The Braun Family

one year old.

2012-01-10T11:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe our baby is one already. It seems like it was just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. I remember the first couple weeks and how hard they were as we were adjusting to having a newborn at home that had to be wrapped in a light blanket 24/7. She was like a little alien glowing blue.

What a joy she has been in our lives. Everybody told me that time would fly by and in the first 6 months that didn't prove to be so true. Since then time has flown. It is so fun to watch her grow and develop, to try new foods, take her first steps, and start trying to say new words. It is fun to celebrate each new milestone with her.

Here are some of the things she has been up to lately:

She loves her "dada" and talks about him all day. If I ask her to say mama she almost always says dada.

She loves to walk around and carry her toys or drink with her in at least one hand, if not both.

She signs "please" every second of the day because she is always wanting something. :)

She LOVES animals. Looking at pictures of them, making animal noises, reading stories about

them.

She can make sounds for a dog, lion, elephant, and sometimes cat, monkey and cow.

She really enjoys being outside and playing around the bench in our front yard.

Recently, she has started sitting still long enough to read books with us.

And just today she unlocked my iPhone for the first time [oh no!]

I love this little girl with her sweet smile and sassy attitude. I'm looking forward to what the next year brings and watching her grow even more.

Christmas

2012-01-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

I know this post is super late but the last few weeks have been a bit hectic for us. The craziness started the week before Christmas when Jeff's family came out to California to celebrate Christmas with us and go to Disneyland. We had such a fun time with them while they were here and had a successful trip to Disneyland with an 11 month old, a 13 month old, 3 year old, 5 year old and 6 year old. They were amazing for our 13 hour day there.

Raegan and BG

BG and Caleb in the snow!

Laney and Kaelyn

Raegan and Daddy

After our time with the Braun side of the family we flew up to WA to be with the Hiller side. We had a wonderful time celebrating Raegan's first Christmas. We got to go to church on Christmas Eve and see lots of family we hadn't seen in a while. Here are some pictures from our time up there.

Raegan and my Grandpa love each other very much
Kendall and I with our 2nd cousins [who are like brother and sister to us] Taylor and Bailey. So fun to get together with our spouses for dinner.

santa picture

2011-12-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Since this is Raegan's first Christmas I really wanted to get a picture of her with Santa. We were at a party last week and they had a Santa there. Anytime we would go near him she would hold onto me so tight so I knew it might be interesting trying to get a picture. Friday night we went to Fashion Island to get a picture with Santa. We got her all dressed up in her Christmas outfit and she was really happy all the way up until she saw him. I don't really need to explain what happened after that because the picture does it well.

happiness and joy

2011-12-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks I have really been thinking about these two words and what they mean. What they mean for me, for our family and for others. I have been faced with the news of people becoming ill, people passing away, and marriages struggling. A few weeks ago I was talking to somebody about how God desires for us to be happy and they challenged my thinking in that. God doesn't promise us happiness, he promises that with his spirit in us we will have joy. In all of that I go back to God and remember that we are living in a time where Christ has come and he will come again. It's interesting that this is on my mind now as we are quickly approaching Christmas, a holiday that is celebrated because of the birth of our Christ, the savior of the world.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10

The good news is that God sent his son into this world to be among his people and ultimately to die for our sins and bridge the separation between God and humanity. He sent his son for me and for you and for every other person. Because of that we can live with the knowledge that we are saved and will live forever with Christ.

I have really been trying to remember this as we are going through the Christmas Season and am so thankful for all it means to me. When Christ lives in us we are filled with joy.

Family Pictures

2011-12-09T16:20:00.001-08:00

Last week we had our wonderfully talented friend Shara take family pictures. She and her family just moved down here from Fresno. I met her through some ROCKHARBOR friends and have really enjoyed getting to know her the last few months. She has the sweetest family!

There are so many fun places to go in OC. We decided to go out into nature this time which was a bit interesting. It ended up being cold and super windy. Poor little Raegan's lips kept getting more and more purple as time went on. However, Shara took some amazing photos and we are so happy with how they turned out.

Here is one of my favorite family photos. Raegan wasn't too sure what was going on at this point!

This shot really captures Raegan's sweet smile and squinty eyes. I especially love those little teeth in there!

Lately Raegan has been really cuddly and I am so enjoying it! I was trying to warm her up a bit right here. Look at those eyes :)

Our little sweetie looking at her daddy.

Love.

thankful.

2011-12-05T10:57:00.001-08:00

This post is coming a little late but the past couple weeks have been busy! This year we were able to travel out to Arizona for Thanksgiving to be with Jeff's side of the family. It was such a joy to see all the little cousins together ranging in age from Raegan who is 11 months to Laney who is 6. They were able to play a lot together! We went to the park, ate meals together, cooked, baked, and I read a lot of Harry Potter! Jeff and his sister Kaelyn also had surgery while we were there. Jeff on his shoulder and Kaelyn on her ankle. They spent a lot of quality time resting on the couch and watching football.

Here are some fun pictures of our time there.

Raegan and I at the park

Jeff, Laney, Noah and Caleb as Jeff was walking across the monkey bars with his arm in a sling. Scared us all just a bit!

Jeff and his Papa

Lincoln, Noah, Laney, Caleb and Raegan all in their new Christmas jammies!

There is so much I have to be thankful for. An amazing husband, beautiful daughter, wonderful family, supportive and caring friends, a great church, and a God who loves me more than I will ever know.

A Place in my Heart

2011-11-16T13:32:00.001-08:00

Something people might not know about me is I have a huge heart for people with disabilities. I'm not sure how it came to be but I think it's a gift God gave me. There are two special people who have been in my life that I love dearly.

One is named Kelly. Unfortunately I don't have a digital picture of me and her but we met when I was in middle school. Her brother played baseball with all of the boys I went to school with. We would see each other at games and eventually started talking and became friends. She was a few years older than me and had a twin brother and sister who were my age. Kelly had muscular dystrophy and when she was 13 she got really sick and ended up having to be put on a ventilator for the rest of her life. Kelly was one of the funniest people I knew. She had such a love for life, people, and having fun. We would travel to baseball tournaments together, sit at her house and watch tv together or listen to music in her room. I loved spending time with her because she would always make me laugh. She also was super driven. She always was starting new companies and making neat videos on the computer. Kelly was so selfless. Although she was restricted and in a wheelchair for the whole time I knew her she didn't let that stop her from doing anything. She was an inspiration to me and taught me so much about loving people and not being afraid to be who I am. One of the reasons it was on my heart to post this is because in three days it will have been 1 year since Kelly went to be with Jesus. I miss her so much and love reflecting on who she was and the ways she changed my life.

My other friend is named "Coop". Coop was born with Cerebral Palsy. I met him at a Young Life camp called Windy Gap in North Carolina in the summer of 2004. I was there for a month to serve on Summer Staff and he had just ended his time on Summer Staff and was there for a week with some campers. Here is a picture of the two of us. I would always ride around on the back of his wheelchair around the camp.

