A walk in the park...

One of our favorite places to go for walks is Joiner Park. It is just a few minutes from where we live and is a great place for Dallas to run. The other evening we got there right as the sun started to set and it was so pretty!

Doug and Dallas, ready to go!

setting sun...

Us.

We can't seem to get enough time outside these days. The leaves have been beautiful this fall and sunsets like these are so fun to enjoy! We sure are enjoying fall in North Carolina...now we are hoping for some snow this winter to top it off!

Fall...

We have especially enjoyed fall here in NC. We loved the fall in Washington but somehow we enjoy it more here. I think part of it is that it isn't too cold to enjoy so while we walk the dog, we aren't freezing cold the whole time! Today I got some shots of our walk to share. The leaves are beautiful!

Dallas

so many leaves and the cat in attack mode

I love scarf weather!

Waiting patiently to get walking again...puppy dog eyes!

Christmas decorating...

We already got a head start in decorating for Christmas this year, so today we finished up by putting up our tree! Yet again, we say kudos to whoever thought of pre-lit Christmas trees! It makes the whole decorating (and take down) so much easier!

Our Christmas town set up under the tree...what building will we add this year???

Doug, putting the star on top!

Decorating the tree.

Someone thinks we have provided him with a nice place to sleep.

Happy Birthday to Doug...

Doug's birthday was last month but we managed to stretch out the celebrations until last weekend! 

Cupcakes for his actual birthday...

 Last weekend we went to the fair for the afternoon...it was a beautiful day!

 Doug loves this ride! It is SO high up and then drops you in a free fall.  I will not ride it but Doug did twice!

 And of course, we had our fill of some yummy fair food! We enjoyed seeing all of the many, many choices and finally deciding on this place. That polish sausage was huge!

 We spotted this jerky stand, it made it into our pictures because it is Heidi Joe's Jerky, we didn't buy any though, it wasn't the best.

 Doug getting ready for a free-fall!

 We also had tickets to the Michael W. Smith concert that evening that was at the fair. We were ready to sit and relax a bit by the time the doors opened! Here we are waiting for the concert to start.

 The first few songs were a bunch of 'the oldies', we loved it because we knew them all!

 As the night went on, he got more and more energetic, he has lots of fun at his job! 

We had a great time too!

 After the concert, the sun had gone down so all the lights were on and the fair felt like a whole new place. It was so neat. Then the fireworks started and we watched them over the lights of the Midway. The pictures all came out kind of blurry but you get the idea.

Happy Birthday to Doug! We always love reasons to celebrate and this was a great year!

Visitors...

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a visit from David, Kara and Laleh...We had so much fun getting to know the  newest addition to the family.

She enjoyed Dallas!

I went to pick them all up from Virginia and got to spend the afternoon with Laleh while the adults were all still in classes. We enjoyed a nice day outside!

 Sweet Laleh, we had so much fun seeing you!  Oh, and David and Kara, it was great to see you both too!! Too bad I didn't get pictures of you guys! :)

This is the way...

I don't know how exegetically sound my interpretation of these passages are or what kind of red marks I would receive from any one of my professors...but here's what I get from it:

In the middle of a passage describing God's stubborn and (from our hindsight prospective) stupid people, the justice and grace of God's character is most stunning and encouraging.

"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him."
(Isaiah 30:18 ESV)

Not only is God gracious and patient, He shows Himself and His plan to us at the perfect time. He does not promise an easy road, but He absolutely is there to declare flawless GPS directions for each of our lives.

"For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
(Isaiah 30:19-21 ESV)

"This is the way, walk in it."

Seems pretty clear to me.

Lord keep us willing, let our quietness and trust be our strength. Keep us from stubborn idolatry, don't let us be worthless and empty! We desire to serve you with gladness of heart and unselfish abandon. Help us to wait for your direction and be faithful to walk in the way that you show us.

We're not sure yet...

At the moment, we aren't sure about much.

I'm not sure how well I did on my final exam in Theology.
We're not sure what to do with the ever increasing stack of books in our living room.

I'm not sure what to make for dinner. (although I AM sure Doug will be ready for dinner when he gets home)
I'm not sure what the cat is thinking when he comes inside to throw up on the carpet.

We're not sure if we should stay in school.
We're not sure where we are supposed to go from here. (although there are some prospects)

I'm not sure which job I should commit to.
I'm not sure where I left my watch.

We're not sure about lots of things.
But what we ARE sure of makes all the other uncertainties A-OK.

We are sure that we worship the God who created the universe.
We are sure that we trust Him for all we need.
We are sure in His promises to save us.
We are sure that in Him, our future is secure.


For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Lakeside...

This past weekend we enjoyed church at the lake and then a fun day on the lake! Kerr Lake is just north of us and we will be making the trip again soon, it was beautiful! 

Doug and Dallas on the dock.
(That is Virginia across the lake)

Heidi and Dallas

Dallas loves the beach!

Where I spent most of the day (on the boat).

Chillin'!

Happy Anniversary to us...

So, this past weekend Doug and I celebrated our fourth anniversary! We took a couple of days off from work so we both had long weekends and man did we need it! Thursday night we went to the movies and saw The Avengers...SUCH a great movie! On Saturday we enjoyed a nice walk at a park we hadn't discovered yet and later that evening had pizza and cheesecake...see below:).

For the rest of the weekend, we took it easy and completed assignments to finish up our semester. 

Happy Fourth to us!

Saudade

So, I try not to whine about this much but there is definitely a part of my heart that belongs in Africa. Another MK friend, who I am a tiny bit jealous of therefore I read her updates and live vicariously through her, put this blog post in her latest update. I love how it describes this "Saudade" sensation. I vaguely remember my sister and brother-in-law telling us about this word when we visited Portugal a couple of years ago but this writer did well in describing how it completes a feeling many of us often have.
Thinking about this word also makes me consider the friends I have who are going through this life completely unfulfilled because they do not have Christ. Just the other day a friend was describing to me her sense of happiness and how she had just come to the realization that there was no such thing as happiness, that it happens for moments at a time but that is all. She was describing to me her lack of joy, true joy. True joy that I receive only from God. She was describing "Saudade" that she experiences because she is trying to get by in this life without Jesus.

(p.s. Mom and Dad, I really need some old pictures from Kenya, none of the ones I have are digital)

Another new place...

a shot of the front of our townhouse

We have moved again! We are a little closer to school and enjoying a space that we enjoy! Feel free to email us if you would like our updated address:-)

I

Dallas in the back yard!

Care packages...

This week we have been encouraged by some wonderful packages! Our neighbors back in Washington sent us a package full of yummy snacks and food items...what a great gift!~
We also were outfitted for the semester with a bunch of books from Letha! Wow...that is a lot of reading (and two books are not shown here!)

Thank you for the encouragement of thinking of us and the excitement of finding a package at our door!

New year, new helicopter, new nose...

Happy 2012 everyone! To ring in the new year, Doug and I have been enjoying some relaxing days between work and fun. We have a few weeks left before school starts back again and we are loving the break!

This new year we both planned surprises for each other (this was not planned, we both just planned and happened to be at the same time).

Doug's surprise from me was a fun new helicopter to play with...and he has been having lots of fun flying it around the apartment...

Doug surprised me with a trip to get my nose pierced! This was a surprise because I had been wanting to get it done for a while now but didn't think he wanted me to do it.

Getting it pierced...

I made it!

And one last picture for those of you who want a better 'view' of the piercing.

Phew...so far this year has been eventful and fun! What new things have you done this year!??