i'm free

hi everyone...i'm back. it only took me almost a year to crack in to my account again and add information. if you are curious what has happened since my last post (which was an eternity ago) here are some breif updates:
1. I ran an afterschool program for inner city kids successfully- they all passed and moved up a grade which is no small accomplishment.
2. I ran a summer mission program for DOOR in Miami and hosted about 300+ people over 8 weeks.
3. I hired and supervised my own staff (mostly successfully).
4. I moved to New York City with my husband in September.
5. I started a new job as a volunteer coordinator at a BIG volunteer organization associated with churches in Manhattan.
6. My husband and I have been married for a year + and are doing great!

If you want pics they are on facebook . Hopefully I'll post something more here. We'll see.

A rabbit named Jazz

So...we got a bunny. He's ridiculously cute. I'm happy becuase I had to give my chinchilla back to his original home with his chinchilla family (and my aunt, uncle, and cousins) after we got married becuase we couldn't afford his ongoing health needs- he had really bad teeth and needed constant vet care for the rest of his life. I really missed him and have always had a pet of one kind or another since I was a kid. So after a significant time petless Rocky finally gave in. We found him in a pet store and we've named him Jazz. Technically I'm not even sure he's a he, but it really doesn't matter since he's our only rabbit.
Here are some pics of Jazz, enjoy!

In his litterbox...we're working on housebreaking him.


Nibbling on some hay.


Here you can see how tiny he is next to Rocky's shoe.


He looks a little demonic with the red-eye thing, but you get the point.

part-time ministry

So..not many of you know that I am currently employed part-time at two ministries in Miami. One- DOOR Miami- hosts short-term mission groups from all over the US (and Canada) for weekends and weeks of service all over the city, as well as hosts year-long missionaries. Right now I am officially the assistant director of DOOR Miami and am in charge of helping the director as well as hosting and scheduling the short term groups as they come in to town.
The other part-time ministry gig I have is with TML (Touching Miami with Love) which is an urban ministry outreach in downtown Miami. I am the after school program coordinator- which basically means that I am in charge of 15 kids from an inner-city school every day after school until about 5pm.
I love both of these positions, but if you have ever had the pleasure of "part-time" ministry you already know that it is impossible. How can you put a cap on the amount of time that you spend on such great causes. One exposes people to the gifts and challenges of urban ministry for what might be the only time in a participant's life. The other helps inner-city kids learn and have a safe Christian place to hand out after school every day.
Needless to say I'm having a hard time juggling all of this but loving every minute at the same time. Never in my life have I been able to use all of my interests all at the same time and I truly believe that God planned this bit of crazyness in my life to allow me to use these gifts. I am tired, but energized at the same time. It's great. Sometime I'll post more...right now I'm too busy working "part-time" and loving it!

so much for togetherness

So Rocky and I had a great couple of weeks of time together in Miami...then a couple of days together in Chicago...then came the inevitable call for the far away gig. yep that's right folks, my husband is playing in none other than Kuwait for New Year's Eve. I mean seriously, who gets a last minute international New Year's Eve gig? In Kuwait? It was a little out there even for us..but it's legit and he's already there. I can't really complain too much becuase it pays really well and is kind of a massive hook up becuase our car needs to get repaired from a little fender bender we were in before we left for Christmas. So this gig helps us out a lot with bills, etc. It just sucks that I've had to miss my husband so much recently. I have a husband...really he's great. And someday we'll be able to pay our bills while being in the same place at the same time. Hopefully.

travel woes

Rocky and I have been missing each other lately. Partly due to my travels for DOOR to Annaheim, CA and then to Chicago taking up the majority of the first two weeks of Nov. Then while I was in Chicago last week he got a call for a gig on a cruise ship...that left a day after I would get home. We decided that he should take it becuase honestly we really need the money. However, this also meant that for the month of November these newlyweds will only get ot spend 7 days together this entire month. This does not make me happy and I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear his voice for the first time since he left yesterday morning. I never thought that I would be so greatly affected, but what really makes this last split hard is that we can't readily call each other throughout the day. We can only talk in little spurts, only if the phone line is available out of the ship, and for about 30 cents a minute. I will be more than thrilled for the arrival of the month of December as the entire month neither one of us is traveling (except to go to Chicago together for Christmas). I love my husband and even though seeing new places and traveling the country is fun for me...it would be all the better if we could do it together! Or atleast if we could do it so that we would be gone at the same time.

other people's children

for a while now i have been watching my friends and family as they bring new little wonders into the world one by one. every baby born is always amazing to me and reminds me that we are now officially "grown-ups". (ironically "grown-ups" have converations that revolve around diaper rash and body parts). i love each of these miracles and am happy to be a part of their lives. but i'm not really looking for one of my own any time soon.
although i know that it is the next natural question to ask once someone gets married, i really get aggravated when people ask me- "so when are you and rocky going to have a little one?" atleast i know when it's coming now. the first few times it kind of smacked me upside the face. i just got married, kids are not on my mind...surviving the first year of marriage is on my mind. i feel as if i'm responding to the associated press and critical people want critical answers.
but i have learned to curve my knee jerk reaction of sarcasm (i.e. it's none of your business) and am able to politely answer- "we're not looking to have children in the near future." some folks like to ask why...but most are satisfied with that statement.
let me tell you one reason why i'm willing to wait (other than the fact that i married a musician). right now i am a nanny for a two year old little boy. let me tell you that there is no other form of psychological birth control quite as effective as a stubborn two year old. this little boy is currently going through the difficult combination of no naps, mommy seperation anxiety, and potty training, and i'm sure i would be a little crabby if i were him. the fact that i am NOT mommy does not help the situation. kids seem very far in the future after coming home from toddlerland. i'm not really longing for a two year old of my own for a while. right now i am perfectly satisfied loving other people's children, and that is good enough for me.

a little too much time on my hands

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

happiness

i am happy. althought this may not come as a life-shattering announcement to most, it is very good news for me. i have struggled with many years now with seasons of depression and disillusionment that often comes with the post-graduation/early twenty-something/cross-country moving/job changing young adult life. but i can can gladly and confidently state that i currently feel the most content and peaceful that i have ever felt in my adult life.
i'm sure that there was a time perhaps in my childhood that i could have said that i was happy because we had chocolate ice cream and i got to play with my friends. even though ice cream and friends still make me happy that is not the happiness of which i speak of today. today i am referring to a deeper and utterly more meaningful happiness that does not melt or move away. of course being a newlywed has something to do with this happiness and my life with my hubby has been bliss-filled. it could have something to do with the fact that i have a job with an organization that i can whole-heartedly support and cares for me on an individual level. my state of happiness could also be a result of the fact that i am putting to good use my bible college education through my church.
but i think that my happiness comes from all of these combined and more. i am happy becuase for once in my life i am not debating if i am in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. for the first time in a very long time i feel happily grounded and growing exactly where i have been planted. i pray for this depth of happiness to continue and i thank God for letting me feel it.
i'm going to have some ice cream with friends now.