Christmas Time Again!

I love Christmas. I love being with family. I love presents :) - both giving and getting. I LOVE being with my baybas (Lauren and Jake Jake turn 1 yrs old tomorrow). Below are their pictures one year ago TOMORROW!


























And my baybas as of late:
























Now, actually, they have so much more hair than in these pictures.... I need some updated photos.. I have some; they just need to be scanned in.

Dan has been saying all week long how much he hates Christmas. He hates feeling obligated to buy presents, he hates all of the chaos, he hates the holiday traffic, he hates spending $$$, he hates having to go to 8 million Christmas parties.

OH MY GOODNESS - I forgot mention. I went to my first bar! Well, in the US. I've been clubbing and to bars in Germany (what's not a pub there?). Emily (Dan's cousin) and Matt (family/childhood friend) wanted to go out after holiday hooplah on Christmas Eve - so Dan and I met them and Bridget at a bar in Mishawaka. Scary. A fight broke out and everything. The fight included the bar owner and his girlfriend. He slammed her into the door and then she proceeded to break everything in the back room. We heard glass breaking for a good length of time (maybe 3-7 min). I didn't drink anything - just Pepsi :). Although, I was carded. We shared so many good stories and memories, it was great. At Midnight, we were asked to leave, b/c the bar was closing - so we went to IHOP until about 2 am. I think that was one of the funnest nights I've had in a long, long time :).

I don't care what Dan thinks of Christmas - I love it :)!


*Pay no attention to the dates on the pictures... I rarely set it to the correct date. The wee baby photos were taken on 12-26-05 and the later ones were taken in August after our trip to Washington D.C. to visit my mom and dad.

There is something that God has been asking me to do for a long time, and I keep saying, "no" - somewhat from fear, mostly to sort some things out. But everytime I say no, it hits me that I just disobeyed God. So I return to him humbly and tell him how sorry I am and ask for His forgiveness. And what I feel him saying is, "OK, but I still want you to do this". And then I say, "no - I just can't, Abba". It turns into a vicious cycle. I was so sick of disobeying that I just stopped talking with God about it. And when He would bring it up, I would change the subject. But He's brought it up again. And it's time I said, "Yes, Lord". I've been so stupid and foolish for having said no in the first place. I remember telling myself in the past, "I will never tell God 'no' - not ever, no matter how hard it is to say 'yes'". And when I found myself in that situation, what did I do? I said, "no". Mulled it over, yes. Took it into great consideration, yes. But then decided the risk was just too great - regardless of how much God whispered to my heart, "you need to just trust me". I'm tired of it, and I truly believe that it has robbed me of peace. Not all of my peace and joy - but a good chunk of it. And I am going to claim it back. I want to honor God. I don't want there to be a single thing wedged between me and God. Even if it means doing what's hard, just because He's asking me.

Pray for the Lord to give me strength.

I always have so many great ideas for blogs throughout the week, and then I get to this point: At my computer with not a single idea simmering, waiting to burst out. I need a notebook or something ...

My HH* who is just amazing bought me a Christmas present that is just too much. So we're sharing it. He got me one of those video iPods. All I got him was a ping pong table (although he seems pretty excited about it). I am telling you what - I love it (the iPod). I have been listening to worship music and Bible on CD everywhere. I even downloaded a movie & an episode of The Office that I missed and was so sure I'd never ever be able to see. I listen to the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack (a personal fave - but I can only handle so much of it). AND I LOVE THE PODCASTS. Mostly because: THEY'RE FREE!!! My favorites are: German Grammer, Joyce Meyer, Youth Specialties (for youth leaders), Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Old Time Radio Shows, and I can't remember the few others I keep tabs on. Joyce Meyer is my absolute favorite. I am always finding myself mumbling (and sometimes shouting) "Amen!" - You realize that "Amen" means "I Beleive", right? I love saying that, too, though .... just as a personal declaration to a particular statement .... "I believe!!"

God could NOT have given me a more wonderful, precious, amazing, handsome, awe-inspiring husband. Well, I know God can certainly do anything - but I just can't imagine it. Dan shows me so much love every day. I only pray that I show him at least half as much. He is just amazing. Everyday he surprises me with another side of his personality and character. I'm always just staring at him in amazement, because I just think to myself, "are we sure this is my husband?? how could I be so lucky??" But God is good! All the time!!!

