Amanda's Wedding

Today, Jon and I were able to travel up to my first hometown of Manitowoc Wisconsin for one of my dearest friend's wedding!  Although my family moved away from Manitowoc to Birchwood when I was younger, Amanda and I have continued to stay in touch and always got to see each other throughout the years.  She was my maid of honor and so we had a great time today having more wedding time together.  Her husband, Paul, is in the Navy and is going to be deployed for the second time coming up soon, so they had a small ceremony with close friends and family.  In October 2012, they plan on having a renewal of vows and more formal ceremony.  Today was such a wonderful day as they had their ceremony at Paul's parents house in the country.  There's nothing like a good ol' Wisconsin wedding in a field with dogs running around, country music, and a shotgun going off to signify their marriage!  And yes, Molly was one of the dogs there, but she was sticking quite close to me and was wary of the big dogs running all over, sniffing her and bounding at her to play.  

It was wonderful being with old friends that are really another family to me.  I also love to bring Jonathon back to Manitowoc to share an important and special part of my life with him.   I am so very happy for my dear friend and her new hubby, congrats!...Also, "Happy Barfday" to my mom, it was  her birthday, so two very special celebrations today!  

Isn't my friend just so pretty!

Happy Family

Molly was so exhausted after her hot and crazy day, she completely conked out the entire three hour drive home! 

Picnic Treats

On Tuesday, I made some treats for a picnic get together we were going to have for our small group.  Well, Wednesday came and it ended up being canceled, which was too bad.  But, since I couldn't bring the treats to group, I brought them to school instead.  When working with so many women, it's pretty easy to get rid of any sweets I have around the house.  I tried out two new recipes from my Food Network magazine and they were pretty unique: Root Beer Bundt Cake and Faux Fruit Slices. But, I must say, they lie when they say it only takes ten minutes for the fruit slices; scooping them each out plus cooking the JELL-O takes much longer.  

 It does not look so pretty, but I think it turned out okay, for it being an oddly flavored cake to begin with.  I put a root beer sugar glaze on the outside, but I was definitely hoping for a stronger root beer flavor in the end product.  I can now say that I have baked with root beer!

 The orange rind was more porous and turned out not working as well as the lemons.  They were both very tasty, but the JELL-O came out better from the lemons. 

 All nice and cut up, how pretty, right?  Although time consuming, it was a very cute "project" and my coworkers loved them! 

Molly The Beautiful Pocket

After work, I ran home to let Molly Pocket out and as we were walking, a Korean man walked by and said, "Ohh, beautiful dog you have!"  I said thank you, but what I really wanted to add is that she is Korean.  Can you imagine the look I would have gotten?  ha!  I get a little excited about that, I guess...maybe too much.  But, she is quite cute, it seemed every time we went out we would get many comments or squealing towards her because of her absolute cuteness.  

Molly being distracted...

Tonight, Jon's second part of the Apologetics class finishes and I have the racetrack ministry tonight as well.  Jon will be busy with his class for the next few days and then he gets a break of no class, but still doing a lot of homework.  But, we are about half way through seminary, can you believe it?  We will keep pressing on! 

Honey Bunny

I found out some sad news today; my Honey Bunny passed away.  It was expected for some time, but it always catches you off guard when a special pet passes away.  But, he was 12 years after all.  I remember being able to pick him out for my 13th birthday and he was the softest and sweetest bunny ever!  You might say, "It's just a bunny" but he was a special tie to my childhood and a very special pet for all these years.  At least he's in pet heaven hopping around with my other special pets and I'm sure eating lots of good treats.  :)

Just A Quick Update

Well, just a quick update about what's been going on!  Now that it is Thursday, Jon is doing so much better and hardly has any symptoms-wonderful!  I'm so glad he got a chance to rest and recuperate before he starts his next class-tonight!  He has an intensive Apologetics class this weekend and another next weekend.  So, I'm glad my mom is here and I have someone to spend time with.  I am also excited for my dad to come down here tomorrow for the rest of the weekend!  It's also nice to have my mom here as although Jon has gotten better, I haven't really.  My mild strep did go away, but in the process, I got a cold and because of my asthma it quickly went to my lungs.  This seems to be inevitable whenever I have a cold, sigh.  I took the day off today because I had no voice (unless I wanted to talk like Darth Vader to the kids) and the fact that my breathing was not good.  Thankfully, I've been able to rest and drink a lot today to help things.  Tonight I was also supposed to help out at the racetrack ministry, but of course I can't go.  Next week we will be starting lessons with our students.  