Coop also inspires me. For 7 1/2 years now we have kept in touch and most of it is because of his consistency. We talk almost weekly and update each other on what is happening in our lives. Recently I have become his secretary and he calls me to help him send emails out to his Young Life leaders. :) I love his heart for the kids he leads in Young Life and for the leaders he oversees. Although he is in a wheelchair and can't do much on his own he doesn't let that stop him from serving Jesus and spreading His love. He inspires me to overcome my insecurities and not let them get in the way of loving others.

Both of these friends have a dear place in my heart and I am thankful God placed them in my life. They have taught me so much about how to love life and how to love people.

How do you not know what I want?

2011-11-08T09:40:00.001-08:00

One of the things I love about marriage is I am constantly learning. Learning how to communicate, care for Jeff, support him, love him and many more things. There is one specific topic that continues to come up for us and that is being able to communicate what I need and want.

A great example of this would be a conversation we had about a week and a half ago. Let me set the stage...Jeff had been working all week then left on Friday morning to go on a guys camping trip through Sunday afternoon. In the middle of the week I came down with a cold and wasn't feeling super hot. Then as the weekend got closer Miss Raegan also started getting stuffed up and not feeling too well. Because of this and some other reasons we basically didn't leave the house for 48 hours which, if you know me, was quite hard. Then Saturday night she was up every couple hours because she had a fever. So by the time Jeff got home on Sunday I was ready to have a little break. :)

He got home and we visited for a while then I said, "Hey, I was thinking we could get a babysitter and maybe go grab dinner and go to church tonight." He didn't really feel up for it since he had just gotten home so I said, "Maybe at least we could get some take out for dinner because I don't really feel like cooking." We kind of went back and forth and by this point I was getting a little upset. I didn't want to make dinner and I really wanted to get out of the house. He wanted to stay home and have a salad. :) So I got a little more frustrated as time went on and decided to just make something frozen we had here. At the end of the night I realized that I never communicated exactly what I wanted and needed. I Just hinted at things I wanted and suggested different things we could do, expecting Jeff to figure it out. That wasn't fair to him. I ended up apologizing and saying I really had wanted to get out of the house and at least go to dinner and spend some time with him and that I was sorry I didn't communicate it more clearly and instead got frustrated.

Sorry for the long story but I feel like it's a great example of how I often expect Jeff to know what I want without me clearly communicating it to him. Then I get resentful and bitter when if I would have just told him in the first place what I wanted the conflict could have been avoided.

Oh the joys of marriage :) It has helped me grow and change so much.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not really the biggest fan of Halloween. I don't love to be scared and I don't really like all the scary decorations. I do like cute Halloween and fall decorations, the yummy fall recipes and most of all my sweet girl dressed up as a ladybug. Earlier this week Raegan and I went to Disneyland with our friends and took some pictures with their fall decor. I love that we can just get in the car and take a quick trip over there and am looking forward to the memories we will make there as a family.

Then on Thursday my friend Shara offered to take pictures of some of her friends' kids. It was such a great idea because I know sometimes it's stressful to get good pictures on the actual day of Halloween. She set up a backdrop in her back yard where she could take the photos and she made lots of yummy treats! She's super talented. Unfortunately Raegan fell asleep in the car on the way there so she was a little out of it and we couldn't get her wide open mouth smile. But Shara definitely got some really cute pics. Here are a couple of them...

Have a great Halloween!

Pinterest Crafting Party

2011-10-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was invited to a really fun party yesterday. It was a Pinterest crafting party. Everything about it was from Pinterest, the food, decorations, and drinks. Then the hostess Ingrid asked everybody who was coming to pick a craft from Pinterest and bring the supplies to make it. She had all sorts of delicious food and set up tables in her back yard where we hung out and made our crafts.

I had a lot of different things I wanted to make but I finally decided on making a Christmas wreath. I got the idea from Keep it Simple, Sister's Blog. She made a really cute fall wreath. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to make and would have taken less time if my thread wouldn't have kept coming out of the felt! Here are some pictures of the finished product.

I also made flowers out of fabric for the first time. They are actually really easy to make and a fun little addition to the wreath.

Another really special part of the afternoon was that Ingrid asked each woman who came to bring a children's book. She later explained the books were for the Joyful Life Library, a project that was started by a sweet mom named Heather who lost her son at 6 weeks old. Their goal is to put books in as many PICU's as they possibly can so that when parents have to be there with their kids they can read to them and experience a bit of comfort. Such an amazing idea. Such a wonderful day.

new book

2011-10-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

The other day I was reading a blog that I love called Joy's Hope and she mentioned a book she was reading called Grace for the Good Girl. It sounded like an interesting title so I looked up the book, read a chapter on the website and was super interested.

I am about eight chapters in and it has been so amazing. I think the title is a little misleading because not everybody would consider themselves a "good girl" but what the book has to say really applies to a lot of people. It talks about how the way, we as women, hide. Whether it is hiding from something, hiring behind something or just hiding something. Then it talks about the finding and the freedom of being found.

In the introduction it says, "My idea of who I should be is at war with who I am. I want to be perfect in every situation. I just do. I want to know what to do. I want to know how to do it right. And I want to do it . All. By. My. Big. Self. Not only do I want to do everything perfectly, I want to look perfect while I do it. I want to act perfect and sing perfect and have perfect teeth. I want to parent perfectly, to wife perfectly, and to have a clean house all the time." Once I read this I was like, "I think she's talking about me." It all goes back to my previous post about grace. For some reason I have in my head that I need to do everything right. Not sure where that came from...still trying to figure it out but I know it's not true and if I continue to think that way my life is going to be very difficult.

The book goes on to talk about expectations and definitions. This is a big one for me. I place so many expectations on myself that I continually fail. It eventually becomes super tiring and defeating. This is something I have been working on for a while and continue to do so. The author, Emily Freeman says, "When we believe that God expects us to try hard to become who Jesus wants us to be, we will live in that blurry, frustrating land of Should Be rather than trust in The One Who Is. We will do whatever we believe it takes to please God rather than receive the acceptance that has already been given. We will perform to live up to what we believe his expectation is of us rather than expectantly wait on him." Wow...I want to do that. I want to learn how to wait on him and not feel like I need to do everything myself. It's such a great reminder to me that God has already accepted me for who I am and that I should do the same.

I love the different ways God chooses to show us things about ourselves. This is just a small portion of what I have received from reading this book and hopefully I'll share more as I go along. I would ask you, what are the expectations you put on yourself? How can you push into Him and receive the acceptance he has given you?

