Warm & Foggy Christmas in Indiana

Currently, Rob and I are in Indiana for the week celebrating Christmas with the family. We were hoping for a White Christmas but instead we are getting rain, fog, and gray skies. Oh well! We flew in Sunday afternoon and headed to Rob's Aunt Danny's house to visit with his aunt, uncle and cousins in Indianapolis. Monday, we spent hanging around Rob's childhood home with his Mom talking, reading and watching TV. Tuesday we headed to visit his Grandma Frankie at her nursing home and had a Christmas dinner with her and then played Sequence in a game lounge. We had a great 4 hour visit with her. She is fun and likes to talk :) That night, we headed to Roanoke to Sydney's school to watch her Christmas program. That night, we stayed with Heather and Joe at their house. When we got up (late! ) we went to Ihop for a brunch and then did some shopping. I found some super soft and comfy sleep pants from Old Navy, a cute pair of jeans at American Eagle and then something cute for a friend at Charming Charlie's for my wonderful friend, Amber. That night, we headed to Pizza Hut in Bluffington for a dinner with highschool friend of Rob's, Adam, and his wife Holly and their little ones Noah, Logan and Hunter. We played the XBox Kinect with them afterwards which was fun for us because we have never played Kinect before! This brings us to this morning..."Christmas" Day for us. Soon, we are going to put Christmas music on and start cooking Christmas dinner. Later this evening we will open presents and stockings. Tomorrow, we head to Madison, Indiana to visit with Rhonda's side of the family. That brings us to 330am Saturday morning when we head back out to the Indianapolis Airport and back to Phoenix....I work that night and I am hoping that I get plenty of sleep. I am not sure I am in the mood to go back to work but I am missing my Sonora Jones and comfort of home...even though I am sleeping wonderfully here! Also, one more thing, we are TIRED of pizza...yes, us! Monday night Rhonda made us a wonderful homemade pizza, the next night Joe ordered a pizza and then the next night we had dinner out at Pizza Hut...no more pizza please!

October Update

Amanda & I at Wine Wars,
Page Springs Cellars

It is Saturday morning and I'm just hanging around the house watching college football and taking care of some household tasks. The past month has gone by quickly, but its been a different quickly. It isn't necessarily the busiest time for us, but it is a work hard time frame. Work does seem to be a primary focus these days, with our separate schedules keeping us on the go, and making us cherish the days we do get to spend together. Some weeks are better than others, and its why we plan little day trips to Northern Arizona and elsewhere. It also doesn't hurt that we need to go North to pick up our Wine Club shipments.

Speaking of wine, Arizona actually has some really good wineries! We've joined a couple of clubs, which let us get quarterly shipments of wine. I know I enjoy it a lot, and we start to see the differences not only between varietals, but between vintages of the same varietal. In other words, we can see how different years of wine are different from each other...based on growing conditions, soil, and the way they blend and age the wine. We get several tastings for free with our wine club memberships as well, so Cottonwood, Cornville, and Jerome have become a bit of a second home. Even Sonora likes going up there because she knows there are hikes nearby (Sedona is just 15 miles North!) and a couple of really fun dog parks where she can run and play.

In fact, Sonora absolutely loves playing fetch. On weekend mornings if I don't go run, I can take Sonora by car to a nearby neighborhood park to play fetch. She doesn't even need a leash these days, and is only interested in the ball! If others are around, she just says hi and then goes back to the ball! Last weekend, she even let me know when she was tired and needed water, by running back to the car and waiting for me to open the door! She knew it was time to go home!

One final note of the past month is that we are full-time attending a new church. A friend and classmate of mine is the lead pastor of a small church plant called Emmaus Road. We've been supporting them in various roles over the past year, but with me being done with school there are also some opportunities to serve and do pastoral care within that community. I love their vision, and they really do get to know each other. What's funny is they meet just about a mile or two from where Amanda works at John C. Lincoln, so now we really are more tied to Central and North Central Phoenix than we are in Avondale, where the house is. If property values were different...would we look to move? I'm not sure!

Personally, I realize that there are some major drawbacks to the suburbs for me. I think community loses some of its value. Everyone just does their own thing, living their own schedules and there is not a genuine connecting with those around them. Even churches have this challenge, which is why some of the programmatic, attractional models work well but lose some of the pastoral care and "life together" which is better found in other models of church. For us, its a matter of God's call, and I truly feel God calling me to serve in a role that builds up community around the Kingdom of God; that values individuals for who they are, and not what they do or don't do for the organization or in life. This is the call of the church I believe, which is not programs or even "doctrine" as primary, but simply Jesus Christ, and the love and grace which comes through His proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God. We live in this love, aware of this grace, together remembering we are ALL beloved by God.