In other news, I got a new camera so no more of my faithful almost 6 year old camera.  I think I will bring it on camping trips though, it's so durable and still has some use!  Below are a few pics from the new one, but it also can record HD video so that will be nice change in comparison to what I have been posting.  Just wait for more Pocket videos. 

 Not too bad looking for strep sick people...just tired

Pocket's new convertible summer dress/swimming suit from my mom.  Because every dog needs to be able to go immediately from the pool to a party.

Fun Times to White Times

This weekend with Jon was pretty much wonderful, I was so sad when it came to Sunday night.  After losing Jon to Hebrew for three weeks, I was nice to finally have him to myself.  On Friday night, he let us go bowling.  You see, Jon hates bowling and gets overly frustrated about it all, but since he knows I love to bowl, he showed his love and let us go!  Now, I am definitely not a good bowler by any means, I seem to do decent about every other time we go.  I don't know what I do that makes me get multiple strikes in one game, but it happens, just not this last time.  This time though, the gutter really wanted to be friends with the bowling balls, not sure why.  I remember going bowling with my family and friends when I was younger and it's probably one of my favorite activities to go out and do.  What's even better is that we went to a new place near home and the games for $1 on Fridays and $3 for shoes!  Seriously, can you get any better than that?  So, we ended up playing four games and by the end, Jon was starting to relax and have more fun.  I'm sure we'll be revisiting those lanes again; it was so much fun!  

 Cute Boy-Goooo! 

On Saturday, we also had a pretty relaxing day.  We both ended up sleeping in and Jon was definitely happy after having so little sleep lately.  I have been getting ready for a 5k coming up, so I was able to enjoy some time in the 70 degree weather before getting ready to hang out with friends.  Saturday night, we had a couple from our Bible study over for a game night.  We hadn't met with them for a few weeks, so it was great seeing them and enjoying time together.  Last time we played Ticket to Ride: Europe, but this time we played a new game Jon and I have called Lost Cities.  I really enjoy hanging out with Bill and Ali, hopefully we'll see them again before too long again!  

Sunday, we went to church and had a wonderful worship together.  Sunday afternoons seem to be my nap and cuddle with Molly day.  But sadly, Jon has to deal with the wrath of me waking up and being crabby and whiny, poor guy.  I  really just don't wake up from naps very well.  But despite that, while I was resting, Jon made a wonderful dinner for us.  I'm so impressed at what he can conjure up, I really should take advantage of him making dinner more often.  He made 3, T-bone steaks with his own garlic & parsley whipped butter, wine reduction sauce with onions and mushrooms, and steamed veggies.  Tasty!  I am definitely not a steak person or much of a meat person, but I really enjoyed the meal.  And my Boy knows me, I used lots of garlic butter!  I should have taken a picture, but Jon told me just to sit and eat, so I did.  I guess he'll have to make it again so I can take another picture.  :)

Well, all good things must come to an end, right?  Jon had been feeling under the weather and we thought maybe it was him coming down from his busyness.  But when I looked in his throat on Sunday night, I said, "Ew gross, it looks like you have strep!"  Sure enough, he found out today he does.  Well, for the last day or two, my throat has been bothering me as well and after calling the doctor about it and explaining my white throat, fever, cold, sick husband and the fact that I'm a teacher, he didn't even bother having me come in.  Instead, he just called in a prescription; I just love when they can do that and I don't have to go in.  Even though, I'm the one around sick kids, my doctor told me I'm guilty by association and can certainly blame it on Jon since he is further progressed than I am.  So there, ha.  As of tonight, we are both on antibiotics and hopefully we will be feeling better tomorrow, especially as I get to have my parents come for a visit this week! 

Thankfulness

During church today, I started thinking about things I am thankful for.  Yes, I am admitting to daydreaming during the service, but it was about good things and NOT about what I was having for lunch afterwards or something like that...  One of the things I happened to be reflecting on was how thankful I am to be able to attend a church such as Harvest where the Gospel is preached without worrying how people might react or what is more popular, but rather sticking with what God's Word and what He has for us.  

