and then it was december

so november flew by ridiculously fast this year..
at the beginning of the month we went to the charger game vs. green bay!  one of nick's friends treated us to an amazing day at the game.  first we got picked up from our house in a limo!  he treated us to drinks, lunch, and an amazing view of the game with plaza level seats.  whether it's baseball or football or whatever, games are always fun to go to but it's usually more fun to watch it on TV because you get the best view.. that was definitely not the case this time.. it was so great!!  it was pouring rain the whole game and freezing out, but we just put plastic bags over us and cheered on!  chargers lost.. but what's new.

the weekend before thanksgiving nick went camping with some of his friends from college and i got to spend the weekend with my sister!  brooke went on a mission trip to mexico and afterwards got dropped off in san diego.  we had sister time.. something we absolutely never get and that i wish i had more of.  we got mani/pedis, eybrows done, shopped, ate sushi, and just got to be together.  

it was perfect because then brooke, nick, chloe and i drove up to my parents house in vacaville for thanksgiving.  i love thanksgiving, and not only because of the delicious food (but my grandma's gravy is the greatest thing in the world.. i can eat it like soup).  i love it because family comes together and these days getting all of us together is a special thing, whereas just a few years ago it was the normal everyday.  i think definitely took those years for granted.  not that i didn't enjoy being with my family, but now it's something that i long for and desire. all the time.  the Lord has blessed with me with such an amazing, loving, fun, encouraging, and supportive family.  He has given me so many blessings and I have much to be thankful for.  my sweet husband is more than i could have ever asked for or dreamed of.  i feel like i absolutely don't deserve him.  he is so handsome.. he has this look in his eyes that gets me every time and his smile is just so captivating. i adore him.  he is a man after the Lord's heart and treats me like a princess.  he is such a provider, leader, lover, encourager and my best friend.

i could just go on and on about him.

i am also so thankful for my sweet pup.  chloe is such a crazy little bundle of joy.. and she does just that, she brings me so much joy!! i'm kind of obsessed with her.  she is my precious baby, until i have a real one, and then maybe she'll become a dog. 
BUT more than anything else, i am thankful for a loving Savior.  i am thankful that Jesus would die on the cross for me and take all my sins, washing me clean.  i am thankful for His unconditional love and the fact that He will never give up on me and that He is constantly pursuing me.  I am so overwhelmed and humbled by the Lord!

pink champagne in the most amazing glass my mom got from greece.. i can't find them anywhere here!!

the thanksgiving table

aaaaand i think that is just about it!
now it's december 1st so it want to say..
Merry Christmas!!

it's officially the Christmas season.. bring on Amy Grant Christmas music and my noel scented candle... all we need now is weather below 80 degrees!! 

Baby Ty

how precious is he?!

I am writing you to tell you about a loving family that stepping into a new inning in life and needs our help! Rick and Michelle {Team Erickson}  have been blessed with 3 boys and are adding a very precious 4th to the team.  His name is Ty and he has special needs.  Rick and Michelle’s other boys all have medical issues of their own.  Matthew is 11 and has Diabetes.  Caleb is 9 and has Down Syndrome, Diabetes, and other multiple health issues including Celiac Disease.  Joshua is 6 and has Celiac Disease (an autoimmune disease).  They step up to the plate every single day, loving these boys with all they've got!  A new inning began when a friend of the family had a child born with special needs.  Over the past 10 months, that family felt they could not provide Ty with the love and care he needed and deserved.  They made a very difficult decision and decided that it would be in Ty's best interest to give him up for adoption.  Michelle, walking down a similar road before and being familiar with special needs children, stepped in to help her friend in need.  She tried to encourage the family to embrace Ty and love him for the special gift that he is; Ty was born with Down Syndrome.  Through this, the family chose the Erickson family to adopt Ty.  Although the Erickson family didn't think they were ready to bring in another child, their hearts told them this was the right thing to do.  All of the boys were VERY excited about this opportunity and have embraced Ty as their brother.  This is a true act of stepping out in faith.  Because this is all so sudden and unexpected, the Erickson family has not had time to prepare for what Ty needs.  He came with a crib and a few diapers and formula, as well as his infant seat.  He has grown out of his infant seat already and is in need of a full size car seat.  They also need all baby essentials, including a stroller, high chair and clothing (size 12-18 months).  If you feel led to blessing this sweet family and can assist with covering these expenses financially, please help in outfitting Ty!  They are starting from square one and need help.  This is such a cool opportunity for us to to bless this family as they are blessing sweet little Ty and taking him in as one of their very own.  If you would like to help, please email my mom, Joanne Carli, at jjcarli@aol.com.  Please feel free to pass this along to your friends and family.. let's get the word out there!
Thanks!