Horatio is being precious as ever, of course. Always mischevious, but uses his cuteness to ellude the truth. He got a battery operated mouse for Christmas. I haven't been able to put the batteries in yet, but I know he's just going to freak out when I get it working.

Are you wondering how everyone already knows what they're getting for Christmas? It's because we've already gotten them for Christmas. Since we go home to Indiana for Christmas, we try to have our personal Hartstein family Christmas here in Iowa, since this is our home. But we have a pretty busy next couple of weeks on our hands - so we had Christmas on Katie Starkey's birthday - December 1st! I love Christmas :) I'm making most of my presents this year. Although ... I need to start assembling them!

First.. I should probably go to bed. Have a good night!!

Keep Loving Jesus!

*HH = Handsome Husband

An entire month of NOT posting a single word! I hate it when that happens ... ;)

So I'm going through another huge transition period - but it's so good and SO needed. I'm transitioning to working part time at SF and part time at the church as the youth leader. There is so much I want to do, so much that needs to get done soon. (BTW I can't forget to a get a card for 3 different people - 2 lost their mothers within the past month or so, and the other is for Deener, a local 4th grader - she was playing a game at the school and at one point fell forward and broke all of her front teeth. Bless her heart!) <-- does that ever happen to you?? You start tying a story or .. something, and then all of a sudden you think of something that you feel like you just HAVE to write down right now or else you'll forget?? Yeah. Happens to me all the time. - At least I write it down, right?? I'm also getting back into Mary Kay. I have to admit. My blood runs pink. I love it. It's in me. I love the women, I love the parties, I love the rewards, I love enriching women's lives. I have so many dreams, so many plans, and I am confident that I'm going to see them come true. If nothing else - I remember Ron Luce praying over me that millions of dollars would flow through my hands so that I could invest it into the kingdom of God. I truly believe that MK is going to be a vehicle that God is going to use to make that happen. I am getting excited about getting back involved. If you're out of the loop a little bit, I started MK in 2003 and have always enjoyed it. But it was difficult for me to get very far, because I had little guidance. I now have a good friend, Andrea M., who is a director (who actually began her MK business after I did!) and she's going to help me make it happen. I can't wait to get started! I just put it all in God's hands.

In the personal news, no baby yet. Sad. I know it, I know it. I am so disappointed every time my friend comes to visit each month. Because then it's like, "ugggghhhh we have to start all over again!" But ... I guess that's half the fun, right?? (I just had a thought: Gosh I hope my dad doesn't read this site....!) And YES, we are trying. YEA!!!! It'll happen when it's God's right timing. Absolutely! And I'm just praying that we'll be more than ready when that happens.

Youth Group news - we had an awesome lock in a couple Fridays ago and had 35 kids! It was so great. We usually average about 23-24. So 35 has definitely been the most we've had. And the best part is that they are all just becoming apart of my heart. The relationships we're building with them are just unreal. I'm loving every single stinkin minute of it. There's just so much more that we need to do, so much further we need to be. But as long as God is guiding us, we're going to be just fine throughout the entire process. Did I just say process?? What is this a system (well, maybe?)?? Maybe journey or something to that effect would be more appropriate.

Shannon is coming to stay with us soon! I'm really excited about that. I think we're going to have a great time. And then we drop her back off at home and then Dan and I take off for OREGON to see Katie and Michael get MARRIED!! Yea!!!!!!!! We're going to be old and married together! And maybe we'll get pregnant together!! Hmm... probably not with my first one, huh? Oh well. I love Katie so much :)

Well, that's a pretty BRIEF update on what's going on with us these days. Dan's in the middle of his rotations - I didn't mention that. Horatio is being good - didn't mention that.. Oh well. I'll update more later! Have a GREAT night!!!! and visit my MK website - www.marykay.com/andreahartstein!

Are you wondering why I haven't answered any E-mails, comments on Myspace or anything? Well - for some reason I can't access any of that! And I can't figure out why. My internet browswer won't let me get to the login screen. I was surprised I could even log into my blogger.

Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhh .......... I've sat at this computer for hours trying to get it to work! I don't know what's wrong...

The Covered Bridge Festival

For as long as I can remember, we've always gone down to the Covered Bridge Festival in Terre Houte, Indiana with our family every few years. It's been awhile since we've gone, though. Typically, we go to Brown County one year (which we still do, on this schedule) and then the Covered Bridge Festival the next. If the whole family still went, this would be the year that we'd go to the Covered Bridge Festival. But, like it's been the past several years, that's not going to happen.

