Holidays are Here

I am very tired today. This morning Shea and I had to wake up early to take our friend to the airport. So, now I am dragging at work and hardly working. I am also debating whether or not to use a few hours of sick time to go home early :-) Tomorrow I only have to come in for half day! Woo Hoo, I'm pretty excited for the mini vacation. The weather has been awesome lately. We had a few surprise snow storms that really covered Las Vegas. We are supposed to get another one this week which will make us have a White Christmas. I really am excited about that. My mom and her bf are coming on Friday and staying the weekend with us. I am working on a Christmas present for her which I HAVE to hurry up and finish.

The past few days I have been reflecting on this past year and the year before. Honestly, these past two years seem like One :-) A lot has happened with Shea and I and we have a lot of great memories now. One December 31st, we will be married for one year already. Now I know what people mean when they say they love their spouses more today than the day they married him/her. I am so excited for Shea and I to grow together and build our family which we already are with the people around us. A baby is in our future but not our immediate future :-) Right now we love have Jazzy and learning how to discipline her! I think it will be easier with a child.

I'm reading a book right now called "The Shack". It has touched me so much. The story is about a tragic situation happens to this man and God shows him how to bring the pain to Him. I recommend it :-) Wow, so my supervisor just sent me home early without me having to use my sick time.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. This Holiday season has been very special to me and I hope the same for you.

Love, Christine and Shea

Heart

Good Morning,

Thanksgiving was really wonderful. Christy and Stacey were here in town visiting before Stacey and Phil flew back to England. Shea and I were able to meet up with them for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. It was so nice to see both of them and catch up. Stacey doesn't even sound like my cousin anymore but a full blown English Woman :-) Her accent is beautiful. Seeing her brought back so many memories of growing up together. I really looked up to her as a little girl. She is such a beautiful person full of life and humor. One thing I always associate with Stacey is laughter. :-) AND Christy, well, I just love that girl. She is so sweet and so much fun to be around. Because of her we will be making a trip to CA for a family BBQ. Not sure when yet, but we will go.

After breakfast we went over to my in-laws house to help set everything up. We were expecting around 25 people for dinner and Linda (S-MIL) gets a little stressed. Shea's grandma and aunt were visiting from Redwood City, CA and they were staying with my in-laws. People began showing up around 2:00pm and it was so nice to see them. We see them all pretty often, but just it being Thanksgiving and having everyone together was amazing. PLUS the weather was AWESOME. It was pouring rain. I loved it.

On Sunday, we had to take our little girl to the vet to get her shots and get "fixed". She is so precious and I really didn't want to leave her there. We dropped her off at 7:30am and picked her up at 3:00pm. It was a long day of waiting. She was pretty sore and didn't want to be touch the rest of Sunday and Monday. Here is a picture of her resting. :-)

I'm happy to say that last night she finally showed signs of her sweet young self. She played with the Christmas lights I had hanging up. She got into the ornaments. She scratch the carpet. :-) This morning though, she was so loving.

Well, I think that is all for now. I will post again soon.

Thanksgiving

Good Morning~ AND it is a good morning for me. I am at work right now but I get to leave at 11:30am. I have been excitedly waiting for the Holiday's and this is the first one :-) Shea's grandma and aunt have flown in from Redwood City and will be staying for a week. Right after work I will be going to pick up Shea and then we are off to Trader Joes to get the ingredients for my home made apple pie. I love baking!

Last night I had a dream and woke me up so upset. First a little background, I hope you all know I work with the deaf and hard of hearing community. I use American Sign Language all day everyday, so that is a big part of my life. So my dream last night was I was losing my hearing and going completely deaf. I was at a church service and I couldn't hear the pastor talking so I decided to leave. My friend chased after me and that is when I broke down and started crying. I told her I was so scared to lose my hearing. I would never be able to hear my husband's voice again or hear my children's voice. I began listing all the sweet sounds that really touch my heart that I don't pay too much attnetion to everyday. That was when I woke up and just wanted to hug my husband. I could hear him breathing and I could hear our kitten purring.

This was at 2:30am, so I got up for a little bit and just listened. Sat quiet and listened to the miracles God had around me- I could hear the rain drops and they all sounded different depending on what they landed on. I could hear the little creaks in the house and just all the sounds of life. I'm so thankful for my hearing and the things that make noise for me :-)

I guess this is what I am thankful for for Thanksgiving.

The other thing I am thankful for is my relationship with my mom. She and her bf Jim are coming to visit for Christmas and I am so excited about it. They are actually coming the day after Christmas and spending the weekend. YES! Two Christmases.