Projects & School & Heat!

It is September and we are still dealing with highs in the 100's. This is when us Phoenicians start to become impatient and demanding of the weather to cool down...haven't we endured enough at this point? I am looking forward to cold mornings and evenings where I have to wear fleece pajama bottoms, wrap myself in a fleece blanket and drink warm tea. I even bought a heated fleece blanket on clearance at the beginning of summer that I can't WAIT to use (something like $15, regular price $50+) Decorating for the holidays is always fun too and i LOVE how the house feels with all the Christmas decorations up, especially the Christmas tree!

My sis in law introduced me to Pinterest, this fantastic site where you can find anything that you are interested in and share ideas and become inspired. It has finally got me taking an active step into home decor. I have found a few blogs that also showcase amateur self learners who have done all kinds of beautiful home decor projects and lots of DIY stuff. I am so looking forward to the cool down so I can refinish this vanity and dresser set we bought from our neighbor over 3 years ago for $20. They are beautiful French inspired pieces of furniture, I am thinking they will be perfect for a nursery!

I also found a great deal with coupons at Michael's and bought five frames to create a picture gallery on the large wall on our staircase. I am tired of our house filled with pictures taken by other people that have no meaning to us. We have so many beautiful photos we have taken so I am going to look through all our photos and find ones to blow up and frame. So looking forward to this little project, it is something I have wanted to do for awhile now.

I have been off for four days so far and would be off for two more days for a total of six but I have decided to attempt to pick up two extras this week...that means Tuesday-Saturday. It is hard on the body and mind to work five days in a row in a trauma ICU...but kinda need the paycheck. I may or may not have spent a lot of money on skin treatments (laser treatments) and really, it was not a great financial decision at all. I also have not gotten the results I wanted so to say the least, I am having major buyers remorse. I feel really bad about it. Before we got married I had spent money on laser treatments in Colorado and got excellent results and I have not seen the same with this treatment regimen. The battle with my skin never ends...I'm 26 already and now I have signs of aging WITH regular breakouts. To say the last, I am sick and tired of it.

Well, don't want to end the post on that subject. Rob is grinding through the last two weeks of his graduate work and then he is DONE. I know we are both looking forward to him having more free time. Lots of things for him to get done around the house :) He also has his first Bioethics Committee Meeting at John C. Lincoln tonight, he actually goes to class with one of the people on the committee so it will be nice for him to have someone he already knows there. I am excited for him, I hope it is something he really enjoys.

Well, its about 800am (I have been up since 4am...weird sleep schedule bc of night shift work) and already have half of my to-do list done. Laundry almost done, closet organized, car trunk cleaned out and organized, sheets changed on bed, bathroom cleaned, premiere of Housewives of Beverly Hills watched, a bill paid. I am feeling pretty productive this morning. Off to go finish my to-do list and hopefully tire myself out enough to take a long nap before work!

Love is in the Air!

Mi familia
Sisters

Nic & Andrea

Vern & Mom

Mom & Me

Rachel & John


JC & Sharon

Bride & Groom

Matt and Brandy Baca

Pictures from my cousins wedding to Brandy Baca at Flying Horse Ranch in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The only person missing was my love.

August scheduling busyness

I realize that I haven't commented on here in awhile, but today is as good a time as any. Amanda is up in Colorado this weekend for her cousin's wedding this past Friday! You should check out her facebook page for pictures with the family - seems like a great place for wedding!

Speaking of places for a wedding, Amanda also went by Hillside Gardens there in Colorado Springs, which is where we got married just shy of 4 years ago! Our anniversary is Wednesday, so I'm trying to come up with a plan for it!

This summer has been busy for me, learning my new job as the Admissions Counselor at Fuller Theological Seminary Southwest. I am really liking it as I get to talk with people who are feeling called by God to enter ministry, further their education or understanding, and truly participate in God's kingdom now. It is very pastoral, and I hope that I can be an encouragement to all those who I've spoken with. After all, the cost and degree of schooling can definitely be intimidating. What is amazing is seeing how much God does provide for people who trust the call that He gives them.

But outside of that, I'm in my last 3 classes which keeps me busy. I'll be ready to be done with school for a little bit even though I know that it will not mean that I read any less (ok - maybe a little less) but rather that I can follow the thoughts and topics that I would like to read rather than "must" read. Amanda and I have both been a bit reinvigorated with reading recently - I think Amanda's list of novels to read is almost as long as mine now!