Harvest Day 2011

2011-10-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went with some friends to a local pumpkin patch for their annual Harvest Day. It was such a fun time to be with everybody. We all walked through the corn maze and a couple kiddos got lost along the way. I was joking that it was nice to have a kid that couldn't walk yet so we knew where she was all the time! Here is a picture of our sweet girl playing in the hay

We were all taking tons of pictures and I think the kids started getting sick of it! They were also interested in all of the pumpkins and hay. Here's one of the attempts to get a picture of Will, Raegan, and Logan. :)

Here's our little family. We had to have sunglasses on because the sun was so bright.

Happy October!

Arizona Trip

2011-08-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went out to Arizona to visit Jeff's wonderful family and had such a great time. Raegan is old enough that she can crawl around and play with her cousins, which is so fun to watch.

We went over to Jeff's sister Julie's house one morning while Jeff, Keith, and Nancy went to watch Kaelyn play soccer. Noah and Caleb had a fun time giving Raegan all of the toys from the basket while she was in the jumper.

Here is Noah and Raegan on the floor together.

We also tried to get a good picture of Raegan with her cousins and Jeff's cousins kids. It was a little difficult to do with a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, two 9 month olds and a 7 month old! This was one of the funny ones.

milestones

2011-08-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

It truly is amazing the amount things that happen each day with Raegan. She is growing up and starting to get more brave and explore different areas of the house. This past weekend she started to crawl a little bit. She still is figuring it out and would rather scoot to toys because it's much faster.

Then on Monday I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and she was crawling around on the floor in the family room. Next thing I know I walk around the corner to check on her and she has gotten up on her knees and is up on the bookshelf pulling off books. :)

Yesterday I went into her room after she had woken up from her nap and she was sitting up! It was the first time that she had gotten herself up to a sitting position from laying down.

I have really been thinking about how blessed we are that I am able to stay at home with her. I get to experience these fun milestones each day and it is such a gift. I am thankful. I wonder what's going to happen today!

this is our God

2011-08-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some lyrics I have been reflecting on this morning to a song called "This is Our God" by Hillsong.

Your grace is enough
More than I need
And your word I will believe
I wait for you
Draw near again
And your spirit make me new
And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Your presence in me
Jesus light the way
By the power of your word
I am restored
I am redeemed
By your spirit i am free
And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Freely you gave it all for us
Surrendered your life upon that cross
Great is your love
Poured out for all
This is our God

Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Sovereign king
Rescued the world
This is our God

And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Freely you gave it all for us
Surrendered your life upon that cross
Great is your love
Poured out for all
This is our God

Lifted on high from death to life
Forever out God is glorified
Sovereign king
Rescued the world
This is our God

Ever since the first time I heard this song I have loved it. God wants us to fall at his feet and worship him. In the midst of such a broken and uncertain world the one thing we have to cling to is the truth that God is constant, never changing, and has sacrificed it all for us. For me. For you. I have days when I don't understand all the brokenness and my heart hurts for the people I love who are in so much pain. Today is one of those days. Just thinking about it all brings me to tears. One of my strengths is empathy, which allows me to feel what other people are feeling. It is a blessing most of the time but can definitely be hard as well. I have had to learn how to have boundaries and separate myself from the things people are feeling and to use this strength in positive ways. As hard as it is to have days like this, I think it's good because that's what brings me closer to Him. He draws me in and assures me that He is in control and that He is good. I have to choose to live in those truths. To trust in God and that he knows what's best and he will take care of the people I love.

I was also encouraged by the beginning of Psalm 100 as I was reading this morning. It says, "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."

I hope you can be encouraged today too...no matter what you are going through that God is in control, He loves you and that He sacrificed it all for you.

delicious tostadas

2011-08-07T17:14:00.001-07:00

I got this recipe from a friend a couple weeks ago and it's one of my new favorite. You can add different things or use meat but here's what I used:

1 pack of hard tostada shells
1 rotisserie chicken
1 can of refried beans
shredded cheddar cheese
lettuce
avocado
tomato
salsa
green onions
cilantro

Chop up the chicken and lettuce, warm up beans. Spread beans on the tostada shell and top with the rest of the ingredients. Easy as that. Enjoy!

God's Love

2011-07-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Recently Jeff and I were having a conversation about the ways we are starting to grasp God's love for us since we have had Raegan.

A book I am reading puts it like this, "There is no substitute for the way children teach us about God. The way they depend on us, trust us, and imitate us is a beautiful picture of how we are to be as God's children. The Bible challenges us to have faith like these little ones: 'let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' and he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.' [Mark 10:14-16]" - Totally Desperate Mom by Wendy Hagen

Before I had Raegan I knew God loved me. I thought I understood how much and what his sacrifice meant. But I had no idea. I am just now starting to grasp how much he loves me. I am so in love with our sweet daughter. I would do anything for her. The choices I make and the things I do now are all in consideration of what is best for her. God is the same with me. He would do anything for me. In fact, he did do EVERYTHING for me. The plans he has for my life are what is best for me even though I might not know it at the time. Raegan can do nothing to earn my love and I can do nothing to earn Christ's love. It's reassuring to know on my best days and on my worst days that God loves me the same.

One of the other things that I have been thinking about is God's love for Raegan and his plans for her life. It is so comforting to know that I can multiply the amount I love her by infinity and that is how much God loves her. As I continue to pray for her and pray for God to help me be the best mom I can be, I can rest in the fact that our savior is here. He is walking alongside Jeff and me as we grow as parents, as we do things right and when we make mistakes, and as we celebrate this little life he has blessed us with.

I pray I can keep these things in view and remember the truth as I have days that aren't the easiest. Not that I ever have hard days or anything! :)

bam-boooooooooo

2011-07-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

As we continue to get settled into our house Jeff and I continue to think of things we want to do. Things that are small and would take a day, like installing the surround sound speakers, and others that would take a lot more time, like tearing out all the bamboo in our front planter and planting other things in its place. We both have opinions about which of these things should be done first and which ones can wait. Well, let me just give a little context for the story I'm about to tell...Most of the week I spend inside the house. When the weekend comes along and Jeff is outside working on projects I would love to be out there with him but it's a little hard since I can't do everything he can. Let me correct myself, I can't do really anything he can. However, as we started talking about tearing out the bamboo in our front planter I thought to myself, "I think I could do that...yeah, for sure I could." So I kept asking Jeff if he would mind me doing it. He was resistant at first but then finally said, "If you want to you can, but just know that I have other things to do and won't be able to help you at all. In fact, I would prefer to wait to do it, but if you really want to, go ahead." So, I decided to take that as a challenge and prove to him that I could tear all the bamboo out without his help at all and I got to work. Here's what it looked like before

It took me a few hours and by the time it was all torn out I had filled up both of our big garbage bins and about 6 black garbage bags. I only asked him for help one time, and that was at the end while I was loading all the garbage bags up. :) hehehe...but let me tell you, I felt like a grandma for the next week because I could barely move my fingers and the joints hurt so bad! What I thought was going to be an easy project turned into a much more complicated one because little did I know bamboo roots grow like crazy and you can't just plant in the same dirt they were planted in. Jeff dug a foot down and moved the dirt to the side of the house, then sprayed the planter with weed killer for a couple weeks. Then, just this past weekend he had to dig dirt from another big hole on the side of the house and transplant it. Whew...that was a lot of work! Then we were ready to plant.

