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Merry Christmas Everyone!

22 Dec

Greetings! I just realized I failed to send out cards/letters last year before spending the holidays in Costa Rica, so I have some catching up to do.

Let’s rewind to 2010.  In February, Oved and I were engaged to be married.  And on July 3rd, we tied the knot.  We decided to have our wedding at Springdale Church, the church I grew up in.  My brother officiated.  Sarah was my maid of honor and Katrina (my sister-in-law) was also in the wedding party. Tyler’s daughters Ella and Kayla were our flower girls.  Oved’s brother, Jonathan, was the best man and his father gave the benediction.  I loved including so many family members.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a fantastic reception.

We honeymooned in Key West, which was great.  The weather was beautiful! In fact, it only rained on us one day (and that only lasted about thirty minutes).  The food was fabulous.  And the touristy stuff was pretty cool, too.  I especially liked the six-toed cats at Ernest Hemingway’s house.

The following Christmas, Oved, Sarah, Mom and I all traveled to Costa Rica.  We spent two weeks there.  It was very special to meet all of Oved’s family and see where he grew up.  Also, we were able to experience the holidays in a completely new culture, with entirely different customs.  Christmas included fireworks and BBQ.  And New Year’s Eve was quite different, as well.  Instead of going to parties (like I normally do), we went to church.  We spent the service hearing from its members.  Each reflected on the past year’s blessings.  We concluded with prayer as we counted down to the New Year.  It was a unique and humbling experience.

In January of 2011, Oved and I started our own business.  We decided to sell Costa Rican coffee under the name, La Cumbre Coffee.  The first half of the year was spent filing papers and building the website.  Then in July, we launched.  It has been a lot of hard work.  But, it’s slowly beginning to grow.  I’m excited to see its progress.  For those interested: www.lacumbrecoffee.com

I also returned to school last January.  I was accepted into West Virginia University’s graduate program, Integrated Marketing Communication the prior summer.  The classes, so far, have been challenging, but fun.

And if that wasn’t enough, in February of 2011 we learned of some exciting news.  I was pregnant!  On October 7, we were blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby boy, Lucas Oved (Luke) Jimenez.  Now at two months of age, Luke is smiling and cooing all day long…when he’s not sleeping…or eating.  And, his most recent discovery is his fists, which he’s decided taste pretty good.  He also loves staring at lights, and of course, watching TV.

As you can see these past two years have been very exciting for us.  I can’t believe how drastically my life has changed, for the better.  I have so much to be thankful for. God is good!  I hope each of you find yourselves equally as blessed this holiday season.  May all that He is bring you all that you need this Christmas!  Much love to you!!

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Is there such a thing as public bathroom etiquette?

18 Aug

This is a question I’ve often asked myself.  I understand it may work differently for guys.  But, there seems to be a certain set of rules in play when visiting the ladies’ room.  And, if those rules are violated, it can be very upsetting.

The greatest offense is bathroom lingering.  If you’re not the only one occupying a stall, you’re on a clock.  Once you’ve finished the task and washed your hands (yes, this goes without saying), get out.  There’s no need to poke at your hair, straighten your collar, or even wipe smeared make-up from under your eyes.  Just get out.  Obviously, your stall neighbor needs to finish her business…you probably interrupted her.  Politely leave.

Talking while in the stalls…is it really necessary to carry on a conversation?  It forces you to listen to the other person.  I can’t filter out certain sounds and be expected to respond to questions at the same time.  In my opinion, conversations can wait.

Repeat flushing is my biggest pet peeve.  In a world where green is envied, please don’t flush the toilet 87 times just so fellow restroom occupiers don’t hear you toot.  And if, heaven forbid, a toot does sneak out unfiltered from the neighboring stall…out of courtesy, you need to leave as soon as possible.  Obviously, she is willing to go to great measures to keep you from hearing what’s going on.  It’s the right thing to do.

And lastly, look before leaving the stall.  If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat.  Seriously, take a second to clean up after yourself.  If toilet paper is hanging over the edge of the toilet, properly place it inside the bowl and flush.  If not all of your toilet bowl contents have flushed, flush again.  And, please, make sure the trash can is shut.  There’s no need to leave it hanging open for the next visitor to see inside.

Those are my bathroom etiquette requests.  Am I asking too much?  Let me know if you think I’ve left anything off of the list.

My New Toy…the New Canon T3i Camera

2 Jun

So, I have the best husband ever.  We’ve been talking for a long time of how we wanted a nice camera.  And a couple of weeks ago (before we went on vacation), he surprised me with one.

He bought me the new Canon T3i camera…and, it’s amazing.

The features on this camera are incredible.  First, it’s 18 MP, which means fantastic photo potential.  I’m also a big fan of the swivel LCD monitor.  This means I can either take endless amounts of pictures of myself…OR I can flip the monitor over and keep it from being scratched up while I carry the camera in its bag.

The camera also has a Scene Intelligent Auto mode, which makes it easy for anyone to take a decent picture.  It’s effortless!  Plus, it’s got a million other modes for when I’m feeling more adventurous.  The portrait setting, for example, takes excellent low-lighting photos.

What’s also really great about this camera is all of my old lenses and even my flash for my Rebel 2000 (an SLR) work on this model!

Here are just a few examples of photos I’ve taken…

 

Sweet Child O’ Mine

25 Apr

This is BY FAR the most amazing rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mind I have EVER heard.  Crazy good!

Ladies, it’s time to drink some coffee!

29 Mar

Originally published in Psychology Today

The Coffee lovers appreciate the mood kick and mental boost a delicious cup of java provides. The enhanced learning, memory, and speed of information processing caffeine delivers has been well documented scientifically. New research published on-line in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, reports that coffee can also ward off some effects of aging on the brain. Previous research has shown that caffeine lessens the damage of Alzheimer’s disease caused by the toxic peptide that forms the senile plaques in brains of Alzheimer’s patients. This new study examined 641 elderly persons (over the age of 65) living in three cities in France, Bordeaux, Dijon, and Montpellier. Researchers found a relation between coffee consumption and prevention of cognitive deterioration including the loss of brain tissue in the elderly.

Click here to read the full article.

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