Josh at OCS

You can see Josh on the left side, in the second row! He is working on his third week at OCS in Virginia. I found this picture on the OCS website www.ocs.usmc.mil/ Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as Josh has three more weeks left with Marine training, and I need to keep working the wedding plans :o)

Continuation of SUMMER!

This afternoon, my friend, Laura, came with me to go shopping for my wedding shoes :o) We were successful too! And also had lots of fun! I ended up getting the above pair of sunglasses too! We thought these were funny.... Josh and I made this sign out of sea shells - they are all whole! The beach is full of them. A few people stopped by and used the sign for pictures as well :o) Good memories!

I am officially done with summer school. My astronomy class and lab ended really well. I am working at Student Affairs on campus, planning my wedding, writing Josh letters :o) and hanging out with a few friends. I have also been able to visit Josh's family in Houston. I am looking forward to flying with Josh's mom to go see his graduation July 3rd! I miss my family and friends, but I am excited to see you at my wedding in August! If you can't make it this summer, I look forward to catching up ASAP. Call or email anytime. Thanks for your love and prayers!

Beginning of Summer in TX

We were quite excited with a roller for pet hair and a bag of gummy bears for the trip to Houston :o) Finals are officially over! If you want an explanation for the roller - just ask... Galveston, TX - playing with the Lyon family at the beach! Lots of sea shells! Soccer....playing in the water :o) We bought our wedding rings! We'll have them forever! Evaluating which store to do gift registry at....we did end up registering at Kohl's :o) We had lunch together in Dallas before I dropped off Josh at the Marine recruiting office. He has officially been at OCS for 2 weeks. I'll get to go see his graduation on July 2nd and 3rd! Please keep us in your prayers - Thanks.

End of Spring Semester!

We celebrated with ice cream! At a friend's bridal shower, they dressed me up in a wedding gown made of toilet paper for a contest :o) My bridal shower with letu girls! lots of fun, good food too! End of the year celebration! Josh and I took a break before finals at Aunt Rhoda's - his first time visiting their home and meeting Tink. Good, relaxful time.

Israel - The Finale

Possibly the place of the crucifixion - You can kind of make out the skull face in the rock. Line to see the Garden Tomb - a good possibility of where Jesus was buried. On the plane home from Tel Aviv to Dallas, TX. It was a LONG flight!

Israel Part 3

The morning I woke up in the Bedouin tent - this was my view! Hiking down from Masada - a defense fortress out in the middle of the desert. King Herod used built it. lots and lots of stairs up and down! Swimming in the Dead Sea! I guess floating! Crazy feeling! Standing at the Temple Mount The Wailing or Western Wall - the graduation ceremony was being held here for the 1st year Israeli soldiers. This is where the women were allowed to pray. Lots of people stick notes or prayers or people's names in the wall, in between the stones.

Israel Part 2

I am standing on the Eastern Wall of the Old Jerusalem! You can see the Dome of the Rock behind me. We had a good hike thru the city of Jerusalem that first night in the city. Western Wall - You can see Orthodox Jewish men praying on their side of the wall on the other side of this barrier. The women had to pray in a separate section. We walked along the path Jesus walked with the cross to the crucifixion - Viadelorosa. Its all modern now with lots of shops along the way. The catholic church has marked 14 stations of the cross along the way. Beersheba - Southern most town of Israel. We walked thru the water system - hence the hard hats :o) We rode camels at the Bedouin camp in the middle of the desert! This was my camel! A nice bumby ride - but lots of fun!

Israel Trip

Flying from New Jersey to Tel Aviv! I believe a good 11 hours on the plane!

Caesarea By The Sea (Mediterranean Sea) - King Herod built the city Boat ride across the Sea of Galilee - Notice the two flags raised high together Beth Shean - Ancient Greco Roman city - we are city on the toilets - just imagine... Garden of Gethsemane - Where Jesus prayed before the crucifixion. Some of the Olive trees are 1700 years old!

More on the Israel Trip and the end of my spring semester plus the beginning of this summer - to COME!

Please keep Josh and me in your prayers as he leaves May 23rd for OCS - Marine officer training - until July 3rd.