Here's how it turned out

Sorry for the long drawn out story. But the moral of the story is that sometimes things take a little longer than I think, especially if you are going to do them right. Also, my husband is a patient man :)

Grace

2011-07-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

First, let me start with a couple disclaimers...
1. I have wanted to start blogging for a while because since I'm home all day every day now I have a lot of thoughts going through my mind. I haven't started because of the appearance of my blog. Who knows when I will get it figured out so I decided I may as well just start and get that figured out later.

2. I am not a great writer, so sorry in advance. I would love to share what is going on in our lives as well as things I have been thinking about. I hope you enjoy despite that fact!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. -2 Corinthians12:9

Grace. A word that constantly comes up for me. Wouldn't it be easy to just believe what He says is true? That HIS grace is sufficient for me and in my weakness HIS power is made perfect. I have always had a hard time giving myself grace. I expect perfection and nothing less. My expectations are high and often unattainable. This has gotten even worse now that I'm a mom. I want to do it right, I want Raegan to be a good baby who sleeps well, eats well and is happy. I don't want to do something that will impact her in a negative way so I am constantly thinking about what I am doing and how it is going to effect her. Things like if I rock her to sleep is she ever going to be able to get to sleep on her own, should I be feeding her solid foods yet and how much and if I feed her fruit first is she going to eat her vegetables. Let me just tell you, it gets tiring thinking like this all day. These are only a couple examples of what goes on in my mind.

I was talking with somebody the other day about how I am going to mess up and I have messed up in the past. I am going to make mistakes and that's okay. They brought up a good point about how my expectations and lack of grace for myself could actually effect Raegan in a negative way. If she grows up seeing the pressure I put on myself what is she going to think? Will she think that I expect the same things from her that I expect from myself? I never thought about it that way and I appreciated that perspective.

So here I am at the end of another day where I didn't give myself any grace. I am tired and cranky and emotional. I don't like it. I want God's grace to be sufficient for me. He freely give me grace, why can't I give it to myself? Starting tonight I am going to try harder. Try and focus on His word and the promise He makes. We'll see how that goes. :)

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

This Valentines Day was a special one because Jenny and her kids were in town to visit us...well, really Raegan! We had a fun day and went to this new place near the house called Sky High that is a huge warehouse full of trampolines. The kids [and Jenny] had a great time jumping while I watched and hung out with Raegan. Then we went to Bruxie , a new restaurant by the Orange Circle that sells waffle sandwiches that are delicious! I will take a picture next time we go of the yummy sandwiches and waffle fries. We ended the day with some heart shaped pizzas and funfetti cupcakes. It was so fun!

Introducing Raegan Maureen Braun...

2011-01-20T18:44:00.000-08:00

A little over two weeks ago Raegan decided to make her appearance. I had been having contractions off and on mostly at night for a couple days. I woke up on Wednesday morning and it seemed like my water had broken so I called my sister in law Julie and explained the situation and she suggested we go into the hospital. The funny thing was that Jeff had had Monday and Tuesday off so this was his first day back at work since before New Years. He had been at work for about a half hour when I called and told him it was time to go to the hospital. He headed home while I took a shower and got everything ready for the hospital.

We got there and checked in around 8:15 and by 8:45 we were admitted. We called both of our moms and they were on their way! I was dilated to a 3 and my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. I decided to wait a little while to have my epidural because I wanted to be able to walk around and didn't know how long the labor would take. I didn't want to be stuck in bed all day! At about 1:15 I decided it was time for the epidural and that was one of the best decisions I have ever made! I wasn't making much progress, which was a little frustrating so I thought we may be in for a long day. My mom flew in and arrived at 2:30. Jeff's mom arrived around 3:30. At 4:00 I got checked again and was fully dilated and ready to go!

Raegan arrived at 5:02pm, weighing 7lbs and was 20" long. She made one little peep when she came out but was very calm after that through all the things the nurse had to do to her.

She has been such a joy so far and we are so thankful she is here! :)

Getting Ready...

2011-01-04T18:06:00.001-08:00

The nursery is pretty much complete except for just a few little pieces. I am really happy with how it turned out. Here are a few pictures

We're just a week away from the due date and couldn't be more excited to meet little miss Raegan. Jeff and I are both anxious for her arrival, as are our friends and family. Hopefully she will be here soon :)

Pregnancy Photo Shoot

2010-11-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last week our friend Trever Hoehne took some photos of us to capture me pregnant. We had a great time and the photos turned out amazing. Here are a few of them...

I'm at 32 weeks now...so only 8 weeks left. Things are starting to get a little uncomfortable but I'm hanging in there. I can't wait for my parents to get here on Saturday to spend Thanksgiving week with us. We're going to have fun finishing the nursery and getting everything ready for Raegan's arrival.

Hawaii and Baby

2010-07-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to be able to spend the last week in Hawaii with Jeff's family. It was great to see everybody, especially Kristin and Laney who moved to Kentucky last year. We have really missed them. We had such a great time at the beach, playing cards, relaxing and eating yummy food!

We also rented a couple stand up paddle boards and all tried it out. It was actually really fun, especially when we got the hang of it and could actually stay on the board. The people at the rental place didn't give us any tips at all so we were stuck figuring it out by ourselves.

When we got home we had a doctors appointment and got to check and see if they could tell whether the baby is a boy or a girl. They still couldn't tell but we got another cute picture. Baby is growing and really healthy. The first set of the 1st trimester screening came back great.

Baby Braun is Coming!

2010-06-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yep! We're pregnant! Right now I am about 8 1/2 weeks and so far things have been alright. The last couple weeks I started getting sick and have been trying to figure out what helps me feel better. Here is a picture of our ultrasound at 8 weeks. It was a pretty amazing experience. We were able to see and hear the heartbeat. Only 7 months to go! :)

What we've been up to

2010-05-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

So...it's been about 5 months since I've updated the blog. I always forget and, like I always say, we don't have a ton of exciting stuff going on!

But there are a couple fun things right now. When we moved into our house I was really excited about the yard and decided to plant a garden. Jeff built me a really cool box and I planted basil, carrots, potatoes, onions, zuchinni, and tomatoes.

I also planted corn, beans, peas, artichokes, and cucumbers on the side of the house. Here's a picture of the beans and peas.

While I've been busy tending the garden, Jeff has been in the garage working on the Mustang! When he was in high school he and his dad rebuilt a '65 Mustang. Since we have a garage now he was finally able to bring it out to California and he is in heaven!

So there's a little peak into what's been happening here lately!

Black Friday Giveaway

2009-11-25T06:47:00.001-08:00

http://bensbargains.net/black_friday_giveaway.php

Go to this site to be entered to win some great things on Black Friday!

