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.

our christmas season.

this christmas was the first time husband or i was away from family.
we were sad to be on our own, but also excited to start forming our own traditions.
we weren't sure what christmas day was going to look like.
but knew it would include cinnamon rolls.

we ended up going to a midnight catholic mass on christmas eve.
our neighbor, a professional singer/musician sings in their choir.
we didn't get home til nearly 2am.
and took our first catholic communion.
and attended our first mass together.
too bad we don't speak latin.

christmas morning, we put the finishing touches on our cinnamon rolls.
swung by dunkin donuts to pick up coffee.
and then headed to the dvcc safehouse.
we spent our morning with the ladies and children i have grown to know during their stay.
mason played christmas carols and kids songs on his guitar.

the ladies were so, so excited we were there.
and we were just as grateful and excited to be there.

then the ladies started bringing us more, and more food.
we ate til we couldn't eat anymore.
turkery. mexican soup. taco rolls.
so much food kept being brought over to the table.
each woman so proud to be able to provide us a plate.

later we headed out to a hannakah festival.
our friends cyndy and her husband were running the hotdog stand.
and we got a chance to meet all their friends, and their rabbi.

i don't think we could have had a better christmas day!

check out the cinnamon rolls, below.
yum.  i wish we still had some right now.

flossing the rolls.  it really works!

in the pan.  getting ready to rise.

don't you love husband's photography skills???

ready to take to the safehouse.

we made 40 rolls, and were able to give them all away!

new things on the homefront.

today, in addition to decorating for christmas, we did some homemaking.
two things.
i had a project, and husband had a project.

for my project,  picture this, if you will.
in our bedroom, we have a large mac desktop for husband to animate things on.
and of course there is a big chair for the large desk, and no one sits in it much these days.
and we pile clothes, and pillows on the chair.
plus, we store some things under the desk.
the whole thing always looks sloppy.

i woke up one morning with an idea.
what if we sold the chair on craigslist, and get a cushioned folding chair.
and then sew some curtains under the desk to hide the stuff.
and provide for some more shameless storage.

today, we did just that.

and we love it.

getting ready to do some hemming.

hemming.  with mimm's machine.

finished product.  (notice the roses husband brought me last night.)

husband's project.  (look for a step by step written by husband in the near future!)
we were able to visit our friends loi and marshall in FL.
loi is a pretty amazing decorator.
while at their house, we were inspired by their use of rope lighting!
we wanted to put in some under the counter lighting for our little kitchen.
just to add some pizazz.  and make it look like a sweet upgrade.

we really like the way it turned out too!  for real.

husband hard at work.

before.

after.

Jesus, come. Intervene.

I cast my cares upon you, O God
because if I do not, I will be crushed.

Jesus, come.  Intervene.
Staggering debts.  Looming bankruptcy.
You are more than all this.
The hopeless, homelessness, unstableness.
Somehow, you are more than all this.
The injustice, the anger, the fear.
Jesus, come.  Intervene.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
I run to you Jesus.  Run to meet me.
Show me your face.
Show me where you are in the poverty.
Admist the poor decisions.
The frantic actions.
Unsure hearts.
Jesus, come.  Intervene.

I cast my cares upon you, O God
because if I do not I will be consumed.

the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

i don't really write about my job much.
in fact, i don't think i ever have here.
it can be kind of a downer.
when someone asks where i work, and i tell them, conversation stops.
and no one knows what to say.
obviously not many are FOR violence against women.
but not many know how to respond.

i live my life in this place too a lot.
i don't know how to respond.
i don't know what it means to live in fear.
i don't know what it means to be pysically hurt.
i don't know what it means to be intimidated by someone you love.
i don't know how it feels to be controled, or manipulated, or used.

sometimes it feels too hard, and too hopeless.
no income, no housing, no clothing.
an ebt card won't get you too far.
no citizenship, no job skills, no opportunities.
no self esteem, no self respect, no education.

we are going through the sermon on the mount at church.
and thomas read a portion of dallas willard's, divine conspiracy.
i think i need to read it.

it gives me fresh hope that there is room for even these in the kingdom.
especially these.
if only they knew.
if only they could see.
the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
and you have a spot.
a place of honor.
maybe for the first time.

dallas williard's words give me fresh hope.
and fresh perspective.
see his words below.
these are the people i serve.
as thomas read these words, faces came to mind.
i think dallas needs a place in my office.

fresh hope.
praise the lord.
the kingdom is near.

Dallas Willard in the Divine Conspiracy playfully paraphrases the beatitudes.

"Blessed are the physically repulsive,

Blessed are those who smell bad,

The twisted, misshapen, deformed,

The too big, too little, too loud,

The bald, the fat, the old—

For they are all riotously celebrated in the party of Jesus.

Then he adds:

Then there are the "seriously" crushed ones: the flunk-outs and drop-outs and burned-outs. The broke and the broken. The drug heads and the divorced. The HIV-positive and herpes-ridden. The brain-damaged, the incurably ill. The barren and the pregnant too many times or at the wrong time. The over-employed, the under-employed, the unemployed. The unemployable. The swindled, the shoved aside, the replaced. The parents with children living on the street, the children with parents not dying in the "rest" home. The lonely, the incompetent, the stupid. The emotionally starved or emotionally dead. And on and on and on. (123-4)


What a crowd is gathering around Jesus! Why? Because he is announcing good news and blessings from God, and he is proving it, confirming it, in the physical realm. He is healing bodies as a sign that souls are being healed. He is bringing relief as a foretaste of life where all will be made new.

This community has gathered. A motley crew. The hurting, the whole, the curious. The community sings as they follow, "Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go." So they go where he goes.