I feel like the topics of thankfulness and contentment have been popping up in my life lately and I wanted to share some things I am thankful for.  So excuse me if I rant a little bit.  While we were visiting our friends in Madison, we went around the table saying what we are thankful for and I think that is so important to reflect on what God has done and to notice blessings (whether big or small) in our life rather than taking them for granted.  It can be so easy to look ahead of where I'm at and start to say, "I'll be so happy when..." or "I wish I had..." or "Why can't we have/be in...".  I really try to catch myself when I start my sentences like that, it's a dangerous place to travel.  But when I get into my 'Woe is me' routine, the many things that we've been blessed with start disappearing as I step into complaining.  God has given all of us so much; why should we ever be dissatisfied?  I forget these truths so often, so if/when I start complaining, just hit me with them! 

Anyways, 
I am thankful for:

• Jonathon, a loving husband who helps me grow with him in the Lord.  I can always see his heart in trying to help me Who helps me learn how to be a better wife when at times, I am pretty horrible.  I just can't imagine how people do this without the Lord at the center!  
• close family who loves and cares for us by prayer and support throughout our lives.  
• this stage in life (even though some days I despise it).  I'm glad for the time Jon and I have together during his schooling.  I've noticed this is a great time for growth in many ways.  We have definitely learned how to value the time that we get together, be it few and far between often times. 
• our jobs, even though there are long and hard days, I am thankful that God has provided financially.  As we give to Him and trust Him more, He surprises us in ways we never expect and those are the best!  Everything we have is His, but it's been a difficult lesson in fighting off the feelings of needing what others have/do or what the world expects us to have.  
• our cute home.  Even though our insulation is not great and we seem to either bake or freeze and the fact that I just killed a bunch of baby spiders once again, I love our home.  I'm so thankful we no longer live in one small room together like in Korea.  But even then, I think I could still find things that I was thankful for within that place! 

Now, these are just a few things I'm thankful for, but I think it's a good start in thinking about what God has blessed me with.  Together with Jonathon, I want to work on this type of attitude change and just being able to recognize how blessed we really are.  

What are you thankful for today? 

Summer Hebrew...

I am really glad to say that tomorrow is the last day of Jon's summer Hebrew.  After tomorrow, I might be able to actually see my husband and spend time with him.  Jon is probably happy to have the option of having more than a few hours of sleep as well.  He has been very good at trying to use any break or free time to spend with me, but mostly he's just studying a lot or faithfully working at the library.  At least this class is only half as long as Greek was last summer.  But, he has three more classes this summer to go, so he will still be quite busy.  I am very proud of him as he is working very hard and doing a wonderful job!  Tonight, we spend time together by helping him study for his final exam tomorrow morning.  He read out of the Hebrew Bible while translating into English and speaking it to me as I checked his translation that he wrote out earlier.  I was proud as he read Jonah aloud at a pretty good pace while also translating in his head; aren't you impressed as well? This weekend is one of our only free weekends as I don't work (so far) and he has no school.  Therefore, Jon said I can choose anything to do with him!  We don't know at all what we'll do, but I am very much looking forward to the weekend.  It is even supposed to cool down rather than being at 100 degrees, so anything else will be comfortable and nice for outdoor activities.
We do appreciate your prayers during our crazy summer schedule; thanks for checking in!
Anika

Great Company

 This weekend, Jonathon and I were blessed to have my brother and sister in law come down for the long weekend!  We love seeing them and having lots of fun together, so it was definitely hard saying goodbye yesterday and walking back into an "empty" home. 

  On Saturday, we went to a Brewer's game against the San Fransisco Giants.  It was an amazing game with some great plays to see live.  The game included a crazy in field home run by Gomez and the game even ended with a suicide squeeze!  

One of the best things about going to a Brewer's game is that you have the space to sprawl out and tailgate for a few hours.  I always am confused when I talk about tailgating and people don't know what it is.  Doesn't everybody know what this amazing part of a baseball game is?  I always look forward to having tasty brats, snacks, and time with family.  I'm very glad that I grew up going to baseball with my family and having a field that has space to allow for tailgating. 