The Last Couple Months

2009-10-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

yeah...I know, I know...I really suck at this blogging thing. I don't know why it's so hard for me to sit down and actually blog. Probably because 1. I don't think our life is that exciting. 2. nothing new is really happening 3. I'm too lazy. I can't wait for the day when we finally find a house and I can blog about that. Now that will be fun!

To fill you in on some of the fun events over the past couple months, here are some pictures. I promise I will try and be better at updating this thing.

At the end of July our friend gave us some great tickets to the Angels game. They were down in the lower section right near 1st base. It was a really fun game to be at and of course, as you can see, Jeff couldn't take a normal picture! haha

At the end of July, most of you know, we had an opportunity to lead a team on a mission trip to New Orleans. There were 20 people on the team including us, and we went and worked on rebuilding 2 different homes, working with a non-profit organization called the St. Bernard Project It was an amazing time serving alongside everyone and really encouraging knowing that at the end of the summer two families who were displaced by Katrina would be able to move into a home at the end of the summer. Here is the White Family home that Jeff and I worked on during that week. As you can see in the picture, it was super hot down there!

Since then, we have celebrated my 25th birthday and also been up to Washington to celebrate Kendall and Jared's engagement. I am so excited to have a brother!

Here's a picture of Emily and I on the beach before my birthday dinner.

Here's a picture of Kendall and I at the engagement party. It was such a fun time celebrating!

Well, I think that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon! :)

Weekend in Arizona

2009-07-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Arizona for many different reasons! We celebrated 8 birthdays, spent time with family, and were able to see Laney and Kristin one last time for a while.

It was a weekend full of food family and fun! One of the many highlights was Laney and her songs she would sing us. I have posted one for your enjoyment.

A night with Emily and Marco

2009-06-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

So I keep getting asked to blog but really there is nothing to blog about. Jeff and I are still working in the same jobs, we're still looking for a house and that's about it. Our life isn't really that exciting. So...I have to resort to blogging about my friends' kids! haha. Jeff was out of town all last week and on Thursday Galel left town too so I spent the night with Marco and Emily. We went to the park and had a fun bathtime. It was so fun because it's not something that we'd usually be able to do. I love them and was so glad to have a little slumber party. You can't really beat waking up to this smiling face.

Day off and Picnic!

2009-04-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I took the day off and went to Huntington Beach to meet Emily and Marco for a picnic. It was so fun to be outside, be at the beach, and watch all the people there. Trust me...there are some crazy folks. We had our picnic, then walked through the farmers market, then walked around Main Street. It was so much fun!

Fun time with Laney

2009-04-20T18:33:00.001-07:00

A couple weekends ago Keith, Nancy, Kaelyn, Kristin, and Laney came out to California to help finish moving Jeff's grandma out of her house in Burbank. It had been a crazy week for me because it was Easter week, so on Saturday I let Kristin and Jeff go help and I kept Laney here with me! We were able to go to the store, color Easter Eggs, and go on the Ferris Wheel and the Merry Go Round. We had a blast!

Sushi Night

2009-02-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday night one of my friends Ashley came over and we made home-made sushi. We've done it once before but the first time was a big adventure. We didn't know where to go to get good fish or any of the supplies and guess where we ended up getting it all in the end? Albertsons! haha. this time we prepared a little more. I went to Whole Foods and got some tuna, salmon, and crab. We also BBQd chicken. We made all sorts of rolls. Here are some pictures!

Fun Visits!

2009-02-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

This last week we were able to see my mom, dad, Kendall and Jared. Last weekend they all came out to Palm Desert and we went out there with them for the weekend. Then my mom and dad drove out here to Long Beach on Thursday to stay with us for a few days. They came to work and we got to go out to lunch on Thursday, then we hung out around here Friday, then went to the Chocolate Festival on 2nd Street yesterday with Megan, Michael, Emily, Marco, and Galel. It was soo much fun to have them here. As always, they spoiled us by cleaning the apartment and doing dishes and helping do other things around here. It was hard to say goodbye this morning but we will see them again in a couple weeks! Love you mom and dad!

Kyle and Sarah's Wedding

2009-01-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago Jeff's cousin Kyle got married. He married Sarah who he met at Biola. Their wedding was great! We are so happy for them! We were also able to see some of the family's really close friends Serina and Steve...it was so good to see them!

It's Christmas Time!

2008-12-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

Wow...have the last few been busy. Jeff has been in the middle of a smaller shut down at work and has been working at least 6 days a week, and I have been working about the same. It's been super fun but we're both ready for our upcoming vacation. Here's our cute little Christmas tree! It has been an interesting Christmas season this year for me at least. With my new job I have a lot more "holiday" responsibilities. I helped oversee both the Thanksgiving in a Bag and the Giving Tree events this year, which took a lot of work. This week I will be busy making sure we have the correct amount of volunteers to help out with the Christmas Eve services and organizing them as they arrive. We'll leave Wednesday night after the last service to drive to Arizona. I look forward to this busy week and to celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Prepare Him Room

2008-11-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

This is the title of the new series at church. We were able to go to church this morning and the message was an awesome reminder of what Christmas is about. The series will talk about ways to prepare room for Jesus throughout this crazy holiday season. This weekend Mike talked about humbling ourselves and living in humility. One of the things that really stuck out to Jeff and I was that God is "looking for people who aren't going to mistake themselves for the treasure instead of the vessel that contains the treasure." After reflecting on this there are definitely times when I think I am saving people and I am what others need, when what they need is the treasure I have in me. I look forward to continuing to explore the ways I can prepare my heart to celebrate Christmas this year. The countdown is on as Kaelyn reminded me tonight...25 days! :)

Yummy Cupcakes

2008-11-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend Jeff had to work on Saturday, so I decided to spend some time baking. I found this recipe on the Bakerella Blog, which is one of my new favorite blogs. I changed it up a bit, so here's my version.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa, natural unsweetened
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 cup shredded zucchini
3.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º F
2. Line cupcake trays with 18 baking cups.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda with a wire whisk. Set aside.
4. Cream butter with a mixer in a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla one at a time, mixing well with each addition.
5. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour)
6. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips until combined.
7. Fill baking cups 2/3 full and place in oven immediately.

8. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
heavy whipping cream

1. Sift sugar and set aside.
2. Beat the goat cheese, cream cheese and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Gradually add the sugar, mixing and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl in between additions.
4. Add cream to get correct consistency

Chocolate Ganache

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. Place chocolate and whipping cream in the microwave. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Blend thoroughly.
2. Add sugar and stir until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour ganache into a small plastic squeeze bottle.

To assemble:

* Insert opening of squeeze bottle halfway into cupcake center and squeeze ganache until you see it start to surface.
* Then, spread creamy goat cheese frosting on top with a knife or small offset spatula.
* Chop up any leftover semi-sweet chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of cupcakes.

