Welcoming 2012

Quick Updates:

• We had a lovely Christmas - we hosted this year and enjoyed having both sides of the family spend the day at our house for breakfast and dinner. We made our first ever TURKEY! Thankfully with the help of this website, it turned out perfectly cooked, tender, and full of flavor.
• We GREATLY enjoyed having a whole week off of work - We worked on some small projects around the house, including Michael having started the work at building a cat tree, and Christine sewing some curtains using a sewing machine for the first time ever (I had to read the manual first). There are several more work projects on our to do list, but Rome wasn't built in a day now was it?
• We have been consistently working out - Since we started building the house, we quite our gym membership to save a little money, and then once we moved in, we were a little overwhelmed with our schedules to consistently work out, so once things calmed down in mid-December, we started doing P90X daily. We took a break on New Year's Eve and one day when I was feeling too sick with a cold, but other than those two days, we've stuck with it. I hope we continue to be disciplined about it. Tonight is Kenpo-X!
• The Cherrys visited for New Year's - They came down to visit on the 30th through the 1st. It was such a blast to see them and do some usual Cherry-Yager activities: play Nertz and other board games (Pandemic was a new game they brought and we loved it so much we already ordered it from Amazon for ourselves - it's a cool game where you all are on the same team, trying to save the world from diseases, so you either all win or all lose - good for the marriage), the boys play Tanks on Wii Play while the girls talk, all of us play New Super Mario Bros and panic in various scenarios and end up bubbling to save ourselves (if you've played before, you'll know what I mean about bubbles), watch a movie together, and just laugh and laugh. We also hosted a New Year's Eve party for the NWYM class to attend if they so desired - it was a fun night of yummy snacks, more games, and even more laughter to ring in the new year. We were sad to see the Cherrys go, but we'll get to see them again in two weeks when they return for her baby shower, yay!

Milestones From 2011:

• Saved enough money for a down payment for a house
• Michael competed in two arm wrestling tournaments this year and won in his division! (First one was in April, second in June)
• We went on our first cruise ever in April with the Cherrys and LOVED it!!
• Randomly met the best builder in B/CS during May's Parade of Homes
• Considered buying a pre-existing home, but there just wasn't a good candidate that would be a wise investment, so...
• We decided to build a home, which we happily moved into in October
• My work about texting and driving received international news coverage - it's very exciting to see your hard work receive recognition, and hopefully educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving.
• We hosted Christmas at our house for the first time.

Looking Ahead to 2012:

• Finish some projects for the house, including: DIY cat tree, homemade DVD bookshelves, and others
• Continue to workout (P90X) consistently
• Stick to the Bible-reading plans each of us selected to read the Bible in one year - check out some plans at youversion.com - you can use their Bible app to remind you, or even read it on your phone. Michael chose the OwnIt365 plan, and I selected the Chronological plan.
• Grow our faith more and more - through a trial we've been going through, the Lord has faithfully refined our character over 2011, but I'm confident that He is not finished with us yet, so as we move into 2012, I pray that He will continue to be our hope, comforter, and strength as we patiently wait for His will to be revealed in our lives

Good bit of wisdom heading into 2012:

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. --Hebrews 12:1-3

Working man

What's new with the Yager Family you ask? Well if you didn't know, over the past four months or so I have been unemployed which has basically meant that I wake up past noon most mornings, microwave myself some corn dogs, and then go upstairs to watch one of several "manly" movies that I almost know by heart (e.g. Rambo, Terminator, The Dark Knight, Predator...). It was a great routine for about 2-3 weeks, but something happens after that point where you actually begin to yearn to do work (I know it's lame).

God must have known that my cholesterol couldn't handle many more corndogs because on March 2nd, 2010 I was told that TTI wanted to hire me ASAP (woohoo!). More on that later.

Let's wind the clocks back a little bit.

