I'm a free woman!

Today it is Monday and I did not have to be at work at 8:30.  Weird.

My last day of work was both exciting and a little sad.  I had to say goodbye to a lot of people that I have enjoyed working with for the past 3 years and that is never fun.  But I can't help feeling a little bit liberated.  I'm pretty excited to have the opportunity to find something new, something that I really enjoy.

But first, it's cleaning and packing and errand running day.  And I've been dallying on the computer for too long.  The movers are coming on Wednesday and we have a lot to do before then.  Time to be productive!

Who named this "Kentucky Caviar?"

I came across this recipe on one of the blogs I read and it was so good I had to share it with you.  The best part is it's so healthy!  This recipe makes a huge bowl of salsa; I didn't even add all the ingredients and it's still enough for a party or large family.  It's great with chips, and tomorrow I'm going to try some in a pita for lunch.  Enjoy!

 

 

Kentucky Caviar

Finely chop/dice the following into a large bowl:
1 Green Pepper

1 Red Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper

1 Orange Pepper

1 bunch of green onions

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (remember a little bit of cilantro goes a long way!)

2-4 tomatoes

Then add:

1 can corn drained

1 can black eyed peas rinsed and drained

1 can white hominy rinsed and drained

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

2-3 limes squeezed over entire mixture

Salt to taste

stir, cover, and chill at least 8 hours before serving.

 

 

 

I'm back baby!

We flew, we toured, we leased.  And now we're back with a new address and a lot of stuff to do.  I was nervous that I wouldn't like Maryland, but I have to say, it is beautiful.  Trees everywhere with these cute little farmhouses and rustic red barns off the highway.  And yet enough civilization that our new apartment building looks like this:

It's a two bedroom/two bathroom and a lot more square feet than I have here, which I am excited about.  It definitely hit me that this is real though once we settled on a place.  I'm trying not to focus on how far away from home I'll be and how much I'll miss the family, but I got a little emotional on the way over to secure the apartment.

Our new home is in Lexington Park, MD. 

This was taken from the car driving down the highway.

Unfortunately it is almost just as hot there as it is here!  We managed to go to D.C. on Saturday since we found our apartment earlier than planned, and I think we both got heat stroke (exaggerating but not by much).  But it was still worth it!  To me this is one of the biggest perks of moving: so much to see so close by!

The reflecting pool is a pile of dirt now; I hope they are planning on putting it back eventually! 

We learned how to use the Metro system!  Pretty fun until the afternoon when the trains were so packed we could hardly move.

Good Ole Abe.  We'll definitely have to go back and see more when it's cooler.

So now that we're back it's been a whirlwind of work, coordinating the move, purging the house, running errands...it's going to be a tiring few weeks, but I'll try to keep you updated!

Update

It has been over two weeks since I have posted!  Things have been rather crazy lately, and the blog tends to drop to the bottom of the to-do list, so here is an update.

Last week I was sick with a cold, so as soon as I got home from work I just dropped on the couch and stayed there most of the evening.  It was very unproductive.

Also last week I turned a quarter of a century old.  It's funny how 25 doesn't sound that old, but a quarter of a century sounds reeeeeaaallly old.  Because I wasn't feeling well I didn't celebrate my birthday until Saturday, and even then James and I just went to Texas Roadhouse.  But it was delicious!  And my sweet hubby got me an iPod touch, which is pretty much the only gift idea I gave him.  I'm not going to lie, a lot of my time has been wasted with this new toy!  It can do everything an iPhone can do except call, (and it works on wi-fi, not 3G, so I can only use the Internet apps if there is an Internet connection somewhere) so I've downloaded all kinds of apps.  Maybe I'll do a post on my favorite apps sometime.

The rest of my time has been spent looking through houses and townhouses for rent and running errands to get ready for our trip.  We are headed to Ft. Worth for some family time and a wedding, and then we're jetting off to Maryland to secure a place to live!  I am excited and nervous.  I have this idea of what Maryland looks like in my head and I'm afraid that the real Maryland won't be as nice. 

So that's been my life the past few weeks.  The next few weeks promise to be just as busy, but eventually I will get back to blogging more frequently!  Hmm maybe they have a blogging app...:-)

4th of July

July 4 is one of my favorite holidays!  The music, the fireworks, the patriotism, the family gatherings, burgers and watermelon...it's just fun.

Side note:  I've noticed that my favorite holidays are the ones that have their own music.  It just makes everything better!

The fourth of July is shooting Roman Candles at light posts.  Watching the boys almost blow their fingers off with black cats.  Shooting Bebe guns at glass bottles.  Eating watermelon.  My mom's stars and stripes cake.  Decorating bicycles with patriotic streamers and riding in the neighborhood parade.  Catching candy thrown from the fire trucks.  Blue bell ice cream on sticky summer evenings.  Laughing with cousins.  John Phillips Sousa and patriotic music all day long.

Happy birthday to America!  I am so grateful for the freedom that we get in this country.

Sunday morning

For your Sunday morning listening pleasure, here is a worship song I am loving these days!

Ruin my life, the plans I have made,

Ruin desires for my own selfish gain,

Destroy the idols that have taken Your place,

'Till it's You alone I live for,

You alone I live for!

The one where James got a job

I have not been very good about blogging lately, and you may have picked up on the reason from an earlier blog post - James interviewed for a position in Maryland.  My normally structured and organized brain has been on overdrive trying to think of what all that means and how I would feel if he got the job. Scatterbrained thoughts are really hard to turn into words on paper (or screen).  Not to mention I have a full time job, and we've been focusing on our refugee family lately.

Ever since he told me he applied for this job, I've had a feeling that this was it.  I don't put much stock in gut feelings like that because they are often wrong, but in this case, it turned out to be right!  James got a job offer and after some salary negotiations, he accepted.  We will soon call that weirdly shaped state our home.  The job is a wonderful opportunity for him and something he is very excited about doing. 

A couple of months ago as I was stressing and worrying over what would happen, the thought of moving somewhere far away made me really nervous and anxious.  But we have been praying all along that God would guide our steps and make it clear where He wanted us, and He has done that.  Not only did it fall into our laps and work out seamlessly, but I actually feel good about it!  Now that has to be God because this girl is not naturally adventurous.  I'm a homebody and while I love to travel, the thought of leaving everything I know would normally make me scared stiff. But would you believe it, I'm actually excited!

We'll be in a fairly rural, small town area about two hours south of Baltimore, and there are lots of hills and trees.  It's also within driving distance of a lot of neat places (the East coast is so squished!) so we'll have lots of fun adventures.  And the best part is that I get to quit my job!  I've been dreaming of that for three years.  The worst part of course is that we can't take our families with us and it will be hard to not be able to just drop in for a last-minute get together.

I am excited to finally be out of the transition stage and be able to make plans again!  I feel like we can finally get on with our lives and stop putting everything on hold, and that is a good feeling.  God has been faithful to us and I am so thankful.