Washington Part I

2008-10-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

We traveled up to Washington this weekend for Brandon's memorial service. I was able to leave on Wednesday morning and Jeff came on Thursday night. We had such a great time hanging out with family and friends. We spend a lot of time with Stacy and Peyton! She's 9 months old now and we hadn't seen her since she was 3 months old. Jenny and Lucy also came up to visit. The girls had a great time together.

More of my Brother

2008-10-18T11:49:00.001-07:00

A few more pictures of B. :)

We'll Miss you B!

2008-10-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

This morning our close friend and pretty much brother passed away. He has fought long and hard in a battle with cancer and has taught us all so many things. He is such a fighter. When it would have been so easy to give up, he would choose to fight and he did it with everything in him. We love Brandon and we will miss him so much! There are so many fun memories and times that we have shared together. Soon we will all be together in a much better place, but until then, we'll miss you B! Love you!

A fun visit!

2008-09-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

When Kendall and I were in high school we had a foreign exchange student from Germany live with us. It had been 6 years since we'd seen each other and she was in LA, so she and her cousin and friends stopped by and we went out to dinner. It was so goof to catch up and see each other. We took them to Yardhouse since I know German's like beer! Unfortunately they told us that if they would have been served beer in Germany the way they serve it here, they would make the waitress take it back. I guess they like a lot of foam on their beer. New news to me.

Sprinkles

2008-09-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last night we had some friends over for dinner so I decided to make some 'Sprinkles' cupcakes from a little can I got for my birthday. They were lemon and were soooooo good! I still have a few left and it's taking everything I have not to eat more of them!

The Zoo

2008-08-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I have been wanting to go to the San Diego Zoo for a while, but haven't taken the time to actually go. Last weekend we got invited to celebrate a friends' birthday in San Diego at the zoo and then at dinner in the Gas Lamp District. We had a great time! We were able to feed giraffes while we were at the zoo too!

Babies Babies Babies

2008-08-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well, in the last couple weeks there have been two babies born! Jeff's sister Julie had Caleb at 9:17pm on Saturday July 26th. He was 8lbs. 3 oz. We were able to take a trip to Arizona this weekend to meet Caleb and visit Jeff's family. The time flew by. It was so fun to see everybody. Here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

Our good friends Emily and Galel had their first baby on Thursday August 7th at 12:26am I believe (I could be a little off on the time). He was 8lbs 10oz. I was actually able to be in the delivery room and got to see the birth. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. God amazes me by how every detail of the birth is so planned and perfect. Here is a picture of me and Marco.

We're Still Alive!

2008-08-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hello to all our fans out there. I know you have been missing us lately, but we just wanted to keep you in suspense about what's happening in our lives. haha! No, really, we're just not that exciting and don't have a pet or kids to talk about! We have been up to a couple things lately. Recently, we have gone to a Coldplay concert, a Dodger's game, and we did...yes, take our first Jenna and Jeff Braun camping trip....yeah, I know it's hard to picture me camping, but I think I actually did a pretty good job except for when I was surrounded by 5 or 6 bees as I was trying to eat my dinner the first night. I only freaked out a little bit. Needless to say, we had to eat our flank steak and caesar salad in our tent. Below are a couple pictures:

I had to take this picture of Jeff because it was classic...please notice the outfit, chips on his stomach, etc...I LOVE HIM!

Back From Downunder

2008-06-23T18:29:00.001-07:00

Kendall returned back to the United States on Sunday morning. We were able to spend a few hours with her while she had a layover in LA. It was a pretty eventful day because one of her suitcases was left in Brisbane, then she didn't get to say goodbye to most of her friends, then a couple other things happened. However, we got to meet her sweet friend Jenna and take them to In-N-Out for lunch. They were excited to have a good hamburger!

My mom also went over there a few weeks ago to visit, and I thought I would share with you a picture from a chocolate shop they went to.

As for Jeff and me...I went back to work this morning after an amazing two week sabbatical where I was able to read, be creative, lay in the sun and spend time with friends. It was such a blessing. Jeff is still in the middle of his shutdown and will hopefully be slowing down within the next couple weeks.

More Baby Shower

2008-06-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from the baby shower. It was the first chance I was able to use my drink dispenser that I got for Christmas. I thought it looked so cute! I also made some of the famous sugar cookies. I'm bringing the business down to California. I even had somebody ask me if i would make them and sell them. :)

This is Emily and Donna. I work with Donna and Emily is obviously the one that I had the shower for. She is due in 7 weeks! YAY! There are so many babies coming in August.

Now I will continue my second week of sabbatical. I am going on a retreat tomorrow-wednesday. It should be really fun. I'm going to be sad when it's over, but also excited to start my new job at the church!

Sabbatical Part I

2008-06-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

This past week has been so great! The elders at our church were gracious and gave each staff person a two week sabbatical. Mine began on Monday and goes until Friday the 20th. It has been such a great time and I am so thankful for it. This week I was able to relax, and get some stuff done around the house, read, and prepare for a Emily's baby shower. Above is a cake I made out of diapers. :) It was so fun! The shower was today and it went very well.

Jeff has also been working a lot these past couple weeks, so it has been a little interesting! By the time he gets home he is ready to relax and I'm ready to go do something. :) Well, that's it for now!

Memorial Day

2008-06-01T21:41:00.001-07:00

This Memorial Day we went over to the Scott's house and Jeff helped build a 1/4 pipe with the boys, while the girls hung out inside, snacked, and played games. The boys have been really into skateboarding lately, so they they decided what better than to have a skate ramp in their own driveway. Here is the finished product with all of the boys and men!

A new shower curtain!

2008-04-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

I have never been too happy about our shower curtain because it is pretty plain and not too fun! I wanted something more fun, but when I was in the market for one, this is the best one I could find.

I was looking online the other night and found a new one that I liked, so I went and traded something in at Bed Bath and Beyond and here's the new bathroom look!

Laney the Burrito

2008-04-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Laney and Kristin were here visiting last weekend and they stayed a night with us. Laney stayed up a little later than usual and was her normal crazy self! She was having fun with uncle "deddy" while he was rolling her up in her sleeping bag. He was also putting her at the bottom of it and carrying it around. Then she would quickly say "all done, all done" meaning she wanted to come out! It's so fun to hang out with them and laugh at the cute things she does.

Girls' Weekend

2008-04-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

It's obviously been a while since I updated the blog...I have definitely been slacking. I'm not as witty as some of the people I know, so I think my entries are boring. But here it goes...My mom and Jenny came down a few weekends ago to visit and we had to much fun. They were able to see where I work and meet a lot of the people I work with. We had time to go shopping and time to walk around Long Beach too. They stayed at our apartment with us and slept on the couch and an air mattress on the floor (such troopers). Pretty soon our guests will have a bed to sleep in! Feel free to come visit!