Amanda's work continues to be very interesting and rewarding, yet challenging. Some of her stories are incredible, particularly in the consistency of the craziness she experiences working in the ICU at night. It is challenging in that she has to process lots of ethical, spritual, and physical challenges while immersed in very emotional experiences of her patients and the patient's families.

Along these lines, a new activity for me that ties in with Amanda's work is that Amanda mentioned to her director about my interest and degree, etc. in particular about the Bioethics committee at the hospital. I don't know exactly how it transpired, but I got an invitation to join this committee as a community member. I think I am going to enjoy this addition to my schedule, even if it is difficult, as I'm sure it will be. I actually really like ethics, and a hospital is one of the places where these discussions come up almost daily!

So the summer goes on - seemingly quickly when I think about how much homework I have to do, but not near fast enough when I think about how hot it is! Phoenix is not the place to be in July and August, when the heat is not a dry heat!

Well, I'll keep this post short - as I wait for Amanda to come home tomorrow! Until then - if you are in the West Valley area of Phoenix, go check out the Restaurant Vogue up in Surprise. It's pretty good stuff - we had dinner with our friend Amber up there last weekend!

Hail Mary Prayer

The organization I volunteer for, Mission of Mercy, is a Catholic outreach program and at lunch after we eat together we also share a prayer. This is the first time that I have really heard the Hail Mary prayer and thought about it. Growing up I was always under the influence that this and other Catholic prayers were being prayed to that person, or Saint, instead of going straight to God with your prayers. But if you actually listen to the Hail Mary, they are not praying to her but rather asking her for intecessory prayer. Just like you would ask someone to pray for you, this is what they are doing with the Hail Mary. This just really stuck out to me because for so long I was under the wrong impression of the purpose of the Hail Mary. Now, will I be praying the Hail Mary in my daily life, no; but I feel like I have a better understanding of it than I did before because of the lunches at Mission of Mercy.


Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The Heat!

Today was one of the hottest days I have experienced in awhile. The heat was so intense I was starting to feel nauseous. Ugh! Cant wait to be done with this Phoenix summer. I am so looking forward to the holidays because that equals COOL WEATHER!

I am off for a few days before I start a string of 4 on Wednesday. Wednesday is an extra so I may or may not work that day depending on the census.

Right now Rob is at his Monday basketball game, this is something he has been doing for at least a year now and i'm glad he is doing something that he loves on a weekly basis.

We saw Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 this weekend. Sad the story is over but I have all the books so I know I will be revisiting Harry and Hogwarts soon :)

Colorado Springs for 4th of July

Saturday:
Today I flew into Denver from Phoenix to start a 4 day visit in Colorado Springs. My brother and Vern are out of town so I get four whole days to myself with my mom! Its been nice spending time with her just talking and running around town. This evening after dinner we took a five mile bike ride around the Spring Ranch neighborhood where they live. There were lots of hills (and fun downhills) and turned out to be a really enjoyable ride and work out, we definitely burned some calories. I haven't ridden a bike in years and it felt so good to have the cool wind in my face...it was also nice to put all my cycle classes to good use.
Even though I am not use to the altitude, I kicked my moms butt (LoL). The sunset tonight was so beautiful...there were huge billowy clouds over the mountains and the rays of sunshine shot through them and it was all different shades of blue and orange. I wanted to take a picture but by the time we got home the sunset wasn't as glorious, but it was so beautiful to enjoy while on the bike ride. Think I'll end the day with a cup of tea and a book!

Sunday:
Definitely was feeling the altitude sickness yesterday (light nausea, headache, tired, overall just general feeling like crap!) I was so glad to crawl into bed. Woke up this morning and felt much better, kinda had the "hangover" symptoms but once I got up and going I started to feel a lot better. Headed to church with my mom and afterwards we got ready and headed to Larkspur for the Renaissance Festival. We both like books written in this time period so thought it would be fun to check out. It was entertaining and fun to walk around a few hours but I probably wont go again until I have kids! We watched a jousting show, I got a henna tattoo, ate some grub, and browsed the shops. One big thing I noticed: there was a lot of B.O. floatin' around that place...ewwww! When we got home, I layed down on the bed just to relax and woke up 1 1/2 hours later after a very restful and deep sleep. Now we are in the kitchen getting things ready for tomorrows 4th of July BBQ at my Mom's house. Also, it was another beautiful day Colorado Springs! Probably headed to bed sooner or later and think I am going to get up and go for a 7-8 mile bike ride tomorrow morning!

p.s. i was reading over my post and thinking it sounds like I am having a lot of the symptoms in the first trimester of pregnancy "before you know" but no, i am not pregnant, i feel this way every time I come back! the first time i came back and had the altitude sickness symptoms I did think i was pregnant but wasn't. Literally, the minute I touch down in Phoenix I always feel much better. anyhoo...just wanted to add that after re-reading my post! :)

Mom with a pirate!

