MIA

It has been quite awhile since I have had a chance to blog...or make anything. And I miss it.

However, I am loving life!

I have the most encouraging and hunky husband.

I love grad school...being challenged in so many ways.

And God has great things in store for us at The Bridge, and I am honored to be a part of it.

So although I have been missing from the blog world, I have not been missing out on living life to the fullest!

Hoping to make something in the near future to share with you all!

Grad School vs the world...

That is what I feel like these days. I love the things I am learning. But after taking a break from school for 4 years, it has taken some getting use to being in school again. And not only being in school again, but being married, working full time, and owning a home.

If I lose my sanity, I have asked Hubs to put me in the best facility in town.

Grad School Starts Tomorrow!

Monday is my first day of Grad School. Haven't been in school since May of 2006.

Hubs told me tonight that he forgot to get me a backpack and colored pencils. I assured him it was ok. Since its an online program and all.

However, I did let him treat me to one last treat before school starts...ice cream!

Why I have the Best Husband #65-He Cleans

This week has been crazy and for the most part our evenings have been booked.

LifeGroup.

Meetings.

My Sister Getting Married This Saturday.

I honestly was not sure when certain things would get done. I didn't know when I would have time. But I didn't need to worry about it.

This week, hubs has:
Unloaded the dishwasher
Swept
Swiffered
Vacuumed
Watered the grass daily
Watered the garden

All while still working a 40 hour week and attending one meeting with me.

I have it good.

Garden Grows=Kids Will Live

Numerous weeks ago I made a comment basing my kid raising abilities to if my garden grew or not. I have remembered to water the plants daily, or if I wasn't available I made sure it was being taken care of.




According to my earlier statement, I will be able to raise kids just fine...since the garden is growing and all.

Why I have the Best Husband #172-Thoughtfulness

"Hope This Brightens Your Day!"

A New Job!

No, not me...

After 10 months of being unemployed, Hubs was offered a great job with a local company. He is finishing up his third full week of work and loves it.

The best part of his job...he works 8-8 1/2 hours a day, like any other employee. He is at work by 6:30ish am, and gets off at 3:45ish. This is a far cry from his previous job where he had to be at the job site more than an hour away at 6:30 pm, and if he left before 6 pm he was said to not be a "team player". I could only imagine how that could have been a huge strain on our marriage after awhile.

We are glad to be in this place, even though it means more change to get use to!

DC in the Winter

Hubs and I headed to the East Coast for a friends wedding and some r&r at the beginning of March. It was cold, but we had a blast hanging out with old friends and making new ones! One of the highlights of the trip was going to the White House...we even got to see Obama!

A Whole New World

There are many things that Blake was not able to experience as a kid since he came from such a large family. I come from a family of 2 kids...me and my sister. During Halloween time, I remember going to McDonalds and getting a Happy Meal. During this time of year, the Happy Meal was given in a plastic pumpkin. Blake did not have the joy of experiencing this as a kid. Friday night, he took me to Ruths Chris to celebrate six wonderful months of marriage. Sunday night, between meetings and class, I took him to McDonalds for a Happy Meal!

I had him meet me at the McDonalds at Willow and Nees, which is connected to a Union station. I told him to meet me at the Union 76 station at 5:15 (to throw him off!). I got their early and ordered the Happy Meal, put it in a pumpkin that I got at Target, and waited for him to show up. When he got their, he loved it! Of course, it wasn't quite the same as if he were a kid, but he sure did enjoy it!

My All-In-One Man

My husband is awesome. He can pretty much build, install, or fix anything. It is amazing.

His degree was in construction management at Fresno State, but he graduated from COS with his certificate in HVAC. He grew up watching his dad build custom cabinets and watching his grandpa fix/work on cars. Along with that, he has picked up many skills along the way, such as electrical and plumbing.

Last week, he built us a closet organizer.

Check it out!

If you ever need anything done, let me know!

Trip to the Big City

When I first met my husbands parents, I was deemed as the "city girl". Not sure if that is becuase I lived in DC for a bit or the fact that I was Fresno (which come on, it is a city but not a big city).

This past weekend Blake and I went to visit our good friend Berger in the Bay Area. We had a blast. One of my favorite parts was watching Blake as he experienced public transportation for the first time (I LOVED the Metro when I lived in DC, so BART wasa welcome experience). The first time he had been in a taxi was with me in DC.


Here are a few pics from our weekend!

Being Thankful

As an American, and as a daughter of parents who are middle class individuals, I never went without growing up. I wasn't spoiled by any means, but I was provided for.

I have been married to the love of my life for 5 months (exactly, tomorrow :) ) We were married one month to the day when my husband came home, and told me that he had been let go from his job in construction management. Not exactly something you want to hear when you just got married and just bought a house 4 months previously.

