Belle's First Snow!

Belle went up to a snow park yesterday (Sugar Bowl) with her cousin AJ, Grammy, and "Tati" Shannon. She had a blast! She made a snowman, rode a sleigh, tubed, and even boarded. It was her first time to the snow. Jackson and I have not made it up one season since she's been born, but I'm hoping to make a family trip next season. It will be so fun to snowboard with Belle as she gets older.

Easter through Belle's Eyes

"God's not dead! Yeah! He is Al-i-i-ve!" Belle has been running around the house singing this song every day for the past week or so. I know that she is young and cannot fully comprehend all that's involved in the meaning of Easter just yet, but it is amazing how we are talking about Jesus' death and resurrection and how Belle is understanding that it is an incredible way that God chose to save us. We have this Bible, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE called the Jesus Storybook Bible, and Belle enjoys reading stories out of this book often. Lately, she's asked to read the story of Jesus' death and resurrection and she gets so excited when she sees the angel telling Mary Magdalene and the other women that Jesus is not dead anymore. Through Belle, God has given me a fresh and new song in my heart, "God's not dead! YEAH!!!! He IS ALIVE!!!"

Things I've Done and Want to Do

In February (around my 29th birthday) I started writing a list of things I'd like to do and I am finally getting around to completing it. My friend Mandy wrote a post about her Bucket List recently which inspired me to publish my own.

As I began to nail down 29 things I want to do before I die (but really, sooner than later), I started to think about all that I've been able to experience. God has really given me the privilege of living a full and exciting life so far... SO I am going to share 29 things I've done (some things that I would like to do again, given the chance) and 29 things I'd like to do... let's say in the next decade (or beyond).

Things I've Been Able to Do (in no particular order):

1. Go to Europe (I went to Romania on a mission trip in the summer of 1996)

2. Go to Hawaii (I have been to The Big Island and Oahu numerous times; I even para-sailed during my last stay in 2005)

3. Go to Australia (I've been twice, I was even able to snowboard during our- America's- summer)

4. Go to Japan (summer of 1994 for a week, even flew Business Class)

5. Live on the beach (Newport Summer Project with Campus Crusade 2001)

6. Learn to surf (I minored in this :-) during my college years at UC Santa Barbara)

7. Run a half marathon (La Jolla, CA Spring 2002)

8. Wake board (in Colorado and California)

9. Walk on the beach with someone I love (Jackson- Santa Barbara, San Diego, Monterey, Carmel, Santa Cruz...)

10. Vacation on the beach (Silver Strand- San Diego, CA 2003)

11. Go to Vegas (visited mother-in-law a few times, even won some $ playing Craps)

12. Get married in a beautiful garden to my best friend (Walnut Creek, CA 2004)

13. Attend Bill Bright's Memorial Service (Fort Collins, CO- 2003)

14. Resign from a job I don't like (got out of sales and started to become a teacher, 2008)

15. Get my teaching credential to teach K-6 (2009)

16. Get my Master's degree (Best Practices in Education, 2009)

17. Go night snorkeling (Catalina Island, 1999)

18. Visit a castle (Transylvania, 1994)

19. Learn piano (I played from ages 4-16)

20. Play soccer (I played competitively until my Junior year in high school, and I've played for fun off and on since then...)

21. Give birth/become a parent (2 times so far, this list is in very random order because my birth experiences are two of the most important in my life)

22. Go roller-blading (lots in Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, and even the Bay Area)

23. Sleep under the stars (yea for camping)

24. Swing on a rope swing into a swimming hole (Yellowstone National Park, 90s)

25. Fire a gun (Austin, TX- 2003)

26. Stay at a quaint bed and breakfast (Honeymoon at Carmel by the Sea, 2004)

27. Skateboard (did this in Newport Beach and actually skateboarded all around believe it or not, 2001)

28. Save someone's life (physically, rescued a boy as a lifeguard and resuscitated 1999; have shared in friends and even strangers accepting Jesus as their Savior throughout my life)

29. Help build a house (Habitat for Humanity, 1995)

Things I Want to Do (again, in no particular order):

1. Save more people (I want to help others get [or better]a personal relationship with Jesus)

2. Do a triathlon

3. Go to Kauai and Maui (I want to see the sunrise at Haleakala in Maui- see post picture)

4. Go to New Zealand

5. Go to Israel (I'd love to see Jerusalem and Nazareth)

6. Go on an Alaskan cruise (see a glacier fall into an iceberg and whale watch)

7. Have our kids sponsor a child on their 4th birthday and regularly write to the child (Jackson and I have been talking about something like this for awhile, and thank Mandy for the details on this action item!)

