An Afternoon in the City!

Things have been low key lately.  It's funny... one week off facebook and I blogged 3 times. Now I'm back on facebook (only less), and I have not found time to blog.  Then again I've been busy.  But only in the last 4-5 days.  Before that, it was pretty boring.  I will start with today, because that is what is on my mind most.  Well we are officially down to one car for a while.  Which should prove to be interesting in such a large area and we are both commuting.  But hopefully it will be very temporary.  Well tonight is the Fall Festival at our church and I was NOT about to miss it!  So I decided to take Sean to work (in Dallas).  Upon waking this morning I also decided to make a trip out of it for me and Emery!  So after we dropped him off, we headed to Sur la Table.  Mainly only as a destination because I figured it has to be in a cool area, right?  So we ended up in a district they call Knox/Henderson.  It was pretty cool.  A pretty humble area but definitely with some upscale restaurants and shops.  It was casual, but there was definitely a vibe.  We ended up at a hotdog place for lunch and then shopped at this kids store called Froggies (and Tadpoles).  Once Emery found the book aisle, she was content (we are realizing she LOVES books!!!!)  So she was in book heaven!  I sat with her on the floor for awhile looking at all the books.  Fun times!  We were downtown about 2 hours (ish?) and then headed home.  She slept all the way and is still sleeping.  Now it's time to get her up for the Fall Festival tonight!!!  I can hardly wait!!!  Games, candy, petting zoo, bounce house, train and pony rides.... they go all out I've heard!  

This was Emery this morning watching her Bubble Guppies!  It was a first for me!

Downtown Dallas

She is not a baby anymore!

Book heaven!!!

Lunchtime!

Here's some pics from last week's events!

Just takin a walk at home!

Last Thursday night I met some girls from my bible study for PINK night.  PINK is our Women's ministry.  They have PINK night every couple months I think.  This time, we had an awesome time of worship, our pastor's wife spoke and then they introduced a handful of local, powerful ministries by handing them money gifts given by the women of the church.  It was amazing!  Afterward we went for frozen yogurt (which is where this pic of Emery (above) comes in :))

Last Saturday, one of the girls from bible study had a birthday party for her 3 year old at Parr Park.  We all came out for one very fun, but freezing, morning to celebrate Miss Aspen's birthday!  We're talkin clear blue skies, sunshine and a chilling 48 degrees!  Brrrr!  But I don't think the kids (most around Emery's age) even noticed!  I had such a good time hanging out with the girls outside of bible study!

Emery's first chocolate milk!

Afterward Emery and I had lunch at Taco Casa and then headed to Kathy's house for Emery's nap.  I spent some time alone with the Lord in their backyard and then at 5pm we celebrated Brianna's 18th birthday!  It was a day of birthdays!!

And these two picks were one cold morning of green power smoothies, cartoons and blankies!!!

Here's a couple recipes....

blend 1/2 avocado, large handful of spinach, 2 T unsweetened cocoa and honey to taste.  Makes a pudding consistency.  Add milk or soy milk to thin for smoothie.  Emery LOVED this!!!  Drank all 16 ounces!!!  Super healthy!!!

blend 1/2 avocado, large handful spinach, a pear, frozen pineapple, milk or soy milk and honey to taste (or agave nectar... low glycemic index).  So yum!  May add ice to blend also.

BON APPETIT!!!

My best moment all week!

Tonight when we came home after a spontaneous dinner out, our neighbors were outside with their granddaughter, Alexis.  Emery loves playing with her.  They color on the driveway with chalk and ride bikes.  Alexis gives Emery her toddler bike and she rides her big bike.  Alexis is about 6 or 7 and Emery is just in awe of little girls that age!  She follows her and jumps when Alexis jumps (showing she can do it too!) and spins with Alexis spins.  And we adults get to hang out and chat for as long as we want!!  But what this post is really about is this one specific moment of this time with friends.  Emery gets off her bike and all of the sudden she just laid down right on the driveway. After only a split second, I decided the only thing to do was lay down with her. Side by side, we stared at and pointed out the quickly moving storm clouds and giggled together.  It was my best moment all week!!!   Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

More fun stuff!