As hard as it has been, I admit that it has been wonderful.

It has put so many things into perspective.

The Lord has provided for us in so many ways. Thus far, we have no financial troubles. We have a roof over our heads. A warm bed to sleep in. Food in the cupboards. An awesome dog. And most importantly, we still have each other.

I am so thankful for the little things. I hope that as we continue on this journey, that I am reminded of all that God has done for us and how he has blessed us.

And right now, my heart is extremely thankful.

Santa Cruz

Blake and I are lucky to have families that either live in really cool places or own vacation homes. My Uncle's family owns a house in Santa Cruz.

We love going to the coast. We haven't been to Santa Cruz in almost a year, but are so looking forward to it. I have worked lots of hours and weekends, so we are taking off tonight and coming back on Thursday.

Along with the beach and boardwalk, we are going to go to Monterey on Thursday...I haven't been to Monterey in years.

Looking forward to spending some quality time with my love without the distractions of home!

Changes

There have been quite a few changes in our lives recently. It is funny how in a moment, everything can change. And although we don't always see how it is a good thing at the time, we understand that we serve a God who is loving and just. I have seen over and over again how His timing is perfect. I don't always see it at the time, but looking back, I would not have it any other way.

This is another one of those times. Blake and I have been given a blank page so to speak. And we will see what God has in store for us to fill the pages with.

My Wedding!

On April 18th, 2009, I got to marry the love of my life. The weather was perfect. The location was perfect. It was an extremely care free day, with no worries on my end. Everything was as it was suppose to be and it was seemless. I had the type of wedding day all girls should have!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the worlds best wedding photographer Ken Kienow.

We have been married a month, and life with Blake keeps getting more and more fun. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him!

In 3 days....

I get to marry the love of my life.

I can't wait!

Last Pre-marriage Counseling

Josh Hawley, the Pastor of Student Ministries and Young Adults at The Bridge, is marrying Blake and I. He and his wife played significant roles in our lives when we were in college.

However, you have to go through pre-marital counseling with them. I think we met 4 times, plus one other time with another person on finances and what not.

Tonight was our last one.

I think we passed.

Which means in 10 days I will be Mrs. Stephanie German.

And that makes me happy :)

Slowing Down

Blake and I are trying something new...we are trying to learn to slow down. This is extremely hard for both of us, as we like to do stuff and be with people. However, with planning a wedding and settling him into our house, we have just had to cut certain things out.

Last week, we canceled our plans for Wednesday night and Thursday night. Then plans seemed to go away for one reason or another on Friday and Saturday night. And it was so good.

With that said, we are trying to continue on this path of not overplanning, but it is hard when there are still so many things to do and so many people we want to hang out with.

We are going through 1 Corintians right now (we started it on Monday), and both chapters 1 and 2 talk about God's wisdom. And I was reminded how God's foolishness is wiser than my wisdom. And this made me begin to pray more fervently for wisdom, something I know I definitely need.

A Cup of Coffee and the Bible

Tonight, after I sat at home for a while as my parents helped Blake pack, (I mean, did stuff for the wedding and house, yeah....whoops...but really, I did...do stuff....) Blake and I went to Starbucks.

One of our favorite things to do is just to be able to sit and talk....talk about life, talk about work, talk about our day, talk about the future, talk about whatever. But lately, our lives have been so crazy that we haven't been able to do that.

But tonight, we made time. And it was wonderful. We were able to stop and just be. And nothing else in the world mattered. And we connected. And it was good.

And after we sat for awhile and talked, we opened up our Bibles and read Amos 1 and 2, and talked about its significance back then and our lives today.

And it was good. So good.

Some of my favorite times have been when we were able to stop our lives, sit down, and just enjoy life together.

Our New McCaffrey Home....

Blake and I are fortunate enough to be purchasing a home right now. It is a new home, as we found we could buy a new home for the same amount that we could buy a 20 year old home.

McCaffrey is who we are buying from. They act as the seller, the builder, and if you let them, the lender.

We have had so many problems, it is ridiculous. The house itself is very well built. They produce a great product.

But nobody in their organization seems to know what the other is doing.

For example, when trying to figure out closing costs, we had to call three different people, and they were telling us to call the person we just got off the phone with. The funniest part is when the appraiser said the same thing, without us even mentioning it to him.

Our house was painted the wrong color. The interior designer never returned our phone calls, as well as giving us the wrong information, or misleading us on numerous things.

We had our walk through on Saturday. There are numerous minor things that need to be fixed before we close on Wednesday. But my favorite is they installed one of the wrong appliances. We were suppose to have a microwave/hood combo installed, and they didn't install it.

We are extremely blessed to be able to live in our new house once we are married, and I don't want you to think I am complaining, but if I never had to deal with anybody from McCaffrey ever again, I think I would be ecstatic.