I love this time of year! I love celebrating all of the people around us and of course Christ’s birth. I have always loved Christmas, but the past 4 especially have meant so much to me! 5 year ago in January  I gave my life to Christ. I had always grown up in the church knowing the meaning of Christmas, but never fully experiencing it until 5 years ago! Not realizing that Jesus was born to die for my Salvation. This time of year with Christmas and the anniversary of my salvation coming up in January, Christ always seems to bring me to a time of reflection, and I love it, I need it. I have put a few pictures to recap December and will hopefully do a few more detailed posts of our adventures!

Needless to say we’ve been busy and have had a lot going on…we’ll have to write an update blog to fill you in on the rest!

We had a great Thanksgiving and are just reflecting on how thankful we are for our families. We got to spend 4 days in Franklin with both JJ’s family and my family. We had a great time eating, eating, and eating! We did do a lot of eating but we also got to spend a lot of time with the families. We played a lot of cards, bean bag toss, good guy/bad guy, watched NC State lose, and went and got our Christmas tree! We are so thankful for the life that the Lord has blessed us with with and realizing that because of Him we have so much to be thankful for.

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When we were ready to go we then took the tram to one of the few open grocery stores in the city (most things are closed on Sundays). We got the necessities for dinner: chips, this awesome apple drink, and ice cream! Here are some pictures we took in that square and walking back to their place.

Nate was hungry so we had to keep moving, but we passed a lot of cute streets and pretty buildings! We made tomato basil and mozzarella sandwiches for lunch with Tomato Soup, then headed back out for a 3 hour stroll around Basel! Basel is such a pretty city and it was a lot of fun just walking around and seeing what it had to offer. As we were walking along the Rhine River we did see a man using heroine and another man peeing in the river.

SO…before I finish up this blog (JJ speaking here), I would like to first say that I think I have been duped. I remember when I had days off and my sweet wife would say, “Have a good day off, do you have any plans today?”, and then she would be on her way out the door. Then on occasion she would ask if I could do a small errand here and a small errand there. Now lately, when I go downstairs to eat breakfast on my days off days there has been list of things to do. I can’t help but wonder…have I been subtly trained without even being aware of it??? She sure is sneaky but I love her. One of my tasks today was to finish our day 2 blog.

Anyway, sorry to side track, now back to the day. I would like to say first of all, the trip was a lot of fun. I like the towns and cities a lot, but why all the graffiti? There is graffiti ALL over the place, it is very tacky. Anyone who spray paints a building that is over 500 years old needs a nice big thump on the head.

So we were walking along the Rhine River, it was pretty neat. However the entire time I had no idea that it was the Rhine River. Teran claims that she made me aware of this but I’m not so sure. The whole time I’m thinking to myself, I like this River and wonder what it is…now I know!

We ate some roasted chesnuts by the River. They were very good. There are a lot of vendors that sell them, I guess I would compare them to boiled peanuts here in the states. Yum! Nate and Maria walked us all over Basel, very fun. We went the Munster Church and saw some men playing Bacci Ball. The whole city just has a different kind of feel to it. We got home around early evening that night and had supper and watched a little football!

Later that night we got a phone call “the airport is outside” atleast that’s how we translated the Swiss German, but we assumed that meant my luggage had finally arrived from being lost! I was excited to change my underwear. 3 days in the same underwear and socks is not my idea of a vacation. The “We are sorry we lost your luggage” bag or toiletries was not getting it done. They gave me an XXL T-shirt, small stick of unscented deodorant, 2 q-tips, and tooth paste and tooth brush…thanks.

So that was day 2 of the trip but day 1 of the vacation, because at no point during our day of travels did I feel like I was on vacation. Nate and Maria did a great job of starting our stay in Europe off right!

(Teran again, I can’t figure out how to seperate my pictures, so they are all together at the top, sorry! I’ll try to figure it out.)

Day 1 – The traveling….so our original “confirmed” travel plans were to leave RDU at 4:00pm for a flight to JFK in New York City. Then catch a 10pm flight out of JFK to Zurich. We were supposed to land in Zurich at 12:40pm that Saturday the 10th and had a day full planned of exploring Zurich. We were then going to take a 5pm train to Nate and Maria’s house and spend Saturday evening with them. This is how it actually happened….

