Merry Christmas

Alright, so I just spent the last two days stuffing my face with every kind of holiday goodie you can think of. Everything tasted too good, and you know what that means. Yup, time to hit the gym hard!

This Christmas was the first time in six years that I spent Christmas day with my dad, and I had a great time. As I have been thinking today, I was inspired to write a blog list of some of things I am thankful for during this past year. (I say some because there is no way that I can remember them all ;)
So, without further ado (spelling?), here is my Christmas "list":

• I spent the first 6 months of this year in a house by myself, in order to learn more about God and what it really means to be in a closer walk with him. I feel that this truly had prepared me for a lot of what happened throughout the rest of this year.
• I spent a lot of time with my neighbor, Leeann, the lady that I also work with, and building a great friendship with her.
• I learned what it was like to have to take care of a dog on my own, which in turn made me realize that I am not ready for one. (even though my roomate got a dog....it's still not mine)
• I got to go to Washington more than once this year by taking a flight up to Seattle in May to visit my best friend Amy.
• A month later, she got engaged to an awesome guy named John, and they will be getting married on August 25th, 2007.
• One of my very good friends and one of the most respectable women I know, Claire Cain, also got engaged this year. What an awesome blessing it is to see two people who truly love each other come together in Christ. I can't wait for August 11th!
• I was introduced to a man named Jose Corado on June 1st, and my life has been forever changed by him in so many ways. He asked me to be his friend on MySpace, I am not ashamed to say that. (If he would have turned out to be a creepers, maybe...) But in all seriousness, God has turned my heart around in so many aspects because of Jose's character, and it is who he is that allows me to feel loved the way that any woman truly wants to be loved. And though he is not completely healed, God has already done a miracle in Jose by keeping him alive for the last 6 years through batteling cancer. He is truly one of the strongest people I know, and a man who truly seeks the face of God. And I love him.
• I had an awesome opportunity to travel to Italy to see Venice, Milan, and all the beautiful sights in October. It was a trip that I will never forget, and only something that I can thank God for giving me the opportunity and the financial possibility to even do.
• I have read more books for leisure this year than I have probably in the last 6 years that I have lived in Utah. And they have all been books that have either given me more knowledge about Christ and my increased desire to seek him and his word, or it has challenged my faith in some way to encourage me to step outside the box of Christianity and seek something more bold than just a Sunday Christian walk.
• I have had the opportunity to spend more time getting to know and growing in a friendship with one of my closest friends, Kelli, and realizing how much I have learned from her in the last year we have been friends. She is an amazing person, and she even invited me to Thanksgiving dinner with her family.
• God has given me a great place to live, with a great landlord, the expereince of having roomates, and the financial stability to be able to feel secure in what he provides for me every single day.
• I have been able to see my friends step out in faith, and because of that, God has given to them as well, and that is a great testimony. And even when people don't get what they expect, they still praise God, and that is also a great witness to others.
• I am thankful for the fact that I live in a country where I can gain knowledge at my fingertips, where I have the freedom to read my bible in public if I want to and not get scowled at or beat up for doing so, and where I can apply for a higher education if I choose to do so. And I did.
• I have been able to spend the last 6 years with my family for Christmas, and to even have the ability to pay for a plane ticket to Washington every year is a huge blessing alone. Then add on to it the whole spending time with loved ones and building greater relationships on to the ones that you already have, and that is almost a little piece of heaven right there.

O Christmas Tree

Jose and I did our gift exchange a couple of weeks ago since I was going to be in Seattle for Christmas.
Some of the pictures are kind of blurry, I was messing around with me camera too much.
Anyway, here are a couple of shots of my Christmas tree


Aw, pretty blue!

Our presents under the tree, waiting to be opened.



Here I am in my new warm Columbia jacket. I love it!


Jose about to open his Christmas surprise.

I got him a cool looking leather messenger bag from Banana Republic. He had no idea that I remembered a while ago that he had looked at it. What a sneaky girlfriend I am.






Sporting the new bag and some books that I got for him.

Peace

What would happen if every time a person prayed for a miracle, God gave them what they were asking for? Would that person every really learn the other aspects of God, His peace, mercy, comfort, patience, sovereignty, justness, His love? Or would they just expect Him to keep on performing miracles at their request, therefore becoming impatient at the one time that God did not give them what they were asking for?

Sometimes, is it not that we ought to pray for a miracle, but yet, to pray for strength through the situation, for peace that whatever happens, our heart will remain calm and in the peace of God, that God would pour out his mercy, comforting hand, His peace on our souls so that we may endure whatever trials we may be facing at the present time.

