Yay!

Just wanted to let you all know that it stopped raining! The sun has been out for 3 days and I LOVE it. I didn't realize how much I value being able to go outside almost anytime I want until it rained for 4 and 1/2 days straight...that's right, no breaks. It was crazy. I didn't even set one foot outside our door for 2 and 1/2 days. I nearly went stir crazy and finally ventured out to the mall.

Anyway, life is good again for now. More rain is expected this week though. Ugh.

Sad/Happy

Many of you have been following our progress on the home buying program we were approved for through Heritage Housing Partners and the City of Pasadena. Sadly, as of this week, Heidi and I have opted out of the program. It just did not seem like the right time to make this type of investment; we wanted to stay more financially nimble in case God calls us somewhere else in the next couple years. The program was structured with strict resale restrictions, since they would have been helping us buy a house at far below market value. Instead of investing our money in a program that could leave us unnecessarily tied down in the future, we have decided to save our money for another time and place. Here is a picture of us with the uncashed check we had written to reserve our spot in the program, which they returned to us this week after we opted out.


However, we made another purchase this week that made us happy. Our Christmas gift to each other this year was a new TV. The original idea was that we would move into our new house in December and that the TV would go above the mantle. The new idea is that the TV is a consolation for not moving. Either way, it's pretty cool. I even like watching the morning traffic report on it!

So that's our sad/happy news for this week. No new house, but a new HD viewing experience, which is kind of like cheap remodeling for the space we currently have.

"Recent" adventure

Noel attended the Annual Meeting for the Academy of Homiletics at the beginning of December. It was held in Washington D.C, so I decided to go with and visit Uncle Kevin and Aunt Karen in Maryland. After we made our plans to go, Becky and Bryant moved to Maryland and we were able to see them as well! It was a fantastic trip. We enjoyed good food and fellowship with friends and family and even got to witness an unusual Maryland snow storm!

Kevin and Karen have a beautiful home on a beautiful piece of property. We enjoyed seeing their house, their animals and their beautiful yard!

We were so excited to take this picture for Grandma's annual Christmas letter, but our submission was too late. Oh well, maybe next year!

Becky and I wandered around downtown D.C for an afternoon and just happened to see the lighting of the Christmas tree at the White House! We knew it was happening the evening we were in town, but had no idea when. Shortly after we walked up, the tree was lit! It was far away, but still beautiful and very exciting.

Time

No we have not fallen off the planet.
Yes we do have things to blog about.
No we do not have any time lately.
Yes we will try and get up to date on this soon.

I love Thanksgiving!

I can't quite explain why, but I just fell in love with Thanksgiving this year. I was SO excited for Thanksgiving. I could hardly wait on Wednesday night. I think I was even more excited than I've ever been for Christmas! I fell in love with a break from the routine. I loved having 4 days in a row that my alarm didn't go off, that I could spend time cooking and baking, that I could wear sweatpants everyday (oh wait, I do that quite often anyway), and that it was QUIET around here.
Though the setting was all wrong for a "real" Thanksgiving (80 + degrees, A/C on, no big table), it was still a great weekend.
I was overcome with thankfulness this year, for food, for friends, for family, for time, for quiet, and for my husband, who just happens to be a great preacher (he preached at church on Sunday).
Hopefully we'll make it back to Michigan for Thanksgiving one of these years, so that Thanksgiving can actually take place in the "right" setting, but for now, Thanksgiving has become more of a spirit to me and less of a setting.
And yes, I did love the pumpkin pie.

Fall fun

Well, I'm struggling getting these pictures in order, so you'll just have to start from the bottom.

Last weekend, Noel and I were able to get away for some r and r in Temecula. I've been wanting to make caramel apples for a couple of weeks, but haven't been able to find a spare moment! So, I brought all the supplies to Temecula and had a "kitchen craft time" with Marcia on Sunday. It was tons of fun and they tasted great! I ordered 15 lbs of organic apples from our CSA and wanted to try making many different apple dishes. So far, I've made apple/pear crisp, caramel apples, baked apples, and have eaten lots plain and on salad. I'm thinking about applesauce, apple dumplings, or maybe more caramel apples. They were so fun to give to friends!

The finished product. I might completely cover them in chocolate next time, but swirling it was fun! We dipped them in caramel, crushed peanuts, and then swirled dark chocolate over them. Yum!!!!!

Dipping them in caramel.

Getting everything ready! Thanks for the help, Marcia! Also, thanks for a wonderfully relaxing weekend! It was just what we needed.

Housing Article

Check out this cool article that was in the Pasadena Star News yesterday! It's all about the bungalows we're moving into!

Let's hope they're right when they say we'll be moved in in 2 months! We're anxious to make the transition, but we're still waiting on paperwork from a couple of different departments.