It totally ESCAPED my mind! Praise the Lord!

So it totally escaped my mind ... for the past 4 years, I have never let the 28th of July slip by without it weighing heavy on my heart. I had actually thought about what it would be like to hit the 5 year mark many many times, assuming that that day would be hard to swallow ...

But it happened, and as of YESTERDAY, I have been ill for exactly 5 years. BUT the day came and went, and I completely forgot about it!!! Instead I spent my time hanging out with Tatum (recovering from our previous long day at the beach), and then spent the evening on a date with just my husband, while Tatum was babysat. For no particular reason at all, Jeremey and I just decided to go out for a nice dinner and spend some "non baby" time together. What a wonderful way to celebrate "NOT celebrating" my 5 year mark of being sick. It was a pleasant surprise when I saw that todays date was July 29th, and that for the first time in years my illness was NOT consuming my thoughts, so much so, that it's anniversary was FORGOTTEN! Praise the Lord!

I found a goofy picture that was taken just a day before I got sick, way back in 2006. And the bottom photo is of Jeremey, Tatum and I at the beach on Wednesday. The pictures were taken exactly 5 years apart. 5 very LONG, exhausting, growing, life-changing years!

My husbands job rocks! Tuesday beach days!

Just as the title says, my husbands job rocks! He gets to work with people who LOVE the Lord, is able to be creative and use his gifts in movies, and editing, AND he has a job where every Tuesday in the month of July he gets to go to a "mandatory" staff beach day with his family and friends. A whole day every week, to fellowship with staff and discuss the upcoming semester, eat great food, get a tan (or a burn), and hang with his family at the beautiful beach of Del Mar. How awesome is that? This Tuesday he was able to snap some pictures of the fun, but because there are SO MANY, I decided to narrow them down to just the beautiful and wonderful children that make up the bible college staff familes. There are so many children and it is such a blessing, plus, no exageration, I think they really are some of the most beautiful kids ever! We didn't capture photos of all of the kids unfortunately, some were just too fast and busy to get a good shot. But here are a few!

Dylan

Caleb

Ever

Eden

Josiah Ancheta

Tatum

Josiah Gonzales

Chloe

Zara

Judah

Elias

Boaz

Soccer Rules!

A lot has been going on recently, and I haven't gotten around to blogging for a couple of weeks, so hopefully I will be able to crank out a few posts in the next couple of days to update you all!

We had a fun weekend ... Among many things, watching the USA vs Japan womens World Cup soccer final was by far the best. For those that don't know, I played soccer my whole life. From age 9-18, I spent nearly everyday kicking the ball around, had a permanent shinguard tan, and aspired to be the next Mia Hamm. It was my LIFE! I started playing premiere/club soccer when I was 10, went on to play varsity all 4 years of highschool, spent a good majority of my sophomore, junior and senior years traveling the states competively, and was recruited to play in college. I Loved the sport, and everything about it, but in the end really felt that spending over half of my life running myself ragged, was about all I could take. 4 more years in college seemed a bit too overkill and I didn't want to lose my love for the sport. Looking back, I KNOW it was the Lord. When I went to college and decided NOT to play, it was the first time since I was just little that I had FREE time, and could focus on OTHER things. I was able to find my love for music, and delve deeper into who the Lord was at bible college. It was refreshing. Never though, will I regret the time I put into soccer when I was growing up. I made some of the best friends I will ever have because of it, learned GREAT discipline, and have unbelievable memories of triumph and loss. It will always have a special place in my life.

Club soccer back in the day. When life was easy and I could run for hours on end and not get tired!

12 years ago my Idols at the time, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, and Tiffeny Milbrett stepped out onto the world cup stage and WON the title for the United States. I was 14 then, and it was one of the most thrilling things I have ever seen. Yesterday a new generation of US women took the stage to regain the title. This time I wasn't an awkward teen wearing my team jersey with a slumber party of girl friends by my side. Instead I watched it with my husband and baby girl. Never would I have imagined such a scene so many years ago. Sharing such a fun moment with the 2 loves of my life, and having my daughter fall asleep in my arms as I jumped up and down during the final nailbiting minutes. It was one of those "everything comes full circle" moments, and as I look back on the last 12 years I wouldn't change a thing about where the Lord has taken me, sick and all, it was all worth it! Maybe another 12 years from now Tatum will be huddled around a TV with a room full of her best friends, watching the US women compete for another title. ... You never know! (Unfortunatly the USA women lost after a double overtime and shootout, but I don't think we really need to expand on that ;)

Tatum was decked out for the game in her red, white and blue. Can't wait to see her play kick and chase someday. Lord willing!