Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fun this year. Every year I swear I feel more thankful than the last. We are so lucky and blessed. Chris and I both have good jobs, which I am especially thankful for since we live in Michigan and the economy is rough right now. We are so thankful for our family, friends, our House Church, and Mars Hill. We are so very lucky.
Like the past three years, Chris had to work. I hate that, but that is what happens when you work at a hospital. We thought for sure he would have it off since he's worked the past two but we are not complaining because that means he has Christmas off!! Anyways, he didn't have to work until 4 so we went over to his aunt and uncle's like we usually do. The food was amazing as always. Soooo good,I wish we had Thanksgiving like once a month. There is just something about green bean casserole and turkey and potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll of course.....yum. Anyways, so we hung out with his fam. for a while and when he left for work I left for Indiana. My family was going down to Mishawaka to stay with my brother Nate and his new wife Emileigh. They had eaten earlier in the day and by the time I got there around 6 we all snacked on leftovers. We also played a new card game called 81, it was a lot of fun!! That night we looked at the adds and sat around and talked, it was fun. I love getting to see my family and catch up, we always end up staying up late and talking, especially me and Megan. We planned to get up early the next morning and go shopping!!! We always talk about going but never do.
Friday we got up around 5:30. We went to Wal-Mart first. That place was a mad house!!! I got hit in the back end with a cart by some lady, and also when we left I almost got hit by a car. We ended up shopping for like 6 hours. I got some good deals. My favorite buy was our new camera. I wasn't planning on buying one but they had such good deals that day. I ended up getting a Canon PowerShot SD 790 IS....it is AMAZING. I will be posting some new pictures and video that I have taken with it. I promise that compared to my last couple posts you will most definately be able to tell the difference between the pictures.
We also went out to breakfast at this little diner. After we were done shopping everyone came back to the apartment and ate leftovers for lunch. Then we all packed up and headed back to our homes. Driving two hours isn't fun on like 4 hours of sleep. When I got home I unloaded everything and took a loooong nap, and it was great.
More to come on my great 4 day Thanksgiving weekend!

My New Job

Well...it was new, three months ago anyways.

Back in the beginning of August our friend Joe called me one morning and told me about a job opening where he works. He knew how unhappy I was at Crystal Springs and that I was looking for something new. Anything would have been an improvement as long as I made at least the same amount of money. He told me that it was for the receptionist position, and that he thought that I would be good at it. Praise God...this may be the answer to our prayers!!! I was so excited.....I couldn't wait to call the Office Manager named John. I gave him a call and he wanted me to fax and email him my resume. When I got home from work that night I started working on it right away. I send it to him at 1 am in the morning. I wanted to hear back from him asap, I was so anxious!! I couldn't believe this opportunity had come along.

A couple weeks later John finally called me for an interview. My sister Megan and I were driving to the church the day of my brother's wedding, I was ecstatic! I was driving, and literally dancing in my seat. I remember Meg was so excited and happy with me! My interview would me on Monday morning. I couldn't wait to tell Chris about the call.

Monday morning finally came. I was so nervous. I wanted him to know that I could this job for them, which I had no doubt in my mind. I like being around people and I knew that I could be professional. He told me that he would call me by the end of the week either way, when he made his decision. It was all I could think about all week long.

Friday finally came. I kept thinking....why isn't he calling me?? I cannot take the suspense anymore!!! I remember that I cleaned like the entire house that morning. I don't think I could sit still. I was vacuuming in the bedroom right around 2 pm and thought hmm...if the phone rings I won't be able to hear it. I turned off the vacuum and went and picked up my cell. Sure enough, one missed call. Crap!! It was him!!! I dialed my voicemail so fast.....my heart was seriously racing. He left a message asking me to call him back and asking that if I could, please call before the day was over as he was going on vacation the next week, and that he looked forward to speaking with me. He looked forward to speaking with me?? What??? Did I get this job? Would he look forward to talking with me if he was telling me that I didn't get the position?!! I was freaking out. Oh my gosh I needed to calm down.

Then I called him back. He was very friendly. Then he asked me, "So do you still want to work with us?" He must have thought I was crazy,I practically screamed YES!!! into the phone. He was offering me the job. He also told me that I was his number one choice. Wow!!! Thank you Lord!!! Our prayers had been answered. That week I had seriously struggled with the fact that this was NOT in my control. I was constantly praying that God would bless me with this job and have mercy on me....I did not want to work at Crystal any longer. But what if that was not God's plan for me? What if He wanted me there, what if I was meant to be there, whether I liked it or not? I would have to accept that when the time came, but the thought was killing me. And finally I got my answer.

I remember when I hung up the phone I started bawling. I hadn't cried so hard in a while.....I called Chris so fast, and when he got on the phone I was like Chris!! I got the job!!! He was like oh my gosh are you serious.......it was such an awesome moment. Then I had to call his mom. By the time this was all over it was 2:30. OH my gosh I have to leave for work in ten minutes. I never showered so fast in my life. On the way to work I called Megan to tell her the good news as well.

So there's my story of how I got the job.

