Nathan And A Car And My Brother And Ellie And God

Pardon the title, but I'm sitting in a room with my seminary student brother and Nathan, who came to visit us, and there are deep theological discussions going on. We disagreed about the title of this blog, so I just put everything in that was suggested. Does anyone feel sorry for me yet?? :)

Anyway, I was finally able to pick up my car today! YAY!!! And for those wondering, it's an '08 Chevrolet Cobalt. I actually thought it was an '07 until the insurance company called me today and said it was an '08. It could be because my car salesman had only been selling cars for 2 months....Hmm.... it had 8 miles on it, which is cool. I had fun driving it, although I'm going to have to be careful not to speed because I could drive really fast in it!! Once it is light outside, I will take a picture and post it on my blog. At that point, we will be open for name suggestions.

Nathan is here visiting us, which is really cool. It's always so fun to see people from home and share our home with them. Poor Nathan is having culture shock because he came from GA, where it's almost 80, to here, where it's going to be in the 20's for the high tomorrow. However, we are under a winter storm watch, with the possibility of 4-7 inches of snow tomorrow, so I think he'll be okay if that happens! We are also supposed to get a big storm this weekend. I can't wait!! I promise to take some pictures this time around to share with all of you.

Massive discussion going on about the Catholic church currently.... Anyone have any thoughts on Mary?

I think I'm going to try to go to bed now. Wish me luck! Much love to you all....looking forward to being home in a couple of weeks!

I'm A Big Girl Now!

Greetings all, and happy Monday! I just wanted to share the most fabulous news that as of 5:30pm today, I will be the official owner of a new car! The lease on my fantastic blazer is up, and I have been trying to figure out what to do next, so I went car shopping on Saturday. It was a little intimidating sitting by myself in a dealership, but I held my ground and got a really good deal. I don't actually pick the car up until Tuesday, so I have a little longer to say goodbye to my Casey (yes I name my cars!)...

This new car will have Massachusetts plates, so I will officially become a "Masshole" driver (that's what we call them!) :) I will definitely post pictures in a couple of days when I am able to get some taken, and anyone who has name suggestions, feel free to contribute.

So as life continues moving forward, I am getting the opportunity to make all kinds of big decisions and now have bought my first, totally by myself, car! Hope you guys have a fantastic week! More to come soon....

Fun Friday

So I drove home from work tonight in the pouring down snow. Yes, this southern girl drove home IN THE SNOW!! Who'd have ever thought that I would live somewhere that it snows a lot and get to experience that? I love it! It's so much fun, and I think it's going to be a really fun winter. It's supposed to snow/sleet/precipitate in various forms starting Sunday evening through Wed. I think, so it should be fun and exciting. Since it'll be light tomorrow when I'm out and about, I'll try to get some pictures taken of what's on the ground right now. It's cool because it hasn't really been above freezing since the last snow, so it just all stays around!

Anyway, today at work was "Fun Friday". For the month of December, we are having fun Fridays, where we gather together at 3pm and do something fun together. Our staff has been divided into a few groups, and each group is responsible for one of the days - coming up with a theme and bringing whatever you are going to do. This Friday was my team's turn. We did "A Child's Christmas" and we all decorated Christmas cookies together, listened to Christmas music....AND Santa made a surprise appearance, bringing gifts for everyone!

It was awesome! The VP of our company's name is Dave, and since I started working there, I have called him "jolly Dave" (much to his horror). I've been telling him that I thought he should be Santa at Christmas, and he thought I was insane. Dave somewhat embodies a stereotypical northern in a lot of ways, and the entire office didn't think I would be able to talk him into being Santa. But today, while everyone was eating their cookies, Santa Dave arrived, and it was hilarious. Here is a picture of Santa and his elves (my fun Friday team)....

New York, New York

Happy Monday, dear family and friends! I write to you completely exhausted, so hopefully this blog will make some sense. Why exhausted? Thanks for asking! It all stems from our fabulous trip to the Big Apple. HINT.... Never go to New York City in December! :)

Our New York story is hilarious, so allow me to share. The parents flew in on Friday afternoon. Brother and I met them in downtown Boston around 5:15 or so. We got to South Station, got some food, got on the Amtrak train, and left promptly at 6:30pm. Our train was supposed to arrive in NYC at 10:30pm. Instead, we arrived at 3:15am. Some sort of electrical something broke on the train, and we spent hours stranded in Connecticut. Here are some pictures on the latter end of the train ride, as we were completely exhausted.....(This is not a flattering picture of me and my mom, but I'm trying to convey the level of lunacy...)




When we finally arrived in NYC, we still had to take a cab to our hotel in New Jersey. Our evening came to a hysterical conclusion when our cab driver, upon receiving the address of the hotel, said, "I've never been to New Jersey before." I think we were so tired, we couldn't think enough to get a new driver, so we endured several wrong turns before finally arriving at our hotel. This is the time we walked in our room - yes, AM.


After sleeping for about 4 hours, we woke up, got ready, and hit the city for a day filled with......tons and tons of people. I have never seen anything like it in my life. They actually had que lines for people to look at the store windows if that tells you anything. We walked in a few stores, but most had lines waiting to get in. It was freezing....tons of people (did I mention that already??), and with not much sleep, I'm not sure we were in the best of spirits to maintain a fantastic sense of humor. Here are a few pictures from the day...





On Saturday night before leaving NYC, we went to the Rockefeller Center to see the tree. Here are a few pictures from that madness!




We had an awesome time visiting with my parents, and they even got to see snow!! We had our first real snow that stuck, starting with Sunday and continuing off and on until this morning. It's fun to see white outside and know it's going to be around for awhile! Remind me I said that in March! :) Anyway, I shall leave you with two pictures - I haven't gotten a picture of the snow in daylight, but here is our front porch with snow on it, and Ellie's reaction to her first snow. I can't wait until it really snows to see what she does! Hope you all have a great week! We are looking forward to seeing many of you over Christmas...

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.