 Emery has been eating like a champ lately!  Last week, after church, we went to Panera.  I broke egg, bacon and bread off my bacon, egg and ciabatta sandwich.  But did she eat it?  noooooo....  she simply took my entire sandwich from me and began enjoying it for herself.  She didn't want those baby bites!  She wants the real thing!  Sean kept telling her to give it back to me, but I was like "if she's gonna eat, then let her have it! Yeah!".  And eat it she did!  I would say she ate about 2/3 of it!!!  You go girl!!

A couple new words are truck and, this morning, eat (as she signs it as well).  I have got to write these down because I know there are more but I forget.  It seems she picks up new ones every couple days.  It's so fun!  Yesterday, she was playing with Sean.  I was watching them, but she would stop and say "Ma!" and look to see that I was watching and then repeat what she was doing.  It was so cute.  I love that she is looking for me and waiting for me to respond to her "Ma!" now.  She does this constantly now!  She is becoming a little girl!  (oh, and poop.... I think she said poop this morning as I changed her diaper... lol!!)

She continues to grow taller.  3/4" since we moved here.  And she is finally into a size 3 shoe.  I even bought her a black dress shoes in a size 4 the other day simply because they actually fit her!  lol  I couldn't pass it up.  

Last week was pretty low key.  But one day, I took Emery to Liberty Park (closest one to our house).  She played with other kids, climbed up the chair/bar 'thingy' into the play gym (by her own strength, but with mom standing right behind her).  She is one petite, but strong, little girl. She loves to climb!  Up on every chair, on our bed, up the side of stairs, over the side of the recliner, up us!!  She is a little monkey just like her mommy was!  I would climb or swing on anything I could get my hands on!  My mom knew that all too well.  She would laugh regarding Emery if she was here.

I feel so incredibly blessed by the church God led us to.  We visited Gateway last year with our friends when we visited.  When we went after we moved here, we knew it was a fit.  It is awesome to be in a church that is so strong in the teaching of the Word, yet also moves in the gifts of the Spirit.  There is a great balance here.  This picture only shows a very small part of the auditorium.  But to my left was a sea of hands raised, praising and worshipping our Saviour!  It was amazing to see and be a part of.... worshipping together with the body of Christ.  It was such a tourist move, but I had to capture that moment.  It meant so much to me!  God continues connecting us with people, groups, ministries.  It has been so great!

This past Sunday, we had planned to go to the Zoo, so I had gone to church Saturday night.  But while Sean was at work on Saturday, he pulled his back.  So walking for hours was not going to happen for him.  So instead, we slept in a little and then went out to breakfast.  By far, it was the first, and honestly only, horrific food experience we've had so far in Texas.  It was a small "home cooking" kind of a place.  Sean had a feeling, but I insisted we try it out.  We didn't judge the inside or outside, cuz sometimes the hole-in-the-walls have the best food.  But.... not this time.  I will say my breakfast burrito was pretty good.  But poor Sean, the breakfast king.... his plate came out with light yellow eggs (we're guessing from a carton), 2 round sausage patties that looked like they came frozen in a bag and cubed potatoes with no flavor.  It was a very sad sight.  We ate, paid and left quickly.  So we made up for it by going to Starbucks!  Then Sean took me to "their" park.  It was beautiful with, once again, trails winding all through the park.  As we walked, I started noticing the ground of moving as far as you could see.  There were small yellow butterflies hovering above the flowers in the grass!  It was awesome!  I caught one for Em, but she was a little afraid of it, signing "all done".  But then she kept wanting me to catch more. lol

This is one of my favorite places to run now... Arcadia Park (pics below).  I mentioned it in my last post I think.  Its so beautiful!  I got to go out by myself (no stroller to push!) Sunday afternoon!  It was a beautiful day!  I found new routes to take and also found the neighborhood that I want to live in!!!  (we checked out some houses for sale and they are in our price range!)  They are up on a hill and the backyards back up to the trail and have an open view of the park valley below. 

Well that's about all of my boring life for now. hehe  I'll keep the pics coming!  Miss ya'all!

Just a week in the life...

