Fall FUN!!

Ok- where did October go??? Seriously... A lot has been going on it seems, hence my blog neglection. But here's a quick re-cap for the month of October:

We enjoyed visits from my parents and Zach's parents for the Mississippi State vs Florida football game! It felt amazing to win in the Swamp! Way to go Bulldogs! I wore maroon to church the next day! We are now members of Christ Community Church (Zach is even helping me in my 3-year-old classroom). I've visited a couple Arts Festivals in and around the Gainesville area- new friends plus crafts- so much fun! Zach finished up cardiovascular and pulmonary pathology in school, so he survived having tests every two weeks (gross!). We are now in the play-offs for intramural frisbee with the medical school team, the herniated discs (cute, right?). I've been traveling a lot lately for work- Chattanooga, Savannah and Charleston. I'm hoping my travels will one day take me to where my friends and family are!

My Dad flew down from Maryland to spend this past weekend with us. He was looking forward to warm Florida weather, and he was sure surprised by the cold! The temperature dropped 60 degrees over night. One day it was 95 degrees, and the next it was 35 degrees! Brrrr... On Saturday morning we went to Payne's Prairie. It's about a 3 mile walk round-trip, and we must have seen at least 30 alligators! Since we haven't had rain in quite some time, the water is really low, and the gators were out sunning themselves. Beautiful yellow flowers have grown where the river has dried up. We marveled at God's creation. Alligators are so prehistoric- so cool to see up close (but not too close!) Enjoy the pics!

We are looking forward to seeing family for the upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving in Pensacola, Christmas in Mississippi, and New Years at a bowl game (hopefully!)

routine-ish

Halfway into Zach’s school year, and I think we’ve finally hit some sort of routine? At least I know that every other Wednesday I will be cooking a meal for 4 very hungry boys as they prepare for a test. Anyone have any good, easy and fast recipes that feed 10? (Each boy eats for 2, and then Zach likes leftovers) Women’s Bible Study every other Tuesday. Pilates, Zumba and running at the gym during the week. Clean the house and laundry on the weekend. Frisbee on Friday nights and all day Sunday. Sunday School and late church. Repeat.

We are spending time with some church friends to balance out medical school friends. It’s necessary. Making friends has been the most surprising challenge for me. How hard could it be? I am surrounded by men in a male-dominated field at work. All of Zach's friends are single guys from school and frisbee. Most young married couples either party a lot or have children. Where are the people who are like us? I've been filling up my time (maybe even too much-- it's like freshman year of college all over again) with really good things with church and in the community in hopes of making some friends!

Three months into marriage, and we’re already reading a book called “What Did You Expect?” Well, I am reading, and Zach is reading what I have highlighted before Sunday School class. At first I was embarrassed to be reading this book in public because what would people think when they saw a newlywed reading a book that implies that marriage is not all that it’s cracked up to be? It’s all in the inflection you use when saying the book title. It’s actually generating wonderful conversations about the realities of marriage and God’s purpose for marriage. Also, expectations are huge—we had been advised time and time again that Zach and I would have different expectations as all married couples experience. More than that, it takes the focus away from what “I want” and brings to light the fact that we live in a broken world, are married to broken and are broken ourselves. I wasn’t even particularly drawn to this Sunday School because I didn’t feel like Zach and I needed a class on marriage yet. (Yet- haha. I knew one day I’d like to take it, but I figured that would come in our 2nd year of marriage) Our new couple friends, Kaitlyn and LB, go to the class, and they invited us.

We had Kaitlyn and LB over last weekend to watch the Florida football game. I had to wear one of Zach's really large frisbee jerseys because I own nothing with UF or Gators on it(this is on purpose, but maybe it's time to give in?). We played Settlers of Catan, and I cooked stuffed peppers for dinner. Then, the boys suffered through the game, and Kaitlyn and I got to talk about all sorts of things. This was the first time Zach and I have spent time with another couple since we've been married. I really liked it. LB is in law school, and Kaitlyn works-- something else we have in common. It's a small similarity, but having that in common is significant. I think there will be more board games and eating in the future with these two!

ALSO- I saw the movie babies. Adorable. It's at Redbox. Plus, if you use the promo code "BREAKROOM" or "DVDONME", it's free! no excuses- go watch it!

up in the air

so I went on my first business trip last week. A team of 2 from Mactec flew up to Philadelphia to do an energy audit for the Defense Logistics Agency. We were on our feet for 4 very longs days looking at offices, warehouses, mechanical rooms and rooftops. It was nice to get out into the field and participate in gathering data. We looked for energy saving opportunities that ranged from looking at light fixtures to toilets to mini refrigerators to 50 foot long boilers. Here are my observations:

1. Have a Philly Cheesesteak. In Philly.


2. In my field of work, I will always be surrounded by men. Seldom will there ever be a female.


3. I am one of those Asians that George Clooney talks about in Up in the Air when he is going through security—get behind me in the airport security line, I always wear slip on shoes.


4. DO NOT make a connection with an airline carrier that differs from your first flight leg. They will bump you to stand-by. Awesome.


