to all who read my blog...

dear faithful readers....

my in-laws want you to update your blogs. they say it's the only way they know what's going on in the world.... so, update!

*besos*

my husband is 28

this is him getting ready to feed crocs on our honeymoon. he's insane!

yesterday was chris' 28th birthday. if you ask him, his original plan *made many moons ago* was to be married in his early 20's and to be a dad by this time. he always thought that he would be pretty much like his dad in that respect. and while they're pretty stinkin' similar, this was not chris' lot in life.

God had better plans for him... hello, me!

things may not be what we intend them to become, but when we trust in God, they are always better than we can ever dream!

i praise God that His plan was different than chris'. i praise God that His plan was different than my own. and, i praise God because my husband is a man of great faith, he loves Jesus, and that is really the greatest thing!

Happy Birthday, baby!

*besos*

6 months ago...

i married the man of my dreams, my prince charming... you see i how happy i was that day?? i'm still that happy now. sure, being married is different. but, it feels so natural. if you ask chris, he'll tell you that it feels like he was never not married to me. i feel the same way. it's funny how you know people for years, and you tend to marry the person you've known for the least amount of time. well, we did anyway.

i'm so blessed that God gave me *and gave me to* the most amazing man. i see his love for me in everything that he does. even when he leaves me at night to go to work, i see how he loves me enough to work nights and not complain *too much* about it.

thanks you all for your prayers. please keep praying for us!

i'll leave you with some new pictures

*courtesy of the santa maria inn*

*besos*

don't tell michigan...

but i totally bought 2 cutco knives from lydia. i totally did. i practically begged chris to let me buy them... i'm way excited!

lydia is this super cool girl from church. i met her years ago, when chris and i started dating. she was part of the high school group then. now, she's entering our collage group. we're really happy to have her! anywho, she sells cutco knives now.

yesterday she was going to do a presentation to amy; which she did. but after we all realized that it was running day, we decided to have a huge presentation for the rest of us. yesterday was the first time i got home and found the girls waiting outside my door. i had gone to the store to get dinner fixin's... whole wheat spaghetti with turkey and veggie marinara sauce. it was yummy! i made this other concoction for amy. since she can't eat garlic i made turkey with onion and tomato for her to toss with her pasta. i guess it was yummy because she ate it all!

anywho, we did our two miles. best time yet! then we got home and i started cooking *and doing sit ups every now and then*. we ate our *super amazingly yummy* dinner. then lydia got to her presentation. it was too funny because i have to henckel's knives, which i guess are the major cutco competition. she told me to get my fave knives... guess what i got out. she was like, "what kind of knife is this?!?!" tee-hee! too funny!

anyway, long story short... i love cooking stuff. we have a ton of knives, but i always want more! and, after much talking to chris (and after a lot of watching amy lay strangely on the balance ball... had to through that in there), i decided on two knives.

now i can't wait for them to get to my casa!!!

thanks lydia!

*besos*

because chris is annoyed that i haven't blogged...

i shall blog about my fantastic weekend.... it started on thursday nite...

it really did. on thursday night, chris and i ate the leftovers from tuesdays "GAP mexican food night for eric". i must say, i make a mean enchilada. i think those were *almost* more popular tham king taco. actually, i know for a fact that may liked them more.

anywho, we ate leftovers for dinner. something smelled funny, but i couldn't really pin point it. anywho, everything tasted fine. so, we ate it. chris introduced me to Flight of the Conchords. it's bizzaro guy humor, but too funny. so, chris went to take a nap. i knitted. we got im all dressed and ready for work. and off he went at about 9:30ish.

i called him before i went to bed and he told me that his stomach was felling funk. i didn't really think it was the food because, if you know me, i'm the one who always gets super sick. so, since i was fine, i thought he was maybe tired and that was causing him to feel sick. i got off the phone, and went to bed. then i was woken up by stomach pain around 3 am. lets just say it wasn't fun.

i went back to bed because i was feeling a little better. i woke up at my normal time to get ready for work. got dressed, did my hair, was going to do my make-up and then it hit me. i was feeling really nauseated. so, i sat on the couch for a little bit. then i decided to finish getting ready for work. but it wasn't happening. i felt too sick. so, i sat down on the couch, and that's were chris found me when he got home. and guess what, he was still feeling not so bueno.

i called my manager to let her know i wasn't coming in, got into be with chris, and basically slept until about 1. it was great. i woke up, sat on the couch for a few hours then went back to bed. chris was half waking up, but i fell asleep again, so, he did too. basically, i slept my life away on friday. we went to target, got some stuff. amy came over that night and had lots of fun planning her trip to australia. she left around 11:30ish. i was sad, but then, i went to bed.

saturday. saturday was the day! i woke up around 9:30. chris kinda woke me up when he got home, but i was too gone to really say hello. anywho, i woke up. knitted some. did my balance ball dvd workout. did some bollywood booty. watched a lot of tv... while knitting. i wanted to get in the pool, but i didn't know what time chris was going to wake up. so, i took a shower. around 12:30, chris was kinda awake. so i washed dishes. around 1 we went to ruthie's house (chris' aunt) to wash both cars. i'm really the barer of the spray hose. chris does most of the work. amy drove by on her way home from the beach. this was the best part because i got her beach chair out of her car and decided to sit and lay out while chris was drying and such in the garage. oh the sun. i grew a newer appreciation for amy's fave past time.