8. Ride a horse (on the beach if possible)

9. Snowboard in Colorado (and visit family while I'm there)

10. Wake board for a whole weekend (at least 2 days in a row)

11. Visit Prince Edward Island (ode to Anne of Green Gables :-) )

12. Hang glide

13. Take my kids blueberry picking in Oregon- visit with family and friends while we're there (I used to do this every summer with family as a kid)

14. Go to the East Coast (I've been a lot of places, but I've only been to the east coast for 1. a lay over in NJ on my way to Romania, 2. to visit Lindsey for a few days in WV, and 3. a Crusade Staff conference in FL). I want to visit historical places... specifically, I want to see New York, South Carolina, and Washington D.C.

15. Go somewhere special with Jackson for our 10 year anniversary for at least 3 days (July 2014).

16. Indoor skydive (like here )

17. Kayak in Half Moon Bay, CA

18. Do a girls' weekend with my 3 sisters (maybe attend a retreat together?)

19. Go on a mission trip with my kids (hopefully we'll do lots of these)

20. Take a dance class (like hip-hop or something... yeah I better do this one soon ;-) )

21. Ride a hot air balloon

22. Snorkel somewhere I haven't yet (tropical... maybe on the Kauai/Maui trip)

23. Swim with dolphins (Hawaii trip again?)

24. Live in a place (hopefully our next home) that gets a ton of natural light

25. Speak at a moms or marriage engagement

26. Jump with moon shoes (this is getting random, but I've always wanted to do this...)

27. Kiss Jackson behind a waterfall (this can happen in Kauai perhaps)

28. Ice skate on a frozen pond (maybe on my east coast trip?)

29. White water raft (Grade 4)

Juliette Grace

We're having Juliette dedicated at church on Mother's Day. She's already 5 months... by May, she'll be 7 months. I can't remember life without her, but I also can't believe she's been outside of me for about half of a year. Here's what's happening with Baby J:
- She's working on sitting by herself

- She loves to jump and constantly tries to stand

- At her last check up in February, she weighed 16 lbs. 6 oz.

- She's around 26 inches

- Belle is her hero (she constantly wants to be around her, see her, etc.)

- Her eyes are still blue

- Her hair looks crazy (semi-toupe, see picture)

- She's just starting to eat rice cereal (it's been offered to her for over a month)... she'll be trying new food (bananas? pears?) this week

- She loves baths

- She laughs out loud when you tickle her (and she laughed pretty hard when Belle was doing some silly antics yesterday)

- Something Jax and I say often, "She doesn't ask for much..."

- She's allowed me to know more of God's love and grace

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Since having Belle, I've developed a deeper enjoyment of holidays. It's so much fun to see how excited Belle (and I know eventually Juliette) gets when it comes to celebrating various holidays. Today, we talked about how St. Patrick (who was a pagan turned Christian) discovered God through prayer. So, in 3 year old terminology, we talked about how God hears our prayers. We also enjoyed green water (yep, I added food coloring to her water), green mac and cheese (again, more dye), and coloring with all the shades of green we could find... Also, Belle is very excited to wear her 'shirt with green jewels' that has a shamrock on it to small group tonight. I CAN'T WAIT for Easter... Belle is starting to understand more about the true meaning AND there's going to be an awesome egg hunt the day before.

Giving Challenge

South Bay Church recently finished a Financial Freedom series. The messages were some of the best that I've heard regarding money. Our pastor challenged us to take a Giving Challenge. Starting on February 21, Andy challenged us to give more than we currently give for the next 90 days. As an encouragement, he sent us a book, The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn.

Here's what's happened so far in our Giving Challenge:

- Read the Treasure Principle - learned some good stuff: Specifically (1) My heart always goes where I put God's money, (2) Giving is the only antidote for materialism, (3) God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but my standard of giving, (4) Inheritance- I'm re-thinking the whole leave a lot to your kids, and moving into an investment in God's kingdom NOW mentality. This doesn't mean we won't leave our children some type of modest inheritance (or save for their college, our retirement, etc.), but it does mean that I realize loving my kids and being wise with my money involves showing my kids how to give big... I want to leave a legacy of giving.

