Dogs shed too much

This is what happens when I only sweep once a week.

Yes, that is dog hair.

Destiny

The Lord has done a mighty work in me, and is continuing to do so. Recently I've struggled with my job, my calling, my destiny. To the point that I cry out, "Lord! What do I do?!" Every person has a God-given destiny, and I'm on the road of my own.

This process has been a time of growth, a time of trial. There are days that I rejoice in only one fact, "My Lord is good," and other days I struggle even getting out of bed and facing the day. But through it all God is working in me. He is working in me.

I started a Bible study by Beth Moore at my church at the beginning of the semester with the main goal of making friends. How much more God has given me! You see I went in with the plans to connect with some people, and God sent me out with new life! He sent me out with new perspective, and a deeper desire to commune with the very being that loves me and knows my every heart's desire. I walked out with a deeper passion to do God's will in my life. Such a simple statement but packed with a punch. To do God's will in MY life.

I highly recommend studies by Beth Moore. She's an incredible lady and dives into the deepest parts of the Bible, the biblical truths that we all need to hear. This particular study was on the book of Esther. Do you know that there is no word mention of God in Esther? Yet his name is written ALL OVER IT! Esther was a woman, a human, who took the courage God offered her-she took it! and fulfilled her destiny.

"And who knows (italics added by me) whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" God knows. God KNOWS! And in my own life God knows that I have come to this place for such a time as this.

Through this study I've have learned so much about the desires of my heart. I've learned about God's way of destiny-Lord why am I here? And Fear-even the fear of death. But death is not our destination, it's merely a part of our destiny. And if God be glorified in death-WHICH HE ALREADY CONCURRED!-then I will be courageous.

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever." ~Ps. 138:8

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. And I don't know about you, but God is the one person I can trust in for doing what he says!

"May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!...May he grant your (CHECK THIS!) heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! (italics added by me)" Ps. 20:1-4

God could not have put this in a more perfect order: First he will answer in the day of trouble, then he will protect, AND support! And last he will grant your HEART'S DESIRE. Wow. When I go through a trial, a time of growth I need to hear these words. That my Lord will hear me, protect me, support me, and fulfill what I desire so deeply.

I desire to fulfill my God-given destiny. I don't know entirely what that entails yet-I'm still walking the road. But Praise the LORD I know God is with me. And he loves me. Thank you Lord. Thank you.

Patrick thinks he's real funny. I'm innocently sleeping, and...

I guess I'm just glad he didn't take a video of me snoring.

Series 7 DONE!

I love my husband. I'm so proud of him for studying so hard for his test at work and passing by a landslide! He began this profession (banking/financial) only one short year ago. Since then he has claimed promotion after promotion. At this rate, he'll be to his final career goal at the end of 3 years! I'm so proud of him for doing what he wanted to do regardless of what others might think or say. (Although the people that know him best know that financial things were always his strong suit). I love him.





Of course we had to celebrate at Z-Tejas-this is a big deal! To the wonderful man in my life, Patrick, who continues to amaze me by his perseverance, character, love and ability to inspire those around him-especially me.

2nd Anniversary

Patrick and I got an idea from a couple while we were living in Flagstaff on how to celebrate anniversaries. They said celebrating their marriage was really important to them, and having an element of surprise is sometimes fun too. So every year they switch off who is going to plan the anniversary festivities. They've gone to Sea World, spent a couple of days in a nice hotel, gone on a road trip, lots of different things. No matter how big or small the plans (some years require a slightly smaller celebration as we all know), they always enjoy going together and spending time together.

So, we've taken that idea on as our own. I have odd years (1,3,5, etc.) and Patrick has even years. Last year was my year to plan and since it was our paper year I got us tickets to see The Lion King at Gammage. Plus, Patrick picked up Cheesecake Factory and we ate a delicious dinner (while I was listening to high schoolers audition for the musical). So I wasn't able to take off the whole day, but it was really romantic (at least I thought).

This year is Patrick's year to plan, and we're going to.......SONOMA!!

Doesn't it look beautiful!?! We're planning to go right after Christmas (Patrick has time off then). And I'm so excited. So so excited. Even more excited for this than Christmas and Thanksgiving :o)

Mt. Lemon

Last weekend we went with the Sims...I mean...Andersons :o) to hike Mt. Lemon. It was so much fun! My alarm went off around 7am and I turned it off. I guess subconsciously I couldn't make any sense of waking up so early when I was on vacation. Anyhow, we got a late start but finally got on the road. We decided to take the back road instead of I-10, and ended up stopping in Florence. I know, I know, not the best idea. Patrick and I are in the car a lot. Sometimes going to California, sometimes Flagstaff, but whenever we go for a road trip we always stock up on sunflower seeds. Which is the reason we stopped in Florence: sunflower seeds. So we pull up to some no-name gas station and Patrick goes inside to get the goods while I stay in the car with the dogs. Patrick is inside the store and a guy from the truck next to us is getting back into his vehicle. He gets in, and begins to open his bag of beef jerky with a knife. A KNIFE THE LENGTH OF MY ARM!!!! Ok, not my whole arm, but about 18"! Excuse me, what bag of beefy goodness is so hard to open you have to use a machete to get the insides?! So Patrick returns with some ice tea and sunflower seeds and I book it out of there. On to Tucson. So we finally get to Tucson and we caravan with Becca and Ryan to Mt. Lemon. Boy we had a blast with them! They're newly married like us...okay well they're newly married and don't have kids. And the best part is all four of us get along. I guess I never really thought about the importance of you and your spouse getting along with a friend and their spouse until I got married. Alright, back to the story. So we went for a hike and it was beautiful. I posted some pictures from our trip. Oh vacation-I love it.

The Fair!

I haven't been to the AZ State Fair since I was a kid. Honestly, I can only remember going once. So when Emily Greco said, "hey come with me and my sister!" I jumped at the chance. And let me tell you, I had so much fun. This is what we did:

Looked at all the exhibits
Watched a pig race
Walked all around
And at the following (yes, all of it): Funnel Cake, Apple Fries, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Pineapple Whip, and Fried Snickers.

The food was amazing, seriously. Fried Snickers-I highly recommend it! (And who would've thought?!?)