The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Excuse me for not updating yall for weeks! Our first Christmas together was oh so good to us. Most of my pre-Christmas celebrations were done with my nine-year-old best buddy, Shep. I'm very disappointed that in all of our festivities I forgot to bring my camera, so I have no pictures to show for it. No pictures to show of our gingerbread house, our ice cream cone Christmas trees, our cookie decorating, or our nativity shelter made out of sticks and bark (I was particularly proud of myself for that creative project). We laughed a ton and I had a lot of fun seeing him enjoy the simplest things.

Jeremiah and I in our severe impatience, started Christmas a little early. We had planned to have "our" Christmas the Saturday before the actual day, as we were leaving for Pennsylvania on Sunday. Wouldn't you know on second Sunday before Christmas we ended up opening our gifts for each other. Pathetic. It's still debatable whose idea this was, and although we'd love to say we "agree to disagree," we kind of just disagree. Ahh memories. We did end up having our Christmas the following Saturday with stockings in the morning, a day of watching Christmas movies, and a dinner of Christmas fettucine. It was delicious and a tradition we want to continue.

The next morning we loaded up our things for the next eight days and traveled up north. We stayed at my parents' house through Christmas, and visited the Link side for the weekend. Santa was very good to us, and we had literally a car full of stuff to bring home. We felt so loved and cared for over the holiday, and are so thankful for our families' generosity! It was so so great to be with our families. There is absolutely nothing like it.

Yesterday we made the trek home, stopping in DC for Campus Crusade's Radiate (think huge conference) so we could see a bunch of people I was on staff with last year and some of our Penn State friends. Oh, it was so good to see those people! Jeremiah and I miss everyone so much, and were glad we were able to touch base with them.

In even bigger news, yesterday was our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Wow, can you believe it?? Jeremiah and I had fun reminiscing about what we were doing "at this time a year ago." It's been so cool to think back to everything we've experienced together. What a fantastic husband I have. Looking back has reminded me of how lucky I am to have him and of how good to me he is. The Lord has given us a good first year together and we can't wait for the next!

O Christmas Tree

It was a weekend filled with Christmas celebration! On Friday, Jeremiah and I were able to go to his Christmas party for Robious Middle School (after planning on not being able to go) and had a great time. It was fun to meet Jeremiah's co-workers that I hear so much about.

On Saturday, Jeremiah and I picked out our first Christmas tree and decorated the apartment. I posted some pictures of the days events--and unfortunately, I lack a lot of skill taking pictures of lit Christmas trees. And what a shame that is, considering I was very proud of my lighting job. My dad would be proud! As you can see, Shaniqua looked ultra ghetto with twine strung all throughout to hold our monstrous tree on the top of her. I even had to climb in through the driver's side to get back home. It's true what they say--trees always look bigger when you get them home. Luckily we have very high ceilings, or we could've had a real problem on our hands. We absolutely love it, and had a great time listening to carols and getting in the Christmas spirit for the first time together!

Then yesterday evening, we had Jeremiah's side of the family who live in Richmond over for a little shindig. I made way too much food, but was excited to use many of the serving dishes I had got for our wedding. We had a $5 white elephant exchange, which was a lot of fun!

Thanksgiving

Jeremiah and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Like I mentioned in a previous post, we headed up north to the Link side of the family in Montrose, PA. We got there late Wednesday night and left this morning. Unfortunately, it took us over 9 hours to get home today because of so much traffic! Other than that, we had a blast. My side of the family came for Thanksgiving Day. It was so great to be with all of our family--laughing together, catching up, and eating delicious food. We're so thankful that this has become a new tradition for both our families. We spent the next couple days relaxing, watching Christmas movies, and eating way too much. Jeremiah's sister, Caroline, turns 17 this Thursday so we also had a little celebration for her at the Olive Garden last night. As you can see from the pictures, we also went to help the family pick out a Christmas tree. Pennsylvania was quite a change from Virginia, with temperatures over twenty degrees colder. I was loving it, and am bummed it's still in the 50s here in Midlothian.

We're now looking forward to picking out our own tree and decorating this coming weekend. We're so excited to get ready for Christmas together here in Virginia, but also can't wait to make a trip back to Pennsylvania in three weeks!

Phillies Party

In honor of the Phillies winning the World Series, Jeremiah decided to have a Phillies party in each of his classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He only had a half day, and knew better than to try and teach new material. Below are the two cookie cakes I baked; however, I did not decorate both. Can you guess which one I did and which one Jeremiah did?

Church

Wanted to give everyone a quick update about church. Yesterday we tried a new church, Hope, and had a really enjoyable experience. We liked the service a lot, and we were lucky enough to come on a day that they had a lunch for newcomers after the service. At first we were hesitant, unsure of the level of awkwardness, but decided to give it a whirl. We're so glad we did because it was very informative and welcoming, and we actually met a few couples our age. We will continue to pray for where God might have us worship, and are excited about learning more about Hope.

New Job!

You read correctly, I have a new job! Awhile ago I had put in an application to Henrico County Public Schools for an instructional assistant position, but was not called in for an interview. Bummer. But I guess God's timing is everything because last week, out of the blue, the principal of Three Chopt Elementary School called me to let me know he needed an I.A. for a 1st grade classroom, and human resources had passed my name on to him. The next day I had an interview, and two days later (Friday) I received a call offering me the full-time position! I wasn't sure what to expect, since other candidates were interviewing and the only thing I knew went really well is the shared love for Penn State between the principal and me. I am so so excited about this opportunity, and it really is an answered prayer! My first day is Monday, December 8.

The unfortunate part of all this was that it came at a pretty inconvenient time in the world of Goddard. I had just taken on more hours and been placed in the baby room. All weekend I was anxious about giving my two weeks notice this morning. But here I am, alive and well to tell the story. The assistant director was very nice and understanding, which is a huge relief.

Luckily, I will still be able to watch Shep and Shane everyday after school. The school is actually only 5 minutes away from their house and I will get off just in time to make it to their house to greet Shep. Perfect!

Fun in Fairfax!

Jeremiah and I had an incredible time visiting Greg and Elise this weekend! It was so so great to get away for a day and a half and spend time with good friends. It took us two hours, straight up 95, to travel to their place. We spent most of our time laughing hysterically, eating amazing home-cooked food, and playing Rook. 

Although we got poured on at one point, we enjoyed the tour they gave us of George Mason. It was interesting to hear the ins and outs of the ministry they do for Crusade on a campus other than Penn State. Something I found particularly interesting was the attention given to the Muslim culture on campus, being that a significant percentage of students practice such religion. In their student union center (think the HUB at Penn State) they had an open, quiet meditation area with mats facing Mecca for the five prayer times throughout the day. It was eye-opening to see the differences between Penn State and Mason, and to hear the different issues students are dealing with at Mason. We're so thankful Greg and Elise are willing to serve as ministers of the gospel there!