All of us and half of Anders...

On Sunday, we went to church and afterwards decided to go to Chicago to eat at a famous BBQ restaurant called Smoque.  It was actually visited by Guy Fieri from "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" on the Food Network.  Below, you can watch a video of it, but to be warned, after watching it you might want to come visit us just so you can eat there...

It had been raining and storming all day, but had just about stopped.  That is, until we walked up to get in the line that led outside of the restaurant.  We didn't have umbrellas but as the downpour came, we saw that Smoque provided them for you!  We stood in the monsoon for quite awhile until we could make it through the door way to then wait for even longer.  My brother especially wondered if the wait would be worth it, but once we started smelling the food and seeing it, we knew our tummy's were going to be very happy.  

Notice the nasty sky in the background, it was horrible out there.  Thankfully, I have a guy who's willing to get soaked in the rain in order to keep me dry.

My platter of scrumptious baked macaroni and cheese, smoked beans, beef brisket, vinaigrette coleslaw and their homemade BBQ sauce! 

We are both cold, wet, and slightly crazy, but sooo loving the BBQ!  I am holding their baked smoked beans.  Yes, smoked, oh and mixed with the leftover brisket from the day before.  I don't even really like baked beans, good thing these were not ordinary baked beans!  Aaaaaamazing!

Sunday night and Monday basically consisted of hanging out, snacking on wonderful foods, and playing games together.  What more could you ask for?  But sadly, they did have to go.  Thankfully, though, we get to see them along with my parents for two Brewer's games in July!  We miss them and are excited to see them again soon!

"Heeeeeyy Hermano."

The bird is coming!

I would say that we are people who do not laugh when animals are scared, but there are of course exceptions.  The exception tonight was when I took out a bird puppet of mine that caws; Molly couldn't handle it.  Poor thing, she had also just come in from being scared by firework outside while trying to find the perfect potty spot.  Poor Pocket.  But, it is pretty funny to see, she even manages to escape under the bed.  She came out the other side to try to sneak a peak at what that thing was.  But, in the end, she wanted to play with it after she saw it wasn't real.  Don't worry, we didn't torture her with it for too long.

Notice Jon comforting Molly at the end, "It's okay, baby". 

Stalking the prey.

Licking her chops.

Don't worry, the bird is safe and unharmed.

My Greek Wonder!

I am quite proud of my Greek wonder boy!  He has worked so hard since last summer at Greek spending hours on vocab and doing exegetical work on the NT.  So, his hard work finally paid off and got an "A" in his last Greek exegesis class!  I thought I was happy at the end of last summer when I was no longer a "Greek widow", but I was so happy and proud when he told me today when he visited me at school.  Getting an "A" in Dr. Harris' class is almost unheard of; she is a wonderful and brilliant teacher, but an extremely hard grader.  But by expecting a lot of out of your students, you'll get a lot out of them if they want to do well.  Good job baby boy! Now, onto finishing your Hebrew!

Now, I will share a little about my grade as well.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had earned an "A" as well in my Spanish class.  I get pretty stressed about classes and tests, so if you know me, I was freaking out a little bit.  But, after doing really well on the speaking exam, I was hoping for a good turnout.  I'm continuing to study my vocab until I have another class in the fall, but it was good encouragement after not having Spanish for awhile.  This summer, I should also get some Spanish practice as I plan to work with a ministry through my church.  This ministry goes to a nearby horse racetrack and reaches out to Hispanic families through VBS,  teen abstinence teaching, adult ESL, and other great activities.  I'm planning on doing the ESL, but would also enjoy helping with the teen ministry.  It'll be fun to use what I have learned, learn even more, and reach out to others!