For it is through those trials that our characters in Christ are built, that we are able to become the soldiers of Christ that we were created to be by God’s hand. It is through God’s enduring love that we are able to see the meaning and purpose behind what He is enabling us to go through, whether it be because of a spiritual battle going on inside us, or for the mere fact of knowing that He is in total control of the situation and there is no need for us to worry about what the outcome is going to be, because in Him all things are made victorious.

It is in times like these that our faith becomes real, that it is not just a motion that we are going through every day that we are hoping God makes things go our “perfect way” during our daily prayers to Him.

It is in these times that these verses become reality to a heart that is fully seeking out the face of God and asking Him to meet us right where we are and provide the peace that surpasses all understanding. It is in these times that in prayer, these verses give us a hope that God’s word is true, that we can pray for things that will bring us comfort in a time of need, peace in a world of turmoil, love in a time of discouragement, no matter what kind of situation we are going through.

Philippians 4 : 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


John 14: 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Isaiah 26: 3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Psalm 34: 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

I have not said much about what has been going on with Jose on here, but some of you do know what is going on.

A time has come where a decision is going to be made, one that may require a faith so great that there is no other option but to trust God and what His will is.

Surgery to remove the cancer is possible, if the surgeon is willing to perform it.
If not, there is nothing else that is going to be done as far as medical treatment goes. No more chemo, radiation, just waiting and praying to see what will happen.
Medically speaking, based on research, past cases, and the past unsuccessful attempts to keep the cancer from coming back, if no treatment is continued, doctors have given him a 12 month survival time frame. That is, of course, coming from a medical aspect, not including God’s divine intervention for healing.

It is now that I ask all who are willing and read these words to pray fervently that the Lord will continue to provide His Peace, His comfort, and possibly His healing hand no matter what the option is, whether surgery or nothing at all.

I am so thankful that I have friends like you who I am able to even feel secure asking for something like this, though it is really for Jose and his situation, he is a part of my life as you all are. I am thankful that I have friends who are believers and take time to pray for the things that are of importance to others, possibly even someone you may not know as well as others do.

Thank you for all your persistent prayers and support, they have meant so much to both of us.

What's it to you?

With Christmas coming, I thought of a couple of questions that may spark some discussion.

Here we go.


1.What is you all time favorite Christmas song, the one that you want to hear at least twice every single year?

2.Do you know where you were on your first Christmas? (where you lived, who you spent it with, things like that)

3.Is there one food item that your family always make for the holidays?

4.Have you every volunteered for a food bank, rescue mission, for caroling, during Christmas time?

5.How are you going to celebrate the birth of our savior this year?


So, sine I am asking these questions, I thought I would give some answers too.

1. Favorite Christmas song: O Holy Night, especially when the dynamics are sung well and there isn't a lot of vibrado

2. I am pretty sure that I spent my first Christmas with my parents over at my grandpa's house with all my dad's family here in Utah

3. I always remember having either deviled eggs or real mashed potatoes with our Christmas meal

4. The closest I have gotten to volunteering is putting together food drive and sorting food items at a food bank.

5. Spending time with my family back home is the best thing I could ever have for Christmas, and that is exactly what I am going to be doing.

Happy Holidays to you all!

Park City and good friends

Over Veteran's Day weekend, Amy and John got to come down and visit from Washington. We had so much fun! Kelli and Jose were able to come along which made the trip even more fun.
Friday night we took a drive up to Park City and stayed the night at a really cool lodge at Park Station. It was one of the coolest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in. Full kitchen, sleeping accomodations for 6, and it even had a fireplace!
We went out to dinner at Cicero's, a really good Italian restaurant, and then had a couple drinks before heading back to the hotel room. It was pretty late, and we had to be out of the room by 10 the next morning, so we all just crashed.
Saturday morning I made french toast and eggs for everyone before heading out to the outlet malls. We found a couple purchases, but we didn't stay too long because Amy had an appointment to try on her dress at David's Bridal. It is so, SO beautiful! I wish I could post a picture of it here, but I don't want to get in trouble in case John were to accidentally see it. But it fits her perfectly. I can't wait to see her in it on her wedding day!
Saturday night Amy, John, Kelli and I went to P.F. Chang's, we had to go after Amy told me that they have never been before....no way!! They enjoyed every bite of it.
We spend the rest of the weekend just hanging out and took a little trip to SLC to Temple Square before taking them back to the aiport Monday. They even got to see the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, a very important part of utah history.. (rolling my eyes)

Anyway, here are the pictures from the weekend.