- Jackson and I decided to give $126 extra this month to certain ministry organizations. Almost simultaneously, we received a $150 deduction on rent for being inconvenienced by things that are annoying, but cost us no money. Will this happen every time we give? I doubt it, but this was certainly encouraging.

- Jackson got his pink slip. At the same time, he heard that he definitely has 60% of his job for this next fall. This would mean no benefits, but at least 60% of his salary. While we don't know exactly what God has planned for Jackson job-wise, we have more peace giving and knowing God will provide.

- We're dreaming and strategically planning of how we can be financially free one day. It is my prayer and desire that Jackson and I will one day be able to volunteer full time (maybe on staff at a church or similar) to share Christ's love with our community. This would mean a lot of saving and wise investments, but I believe this can happen.

I want to live to give...

The Birth Order Book

I really enjoyed reading The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are by Dr. Kevin Leman. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion and would elbow Jackson in bed and read various excerpts aloud. The book helped me understand more about my own personality, personalities of those close to me, and gave me some good ideas for parenting.

My Own Personality: I'm first-born (if you're reading this you most likely know me well and already know this). Dr. Leman states that generally, many first borns are "perfectionistic, reliable, conscientious, list maker(s), well organized, critical, serious, (and) scholarly" (p. 14). I've taken personality tests before and know that many of these traits are true of me, however, it was interesting to learn that first-born people are 'little adults' (as children) who often go on to become leaders and achievers in life. This list does describe me and it was fun to read that so many first born people have these traits. I really enjoyed reading Dr. Leman's tips for first-borns. Specifically, his recommendation to take smaller bites of life, work on saying no, and not to 'apologize for who you are'.

Personalities of Others: I thought a lot about my family as I read through these pages. I have a better understanding of my sisters, my parents, and even Jackson. I learned that while Jackson is a middle child, he's also a pseudo first-born because he is 7 years younger than his sister AND he's the first male. Interesting stuff.

Points for Parenting: Dr. Leman closes his book with some key points to remember about birth order. These can and will help me as I parent Belle and Juliette (and possibly others to come). Here are some of his key points (mostly in my own words) and some additional take-aways that I am thinking of:

1. Birth order is only an influence that contributes to how a child will turn out. There's a lot other influences that go into the equation.

2. The way that parents treat their kids is just as important as birth order. Parents should create environments that help children thrive.

3. Every birth order has strengths and weaknesses. Parents should help develop positive ones, and cope with negative ones.

4. No birth order is "better" (except the first-born of course, hehe). Seriously though, this brings up the point that most parents 'relate to' or 'identify' with their child that is their birth order. I want to be sure not to dote on Belle more than Juliette because of this.

5. We must spend a good amount of time with each child. Things don't have to be "fair" as far as being equal. However, it's a good idea to keep bed times, curfews, and certain rules consistent (i.e. When Belle was 7 her bedtime was 8 pm, so Juliette's will be the same).

6. The middle child often feels "squeezed". The baby of the family needs to not be "babied" too much. The oldest child shouldn't be considered a built in babysitter or have to shoulder what parents are to do. Basically, I should think about common complaints or issues of certain birth orders and be sensitive to those things.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to finishing The Strong Willed Child. P.S. I read further and Belle can be considered a strong willed child, I'm just so glad it's not worst case scenario...

How He Loves Us

Jackson and I have the privilege of being part of a new church, South Bay Church. Last week, we celebrated the church's one year anniversary and the service was incredible. Pastor Andy talked about how God cares so much for the individual, and as we move forward into year 2 we must remember that God loves us individually and wants to use us to show other individuals his amazing love. My favorite part of the service was the Cardboard Testimonies (click to watch, you might want to grab some tissues beforehand). I was bawling. One side of the cardboard shows where people are without Christ or a struggle that they have had (and may still have). The other side shows how God's love has changed their perspective and/or situation. Jackson and I have a dream of seeing our family, friends, and people we have yet to meet experiencing this change... maybe even holding a piece of cardboard at South Bay Church one day. More so, we want to 'wear' our cardboards each day so that people around us can see the all-consuming, transforming love of Jesus Christ. I wanted to hold a cardboard last Sunday, but I had commitments and couldn't make the practice time or both services. Here's some of the words I thought I could hold: Performing, hurt, trapped --> "Be-ing", healed, free; Perfectionist, insecure --> Work in Progress, Secure in Him; Self destructive, angry, confused --> Productive, healthily deal with emotions, clarity through God... I can think of so many more, but I think those would be my 'top' messages. How He Loves Us!