A Madison Play Date

This last weekend was a very busy one for Jon and I, but a good one.  I worked Saturday afternoon until early the next morning, but was excited on Sunday morning to be able to go see our good friends, Anders and Robyn and their beautiful baby girl, Drea.  We love them all and are excited for their new adventure as they move away from Madison.  But, we did want to get together one last time while they are decently close to us.  We also brought Molly, a.k.a. Maple Bacon as Anders nicknamed her when we got her in Korea.  The Gilbertsons also have a cute little dog named Ringo and they have been blog buddies, but never met!  We were very excited for them to have a play date and boy did they become friends and have a great time together.  Molly apparently felt right at home since she ate Ringo's food and didn't seem to feel too bad about pushing him aside (how rude of her).  The best part about the dogs being together was Drea laughing and getting a kick out of the doggies playing.  Jon was also good with Drea and he thought she was a lot of fun now that she is almost 8 months and much more active and alert than when we saw her a few weeks after she was born, haha.  It was great to see Jon with Drea, they were both sweethearts.
The first video, I took, but the second is from Anders and Robyn's blog, they really captured her laugh and I love seeing it.

I was also very happy to see that Molly did well with Drea.  Even though I spent time on the floor playing with Drea, Molly didn't get jealous.  She definitely is curious about babies and we saw how she can be protective and want to know what they're doing. 

It was wonderful being with you Gilbertson's; have a safe move! 

The only downside of the trip was coming back.  We had heard of storms in MN and thought we'd leave a little early to beat them, but ended up riding almost all of the way home in the yellow and red zones of the storm, fun.  Since I only had a few hours of sleep the night before, Jon drove and I was very thankful to have such a great driver keeping us safe.  But, it turned out to be a good time to pray for us and others as we drove through the torrential rain and pitch black.  I tell you, Jon and I just despise I-90, every time we drive on it, there is horrible whether, whether it is a snow blizzard or a tornado watch.  We are ready to be done with that long stretch of road, but we've still got some time down here. 

"Sweet like sugar candy!"

I miss her lots!

Lots & Lots!

All Glory and Honor

Last week, Harvest played a video during offering that I was really touched by.  It was comprised of many Harvest church plant leaders singing in their languages the song "All Glory".  Things like this always get me because I love to see and hear other people worshiping God and how God in turn reaches out to every single person on Earth and loves them so very much.  As many of you know, I really love working with internationals and so this video was also very meaningful in that way.  I hope you enjoy how God's name is lifted up in this video as much as I have enjoyed it.  

All Glory - International from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

"Teachaaaa, you do B-B-Q?"

Thursday marked the end of the semester for both Jonathon and  I!  It was wonderful to finally be over and done with.  We both finished up with language exams, a Spanish oral test for me and Hebrew for him.  Jon had three other exams to study for so we did not see much of each other.  So once everything was over with, we were happy to have the weekend to spend together.  Finally, a time when neither of us had school commitments and could relax.  Friday night, we had already planned a little end of the semester celebration with our friends Kate and Matthew.  Since Jonathon and I talk about Korea and the wonderful food, they were interested in trying some Korean BBQ, which we of course did not turn down!  We ended up going to a new place and will definitely be going back there again.  This BBQ restaurant has a buffet option where you can order as much meat of any kind until you are stuffed to the gills.  Besides the multiple never ending sides, we ended up having 5 plates of meat including galbi, bulgogi, samgyupsal, and spicy bulgogi with squid.  Although I'm not a big meat eater, I realized how badly I missed the sweet bulgogi and perfectly seasoned galbi.  I can't wait until we are able to go back again! 

 Quite authentic, don't you think?  

Yum, yum!

Happy Mother's Day!

I honestly do not know how to start this post. I've started it a few times and erased.  How do you start to write about your mother?  hm.. 
Well, in today's sermon, Pastor James did a great job sharing about 1 Samuel 1 where Hannah is finally given a son after many trials and personal anguish.  And what was her promise from even before she expecting: "That she would give him to the Lord for all the days of his life" (1Sam. 1:11).  Pastor James talked about how truly difficult being a mother is and how kids take forever to realize this.  I for sure, took a long time to begin to understand what I'm sure I put my mother through, whether it was constantly getting dirty and scratched up or going against what she had taught me in the Lord.  I still do not know what it is to be a mother because I am not yet one myself.  But, I have learned to appreciate what my mom has done for me throughout my life in prayer and love through the good and the bad.  Just like Hannah, I know my mom did dedicate me to the Lord and to His work and I sure am glad that she did that.  As much as I know she would like to hold onto me and always keep me close, she knows that me doing what God has for me is far better than she or I can dream.  I am glad that this also transcends to my Jonathon as well.  Jonathon and I are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for our future children as we give them over to God, as hard as it might be to sometimes "let them go", we know He already has the best planned for them. 

