the next morning so I put her outside and prayed she'd be ok. I stopped by home mid afternoon to check on her and she was completely fine! She seemed happy! I don't think the chocolate affected her in a bad way at all. She liked it which just makes me a little nervous about anything in the kitchen she could get in to! But oh well...at least we know that she is resilient to people food and chocolate!

The heater guy came out over the weekend and said we needed this new power board....so he is bringing it today! I really really hope that it lets us have heat!

Disneyland :)

We loved going to Disneyland this year! First time back since Ben proposed. It was the one year anniversary! So I made the shirts we are wearing :) We got so many comments and then a Disneyland employee gave us "Happy Anniversary" pins. Disneyland is one of my favorite places because you can wear cheesy shirts like this and people notice and appreciate them!

I got to spend the weekend with friends that I love and have missed terribly! And I got to meet a few new people and get to know others that I really wanted to get to know!
These were the 2 roommates that I loved getting to know better! They are fun women that I could talk to for hours!
These girls Miranda and Ashley are friends that I was so happy to hang out with because I missed them! Ashley is living in PHX again finally but Miranda is leaving to go far far away soon :( But they are life friends...we'll still be there after England.

One of the most fun things about the trip was that my sister Cathy came!
This was right after Splash Mountain where we got pretty wet!

But my favorite thing about the whole day was talking to Ben about how we were each feeling last year on the trip. He was trying not to think about proposing so he wouldn't get nervous and I was trying not to think of the possibility of Ben proposing because I didn't think he was going to. And then we got to watch the fireworks show from Main Street again and it snowed and it was beautiful. It was the exact moment that Ben proposed last year and I just kept thinking how awesome it is that we always have that memory together and it is something we can share with our kids some day and can experience again every year if we want to! If you haven't gone to Disneyland at Christmas....GO! It's so magical and beautiful and special. Here are some more pictures...enjoy!
































We ended the trip the best way possible! We got ANNUAL PASSES! We can go pretty much any time of the year! So if you are going to Disneyland let us know...we may meet you there! Can't wait to use them!
We are loving married life but totally had a fun argument the other day about the christmas tree lights. We both wanted to put them on. I thought that I could make it look good and I wanted to try but Ben had been thinking he was going to do them. So we yelled a bit and then finally he put them on while I put Disneyland pictures on our christmas card. First major time that I just didn't want to talk to him about the situation! But we got through it :) and he did a great job on the lights. I love married life.

my house

Our heater is not working...which is a bummer because 3 months ago the inspector said it was fine. We have been bundling up while at home and snuggling under the blankets at night. We have a super warm blanket so at least we can sleep in peace. The heater guy is coming out Saturday to tell us what we need to do and to show Ben how to fix it in the future...oh the things you learn!

I'm home early from work so I am going to take this afternoon and clean! I don't like cleaning at night when I usually get home from work but the afternoon is fine by me! So in a couple hours my house will be perfectly spotless! Can't wait!

work and dreams

These are the amazing ladies that I get to work with every day! From left to right standing it's Jenny, Laura K, Tia (our supervisor), Me sitting it is Kortney on the left and Faith on the right. The 5 of us share an office...Tia of course has her own. We have fun together, laugh and talk about life and the clients we each have. I would not love my job if I did not love the people I work with.

I work at Southwest Human Development. It was recently voted the best non-profit organization to work for! I feel so blessed to have landed this job right out of college! It really is a GREAT place to work. The supervisors care about the team members and make sure that we are doing well and feel supported in dealing with the hard issues we have to face with our families that we serve.

Lately I've been thinking about my career and what I want it to look like. Do I want to start a family now? Do I want to keep working at my current job for a long term thing (I've been there 6 months so far)...Do I want to go back to school? What would my degree be in? Do I want to invest more in my work outside of the home or do I want to stay home with my kids?