Beautiful places

There are so many sights that I look back on and realize that they are some of the most beautiful sights to me. One of them is by a river, a stream, a place that has moving water. It is so awesome to watch the water roll by and touch the rocks, the tree twigs, the bank. I have had many good talks with God while strolling the river side.
I took some pictures at the end of the summer by the Ogden River Walkway, one of the many walks Jose and I took while he was on treatment, to keep himself active and to get out of the busy house sometimes. It was a nice place of peace, and the pictures turned out great thanks to my awesome camera. I tried to quirk the focus a little bit on a few, trying to get the background to look a little shady, but I don't really know how well it turned out.

Get out of my head

Well hello there!! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, eating to your hearts desire and getting to see people you haven't seen in a while, or maybe have never even met before.

I spent a good part of the night with Kelli and her family eating tasty turkey dinner and just lounging around. It was nice, especially after an 8 hour Starbuck's shift. It was busy, the tips were good, and people were very nice to us.

The funny thing is, I was thinking when I got to work this morning about how crazy it is when you have something planned and you expect it to go a certain way, and somehow it just doesn't end up that way.

I didn't make chocolate cream pie for dessert yesterday, for some reason the dream whip was just not setting right. So I made something new, apple spice cake, instead. It was enjoyed, by many.

And I didn't brave the early morning craziness today. My sleepy self would not allow me to get out of bed at 5:30 this morning, espeically after being up half the night with a headache.

That is the other thing I have been thinking about the last couple of days. I have gone months without a massive headache, and it always seems like when I consciously realize that, things start to turn around. The one thing I can't stand about having a migraine is not the pain itself, but the mere feeling of knowing that I am not myself, that I act strange, more distant, out of it. I don't like that.
I truly believe that it could be one of those things that the enemy uses at times, or in my case a lot of the time, to distract you from the spiritual things in your life. He attacks, and I don't like that. Sometimes I ask God to get the enemy out of there, but I know that it may take a while sometimes. And I definitely know that the things around me don't always help the situation.
When I am frustrated, when I am stressed, when I want to confront someone about something but I don't, that is when the battle begins. Let it go, I just say, let it go.

But when you loose sleep because of that circumstance that you want to confront, that is when you spend way too much time thinking about it, and can sometimes only end up making the problem worse. What a vicious cycle life can be sometimes.

I know one thing I have to be thankful for in the end though is that God WILL win the battle, that He is on my side, fighting for me, fighting for all His sons and daughters. Sometimes though, I do realize, that there are some he has to fight a little harder for, to keep them from the hands of the enemy.
It is you I pray for, that you would turn around and realize the pain you are causing people, not only to those who care about you, but especially to your Father.

Thankful

As promised, here is the first of many blogs on my new blogsite. I like having new things, and I definitely like pink and grey together, I realized that just recently.

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I most likely will not be around a computer to update, I am posting a few things today.

First, my list.

1. I am thankful for my friends, specifically Kelli, for inviting me to come have dinner with her family tomorrow. Like I would say no to her.

2. I praise God that I am even healthy enough to work two jobs, save money, and be able to purchase Christmas tickets home so that I can see my family. I will be working at Starbuck's tomorrow morning, by choice. I heard tips are great on holidays, and I like giving out coffee with a smile. It's one thing I can do to make someone's day just that much better.

3. I praise God for miracles. Specifially, medical ones. Though I have only heard how awful chemo treatment CAN be, there is no doubt in my mind that God provided peace, healing, and the least amount of pain possible during this trial.

4. I will be venturing out on my own for 4 hours on Black Friday for the first time ever to complete some of my holiday shopping. I pray 1, that I don't get ran over by some crazy on the road or in an isle somewhere, and 2, that I can find what I am looking for.

5. Finally, I am greatful that God has given me a great place to live, a place that I can decorate for Christmas with my own stuff, again, for the first time ever. I love pretty things.

I plan on making Chocolate Cream Pie for tomorrow, a family tradition my mom has been doing for us since I was in junior high. I like sharing traditions with others, and the pie isn't bad either.

To make it, simply follow the instructions on the side of a box of Dream Whip.

You can add chocolate shavings on top of the pie if you like.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, those who I will see, and to those of you who I may not be able to see tomorrow. I hope that you have a great time with your families, friends, or whoever you are spending Thanksgiving with.

Find something to share that you are greatful for, and either post it or leave a comment for me.

I like to know what others are thankful for.

New and Improved

So here it is, the new blog. Yes, it has pink in it, being a little more "girly" this time.

I will post more, later.