.... Until today! I was watching the news this morning and realized that Iowa has a Covered Bridge Festival in Winterset!! Yea :)! Now, I just have to convince Dan to take me :) I suppose I could go by myself, but it's so much better with your family. I've printed out the map to all the bridges, and I'm starting to get excited about wandering the streets, looking at all the crafts and art. Yea!!!! I'm so excited!!!!

You know what.. The more that I think about it and dream about it, the more that Des Moines just seems like the perfect place for us to root. We have a fanatastic church, the local school is great, we have friends here, there's the Covered Bridge Festival!!, all of our family is going to be all over the country anyway. The only thing we're missing is having family. Just someone from our family being out here would make such a difference. I really hope that Carl decides to go to college in Aimes... Or maybe we can convince someone else to move out here (Christi, Jim and Taddie maybe?? ... Or, by a long shot, Cheryl, Bill and Tori?) It would make such a difference.

I just don't want our kids to forget what we have in Michigan/Indiana. The history, the family. I don't want my kids growing up not knowing who their Great Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike are. Or even their fourth cousin, Christian Lee. My family is so close.. I think my fears are all rooted in growing apart and distant from the people who mean the most to us.

Gosh ... even if my mom and dad moved to St. Louis, MO - that's closer than Washington D.C. But I know how much they LOVE it out there. Again, no family. But my dad loves his job and my mom loves the history in the area. Just as long as Dan and I schedule at least 3-4 times a year traveling out there. Maybe more when we have kids.

OK! Sometimes, I wonder if I think about this stuff too much ... I guess I'm just trying to find a solution! Oh well - I just need to remember to leave it in God's hands, and trust that we're here for a reason. Because we are, you know.

Journaling Prompt - Pretend that you see yourself walking into a room. What's your first impression of yourself? What stands out about you? Optionally extend this exercise by changing the "room" you are entering (the gym, the office, etc.). How does that change your impression?

So, I am basically two different people in this scenario. The first me is sitting at a table in a restaurant. The restaurant isn't a McDonald's, but it's also not a Carriage House. It's more of .... an Applebee's J Maybe I'm sitting alone, maybe with one other person, I'm not sure. Hmm.. Let's say that I am alone for the sake of having an opportunity to be distracted by another me walking into the room. This me is walking through the doors of Applebee's with Dan. I'm wearing a long sleeved, pink, thermal shirt with a gray Notre Dame Lacrosse shirt over top. Jeans and tennis shoes complete this casual look. My hair is shoulder length, probably half pulled back into a clip. Make up is done neatly with an emphasis on my eyes. The other me, sitting at the table alone, would probably glance over to see Dan and I talking while we're waiting for the waitress to seat us. And I think that I would be thinking .... "they look so happy. Hmm.. I love the way she did her eye make up. It makes her eyes seem soft, yet at the same time, it makes it look like what she's looking at is so important (would you call that focused?) .... I wonder if she knows Jesus. How else would you have eyes like that? Eyes that light up with joy. Eyes that just look like you've spent time with Jesus."

So ... this is sometimes the line of thinking that runs through my mind when someone else pops out to me. And I suppose it's what I hope that others think when they see me. I frequently pray that God will just shine through me. I pray that someone could just look at my eyes, at the joy on my face, and see a glimpse of Him. And really, I hope that's what others think when they see me in any setting, whether that be in the office, in the gym, in the classroom, anywhere.

Funniest Book I've Read in a Long Time! #1

Gabcast! Funniest Book I've Read in a Long Time! #1

If I didn't have Dan... I wouldn't laugh as much :)

So... I took a GREAT picture of Dan the other day. But he thought I was going to take the picture with the digital camera - all I had was a disposable. So I took it! And now he won't let me develop it. [Disposable camera = $10]

He cracks me up :) Well, he's tried on my high heels a couple of times now, and actually has the walk down pretty good! [High Heels = $30]

He was trying them on and walking around the house, when he had to go to the bathroom real bad. So he was using the rest room (standing.. I'll spare you the details) while he still had the heels on (don't tell him I told you, but he was only wearing his underwear). So I grabbed the camera and *SNAP*. Memory preserved forever :). [underwear = $8/pack]

Oh it was hillarious! When he realized what I had done, he was half cracking up and have shrieking at me - I can still see the look on his face when he says, "Andrea! How could you do that?? I'm in my underwear!" [Freaking out my husband and creating memories = priceless]

Yeah. He's trying to figure out where I've hid the camera. I'm not revealing this information until I can sneak it out of the house to be developed!

