Monday, March 28, 2011

Justin and I have 8 children?

Call me crazy but for some reason I decided to take some of the kids from the children's ministry to the zoo over Spring Break.  I knew that it would be packed, but never expected how packed it would actually be!  I should have known, since the next time the kids are out of school is summer, and who really wants to walk around outside in Houston heat in the summer anyway?  But it was Spring Break, and I wanted to do something fun with the kids since they were most likely bored all week long.  I am thankful Justin had that Friday off of work so he was able to come along too--he is such a great supporter of my job!  After finally getting to the zoo and finally finding parking (okay it was really the guys who had to deal with that), we split up into groups so we could keep track of all the kids.  Justin and I had 8 kids in our group, which seems completely managable--but it was way harder than I imagined it being.  I sadly didn't get many pictures because I was too busy making sure I had all 8 kids with us at all times with crowds surrounding us constantly.  I felt like I was counting to 8 every minute.
 
 All that to say, apparently, we were acting like parents as many people mistakenly thought these 8 children were ours!  Justin played the typical Dad role, picking them up so they could see the animals over the crowd, and playing with them...the dads really do seem to have all the fun!  I was the typical mom, yelling at them to not leave my sight and kept telling them it was time to move on to the next animal. I mean,  how long can you really stay and stare at the same animal anyways? (Actually it was more of my husband I kept having to tell to move on).    So after the first person commented about our "8 children", I thought "aww so sweet, she thinks these children are ours".   You know, the typical woman thought process :)  then the 2nd time someone commented about it, I thought "wow, do we seem like we actually have 8 children?"  Then the 3rd time it happened I thought "really??  Do these children look anything like me?"  I don't have a picture of all the kids, but here are 5 out of the 8: 
Now don't get me wrong, these children are absolutely adorable and I love them dearly!  But as you can see, they don't resemble me much.  Me being as pale as they come, I just didn't see it.  But in case you may not know, Justin is in fact half hispanic.  Some people notice it right away and others don't see it at all.  When I first met Justin, I definitely noticed his tall, dark, and handsome good looks, but I had no idea he was half hispanic.  We both got a kick out of people thinking these sweet kids were ours, and now we're even more curious as to what our children will look like.  I do hope they get Justin's olive skin :) 

Friday, March 25, 2011

Our New Blog!

Well, I did it.  I finally decided to start blogging again.  For those of you who may remember, I was blogging a lot when I lived in China for 2 years about all my experiences living overseas.  Now, 3 years later, a new name and everything....it seems about time to start it up again.  After all, I have always loved journaling.  I probably have at least 30 journals under my bed right now (don't get any ideas, Justin!)  Writing and journaling has always helped me process things and I love looking back and reading my old journals and see just how far the Lord has brought me.  It's a great habit to have!  The only difference (and quite a big difference) is that all your family and friends can read all about your life online.  What in the world am I thinking?  Not that I think a lot of people will be reading my blog....except my mom of course...the way she keeps up with me on facebook, it's safe to say I have at least one reader out there!  But I realize that blogging is not just for my friends and family to read updates, but it's about me writing and processing through this life the Lord has blessed me with.  It's about having a wonderful tool to look back on and see the lessons we've learned, the things we've experienced, and the memories we make.  It almost feels like a new beginning.  Just like starting a new journal...I have always loved starting a brand new journal.  It was a time when I reflected back on my last journal, and looking forward to a fresh start.  I realize that it's not January, and there isn't anything extremely "new" that we are experiencing, but I am excited about what the Lord has in the new season in our lives.  Justin and I have been married almost 6 months (crazy!) and it feels like we are just now really getting settled into our new place, and finding a routine as we merged two lives and schedules together.  After spending months changing my name on what seemed like hundreds of documents, I am finally signing everything with Cummings without even hesitating!  It's a great accomplishment. Marriage has already brought so much joy to my life.  This truly is a wonderful season and we are enjoying every minute of it.  So..thanks for stopping by...and I hope you stay awhile!