The Lord has Come!

Merry Christmas!

Oh how much I love the Christmas season. Christmas lights, cold weather, snow, and getting to see people on festive occasions makes this my favorite time of year. Yes, I enjoy the newness of spring, the summer fun, and the cool, autumn months....but there's just something about the 4ish weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. 

Matt and I are really enjoying our advent readings. For those who may not be acquainted with Advent (literally, "coming") is the time leading up to Christmas day that focuses on the promises and their fulfillment of Christ in scripture. We have just begun at Creation and worked our way through the Old Testament and into the New Testament each night of December. It was a great tradition we started last year for our first Christmas and are looking forward to someday reading these same passages with Josiah. It's exciting to see just how great our salvation is---something worth celebrating!

So here's to a Merry Christmas to you wherever you are, hoping that you are trusting in God for the salvation his has sent in the child in a manger. For there is no other by which man can be saved.

Capitol Fun

Matt and I have been back from D.C. now for almost a week. Matt has been traveling on business lately and through frugal living and generosity from certain individuals, I have gotten to go along for the ride! 

Here are the pictures we took along the way. 

This was a burger place about a 5-minute walk from the apartment we rented. 

Capitol Dome---the place where all the magic happens. Or, mostly, doesn't happen

Matt has a work project going on here: The Cannon Building.

Inside were some of the offices of Congressmen and House Members.

The Cannon building is a few minutes walk from the Capitol dome

One day while Matt was working, I got to hang out in a nearby neighborhood.

Eastern Market was one place I went into. It has many mom-and-pop vendors who sell cheeses, meats, goodies, baked goods, etc. I was hoping for more art-and-crafts, but apparently that day wasn't the day for it. Matt and I were able to try a few items for a snack later on.

These houses are the first thing I think of when I think of Washington D.C. I know, I know....weird. Why not the Capitol, memorials, white house you ask? I don't really know, but I love these houses and am mostly fond of just walking in places that have them.

We were waiting for the subway to take us into D.C. when we first got in. Matt and I really enjoy public transportation like the Metro in D.C., and though it's not practical for where we lived, I kinda wished there was one here.

Another quaint store I found while walking around. They were closed when I happened upon it, but these are the gems I love to find in a town.

Matt and I rode bikes as much as we could possibly could while we were there---so easy to get around on, faster than walking and cheaper than the Metro. It also gave us a couple of good workouts while we were there :) It was very nice this day and we rode alongside the Potomac River on the way to a fish market. You can see the river in the background.

Us in front of the Potomac River

This was a neat fish market we heard of before we went to D.C. It has been operating for over 200 years and has great fresh fish from the Chesapeake Bay.

Matt eating seafood at the Maine Avenue Fish Market 

We rode our bikes over a bridge near the Fish Market. Yes that is the Potomac.

After we shot this picture, we rode down the bridge and where all the trees are. We did alot of bike riding that day....sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn't.

One of our favorite times, was going to an outdoor market where vendors had their wares. There was even a man that had a small donut making machine---it made mini donuts! Matt, of course, had to have some :) 

Late one night (maybe 9pm, you can tell I'm a mom) we walked by the White House, but they had not yet lit the Christmas tree. Still a beautiful sight to see at night!

Arlington National Cemetery.

 We went to the Holocaust Museum (were not allowed to take pictures) and though we spent 3 hours there, we did not have enough time to look at everything. It was amazing to see.

We also took a bus out to see Mount Vernon (forgot to take pictures..ooops). We ate at the colonial eatery they have on site and were able to walk around and see the house, gardens and livestock. Made Matt and I start thinking about our next garden to plan and our own mini-one day farm :)

Yet the terrible and wonderful thing that happened, was that while all these experiences were great, they did not satisfy us in the least. We enjoyed ourselves, yet saw how fleeting this world is. All of these building will one day be less than ruins, they will be non-existent. Only what is apart of Christ's kingdom will matter. How much our focus can be on these great white buildings, or even our hope be put in these "great" men we call our forefathers. Yes, while they are men to be honored, they are not God. Not even close, yet too often we place our hope in what the leaders of our country do and do not do. The Bible calls us to place our hope in the Lord. And his hope does not disappoint!

The Fruit of Gardening

I love to garden. I may not be that great at it, but it seems as if I'm learning more and more, all while God is giving the fruit.

 This fall we planted a wide variety of veggies: eggplant, broccoli, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts,and banana peppers. The lettuce and kale have been great for salads for a while and continue to grow(very cost effective!) but most everything is just now being ready for harvest. 

Gardening is very rewarding hobby. As much as I love flowers, there's just something wonderful about going to the backyard and grabbing a bowlful of lettuce to wash and put on the table. Or being able to pick eggplants off the vine to make for one of my favorite recipes: ratatouille! 

Many times, the scriptures speak of gardening analogies, in order to explain the kingdom of God. More often than not, these scriptures are brought to my memory while tending the garden. I am enjoying both the physical and spiritual fruit of growing vegetables in my own backyard.