Maybe It's an Iowa Thing..

Just some things that I have noticed lately that have caused me to think to myself, "it must be an Iowa thing".

1. We're in a city. And yet. Everyone has a garden. Not just a flower garden, but a vegetable garden - with real fruits and vegetables that they actually eat. I know no one in Indiana that has a working vegetable garden... At least not that I can think of.

2. Everyone is always bringing left overs to others. If you're at work, someone will bring in something to be eaten. If you go to church, someone is passing out left overs. And all of these left overs are contained in cottage cheese/whipped cream/sour cream containers (empty of the original contents, of course). Wow..

Baby Isaac is so adorable. Abby, I know that you are an incredible mom! I hope to see you some time soon. (Can't wait to get started on my own family :)! )

We had a pretty good day today. My mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend, and I got ready for the day, were planning on going to the Capitol building. However, my mom and dad had a mishap at the bank - the ATM said the transaction was complete, online it said that the money was removed, but no money was released at the machine. So... that set us back a couple hours.

We didn't go to the Capitol building. But we did go to the Holocaust Museum. That was neat. It was bigger than ones I've been to before. Still sad. But it's hard not to get numb to it, you know?

I called a friend. That was hard. I haven't really talked with her for a long time, but she's been on my heart lately. Pray for me. We'll see how it goes.

We went to the mall for lunch. I had SUBWAY. My mom and dad had bourbon chicken. Thomas and Christy had Chinese (yuck). We all kind of split up and walked around the mall. I headed to Victoria Secret (my new favorite store). And then I went to JCREW (my other favorite store). I can't wait until I can afford to shop at those places... rather than Walmart. Not that I'm not appreciative of having clothes - I am. It's just that my fave stores are a bit of a luxury to me...

Afterwards, we went to McDonalds, got some ice cream. Drove around the monuments, and headed home. Oh yeah - we went to Georgetown and George Washington Univ. so that Christy could take a look at them.

Charlie was glad to see us come home.

I'll be glad to see Dan come home tomorrow night.

OK - I am kind of excited. I found some new features on Blogger that I didn't know existed. And you know what..? It's making me want to use this site more often! Crazy.

My agent's mom died this morning. She's been sick for about 6 years now, but she's been doing really pretty well - she definitely outlived what they expected. They made the decision to move her to hospice yesterday, and she was gone this morning. Of course, they were expecting her to pass, but what they were expecting was for her to be at hospice for a week, slip into a coma, live for about 1 more week, and then pass. So, in comparison to what they were planning for, it was quite sudden. If you think about them, please keep them in your prayers. Her dad is taking it pretty hard.

I just killed a really, really big spider (I think it's dead. I threw a book at it: it was still there. I threw a movie at it: still there. So I threw a really big phone book at it, and it fell off the wall. Lord, I hope it's dead). I am so ready for Dan to come home. (I am pretty sure that I am going to go with him whenever he goes anywhere for more than a few nights from now on... I just hate being a way from him. He's my best friend)

Peace!

Andrea Lizard Breath
(andrea elizabeth....)

[It's Victoria's Birthday! - Happy Birthday, Tori!!]


"There is a God who loves me, who wraps me in His arms ... Take me to that place, Lord! To that secret place where I can be with you - You can make me like You! Wrap me in your arms. Wrap me in your arms. Wrap me in your arms."

If it weren't for His arms wrapping around me.. How do they do it?? How do they live without Him?? It's no wonder the world is falling a part, obesity out of control, depression creeping in, marriages falling a part. No wonder.

I love that secret place. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. I love to hide there. I love to spend time there and just be with God. I love it. There is no place in the world I would rather be. It's where I feel safe, rejuvenated, refreshed, secure, purpose-filled. I love it. I just pray that my family feels the same way, you know? It's important to me that my family trusts in God completely. That they long for His presence and power in their lives more than that life itself. How do you encourage that? The only way I know is by living it and practicing myself - taking everything to God, falling on my face before Him when I fall.

