I have sort of disappeared for a while!! I’m so sorry! As if anyone cares.  Well I am alive and everything is all good.  Work has been super busy, I’m still doing a ton of training and just trying to settle into my new schedule and routine.  It’s funny, my sweet husband blogged about “routines” recently and I find myself being so ready to get into a routine and get used to it.  It sure makes life easier when you know exactly what is going to happen and when.  That’s the planner in me.  I LOOOVE when my calendar is full and all color coordinated.  Makes me very happy.  Probably shouldn’t, but it does. 

Last week we attended this, and some things hit pretty hard.  This past year has been a rough one, and has really taught us to rely on God for everything in our lives.  When we were both unemployed for a bit, had no clue where we were supposed to be, and nothing was secure.  Every time I began to worry about how we would pay the mortgage/rent, how we would eat, etc. it would always work out.  God is so good and DOES supply everything we need.  I am in such a place of being happy and satisfied with everything God gives to me.  I do not need more, and I know I could live with much less.

I look back on all the hard times, and some things I am still struggling with in my life and am thankful for them all.  Would I like to have not had to go through this? Heck yeah.  But that’s not up to me and I have grown a lot because of it. 

That’s all.

Bangs are so in.

I decided to jump on the bandwagon.  1: because I was bored with my hair and B: because I thought I needed a new “California” girl look.  Mostly because of the boredom thing.

I had several hairstyles growing up that consisted of bangs, which I’m sure were awesome at the time.  It started out as a lovely “bowl” cut, which turn into awesome poofy bangs and then when I got to Jr. High I realized I was way too cool for bangs and had to grow them out.  So since 6th grade, I have been without.  Until now.

The Bowl Cut:

Awesome Bangs (First Day of 6th Grade):

Now:

Which one is your favorite??

Well I guess I’ll blog today about what everyone else in the world is blogging about.  We have a new president.  The first woman president! Oh wait…that’s 24.  I listened to the new boys being sworn in on spanish radio in the kitchen at HOB this morning.  I’m shadowing in every department as part of my “manager in training” program and today was in the kitchen.  It was defintetely a new experience hearing it in spanish! Good times.

Anyway, we have a new leader and I’m a big believer of supporting our leaders.  Sometimes it’s not always easy, and sometimes we might not agree with the things they do, but they are still our leaders.  God has put them in a position of authority over us to make decisions and we are called to follow.  I get so tired of people complaining about the decisions our presidents make and how much they make fun of them all the time.  Ok I enjoy a little of the SNL bashing, but that’s all in good fun.  Mostly.  But when it really comes down to it, they are our leaders and that’s that. We are to pray for them and respect their authority over us.

Ok, off my soapbox.  Hooray new president! Go America!

I have started training for my half marathon!! On my list of “things to do before I die” is to run a half marathon, so I decided I want to do it this year!! I figure it’s a great way to get back into shape and get my body ready for babies (hint hint honey…ha!)

Well it’s not easy, but it’s fun so far and I’m feeling good about myself! It’s a good discipline and I’m beginning to feel healthier already! Plus, nothing beats running on the beach everyday.  I absolutely LOVE living at the beach.  Such beauty and the weather has been perfect the past few weeks!!

The marathon I’m training for isn’t until September so I’ve got tons of time to get in good shape and train up for it!!

I encourage you to do something you’ve never done!! It’s a blast!

My first week on the new job has been great!! I have LOTS of training and learning which has been cool.  I shadow someone in pretty much every department of the company for the first few weeks.  Yeah it’ll all take a while, but it’s cool to be able to see exactly what everyone else does and how their jobs influence mine.  This company is really impressing me and the people are awesome.  I feel so blessed to have gotten such a great opportunity!! It’s going to be a lot of work, but a LOT of fun.

Now that I’ve found a job, the hubby and I have kinda taken a “role reversal”.  He’s incredible! He’s actually doing laundry right now.  Not sure there is much more attractive than that.  I so appreciate him allowing me to chase my dreams while he’s still waiting to find just the right thing.  It’s interesting to be in this position where he was just not that long ago.  I know how he feels, and I remember how difficult it was for him to be working and me not.  But I’m so happy to be able to give back to him for all he did for me and be his sugar mama!!!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to pray about exactly what is next up for Brook.  He could do so much and we just want to be exactly where we’re supposed to!!