Now for those who don't know, two things were happening right around graduation time for us. I was finalizing on a nice job offer in San Antonio and Christine was offered an amazing job change/promotion here in town. After praying about it and discussing it we decided that Christine would take the job offer and I would look for work here. Well luckily for us (God knew all along) my job offer fell through and I was on sugar-momma support until I could pull something together. For several reasons, our first choice was for me to get a job at TTI. After meeting with several different managers, I finally found a department that I genuinely liked and they wanted to hire me on...the only problem was that they had no money to hire a new person for atleast the next year.

So now I'm faced with the dilemma of waiting for a great potential job at TTI or looking for less interesting work in town or out of town. As for most men, I didn't like the feeling of being unemployed since I have a natural desire to provide for my family, but this time was very valuable for growing my faith and dependance on God. We were studying the first chapter of James in our couples BS at the time, and I couldn't believe how relevant and applicable it was to me. Especially

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" - James 1:2-4

"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." - James 1:12-14

The study helped me put trials into perspective. I learned that I should be joyful during trials because my endurance through them causes me to be more mature as a believer...and more specifically I learned that I should not feel respected (or prideful) by how much I make or by how much my coworkers respect me, but that I should work everyday for God and humbly accept each gift He has given me: be it an opportunity to grow through tough times or another day on earth with my beautiful bride.

Now back to the present, it took from March 2nd until April 1st to get me onboard, but fortunately for me the job was not an April fool's joke! Now if you haven't started working yet there is one truth about full-time work that you need to understand...Don't expect to do any real work for the first week (maybe even month). So in honor of this immutable truth, here are some pictures of what I did my first day on the job.

In case you've ever wondered what the end of Excel looks like

I tried sweeping those mines and failed, but I'm good at Solitaire...

And finally here is my new office!

My view

The whole shabang

Hollywood Hubby

The hubby is home at last! Above are pictures from his trip. My favorite is the one with him placing his hands in Arnold's handprints. If you're interested in viewing all the pictures he took in California, you can click here.

I'm still aching for a day of Q.T. with Michael, but he has a ton of projects and school work to do, so I'm afraid it will have to wait until school is over (about two weeks). I'm really struggling because I haven't been able to spend much quality time with Michael due to traveling and him needing to study/work on projects. Quality Time is tied for first place with Word of Affirmation for my love languages (Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages), so it's difficult having a shortage in that area for a long period of time. (Please understand that I'm not blaming Michael...it's just the unfortunate timing of a couple travel trips and end of school deadlines that is causing this issue.) Please pray that I will have strength to be patient during this time, and for Michael to finish up school well and to use his time wisely. Thank you!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

Waiting

I love this song (and the movie "Fireproof" of course). I am so very excited to see Michael tonight after what I consider a long time apart (hey, for us, it is a long time!). Do you ever feel like time slows down when you're waiting for a specific event to arrive? That's how I feel today. I feel like the clock is moving slower than it normally does. I guess the cliche of watching water boil applies here, so I'm trying my best not to watch the clock and hope that this day will feel like it passes quickly. I'm glad that this time of waiting will soon end!

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." - Colossians 1:10-12

Another Day Down...

Yesterday was a bit harder and today is even harder. I really miss Michael and can't wait to see him tomorrow night. Yesterday I ate dinner at my parent's house and hung out there most of the evening and really enjoyed the quality time with my family. Today I hope to clean the apartment really well and exercise to stay busy.

I've heard from Michael several times and he's having a fun time with all the sight-seeing. He said he's taken lots of pictures so I can get a feel for what it's like. I hope to post some of them after he gets back. I'm so ready to see him again! I hope you all have a nice day!

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7
"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." - Psalm 94:19

Day 1

Yesterday was my first day alone with Michael being in California for the week, but it turned out to be quite an enjoyable afternoon. I dropped Michael off at the airport around noon and then went back to work. But at 5:00, instead of just starting my errands, I went to Ben & Jerry's for the "Free Cone Day", which is just like it sounds: pick a flavor off the list, and get one scoop free in a cup or cone. It's an annual event, so check back next April to see when the next one is. I enjoyed the scoop I got: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough - yum!

