We are back!

Surprise! I'm alive!

Seth and I got back from our Honeymoon on Wednesday night, it felt like we were gone for so long! It probably felt like that because we had no internet access for eight days. 8 days! The internet on the boat was .75$ a minute...so crazy. I'm glad though, it had us unplugged from our cell phones and forced to find other activities on the boat.

So how was it?
We had a great time. It is a lot of time to spend on the boat however, so we will think about that if we ever go on a cruise again. Maybe if we were big gamblers or pool loungers we could fill the dead space, but we're not..so we got a little bored :) The time we spent in NYC was magical, we were there for New Years Eve and for a half day before we went to the airport on our last day. We got to see so much of the city in a really short amount of time, thanks to my trust hubs who had us walk 10 miles in one afternoon. I also loved the Bahamas, but wish we had more time there! We only spent 8 hours in Nassau, and 6 in Freeport..and it goes by so quickly too! We got to see a lot of both islands and learn a lot about the country which was neat.

One of the funniest things about going on a cruise that leaves from NYC? The amount of Canadians! About 80% of the passengers were Canadian, and the rest were New Yorker's, so as you can imagine we felt out of place....very out of place. We ended up making friends with a Canadian couple which was cool, we learned quite a bit about what it's like to live there!

Overall, we had a blast. I loved NYC so much and would love to go back and see even more. I also loved the Caribbean and want to go back and spend more time there!

I'll do a longer post with a breakdown of our trip...but until then I'll share my favorites.

Central Park ice skaters...I totally would have gone if it wasn't so busy!

On a walk through central park!

Seth decided it would be fun to throw paper airplanes down into times square from our 16th floor room 

From the boat you could see the freedom tower...would love to go back to see it when it's finished!

Nassau, Bahamas

Protect ya tings! hahaha

At the Atlantis Resort.. 

Senor Frogs!

Our tour guide

There you go...just a sneak peak :)

*big sigh*

Oh how I love vacation and want more time off. I went back to work the day after we got home and of course it was crazy madness, oh and three thousand emails. 

But...

On Saturday night we are driving to LA to pick up our kitty, so the excitement isn't over quite yet!

Happy Friday, folks.

Breaking the Silence!

Well friends, it seems as though I've been silent forever.

I think I've been feeling a little dazed and out of it -- I have so much catching up on life to do, and when I spend 8+ hours a day in front of a computer at work the last thing I think about doing at home is to open my laptop!

I suppose this is the settling in period that we talk about in reference to work/home life. You get into your groove, figure out how to live around your new schedule, and life just starts to settle back down again. The good thing is, I'm still loving my job. And I know how lucky I am to be saying that, because I know so many people that hate what they do. 

I'm not sure what this next season of life holds for my little blog. I always have things to say, heck, I'm a woman with strong opinions and emotions -- but that being said, I don't find myself compelled to sit down and write anything these days. 

I will tell you that I finally finished "Love and Respect" last night -- and I already want to re-read and still want to buy it for everyone I know. 

I will tell you that I write little blog posts in my head while I drive, shower, and day dream at work. Mostly posts about friendship, politics, Jesus, marriage...the standard things I like to mumble about usually :) maybe I'll find the desire to sit down and write them out one of these days. 

I will tell you that life has been anything but dull. Two of my best friends visited early this month, that deserves its own wonderful post. We are bringing home a kitten at the end of January, I think the winning name right now is Penelope -- but I'll confirm that later. We have been home visiting our family and friends a few times, which is always fun, especially for the holidays. And today is my last day of work before we leave on our HONEYMOON! Of course I'll dump all of the pictures from that when we get home!

Here's a little taste of our Christmas at home:

Christmas at the Van Nuys home

The bearded men!

Dad and his rotisserie Turkey!

 Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with just a dash of Christmas cheer!

For My Heart, and Maybe Yours.

I mentioned recently that I've been avoiding scripture and any form of devotion.
That's a crazy thing to admit.
Avoiding because of scared of being reminded of my sin and all the junk that's ugly inside of me.

I picked up my devotional today that I have on my desk at work, it was bookmarked November 8th."It's freaking December, Jamie." I told myself. How long am I going to avoid this?

Today's devotional was about seeing the light of the Lord in the darkest of places. When my heart is dark, there is always a window shining through with  His hope. Always.

Here's a little bit of hope from Streams in the Desert today:

"Sometimes the darkness in our lives is worse, because we cannot even see the web we are weaving or understand what we are doing. Therefore we are unable to see any beauty or any possible good arising from our experience. Yet if we are faithful to forge ahead and "if we do not give up" (Gal 6:9), someday we will know that the most exquisite work of our lives was done during those days when it was the darkest.  If you seem to be living in strange and mysterious ways, do not be afraid. Simply go forward in faith and in love, never doubting Him. He is watching and will bring goodness and beauty from all of your pain and tears"

The shuttles of His purpose move

To carry out His own design;

Seek not too soon to disapprove

His work, nor yet design

Dark motives, when, with silent tread,

You view some somber fold;

For lo, within each darker thread

There twines a thread of gold.

Spin cheerfully,

Not tearfully,

He knows the way you plod;

Spin Carefully,

Spin prayerfully,

But leave the thread with God.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer, from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

Psalm 61:2

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly -- Week 2

Has it really been a month since my last post about this?! Crazy how fast time is moving these days.

Well I went back and checked and it's only been 3 weeks, so I'm not completely nuts after all. 

There are so many things that are GOOD to tell you about! There are some bad, and not too many ugly -- I guess I just have trouble defining things in my life that are ugly.