JJ and I got to RDU airport at 2:15pm to check in with Delta. As we are checking in, super excited about our upcoming trip the woman says…”your flight left 45 minutes ago”. Never has this happened to me! We were very early, but our flight had changed and we were never informed! So the woman we were working with spent the next 25 minutes on the phone and her computer trying to find some way to get us to Zurich, because there were no more flights to JFK that day…She finally looks up and says, the only way I can get you to Zurich leaving today is to take a 4pm flight to Atlanta, have a 6 hr layover there, then take a 7 hour flight to Paris, have a 5 hour layover there, then take an hour flight to Zurich, which will put you into Zurich at 8:55pm. We just wanted to get there so we took it!

The flight to Atlanta was smooth and short (just the way we like it!). My boss and 2 of our managers had been in Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference and were flying back to RDU that night, so we got to have dinner with them! That helped the time pass and was really nice!

We then boarded the plane at 11:00pm for our 7 hour flight to Paris. I had worked that day and all the traveling had worn me out so I was a sleep before the plane ever took off! Needless to say I slept most of the flight except when JJ would wake me up to eat! He got to sleep some too! The next “morning” well morning for us, 1pm in Paris, we landed! Just to sit in the airport for another 6 hours…. We brushed our teeth and freshened up (I love the tax free stores that sell perfume, I always freshen up with their testers ) then sat and read for awhile. It was almost 5pm so we figured we better try to get ourselves on their schedule so we got 2 sandwiches from a restaurant there in the airport, then JJ passed out as usual…

We finally boarded our last flight for the day to Zurich, Switzerland! Our flight left on time and was a pretty easy flight! We landed in Zurich at 8:15pm and ran off the plane because we had to catch the 9:05pm train to Basel. We rushed through the airport to baggage claim, to find JJ’s luggage had been lost… so now not only did JJ not have his luggage but we also had to go through the whole baggage claim process while still needing to make the 9:05 train. We finally got it all straightened out, went through customs, and ran to the train station. We bought our tickets then did our best to figure out what train we were supposed to be on! We took a guess, but in an hour and a half we were getting off the train in Basel to Maria! After 24 hours of traveling we were glad to be there! We then took the tram to their neighborhood and met Nate and Jake who helped us get all our stuff to their house!

Where should I start… Although we grew up in the same small town, JJ and I did not meet till the end of high school. Truth be told…when we did meet we didn’t really like each other. Well I take that back JJ had a great time picking on me and making fun of me, but I couldn’t stand him! When JJ graduated he went to NC State. A year later I was heading there as well. Even though we were now in Raleigh, things did not change much, the teasing continued through out my freshmen year. By that summer our story would finally change! We realized how much fun we had together and how well we could actually get along!

For the next 2 and a half years we had our ups and downs. When I look back now, I realize we were both young, but yet it was during those times I came to understand that whether it was going to NC State games, hanging out with friends, or just watching TV, I loved every minute we shared together. During that time God was doing amazing things in our lives, (that we didn’t even realize He was doing). If there’s one thing JJ and I have come to understand it’s God has always been intimately working in our lives. When we first started dating JJ was running from the Lord and I had yet to experience what a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was really like. In January of ’06 JJ and I went to the Passion Conference in Nashville, TN. It was there that the Lord called JJ back to himself and for the first time in 21 years I truly understood what the Lord was calling me too. Two weeks later I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

For the next year our relationship faced many trials, God was calling us as individuals not as a couple and in January of ’07 we broke up…what I thought was for good. For a year and a half we both did our own thing, keeping in touch occasionally. Then in March of 08, I heard JJ was graduating from the Police Academy and I just knew I needed to be there. A couple weeks later JJ invited me to a dinner that would change our lives. Although I would have never expected it was then that JJ told me he believed I was the woman he would marry. It would be an under-statement to say he caught me off guard. While I was not sure what the future held, he seemed confident that he knew what was ahead of us. For the next 4 months we spent time praying, hanging out, and getting to know each other all over again. In that time I saw the Godly man JJ had become and the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. On August 1st we got back together and the rest is history!