she went home only to come back to bring ruthie her vacuum (amy has an issue with vacuumes...), and brought the boys with her. sam, max, and assuie.. those dogs crack me up. and, i think they like to knock me over. it's great fun. anywho, after she left, i went inside and hing out with ruthie while chris finished up the cars. we got to talking jewelry. i heart jewelry. and so does ruthie. she goes on these vacations every year to new mexico just for the sake of going out and checking out jewelry. i think i may go with her one day!

anywhom we went home, and got in the pool. we swam for about 45 minutes. we had to, our apartment would have killed us. it's beyond hot in there. then, after the pool, i made hot dog and potato burritos. we watched The Emperor's New Groove during dinner. i took a shower after. chris worked on songs for sunday morning worship while i... knit. then we went to bed around 10:30.

sunday was a typical sunday. woke up early. got to church by 8am. chris practiced with chad, the drummer. i had nursery duty. and, had new borns!!! too cute! jullian and tevita. the cutest little boys! i think the last time i held such a small baby was when elijah was born. *remember, elijah.. how i was your first baby sitter?? you were 3 days old, and your mom and dad needed to go to the store? i sat on the couch and held your little 7 lb self.. it was fantastic.*

okay, after the fun babies, we went to fudrucker's for lunch. *amazing burgers* then came home. elisabeth came over to give me birthday gift. totally a dress that i wanted! she left, chris got his computer out, and i went to lay out IN the pool. yes. at the shallow end. i think i got some color...

then we went to GAP. had a good service. came home around 11pm. i made chris a sandwich and i ate chips and salsa. then, around 11:30, we went to bed.

now it's monday morning, i'm at work in my offic with norma. i really should get back to work!!

chris, did you enjoy my long blog???

*besos*

astrid broke her thigh...

turns out that the block that we run is about 2 miles. not a big thing for amy, astrid or heather (who all work out, all the time). but i'm way impressed! i ran more than walked yesterday, and it was fun! we're waiting for elisabeth to come join us... but baldwin bed and breakfast is in full swing...

the best part of yesterday was this fun little diddy that chris got me for my birthday. oh, i'm 26 now. yep, happy birthday to me. we went to this super yummy korean bbq place in long beach. in fact, i want to go back! anywho, one of my birthday present from chris was Bollywood Booty. *he got me other awesome stuff too*

this thing is amazing. it's sooo fun. the moves don't really feel like a workout *other than the pain you tend to feel b/c it really is*, just like fun dancing. i'm totally using this at a teaching tool for elisabeth's lack of hip movement. and f this doesn't work... it's hopeless.

anywho, i showed it to astrid and she had to get up and do it. she was in full swing with her Rajsha move. and i think it stretched her thigh too much. poor girl. she couldn't run too well. i should call her and find out how her thigh is... but, it's too fun!!!

after our run, we went to dinner. i lead the girls to their new fave place. amy is already trying to figure out when she's going back. in fact, i don't think she'll come over to our house to eat unless we go there... it's really yummy. but i think it canceled out our run!

'tis fine! i'm working my booty *and the rest of my body really* tonite!

*besos*

leilani and the world of social work

the greatest news i have these days.... i got my loan for school! sure, we'll have to pay for it later, but at least there are funds for school now! that makes me very happy. you should have seen me the day i learned about it... i was shaking with joy! i even had to call chris regardless of the the fact that he was sleeping. it was a very happy day.

but of major importance: i had my internship interview. the place the great. they work with foster kids in the la area. it's a legal help agency, so i'll be working with lawyers, law students, and the infamous, DCFS (dept of family and children services). it was a really great place that did a lot of good. the only thing was that it caused me to cry my whole way home from work. mostly in anger. i'm sure people with think i'm crazy for thinking these things, and feeling these things... but, i was angry with Christians after interviewing at this place.

every office i walked into was all about over-turning Prop 8 and how a family is a family regardless of how many moms or dads there are. and, at first i thought, "God, why am i always in places like this? why is this the community i'm working with?" and it isn't even that this is the target community that this agency is helping, it's that those are the people working there.

then it dawned on me that it was the nature of this field in the US, and most of the world, i'm sure. these are the people that promote social welfare. then it occurred to me... where are the Christians? where are we to show Christ's love to those less fortunate than us? why are we so caught up in our "conservative" boxes that we think helping other is somehow too "liberal" for us to do? why are these people who don't love Christ doing all the work that we should be.

it was this that caused my heart to ache. i mean, really. i just don't get it. we're in our churches crying about gay marriage and abortion when there are children without parents that need us, when there are elderly who have no money and no where to go. we're afraid to go down to skid row because there are people with major problems out there. we're willing to learn all we can about theology (not that it's a bad thing, bc i think we could all use it), but we're afraid to put these things in practice.

i've always said that Jesus was a radical man... and we all know that He was here to reach the sinner. but sometimes i wonder how willing we are to reach the sinner. to help the poor, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry. we are His hands and His feet, but where are we??

please pray that we will all have this ache, to really reach those less fortunate, so that the world will really see Christ and His love.

*besos*