Welcome Parents!

Happy Thursday night everyone! It is extremely late and I should be in bed, but instead I find myself blogging. It's been a very long week, but the parents are arriving tomorrow!!! YAY!!!!!! Brother and I can't wait to see them and welcome them back to the Boston area. This will be the first time my dad has been back since they moved us up here, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to show them our lives here. We are actually meeting them in Boston tomorrow afternoon, catching a train to NYC, spending Saturday in NYC, and then catching a 7pm train back to Boston Sat. night so that we can be here for church on Sunday! It promises to be an insanely busy time, but I am really looking forward to seeing them again. I promise to post many pictures and stories soon! Please don't stop reading my blog just because it has been a week since I posted! :)

This has been an interesting week for me. Due to some things we are doing for the Advent services of the church we go to, I had the opportunity to share my story and the path that God has carried me on this last year for the congregation to hear on Sunday. It's always an interesting and humbling time when I go back and kind of tell the whole story and remember back to what has gone on. I am genuinely thankful for the time to reflect on the past because it helps me maintain my sense of wonder at who God is and what He has done. But I am always thankful to look from the past to today because this is the moment that I have, and I plan to enjoy every minute God gives me. For now, that is going to bed and getting some much needed sleep! I shall leave you with a picture of my cat sleeping because she is cute. Have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the North Shore! We just finished eating our Thanksgiving meal - it was quite yummy, and I'm so excited - it was my first time to prepare a Thanksgiving feast! My cat got in on the fun, and now we are full and sleepy. Here are some pictures from our day...

I made haystacks for dessert and didn't have enough counter space, so they cooled and hardened outside!


Here is our cooked turkey....I must say that when I was washing it and pulling out the inside stuff, I wasn't sure if I would ever eat turkey again! But I got over that while it cooked and enjoyed it. Ellie enjoyed it as well, although she was slightly scared of it once it was on the floor!



Michael and I were without power earlier this week because our landlords had mistakenly not ever paid a power bill, so our electricity got shut off. It made for an interesting several days. You don't realize how dependent we are on things that we take for granted. I was so thankful yesterday when I got home to be able to flip a switch and a light actually turn on. We are blessed indeed.

While I am sad that I can't be home with family on this holiday, I am thankful that I got to share a Thanksgiving feast with my brother. I'm thankful for all of you and wish you and your families the best during the holiday season. And I'm thankful for a God who rescues, restores and heals. From the Boston representatives of the Jones family.... Happy Thanksgiving! God bless us, every one! :)

I Saw Snow For Real!

So it snowed for real today!! It didn't stick, but it snowed most of the morning. My co-workers thought I had lost my mind and were making fun of me because I kept going to the window to watch it and was so excited. I figure I"ll help remind them to maintain a sense of wonder about the little things in life. By late morning, they were calling me and emailing me to come to the window and see the flakes as they kept getting bigger! :)

I'll post a new blog soon, complete with new pictures. I have quite the interesting story to tell you regarding how Michael and I have been without power since Monday.....and will hopefully have it back by tomorrow! :)

I Saw Snow!!!

So this morning, I drove to work in a mixture of sleet and snow! The first snowfall of the season!!! I was so excited - I can't wait to see it snow for real. I caught a drop of frozen precipitation on my tongue. :) Everyone keeps saying to wait and see how I feel come January, but I am extremely excited about seeing the white stuff fall on a regular basis. Besides, for all of you in Georgia where it will be 74 tomorrow - there has to be some enjoyment for having a high of only 38 today! Have a great Monday!!

I Love Saturdays!

Greetings all! First of all, thank you so much for all of the support, encouragement, and love that you have shared with me over the last week. I appreciate it so much - from the comments to phone calls and emails, to just knowing that people were praying. While I am enjoying the adventure of living somewhere different, I am also thankful for the support of family and friends back home.

Winter has arrived in Boston! It's extremely cold outside - lows are in the 20s and highs in the low 40s. This is good winter weather for Georgia, and we're just getting started here! :) But I am very excited about the possibility of snow. It's a fun waiting game - you know it will snow at some point, perhaps sooner than later, and I can't wait! Many pictures will definitely be taken. I really want to go to the beach when it snows and take pictures of the snow on the beach. I think that would be really cool.

Today is a bit of a lazy day, for which I am very thankful. Sometimes those days are very needed. I am enjoying the opportunity to just rest....and have a bit of fun as well!

