worst day ever: one year ago.. moving forward

just a quick posting about how i was reflecting on december 26, 2009...one year ago.

worst

day

ever

december 26 is when jeff and i moved back to new york city. it was a rough day. saying goodbye to my family THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS was really hard. i cried all day long.

now, december 26, 2010... it's much easier.

i still want to be home for good, but the thought of going back to brooklyn is not accompanied by hoards of tears.

praying that december 27, 2011 will bring us back to detroit, mi.

i hope you had a great christmas!

much love.

amidst the chaos

i thought our life was busy before...but, our life has officially taken a turn for chaotic.

sparing the nitty-gritty details, we are planning to move out of our current apartment. yes, we just moved in about three months ago, but we have been living without hot water and inconsistent heat since september. after several colds, arguments with our landlord and frustration, we have come to an agreement with our landlord and will be moving out as early as january 1st.

january 1st. in 11 days from now... 5 of which we will be in Michigan.

(if you have tried to contact jeff or i, and we have failed to be available, please forgive us... after our next move in early january, we will return your kind calls, emails and messages. AND if you are trying to get a hold of us for some time while we're in michigan, we are sincerely trying to see everyone...fact is, we are really there to visit with our family and will make sincere attempts to see you!)

amidst the crazy moment, i really feel at peace. the lord has really opened up doors, softened our landlord's heart and provided us with a ton of support from our family and friends.

on another note, we went skiing in vermont this past weekend with our small group. hydie, lydia, dan, cathy, alfredo, jeff and i headed up to stratton for some time on the slopes. i only skied for a 1/2 day - the cute town, shops and coffee houses were calling my name :) jeff and i both haven't skied in years and, surprisingly, did fairly well. jeff even conquered his first black diamond.

when you spend time with beautiful friends, in a beautiful mountain town, you quickly realize how sovereign god is. whether it's while you're headed straight down a hill screaming and somehow manage to avoid a spill, relaxing in a spa with girlfriends, or getting ready to move out of the place you recently made "home"....the Lord has you...

Merry Christmas.

Much Love.

"i feel happy"

jeff and i celebrated our 1 year anniversary on saturday. jeff out-did me, once again, in the romance department. jeff and i are really dedicated to keeping our budget, and have some big costs coming up (visiting michigan, skiing in vermont, buying a puppy) so we promised to not purchase each other anything... i wrote jeff a corny card. the end.

jeff, on the other hand, wrote me the most beautiful letter...that included the vows we took one year ago (we got married the 20th of december, but wanted to celebrate early because this time of year is SO crazy!)

my handsome and talented brothers did most of the music at our wedding, and my mom insisted that they perform "come and get higher" by matt nathanson. it's a beautiful song...

my husband is an accomplished violinist, but SURPRISE, he's great at playing all instruments. i walked in the door on saturday morning after my workout, and jeff was sitting in a chair that faced the door singing/playing "come and get higher" on the guitar. honestly, could he be more perfect?

we later dined at Peter Luger's steakhouse (yum!) and enjoyed some mulled wine at a local restaurant. have you ever had mulled wine? it is so delicious - warm, spiced wine... my supervisor introduced it to me at a work function.. perfect for this time of year!

all in all, i am blessed to know that i'm jeff's beloved...

on another note...

i have been working on the identification of feelings with one of my little 2 1/2 year old clients. this particular kid has grown very dear to my heart because i see him EVERYDAY. his mommy is really up on the research, and knows that children with PDD and autism struggle to identify and express emotion.. when this little guy gets excited or frustrated, we stop and he imitates what i say (ie., "I feel happy", "I feel mad".)

the other day, i was explaining to him that it was time to start cleaning up, and that he did a good job talking today. at the end of each session, he gets about 5 minutes of television as a reward while i fill out my session notes. on this particular day, this is how our conversation went:

• me: time to clean up! good talking today!
• litte guy: tv on?
• me: yes! tv on! good talking.
• little guy: i feel happy

ohhh if he only knew how this touched my heart... not only because he generalized "i feel happy", but because TV also makes me VERY happy...and because, in general, i have felt very happy recently...

today, little guy didn't say anything, he just grabbed my face and placed a big ol' wet one on my lips.... hahah

in the words of my little guy, "i feel happy" about the past year of marriage, my job and what the LORD has blessed me with.

much love.

Brooklyn Bridge

Jeff and I walked the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday morning together....a touristy thing I wanted to do while living here.  Jeff had a bundle of energy --here he is doing "tricks" on our way back to Brooklyn!