Then I finished my errands and went home, where I decided to take the dogs to the dog park. Now, for those of you who know or know of our dogs, they can be quite the handful of energy. Well, imagine trying to handle BOTH of them all by yourself...yeah...hard!

I set up the dog hammock (back seat protector) and got Ginger in there first and then went back inside real quick to bring Abby out. When Abby and I got to the car, Ginger was no longer in the back seat...she was sitting in the driver's seat! She looked perfectly content as if that is where she is always supposed to sit. It was quite amusing!

After a bit of hassle walking them to the gate of the dog park (more like them walking me), I finally let them off the leash and they had a grand time running around and playing. The walk back to the car was much more calm!

When we got home, I did several chores that needed to be done, baked cookies for my work (Administrative Professionals' Day, formerly Secretaries' Day), and made myself dinner and started a movie. For bed, I let the dogs sleep with me and surprisingly, they both stayed there the whole night, so it was nice to have the company. (In the past, Abby would whine and want down.) It was so cute when my alarm went off and Abby stood up and came over to give me kisses to help me wake up while Ginger rolled into me to cuddle...absolutely precious!

I hope today goes smoothly as well and I hope you all have a blessed day!

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24

Be Strong

So last night we watched "The Holiday". We both liked it a lot, so it's going on the buy list. It was also our last night together for a while because Michael is flying to California today for a class trip. He will be back late Friday night. So...that means I need to be strong...

I hope to stay busy with cleaning, family, cooking, exercising, etc. Your prayers for his safety and my sanity would be much appreciated...

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

Picture Day

Today at work I had my picture taken for the staff directory. It was painless, but I always have a fear if I in reality look like Chandler from Friends who was not so photogenic. I'm sure it's probably all in my head.

As for a little update: Michael is doing great so far in school this semester. He's certainly been juggling a lot, but he's been very productive with the time he has, which helps. He has about 5 weeks left until the semester is over.

Friday we had a little date night. We went to see "Knowing" (starring Nicolas Cage) in the theater. It was a really great movie! The special effects were amazing (and in some parts, a little too good b/c it made me feel like I was actually there during the disaster). It had some Christian undertones to it, even though it was not a Christian film. It definitely was a good reminder that nothing in this life will last. "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." - John 6:27. I've heard from others that they hated the ending, but I think they might have missed the idea. We especially loved the very last scene. You decide for yourself, but it's definitely going on our "Yager Movie" wish list.

Saturday morning we played Ultimate Frisbee with friends from Sunday School (such a great workout!), and went to a 4x4 dinner that evening. We had fun visiting, eating great food, and playing Couples Nertz, which is a really fast paced card game, but is so much fun. Michael was hilarious because he could only focus on one card at a time and just sort of spaced out waiting to play that one card, while I was multi-tasking playing everything else. He made me laugh a lot!

On Sunday our class had a BBQ outside by the park. The food was great and then we played some games. One of them was an Egg Relay Race, where you put the egg on a spoon and race. We were too slow for that, but at least we didn't drop it! Then we played an Egg Toss game where each couple starts out face-to-face and take one step back so you're real close. Then you toss the egg to your spouse and they (ideally) catch it without it breaking. Then you keep taking steps back and tossing and catching. You end up really far away from your spouse trying to catch this flying egg that now may very likely break from the force of the throw! We got third place (due to me basically fast-pitch softball tossing the egg to Michael, oddly preventing him from being able to catch it. Oops...) Then I went to a friend's baby shower and had even more great food!

I plan to start posting more often so I can interest (or bore) you with the daily details of our lives. We'll see if I can keep it up...