whatta wonderful weekend

what a weekend!!  it was a fun, crazy, busy, non-stop, celebratory, relaxing, fall weekend that i got to spend with my sweet husband.
on saturday we went to a wedding out in the sticks in Ramona and celebrated the marriage of Teale & Justin.. now known as Mr. & Mrs. Gunter!!  It was absolutely beautiful.  they spent so much time on making sure every last little detail was perfect and everything was homemade.  i was blown away.  there were paper lanterns, and lights strung in the trees, burlap everywhere, a dainty chandelier hanging over the dance floor, vintage trunks and dressers.. all outdoors in the country.  can you say ROMANTIC?!  i love going to weddings.  i love watching friends promise their lives to another and enter into the most incredible journey of marriage.  i love sitting next to nick, holding his hand, and feeling so blessed that i am married to my best friend.  i love being in love and the beauty of marriage and knowing all that the couple at the altar is about to experience.  i get so giddy and excited for them.. ahh, i just LOVE love.

I was introduced to Teale a few years ago and was just drawn to her.  she loves people so recklessly, her heart for ministry is incredible, and her love for the Lord is amazing.  she is an incredibly talented photographer and we were so honored for her to capture our wedding.  Nick and Teale have been friends for about ten years and we quickly became like sisters and people actually thought we were so we just call each other sis.  it must be the blonde hair and blue eyes or something :)  Meeting Justin was so much fun because we are from the same place and it turns out that we knew so many of the same people.  His love for God, his heart for ministry and missions couldn't align more with Teale's.  They are an incredible team for the Kingdom of God and I'm so excited to see how He is going to use them.  They are taking off to move to Tennessee to start their lives together and their ministry.
I loved celebrating the two of them because i love them both and they are beyond perfect for each other. i'm so thrilled that the Lord brought them together.. especially the way He did.  They have such a cool and unique story and if you love sweet love stories, especially the kind that give you goosebumps at the way God works, go here and read it --> Justin + Teale's Story


sunday morning was gloomy.. just the way i like it!! seeing as it's the middle of october and technically fall, it should be gloomy with crisp cool air outside.  the kind of weather you can dress cute and pull out the boots and scarves and drink pumpkin spice lattes.  so that is exactly what i did.  unfortuantely in san diego, the weather just likes to trick you and very shortly heats up to 80 degrees.  outfit fail.  anyways, we had an amazing morning at church.  we have been going to the father's house in san marcos.  it's a little bit of a drive but completely worth it.  we have felt so loved and welcome there and more importantly the spirit of God is alive and present in that church.. His presence is so evident and the people are diligently seeking the heart of God.  We love it and we're so thankful to finally be at a church like this one.
after church we decided to spend the afternoon in Julian.. because it's beautiful up there and seemed like a very "fall" thing to do.  we planned on eating apple pie and picking out pumpkins.  neither of which we did.  we shared a carmel apple, ate lunch and were way too stuffed to eat their famous apple pie.. and the line was two streets long.  and as for the pumpkins.. it was so hot up there and i decided that to pick out pumpkins it had to be colder.  so until the temperature drops below 80 degrees, the hitches aren't going to be buying pumpkins.


before heading home, i wanted to go to a japanese market to pick up a few things for dinner this week.  i have been wanting to make homemade real miso soup, because those instant packets just don't cut it.  we had to go to the actual japanese market because henrys and vons don't carry miso paste.  walking into this store was unreal and i felt like i was back in tokyo  and okinawa again!! nothing in the store is in english and the employees barely spoke any english.  we had no idea what to look for, where it was, or how to know when we found it!!  so this sweet japanese lady who didn't even work there walked up to us and said, "uhh hi, do you know what you're looking for or where to look?"  i guess it was obvious that we were totally lost, hahaha.  she took us around to get all the things we needed and explained so much to us.  she was the sweetest little thing and told us that she was from osaka, japan and married a man from wisconsin and now lives here.  Thank God for that adorable lady or we would probably still be wandering the aisles!!