I am so thankful to have such a loving mom who I have grown to know as my sister and friend as well as my Hoodie-Hoo!  Love you Hood!

But, I have had such other wonderful motherly influences in my life as well.  They have all helped shape me into who I am today and I am so glad to have them in my life. 

My dear, Nona.  I can never think about her without tearing up which usually turns into full-on crying.  She was the kind of grandma that's a bunch of things all wrapped into one.  She was like an older sister, a playmate, a mom, and a wonderful source of sugar!  I can't remember a time when she didn't want to play, talk, or hear about what was going on in my life.  And every time I said good-bye to her,  she'd give me the tightest squeeze with an "I love you so much!", a big pinch on the butt, and push some candy in my pocket while whispering "Don't tell your mother!" When I was younger she and I had the best sleepovers!  I'd fall asleep while she was rubbing my back and we'd share "Booger and Eyeball" stories.  But as I grew up, I loved talking with her about how good God is and how she had grown in her faith.  You could just see it on her face and she would blurt out, "Don't you just love Jesus?"  I just love her and miss her so much and am so thankful to have had such a wonderful Nona in my life. 

 

I have also had such other wonderful family in my life such as my Auntie Sasta.  She is also just like having a mother and older sister as well.  As I just called her tonight, she again gave me wonderful advice, prayer, and encouragement.  We have always bonded through getting messy with cooking, dirt, or crafts and been able to talk about everything.  I can't imagine not having her in my life as well.  Her dear daughter, Blythe, has always been the big sister I never had.  Since we were surrounded by our brothers, we always cherished our time together talking about girly things, but always having time to play in the dirt as well.  She always pushes me to grow and think about my relationship with God when she asks me, "What has God been teaching you and how are you doing with your relationship with Him?"  I love you both I could double PiNcH you!!

 And now, I have my second family, the Enger's.  I now have another mother!  One of the first times I remember going to Jonathon's house was before we even started dating.  I shared some things with Diane that were on my heart and she never judged me and she still wanted me to marry Jonathon.  I'm glad that I can be open with her and we can always talk about the Lord, music, and funny stories about my Hubby.  I look forward to more years with my newest family! 

Well, Jonathon and I do not have our own children yet.  But, we do have a baby and her name is Pocket Baby.  So for now, I will be a mother to Molly and love and cuddle her oodles!  

Happy Mother's Day to all you hard-working mother's; I hope it was a wonderful, love-filled day!

Pocket Baby

 "Peek-a-Boo Pocket"

"Love me, love me, say that you love me!"

 Sprawled out, yet discreet baby. 
"Don't you want to rub my tummy?"

Ready, Set, Eat!

I recently discovered this site: ReadySetEat I haven't done anything with it yet except browse through the different categories.  But, it seems to be pretty easy, yet helpful for busy wives and moms.  You can also sign up for a newsletter that comes every two weeks with new updates on recipes and meal ideas.  I like the fact that when searching for recipes, you can specifically choose healthier meals and they will give you many wonderful options.  And if you find one that you like, you can put it in the online "Recipe Box" to save for later.  But that's not all!  You can also narrow down your search by choosing how much prep time and cook time the meal takes as well as what type of main ingredient you want.  Also, when you plug in your zip code to the site, when you are looking at ingredients, it will give you a sign that looks like this: .  This tells you that it is on sale at the store(s) in your area that you previously chose as well as how long the sale is for.  I do like to plan my meals ahead of time (when possible) using what we already have or what might be on sale that week.  So, it's a nice little feature that helps in showing you prices while planning your meals.  Although Jon and I are very good at throwing things together and making a meal, I do like to have a plan or at least somewhere to go to find a quick option when time is short.  Like I said, I haven't looked at everything on the site yet, but it looks like a nice option if you need an idea for a quick and easy recipe! 