Weekday Mornings

The day Michael came home from the Men's Retreat, he suggested we start getting up 15 minutes earlier each weekday morning to have a time of prayer and Bible reading together. I was all for that idea! We both have to be at campus at 8:00AM every morning, so instead of snoozing until 7:00, we have been getting up at 6:45AM. We go through our normal routine to get ready, but before we leave the house, we sit down at the kitchen table and pray together and read aloud from the Bible. And even though we have only done this for three days now, I can't tell you what a difference it has made! It is amazing how much better our days have been when we have come to the Lord in prayer and humility BEFORE our day begins. Previously we would read together at night before bed, sometimes praying together, but it was not very effective or inspiring because we were usually both tired and ready to sleep. Also, I absolutely love praying with my husband. I feel so special and blessed to see a side of him that no one else can see when he is humble before our Lord. It also helps me see what he is struggling with in a given moment so I can pray for him throughout my day more specifically. I hope we continue this new habit for the rest of our lives together - no joke. We have all heard that the divorce rate among Christians is roughly the same as, if not higher than, that for non-Christians (about 50%). We recently learned in a Sunday school lesson that less than 8% of Christian couples pray together on a regular basis. But of all Christian couples that do pray together on a regular basis, the divorce rate is less than 1%. That shows the power and need for couples to pray together regularly. I want to challenge all of you reading this who are married to make it a habit to pray with your spouse on a regular basis. You will learn more about your spouse than you might think and experience a kind of intimacy that can only be from above. Don't put it off any longer - time will not stop and wait for you. Start today!

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." - Psalm 59:16

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing... - 1 Cor 1:18

Pardon me while I step up on my soapbox for a minute.

I read this article on CNN.com today and was saddened to be reminded of the state of the world we live in: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/01/22/virginity.value/index.html

It's titled "What is virginity worth today?" and is about a 22 year old girl from California who is auctioning her virginity through the Internet from a brothel in Nevada. Not surprisingly, there are men who have bid as high as $3.8 million for this "pure" girl's virginity.

How much more of a mockery will the world make of Christianity? I am certainly not without sin, but I think it is pathetic that the world would actually call this girl a virgin. Because people can accept God's grace at any point in their lives, whether they have a past of sexual sin or not, I believe it is not the physical state of the body that is "virgin", rather the person's state of mind. If this girl is willing to sell her body for a buck (okay, a lot of bucks), she is not intent on keeping her virginity - whether she physically loses it now or ten years from now makes no difference. This girl sadly lost her virginity the day she gave in to this ridiculous notion of auctioning it, if not long before that in wanting to use her body for disgrace.

I could probably rant for quite some time about my opinions of how desensitized our culture is to sexual immorality, but this will suffice for now. I pray that this girl learns the truth of God's gift of grace and forgiveness and learns to truly value herself enough to know that she is a priceless creation of our Lord.

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man [or woman] who does the will of God lives forever." - 1 John 2:17

Stepping down from my soapbox now...

Update - Colorado Springs, Christmas, & New Year's

I'm warning you now...this is going to be a pretty lengthy post! But we have done a lot in the past month and want to keep you all updated on our lives. So without further delay...


School ended for us on December 10th and was much anticipated. I graduated with my masters on December 12th. It's nice to have that finished and behind me. Michael took a two week mini-mester online Spanish course that concludes his foreign language requirements to graduate. He will be taking 7 courses (21 hours) this spring semester and I know he and I both would greatly appreciate your prayers for him to get through it in one piece and finish up his undergrad Aerospace courses. He is also preparing to take the GRE on January 8th. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13.


We also traveled to Colorado Springs on December 16-17. We left our apartment on the 16th at 8:30PM and drove through the night and arrived in Colorado Springs on the 17th at 12:30PM. It was a very dark and long night, but thankfully we did not encounter any animals or icy roads. The dogs did great in the back seat, for the most part - Ginger, a.k.a. The Ginginator, chewed herself free of her harness within the first hour of the drive. So she lost her safety privileges and rode loose in the back. Abby was a perfect angel and sat or laid calmly the whole trip with her harness unharmed.


