New finds

A few websites I just discovered that I thought I'd share with you:

Kingdom First Mom: basically a hands-on money-saving blog

Days to Come: also a lot to do with finances (more things to do at home)

Also, one of my favorite bloggers is finally back but at a new location! Sparrow's Nest has moved to www.the-sparrows-nest.blogspot.com. Of course, I could be the only one on here who cares, but I think her house and family are so cute and I love reading her posts.


Enjoy!

Pics are up

My Dominican pictures (four albums' worth!!) are all loaded on Facebook. Enjoy! I kinda explain most of the photos so you have some idea of what's going on in each of them. There were well over 200 so I couldn't actually post them all here. :)

I was in Connecticut from Thursday - Saturday just for a quick trip to spend time with my mom and sister (my Dad was working most of the time, unfortunately). It was so nice to have some girl time - watching Project Runway and Gilmore Girls episodes, going to Puffin (I'd never eaten there before and I loved it!!!), and shopping at the factory outlets. My sister left for NYC with her friends early on Saturday morning, but mom and I got a chance to go to a few yard sales (I didn't find anything, surprisingly) and then came home to have waffles and hang out with my dad. Friday night we all went out to eat with my grandparents, which was nice. My grandmother is still really having a hard time not being bitter and angry (the doctors are still not sure/not telling what killed my uncle and my grandparents are seriously considering getting a lawyer), so that was a little hard. She cried a little bit, too. Some of you know my grandparents so if you think of her, just pray for her, will you? Thanks.

I Made a Craft! I Made a Craft!

Yes, that is definitely breaking news. I haven't done any kind of arts 'n' crafts since 7th grade, when beading your own necklaces was all the rage and everyone I knew toted their beads and fishing line around in plastic boxes (ah, but I digress ;).

Anyway, there are so many crafty women online that I have been inspired to start thinking outside the box when it comes to finding ways to decorate my home.

I was at Goodwill a month or two ago when I saw two shadowbox-type things - "whitewashed" wood frames, with some incredibly tacky dried flowers glued to the inside.

(In my hurry to rip them out I forgot to take a photo.)

The new, crafty part of my brain thought, "I can do something with those!"

So I brought them home, and they sat.

And sat.

Finally, I asked my sister-in-law to borrow her glue gun. I had never used a glue gun before, although my mom used one alllll the time when we were little because she used to enter craft shows and sell some really cute stuff. Apparently the crafty gene stopped with me. Ah, but I digress again. ;)

Anyway, I had a whole bunch of real-live sand dollars that I had picked on the beach last year during our vacation in Maine. For a whole year they had sat in storage. They are so intricately beautiful that I knew I wanted those in my shadowboxes (my bathroom's "theme" is the beach - not tacky bright blue and yellow beach, but creams and whites and seafoam green, and only shells and sea glass and sea pottery that I or my brother have found.)

So I arranged and re-arranged about a hundred times.

I glue-gunned the sand dollars and used duck tape to hold the back together. The Nester would be oh-so-proud. I had a blast.

Then my darling husband told me he didn't want to make two more nail marks in the bathroom, since we're leaving our apartment in about a month.

So for the next month or so, they'll just rest on my window table, where I can stare at their beachy wholesomeness while I watch tv. :)

I need a mental vacation......

Ahhh! I'm so sorry about my poopy posting. It's just that every time I have logged on with the intention of posting, I get so distracted and caught up with all of the other stuff online that I missed over my 10-day absence that by the time I even think about posting on my own blog, I am way too tired to come up with anything to write. I'm really starting to think about timing myself on the internet, like some of you have mentioned that you do. I just feeling like I'm missing so much if I don't read everything! I always start out with Money Saving Mom (because I don't want to miss any money-saving tips), and then I end up following her blog to coupon sites or other blogs, and then there's my several e-mail accounts, facebook, friends' blogs.......the list goes on. My brain just gets on information overload, I guess! For those of you who time yourself each day, do you find that it's satisfying or stressful (meaning, are you okay with stopping your time on the internet, or do you feel like you need lots more time?)

Please understand that I know in the scheme of life, "internet time" is not really a crisis of global proportions. But it is something that I would like advice on, if you're willing to give it!


I'm also sorry about not posting pictures yet - I still feel like my life has not yet bounced back from this trip! I have been sleeping 9-10 hours every night since we got back (we averaged about 7 or less while we were down there, and now my body cannot get enough sleep), plus my stomach has been rebelling against eating American food again. I finally went and got my pictures developed yesterday (it cost me $45, can you believe it?!!!!!), and created an adorable little 6x8 photo book of our trip at CVS that is free after ExtraBucks (try it this week! it's so fun and easy). I promise pictures are coming sometime soon!!

