2010 Christmas Card

Joy Sage Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Today's Answered Prayer ~ Heat!

We live in Sunny California, very close to the beach. When we moved into our place we were shocked to see that there was no A/C and no heat. When we asked the other people in the complex they explained to us that with the weather and the beach wind there was no need for the A/C and that you had a fireplace for the cooler nights in winter. By cooler I mean in the 40's.

We have noticed the evening and nights getting cooler in the living room area. Our bedroom stays really warm because we are surrounded on three sides. Nate and I were talking about getting a space heater for the living room to take the chill off in the evening and to help us stay warmer in the winter.  We did not need something big but even a space heater would cost money and then there is the added power usage to our bill.

Today while I was trying to figure out a space heater I remembered a neighbor telling us the fireplaces were gas just like the stoves. Our stove is not gas and our place has been remodeled so I assumed the fireplace had been changed too. The fireplace had had not been cleaned and had ashes and half burnt wood in it. So at dinner tonight I mentioned this to Nate and he checked it all out.

We DO have a gas burning fireplace and it WORKS! Thank you Lord for another answered pray, we had not uttered yet. It is not the prettiest fire....see picture but it heats the house quite well.....and our landlord pays the gas bill so we don't have any added expenses.

Thankful Thanks!

It is the week of Thanksgiving and time to be Thankful!

I want to take the time to list some of the things and people I am thankful for. We don't always take the time to be thankful for the things and people that God has placed in our life. 

• My Saviour who is the reason I am here and the Salvation he has give Christians
• Nate ~ he is the most awesome husband a wife could ask for
• Cori ~ she is a great daughter that brings laughter and drama with her everywhere
• Joel ~ is my little man, he is hyper and energetic and loves life and climbing trees
• The Dogs ~ I am thankful for them most of the time, until I have to walk them for 15 mins in the cold. 
• My parents ~ they are a great example of love and support for all their kids
• My In-Laws ~ thank you for welcoming me into your family and loving me like a daughter....and raising an awesome Christian son who is a wonderful husband and father
• Daniel, Christie and Dawn - we all have a love/hate relationship. Some days we all love each other and other days we hate each other but still stand by each other and support each other through so many different changes in our lives. I love all 3 of you. 
• Leigh, Jason and David - congrats to all three of you for sticking with this wacky family and for loving my family
• Jen and Carrie ~ you are both great sisters and I love you both. Thanks for loving me too.
• Matt and Cliff ~ Thanks for being great brothers and fun to hang with. 
• Lucas, Alex, David(eggroll) and Bryce ~ my 4 wonderful nephews...Being an aunt is great, spoil the kids and send them back to their mom's. When I hear the words, "Aunt Val" it just warms my heart. 
• Grandparents on all sides ~ thanks for the legacy of strong Christian faith you have given all of us. 
• Family ~ (all sides) ~ family is important and I love all of my family very much. Getting together and playing games, laughing and getting louder and louder is always fun. 
• Friends and Facebook ~ I know it is weird to be thankful for facebook but it has made this past year so much easiler by staying in touch with family and friends through facebook. Keeping up with all my friends who are now all over the US, facebook has been a blessing. I don't always feel like I have moved quite so far away. 

So that takes care of the family and friends portion of the list. On to the material things that I am thankful for.These are in no particular order, just a few things I have to be thankful for. When you actually sit down and make a list, everything makes you thankful and the list can go on forever. Sometimes it is just nice to sit and count your blessings.

• Football
• Books
• Internet
• Tv
• DVR's 
• Food 
• COKE
• Sunshine
• my contacts
• camera and pictures to capture our memories

Training Week

This past Monday I started at Maggiano's. It is an awesome restaurant and I am going to love working there. I was training with 2 other guys so there were only three people in the class. We had to learn every item on the menu and all the ingredients. I would get home from work at 4-4:30 and study till 11pm only taking time to eat with the family each night. It was a grueling set of tests and memorization. I passed all the tests and made it through training. I start serving on the Friday after Thanksgiving.....Black Friday!

We had to taste 23 food items every day. With only three of us to eat all this food, there was plenty to take home. Monday -Thursday night Maggiano's leftovers fed the family and also gave Nate something to eat for lunch. It was a great grocery bill week.

Wednesday at school Joel sand with some other kids for the grandparents. (see other post). Thursday night Cori had her concert at school. Friday night was "chill" night as I was exhausted from the week of training and Nate was going to be off on Saturday as well. We watched Harry Potter 6 in preparation for the 7th movie the next morning.

Saturday we all got up early to go see Harry Potter at 8:55am. I know is sounds crazy to go see a movie really early but the first showing of the day is 1/2 price which means I only paid $28 instead of $60. We would not have gone to the movie if we had to pay full price. It is just too expensive. The movie was AWESOME! No spoilers here but there was a scene that scared me so bad that I screamed out loud and Nate was laughing for 5 mins. Now I am reading the book again.

After the movie, we went to Target and got most of the stuff for Thanksgiving dinner. Nate is making a turkey for him and the kids and a ham for me. Then we will also have homemade mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, dressing, green beans and pumpkin pie for dessert.  Then home to take a nap, watch some football and rest all day.

Today we missed out first family Thanksgiving.... My mom's family got together at my granddad's house with my aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins. I can't talk about Thanksgiving too much as this will be the first time we have ever missed a family holiday. I don't want to start crying while trying to finish my blog.

Cori's Concert

Last night Cori was in her first school concert. The 6th grade music class sang two songs during the program and then the entire group sang together at the end of the program. Cori is on the front row in a white and brown dress. To the right of Cori is her new best friend, Chloe. She is a black dress. There was some drama involving the outfit to wear to the concert. The girls were asked to wear a dress or skirt or black pants. Cori only owns one dress but we had to find shoes. She picked out a pair of my white sandals with heels to wear. Cori did a great job at the concert, singing the songs, smiling and being Cori! (The video is in a separate post in order to get them all on my blog) 

Before the Concert ~ in the kitchen

Before ~ Close Up

Chloe and Cori 

Cori getting ready to sing

After the concert

Group Song

This is the last song of the concert. All singers (6th, 7th and 8th) sang this song together. Cori is behind the boy in the red shirt. You can see Cori as the guy sways back and forth.

Cori's Second Song

The second song that Cori's group sang.