Our hotel wasn't as nice as we had been expecting, but we were pleased with it overall. They did not have a computer center so we had to go to a public library nearby to have internet access. But the breakfasts were very good. Our hotel room had a TV with composite ports to hook up our DVD player that we brought, but the hotel has it programmed in such a way that it blocked all incoming signals (including our DVD player), I suppose to try to force people to purchase pay-per-view movies instead of bringing their own. Well, for those of you that know how much we love watching movies, you won't be surprised to hear how that simply would not do for us. So my brilliant husband came up with the idea of purchasing a cheapy CRT TV and then returning it before we left to go home to Texas. So at night, we were able to watch our own movies and relax.


We met with two realtors and liked them both a lot. They were both so kind to show us around many different subdivisions and model homes. The housing is pretty different there compared to Texas - wood siding is primarily what you'll find in older homes and stucco for the newer ones. We didn't see a single house made completely of brick or stone. It was very odd to us, but we can get used to stucco. We found a couple of new subdivisions we really liked for location and pricing. But Michael and I decided to purchase our first home in College Station because the market is a little better (get more house for the same dollar amount). We aren't planning to buy for at least 1-2 years, maybe longer, but we think starting a family here would be the best choice. We eventually want to make it out to Colorado Springs, but we figure we want that to be the city where we finally settle for good. We want to move there when we have enough money to get a nice sized house, which we would not have for our first home purchase.


It snowed a couple times while we were there. It got pretty cold one night (9 degrees F) - so cold that my hair froze when I was outside for a couple minutes after I showered! But the residents there commented how abnormal that is for their city, so that was a good sign that it doesn't get that cold that often. Our third day there was perfect: sunny, cool, and clear. It worked out that this was the day we had planned to go to Garden of the Gods, a national park with a lot of red rock formations. If you haven't already seen, most of the pictures below are from our visit to Garden of the Gods. It was so beautiful in Colorado Springs - I really hope we can live there someday! For more pictures, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/ceyager/ColoradoSpringsVacation?authkey=lg-YAdGsKlQ


We ate out every night for dinner. We love finding new restaurant favorites and out of the 5 we ate at on this trip, here are our top 2 picks: Elephant Restaurant - giant sized portions (Michael's favorite pick) for a reasonable price. We split an entree and it seriously was like two entrees. Salsa Brava - my personal favorite, Mexican food restaurant with pretty good salsa (ha ha).


Our drive home was much better. We left on the 22nd at 7:00AM and got home around 11:00PM the same day. While we were driving through New Mexico and west Texas, it was unbelievably windy. There was such strong wind that literally hundreds of tumbleweeds kept rolling across the highway, sometimes pummeling our car. This lasted for over 6 hours! It was like a redneck "Frogger" arcade game trying to accelerate and decelerate at the right moments to avoid running over the tumbleweeds.


For lunch we stopped at a McDonalds somewhere in west Texas and I ordered chicken McNuggets. You may find this absurd, but I haven't had any chicken McNuggets since I was a little kid (when they still tasted like cardboard - hence why I stopped eating them). But I've heard that they taste better now because they use real chicken (um, that makes afraid of what they were made of before, but that's another matter...). Anyways, I was really looking forward to eating them, especially because I was hungry for lunch. So we ordered it and got back on the road and I ate my fries first. When I opened the box (that said "McNuggets" on it) there was a McRib sandwich inside (which I do not like). I was so disappointed and a little frustrated that the person who packed our food couldn't tell the difference between chicken nuggets and a sandwich.


Last story about our drive home: We were south of Fort Worth on I-35, north of Waco and Hillsboro and it was about 9:00PM. We saw a sign that said something like "Interstate closed ahead. Expect delays." Before we even had time to think about exiting or taking another route, we come upon stopped traffic. (This bumper to bumper traffic lasted until 9:30.) Now my question to TXDOT is, couldn't you have placed this warning sign like 10 miles back (and every other mile thereafter) so that we could have had an opportunity to take a detour, hence decreasing traffic congestion?? Maybe that's just my pet peeve because I work for TTI, but still, it seems like common sense to me.


