MMXI

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to wish everyone a healthy, blessed new year since this is my last chance to post in 2010! =D This has been an amazing year for me. I graduated from the Florida State University with my Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education, I experienced seeing Travis graduate from the Florida State University with a Master's of Science in Finance, I celebrated our first anniversary with Travis (awww), lost some weight (after gaining some, of course), started a new way of eating (trying to glorify the Lord with eating and not being gluttonous- AKA "Fatty McFatster"), began a wonderful connection with Hudson Valley Christian Academy, spent some time with family, got Aladdin and Jasmine (our poofy little lovefluffs...or more popularly known as sugar gliders- take your pick), got a new (certified pre-owned) Honda C-RV (lovingly and tackily named "the Boogenator" due to its green color- I know, we're gross- STOP WITH THE JUDGING!!!!), moved to New York (Oops! Almost forgot!!), became a brunette (again), experienced Travis beginning a new career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, experienced the Seminoles win a game against the Gators (Mmm, I like me some speared gator!), grew in my relationship with the Lord (Praise Jesus! This is the most important and wonderful...erm..."thing" of 2010 for me.) etc., etc., etc.! The Lord has truly blessed us this year.

How has He blessed you? Share some of your wonderful experiences from 2010! It is always nice to look forward to the new year, but I believe this is also a time to look back and appreciate the Lord's handiwork and blessings in our lives. Please comment and share some of your memorable 2010 moments! Thanks to all my blog followers for...well...following (duh!)! Thank you as well to those of you who have been keeping up with the blog but may not be "officially" following! And, of course (yes, I started with a conjunction...mindblowing.), thank you to those of you who have commented or shared some love via "like"/"dislike" buttons. Oh...well, I guess it wouldn't be necessarily sharing love if you clicked "dislike"...but... thank you then for your honesty! Truth be told, I haven't seen any "dislikes" as of yet, so I really don't know why I am rambling on about this.

Okay! I'm done! Please share your experiences, and have a wonderful 2011! May Christ bless you! Happy New Year!

God Jul!

Merry Christmas everybody! I know I haven't written on here since THANKSGIVING, but I think pretty much everyone can empathize with me about having an extremely busy December. If not, how on earth did you do it?!!?!?!? I simply must know your secret!

Before I get started, let's go over the who, what, where, when, and why:

Who? Because we spent Thanksgiving with the Engebretsens, Travis and I spent Christmas with my parents, Frank and Marilou Johns, as well as with my sister and her husband- Lindsey and Ivan Portugal.

What? Christmas vacation, of course!

Where? My parents' cabin-like home in Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Simply blissful!

When? We drove down to Hagerstown, Maryland from Somers, New York at around 5:00pm on the 22nd. We woke up early the next morning and finished up the trip to Roan Mountain, arriving at around 2:30pm on the 23rd.

Why? For... Christmas... okay, maybe this whole "who, what, where, when, why" thing wasn't as good of an idea as I thought. Some of the answers are quite lame and repetitive. Oh well, we'll live.

Now that you know the setting, I will continue my Christmas post by discussing a fun Christmas money-saver. Not only will it save you money, but it also makes your gifts more personalized. I really enjoyed making mine this year: I saved money, had fun, and was able to give each couple a card that I thought would fit them and their personalities= 3 for 3 win for sure! (Pictures to come!)

Best Christmas Gift: Jesus! What else?! He IS the reason for the season, after all! Truly though, He is the best gift I could NEVER deserve. I love Him and want to live for Him. He died for me and my horrible sins. He has taken away everything I have ever done wrong. Not only that... He has FORGOTTEN all of my sins! I don't know about you, but when someone wrongs me, I can forgive, but forgetting is wayyyy more difficult. I love Jesus, and hope that if you have not accepted His gift of love, eternity with Him, and an abundant life here on Earth, you will decide to open the greatest gift of all time today.

Best Tactile Christmas Gift: Since I have already discussed the greatest gift ever given to mankind (as well as my personal favorite), I will now discuss the best gifts Travis and I received for Christmas. Because we were on a budget this year with gifts, our actual Christmas gifts to each other weren't amazingly spectacular. However, I am considering some other purchases made this year to be our best "Christmas gifts": 1) The sugar gliders: Aladdin and Jasmine! We love our adorable, sweet marsupials! =D 2) Our new, certified pre-owned Honda C-RV. We needed this baby to get up to Roan Mountain and to drive around New York when snow really begins to fall!

Fun Stocking Stuffer Idea: Because of our small Christmas budget this year, I decided I would make something for Travis's stocking. Nothing is more fun than receiving and/or making a gift that was homemade. Therefore, I made him a coupon book for 2011! This is a fun idea for couples especially because you can do "cutesy" things such as a "10 kisses" coupon! However, this can be a fun gift idea for anyone depending on what types of coupons you make. (Pictures to come!)