Jesus looks out at this motley crew of a crowd, an audience of misfits, and begins to teach. He has already been telling them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. It’s here, nearby ready to be received. There is great blessing available to all; this is good news. He’s talking to you, too, you know!

Jesus addresses the poor in spirit (and the poor). Jesus looks at man who looks like he has traveled through hell–he is weary and worn from sin. His face is like leather; his eyes are not sharp or clear; his fingers are stained. He has bottomed-out over and over again; foolish pleasures and mistakes have cost him dearly. He is poor and poor in spirit and at the end of his rope and even considers making a noose with it. But today he has come to hear this unusual teacher teaching unusual things.

The teacher looks at him and says, "Congratulations, my son, the Kingdom has come and you can be a part of it. How blessed you are to be in state of humility; you are now ready to receive the Kingdom of Heaven; it’s yours."

the last 3 months in photos.

so, i have been out of the blog world for a bit.
summer has come, and fall is upon us.

here are the brief updates.

1.  husband's parents came to visit us in july.
2.  we went backpacking in PA, and camped and hike the white mountains in NH.
3. we got two a/c window units, and it changed our lives this summer.
4.  we have new next door neighbors.
5.  husband got a promotion, starting in october.
6. i quit weightwatchers and will be going part time soon at dvcc.
7. we learned about all the symptoms of bartonella, and lupus, and have determined i have neither.
8. we went to boston with katy and scott.
9.  jesus protected us in boston when we got accosted on the train. 
10. our csa was destroyed in the hurricane.  and jamie and i were secretly happy.
11.  we started volunteering at our church, and helping with a new church plant.

check out the last three months in photos.

backpacking in PA.  this was near where we camped.

in PA.  we almost ran out of water.  ptl for husbands and streams.

lobster meal at stews with randy and eloise.  well, just eloise here.

good thing we are professional hikers.

made it to the top.  after a loooong hike up.

we hiked here, in nh.

free beer in boston.  did you ever think it would be like this?  we thought kassie was the wild one!

boston ducklings.

at cheers.  where everyone knows your name.

cutest park ranger ever.

scott, katy, katie, and mason.

some self defense we were practicing.  brick to face.

changing our lives. and blowing my mind.

since we have been in the northeast we have been trying to eat more whole foods.
at least when we are home.
if we go out to eat, it's like a treat.  and a whole other story. 
i haven't had diet soda since LAST labor day.
which is huge because i was an addict.
we joined a csa, community supported agriculture, and try to eat lots more fruits and veggies.
we don't eat white bread, or white flour too much.
we cut out high fructose corn syrup, as much as we can.
we buy more organics.
stay away from soy, and genetically modified foods (hopefully!).
we try to only buy sea food that was wild caught, and stay away from farmed.
we drink whole milk.
we bake with cane sugar, instead of white sugar.
we stay away from as many artificial sweetners as we can.

the one thing we haven't really done is switch to grass fed meats.
it's so expensive here. 

this weekend we watched the documentory, food matters.
and then watched, food inc.

it's blowing my mind.
and i can't seem to reconcile wanting to stretch our money as far as possible....
with buying only grassfed and pastured meats. 
it made couponing and menu planning really challenging this morning.

i guess if this is my biggest challenge, we are doing alright.
but, it is something to think about.

have you watched either of the documentaries?
only watch them, if you are ready to face the consequences.

summer time in the northeast.

so, it's finally summer.
i feel like we had winter for 8 months.
we have shed our wool coats.
had them dry cleaned, because that's what you do when you live in the northeast.
and put them in the coat closet.

now we are in sandals, shorts, and tee shirts.
whoa.

our herbs have been growing like crazy.
we have been farming them.
and when i say farming, i mean watering.
we have harvested cilantro and basil.
yum.

our new favorite thing is to eat dinner on our front lawn.
it seems to be a novel concept to our neighbors.
they aren't quite ready to wave back to us, but we are working on that part.
the nice thing about summer here so far is that it is pleasant outside.
usually.
and tonight, it was even chilly.
we had to turn OFF our fans.
welcome to the northeast.

check out how tall the cilantro has gotten.

we had to re-pot the mint because it was eating the basil.

our flowers.  with no flowers.  yet.

this is what we see when we park our car.  nice, huh?

on our front lawn.  waving to neighbors.  and eating pesto pasta.

preparing to picnic.

first year of adventure.

new marriage.

new apartment.

new furniture.

new foods.

new city.

new visitors.

new jobs.

new finances.

new friends.

new hobbies.

new church.

new dreams.

these are just a few of the new things husband and i have done together.

and we hope there are many, many more to come.

thank you jesus for giving us this life together.

day 1 of our adventure.  as married people.

good thing i had lots of support.

honeymooning.  loving the chairs.  our honeymoon splurge.

our first apartment together.  hello stamford, ct.

sleeping on the floor for a few weeks til the movers decided to bring our stuff.

the day we found out i could cut husband's hair.

husband's first day of work.  and a new hair cut, courtesy of his wife.

4th of july in nyc.  glad we went.  probably won't go again.

summer soon turned to fall.  and the decor changed too.

a quick trip to DC before the baby came.  (not our baby.  j and a's baby.)

a fall hike with our new friends.  they like adventure as much as us.  hello.

the views from the backpacking trip kept getting better.  hello, fall.

our fall visitors.  and picking apples.

scott and katy.

  nyc in the winter.  at christmas time.  we live fabulous lives.

who knew snow was so heavy?  good thing husband is strong.

snow was, and is, a novelty for me.

winter came inside our home too.

ryan, jenn, me, and husband.  getting ready to ski.

i only face planted once.  ptl.

march brought another visitor.  yay for lindsay!

uh, we still can't believe we live here....

one year.  in stonington.

husband's first feature film.  have you seen it???

little baby flowers.  spring has sprung.