And now, here is a little snippet of life :)

The GOOD: 

Honeymoon in 18 days.

We are bringing a new kitty home soon, we don't know when, but it's going to be soon. And it's probably going to be named Boris which is awesome. 

The handmade craft show went great. And my mother in law one a wine tasting raffle at the event which she gave to us as a gift -- I do not mind that one bit. 

Christmas is almost here!

The BAD:

I still hate my hair cut. I see pictures of when it was long and I almost cry sometimes. A little pathetic I know. 

Both Seth and I are getting sick. I currently keep Dayquil at my desk and cough drops in my car, bedside table, and purse!

I seem to be having issues with insomnia which is driving me crazy, and has been for the last couple months I just thought I'd get over it by now...I'm going to see my doc next week, its just no fun to deal with in the mean time!

I'm not quite ready for Christmas!

The UGLY:

My heart has been kind of ugly lately, I ignore the Word because I'm afraid that it will reveal that more. Any suggestions for battling periods of ugliness and complacency in your walk? It especially sucks that it's a special season and I seem to be in a funk! Also, when there are so many good things going on...why do I find myself in a rut?

Sometimes I frustrate myself just thinking about it!

Hope you guys have a great week!

3: Reflections on Marriage

Every time I talk to my dear old Dad on the phone he asks the same question:

 How is married life, is it everything you imagined?

My answer is always the same, YES!

Well, I don't yell. But it's always a yes, a good kind of yes, I never hesitate so I wonder why he asks every time still.

It's actually better than what I imagined, so much better. But I'm starting to wonder if our society has tainted marriage to the point that we assume them to fail as soon as they begin?

I hate that mindset so much. Seth and I know instinctively that divorce isn't an option, failure is not an option for us.  If divorce weren't so easy to achieve would that make people more willing to work out their problems? Maybe not so much work on their problems, but submit to the fact that they are prideful and imperfect and that they need help, humility...grace.

And by the way, I love being married. This is the best "choice" I have made in my young life and I have no shame in saying that. 

In these past 3 months of marriage I've learned that marriage has everything to do with grace and nothing to do with me. Marriage has everything to do with Jesus and His bride, the Church -- and how that beautiful relationship reflects on my own relationship with Seth.

I cling to that daily, because every day I fail. Everyday we fail. But every day we point each other to the one who can't fail.

If you can figure that part out, it's easier to navigate the ups and downs. Easier, not necessarily easy. Easier to remain humble, easier to serve, easier to submit (there I said it!), easier to love, easier to respect.

Admittedly, we haven't hit many big bumps yet. We don't have years of life experience under our belt. But we do have our good God who we know placed us together, provides for us, comforts us, and has more grace for us than we could ever provide for each other. So were running with that, were putting our eggs in that basket.

Right now my biggest advice to dating couples:
1.WAIT - and you know what I mean by that. Just...WAIT.
2.READ - read up on some good wisdom about how men communicate and receive love, it makes fights a lot easier when you understand how the other person is feeling.
3. Be humble.

Happy 3 months, Seth. I love you more than I did on that day and that is so crazy to me. 

Gilroy Holiday Boutique

Do you live in the greater Bay Area?

Are you free this Saturday?

Then you should come on down to the Gilroy Holiday Boutique!

I will be there selling goodies from my shop as well as a bunch of other local vendors, it will be a great time to buy gifts for your friends and family.

Hope to see you there :)

InstaFriday: Christmas Time Edition

Happy Friday, friends!

I'm snuggling by the fire this morning as the rain pounds and pitter patters all over our little house.

I won't be around much the next few days, I have a sweet friend of mine visiting for 6 whole days, the longest she's ever been here. I am seriously excited and a little overwhelmed that I have to entertain someone for that long!

This week has been good, probably because it's been short! I love 3 day work-weeks, I wish there were more of them! But good news, I got my shift covered for the Gilroy handmade show so I still get to participate! 

Anywho, here goes the last week through instagram:

As mentioned, we went home and hung out at our favorite bar/restaurant called The Office. Fire places in restaurants are the jam. 

I'm super jealous of this cute gift my mom was given. I want to steal them!

Sunday night we got home and picked out our Christmas Tree. We went to the place that you could cut your own down, but after circling the lot 5 times we couldn't find the kind of tree that we wanted -- aka a Noble Fir. We are both apparently particular about our tree type! We asked the people there and they said they don't grow them in California and they were only available pre-cut. Oh well, at least we got the kind we wanted!

My MIL gave us this sweet "First Christmas" ornament. Seth's fam is super into ornaments and he has one for every year of his life. I'd love to start that tradition in our house. 

I've been having a little fun decorating the whole house!

My mom has every wednesday off, she has had Wednesday off for most of my life so naturally it's become my favorite day of the week. This wednesday we met for lunch and I taught her how to use you-tube on her phone. We got her the i-Phone 5 for her birthday and it hasn't come in the mail yet, naturally she is nervous that she has to learn something new! But I'm excited to teach her everything it can do!

Btw, this pic is totally candid..she had no idea I was taking it :)

Trader Joes is the best, they carry this low carb chocolate bar that only has 8 carbs in the whole bar! I refilled my stash at work so I wasn't tempted by the other sweet treats floating around the office. I've been doing really well this week getting back on the diet and I already am seeing results!

And finally, I hung that amazing "HOPE" ornament in the perfect place, the light hits it so well and it is always easy to find. I love our little crooked tree. I love the way it makes our little home smell and its just perfect!

Well friends, it's been a good week and I'm excited to share with you the adventures I have with my girlfriends in town. 

See you next week :)

Linking up this week with Life Rearranged.