Oh The Holidays...

I cannot complain, Jake and I have amazing families. I think that's what makes the holidays hard. We want to spend time with all of them. But... let's be honest, having both of our parents be divorced and remarried and not living close to them, visits home can get pretty crazy. You better believe we're going to see this new movie, "Four Christmases". It looks hilarious. For those of you who can't see, click here.

Cardboard Testimony

My friend Heidi sent me this and yes, I totally cried. It's long, but worth it.

Super Emotional

I've been weepy everyday since Friday. I'm feeling homesick for 2 places now. My Mom visited which is always very special, yet bittersweet. I miss not getting to be with her in the day to day for my grown up life. I'm fighting a cold and some "hormones" so my body is run down. All of this has caused me to work through some fears and sadness that I haven't dealt with until now. I think I'm lonely. I miss familiarity. I don't want to be in Arizona right now because it's hard. Here come the tears...

I know this sadness is actually a gift from God. For a very long time things have felt numb between Him and I and I have struggled with that. But now... I am feeling more in this than I ever thought I would or might want to. I have to rely on Him for everything.

Friends and family, I'm just venting and having one of those days. Just felt like spilling it out. New is hard for me. I know in my heart the way that a new move changes and progresses. I can do this. I can be patient for things to become familiar.

Delicious!

I tried these today. Lay's Ketchup Chips - only sold in Canada. I know it sounds gross, but they are REALLY good. I'm salivating right now thinking about it! :) A couple of kids visited Canada and brought Jon back a couple of bags so he let us try today (his wife's Canadian so that's how he knew about them).

Here's the bum deal... They're manufactured in the U.S., but only sold in Canada. And get this... I saw an ad on ebay where a Canadian is selling one bag for $4.99 plus $9.00 shipping! Highway robbery! Guess I won't be getting some more of these anytime soon!

Just Another Day At The "Office"

Ok, my job is pretty sweet. For example today... I invited one of my leaders to lunch and she told me, "Maybe I can get you to do some hot laps with us before we get food." "Alright," I said, thinking she was talking about power walking around her building with the ladies or something. Nope. Carol (the leader) works at Bondurant (as in Bob Bondurant the race car driver) School of High Performance Driving. I drove up to her "work" and found that it was a professional course and stadium for race tracks and high performance cars. She does HR there and had something special all set up for me.

Before I knew it, I had a helmet on and a driver named Craig strapping me into a Corvette. I screamed the entire time (and laughed nervously). And yes, we went well over 100 mph. Everyone's asking, "How fast did you go?" Do you think I was looking at the spedometer while my sweaty palms were gripping the door handle? LOL I am so proud of myself for being so adventurous. Thank God they took me out BEFORE lunch! :)

Instant Friends

Isn't it strange how some people you meet you can become instant friends with, and with others you don't quite click or only click a little? I'm trying to understand this, but I think I never will.

I met a girl at the church named Ashley. She's actually my admin, and when I first interviewed I didn't think she really liked me. I was kinda worried about how that working relationship would go - her reporting to me and all. But when I got here, her and I instantly connected. And Jake with her husband Ryan too - they're playing on a softball league tomorrow night. I was so excited to find out that we had made such good friends so quickly. We all got each others' personalities and it was so easy to hang out. You know how with some people it feels like work? :) I could tell we were all going to have alot of fun together.
PS - These 2 are not the ones I cooked for with my onion goggles on Tuesday night.

So about a week ago I found out that Ashley resigned her position at Central. Her and Ryan decided that they wanted to move back to Indiana for more affordable living. She can buy her dream house for like $150,000 - 5 bedrooms, a basement, a porch, acres of land. I know you Californians are about to gag right now. Yesterday I said goodbye to her. It's such a bummer.

It's not often you meet someone you instantly connect with, that takes no effort. Only God knows why some people can easily be friends and others can't. Making friends sometimes feels alot like dating. You make efforts and only sometimes it truly works out. It's just something I've been pondering lately. Hopefully I'll find more friends like this.

Onion Goggles

Ok, so here's my crazy story. I saw these in a magazine and HAD to have them. They're goggles you wear so your eyes don't hurt and cry while chopping onions. Let me tell you, I have tried everything to prevent my nose and eyes from being affected by onions, but nothing works. So, my super sweet brother Chris bought these for me for Christmas (or maybe my birthday; I don't remember) because I wanted to try them so bad. They're 20 bucks. Yes, 20 bucks for goggles. I'm a freak.

A couple here from the youth staff kinda invited themselves over for dinner Tuesday night. We were actually happy to be able to have a place to host new friends so we went along with it. They're younger and dating and don't have a place to hang out so they suggested our place. Little did I know that I would finally get to break out the onion goggles.

On an complete side note - this couple wanted me to cook dinner with only an hour of prep time, and... last minute they tell me that they don't like chicken for dinner or anything chocolate for dessert. What the heck was I to do? Make filet minon and creme brulee??? My mom gave me a quick and easy recipe for homemade salisbury steak and mashed potatoes, I threw in a bag of salad and told the couple to bring dessert. They brought over a vanilla birthday cake with the caption "Happy Birthday Jeniffer" - yep spelled weird and none of us are named Jeniffer. Kinda funny.

So here I am! Check me out below with my super cool goggles! I think I look like a cross between Joon from Bennie and Joon and Thelma from Scooby Doo. But let's be honest, they're all about function and THEY WORKED! :)