Oh Emery...  oh how she is becoming such a little chatterbox!  It's awesome!  She is constantly picking up new words.  I have heard that teaching babies to sign can delay their speech.  I think she may be a little late in forming words, but I don't regret signing because it allowed us to communicate with her long before she could talk.  However, it was so wonderful hearing these sweet words finally come from her mouth!  I have, honestly, been anxious to hear her speak. :)  Her latest words are... Cheese, Hi, Ma (intentionally now!), duck, knees, ice, apple (her first two syllable word!), banana "nana", cheek, keys, juice..... oh... and Zach! lol  One day when we were driving to bible study, she had her book with her in her carseat and as she was turning the pages, she was 'reading'.  She would jabber away, stop and turn the page and then continue jabbering, stop and turn the page, and so on.  It was the cutest thing I've seen!  She LOVES talking on the phone (kind of like her mom)!  She will walk all over the apt, with my phone to her ear, talking, pausing "to let the other person talk", laughing!  It's hilarious!  Which brings me to the most heart-melting moment.  I was driving home yesterday and Sean calls me and tells me Emery wanted to call me.  So I start talking to her but all she does at first in wave at the phone.  But then... there it was.... "HI!"  And then again... "HI!"  And then she starts talking and then calls to me "Ma! Ma!".  It was music to my ears!  This was a first (on the phone)!

Had to add this picture... it was from our little outing to Market Street (the most amazing grocery store I've ever been to! I think I talked about it in a previous post).  Well it was pouring rain that day but not very cold.  So here is Emery dressed for a nice summery day. lol  She was so precious holding the umbrella for us!  :-)

She knows, and can point to, her head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, chin, cheek, tummy, belly button, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, legs, knees, feet, back (I just read on babycenter.com that this is an advanced skill for her age!! Ooooooooo!!!!!  ;-)
She is getting more and more fun and her personality is coming out more and more.  There are times we are genuinely laughing together.  It's so fun!  She can be very loving and giving, but she can also be a firecracker!  I can now see why some parents out there let there kids become the tyrants they are because it is just so tiring!  It is a constant, sometimes moment to moment job of teaching, disciplining, redirecting, etc.  It's exhausting!!  It is hard work!  Kudos to all you parents who have gone before me!!!  But I know I'm up for the challenge! :)
She also is becoming momma's little helper!  Whenever I get the broom out, she always wants to sweep the floor.  So once I get it clean, then I let her have at it!  Or when I'm getting ready in the mornings, she will get a sponge and 'clean' the lid of the toilet.  It's so cute.

Here are a couple pics from Sean's actual birthday (Oct 2).  He unfortunately had to work so we went out for breakfast at Panera (just like old times!).

Emery sat in a booster seat for the first time!!  It was fun having her in the booth with us. :)

For fun, I wanted to share my latest baking!  Tuesday night, I was home alone while Sean worked (on his birthday, poor guy).  I had been watching Chopped, and got inspired to do something with the canned pumpkin in my pantry.   So I ended up making pumpkin rice pudding with homemade whipped cream!  It was amazing!!  (I just had some again!... although a much smaller portion)  Enjoy the pics!

And... Voila!!

Emery enjoyed it too with her first mixer blade full of whipped cream!  Note how it got all over her face all the way up into her eyebrows!!  lol

Today Tyranie (one of my original Cali friends) took us to Arcadia park.  This is a normal neighborhood park... except that it has the most beautiful trail going through it which connects it to 3 other parks!  It's about 2-3 miles long.  It winds in and out of dense trees, over creeks that are a home to turtles and water mocassins, and through beautiful natural ecosystem prairies!  They've heard of sightings of snakes and bobcats as well but we, thankfully, didn't see any.  It is just gorgeous!!  I swear every next trail system I'm introduced to beats the last one.  Can't wait to take Sean!!!  It was a beautiful day for a walk today!  Although it looked like it was going to rain, rain wasn't in the forecast.  And when you were standing still, it was perfect weather, cool and very breezy.  But man, once we started walking.... that's when you met Mr. Humidity! lol  It's not bad, really, you just sweat more. hehe  It really was a cool and beautiful day though!

Getting everyone situated over the first bridge

Meagen and Emery going down the slide together

Then Emery and I hit Taco Casa on the way home.  Reminds me of the good ol' Taco Bell of when I was in high school.  Just good, straight forward fast mexican food!  

It's my new fast food fave!

And it was Emery's first bean burrito!  She did good once I opened it up and she could eat with a spoon.  lol  Silly girl....