Abba - keep us healthy. Keep our eyes on You. We trust You with our money, we trust You with our family, we trust You. Help me to know how to encourage Dan. I trust You to give me the words. I love Him so much, Lord - please help me to express that to him in a way that means more than anything. Lord, please give us confirmation on when it's time to start a family. You know I'm always ready J but we trust You to lead us - You know if our finances are decent enough, You know if we're emotionally and physically ready to handle it. Be with Dan, Abba - keep him safe. Draw him near to You. Speaking of which.. draw me nearer, too. Lord... wrap me in Your arms.

Today I accomplished:
I cleaned up the living room. I exercised (yea!!!). I worked at State Farm from 9-12. Hmm.. but I have a lot more to do: wash the dishes, put in a couple loads of laundry, vacuum, break down some boxes, go ROLLER SKATING.

This made me happy today:
I didn't have to work all day. I am so happy that I exercised, because I really didn't want to. I love it when I do something anyway - even if I didn't want to.

This made me angry today:
I was trying to exercise, and Horatio was attacking my hair. Grrr.. Wait. I'm working on not being annoyed with silly, small things like that: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20)

In the news today:
Wimbledon has been on TV all day. I haven't really been watching ... I've been watching "Sweet Home Alabama" while I'm cleaning!!

Today's weather:
Not too hot. I wish it would rain a bit, though. They thought it might, this morning on the news. But.. it hasn't yet.

I can't believe it's almost time for Dan to come home. It's unbelievable how time flies. Partly, I'm glad - I really miss Dan, and I am thankful for it to be that much sooner for him to return. I just trust God that he's safe, you know?

I'm going roller skating tonight with my girls! I am so excited about it.

Happy Fourth of July!!

So, I'm at my parent's home in Maryland. I'm getting pretty excited, because we're going to Washington D.C. for the fireworks and everything! Yea!!! I've only ever watched these on TV and now we get to go in person, for real. ... I just wish Dan were here.

It's amazing how much of me just doesn't feel complete without him here. You know what, though - now that I'm married, I definitely need these times to bring me back to reality, you know? Dan will never be able to completely fill me. Only Jesus can do that. And as much as I don't feel complete without him, the only one who can truly complete me is JESUS. Still, I miss him.

I think I've been writing about how much I miss Dan - I guess it's just always in the back of my mind. Or in the case of when I'm writing, in the fore-front of my mind. I am so ready for him to graduate. I am so ready to start having kids. I am so ready to be done at State Farm. I am READY. But the time is not here yet, so what else am I supposed to be getting out of this..? Something to seek God about, certainly.

Warning: This post might be viewed as a Rated R
(Not the usual "right to hell rating" - I am married)

Planning for an Anniversary

He never reads these, so I shouldn't have to worry about ruining the surprise.
Dan is in New Zealand and has about 2 weeks left there now. He's missing our 1st year anniversary, so I've got a lot planned for him when he gets home :)

We'll be at my parent's house in Maryland when he first gets back. I am going to have to rent a hotel room for at least one night (right? It's just too weird having sex in my parent's house... let alone doing anything more than we usually do) I'm trying to plan a night of remembering the past year, savor the moment of the night and look forward to what's coming ahead. I made him a scrapbook of our first few months together, and I made him some coupons for things that he loves me to do : for example, he LOVES it when I tickle his back. Not scratch it, but to just run my fingers over his back, sometimes just barely touching the small hairs. So, he will have a coupon for 1 hour worth of back tickling :) I've also hid 52 playing cards around the house. For what purpose, I'll leave to your imagination.

I have also recently purchased a couple of things to prepare for the night. One is Turbo Jam! To work on my abs and start to lose a little bit of weight. I love Turbo Jam - it is SO much fun, and I'm really starting to see the results I was hoping for (I've decided to become one of those success stories you see on the infomercials :)). The second purchase is more for those exciting first few nights when Dan comes home. I got about 5 pieces of sexy lingerie. I won't describe them for you, except that one looks awfully similar to a nurse's uniform :).

Other than the exciting joy of enjoying God's gift to married couples, I am SO looking forward to just embracing each other while sitting on the swing outside in the evening, watching the sky go from beautiful sunset to starry, starry night. Those times which allow us to catch up and talk, talk, talk.

I love being married.

OK, we have to get over this. The time between my entries is just too long entirely.

