Please Welcome Me Back

Well as you've all noticed, I've been absent from the blogosphere for quite a while. I had a few reasons for not updating. Part of it was just laziness, part of it was feeling like I had nothing worth writing about. I only have 6 followers and no one ever really comments, so it didn't feel worth it to take the time to write a post when I never got feedback and less than 50 people read it. But alas, I have returned. Who knows how long I'll continue to write, but I'm back for now! Too much has happened to update you on everything in the last 5 months, but here are the highlights:

In July we got to go to Disney and spend the day with our good friends Katie and Mike Gerber. We got in for free and it was Erik's first time. We did Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and we had a blast! We even got to spend some time hanging out at Katie and Mike's resort pool, which was a nice break between the two parks.

At the end of August we moved. We found a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment with a washer and dryer, so it's a big upgrade from our one bedroom/one bath with no laundry in the unit. We also moved closer to my work because the commute was just terrible. We like our new place so far and the community it's in. Although we're a little farther from friends, it's just a minor inconvenience compared to the benefits.

Erik's mom and brother came for Labor Day weekend. We went to Disney again, but this time we got to Epcot and Magic Kingdom, so Erik has now been to all four parks. We also went to the beach and to Leu Gardens, a pretty cool little spot in Orlando. We had a good time visiting with them. We haven't seen my side of the family in 10 months, so it was nice to see family again.

September 14 marked six months at Charisma Media. I can't believe it's been that long!! I had my half-year review on Friday and it went really well. I am so blessed to be doing what I love. My team is great and I enjoy work almost every day. I am still the department's assistant, but I have faith that I'm where God wants me and that I'll get an upgrade soon enough.

This may seem minor, but we bought a bedroom set yesterday!! For the past 17 months our bed has been on the floor and we've used random pieces of furniture that do not match. One side table and the dresser were literally things people were going to throw away, but we kept them because we didn't have anything, haha. So it will be nice to finally feel like we've got an adult bedroom and actually have nice furniture in there. We got a headboard/footboard and rails, a dresser with a mirror and two nightstands and got a GREAT price. They were selling the floor model because they needed to make space for something else, so it was HALF off. It had only been in there for two weeks too, so it was in pretty good condition. It's getting delivered Tuesday morning, and I can't wait!

Well that's all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed my blog. Feel free to leave some encouragements or comments below! The more people I know who read my blog, the more I will motivated to update it. I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Turning 24

In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I was feeling kind of bummed because this was my first birthday being across the country from all of my friends and family. For the last five years my best friend, Katie, has always made my birthday special and fun; this year she is 1,000 miles away (with all of my other family and close Illinois friends). On top of that, it landed on a Thursday, which is one of the nights Erik doesn't get home from class  until 9:15. However, I ended up having a great birthday and feel very blessed! =)

The day started off with a nice, big breakfast Erik cooked me. I was greeted by a balloon and a cute card from my co-workers, which put a smile on my face. My friend Leigh, who I met at work, took me out to Panera, and I really enjoyed spending time with her. Erik also decided to forgo class that night, so when I came home he was there! He had even baked me a cake (chocolate with funfetti vanilla frosting, yummm!) We went to dinner at Logan's (thanks for the gift card, Pat!) and had a great evening. We finished off the night by watching What About Bob?, one of my favorite movies that had somehow escaped my collection. Thanks to my loving husband, I now own it! I loved all of the cards and presents I got from people back home, and of course I received lots of phone calls and even more Facebook wall posts, adding to the birthday greatness!


The day after my birthday at my work breakfast celebration.

 The next day, we had a little celebration breakfast at work, and I felt very blessed by my sweet co-workers. The day only got better as we went to life group that night. Afterwards, we were treated to a delicious feast of goodies that our new friend Michelle prepared. She made an amazing chocolate-peanut butter pie/cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and filled cupcakes. It was wonderful! They all signed a card for me too, and I really appreciate the efforts everyone took to make my birthday special.