Letting Go is hard to do...

9/

9/26/12 (raw...from my journal)

A couple weeks ago I had this thought that maybe I needed to take a break from any connections to California.... calling or texting friends and family, facebook, etc.  I was overwhelming myself with trying to stay in touch and it sounded like a necessity.  But I quickly swiped it away and instead changed how I was trying to stay connected.  (although not much changed).  I mean, how could staying connected be so wrong, right?  Tonight while talking with a friend, on the phone, she said something that struck a cord with me.  I didn't fully catch it in the moment but it wouldn't leave my mind.  It was to put my phone down for a week (and therefore facebook) and (this is the good part) focus my energy on enjoying the newness here with Sean and Emery and focus on the new friendships God is bringing into my life.  hm.  I can't stop thinking about it.  When I told Sean he just threw up his hands in relief.  (oh how many fights could have been avoided if I put my phone away).  I sent her a text and said I was going to try to take her advice.  After this I took my bible study out to the balcony as we're meeting tomorrow and I've not read a word.  The topic?  Letting go.  I prayed that I would not make this message to fit this current situation.  She talked about overprotecting our children and our dreams, visions, etc.  But as I read, and then did the workbook part, I found myself in tears.  I am completely afraid to let go of my life in Cali.  That's my whole life!  The only life I've ever known!  The Lord began showing me this and also that I'm afraid of losing the most important relationships in my life.  I'm afraid they will forget me or, worse, they will think I have forgotten them.  So... I've kept in touch more than ever (in my friend's words... too much).  But it is true.  I'm trying to control what I can't control.  I'm afraid of giving myself over fully to this new life although I know beyond a doubt God has amazing dreams and visions to fulfill in and through us here.  I am truly enjoying each day here, every new place we discover, every new friend I meet.  But I am afraid of letting go.  It is all a process.  And I'm grateful for God being so present in my life right now that He is bringing these things to the surface and spending time on me.  It is what needs to happen because when I let go, then God's full purpose will no longer be squelched, but fully released to happen according to His divine will.   

Today

Well, my effort to step away from facebook didn't last very long.  It's a lot harder than I thought.  But it was yesterday that it all came to a head.  I decided to deactivate my account, for a time.  I doubt it will be permanent.  I mean, truth is, facebook can really be a blessing for keeping people connected.  As long as it's not the only way you stay connected.... because we all know how facebook can be a VERY dysfunctional place to 'live life'.  Things get jumbled and misinterpreted all the time.  And I cannot afford that 1500 miles away.  It is a very false sense of connection.  And right now, I need the real thing.  Both, with my friends back home, and with my new friends here.  So instead of giving energy to 370 friends with a very surface connection, I need to focus that energy, at a much deeper level, on the handful of friends that are willing to live life with me (old and new).  Again, please don't misinterpret that to mean I'm cutting everyone else off.  I don't want that at all!  

I've been grateful for being able to see my family and friend's pictures of them and their families.  What a blessing!  So different from 15 years ago.  Shoot, 20 years ago, we hardly had email! (or at least I didn't!).  But as I go through this process of grieving the past and pushing toward the future, it can sometimes make it difficult to move forward.  In last week's bible study, she talked about the difference of letting go and abandoning. I defined abandoning as to forget and maybe even put to death.  I realized that's what I was struggling with.... I was afraid of abandoning, or feeling abandoned, in my effort to let go.  I was afraid something would die.  But really, letting go is more of a releasing my life of yesterday into the hands of God, and at the same time releasing my future as well.  It opens the way into my life for the Lord to have complete control and do all that He has destined to do!  Praise God!  The friendships that are true and real are not going to change.  They are there to stay.  But I have got to focus my energy on what God has for us here.  I found myself living life (struggling to hang onto my old life) through facebook.  Again, please don't get me wrong, I love seeing everyone there!  And that's why this is so hard.  But I feel I need a clean break.  I know the Lord will show me when it is safe to go back in the water.  :)  Through sobs, I shared these things with Sean last night, made some tough decisions and have a clearer head today.  