It's just that my head still feels like it's swimming - the other day I put spices in the fridge and then looked for them for 10 minutes until I realized what I had done. So please bear with me! :)

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Oh my goodness, I do not even know where to start! To say that our week in the DR was amazing would be selling it short. It was just....so fantastic! Meeting people from Chris's past, experiencing the Dominican culture, taking communion with brothers and sisters in Christ in a Spanish-only church, starting with pieces of wood and nails and constructing a chapel by the end of the week, leading children's songs in Spanish and playing with village children.....it was seriously indescribable. We got back really late on Wednesday night and I am still trying to sort through all of the laundry piles - I've done 7 loads so far, but who's counting? - and start up our life here again. Oh the stories I have for all of you! And I promise I will post pictures.

But first, I need to continue to waddle through the mess of laundry and luggage that is still our apartment.

I can't thank you enough for praying!

First of all, I just want to thank everybody who showed support for me and my family either through e-mails, cards, messages, or coming to my uncle's wake. It was definitely one of the worst weeks of my life, but the body of Christ is definitely an amazing thing. Example: a man from my church handed Chris an envelope on Wednesday night with a Bible verse and $100 inside to cover our travel expenses - not from him, from someone else who wanted to remain anonymous! It was definitely a small glimpse of God's provision in the midst of a horrible time, and I'm really thankful for whoever that was - you know who you are! :)

Anyway, some of you already know that Chris and I are leaving in an hour and a half (!!!) for the Dominican Republic with the team from our church. It has been a ridiculously crazy week - house inspections, my uncle's sudden death, travel to Connecticut, taking my final and test 3 for class today....and oh yeah, leaving the country. But seriously, I am SO excited for this trip. I am really glad to be away from sadness for a while, and to be able to concentrate on other people's needs. I think it will be very healing.

Be back in 12 days or so..........

Dear Friends,

My heart is very heavy today. Some of you already know from Facebook that my Uncle Jason, my dad's youngest brother, died suddenly this morning. It was very, very fast. He was admitted to the hospital early yesterday morning and quickly became deathly ill. He already had lupus, and something else complicated matters - they're not sure if he contracted bacterial meningitis or some other deadly bacterium, because it takes days for cultures to grow in a lab and they can't tell yet. His organs shut down and his blood became toxic and a lot of other things too horrible to have to write out let alone live through.

He died this morning at 4:30 am. He is only 35 years old. He was married, and had two kids - Ava, 5, and Jake, 2. He was not a Christian.

I know that people always "perfect" those who pass away in their minds, but my Uncle Jason really and truly was one of those great people that you were so happy to know. He was hilarious and was always, always making you laugh. He was a total goof-ball. He was a social worker in inner-city New Haven, working with kids on probation and helping them to get their lives back on track. He was an amazing Dad to his kids. Last time I saw him was when I was in Connecticut and he had come up to visit with Jake and Ava. Ava sat on his lap and he was telling us all about her little boyfriend and school and he was teasing her and she was laughing. He told us the different activities she does every day at school and big things coming up for her (things a lot of moms know, but not dads). He had such a zest for living. He was an incredible, mouth-watering, self-taught cook. He was always so sweet and kind and loving and happy and good.

We prayed so hard for a miracle, and God chose not to give us one. I don't even know the words to describe the emotions I feel right now besides total devastation and heartache and sadness. My cousins have no dad, my aunt has no husband, my family has no Uncle Jason anymore! I honestly keep trying to picture the world without him in it, and I just can't. I can't. I can't believe he's never coming back.

My uncle knew about Jesus, and I am thankful that he knew he could die before they put him in a drug-induced coma....only so that maybe he would have cried out to God in his point of weakness, even though he couldn't speak at that point. It's not really possible for me to believe at this point that he could be in eternity without Jesus. That's way too overwhelming for me right now.

I'm not asking you to pray; I need you to pray. There will be a memorial service in the area that my parents live on Wednesday, then a wake and a funeral down toward New Haven on Thursday night and Friday. A lot of you do know us personally, and I need you to pray for my extended family - all of whom are unsaved. I need you to pray that God gives us immense grace as we look for ways to share Jesus again with our family if they are open to it. I need you to pray for my Dad and brother, especially. They're really not doing so well.

If anyone happens to read this who does not know Jesus, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to talk to you about the life and joy and peace that can be found in knowing Him.


Thank you, dear friends.
The prayers of the righteous can accomplish many things! - James
Jessica