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.

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.

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!

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

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!