Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Merry Christmas!

It is hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. I feel like the month of December has just flown by. How can it possibly be the 29th already? Christmas was wonderful this year. I was able to spend it with my family as well as with Marc and his family.

Christmas Eve I went to church with my parents and then my mom and I made lefse and meatballs. For those who don't know what lefse is...it is a potato tortilla. It was fun to help my mom make the lefse and meatballs, however we got a little crazy by the end. I started writing names on the lefse with a fork. ;-) Then Christmas morning Julie and TJ came over and we had yummy chocolate chip coffee cake. We opened presents and had a good time as a family. Julie and TJ had to leave for Christmas with his family and I left for Christmas with Marc's family. I had a wonderful time celebrating with Marc and his family and watching the beautiful snow fall outside.

Saturday Marc came back with me to my house and we had the Leber side of the family over. It was good to see family and have Marc meet them. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying my last bit of time off before going back to work on Monday. It was a great Christmas and I am so thankful that I was able to celebrate with my family. It is hard to believe that 2010 will be here in just a few short days, but I am looking forward to the things God has instore for me this next year. Things that are sure to grow me and draw me closer to Him! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

3 months

So, it is crazy to think, but I have been dating Marc for 3 months already. This past weekend we celebrated and had a ton of fun! I spent the weekend downtown so we got to do things all weekend. Friday night we went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol. It was good and of course always entertaining when with Marc. Then Saturday we got up nice and early and headed down to Moody Church to help with the Angel Tree. We had a great time carrying presents upstairs, sorting them, running to the store for butter and then helping in the kitchen until we had to leave. We left around 11:30am and went and got changed into our dress clothes. Marc then took me to the Goodman Theater to see A Christmas Carol. It was so very good! The actors did a wonderful job and we had a seats with a great view of the stage. Definitely a great time and I am looking forward to going back again next year. After the play he took me to this cute italian restaurant up in Lincoln Park. It had great food and the people were very nice. Sunday I finally got to go to Marc's church with him. It was a great service and I really like the church. Then we headed out to his parents' house in Naperville to watch the Bears/Packers game. I of course was cheering for the Packers and almost got kicked out by his dad for wearing my Packers shirt. But I redeemed myself by being a Cubs fan, so they let me stay. It was a great game (because the Packers won) and of course always a good time with Marc's family. Here is one picture, but this is from the weekend before when we went to Candlelight Carols.


Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Friday, December 4, 2009

December?

WOW! I can't believe it is already December. I feel like the past three months have flown by. I have been working at Moody for almost a month now and I am loving my job. I have been able to learn most things quickly and feel comfortable answering most questions that come my way. The cold weather has officially set in and we even had some snow yesterday. I am very thankful for a space heater at my desk since I sit right by an outside door. It gets pretty chilly at the desk sometimes. Yesterday I went to turn on the heater and well since it hasn't been used since last winter...it was kind of smelly. But this morning I had it running before I started work and the smell is gone and I am toasty warm!

This month is going to be a busy one, but I am looking forward to it. This weekend Marc and I are going to Candlelight Carols here at Moody. I am looking forward to this since I haven't been to a Candlelight Carols since graduating from Moody. Next weekend we are going to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theater downtown. I am super excited for this too, I hear it is supposed to be really good. On top of all of that, there is Christmas shopping to finish (yes I have already started) and of course work. It will be a great month! I pray you all are having a great December already and enjoying getting ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

I know it has been a while, once again, since I have written. Life has been busy but really good. I have found an job! My official title is Welcome Center Guest Liaison at Moody, but basically I greet people when they come in, check for IDs and book the guest rooms on campus. I have been there for 3 weeks now, and I am loving it. It is a good job and it is nice to be back at Moody.

The weekend before Thanksgiving I went downtown to the Festival of Lights (the lighting of Michigan Ave) with Marc and his family. It was a nice night out, not too cold, and a good time with Marc's family. After the parade we went out for dessert and had a good time celebrating his mom's birthday. Here are a few pictures from the parade and dessert.
Thanksgiving was fun. We had my grandparents, my aunt Emilie, Julie and TJ, and Marc over for lunch on Thursday. Then I went with Marc to his parents' house to celebrate with his family. It was a great long weekend and I had a ton of fun with my family and with Marc's.

It is hard to believe that December is almost here. It will be a busy month of shopping, going to Christmas things and of course spending time with friends and family. I am looking forward to spending Christmas here this year, even if I am not very excited about the snow! =)

Monday, October 12, 2009

Fall

Well, this weekend I was able to get out and see some of the beautiful fall colors God paints on all the trees. It was beautiful! Here are some pictures from my trip to the Morton Arboretum with Marc.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Long time...

