My Flowers

I found these pictures of flowers that I grew at our house in Calimesa.  They were among the last photos I took of the house (for the lease agreement).  Only time will tell if we are meant to return to that house.  Seeing these pictures sure brings back memories and makes me miss my yard.  I always wished to have a big garden for vegetables, kitchen herbs and cutting flowers.  Maybe someday  :)

Red geraniums and Black-Eyed Susans 

 Purple Petunias

 Yes, I grew those sunflowers (that were at least a foot taller than that chain length fence) from seeds.

More purple petunias, and Comos that never bloomed.

Our New Reality (as of 11/27/10)

I do say... that I am deeply ashamed that my last blog was in APRIL!!!!  What have I been doing all this time?  Well, actually alot.  Picture: taking a leap of faith, holding onto Mike's hand (sometimes white knucklin' it), casting my fears/anxieties onto the Lord, giving my submissive heart to Mike, and relying on the kindness and goodness of others (Lisa, especially).  And having alot of fun along the way!
In the last 7 months, we have: packed up everything and shipped it to my Mom's house for storage, rented out our house in Calimesa and moved in with Mike's sister, Lisa, in Chino.  Then I got a part-time evening job at TJ Maxx (for a while, I'll explain later).  After a long 8 month wait, Mike received the most excellent news in late October (on my birthday) that he will be starting a new and exciting career.  **Per Mike's instructions, I cannot share online what his new career will be, but most of you reading this probably already know because you are our friends and family :) ** Then Mike asked me to quit my job to once again be a full-time mommy (isn't he the best?) and to devout my time to supporting him in his new journey.  I was surprised to have mixed feelings about quiting my little job.  On one hand, it was nice just to get out of the house for 4-5 hours and be someone else, to meet/help people, share God's love, etc.  On the otherhand, I'm thankful to have missed out on working a retail job on Black Friday (I shutter to think what it would have been like).  In the end, I now know that Mike's decision was the right decision for all of us.  Praise God for God-fearing, faithful husbands!

Currently, Mike has said his good-byes to his Rialto co-workers and looks ahead for his adventures to come.  Last week the Hillwigs (my dad and step-mom) blessed us with a totally awesome 5-day vacation in Oceanside to kick start our new life.  So as we continue to dish out the yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, I shall reminisce about our good times in Oceanside.  I hope to post pictures later today!

Is it too early to say "Merry Christmas"?  :)

Love, Nicole

Here's Mike about to take Dylan and Nathan to the park

so I can concentrate on making our Thanksgiving dinner.

My First Post!

Well... I'm a blogger now.  I previously thought that blogs were kind of silly and self-indulgent, but I now see how fun they are to keep up with friends and family.  I just started doing Facebook reccently, but I soon found that I wanted more space to capture (virtually) what we've been up to.  Plus, I'm trying to be more creative, so I like the idea of personalizing a blog.  I'm horrible at remembering to take pictures of the kids.  I get too wrapped up in enjoying the moment of our life that I forget to grab the camera.  I often forget to bring my camera to important events like holidays and family get togethers.  Sometimes I don't even know where my camera is.  So I figured that if I have a blog, maybe it will remind me to take cute pictures of the kids so I can post them.  Let's hope!
Here's a few random pictures that I have saved on my computer.  I will update with more as soon as I can...