i'm so thankful for such a great weekend.. time to rest up for another week!!

banana nut bread

i wish i could say that it was a gloomy fall morning with rain pouring outside so i decided to bake some banana bread.. but unfortunately that is absolutely NOT the case.  instead, it is one of the hottest days we have had all year, reaching over 100 degrees! insane.  so the real reason i baked this morning is because i had some really brown bananas.  it's terrible that i'm complaining about such beautiful weather because a lot of people would trade the cold in a second.. but i'm dying for some cool fall weather, gloomy skies, and raindrops.

my sweet mother in law gave me her recipe and since i have made it a few times.. you can try it for yourself, but i think it's bomb.  but beware!  this recipe yields two loaves- you gotta remember this lovely woman had 8 kids to make this for!! so either prepare for a lot and to have people over for coffee and a treat, or cut it in half.. or i guess you could eat all of it :)

ingredients

1/2 cup of butter

2 eggs

2 cups of sugar

3 ripe bananas

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

2 cups of milk

walnuts

instructions

preheat oven to 325 degrees

cream together the butter, eggs & sugar

add mushy bananas

combine salt and flour and add alternately with milk

add baking soda

pour in walnuts depending on how nutty you like it

(i use about 2 cups)

coat your loaf dish with non-stick spray

and pour half of the batter in!

(or cut the recipe in half and pour it all in)

bake for an hour.. depending on how powerful for you oven is

i usually have to let it bake for an hour and a half

and after the long wait, enjoy a hot piece with butter and a cup of coffee

hume lake

this past weekend i got to smell the crisp mountain air.. there is truly nothing like being up at hume.  since brooke is in joshua and had this weekend off (and i haven't seen her since june) and my parents just got back from italy & greece, we decided that we would meet up on the mountain and spend some sweet time together.  i must really love my family to drive 14 hours round trip to be together for less than 48 hours!  being up there where i have spent so much of my life, with family, was so good for my soul and even though we left so tired, we were so refreshed.

i loved getting to spend time with my sister and seeing her life up on the hill and in the building where i spent the same nine intense months.  we got to meet her friends and i am so excited about the community of solid kids she has around her. 

when we left on sunday it was so weird to me that we were leaving and she was staying there.  something about it still doesn't seem right.. she's the baby!  i don't think it's hit me yet that she doesn't live at home anymore.  baby girl is growing up!  spending time with my family isn't what it used to be.  i have always loved being with my family but as we get older the time we have together is so much more precious.  as brooke and i have gotten older my relationship with her has changed and the same with my parents.. and i love it.  i love that my sister, who for most of my life was annoying to me, is now one of my very best friends and is actually cooler than me.  how does that happen? haha.  and my parents who used to be my authority, not my friends, are suddenly my best friends.
i have been blessed with one incredible family.  and as family is always evolving and changing, i am so thankful for the little family i have with nick.

Gods presence at hume is evident and indescribable.
He is good and you can guarantee that He will meet you there.

amen.

heavy hearted

this post is a few weeks late but i haven't really known what to say so i figure that it's better late than never.  two weeks ago today my friend Nadyne had a tragic fall and passed away.  she was (it doesn't seem right talking about her in past tense) such an amazing girl that i have been blessed to call my friend for so many years.  Nadyne and I went to elementary school, junior high, and high school together.  we grew up in the same church and went to youth group together and were in the same small group.  we went to winter camp and summer camp every year and shared so many memories.  we went on mission trips to mexico and worked at mary's pizza shack together.  i loved that little peanut.


i was so sad that i wasn't able to make it up to vacaville for her memorial service but so thankful that they had the service live online to watch and be a part of.  it was such an incredible service.  it was more of a celebration of her life.  the amount of people she touched in her short 23 years is unreal.  the things people said about her and the stories they told of how she shined and how she served and loved people like Jesus.. it was amazing.  it was everything you hope people would say about you.


since we're still here on earth we are so sad that we have to go on without her bright spirit and vibrant life.. and that is hard.  the beauty on the other side is that she is now with Jesus.  she is not in any pain.  she gets to walk the streets of Heaven.  i thought of the song "i can only imagine" by mercyme.. Nadyne isn't imagining anymore, she is there seeing it all!
it still doesn't seem real.. and i think that is why i haven't really known what to say.  it was and still is so shocking.  i think, she can't REALLY by gone. she was such a precious girl that would brighten any room.  she wouldn't take anyone's crap and would shoot things straight.  you don't meet people like her everyday.. she was a precious girl and is desperately missed by everyone who has ever known her.