Once we were all settled at home, Michael's family came to College Station to on the 23-24. It was nice getting to see them all, especially since we don't get to see them but maybe once a year. Our little nieces are growing up into even bigger cuties! My parents moved into their nice new house before Christmas, so it was a lot of fun getting to hang out with them and spend Christmas in a new place. Also, for the first time since I met Michael (we met January 2005) this Christmas was the only time that we were able to spend time with both of our families on Christmas Day. It was really great to have both families in Bryan/College Station this year. And I hope it won't be the last!


For New Year's Eve we went to a party at our friends' house from Sunday school, Jonathan & Anna. They are such great hosts! They came up with several creative games and door prizes - it was awesome! Michael and I had been "training" for New Year's because we knew we would want to stay up late that night. So we tried to stay up until 3:00 or 4:00 each night for the few days before New Year's Eve. It apparently worked because we didn't leave Jonathan & Anna's place until 4:45AM (they didn't mind...I hope!).


This week I started my full-time job at TTI. I hope I get used to working from 8-5 everyday! I'm more of a morning person now than I was a few years ago (my parents and Aunt Becky can attest to that), so it's easier for me now to have energy throughout the day. But I find myself getting pretty sleep around 10:00PM. It's strange how your sleeping pattern changes so much throughout your lifetime.


Well, this concludes our latest blog post. Thank you for taking the time to read it! God Bless!

This is Pikes Peak as seen from the parking lot of our hotel.

This is us at the entrance to Garden of the Gods.Michael & GingerMe & AbbyThis is a view of the park from a scenic stop.These are the "Kissing Camels".This wasn't labeled on the map, but we think it looks like a man kneeling and praying.This is called "Balanced Rock".Abby liked the snow!And this was me forcing Ginger to hold still for the camera...after I threw snow on her face because I thought it would be cute.This is us on Christmas Eve at Central Park.

Thank you all for your prayers!!

Michael and I got our Survey of Optimization non-linear exams back today and....drumroll please....

Michael got a 100! And I got a 99! (My pride is a little bit bruised here, especially because it was something so stupid as forgetting to put the negative signs in front of one answer...I know Dad, it's those "stupid mistakes" that always get me!)

But the point is that we could not have done this without the Lord and those of you in our bible studies that we asked for prayer from, so, THANK YOU! Thank you Lord, so much for this blessing!!

Have a blessed day!
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

Blessings

In the spirit of Thanksgiving soon approaching, I thought I would take this opportunity to share how the Lord has blessed and enriched our lives:


My husband is a brilliant and ambitious man who has accomplished so much in his 22+ years on this earth. Now I know that worldly successes are not eternal, but in our minds they are still blessings to enjoy while we live. So on that note, Michael was blessed to receive a scholarship from Chevron this fall semester, which has allowed us to have more financial stability. He's kind of a big deal here at A&M...

http://engineer.tamu.edu/news/index.php/2008/11/12/engineering-students-awarded-chevron-corporation-project-management-fellowships/
I don't know how long that link will be valid, but I hope forever!



In August we were blessed by having the ability and means to move into a new apartment. Although it has one less bedroom than our previous place, it fits well with our living needs. It has a larger and more open kitchen, so we don't bump into each other all the time! It also has a full-size washer and dryer that are only a year old, and they can handle a super-size load...seeing as how I'm not the greatest at keeping up with doing laundry, it is nice to be able to wash a huge load of our clothes at once, whereas before I would have to break it up into 2 or 3 loads. Also, the new dryer finishes drying in less than 2 hours!! (At our old place, I would have to dry loads overnight!) We also love how quiet the complex is and it's great location. We get to spend more time outdoors with our pups because we are within such short walking distance from several great parks. We're also closer to A&M, which makes commuting much nicer. And finally, you may find this silly, but our apartment is located at the perfect distance from the dumpster. It is so close, that it's no hassle to carry things to it, and far enough that it is just out of sight (and smell). Thank you God for allowing us to live here!

Michael and I had a major exam this morning in our Survey of Optimization class. We had just enough time to fully prepare for it, and praise our Lord, the exam was very straightforward and comfortable for us both. We don't know our grade yet, but we feel really good about it! PRAISE GOD!