Getting a henna design on my foot

Monday:

Today was 4th of July! The main reason I made the trip here...to celebrate a summer holiday with my family. It has turned out to be just be my mom and me since Brian Jr. is in Oregon with my dad and Vern is in Minnesota with his family. My mom had planned a BBQ for today at her house starting at 2pm so that was the plan for the day.

We started the day by getting a lil exercise in. My mom went on a run and I took an 8 mile bike ride down to my old neighborhood just to check it out. Its something I like to do every time I come back...go see my old stomping grounds, lots of memories there (good & bad). This is such a beautiful town to cycle in...absolutely love it. When we got back we worked around the house for a bit then got ready and friends and family started arriving a little after 2pm. It was nice catching up with some of my cousins and their new babies and meeting their husbands for the first time. It made me miss mine even more!!! Everyone left around 730ish and I dropped my Grandma back off at home and came back and helped my mom clean up what we had the energy to. I sat outside on the back patio (they have an awesome view of Pikes Peak and overlooking part of the city, panoramic views!) and watched all the illegal fireworks going off over the city. Its illegal here this year since it is so dry. Its now 1035pm and my mom wanted me to wait a little longer for the Sky Sox Stadium firework show but I am tired and meeting Amber at Garden of the Gods in the morning so I am probably going to call it a night. Eh, I'm just not that into fireworks I guess. The ones I did see will last me till next year! Happy 4th!

Tuesday:

This morning started the day early by meeting Amber, her Mom and their friend at Garden of the Gods. It was a beautiful morning with no clouds in the sky, warm and sunny. We met at the Visitors Center and then did the short inner loop hike around Garden of the Gods. It was beautiful. Afterwards, we drove the short distance to Glen Eyrie and checked out the castle. It wasn't open to the public so we weren't able to go inside but it was nice to get back there and look at it. Afterwards we headed to Monument to grab lunch at 3 Margaritas which was pretty good. Hanging out with Amber in Colorado was pretty cool!

I headed home for a couple hours before leaving for DIA to pick up my Dad and Brian Jr who were getting in from Oregon. I arrived right when they were getting their baggage so it was perfect timing! Brian Jr has his learners permit so I let him drive the whole way back...sure is weird having your little brother drive! We stopped for dinner in Castle Rock and then headed to my Dads place to drop him off. The water heater is out here at my Mom's so I told Brian if he wants a hot shower he better take it there so he did, LoL.

Once we got home I called and talked to Rob for about an hour and now I am headed to bed here soon because I am meeting my wonderful friend, Ingrid, for tea at 9am. Really looking forward to it! Just a side note, today they announced a verdict in the Casey Anthony murder trial as Not Guilty. People are very upset about the court ruling (as am I)...but the other lawyer did a great job on the defense...he created a "shadow of a doubt". We will see what happens here in the next few years with this one...

Rob graduates!

Rob and his parents during Arizona CityFest which wrapped up in March
Our parents (Rhonda, Gary, Esther and Vern) hanging out in the pool after Rob's graduation
Two important ladies in Rob's life! His mom & me :)

I have not updated this blog in awhile...not because we have had nothing new going on in our lives but mostly because of pure laziness. I envy those who can keep up with their blogs and take the time to sit down and jot down some of their thoughts on recent events in their lives. I have experienced the joys of going back a couple years when I first started this blog and reading about what was going on in our lives then!

This weekend Rob graduated with his Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. It is an immense udertaking and one of (if not) the largest Graduate degrees you can take...something like 120 credit hours? He grew so much personally and spiritually through these last 3 years and it has been really awesome to see. He had been unemployed since Arizona CityFest ended in March but was offered the Admissions spot at Fuller a couple days before graduation which we happily accepted. It is where God wants him we just know it. That also means God wants us in Phoenix, too! We were definitely starting to play around with the idea of moving back to Colorado...or even Southern/Central California! Overall we really like Phoenix. We like our jobs, our house, the climate...and of course there are things we dont like...one of them being there is no real culture here. But, we have recently stumbled upon and have become involved in Arizona Wine Country!