I have been working at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network for three monthes now. I started on Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day. It has been really great so far. I have a nice big desk. I answer the phones and transfer calls. I have to do a lot of policy reporting and put info into the computer. I validate parking, and get people coffee. Recently two of the girls I work with had babies so they are on maternity leave. I have been helping my friend Dave do some application input. It might not seem like much but seriously, my job rocks. I am comfortable there now, and I love it. I love my coworkers (well almost all of them...they are always a few....haha) and have made some really great friends.

Every day I wake up, and I am still so thankful.
I remember a couple weeks after I started I came home one night and Chris was like, "So how was your day??" and I was like really good!! And then he said...You know it is so nice, you come home at night and I can tell that you are happy. It's nice that you aren't worry about work...or wanting to cry, every night. It was cool to hear him say that.

And that was the awesome transition that took place in our life three months ago.
And like I said, I am still so happy and thankful.
Thank you God. And thank you Joe!!!

The Biggest Bar Night of the Year

We decided to go out and hang out with some friends on the night before Thanksgiving this year. We have never done that before, I figured it would be absolutely crazy, from my years of prior serving experience. Chris really wanted to go back to Graydon's Crossing in East GR. We went there a couple monthes back for our anniversary dinner and really liked it. Their food is awesome, and Chris loves their extensive beer menu. We only stayed for a couple hours but it was fun, we had some good food and good conversation. And it actually wasn't too crazy there at all. I was happy that we stayed away from downtown. Here are some pics from the night; Enjoy!

Our good friend Paul and his girlfriend Naomi

My coworker Dave and I

Watch out Dave!! I'm coming after your beer!!


My coworker Julie and I

Tour Behind the Falls

Here is a cool video from when we went to Niagara Falls. We were on the observation deck right next to the Falls, it is an awesome view!!

Washington, D.C.

So for our anniversary this year we decided that we would go and take a trip to D.C. I had never been there before, and Chris hadn't been since he was little so we were both really looking forward to it. My good friend Kevin and his fiance Lisa live in Arlington, VA so we stayed with them, which was awesome because hotels are sooo expensive. We learned that on our honeymoon. But anyways, it was really great because they knew exactly how to get everywhere and how to use their subway system which is amazing I might add. It was clean and inviting for the most part. The worst part about the trip is that we drove there and back which seemed like it took forever, especially the drive home. We wasted a day driving all together but it was worth it.

We left early friday morning and arrived there around dinnertime. We hung out for a little while and had some drinks and then went off to dinner as we were all starving. We ended up going to the Chart House which was this really nice seafood restaurant.

Lisa and I at their apartment

After that we went bar-hopping for a while, and walked around The Mall to see some of the monuments at night. That was a short night and we were pretty tired.

I have to note their cat, Bianca. This cat was hilarious....it was pretty cute, it's not very young but still the size of a large kitten. You think its nice until you try to pet it and she hisses at you and attacks you. She scared the crap out of us several times (thankfully she is declawed.) I wanted to take a picture of her, I could tell she was annoyed. Apparently I was bothering the crap out of her and when I took it she lunged at me....haha.

Saturday morning we tried to get a Capitol tour but got there too late. I took some really great pictures though.

Since we had some time to spare we walked over to the Library of Congress. OH. MY. Goodness. What an imazingly incredible beautiful building. Seriously, I loved it. I could not stop taking pictures of it. The painted ceiling was so beautifully detailed...it was one of my favorite things that we saw on our trip.

Here is a video from inside, I loved this building!!

Another thing that was very cool was that they had all if not most of Thomas Jefferson's library there. We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures of this area so I took some video.

After that we headed on over to the Holocoaust Museum. This was something that both Chris and I really wanted to see. I must say, it is very....well, words do not describe. Sad. Unbelievable. Disgusting. How in the world...did that happen?? How is it still happening now in Darfur?? I do not understand. You were not allowed to take any pictures at all in the museum, not that we necesarily wanted to. Although I have no desire to ever go back, it is something that I will never forget.

Then we headed back to the apartment to watch the U of M/MSU game. Kevin went to MSU law school so we were all pretty big State fans. We ate in for dinner and just kind of relaxed after all the walking we had been doing. Later on we went back into D.C. and walked the whole Mall to see all of the monuments at night.

The Washington Monument with the reflection of the Mall in the pool

These were at the World War II Memorial. One of my favorites; the fountains are really cool and make for some great pictures.

The Lincoln Memorial. Abe was HUGE!

I can't remember what memorial this was but we thought this was pretty funny.

This is the Jefferson Memorial, it was really pretty reflecting off of the water.

Last but not least we visited the White House. It seemed a lot smaller than I thought it would have been.

Sunday morning we went back to the Capitol to try to get a tour again but it turned out that it was closed, which they thought it would be open. We were bummed that we didn't get to see the inside but once again I got a lot of great pictures from the outside.

All of the colors there were still gorgeous. We love fall!

Once we realized the Capitol was closed we decided to spent the rest of the day at Mount Vernon and go see George Washington's house. We also toured where he made his flour, cornmeal and whiskey. It was pretty interesting.