Overall, I had a really good birthday, despite being away from many of the people I love. My new family here made it special, and I feel very cared for. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday rock! It was also my first birthday as a wife, which is pretty cool. =)

Blasting to Jupiter and Exploring a Magical World

As usual, I've been slacking on my posting. A lot has happened since my last post, so I've decided to make a few separate posts, in order of the events. I figure this will also help with the ridiculously long posts. :o)


Erik and me at Havana Hideout.

On April 1, we headed down to Jupiter, FL with some friends from our life group. We stayed in a three-story, four bedroom condo for completely free. We were just minutes from the beach, and even made a trip down to Havana Hideout, a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It's a cuban restaurant and it had really good food. Erik got the two-handed tacos and I got tamales. Everything was delicious! Affer lunch we went to the beach and then all grabbed some take-out food and brought back to the condo. We had a great weekend and really enjoyed fellowship time with the people in our life group. This is our community now, and it was nice to be able to spend a whole weekend with them.



Taking a break to enjoy our delicious butterbeer!

 After a fun couple days with our life group buddies, we ventured out to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios for Universal Knights. Every year, UCF hosts a free night at at one of the Universal them parks for students and their guests. This year they chose Islands of Adventure, and we were thrilled to go explore the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHP). We had an excellent time and really enjoyed ourselves. I got Erik to go on the Dragon Challenge (formerly Dueling Dragons) and he loved it. We even rode it twice! I was very impressed with the WWHP and the authenicness. We of course had some famous butterbeer, and it was just as delicious as I had heard! For those wondering, it tastes like a combination of root beer and cream soda. The frothy part on top is not just foam. It's sweet and creamy, and lasts all the way to the bottom. If you ever go to the WWHP, you must try it! You'll spend some time in line, but it is worth the wait. I promise. We also went to other parts of IA, and had a great night walking around and riding rides.. It was definitely a highlight of the recent months! View my Facebook for a whole album of our day at Universal. I was so excited that I got a little picture happy. One of my friends said I posted so many pictures, it felt like she was there. =) Enjoy!

You can look forward to reading about my birthday and our one year wedding anniversary (which is actually today!) I promise to be faithful and post them within the next few days. Thanks everyone!

Anticipating April

Well it's the last day of March, so it seemed fitting to write a blog post. March has been a crazy, exciting, joyful, and BUSY month!! I was so excited to start this job for many reasons, but one of the biggest ones was that I would get my weekends off. Yay for Friday actually meaning something for once! I've loved being able to see concerts,  hang out with friends, attend baby showers, and go on trips that I wouldn't normally have been able to do, but man am I tired!!

Molly and me hanging out.

We've been really blessed this month with getting to see friends from home. Our first visitor was my dear friend Molly, who I've known since right before I came to Christ. She was a great mentor for me and we became pretty good friends while I went to ISU. She was visiting her grandparents in Florida and came to see us for a night. We had a great chance to catch up and eat dinner together before Erik came home, and then the three of us went to a really great Italian ice place and had a good time. She spent the night on our couch. I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable, Molly! We were also super excited to spend the evening with Dan and Amy, a married couple who was in our wedding. Dan's family was vacationing at Disney, so we drove down there Sunday night to have dinner and hang out with Dan and Amy. We had a lot of fun, and it was fabulous seeing our friends! It was like no time had passed. =)

Dan, Amy, me, and Erik at Downtown Disney!

April begins tomorrow, and I feel so unprepared. I turn 24 seven days in, and we celebrate one year of marriage just ten days later. In addition to that, Easter falls at the end of April this year. We're kicking off the month by going on a trip with our life group to Jupiter, Florida. I'm looking forward to being close to the beach and having a big sleepover with my closest Floridian friends, but I'm a little nervous that instead of having a relaxing weekend, being around all those people will make me even more tired. Hopefully it will be just the weekend away I've been needing though. I'm also really excited about Sunday. Sometimes Erik and I get really sad that UCF's counseling program is three years (as opposed to the two years that most grad programs are), but it definitely offers some perks. For instance, we got two FREE tickets to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure for Sunday. You know what that means? WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, HERE WE COME!!! Oh yes, I am a bit excited to finally get to see this attraction. I've pretty much been waiting for it until we moved here, and it's even better that we can both get in for freeve! The park doesn't open until 4 for us, but that is actually perfect because it leaves time for traveling back from Jupiter (that sounds funny, doesn't it?)

