Christmas Adventures

So sorry for the lack of blog posts this month...between busyness and a computer "malfunction" I haven't had the chance to share pics from this special Christmas season!

We had a week full of parties with students celebrating the miracle of Christmas...the Son that was born...for all the people!

"Who Can Dress the Best Santa" ContestChristmas CarolingCruising around town on a BOATThanks to J for this beautiful picAnd at the end of a long day this sign got me giggling silly...

Joy's Wedding

It was so wonderful to meet up with the girls and be there for Joy's big day! We sported our Asian tops at the rehersal.

The Bachelorette Party

After spending some time lifting up the day, we took on the responsibility of...getting all the goodies ready for the reception (aka...kitchen duty)!Helping Joy get all dressed up!The kitchen crew finally getting dressed up.Making her way down the aisle...singing praises together before the vows...we were loving watching Ryan looking at Joy!The Thomas's!!!!!!!!! LOVE YALL!

It was such a special wedding...SO many people of the nations were there...the bridesmaids carried Asian fans instead of flowers...international students had food from their home countries at the reception...and precious passages were read from different languages during the ceremony. Maranatha

Thanksgiving

I am SO thankful I got to spend Thanksgiving with my precious family!

Hometown

I made it in to Georgia last Tuesday night, and have spent 5 days with so many special people! :) My heart is so FULL right now I feel like it's gonna burst!

Daddy

MamaRoss, I finally got to hang out with him at college and stay at his apt.Shay-ron & AgeSweet kidsAndiePrecious girls from the good ole college days :)Hannah

Hot Mamas!Youngs/Peek-soon-to-be-WrightTipper...and lil SamMy sweet Bell girls

Quarter of a Century

25 seems like a really big number when it comes to age!

I was so thankful to spend this birthday with new friends! I'm kinda overwhelmed, with thankfulness, when I think about how many new and precious friendships have come into my life over the last 6 weeks. :)I was especially blessed by all the fun birthday gifts! This little plaque was one of my favorites..."Candy Canes Sweeten the Season."Oh, and J gave me a pretty awesome bday gift as well...a new bicycle seat! Precious girl went to extreme efforts to buy me a new one...and I'm very appreciative for it! I'll no longer feel like I'm sitting on a pencil when I'm riding my bike!

Biology 101

It's crab season here in the city, so of course we had to try some out. I wish I'd taken the camera when a local friend took us to buy the crabs. We bought them on a little alley that had all sorts of "parts" of animals lying around, and the crabs were in big buckets crawling around. I don't know much about crabs at all, but it looked as though they were foaming at the mouth struggling to breathe trying to stay alive. So we brought them home, scrubbed them down, and threw them in the pot to boil.
When the were ready to eat, our friend taught us how to tell the difference b/w the males and females. :)And then we ate the ENTIRE insides of the crab, even strange yellow gooey stuff, and other juicy stuff! It was sort of like doing a disection similar to the one you would do in Biology 101. :)

Better than this?

What a month of changes!

Here's something I've been thinking through...

Have you ever had "better than this" moments? Moments or experiences or circumstances where you've been SO satisfied, SO full, SO content, that the reality of that time coming to an end made you ask, "Could it really ever get better than this?" I can remember a few distinct moments in my life, all of them being when I'm on the verge of a transition, where I've had those moments...

...and I believe this is the answer I get each time I'm anxious or fearful about change...

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time." -Ecc 3.11