Well, I have really been slacking in the updating area. Sorry about the long silence from me. Let's see if I can bring you all up to speed on the past two months in a semi-short post. =)

Well, the end of August I headed back to Pucallpa for a week to pack up all my things and say goodbye to everyone there. It was a sudden change in my plans, but I know that God was leading me. I miss my life in Pucallpa, but I am also happy to be back in Chicago with my friends, family and following God's plans for me.

I am currently still looking for a job in the Chicago area. It has been hard to find something as jobs are limited. But I know that God has a plan for me and He didn't bring me back to the States to leave me jobless. While looking for a job I have also been able to spend more time with my family. It is nice to spend time with them after being gone for 2 years.

The past 2 months have been full of changes for me. Along with the big change of leaving the mission field, God has brought a wonderful man into my life. At a time when I was totally not expecting God to bring someone into my life, He did. I met Marc a month ago and it has been great! I am excited to see what God has instore for Marc and me.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Wedding

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. Things have been crazy for me and I have hardly had time to sit and think let alone write a post. But now that things are slightly calmer, I thought I should write a brief update. My sister, Julie, got married over the weekend. It was crazy busy with everyone in town and making sure everything was just right. But in the end she is married and that is all that really matters. =) I have been trying to work on my online class as I find the time...it is so hard to get back into the school work mindset after 5 years of being out of it. I also had the chance to see my friends Seth and Celia and meet their beautiful daugther, Cosette. It was nice to spend two days with them catching up and relaxing a bit after the wedding. Here are a few pictures from the wedding...enjoy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

California pictures

Heather my wonderful friend.

These wagons are cabins for the elementary camp.
Hume Lake
Heather and the Jeep

A giant sequoia
The General Grant



Heather and Brendan




Buck Rock Lookout



Thursday, July 9, 2009

California

This past week I have been hanging out in California with my good friend Heather. It has been a ton of fun to see her again. She lives in Hume, CA which is about an hour and a half outside of Fresno. She lives in the beautiful mountians and works at a Christian camp. I have been lucky enough to have her as my tour guide during my week here and we have gone to see a lot of very cool things. She took me to see some ginormous sequoia trees. It was amazing to see these trees that are so tall that I could barely get the whole tree in my pictures. Talk about standing in awe of what God has done...standing next to those trees you realize how little you really are. God created these huge trees that continue to stand even when they are burned all the way up the middle. It was truely an amazing experience.

We also went to see a fire lookout called Buck Rock...but it was closed because of all the smoke from forest fires in the area. It would have been cool to see the land from the lookout, but I didn't really want to climb all the stairs to get to the top anyway. =) On the way to the fire lookout we had to drive through a prescribed burn area...it was really smokey. The firefighters were out along the road keeping a close eye on the fires they had started. Their plans for the burn didn't quite work out right...the wind they were hoping for to clear the smoke out didn't really come. So the smoke has kind of just hung around the area...makes for a very smokey few days and really hinders my ability to take some good pictures. I did however get some amazing pictures and I will post them when I get back to my parents' house because I left my cable there. In all, it has been a great trip out here to California and I am so glad I was able to come spend some time with Heather.

Next week's adventure...online class, wedding things, and who knows what else!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The joys of traveling

Well, yesterday I was supposed to fly from Pucallpa to Lima to Miami to Chicago. I made it as far as Lima. My flight to Miami last night was canceled because the pilot was sick and in the hospital. However, I did not find out it was canceled until after I had been sitting at the gate for about an hour. Then came the fun of getting out of security (which means them having to cancel my exit stamp in my passport), then going down and getting my luggage, heading over to the American Airlines counter and wait about an hour in line to get my flight rescheduled. I got my flight rescheduled from 11:30pm last night to 4pm today. However, leaving Lima at 4pm gets me into Miami too late at night for a flight to Chicago. So, I have to stay the night in Miami and then fly to Chicago tomorrow morning. Along with rescheduling my flight, American also gave me a hotel room, taxi ride to and from the hotel and meals. At first I was a little bummed that I wasn't able to stay at the airport hotel, but when I walked into my room at Thunderbird Hotels, I was not disappointed. The hotel room is amazing and the bed was super comfortable. One of the best nights of sleep I have had in a while. Even though I didn't sleep very long, at least it was in a very comfortable bed! So for now I am hanging out in my hotel room until the taxi comes back for me at 1:30pm. Hopefully he doesn't forget! =) Thanks for all your prayers for safe travels...they have been answered so far. Please keep praying that I get home safely tomorrow.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Re-done cool room

So Laura and I decided that it was time to redo the cool room and make it a little brighter. So our first project was to sand all the walls. Lots of fun and a good stress reliever! Here are pictures of the before, during and after!

The cool room before we started!Our cool room after sanding the walls...lots of hard work!

Painting the trim...very interesting to paint on paneling...there is nothing for the paint to stick to!

The two colors we painted...green (verde nilo) and blue (celeste)...so bright!!

Our new curtain that brings all the random colors together!

Our new loveseat...so comfy!



Look at all the fun rugs we have! I love our cool room!!