Kevin turned the water in the cask to make the alcohol

Yep. That is George Washington's tomb.

After all the walking we did we were pretty tired again that night. Monday morning we got up with Kevin and Lisa and as they went off to work, we left to drive back to Michigan. I am thankful that we had to opportunity to visit someplace new. We are blessed that my friends let us stay with them for free. We are very greatful! Thank you Kevin and Lisa.

Time to play catch-up!!

I promised this entry a long while ago, and now I am going to make good on that promise. This is a long awaited summer update. Do I regret waiting until now? Yes. But..this is the first time I could actually sit down and do this without feeling guilty about it, and that makes me feel good. So here goes....

My Review of Summer 2008

--One of the things that I had decided to do for myself this summer was play on a softball league. It ended up being a lot of fun, even though we only ended up winning two games. I blame it on the fact that we were the only team on a men's league that had 3 girls on it, me being one of them of course. The fact of the matter is that we were just not as good as all those guys. Here are some pictures from the season:





--I believe these pictures were from a BBQ on Father's Day weekend =) / family reunion. Alot of Chris's family was there and we had a lot of great food.

That is Chris's cousin Erica and her husband Joe, she was one of our bridesmaids in our wedding and one of my very good friends.

This was from a quick trip home to see my family. Love my sister!!
--On the weekend of the 4th of July my cousin (through my adopted fam.) got married and we were lucky enough to be invited to her beautiful wedding in Lansing. Not only was the day gorgeous but so was she!

Chris, me, Jesse, Trisha, Patrick and Megan

I took this great picture of Meg and Pat!!

The guys.

Us girls

--One of our huge highlights of the summer was our trip to Niagara Falls (we stayed on the Canadian side.) Chris and I went with his mom Jeanne and her sister Barb. We owe them a huge thank you, without them our trip would not have been possible. Thankfully they knew their way around and helped us out, but also let us go off on our own when we wanted to do stuff. It was a quick trip but a lot of fun!!

View of the Falls from up in the Skylon Tower


Cool pictures from the street

These were from the Tour Behind the Falls. Yeah...we got soaked!!! Awesome view though!!

That night we had an amazing dinner at a Steakhouse near our hotel....the view out our window at our table was the Falls all lit up at night. It was incredible!

These pictures are of the rapids in the Niagara River. Once again, amazing! You can't really tell from the pictures but they are so intense close up.

--Our good friends Adam and Amanda had baby #3 around the end of July. They are really great parents and have super cute kids. These are from when I went to visit Amanda in the hospital, they named her Olivia. She is such a beautiful baby!

--For one week Chris's sister Shauna, husband Todd and their 3 boys Brennan, Aiden and Ciaren came to stay with Chris's parents. They moved all the way from New Mexico to Maine, drove, and stayed for a while on the way. It was fun getting to hang out with them for a while, since I did not know them too well at the time.

Ciaren and Brennan

Me and my buddy Aiden

Duck tour in Saugatuck!

The Johnson Family

--The biggest event of the summer: Nate and Emileigh's wedding!!

Chris and I both had the honor and the pleasure of being in my brother Nate's wedding in August. Once again, another beautiful wedding on a beautiful day. I was so happy for them!

Nephew Sam at the rehearsal,he is getting so big!! And me walking down the aisle alone...Chris had school the night of the rehearsal and couldn't come until the morning of the wedding.

Emileigh and Nate at the rehearsal

Me and Meg at the Bachelorette Party

All of the bridal party girls


Meg and I before the wedding; I did both of our hair.


The beautiful bride and I.

Chris and I at the rehearsal, so cute!

--Here are a couple pictures from a little walk we took to Lake Michigan with Niles. I think he was sneezing in that 2nd one...haha!

Awww he's so cute!!



--Chris's 28th Birthday-August 16-I can't believe I have been with Chris through 4 birthdays so far. This year to celebrate his family came over and we went out to eat at the Chop House down town. Their food was amazing as usual.

Chris and I at dinner. It was fun getting all dressed up.

Aunt Barb and Mom Jeanne

Jeanne and I

Walking back to the car...being cute. =)

Later that night Chris wanted to see a movie so we decided to go to the cheap Celebration movie theatre at the Woodland Mall and see Iron Man.

--And finally....our last summer ShaBang. Labor Day weekend we went to Chicago with Chris's parents. I am really happy that we went, it was also right before I started my new job, it couldn't have been better timing, especially to do some shopping!

Pictures from Millenium Park

Jeanne and I at Buckingham Fountain, one of my favorite things to see in Chicago! I think it's so beautiful.

We tried a new restaurant our last night there that we hadn't been to before. It was the Weber Grill Restaurant. Their food was great. This was from the walk home.

Well that concludes our summer!! I am sure other little things happened here and there, I just probably forgot about them if I didn't have pictures of it. I love pictures. Thank goodness for them.

I don't plan on letting this much time go by again without posting. It's too hard and time consuming. I have been working on this post for about almost 4 hours now. Ridiculous.....more to come tomorrow!!