Weekend in the Northwest

2008-03-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I flew up to Washington for Haley and Drew's wedding...Jeff stayed back home to work and have a relaxing weekend while I was going to rehearsals, weddings, and seeing the new baby Peyton! The wedding was beautiful and it was so fun to hang out with everybody from the 'couve! Here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

Australia...here she comes!

2008-02-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

Kendall came over for a little bit on Sunday. She was on her way through to Australia and had a layover in LA! It was also her 21st birthday! We had so much fun. We just hung out at the apartment, then went to Yardhouse for dinner. Megan drove up too from Irvine!

Kendall made it to Australia and it sounds like she is having a good time scubadiving in the Great Barrier Reef. She said that she's missing the luxury of being able to call and text her friends whenever she wants to, but maybe that will mean when she comes back she won't be on her phone as much! HA! :) Love you Ken!

a full weekend

2008-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

This weekend was crazy! Jeff got home at about 1am on Friday night from being gone for the whole week. It was so great to see him and have him home. Kaelyn, Nancy, Kristin, and Laney were in town and we were able to go to a couple of Kaelyn's soccer games. Here's a snapshot!

I also had a wedding shower to go to for Haley. We ate lots of yummy chocolate fondue and played a few games. I won two of them! Here's a picture from our toilet paper bride contest. Michelle made a great bride! :)

Fun Stuff

2008-01-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we got a new computer! We love it. Here's our little desk space and a picture we took with the computer!

In the background of this one is a roller coaster...we were acting like we were on it!

It's Christmas Time in the City

2008-01-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Wow...it's been a while since the last post...again! A crazy season is behind us, and I'm sad that it's over. This Christmas was special because it was the first Christmas we have ever spent together. We were able to spend Christmas Eve and Day at home in Washington, then after we got back to California the Braun/Gransee clan came out to California to celebrate with us. We got the best of both worlds! Here are a couple pictures!

Here is a picture of mom and me out at dinner one night...aren't we cute? Brandon was there with us and every time somebody would pass the table to leave the restaurant he would say, "Have a good night." Most of the time they didn't know what to do! One of the other highlights from our trip to Washington is that is snowed two days while we were there. It snowed for the first time in 20 years on Christmas Day, which was special because Jeff had never seen it snow on Christmas. We also enjoyed just relaxing at the house watching home videos and laughing together.

One of the highlights from when the Braun/Gransee clan was here was how funny the kids were. They love each other so much and area always asking where the other one is. Noah really enjoyed tearing the wrapping paper apart into pieces, then he got inside the box and was tearing the tissue paper into pieces. He thought he was really strong!

Christmas Time is Here!

2007-12-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

Although our apartment is a little small, we still really wanted to get a tree! It smells so yummy and looks so great. It makes it feel like Christmas. It was also fun, since this is our first married Christmas, we got to pick out ornaments and stuff to go on the tree. Here's how it turned out!

Thanksgiving Fun!

2007-11-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

We spent the last week in Arizona with Jeff's family. We had a great time hanging out with everybody, shopping, working on the car, going to the shooting range, playing with the kids, and eating! Here is one of my new favorite recipes.

CRANBERRY PUFFS (a.k.a. try 'em you'll like 'em wontons)
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
1 jalapeno pepper, stem removed
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) package wonton wrappers
3 cups canola oil for frying

DIRECTIONS
In a food processor, combine the cranberries, jalapeno pepper, sugar and mayonnaise. Process until smooth. This will be your cranberry relish. Set aside half of this mixture, and pour the rest into a medium bowl. Mix cream cheese into this half until well blended.
Lay a few wonton wrappers at a time out on a clean surface. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the center of each one. Pinch the corners together to make a triangle shape. If they don't stick, wet them with a little water using your finger. Set aside on a piece of waxed paper while you assemble the remaining puffs.
Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully set 5 to 10 of the dumplings in the pan. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry on each side until golden brown. Remove from the hot oil using tongs and place on paper towels to drain. Serve on a platter with the reserved cranberry relish as a dipping sauce. The sooner you eat them, the better they taste.

Fall is for Football

2007-11-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we were hanging out at the apartment when Jeff received a text message. It was his friend asking if we wanted two free tickets to the USC game at 5:00. Thankfully we hadn't made any solid plans that day and we were able to go. It was fun because it was their homecoming game. There were a ton of things going on around the coliseum. The thing that made the game the most fun was the fact that USC finally won! Here is a picture of us at the game.

I also went to a shower for my friend Jessica. It was so fun. We ate a really good egg dish and fruit, yummy coffee cake, and scones.
I actually was able to wear my new coat because it was a little chilly outside. Then we played games and opened presents, which was a time filled with much laughter. She is living out in Detroit right now because that's where her fiance is doing his residency, so we miss her a ton!

Life is Good and so is God

2007-10-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to start by saying that I really stink at this blogging business. I love the idea and I love to read other people's blogs, but when it comes to my own, I can never think of what to write and feel like it's not exciting to read. I guess I need to just get over that, huh?!

Things are staying pretty busy down here in California. The fires have been the biggest news lately. We feel so sorry for all the families that have been effected. Luckily, we don't live close to where the fires are/were, so we didn't have to be breathing in the smoke all the time. It seems that things are starting to slow down and almost all the fires have been put out. We both are enjoying our jobs, which is always good! Jeff was asked to be the engineer in charge of an emergency shut down at the refinery, which will happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am so proud of him! The only bad part is that he will probably have to work 6 days a week 12 hours a day. ROCKHARBOR is going well. I have been making some really good friends and I love being there. I feel like I am being developed a lot and am growing in a lot of different ways.

The thing that has been on my heart the most lately is God's grace and the peace He continually gives to us. As I have been going through trials in my own life and watching many of my close friends go through trials, God has been so gracious. A lot of times it is hard to see the good that comes out of hard times, but in the midst of these events, God is allowing me little glimpses of the way he is working.

Everyday I am in awe of the way God is working in my life and the lives of the people around me. I love that none of us deserve his grace or his mercy or the peace he so freely gives us, but the great thing is that he is holding it out in his hands just waiting for us to accept it. That's all we have to do. It is a daily choice to accept the things he so graciously offers, and I hope that each morning you will remember that and choose each of those things.

Chopped Veggie Salad

2007-09-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so for one of my wedding showers people were supposed to bring me recipes. I hadn't made any of them until yesterday and boy was it good. Here is the recipe.

3 cups each:
Celery, cauliflower, broccoli, petite frozen peas.

1 cup each:
Spanish peanuts, dried cranberries.