In the midst of all of this sadness, the thing that I have clung to is the hope we have in Jesus.  
God gives us this unexplainable peace that is beyond anything we could ever understand.  and He is sovereign and good.
Nadyne left the earth and went Home while doing what she loved.  She was working at a camp, serving Jesus and loving people.. and that is beautiful.


Life is short and precious and in an instant it can be taken.  Live your life with purpose and don't take any moment for granted.  If there is something on your heart you want to tell someone or do for someone.. don't wait. do it.

i am so thankful to have known Nadyne.  I love her and miss her.. and one day I will see her in Heaven.

Nadyne Janette Qirreh

1988-2011

aaaaaaand we're back!

so i've let almost two months go by without writing and the longer i put it off, the harder it is for me to get back on it and catch up.  it intimidates me and i don't know why.  i started this for me to document our life to look back on and after i went m.i.a. i was getting harassed (the most loving way possible) to update the blog because people actually read it.. which shocks and flatters me.  so i'm going to attempt to catch you all up from august til now.. because i don't feel like i can write any new posts until i make up for lost time.


we have been ridiculously busy to say the least.


august 1st was our one year anniversary and  i couldn't believe that a year had already flown by.  people always warn you before you get married that the first year is the hardest, so i also couldn't believe that the first year was over and i was even more in love and just lived the best year of my life.  of course we went through difficult times and learned a lot about ourselves and each other, but we also had the most amazing, joyful and exciting times.  marriage is a beautiful gift from God that i am so thankful for.  it is also a sacred place that the Lord uses to refine us into who He wants us to be.



so to celebrate our first year we spent the weekend away in palm springs.  the amazing family i nanny for has a beautiful condo there that they opened up for us to use anytime we want to get away.. talk about blessed.  on the morning of the first it was so much fun to sit with handsome husband and reflect on the last year, watch a video of our wedding, look a pictures, reminisce, talk about highs and lows and highlights.  being out in the desert was so peaceful, relaxing and HOT!  one of the days we actually had a crazy rainstorm, but it was still super hot outside.. i loved it.  when we got back to SD we went out for an incredible dinner at Donovan's downtown. yum.


i'm so blessed to have nick as my husband and by my side forever.



hmmm..  one major highlight of august was that we had so much family in town.. almost every weekend!  we spent one weekend hanging out with the Elms.. We went to dinner on coronado and church in san marcos where uncle ron led worship.  i loved having them here!!


the next weekend the other Elm family and my parents came into town!!  the Elms were moving Michael into his dorm at SDCC (so excited he's down here and so close to us!!) I don't even know where to begin with all the fun we had with them.  We shopped, BBQ-ed, went to dinner for Uncle Rickie's birthday, had the best night ever at the shout house downtown (i have been wanting to go for years!!), went to Syrah, my fav little wine place downtown, layed by the pool, and so much more.  it was amazing and so refreshing spending sweet time with all of them.  i cried when they left. i'm a little girl at heart, i think i always will be.



in mid august we found out that my sister was going to be going up to hume for this year to do the joshua program.  she had so many different plans for this next year that God shut the door to.. every single time.  she didn't have direction, she didn't know what to do, she applied so late and got in.  it is so unlikely for a spot to open up so late and she get picked out of so many people to fill the last spot.  if that isn't cool enough, they told her that she owed $4000 by the next day to hold her spot.  i would say that the Lord definitely wanted her in this program because just the day before my papa tom had just told my parents that because of an investment he had made, he was gifting them some money, and just like that everything was taken care of.  when brooke went up to hume to meet with the director a few weeks before finding all of this out, he had told her that he would love to have her in the program but because it was so late she would probably have to wait until the following year.  he also told her that if God wanted her in the class this year, it would happen and He would make the way.  it gives me chills to look back on this past year and see His hand in her life, guiding her to where she is now.  He clearly shut so many doors to the things she thought she wanted and opened up so easily to where He wanted her, and even provided the money.  our God is so BIG and so good!!
i am so beyond excited for her to be there this year and experience all that i did.  i love that this is something that brooke and i will be able to share together because i have lived it and understand all that she is going through.  i think i am most excited to see how God transforms her over this year, it's going to be incredible.  AND she gets to go to Israel.  i want to go back so bad!!