When I got home this is what I found!! JJ was in his dream world, he had “his” dog, his remote, and a nap…what more could a man want!?!?

So I know that’s not exactly the way Kenny sings it, but I think it’s funny. This past weekend we went “camping” at Carolina Beach near Wilmington. Going into it I was preparing for a campground, with a bath house, and toilets(JJ – Actually, I told her that it was not a campground, and we were camping on the beach and there would only be some bathrooms and an outside shower tor rinse off with…she just chose not to listen to that part). The day before we left I found out we were literally “camping” on the beach (JJ – remember what I just said…). JJ and I don’t have a functioning tent, so for us it was more like “sleeping in the back of his truck on the beach”. We got to the beach around 1:30pm on Saturday, set up camp, and got settled in. Carolina Beach is like any other NC beach: houses, hotels, restaurants and beach stores, until you get to the end of the road where the public access beach starts, then it’s nothing but sand dunes, ocean, cars, tents and dogs!

The boys had to head back to civilzation to get ice and supplies so I went on a long walk on the beach! So cliche I know, but I really do love long walks on the beach! When the boys got back we broke out the ladder golf, this was JJ’s first time playing and my 2nd, but we ended up leaving as the Undefeated Ladder Golf Champions! We had a great time playing ladder golf, playing in the ocean, reading, and relaxing!

Luckily Jon and Ashley, our wonderful hostesses, definitely came prepared and are professional beach campers! They had 2 solar showers, which are pretty much black plastic bags that you fill with water, let the sun heat up, and then shower! It wasn’t the strongest water flow, but I was so thankful to have it! 2 solar showers, 10 gallons of water, 7 people, 30 minutes and we were all off to dinner! Ya we passed on the grilling out and decided to try one of the seafood restaurants…not too shabby!

Ok, Teran handed the reins to me to finish off the blog, which may prove to be a mistake on her part. After a few hours off the sand we made it back to our campsite. The ol’ Toyota does pretty well on the sand if I do say so myself. You shoulda seen her, driving along the coast with her silver shining bright in the sunlight (all the other trucks were giving her the googlie eyes). We tried to play some more ladder golf but it was kinda hard to hit a target you can’t see so we went to bed.

Overall it was fun, but…trying to sleep was a nightmare. It was nice at first being able to look up at the stars and hear the ocean. About 5 seconds later I realized what a mistake I had made. Our blankets were already getting a little damp from the dew, we had some boisterous company, and the bugs were out of control. Teran went right to sleep, I stayed up alllllll night long. That morning it didn’t take us long to get off the beach. We rolled up our blankets, stopped for Dunkin’ Donuts and back to Raleigh in time for Teran’s picnic for work and our WePod Kickball Challenge.

All in all it was a good time. I definitley want to go back again and do some more camping, but, Teran just wants to do day trips. I guess that’s just something we’ll have to work out by the time the next trip comes around. I’m hoping I can get Bucky to come down from Franklin and go back, me and him haven’t been camping in way too long. I think we’ll drag Chad and Heather along with us since they have the season pass…we’ve always wanted to go somewhere together, no better time than now!

On the 6th was 2 months of being married, not to be mistaken with our 2 month anniversary. See anniversaries are only a year celebration so this is just our 2 month of being married mark! At least that’s what JJ tells me, but I’m ok with that, my sweet sweet husband, still got me a card and beautiful flowers!

The card was pretty cute though, it had a monkey on the front that said…To my darling wife, For our anniversary I got you a card that’ll remind you of me..(I then tried to open the card, which does not open) (on the back of the card it says) It doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do either! Cute!

After 2 months of drooling over our wedding cake every time I opened the freezer, we finally decided to eat it! Don’t worry everyone, we still saved a litle bit for our one year anniversary (cross your fingers in makes it till then!) Mom, Dad, Bachi, and Gaddi were in town and Paige was over so we had plenty of people to share it with, but we still have tons left too. Who knew the top tier fed so many people!

The first 2 months of marriage has been great! We’ve had a lot of laughs, good times and the Lord has been so faithful! Plus we had a good 2 month of being married mark. We got to spend time together, have dinner and wedding cake with everyone, City Lights, and the flowers and card of course!