I hope March has been as great for you as it has for me, and that your April is even better! As always, thanks for reading!

Happy Halloween, From Past to Present!

This is the first year since 2006 I have not dressed up for Halloween and I can't say I really mind. I miss the fun Cornerstone parties, but dressing up was always somewhat stressful for me. There was pressure to have an awesome costume and I always felt like I wasn't creative enough. I did win a costume party in 2008 when I dressed up as Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin. I was particularly fond of that one because not only did I decide to do it two days beforehand, but it was cheap and super easy to find. Plus I really looked the part. In honor of Halloween, here are some photos from the years of Erik and me in costumes. Enjoy!

Me as Big Bird with  my mom and grandma.

Erik and his brother as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Me as a leopard with my grandma.

Erik as a leopard/cheetah?

And jumping to the college years...Me as Belle (from Beauty & the Beast) with Katie (Cinderella) and Dunny (Snow White) in 2006.

Malibu Barbie! (2007)

Me as Tina Fey being Sarah Palin with some friends in 2008.

Punky Brewster last year, 2009.

Erik as Captain Kirk last year.

Us with our sweet "Harry Potter" pumpkin this past Friday.

Even though Erik and I didn't dress up or go to any Halloween parties, we still had fun participating in a Halloween-themed event. Our life group got together on Friday to grill and eat dinner together and carve pumpkins. We chose a slightly difficult design, but it turned out fairly well. We carved "Harry Potter" into our pumpkin and it turned out being a lot harder than we anticipated. We had help from a few friends though and it ended up being better than I thought. Most of all, we had a great time with friends! So, what are some of your favorite Halloween memories, or some favorite or most embarrassing costumes you have had throughout the year? How are you celebrating Halloween this year? Are you dressing up or just doing something laidback?

Whatever you do today, I hope you have a great day and a happy Halloween!! I can't wait to see pictures of everyone dressed up in their costumes.

Please Excuse my Absence...

...but there has just not been much to report. I still haven't heard about the job yet. I did e-mail the HR woman (my main contact) and all she said was that they are still conducting testing and interviewing and haven't made a decision yet. I've got no idea how much longer I can expect to wait though...sad news!

We have been connecting with some more people here, which is definitely worth reporting. A couple weeks ago we attended a gathering for newlywed couples. It was really fun! We weren't even the newest married couple either...score! We played the newlywed game and heard from two couples who have been married about 4.5 years and one who's been married 6.5. It was really fun and a great way to meet some new people and have conversations with folks we've just met once. We even met one couple, Andrew and Becky (they have been married 6.5 years), who invited us over last Thursday for a homemade dinner and Settlers. Yes, we finally got to play Settlers of Catan!! Oh and even better news...I won for the first time on my own!!! Woot woot! :o)


We even got to play with the old board!

We have finally got the apartment looking pretty good and have hung up most of the things we've wanted to. We even somehow managed to store the things we didn't think would fit anywhere! I took some photos today, so look forward to those in the next few days.

For those who feel so inclined, if you could continue to pray that I will get a job (specifically the one I have interviewed twice for, at JFP) we would really appreciate that. Bills are adding up and it's getting pretty tough with just Erik's 20-hour-a-week graduate assistantship for income. And please also pray for us as we are still transitioning with living in Florida, away from all our friends and family, and with Erik being a student again. Thank you all, and I would love to hear some updates from some of you! If any of you have blogs I don't know about, post it in the comments section...I would love to read them!