Thanks to my wonderful brother in law and his creative Christmas gift, I have been able to do some tweaking to my blog!! It’s been fun learning CSS and giving my blog a new, more personal look!!

What do you think?? Thanks for reading! If you don’t normally comment, DO IT! I want to hear from you!!

Jack Bauer is back.

Which is pretty exciting to us crazed 24 fans.  Some people don’t get it, well I don’t get you.  My darling husband got me hooked on the show a few years back, and I was hooked fast.  We have seen every single episode.  We don’t watch previews because it gives stuff away.  We schedule our lives around it.  I mean come on, we named our dog Jack Bauer James.  It’s that bad.

If you’re addicted and haven’t watched it yet, please stop reading now.

So at the beginning of every season, or maybe every episode since Tony Almeida & David Palmer have died I get excited and tell Brook that I hope they’re coming back.  Well my wish came true!!! TONY IS BACK! However, he’s a bad guy! I’m so torn! I love Tony!!!

Bad news: Chloe isn’t on the show yet.  Just not cool.

Ok I’m done obsessing over a tv show.

I’ve talked a lot lately about starting over, hard times, and all the difficult struggles we face in life.  We have seen a lot of these over the past year.  Everyday I pray for God to bring my husband and I closer together, and closer to Him.  It’s one of those “careful what you pray for” sort of things.  You ask him to stretch you and He’ll put people and situations in your life to stretch you.  He has done exactly that for me.

Right when He probably knew I couldn’t handle anymore, He shows up and blesses me so much! We have been given an awesome new home in a really cool city and I’m about to start a great new job.  I am so grateful for all we’ve gone through to get to this point where my faith is bigger than ever.  And the hubby and I are closer than ever.

Can’t beat that.

What have I learned? To not doubt.  And to know that He will never leave me.

What else do we need?? That’s pretty much it.

I GOT A JOB!

After the complete faith move to California, and searching and searching….I finally got a job! I’m very excited.  It’s at House of Blues in Anaheim.  The cool thing is, that it’s on Disney property so I get Disney benefits also.  AWESOME!

I’m stoked about this opportunity! The venue is really cool and such a good fit for me.  I’m pumped to get into it and hope I will enjoy it!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers!!!

2008 was definitely one of the best years of my life.  But also one of the hardest.

A few highlights from 2008:
*Had my gallbladder removed.  Good times.
*Said goodbye to Brook’s grandpa.  I was so thankful to have the pleasure of knowing him for a short time.  What a wonderful man!
*Married the man of my dreams.  Without a doubt the best thing of the year.
*Went on an AWESOME honeymoon!!! Can’t beat that!
*Joined a wonderful new family! I love the James gang! Got two wonderful sisters and a brother! Terrific in-laws too.  Couldn’t ask for better in laws!
*Started a frustrating job that I ended up leaving in August.
*Said goodbye to one of my favorite uncles.  I really miss him!
*Got yet another sister when my brother got married! Finally…wasn’t sure anyone would put up with him!
*Learned how to wakeboard and overcame my fear of lakes.  Huge for me!
*Brook resigned from LifeChurch, definitely a very hard thing to do.
*Felt called to Orange County, CA.
*Sold our house (in three weeks!!!)
*Packed up everything and moved to Cali completely on faith!
*Moved into an awesome condo in Huntington Beach.
*Found out I’m going to be an aunt to a beautiful baby girl in May!! Hooray!

Some favorite pics from 2008:

Wedding Day!!

Honeymooning in the Dominican Republic!

Saying goodbye to our first home!

Brother and new sister!

Learning to wakeboard!

New Sisters!!!! LOVE THEM!

We live at the beach!!!

What a great year it was.  Lots of hard times, but I’m so thankful for Brook.  Marrying him was the greatest thing, and this first year has been incredible.  Having my best friend to lean on during the hard times makes everything so much better.  I can’t imagine doing it without him!

A few things I’m looking forward to for this year:
*Run a half marathon (quite a big thing for me if you know me!)
*Get in good shape and start eating better.  Prepare my body for babies!!!
*Go to Israel!
*Hold my precious niece and spoil her like crazy!
*Get a great tan!
*Learn how to snowboard
*Find a job I really enjoy
*Go to the beach as much as possible!!

I’m looking forward to what 2009 holds for us as we move forward with our new journey here in Cali.  It will be a fun and interesting ride!!