Brian and Erika Get Married!

This weekend on July 18, 2009 the little sister I never had got married in Chico to a wonderful guy! I have known Erika since she was only 2 years old, and I have had the joy to witness their relationship since it started in high school 5 years ago! The wedding was beautiful, I laughed, I cried, it was an amazing time to witness the start of the marriage, see great friends and family!


Jaclyn and me, before she moves from France to Germany at the end of summer!
First Dance!
First kiss and Mr. and Mrs. Tumminelli!
So happy :)

Mom and Dad

Cutting the cake and eating it! They were nice to each other :)

The happy couple! I hope they have a wonderful honeymoon on their Mexican cruise!

I Love Weddings!

Brian and Erika Tumminelli! I will never get sick of going to weddings, watching a couple dedicate their lives to themselves and the Lord. My favorite picture!

MAT Graduation I forgot to post

Since I flew to Ecuador the day after I officially graduated, and life has been INSANE since then, I haven't posted anything about graduation. So since that day is pretty important (I graduated with a Masters in Teaching, endorsements to teach middle school and high school English, Spanish and English as a second language), something I dreamt of my whole life, I wanted to make a post about it! I can't wait until the day I actually get a 'yes' to a teaching job and can have my own classroom!

Moving!

It's official! Evan and I had our prayers answered and found a new house to move into when our lease is up at the end of August! We are kind of sad because it worked out that we are moving into the house that our friends Gary and Courtney are moving out of to go to San Diego, but we couldn't be happier to move in! It is an adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, with fireplace, awesome little kitchen (with a dishwasher and garbage disposal!) and a 2 door refrigerator that has an ice dispenser! It has a great sized fenced backyard so that hopefully very soon we can add corgi puppies to our family (2 that look just like the link pictures)! The rent and utilities for the new place is basically the same as our place now, so really we are getting a win win situation. Also we are just a few houses down the road from our closest friends up here who we are always hanging out with! God has blessed us and we cannot wait until moving day, September 1st!

Our house!

The kitchen!

No is always a hard word to hear, regardless of how much you pray and prepare yourself for it. Today I heard that I wasn't offered either Spanish teaching job that I applied for. So it's looking like after all my hard work, endorsements and degree earned, I still won't be a teacher next year...I know that God has his reasons, but it's still so hard to feel rejected. Why wasn't I good enough, why don't I get this opportunity. Especially for someone like me who is already hard on myself, it's easy for me to say well yeah I guess I'm not good enough and I didn't really deserve the job. I'm just hoping that I can take this No better than others in the past and try to find the good side...if there is one.

Regardless, God is still good and still in control, of this I'm certain.

Vacation!

Evan and I are so excited to leave for Arizona on Monday for a week! We will fly into Phoenix and then drive to Sedona to hang out with my parents and my grandparents. Then we are off to the Grand Canyon for a few days with the family, with one night in Scottsdale! So excited to finally get a vacation!

Yes I know I went to Ecuador but it was mostly all planned, I had to teach, study and sit in class, so I don't really consider that a vacation ;)

Blessed

I woke up today, ate banana bread and drank coffee with my husband for 30 minutes. This was the most time we have had just the two of us all week. I went to work for 6 hours, came home and watched last night's episode of "The Bachelorette" that I missed.

Between Evan and I we probably have close to $80,000 in school debt...first time I ever really thought about that amount. Wow that's a lot.

We have some credit debt.

Right now I am folding clean boxers, towels and t-shirts.

We are going to have breakfast for dinner because that means that we don't have to go out to the store and buy anything to make dinner.

I have 2 bachelors degrees and a Masters, yet I don't have even close to a full time job.

My family and some of my closest friends in the world live either an entire state or entire continent away from me.

We still live paycheck to paycheck.

None of the furniture in our house matches. All of it was gratefully donated from family. The one and only piece we actually bought is our amazing king size bed.

We, who love to cook more than almost anything, do not have a dishwasher (only Evan) and do not have a garbage disposal.

We still have to fill our own ice trays.

I AM BLESSED.

I am full of joy. I have the most amazing husband in this world, who somehow I convinced to marry me, an ordinary California girl. He treats me better than I could have ever dreamed of, he loves me with a love that comes from an amazing God.

I love an amazing God who somehow, for some reason, loves a mistake-prone, imperfect person like me and sacrificed all...for me...

I have a roof over my head, even if GIANT ants and beetles make there way through the walls to torment me.

I have warmth when it's cold, cool when it's hot, food always in my kitchen, clean water from my sink and the most comfortable bed in the world to live in.

I AM BLESSED. We are blessed. I, we are so incredibly blessed.