let's see.. what else did we do? we went to a padres game with some friends! that was fun.  i don't remember who we played but it was a good game.. it was tied in the end and in the extra inning we lost :(


over labor day weekend nick's aunt judy and uncle pete from colorado came out to visit and treated us to an amazing weekend.  we took them to some of our favorite restaurants and spent sweet quality time together.  one day they took us deep sea fishing.  i was so excited to go and be on a boat in the middle of the ocean! but i have never been on a boat in the middle of the ocean and therefore had no idea that i get extremely sea sick.  i am so happy that nick loved it because for me it was five long hours of extreme nausea.  thankfully i didn't throw up.  on a boat of 75 people, and no working bathroom, my option would have been to be THAT girl throwing up over the railing.. and i just didn't want to do that.  my equilibrium was off for the next few days to come which made it really unfortunate when they took us wine tasting in temecula.  i have gone in napa many times with my family and have wanted to go in temecula since i've lived here.  i was still sick from the boat so i could barely enjoy any wine.  even though i couldn't taste very many wines, it was still a beautiful day exploring the vineyards out there and a great weekend with family.


last weekend was my birthday. the big 23. i wasn't very excited about this age because all i can ever think about is that stupid blink 182 song that says "nobody likes you when you're 23" and probably because i don't like odd numbers.  anyways, i had a great weekend!  nick spoiled me with a spa day at vasseur day spa down town in this super cute old victorian home.  i had a massage and an incredible facial.  it was so amazing i got sucked in and bought all their products and am now obsessed with them.  besides that, we just did all of my favorite things i wanted to do.  i got to watch 'a little princess' which brought me right back to my childhood.  we got frozen yogurt. nick bought me a keychain from tiffanys. i got a sweet card from him, the "happy birthday to my wife" card that i was so excited about being able to get now being married.. it's actually my second married birthday.  married birthdays are so much better.


my parents and some of their friends took off to europe last week.  they are depressed that they are officially empty nesters and this is how they deal with their pain.  i do not feel sorry for them one bit.  they are in greece and italy for about three weeks. yep, no sympathy coming from me.


busy last couple months? yes. scatter brain? yes. 
but i am caught up and can breathe deep!
after having such a fun and busy summer i am thankful for this season to come and things to start slowing down around our home :)

first class day at the races

we made it back from our 25 hour road trip at 10:30 am on friday morning.
we got home, unpacked, went for a run and got ready because we had a big and fun day ahead of us.  the family that i work for invited us to go to the del mar horse races with them.  i had never been so i have been so excited to go.  and let me tell you, this is not your typical day at the races, they are friends with owners of horses with lots of hook ups.  it just so happened that their friend wasn't able to come and gave them their owners box for us to use!
it was so much fun and nick go so into the races and betting on the horses and actually made $50!  after the races we went to the brigantine for dinner.. love that place.
ed and kathie treated us to an amazing day and we feel so blessed by them!!

summer adventures

this summer has flown by so fast but has been amazing!! i am so blessed with a job that allows me to enjoy my summer and do fun stuff.. seriously, it's the best thing ever.
madison and i have gone ice skating, to the fair, shopping, to the beach, to the movies, legoland & the water park, and on the in between days we soak up the sun by the pool and play games.  

the newly renovated theatre on coronado.. we saw cars 2 :)

NYC.. out of legos

i love spending time with madison and her friends.. her youthful spirit is so refreshing and takes me right back to high school and makes me reminisce about fun times with my old best friends.  it's crazy to me how quickly life changes after high school and how friends come and go.  almost on a daily basis madison and her friend haley will be in the car with me and all of a sudden then will start laughing so hard that they can't even breathe and even though i have no idea what they're laughing about, it makes me smile.  i don't know how to describe it, i just love it.
last week madison went to a week long overnight horse camp so i was left with a week with no agenda.  completely unplanned, nick and i jumped in the car and roadtripped to nebraska to spend time with his family & meet our new niece. NO ONE knew we were coming. i just love surprising people.

beautiful arizona sunset

utah

long open roads of nebraska

so peaceful

colorado

terrible picture.. but me and my new niece Josalea Kate!!

 it took us 23 hours to get there and 25 to get home.. what an adventure.
i am so thankful for the quality time nick and i had together during the drive!!
i'm loving this summer!!