Another thing I am thankful for is my husband and how he works so hard to show himself up. Allow me to explain. My birthday is on Tuesday, and every year Michael sneaks around and plots some wonderful event (not without teasing me about it to pique my curiosity) and tries to outdo his previous years' ideas. I can't wait for the surprise!

We are also very thankful for and blessed by the friends in our lives. We have never known so many true friends who bring so much joy to our lives. Thank you all!

Another blessing in our lives is our pets. We love coming home to a house full of animals! They offer a kind of companionship that nothing else can.

And finally, I'm thankful for the upcoming holidays. I look forward to a few days of rest and quality time with family. And soon enough, Christmas will be here as well!

So there you have it: our laundry list of blessings...What are you thankful for?
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." - Colossians 2:6-7

She's getting bigger!

This is how Abby likes to sleep...just like her sister, Ginger!

We had been waiting for her ears to stand up to look like a traditional German Shepherd. Before...

After! Hooray!

It's tough to be so cute...

I'm Queen of the mountain!

Oh, was I not supposed to eat that dirt?

I don't feel so good...

Pretty pose for the camera! Isn't she beautiful?!

Abby is now almost 14 weeks old, weighed 19.3 lb. a week ago, has received all her puppy vaccines and rabies shot, and has giant paws! She only has to go out once during the night now, which is a blessing from the previous 2-3 times. (I think I have gotten some practice at being a mommy of a newborn baby!) The next big thing for Abby will be spaying her, which I plan to do the week before Thanksgiving. She has grown and changed so much that when I look at pictures of her when we first got her, I can't believe the difference. Her personality is really shaping up now too, and she has got a sweet one! She barks at noises and dark figures now, and is able to hold her own against Ginger when they horseplay and play tug-o-war. Abby has already learned to "get in your house" (her kennel), sit, shake, and lay down on command. I think we'll teach her to roll over next. Abby has quite the shoes to fill with Ginger knowing so many tricks and commands! We even had to write down everything Ginger knows so we can remember what we've taught her.

Michael and I are trucking through school, while still trying to maintain a joyful family life. We're learning that it is important to say "no" sometimes, especially to events or commitments that we want to do, but would take up to much additional time. But one existing commitment that Michael has is playing intramural flag-football on Thursday nights. I normally do not enjoy watching a single second of football, but it's very different when your hubby is playing! I have enjoyed watching him play and trying to understand the rules and game play.

We have booked a hotel in Colorado Springs in December for a week. We are excited about traveling there and seeing the city and attractions. Ginger and Abby look forward to some hiking trails, weather permitting. Our main goal is to scout out neighborhoods we may want to consider buying a home in, as well as meeting with a real estate agent who can be our eyes and ears for the next year as we search for a home. This trip will require A LOT of planning, so we would appreciate your prayers as we go through the stresses of preparing for this.

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

They Grow So Fast!

Here are some more recent pictures of Abby!

These guys didn't want to be left out (Fred is the cat, Ginger is the dog.)

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Gal. 6:9

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matt. 7:7-8

Meet Abby - Our New Baby Puppy

A lot has happened since our last post. We finished summer school - both of us made all A's! Michael also found out that the Lord blessed him with a hefty scholarship for the fall semester. We moved to the new apartment on August 8th. Things definitely did not go as planned, and it was a very trying and emotional time for us. For those of you who don't know, we moved into a townhouse style apartment, but the stairwell has two 90 degree corner turns, making it very difficult to move things to the upstairs. Michael and I had spent quite a lot of time planning every detail (we can't help it, we're engineers) of where to put each piece of furniture. We had planned on putting our bedroom upstairs, and our office and living room downstairs.

Our amazing and generous friends, Jonathan and Anna from Sunday school, helped us move everything. Well, when we were trying to get the mattress upstairs, it became quite clear that there was no way it was going to get up there. (We have a giant king size mattress!) To make a long story short, we had to switch our plans and put the living room and office upstairs, and our bedroom downstairs. But we learned the lesson God was trying to teach us - we can't plan everything, and we were humbled to learn how little importance material possessions should be. And now that we are settled, we are thankful that our bedroom is downstairs because with the Texas summer, it is much cooler down there for sleeping!