And the World Keeps Spinning Round n' Round

And life continues to stay busy...I have officially finished my Junior year of college and am now taking a summer astronomy course while working part time and planning my wedding :o)

The above picture was taken in January and his cousin's wedding in San Antonio.

February - Our First Valentine's Day!

Fun Sunday afternoon at Cenergy Park - near longview

March 1st - My 21st birthday! At our favorite Tyler St. Park. Josh took me canoeing - our first time enjoying that activity together. I also received a surprise birthday party back at my dorm room :o) Thanks friends! And my mom!

march - The night I left for Israel! We definitely missed each other. The next blog will have more pictures from my trip.

Josh got to spend spring break in oklahoma working for Dynamic Aviation.

I'm Getting Married!

Yes, its TRUE! Josh proposed to me on Nov. 16th at Tyler St. Park - a favorite of ours, as well as the first place we hung out together. I knew it was coming, but was completely surprised when he pulled out the ring and knelt before me :o) Josh had asked two of his friends to come before us to the park and set up to take pictures - I had no clue until after he proposed. They took a good 330 pictures - so we have a great treasure to share for many years. We are planning to get married August 17th, 2008 in Houston, TX area. Josh and I have both been blessed with God's healing and grace. We are excited to spend the rest of life together. God is faithful and deserves all of the glory - now and forever!

Tomorrow is my last day of class! I just have one more paper to finish before monday and four finals next week. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be going with some friends to Houston area for a wedding on friday - one of our friends from LETU is getting married! I am definitely looking forward to Christmas break. I'll be spending time with Josh's family as well as flying to Idaho to visit my own family! I miss you guys and love you! thanks for all of your support and prayers and believing with Josh and I in this miracle.

Fall Times in Texas

My Prince Charming gave me daisies last sunday! And they're still looking good! Last night was Fall Fest Banquet and Longview Symphony. Meredith and I had fun dressing up together! The lovely ladies in black :o) The Cute Couple had a really fun night out! The rare normal picture :o) With the more common goofy picture! I guess I am slowly making progress on my mean face :o) So, less than four more weeks of classes before finals! Crazy because I have 4 papers, 2 presentations, and one binder project to turn in! But God is faithful and I am relying on His strength to get me through. I have also been blessed with quality time for my friends too. I am trying to learn the balance of doing my best in school as well as keeping my priorities with God and relationships. Today, Josh got to come to church with me and then we ate out with the Matthews - my adopted church parents. And this thursday, my Uncle Matthew came for a surprise visit while he was returning from a work trip. A very nice surprise to see a family member in Longview, TX. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break with Josh's family and finishing this semester!

It's about TIME!

So in honor of Josh and I dating for 6 months, Josh made me an Italian dinner and then we played a goofy ABC game - I'll explain later, but to give an example - this picture was for the letter "I" - Indians. It was a ton of fun with lots of laughter! So its a Friday night.....what do we do??? I made the mistake of pulling out my small water gun. Josh happily filled it up with water and easily got me wet. Luckily, my suitemate, Kristi had 3 other water guns! So another friend of ours, Katie, joined in and we had a water fight on my dorm floor! Yup and Kristi is the RA! Good memories! Last weekend, Josh and I went to our favorite Tyler St. Park for a relaxful time away from campus. We hiked some, took some more goofy pictures (but as you can see, this is one of the rare - "normal" pictures!) , and watched the sunset - so beautiful! For Fall Break - which isn't over yet! - My friend, Kristi, and I went to my Aunt Rhoda's in Forney, TX. Saturday morning, we took a nice walk in the neighborhood. On Sunday, we went to the Alliance Airshow in Ft. Worth. In this picture, you can see some of the Blue Angels parked near the runway. They were the last to perform - and what an awesome job they did! We spent the whole day walking around the different planes and seeing them perform. Lots of sun! Aunt Rhoda's friend - "Tink" has a grandson that flies for the Navy. He flew in from Florida -so we got to board his plane and take a look inside.

God is faithful! Thanks for all of your support and prayers. I am sorry its been quite a while since I have blogged. I can't believe I am already a quarter of the way done with my junior year! God is definitely at work in my life and has been my help through some stressful times already. I only have 8 more weeks before Christmas break! I'll try to keep you guys better updated :o) I guess I should stop procrastinating and get back to work :o) oh the joys!