I promise to write again soon and be better about updating my blog. For those of you with Facebook, I created a Facebook page for Ellie the cat. :) Yes, I have issues, but it was really fun. So check it out and be her friend! Hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend and is looking forward to Thanksgiving! Much love from the northern part of the country....

The Miracle Of The Moment

Hello family and friends. Well, what a week this has been. As I type this, I find myself emotionally and physically in need of rest, but spiritually, I am at peace. And that is a miracle of God.

On Wednesday of this week, I received notice that my mother-in-law was in the hospital on life support and unlikely to make it. (And yes, I do realize that in the eyes of the world, she is not my mother-in-law anymore. But some things in life transcend what society says, and I refuse to refer to her as an "ex" or "former".) What followed this announcement were some text messages and ultimately a phone call, where I spoke to my husband for the first time since he left over 8 months ago. Details are not needed, but suffice it to say, it's been a tough week. My mother-in-law passed away on Thursday evening. I know her family would appreciate your prayers as they walk through this journey of grief.

On a random side note....I know that many of you who read this blog are married yourselves. In a society where we're not encouraged to stick things out, when our "happiness" seems more important than commitment and covenant, let me encourage you to stay in your marriages. Pursue Christ passionately and with all of your heart, and then pursue, serve, and love your spouse wholeheartedly. Refuse to give in to the lies that life will be better if you are apart, that you have nothing in common, that you don't "love them anymore". There is a reason God said for us not to separate what He has joined. I have lived through some of those reasons this week, and I pray that you all don't take for granted the treasure that you have been given in your spouse.

As for me personally, I am sad today. I am sad for a family who has lost their wife/mother/grandmother. I am sad that lives have been shattered over poor choices and that some things won't be right until we get to heaven. BUT, I am at peace because I am learning yet again that this moment is a miracle. We can't live in the past - in the "if only's" - and we certainly can't live in the future because we don't know how many hours we have left. All we have is this moment. And this moment is a miracle that we can't miss. And Jesus has promised that He is enough for this moment. I am living proof that His promise is true.

The Power Of The Storm Breather

I wish all of you could be here right now to experience standing in the midst of this storm. I went out a little while ago to try to get some pictures and when I saw the waves, I had to get out of my car, hope I didn't ruin my camera, and try to get some awesome shots. I walked out on the rocks, and it was unbelievable. The wind blew so hard a couple of times, it literally pushed me forward. The waves are big, and it looked like walls of water coming at you - which I guess it was. :-) Because the wind was blowing so hard, as the waves would crest, the tops of the waves would blow into the wind, which gave the impression of a ghost moving across the water.

I was so excited to experience this in person, I came back to our apartment to get Michael so he could see what it was like. By the time we got back down to the rocks (walked this time!), the eye of the storm was over us. It was completely calm. The waves were still going strong, but the wind was still. When we looked up into the sky, we could see the clouds swirling around overhead, but there was no wind.

It was a very cool visual picture of how God truly is our calm in the midst of the storm. The circumstances may not change, but He will provide a place of rest for us, and He will carry us through.

We're back inside now, and the wind is howling outside again. It was awesome standing on the rocks today, in the midst of powerful wind and waves and knowing that the same power of God that was swirling around me offers me peace in the midst of life's greatest storms. Thanks, Jesus!

Nor'easter

Okay, not gonna lie - this is really cool!!! It's about 1pm, and I just got back from driving along the road that goes right by the water. I pulled over and took some pictures to try and capture the waves that we are getting right now from this storm. The weather is supposed to continue to get worse as the afternoon progresses, so I will probably try to go out in a few hours and take some more pictures, but I thought I'd share a few with you for now....

Friday musings

Hello friends. I come to you from the North Shore of our fabulous nation, sitting here on a Friday evening after a very long week, thankful that the weekend is here. We are also up here bracing for a massive storm to hit tomorrow, which I am quite excited about!! :-) The hurricane that has been moving up the east coast is supposed to hit this area tomorrow, with winds sustained at 40mph, with gusts up to 70mph. Some of you know that I've always wanted to be in the middle of a hurricane, tied to a rock like they show on the Weather Channel. :-) So I guess this might be the closest that I get to it. It's supposed to be pouring down rain, but at some point, I plan to bundle up, go outside, and stand in the wind. I'll let you know how it is....and perhaps try to take a few pictures.

For tonight, I give you a couple of pictures. The first one is of brother, who has just shaved his head. And then the cat, who is sleeping. Have a great weekend!