One lie the enemy keeps speaking to me is that people will say "well, stop whining, you made your decision to move.  You made your bed, now lay in it".  I truly hope this is a lie from the pit of hell (because that would be just plain hurtful and indicative that they don't know us very well).  Yes, this transition is very hard.  Yes, there are things coming up that we couldn't have prepared for.  But, we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this IS the Lord!  So in my humanness, I struggle through it.  Talking with others who have gone through this very thing, I know all these feelings and emotions are very normal.  Interesting thing though... today I was reading this week's bible study lesson.  And she was talking about a time that she went through.  And at one point she confided in a counseler and expected to hear that everything that she is feeling was completely normal and expected for the situation.  But that's not what she heard.  Instead it turned into months of counseling.  Yes, what she was going through and the feelings that surfaced were very real and normal.  However, it was the underlying issues that were slowly being revealed.  This situation she was in was only serving as a medium to bring these hidden sins and struggles to the surface so she could bring them to the Lord to gain freedom and victory over them!!  WOW!  That instantly struck (another) cord with me!  I fully believe that is part of this process!  I believe God IS doing a HUGE work in me! ... dealing with hurts, pains of the past, strongholds, insecurities, sin....!  Seriously.... if this is the only reason we are here and when its all said and done, He moves us back to Fresno, it will all be worth it!  God is doing a major work in Sean and me both!  I have only touched on a small part of it here.  (Mainly because I'm just bad about getting it all written down in the moment, that when I do sit down, the gist of it is gone)

So there it is.  That's where I am.  Today.  Tomorrow, it may be a whole other story. lol  But that is the fun of it, right?  You never know where God will take you, or which enemy you'll confront next.  But I'm open and willing for God to do all that He wants!

Happy Birthday Sean!!!

Last night we went out for Sean's birthday to Red Hot and Blue BBQ.  It was really good food however the atmosphere was not quite what I was hoping for.  But we had a great time with our friends, Steve and Tyranie and Luke and Kathy and their families.  We sat over dessert and talked about the transition of moving somewhere new.  Steve and Tyranie just moved here from Fresno 18 months ago, so it is still fresh, but they are finally getting to that place of feeling like this is home, so they are understanding and give us hope as well.  Luke and Kathy moved back here (been here before) from Fresno a couple years ago.  They have moved many times as he worked to become a doctor and so they are very understanding and also have tremendous experience as well.  It felt really good to just open up and vent about all my weird, unexpected feelings, thoughts and emotions I've been having.  I stopped at one point and thought I better tone it down because I didn't want to offend anyone here.  And then I realized I was in the presence of fellow Fresnans, not home grown Texans.  Aaaaahhhhh....  Not that I was saying anything horrible, but just some personal hangups I've been having, which I attribute solely to the grieving process of letting go of my old life in Fresno and all that it means (and that's a whole other post!).  God has been so faithful and good to give us these friends who are so ready and willing to be here for us through this transition.  I could never imagine if God would have opened up any of the other positions Sean applied to in other states.  It would have been terrible!  All this to say.... I realize it is a wave of emotion.  And I'm holding on for the ride!  I know it will calm and the sun will come out.  There is hope.  Again, for all you who may be wondering, we do not regret our decision to move out here and we have no doubt God Himself made the way for us.  Just a season of turning the page in this next chapter of our lives.  It's a work in progress!

 (most of us) at Red Hot and Blue BBQ!

(from left... Zach, Steve, Tyranie, Kathy, Meagen(the littlest), Hannah (in front), 

Madeline, Elizabeth, Emery and Sean)

me being a goof... of course! lol 

The guys hanging out

Now.... because this is MY blog... I can show off my creative baking! ;-)  So... I insisted on making Sean desserts from scratch.  On Thursday, I went to Kathy's (on left) house and while Emery napped, we got to baking.  She lent me her recipes and the use of her kitchen.  We worked together to make these scrumptious desserts.  Friday night after dinner, we returned to Kathy's house and they both helped me finish the desserts, garnish and plate! Great work girls!! 

 Me and my sous chefs!

* Coconut cream pie in a homemade graham cracker crust 

with homemade whipped cream and toasted fresh coconut

* Chocolate sour cream cheesecake on a homemade graham cracker crust with homemade raspberry reduction, fresh raspberries and shaved dark chocolate and mint to garnish

And best of all.....  the Love of my life!!!! 

Happy birthday Babe!!!  I am so honored to share this time of our lives together!