Introduction for today
It's amazing how many blogging sites there are - don't you think?? There's this one, MySpace, Xanga, BattleCry, personal blog on my personal website, etc. And I'm sure I haven't even really scratched the surface on what's really out there. The problem is - there are different features on different sites that I like. MySpace enables you to post video, which is very easy and very cool. Xanga is the one I have used the longest and most of my friends use it. BattleCry is a tool used by Teen Mania, which is awesome, because you encourage one another towards Christ and it enables you to track how you're spirtual life is going and lets you focus on different areas. My personal blog on my personal website - I don't use. But it's out there. Well, I guess I might start to use it just for our teenagers at church. We'll see. Blogger is neat, because you can have more than one blog - but it's all in one central location.

I do have an account at each one. Because I guess I use them all in different ways. MySpace I use to connect specifically with my family. It enables us to see how we're all doing, and by posting video - it's the next best thing to being there. Xanga, like I mentioned, helps me connect with friends (specifically Honor Academy Friends) who I never get to see, but Xanga allows me to still be up to date on what's going on in their lives. BattleCry, I think I covered that above how I use it. And Blogger? I've been using it to blog my family. I guess it's not so bad having so many blog sites... As long as they're all used in different ways. I just need to be sure that I'm updating each one regularly! (and every 3 months or so is not regular)

Today's Blog
So, my vision for Blogger: To blog the every day stuff of family life. This year, specifically my newly married life with Dan. Maybe in the years coming up: babies will join us! I guess I'm a little weird - but we have all of our kids' names picked out: Carolyn Marie, Abigail Jayne, Ruth Sarai, Elijah Ioan (pronounced Yowan), Ethan Edward, and Joseph Boaz (we also like Benjamin James). We are planning for six. Yes. We have prayed about it, talked, talked, talked about it, debated it, and decided it: we're having six kids. 3 boys and 3 girls? It probably won't work out that way. But we have the names just in case!

So anyway, to get even weirder... I have prayed for my kids for years now, and I frequently write letters to them. I want them to be able to look back and know that they were in my heart a long time before they were ever born. I want them to know that they are covered in prayer and that God has some big and mighty things in store for them. And so, of course, I have a section on my blogger for each child (I only have one currently set up for Carolyn and Elijah - cause those will probably be the first names of our first son and first daughter) - remember, I mentioned that blogger is cool in that you can set up more than one blog and still see it from a central location? So on the personal site of my kids - I want to be able to post things on there that I am thinking about in regards to them specifically, post pictures and updates for when they are born - but when they're here - I want it to be a place where I can keep track and journal EVERY day. For example, today was the first time I ever heard a mean thing come out of that girl's mouth - she told her friend, Kelsey, that she didn't like to play with her anymore and to go home (this is JUST an example - I have no idea what will happen in the future. But that's the kind of stuff I want to write down.. funny things they say, etc. I'll probably be asking every day: what did they do today? What was challenging about today? How did we overcome it? What was exciting and a blessing today? etc.)

And from there, I'll probably then be using this blog to specifically talk about the family as a whole. Kind of like I do now. I think. SO... it should only get more interesting from here, right?

Stay Tuned...

Hmm... It's the middle of January. Sunday afternoon. Dan's at work. I had Subway for lunch. We have a video camera now! Yea! It is so much fun to record each other and the cat, to record places around town, our apartment, etc. A lot, a lot of fun. But I've been getting frustrated, because I can't put any of our footage on the computer. I just have the DVD's that they're burned on directly from the camera, but the files aren't compatible to any software. BLAH! Why won't it work? I was planning on being able to edit the footage, make a short movie, and send it home to our families. That's what I really want to do! If you have any ideas - let me know.

We got something called "Simply Romantic Nights" for Christmas, and we had our first "date night" last week. It was so much fun. I love Dan so much and I love spending time with him. He is such an amazing man. I couldn't have asked God for a more amazing husband :)!

Work is going well. SF Banking is kind of slow during January - and I'm just doing the best that I can. I really do enjoy it, but once we have kids, I would still like to be a stay at home mom. That's really a passion of mine - to be able to give my kids all of my attention, to make a home warm and inviting, to make it a safe haven for my husband to come home to each day - to make it a place where he truly is the king and where he feels like it :)

Dan is in his last semester of school. I can't believe we're finally here! 6 long years of school is what it will have been once it's over. He does still have one more year of rotations. But it will all be worth it once he's done. We'll be able to move back home, raise a family together, secure the future of our kids, etc. I think next year will be hardest one of them all, though. Just have to do everything I can to make it as smooth for him as possible.

I miss our families.