Spring Cleaning

It is spring, I think.  The weather has been pretty all over the place with being 80 degrees one day and the next being 40 and then rainy for two weeks with no sunshine whatsoever.  But, that doesn't mean we can't still get some spring cleaning done.  Jon and I have made some minor changes around our home including a new book shelf down stairs and some organizing here and there.  Isn't it nice to get some cleaning done and hopefully get more organized as well!  Well, the Pocket Baby had some spring cleaning done as well-getting a haircut!  It was no "3mm okay?" type of haircut, but she did look pretty ridiculous.  The groomers sent her home with two hot pink bows in her ear-hair and a girlie handkerchief around her neck.  Also, take a look at her ear hair, why is it still so long?  I don't know, she's pretty ridiculous, but she's also pretty darn cute.  And since it's been so cold, she's wanting to always cuddle, I definitely do not mind!

"Mama, why'd you put me through this?"

 This is muuuuch better! 

Can you spot the irony?

And no, this picture was not posed, Molly laid down next to my Bible study on top of the soft, piled up blankets.   Molly makes sure her priorities are set and that they never change.  What are her priorities you might ask?  How does Molly balance her life?

1. Cuddle with Mama
2. Go potty
3. Scarf food down & slurp water
4. Find the softest blanket and cuddle more
5. Sleep until Mama moves an inch and then cuddle closer to her
6. Lay on Papa's Pillow
7. Cuddle with Mama
8. Follow Mama
9. Stare at Mama
10. Wait for Mama

I'm sure you get the picture...

Dos Cumpleaños

Within the last month and a half, Jon and I have both turned a quarter of a century.  As we both had our birthdays, we both noted that we are feeling older.  This especially happens when we reminisce about our childhood or college and now it seems so far behind.  Now, I know, some of you may be saying, "Oh, you're so young!"  Yes, we've heard that a lot lately, but still.  We do try to keep each other young and do fun things that are more like "kid fun" and so for both of our birthdays, we enjoyed some activities of this nature.  For Jon's birthday, we had traveled to his parents in MN for a long weekend.  I had secretly planned the buying of Jon's gift with his parents and I was pretty excited to give it to him.  Buuuut, I wanted to make him work for it first.  So, he had an eight step scavenger hunt, which had him running all over his parent's house.  He also had some girl scout cookies to start out with for sustenance.  

Jon got stumped with this clue, apparently Molly was as well.

His final step brought him to the kitchen where his present was hidden in the oven.  

It's not in the fridge, but do you see it in the picture?

After opening it, he was very surprised to find this in it.  

Surprise!!

Let me tell you, he was very surprised!  Jon was also very excited 

to bring this contraband into Illinois and wear it proudly! 

My birthday was this last Thursday and thank you to all my family and friends for making it special; it was great hearing from you!  But, out of everyone, my Boy made my birthday extra special.  Jon knows that I sometimes get sad or disappointed on my birthday because I see that time is passing and so on.  So he really went the extra mile in making sure I felt loved and appreciated by him and also had fun.  I obviously had to teach on Thursday, but my co-teachers and kids also made my day fun!  When I got home, Jon was waiting for me and had a heart vase with two bouquets of my favorite flowers: tulips!  Then, he brought me tot he kitchen where he showed me the cake he made, frosted, and decorated himself.  The cake was yellow, which was also my favorite.  (see a trend of favorites yet?)  Unfortunately, Jon had to go to church to work with the 20's group (called Connect) on my birthday night, but instead of him going by himself, I decided to go with him and make a fun night out of it anyways.  But before we went, Jon did allow me to open one present.  At Connect, we had a little worship time before a pastor friend spoke.  Normally, the adults split up afterwards to discuss the lesson.  But Jon and I stayed together in the church's café and had a great talk.  It's so nice to be able to sit down and enjoy each other's company and hear our views and thoughts on things.
After the groups came back, we had smoothies and Jon and I headed to the church gym to play some Horse and throw the football around.  I won't say who won the two games of Horse, but we both had a lot of fun together.  I just love simple things like this and being able to get some exercise, be competitive with Jon and still have fun is wonderful.  After helping pack up some things, Jon and I headed home for my main present.  Jon had been teasing me about my present all week and I had been guessing and guessing, but to no avail. When I opened the box, I was surely surprised to find a Chicago Symphony Orchestra gift certificate!  Let me give you an idea why I was so excited and how nerdy I am.  Growing up, I had a poster of the Chicago Symphony trombones on my wall.  Most young girls had the Backstreet Boys or J.T.T.  No, I had four trombone players on the steps of the orchestra hall; how cool is that!  Jon knew that going to see a concert was one of my life goals, but at least a goal for while we were living here.  He did such a great job listening, even though I never asked for it, he knew what I wanted when I had no clue!  Now, I can choose 1 or 2 concerts to go to with him and there are some great ones coming up!  But, unfortunately, Yo-Yo Ma is sold out and so expensive anyways.  Oh, almost forgot, Jon also handmade a card for me and cut out tulips to make a tulip garden on the front.  What a great guy!  But, to add even more to what he did, Jon willingly went bead shopping with me and ended up coming up with ideas and is getting started on making me a necklace as I soon work on new earrings.  Can you say I have a great guy/friend/husband/all of the above?  