Of course I don't have all the answers to these questions but I am starting to lean towards going back to school to get my masters in occupational therapy. I think I did that link right but if not it's just wikipedia's definition of occupational therapy. I really hope this next link works because it is the American Occupational Therapy Association site. Check it out...I think it is such a need with children and I would love to work with kids birth to 5 years old as an occupational therapist. So, this is my dream for now. I of course want my own children but I feel like this degree will help me be a better parent and will help me teach my kids well and I can facilitate play and love through this therapy. That would make my heart so very happy! I feel like OT is a way that God helps us, his children, cope with life when that is all we can do and also to enjoy the sweet moments and realize the beauty that surrounds us.

updates and Velvet Elvis

oh my goodness it has been so so long since I have posted something. I actually had to check and see what I had posted last to see what I needed to catch up on! Well the kitchen is painted red now - but it still needs a little bit of edging touch-ups so no pictures have been taken yet. Also I repainted the bathroom so I will take those pictures when the paint tape comes off! I got some pictures printed out of our last year together for a project that I am really excited about. The coffee table in our living room is great but I wanted to make it more personal. I decided to choose pictures and glue them onto the table along with some favorite quotes and verses. Then I'll lacquer over it to seal it all up and then we have a piece that is all about us and our memories together! I'm going to start that after Disneyland trip.


I posted the above picture because I like it - pretty simple. We were at our friends John and Vanessa Wathen's wedding (such a wonderful night!) I love weddings almost more now after my own then I did before I was married. It just reminds me so vividly of the love that Ben and I have for each other and how much love God has for me and how preciously he takes care of my heart. I love love love weddings!

I am reading this book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. I have heard a lot about it the last couple years but I had never read it. I'm borrowing it from Marcia Kuyper and I am loving it. I have been taught most of the beliefs that are in this book and I agree with so much of the book. A theme of this book is to test and probe what you are taught and what you read anywhere. I do this at times but not very often. I have the ability to deliberately think through and mediate on scripture and I do this in passing as I am driving or as I am reading the words but I don't regularly take time apart from reading to mull over what it is saying. I want to do this with Velvet Elvis because there is so much that Rob is saying.

One of my struggles in life is listening to people talk about how important counseling and therapy is and at the same time others talk about how important focusing on the positives in life is and not living in the past but in the present and looking only towards the future. Yes our past is there to teach us but what other role does it play in my life? How much should I think about how my past affects my daily life? Should I take time and think through the times that I was hurt and scarred in my childhood and adolescence or should I accept God's forgiveness, grace, and healing and then move on. Does it take more than that to heal from past hurt? I don't know - but I want to keep learning and growing.

Another theme that I am grasping is that the Bible is living and active. I have heard that sentence probably 1,000 times in my life form adults trying to prove that the Bible was important and I should read it and care about it. It never worked. I didn't care about what the Bible said until I accepted the love that God was so desperately throwing at me! Once I realized that God loves me and there is no judgment, condemnation, guilt, or striving. It's just me and my completely accepted being and the joy of living out of God's love. The journey has been amazing but what this book is revealing is how the Bible was alive when it was written. I didn't know how intentional the writers were in thinking through who their audience was. They wrote exactly what their audience needed to hear to believe in Jesus. And so many of the same verses are exactly what I need to hear to believe in Jesus. It's amazing. Every time I read a passage I hear God wooing my heart. I can't believe how blessed I am that God chose me for this wonderful journey and life that he has for me.

Shalom is one of my new favorite words. I might name a child that :) hahaha my husband would never let me do that! It is similar to the word peace. I love having peace - I love peace and quiet, I love a peaceful friend, I love a peaceful evening with my husband, I love the comfort and the joy and rest that is in peace. Shalom is like peace intensified. It is God given goodness and wholeness. I have a desire for that and I don't think I have that in my life. I still care WAY too much about what other people are thinking about me and not about God and his life for me. I am not very good at doing the day to day tasks with God. I trust him, but I haven't figured out what honors him and what doesn't. Isn't that weird? I've lived all of my life knowing God's commandments and stories about God but what about the things that being him glory and how to honor God in the minutes of the day? I don't think about those things very often. I think a lot about what God might "want" from me or what other people want from me but not about what will bring God glory and honor and what does my love for him desire me to do. Just recently I am thinking more about that. I hope that I am able to test and probe this book, the Bible, other people in my life to live this life in the most God glorifying way.

It's after midnight and I have work tomorrow. Those are my thoughts for now. I'll probably wait til after DISNEYLAND to post again.