Well, here is a picture I took last night of little Jazzy. I know the picture is dark (my phone doesn't have a flash) but she is laying next to the fish bowl on the counter she shouldn't be on. BUT...so cute!

Love you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Work & Play

Well, since I haven't written on here in awhile, a lot has happened and too much to document. So, I will just skim over the past few weeks :-)
Work hasn't been the most pleasant place for me to be recently. I was working with a very difficult person which I didn't really know how to be around. This was such a bitter sweet situation because, yes it sucked at times, but I learned so much in it. God is constantly bringing situations around me to grow up with me. I learned how to deal with a 50 year old child and not have him steal my peace.
So now, that person no longer works with us and the environment has changed dramatically!
I am back to having my passion for working with the deaf community. :-) I am back to looking forward to coming to work, AND actually working. For awhile I would come to work and just sit on facebook all day :-/ Not fun after the first hour. So that sums up work eventhough I'm leaving out tons of details.
Shea and I have been consistantly going to House Church for a few weeks now. I really enjoy it. It is really a big group of friends who truly care about eachother. Last night all we did was talk and laugh. It was so much fun.
A lot of the people that attend this House Church are having difficult things going on in their lives that can be very serious and stressful. So to have a group "church" session last night that only consisted of LAUGHING! WOW what a relief. What a wonderful way to release the tension of what we don't understand in life.
This morning on the way to work, our car started smoking from under the hood. Not bad, almost like when you can see your breath on a cold day. But, it ended up being a broken radiator. No big deal...my husband found a way to get it all fixed for us.
I can't believe how happy I am in life. My husband (I love saying that) means so much to me. He does so much for us as a couple and for me individually. Eventhough we go through "tough" times, I will still call them "GOOD" because they are all part of this beautiful life that I can't get enough of.

Last weekend we went hiking to a really cool place here in Las Vegas called RedRock Canyon. Its Beautiful! We did the hardest hike they have there, and let me tell you...it was hard! But it was also so much fun. We all made it to the top and LOVED the view. Here is a picture of me and Shea at the top and a picture of the whole gang that went. Me, Shea, Jeff (father n law), Craig (friend) and Melissa (Friend).
One of my cousin's is coming to visit me this weekend. I can't wait to see him. (Timothy)
My other cousin's are coming next week for Thanksgiving. It will be great to see both of them also. (Stacy and Christy- third cousin).
Well, this is all for now but I will write more soon. With all the holiday's coming up I will have time to sit down and enjoy a blog.
Have a wonderful day!

Speaks for itself

There is a place inside me where no rivers run.

The covered bridge was old and rusted. The roof, if you could even call it that anymore, had jagged openings with dead branches falling through from the trees above. Everything about it seemed unsafe, but I still decided to cross it. The dirt pahtway leading to its entrace was solid hard like clay. There was no dust that followed my footprints. The air was quiet, heavy and lonely.
The entrance was not far, only a hundred feet or so, but as I approached it with my hand extended, the quiet, heavy and lonely air consumed me. My foot took a step onto the rotted wood. my bones felt brittle. I was like the glasses I so often break when loading the dishwasher. But who was being so clumsy with me?
Another step- holding my breath. I could see below to the dry water-bed. No plants, no life to be seen.
My thoughts wonder to places I'd rather not go. My emotions follow and I know I will soon be trapped. Trapped on this old bridge that I doubt will get me safely across.
Another step.
My breath almost gone now. My eyes are burning.
The silence is like after effects from drugs.
"I give up, I just don't care." I tell myself.
An argument break out.
What is the big deal?
I'm just crossing a bridge.
My back rounds to follow my thoughts. I take the form of a fetus- alien like.
Suddenly,
A hand pokes up through the rotted boards. I look at it strangely and I'm not sure what to do with it. Fingers relaxed, and there is not face, yet. The hand stays steady and I think it (he/she) may need help. I reach to grab it to help pull him/her up. I embrace and the hand relaxes. I can't keep a tight grip. I struggle for a minute with frustration in my curiousity.
I pull my hand away and re-examine. The UFO stays steady.

"The hand is reaching up to me....well where am I?"

My gaze slowly shifts up seeing the floor of what was an old rotted bridge about to give way. Now, I smiled and took a deep breath.
I gently kissed the hand and called it my friend.

The bridge is not always the bridge.

First Time

Well, this is my first time "blogging". I've looked at a few of my family members blog profiles, and I really enjoyed reading them. I really like to write, so I think this will be a fun place to do it.
Right now I'm sitting at work (on a Saturday) helping out for a workshop one of my co-workers is hosting. I don't have to do much but be here until 12:30.
Thats it for now...