I love him lots and I love having birthdays close to one another that we can have fun together and enjoy our friendship.  

Two of the three bouquets of flowers I received.  I also got some mini roses from a student.

Didn't he do a good job?!  It also had "glitter sprinkles"-my favorite.  How cute!

Sunday, Sunday

Today has been a pretty good day.  

I was nannying all weekend and hadn't seen Jon or the Pocket Baby in several days; that's always rough.  So, although my time away went well, it was wonderful coming home to my boy and doggy.  When you're away from the ones you love (whether furry or not), it really makes you realize how much you love them and missed them when you see each other.  Molly of course greeted me with lots of licking, panting, and jumping!  I am overly excited to cuddle with her and her fluffy face!  Well, I suppose I'm excited to cuddle with my Boy as well, good thing his face is not fluffy.  After chatting together for a bit, we decided to celebrate a little by going to Sonic drive-in and to our favorite, Caribou Coffee!  Caribou is always a mini escape to Minnesota for us and has always been a special place for us as we went there frequently when we were in college.  We loved finding one in Seoul and love that we have one nearby us, even if it is in kind of a sketchy area...ohhh Chicago.

As good as this afternoon has been, I now have to move onto studying my Spanish.  As I type, Jon is next to me reading a book for school, being my good scholar.  So, I suppose I should go and do the same!  Thanks for stopping in for a little rambling of our relaxed day!  

Hasta luego!

 

Heart for Japan-(Video Update)

As many of you know, I do have a special place in my heart for Japan and it's people.  This started to grow after being there in the summer of 2005.  During that time, I traveled to Japan by myself to work with some missionaries that I was connected with through other missionaries we knew growing up.  My experience there was amazing and I have always wanted to return and help with the slow growing church there.  Working with the people there and learning about them while ministering to them meant so much to me.  I was so happy to be able to bring Jon to Fukuoka while in Korea to visit the missionaries that I had worked with and also give him a short experience of Japan!  So, when I heard about the earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan, I was suddenly overcome with a heaviness in my heart for the people and all that occurred.  I am just hoping that this will be a time for revival and time to come to the Lord.  Especially since I learned how slow the growth in churches and Christians can be.  Last year when the Haiti earthquake occurred, our church began a ministry called Churches Helping Churches and I was so excited to have a ministry within our church and around the world that was dedicated to helping people through re-building churches and reaching out to people's needs through a Godly mindset and view. 

Here you can go to the Churches Helping Churches site to look at what they're doing to help Japan or also to give if you feel led to do so.  The site also gives ideas for how to pray better for the country and its people, so that is also very helpful.  Thank you so much!  

Anika

Below is a video from Churches Helping Churches that was shared at our church. 

Pocket's Play Date

Today was the second time Molly had an official play date.  The first time was with a friend from work and her dog, but since then she has gotten another dog and so we thought we'd see how Molly did with her newest addition.  Last time, Molly really wanted to play, but the other dog was not so into her and mostly ignored her.  But this time, since the dog was younger, they both were eager to play.  After awhile though, Molly tired of it and walked around or chased after me.  As you can see in the video below, Molly was much less energetic when compared to her little buddy.  But, really, she did well and I think she quite enjoyed her time. 

 What's beyond the fences?

 If you remember, these are the fences that Molly got "stuck" behind and probably had Korea shelter flashbacks.  You can find it here in this past post. 

 *Sniff, Sniff*