Blog Shout Out: One gift that I bought for Travis was the book entitled One Red Paperclip. I found this awhile ago when someone posted something on facebook. Well, one link led to another, and boom! I found this blog: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com. I don't want to spoil the amazing story for you, so I encourage you to check it out for yourself! What I will say is that the blogger made a book that has the complete, detailed story. When I read the story, the first person who came to mind was Travis, of course. Therefore, I ordered him the book for Christmas. He LOVES it! The story is unique and interesting... something most likely never done before. Travis is eating it up! Please check out the blog and be amazed!

Current Event (AKA an event from today!): Travis and I went on a "Snow Shoe Adventure" today! We bundled up, slipped on my parents' snow shoes, and trudged up the highest part of the hill that we could find! We dug the shoes into the side of the mountain, dug our ski poles into the mountain, and boosted ourselves up to the top! We continued our journey into the woods because...well...we were having fun! (Pictures to come!)

Well, there was a quick summary of Christmas and our fun, snow-shoeing expedition today! My followup post will be the corresponding pictures for today's post. Can't wait to share them with you! I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, please let me know by leaving me a comment or (if you want to show some love anonymously without words) by clicking "like"! You know I love feedback! =] Merry CHRISTmas!

P.S. "God Jul"? This is how you say Merry Christmas in Norwegian! Travis received a language-learning software from my parents for Christmas so that we can learn Norwegian. For those of you who don't know, Travis is biologically 1/8 Norwegian, but his heart is 100% Norwegian! We are hoping to learn the beautiful language- fun fun! Ha det bra (goodbye)!

Happy Thankgiving!

I am thankful for...

1. Jesus dying on the cross for my sins and saving me.

2. Travis, my wonderful, God-fearing husband.

3. My Johns family- the way they raised me in a loving, Christian household and allowed the Lord to work in them to lead me to salvation.

4. My Engebretsen family- the way they raised Travis in a loving, Christian household and allowed the Lord to work in them to lead Travis to salvation so that he would be a wonderful, Christian leader in our home.

5. Food.

6. Shelter.

7. Clothing

8. My new passion for Jesus- I want to live for Him; He is worthy!

9. The trials that teach me things- the fact that He works all things for good.

10. All other abundant blessings the Lord has given to me though I do not deserve them.

What are you thankful for? Please share! =]

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." (Psalm 100:4)

Bride

I am the beautiful bride of Christ! He sees me in a pure, white gown walking slowly down the aisle toward him even when I have my hair up in a messy bun and am wearing sweats and a t-shirt. When I have no makeup on, He looks on my face with more adoration than I could ever comprehend. He is my most wonderful groom- handsome beyond measure, selfless, and full of adoration for me!

Before marrying Travis, I made myself ready to go down the aisle by spending significant time with him. I got to know him- like really know him: his thoughts, his secrets, his dreams, his loves, his pains. We spent years together in close communication, growing our knowledge of each other: each day discovering another reason why we had chosen to love each other. I made myself ready for my groom by getting to know him. On our wedding day, I made myself ready for him by primping, putting on my wedding gown, thinking about him, and thinking about us.

I want to be ready for my Heavenly Groom. I want to not just know him like I would know an acquaintance. I want to know Him. I want to know His thoughts, His dreams for me, His love for me, the pain it causes Him when I sin. I want to be ready for Him- my beautiful, wonderful Groom. I want to primp and be beautiful for Him. I want to put on a gown of righteousness so that when I walk down that aisle, He will look at me the way I know He will. I want Him to gasp and whisper in my ear, "You are so beautiful, and I love you so very much."

What about you? You, too, are the beautiful bride of Christ. Make yourself ready for your Groom today!

Happy Birthday to My Magnificent Mom! =]

I just want to post a quick blog about my mother since it is her birthday today: November 18th! As many of you know, she is turning 35 this year. ;] I will just do this the easy way (instead of rambling on for paragraphs upon paragraphs) and give you ten things I love about my mom! You know I appreciate a good list! =D Enjoy!

Ten Things I Love About You, Mom:

1. You are a very hard worker (a great example of a help meet for me to follow).
2. You are extremely outgoing (I got that from you- duh!).
3. How we can get on laughing streaks and just crack up at the silliest things.
4. Praise Jesus you are a Christian (thank you for letting the Lord use you to lead me to the Him).
5. How you helped "match-make" Travis and me (you conniving mom, you)!
6. Our drives to Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, and Stuart for theatre as well as trips to Miami and beyond for casting calls (thank you for your undying support).
7. Our extraordinarily awkward conversations on those trips (thank you for your honesty)!
8. Your unselfishness and generosity (okay, those are two things, but they are related so give me a break!).
9. How you taught me from 1st grade through high school (#1 teacher in my book)!
10. The fact that I know you love Travis and me so much (just like we love you)!

Now for some pictures!

-Please do me a favor and leave a comment with something sweet to say about my lovely mom: a good or funny memory, something you like about her, etc., etc.! Thank you! Hope you enjoyed the post (especially you, Mom)!-