The fall semester begins Monday. We are hopeful that it will pass quickly and as stress-free as possible. I will also be co-leading a Bible Study with my friend Brittany this semester, following the book for wives called "Created to Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. This book has allowed God to make me a better wife to Michael. It teaches that every individual wife was specifically created to have the ability to help, love, and meet the needs of her husband. In essence, wives have a specific and special purpose - to be loving helpers to their husbands. It has taught me to set aside my own selfish desires, and to focus my energy on building up my husband in any way I can. And the result has been astounding! After all, honoring my husband honors God! And honoring God is what every Christian's purpose is in life. I am looking forward to learning more from this study throughout the semester.

And the last piece of big news, we drove to Live Oak Kennel in Blum, TX and picked up our precious puppy, Abby. She was born on June 29 and has beautiful black and tan parents. Abby picked us - she walked away from her littermates and came towards me and acted as if she wanted me to pick her up. She's definitely a Mama's Girl! She and Ginger get along great. Abby is not shy of Ginger, so they play together well. And Ginger has actually become much more protective and acts like a mommy to Abby - when we walk them both outside, Ginger barks at anyone and everyone now, which she never used to do. We are also pleased with Abby because she is very mellow for a puppy. In fact, she's asleep in my lap right now! But she has already learned her name, the word "No!", and how to climb up stair steps. (She still gets too nervous trying to go down steps by herself, but she's small, we'll give her more time!) She is also starting to sleep solidly throughout the night without needing to go out for a potty.

Whenever you are feeling weak or powerless, always remember 2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." God Bless you all!

Life Full of Changes

I'm sorry for not posting to our blog in such a long time. But now I have a lot more to talk about! We finished the spring semester, leaving me with only this summer and next fall terms left until I graduate. Michael made it through his toughest semester so far - many praises to God for that! Michael and I are taking a project management graduate course together. This is the first class we have ever taken together, and so far it has been really fun because it's like taking a class with your best friend. Michael is also taking a graduate statistics course, which is quite challenging (I never quite got the hang of statistics either!) He is also taking a 5-week linear algebra course that will end around July 1st.

About a month ago, Michael petitioned the aerospace department seeking to take two industrial engineering graduate level courses that could count for two technical electives for his undergraduate. (The two grad courses would also count towards his masters.) But the board denied this request. Michael is still in the process of trying to appeal this decision because if he is unable to have this request granted, he will have to take 6 courses next fall and spring instead of 5. I certainly believe he is capable of doing anything he sets his mind to (with the Lord's help too of course), but it would be much nicer for him to not have such a burdensome load. We trust that the Lord knows what's best, we just pray that He will prepare us for what is to come.

Some other big news, in August we will be moving! (We'll still be in College Station.) We found a townhouse apartment near Grace that is in a great location and is pretty affordable compared to a lot of other places in the area. We are very excited about this change in our lives because it also means that we are counting down the days until we add a new member to our family - Abby, a female German Shepherd puppy. She will be born around the end of June/early July and will be ready to take home around the time we will have just moved. Ginger has told us that she is very excited as well.

Some of you may not know this, but Michael broke his finger playing football with some guys at the Grace's Men's Retreat this past February. He wore a splint on it for several weeks and now he is trying to regain all mobility in it. He had the splint pushing the tip of his finger up (sometimes it almost looked like a 90 degree angle straight up!) so it created the weird looking divets in his fingernail that you see in the picture below.

And finally, we have been playing on a coed softball team with our Newlyweds/Young Marrieds Sunday school class. We both used to play as kids, so it has been a lot of fun to start that up again. However, since we both played with fast-pitch, we find that we are a little too anxious to make a hit! Slow-pitch takes some getting used to!

Well friends and family, we pray that each of you have the courage and strength to get through every obstacle in your path. Remember Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Have a blessed day!