Dressing:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 T. Rice vinegar
2 T. Grated onion
1/4 cup parmesean cheese (ultra fine)
1 1/2 cup mayo

It is so refreshing and yummy! Jeff doesn't like mayonaise and won't even try the salad, so I guess that means more for me! :)

The Crazy Life

2007-09-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wow...I didn't realize it had been over a month since I had written. I promise I am going to get better at it and maybe even Jeff will post something. Life has been pretty crazy in the past month. We went up to Washington to celebrate my birthday with my family, and went to Arizona for a wedding reception and in the midst of that craziness, Jeff was gone for a week and a half at training. Since then things haven't been getting back to "normal"...and I'm seeming to think that I don't know what "normal" is anymore. I thought it was where life was crazy busy, but I am starting to think it's the other way around. I know it's probably going to get even worse from here on out.

We did get some amazing news yesterday. Most of you know that one of our close family friends, who is like my brother, has been re-diagnosed with osteosarcoma. He has three tumors and has been in a lot of pain. They tried one type of chemo and it wasn't working very well, so they did a couple treatments with another type. He went in yesterday for tests and scans and found out that the tumors are shrinking! We were so relieved and encouraged to hear that news. Praise God!

This weekend we plan on laying low and resting a little bit...I am slowly becoming somebody who likes to be home and have my downtime. Weird...

"The Big Easy"

2007-08-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we experienced our first days and nights apart since we have been married. I led a trip to New Orleans with 9 other people. Everybody was from ROCKHARBOR except for my parents. Let me just tell you, it was HOT! It was hot and the humidity was probably like 80 or 90%. We all had a wonderful time and really grew close as a team.

We did a bunch of different things. We tore town a garage/shop, distributed food to members of the community, did yardwork, helped at a barbecue, and fed the homeless at a place caled the wall. The two things I felt impacted me the most were distributing food and feeding the homeless. We were able to pray with people and hear their stories from when hurricane Katrina hit. Here is a picture of when we were handing out food. We were in a church parking lot and some of our team members were holding up signs that said free food. There were all kinds of people who came and got food. Some had evacuated before the hurricane and some didn't, but most of them had one thing in common...their house had been destroyed by the storm. Most of them were living in trailers.

God really worked in the lives of all the people on the team. Since I have been home, I continually think of the people there pray that they have hope and will be able to help get their city back to "normal" someday.

GOing to Mexico

2007-08-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to a town outside of Ensanada, Mexico and serve families there by building them houses. We worked with a ministry called Hands of Mercy. We went with a team of over 100 people from ROCKHARBOR. We were broken up into groups of 25 and our group built one house on Friday and one on Saturday. The first family we built for was a 19 year-old boy and a 14 year-old girl who had a 10 day old baby. The second family was a mom, dad, and son. This picture is the trailer they lived in. It was very crowded inside and had a lot of cracks in it where creatures were able to find their way in.

It was pretty incredible to see the poverty these people live in. They have no running water. They all have outhouses that don't smell to nice, and most of them have big barrels of water that they put uphill from their house so they can take showers and stuff. All of the roads off the main road were made of dirt, which made for a dirty weekend. There was always dust blowing everywhere. Here is one of our finished products. (I know it's not that good of a picture, so I will post more later this week)

On the way home today we were talking about how little these people have. It makes us all more aware of everything we "think" we need and reminds us that's not what life is about. We look forward to sharing stories in person or on the phone. Please continue to pray as I am leaving in 8 days for New Orleans. :)

Our Crazy Life!

2007-07-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, life is still going at a crazy fast pace! I don't think it will ever slow down! Jeff has still been working quite a bit. He worked 66 hours last week. I am looking forward to him working 9 hour days instead. We went to see Transformers last night. It was pretty good. A little cheesy, but Jeff loved it!

All this week I have been a counselor at VBS (Vacation Bible School). I have an assistant counselor who is amazing and then 13 eight and nine year old kids that I get to hang out with for four hours a day. I love it and it has been wearing me out too! I am starting to build relationships with my kids and soon the week will be over...bummer! I will post a picture of me and my kids soon.

This weekend Jeff's family is coming into town, so it will be fun to hang out with them! I think I am going to start working full time either next week or in a couple weeks. That should be an adjustment, but I am really looking forward to it. I got trained on some of my new duties today and it's exciting! I will be working with the event management system where everybody reserves spaces in the church for their ministry events. There are a lot of details I need to know because I am the one who will approve them using the spaces. But I love details!!

Weekend in Arizona

2007-07-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures from our fun weekend in Arizona. Laney is using a rotten orange to help Jeff clean my car. We watched her for a little while on Saturday and she had a great time getting soaked and sitting in the car wash water. We love her! Then there's a picture of Jeff playing with Noah. He is getting very big and it is so fun to watch him walk around. We are very lucky to have such cute niece and nephews.

This weekend we went to Arizona to surprise Jeff's parents when they got back from their 5 week trip to Africa. We went to the airport with everyone and they were very surprised. We also got to spend all of Saturday with Julie, Cory, Noah, Laney, and a little bit with Kristin. Julie and Cory have a Wii, so that was fun to play even though I looked like a retard trying to play the tennis game.

We went to church on Sunday morning and then Kristin and Julie made a really good huge lunch! The drive home wasn't too bad. Today it was back to work for both of us. Jeff is really enjoying his job. He is learning a lot and is doing a lot of neat things over there. I am going to be starting full time at ROCKHARBOR pretty soon, so that's exciting.

Our life continues to stay busy with friends and church. It has been a fun summer so far and we are looking forward to our trip to Mexico and my trip to New Orleans. I know God is going to change us both!

Happy 5th of July!

2007-07-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we were able to celebrate our first holiday as a married couple yesterday! Isn't that exciting?! Other than that there's not much else new with us. Jeff started working at Chevron last Monday and has been working a ton. They are in the middle of a big shut-down and are using all the help they can get! He worked 60 hours last week! He has been enjoying it and has also been learning a lot.

As for me I have been working, and enjoying getting home at a decent hour in the afternoon so I can clean up the apartment and have dinner ready when Jeff gets home. We went down to Costa Mesa yesterday and celebrated the 4th with the Scott family and their whole neighborhood, which was so much fun.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with some friends and are very excited about that...then it's almost the weekend! YAY!

Here We Go!

2007-06-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Lately I have found that a lot of people are starting to have blogs. I have been thinking about starting one for a while now, and finally Kristen convinced me to do it! I guess it's one way we can keep a larger number of poeple updated on our life and the new and exciting things going on! So here we are...

This picture is from the helicopter tour we took while we were on our honeymoon in Hawai'i. It was so much fun! We would definitely recommend it if you ever go. Just make sure and make reservations online because it's cheaper.

At the moment I am sitting at the apartment on our new comfy couch waiting for Jeff to come home. Only 3 and 1/2 more hours. Right now I am still only working part time for ROCKHARBOR, so I usually have Thursday and Fridays off, which is nice but I get bored. There are actually a lot of things I could be doing, but I feel like being lazy!

Tonight we are going to go to Disneyland because it's the last day our passes work and we really want to go on the new Finding Nemo ride (we'll see if it actually happens). I guess I should go find something productive to do! Bye for now!