One Billion Rising

There is a movement afoot.
One billion rise today for the one billion who are impacted by intimate partner violence.
the CDC says 1 in 4 are affected.
I am not too good at math, but it does mean we have all been affected.
Mothers, and sisters, and fathers, and aunts, and friends, and uncles, and brothers, and ourselves.
All affected.

That means when you go to work, 1 in 4 has been affected.
That means when you go to church, 1 in 4 has been affected.
That means when you go into a school, 1 in 4 has been affected.
That means that when you walk through your neighborhood, 1 in 4 has been affected.

Those numbers are too big.
Too staggering.
Too mind numbing.
And so, we rise.

We rise to break the cycle.
And we rise to bring freedom.
We rise to declare rescure and redemption.
We rise to say that violence does not get to win.
That violence does not have the final word over our lives.

We rise to speak truth into broken places.
We rise to speak love into places that were thought to be unlovable.
We rise to dance upon injustice.

And as we rise, we realize that God has already risen.
God is already on the move.
He is releasing captives.
He is proclaiming liberty.
He is restoring that which was once broken.
He brings liberty and freedom and joy.

And so we rise to join the risen Christ.
We rise to right the wrong things.
We rise to bring heaven onto earth.
We rise.

There is a movement afoot.
One billion rise today for the one billion who are impacted by intimate partner violence.
Will you rise with us?

http://onebillionrising.org/
http://www.dvccct.org/obr/#.URzwf4XLfjs

2012 has come and gone...

It's been a whole year since I last posted.
And I am thinking it's time to change that bad habit.
This last year has passed in a flash, and I wanted to share some of our hightlights with you.

1)  Spain.  Rick-y Steves and the Nash family.  What could be better?

2)  Uganda.  Kelsey, Kirby, their three kids, and all the children we met.  our hearts were broken, and encouraged in the same 10 days.

3)  Husband and I celebrated one year of being debt free in November 2012.  Let's get real, we celebrate on a weekly basis!

4)  I ended my job at the Domestic Violence Crisis Center in January 2013, and will begin taking classes full time online through Asbury Theological Seminary to finsish my MDiv this February.  Estimated Graduation Date is December 2014.

5)  Husband's studio released Ice Age 4, and he has been hard at work on the next one:  Epic.

6)  Our CT BFF's got pregnant, had a baby, and named her Anna Katherine (after me, right???).  I have the honor of watching Anna in the mornings four or five times a week.

7)  We still love our tiny apartment, and painted, redecorated, bought our first TV and some big furniture from Ikea.

8)  We spent an whole year with our missional community at NECC.  We made really great friends, and have been studying the book of Acts together.  We can't wait to see what this year looks like.

9)  My sister got a full job job in Daytona working for a Grand Am.  She made us VIPs for their race up near us, and we went to spend the day with her.

10)  Husband's birthday in August began a new tradition:  Low Country Boil at the end of summer time.

11)  We tried to spend as many weekends at the beach as possible.  It was a fabulous summer.

12)  9)  We ened the year with a delightful ski trip and B&B stay with Husband's parents and brother.  Skiing did not go well for me, but we had a great time!

our toes on long island.

arriving in barcelona.  husband does not have his bag.  :-(

Uganda with J, R, and M.

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

The Stamford MC's Pre Thanks Dinner in November

Preparing for low country boil and our guests.

pace car ride.  thanks, sister!

when hope is slipping.

sometimes hope seems to slip through our fingers.
my fingers.
the more i try to grasp it for my clients, the more it slips away.

and then my heart starts to say, 
it's too hard.
there are no answers.
not enough time.
it's an endless cycle.

when my heart starts to say these things,
i have to remember jesus.
and his words.
and begin to pray,
god, make a way where there is no way.
redeem where there should be no redemption.
give hope where there should be none.

restore our fortunes, o lord.
like the watercourses of the negeb.
may those who sow in tears, reap with shouts of joy.
those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
psalm 126: 4-6

o israel, hope in the Lord!
for with him there is steadfast love, 
and with him there is great power to redeem.
it is he who will redeem israel
from all it's iniquites.
psalm 130: 7

thank you jesus.
come with your power.
come with your redemption.
may we see a harvest of joy.

cleaning out my inbox. changing my life.

the new year always makes me want to clean.
and start with a blank slate.
my gmail inbox was out of control.
we are talking THOUSANDS of unread emails in my inbox.
i actually didn't like checking my email.
real email got lost amid the advertisements.
plus, with every new email promising 70% off, i HAD to look.
don't want to miss a good deal.

so, one morning a week or so ago, i cleaned it out.
husband helped me delete a TON.
unsubscribe to the emails i don't want.
good bye loft.  good bye walmart.  good bye pottery barn.
and williams sonoma, and career builder, and monster.com,
and soma, and all the others.  good bye.

husband helped me learn to archive.
and tag lots of different types of emails.

and now.  i love checking my email.
because i know whatever is coming in, i want.

if your email inbox is out of control,
you should try this too.
you will feel so much better.

Hemming Jeans.

i have my grandmother's sewing machine.
which does not make me a seamstress.
so far, i like easy projects.
but, when my friend jen needed to hem her husband's jeans, we decided to try it.

we weren't sure how to do it, so they didn't look homemade-ish.
and so that he would still like to wear them.
luckily jen is braver than i am.
and after we asked dr. google, she took the plunge.

here are a couple of links we looked at to figure out how to hem his jeans.

http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38
http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2011/06/tutorial-how-to-hem-jeans-and-keep.html
http://www.cardiganempire.com/2009/08/how-to-hem-jeans-in-3-easy-steps.html

the finished product was great!
you can't tell she hemmed the pants.
and now her husband can wear them!
bring on the next project.

see the pictures below.

the hemmed jeans.  if you can't tell, why should we?

inside.  jenn cut off the excess fabric.

first real snow. and making maple snow cream.

 - Just like shoveling snow, only tastier. 

today we had our first real snowstorm of the season.
and it's still coming down strong.
we have about 3 inches, with another 3 on the way.

husband and i went out to play in it this morning.
of course.
and remembered we wanted to make snow cream.
husband gathered up some snow.
and then we mixed it up.
and ate it.
yum.

check out the recipe (courtesy of hallee, the homemaker) and photos below.
ps. don't judge my cold weather pjams.

Snow Cream

1 Gallon Fresh Snow, preferably the kind that hasn't touched the ground, or car, or grass.
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Cups Milk
1 Strong Husband to Stir, optional

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl.
Stir until smooth.
Eat. It. Up.

about to play in the snow.  whooohoo!

flying through the snow.

can you believe we LIVE here?!?!?!

shoes!

all our little cans, lined up in a row.

scooping the snow.

he can't wait to taste it.

adding the maple syrup.

1 Tablespoon Vanilla.  Thank you, Costco.

one strong husband.  mixing it up.

is it done yet?

yum!

gifts.

just had to show off these gifts.
great to show people you are thinking of them.
very practical.
and very, budget friendly.
hello.

all our little gifties.

popcorn for our coworkers.  don't you love the use of "k"s?

cookie mixes for our grandparents, neighbors, and bosses.

lots of popcorn to deliver.  yum.