As for me, I have just rounded out my first year as a nurse. There have been more ups than downs...even though about 3 months in i definitely had a mini-nervous breakdown thinking "what the HECK have i gotten myself into!?" Luckily I have amazing co-workers and a great learning environment so overall I have learned so much but have also realized how much more I have to learn. I have been given higher acuity patients and feel like I am more comfortable in my skills and have some of the doctors have started to recognize me which always makes the job easier.

What else is new...we have continued to do little things here and there on the house which have made aesthetic improvements. Sonora and Socrates are doing great! I guess until next time!

8 Glorious Days

Well, I return to work tomorrow after 8 glorious days off! I was determined NOT to let these eight days go by without feeling like I was productive with them. So, I was able to: clean the backyard, weed, spray for weeds, reorganize all our files from one temporary plastic bin to a file cabinet and file papers that have been accumulating for over a year, clean the house, take down Christmas decorations, watch Rob run a half marathon, make some wire wrap rings...and I think that is about it! I didnt do anything "big" but at least I got some stuff done! I now will be working 6 days in a row, killer! But like always, after a long break going back to work isnt that bad because you can start to feel lazy and nothing like standing on your feet for 12 hours with just a little lunch break to make you feel un-lazy (is that a word...?) again:D

After this 6 day work week (which I know isnt much to complain about...but remember my work days are 12 hours with a 45 minute traffic commute on each end with no breaks) I think I scheduled myself for another 5 days off. Work hard, rest hard! That is my theory for this job. Can't wear myself to thin though. In the same breath, i do need to start working some extras to help pay down the bills and build some money up too since Robs permanent/temporary job is up in April and we don't know where God is leading him next!

Tonight we had our small group and it was good to get together with our small group members again. We are going to start a study on the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I have heard really positive things about the book so I am looking forward to it. I still need to finish my 10 week study of the book of Esther though...i am horrible about finishing things till the end sometimes!

Well, I am just rambling now because I am trying to kill 20 more minutes till I go to bed. Trying to stay up till midnight so I can sleep in till noon tomorrow and have a good 12 hours of sleep under my belt to switch back to nights.

I have also started another blog. This one is called Amanda's Project 52 and it its a photography blog where I take a photo a week for a year...I think it'll be a great exercise in photography and will be so cool to look back on after the year is over and see what I've captured!

PF Changs Half Marathon

Thats my Rob running the PF Changs Half Marathon yesterday! He ran in 2 hours and 39 minutes which is much better than any of us that will probably never run a half marathon! Truth be told, he didnt train for it either (he is too busy with full time work and full time grad school) so this just goes to show you can put mind over matter! He did end up with a nasty blister and very sore knees. He is doing better today (the day after) then yesterday. He enjoyed being able to have run and finished a Rock N Roll Marathon event...maybe he'll do next year too? I really want my mom to come out and run this event because the weather is so perfect and its such a fun event. If she does I will probably look into volunteering at a medical tent or something to get more involved. Even though I had lots of fun just being a spectator!

Christmas in Indiana

We have been in Indiana since the day after Christmas. We celebrated our Christmas together the Wednesday before Christmas together at our house in Phoenix. The big gifts we exchanged were the new Amazon Kindle (for Rob) and I got the new itouch (which I love already). We also bought a mutual gift of a Nikon D3100 camera. Since we have bought that we both have been having so much fun trying to find out all the different settings we can change and use to take amazing photographs. I'm also big on finding different tutorials and tips for beginners on the D3100.

I then worked Thu/Fri/Sat night and got off work Sunday morning tired but knowing that I had a few more hours to stay awake until our flight. Rob dropped Sonora off at Camp Bow Wow in Avondale and picked me up from work. We then went to our friend Maile's house so I could shower and change; her family was all there and they served us a wonderful breakfast! It was nice!

Off to the airport we went and boarded our 1230pm flight on time to Indianapolis. We had a quick lay over in Kansas City and landed in Indy around 730pm. The new Indy airport is amazing and beautiful! It was freezing when we landed, too!

We made it safely to Keystone, Indiana to Rob's parents log cabin in the woods :) Since then we have spent time with friends and family and celebrating Christmas with Rob's family. We have also had the chance to spend lots of time with our nieces, Sydney (4) & Sarah (9 months).

I am going to get off to go have some breakfast. We leave tomorrow after church and I love the cool weather of Indiana but I am ready to get back to Phoenix...I miss Sonora & Socrates!