North Korea

Matt and I were sick about a month ago (and Josiah and I have been wiped out for the past week as well), and we found some BBC Documentaries on our Amazon Prime account. We watched one we found on China, mostly about the landscape and wildlife of the country. Then we stumbled upon this:

We were flabbergasted. Correction: We are flabbergasted.
True we do not own cable, so we don't watch the news regularly like most Americans. But we are up to date on most news stories, are involved in world missions and even are recent college graduates. How did we not know that these sorts of things were happening in NK? Sure we knew about the country being closed, but this documentary opened our eyes into how the people of this country live.

We are also currently listening to the audiobook version of Escape from Camp 14, suggested to us by a friend.

Has anyone else known what this country is doing? Why did we not know? I guess this sort of thing happens in many countries. We follow an organization called the Voice of the Martyrs (a group that helps Christians who are being tortured and killed for Christ) and hear about brutality. But a whole country that is brainwashed? Look at this satellite photo at night:


The portion highlighted in red is North Korea. Barely any light is seen. What a illustration to how 'dark' the country is.

Matt and I have been burdened for this country now, as we continue to listen to how one man escaped a prison camp, as we pray to ask that God would show Himself to this country. So that we do not forget the North Koreans and their plight, every month on the 14th, we will eat boiled cabbage soup, the meager food that most of the lower class get everyday of their life. We will, however, eat it with rice, a luxury most Koreans cannot afford!

We join us as we pray for the Christians in this country, the oppressed people, and the cruel leaders, that all might submit to the "perfect law of liberty" which is the word of God.

Sunny Florida

The husband and I took a business trip to Orlando and how wonderful it was! We were able to leave the little guy with his Grandmama and it was like having a date week! Except that Matt had to work during the day.

Matt and I are not the typical touristy people and though we like Disneyworld, Universal Studios etc, we would much rather take in the local culture and have simple fun. Thus the following pictures of the two of us playing mini-golf at a cool pirate-themed park. So much fun! Though Matt played golf in high school and has quite the skilled hand, I didn't fall too behind!

We did drive through Celebration (Disney was the city planner) and saw the fireworks of Disneyworld from afar, but we had much too fun just being in a different place and driving around to see places and people.

How are you?

Busy.

At least, that's what I always seem to say. No really, I'm not that busy, not as busy as her, or her, or them. But that's what I say: busy.

Or "good".
Apparently I cannot answer the "How are you doing?" question fully... ever. My standard response is always the short, blunt and no-strings-attached one word. Why is this? Honestly I think its because I haven't given it much thought lately and these are the only two words floating around my head.

But is that what my life is to be about? Being busy?

I once read that being busy does not translate into being faithful. Ouch. Did you feel that? So often I am "busy" but failing at being faithful. Faithful to serve and honor my husband. Faithful to love and teach Josiah during our day. Faithful to take care of responsibilities and commitments I've made. Faithful to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

So how am I doing, you might ask? Come ask me......

Camping and Cold weather

So 70 degrees may not be "cold weather", but here in Texas, we'll take it!

About 2 weeks ago, we had our first "cold" snap (where the temperature dipped into the lower 50's!) so Matt and I started a fire in our fire pit and had hot chocolate!

Last weekend we took a couple of boys we have befriended and went camping with another family from our church. It had been a while since I had been camping---but oh so enjoyable. We went to Lake Somerville and camped by the Lake. Sorry I forgot to take pictures, but we all had a great time. We especially enjoyed going with our friends and spending time with them.

The Build-Out (part one)

We are embarking on building out our carport into 400 more square feet of usable house space! Hooray!

Matt and I brought our budget friendly home with plans to build out and maximize the potential of the home. As it stands it is 950 feet which is great for just the 3 of us, but we'd like more room for larger groups of people and for some plans that the Lord is leading us in.

This is what it looked like 6 months ago. eeeek!

Horrible wasn't it. The bad part is that is isn't much better now...

This past week we purchased our backdoor and tile for the new room.

We are finalizing our plans for the room and then construction begins. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Free-time Crafts

I love creating things and making things new. The Lord has given me much joy in sewing and crafting, especially when I can take ordinary things(even trash!) and make them special. 
The Bible speaks about how the Lord has done this with his people. Ezekiel 16 is a clear picture of how on our own, we are dead in sin, covered in filth. But it goes on to tell how the Lord takes a person, cleans them and clothes them in wonderful fabric, jewels and perfumes. 

In these recent projects, may these be honoring to the Lord as I remember how He has taken me and made me into something useful for Himself!

Here are some recent projects that I have been working on:

Matt gave me a Kindle for Mothers day and I wanted to make my own cover for it

It used to have a string that looped around the button to keep it closed. I used some leftover chipboard from an old 3-ring binder and sewed the boards into the orange fabric. It can even stand up by itself!

 I have stainless steel pans with handles that heat up along with the pan itself. Very frustrating to use potholders every time I want to move the pan while it's still hot. Not very practical for young kids in the house either. So I made a small potholder with some scrap fabric and then sewed it in a cylinder. It has been very helpful the past couple of weeks. 

This is one of the new pillows I have made for our living room, with many more to come. I'm hoping to also find some fabric for drapes and other projects.

I've also made a few reusable covers for my swiffer mop, made from old dishtowels. (not pictured)

Many more sewing and craft projects to come!

8 months and balloons!

Josiah turned 8 months old last week.

Highlights: He has 4 teeth now and can crawl and pull up onto things!

I blew up some balloons for Matt's birthday (really so Josiah could play with them)