5. If you are walking around a military base with a wide-eyed expression on your face, you will be flagged as a suspicious individual.


6. Having a per diem for meals is awesome.
   
7. One really cool thing at the DLA was a flag room. It’s the only one in existence. A bunch of Asian women are all hand sewing flags. Every single one of them approached me throughout the week to tell me how beautiful I am (what a confidence booster!). The flags made here are for the different branches of the military in addition to the President ) and the Vice President’s flags. One woman even asked me to sign the President’s flag she was working on. I signed the fabric, and she embroidered over my signature. I also saw the first flag that went to the moon on display! Very cool.

A few travel mishaps to and from Philly did not spoil the trip. I am enjoying my new job, and I’m decent at it, too! Next week I’ll be on the Atlantic coast of Florida for a few days working on Canaveral National Shoreline. Maybe I’ll just hop on a cruise ship from there!

Zach and I are on our way to becoming members at Christ Community Church where we have been attending since we were married. I've gotten involved with a Women's Bible Study and have been volunteering with the Children's ministry. This fall is filling up with frisbee (Zach joined a community league, and we will both be playing for the med school intramural team), school (Zach has his 3rd test tomorrow), and business trips (leaving on Monday for the week!). We are staying busy and cheering on the Bulldogs every Saturday!


Since the first day of Fall was yesterday, and we will not be feeling it at all for at least another 2 months, I am going to carve a pumpkin this weekend! I'll blog about the finished product! Happy Fall!

PLEA FOR PRAYER ON 9/11

“As representatives of the true Church of Jesus Christ, do not give unnecessary offense to those who need the Gospel so desperately.” – 5ptsalt.com

The city my husband and I now call home is under attack. I’m sure y’all are familiar with the story that has made national news. A 50-person radical “church” in Gainesville, FL is putting our country and our citizens at risk. Negative attention is being drawn to Christ and his followers. Spiritual warfare is real.

Pray for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be furthered and not hindered. Pray for the endangered soldiers overseas. Pray for the congregation of Dove World. Pray for mercy in the midst of anger. Pray for wisdom. Pray for those who fear. Pray for grace. Pray for the University of Florida. Pray for the work of the Lord to be obviously evident.

The Lord is sovereign, and He has provided us this opportunity to proclaim the goodness of grace and the mercy of Christ.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” –Colossians 3:12-17

Lately...

Stacey started her new job today at Mactec, a consulting firm, as an Energy Auditor. She has her own cubicle and a big, big project that covers the entire National Park Service! Maybe she'll get to go to the Grand Tetons or Mt. Rainer?! It's a very different atmosphere than the Dermatology office (greater men to women ratio = less drama). After 1 hour of paperwork and orientation, she was put to work for the rest of the day-- getting down to business fast!

Stacey has been getting more involved with the children's ministry at church. She volunteered at a back to school bash this past Saturday and worked children's church during worship on Sunday wish 3s and 4s. She has been taking on several different crafty projects including sewing aprons and crocheting with plastic bags... what will be next? Hum...

Zach started school a week ago, and he has a test this Thursday. Med school gets down to business fast, too! We've been working on getting into a good routine between school, studying and work.

Our last weekend of summer we took a trip down to the beach. Ty and Rachel, Stacey's step siblings, were at Delray Beach and invited us down. We had a wonderful weekend laying out by the pool, playing on the beach, deep sea fishing, old school video games, apples to apples and, of course, EATING!!!

This is a view of the house from the water

Woke up to this sunrise in the morning

We got up early Saturday to go deep sea fishing!

Eric, Stacey, Rachel
We caught our dinner! Yellow tail! Yum!
So did Eric... but we all shared
Ocean kyaking!
And... of course, Zach had to take some artsy pics!

answered prayer

we had quite the weekend! on saturday morning, we got up early and went to the church for a work day. we cleared a path through the woods and really enjoyed spending time with some of the church members. we're getting more and more plugged in each week, and we are loving christ community church! waturday night, we drove to st. augustine for the mississippi state university send-off party with the northeast florida alumni chapter. it was only a two hour drive east. dr. jimmy abraham was the featured guest that night, and although we didn't send off any incoming freshmen, there were a couple current students there. visiting with fellow bulldogs was so much fun! stacey got recruited to plan a tailgate for the msu vs university of florida football game this fall in gainesville. stacey may also get involved with some recruiting for msu in the near future- what fun to tap into that roadrunner nature! we took a late night stroll around historical st. augustine since we were in the area. it was raining, so we didn't stay long.

sunday morning after church, we went to lunch with our pastor and his family. we so enjoyed getting to know them and spending time with them. rob, the pastor, is an msu grad and was also a roadrunner! his wife went to the “school up north,” but she is still wonderful nonetheless. people remember us and speak to us after the service, and every week we feel so welcomed by the church family! sunday night we had a significant others orientation for the medical school. we met some great couples, and we are going to a farmer's market with a couple from georgia tech this wednesday. it will be nice for stacey to have some friends when zach is busy studying.

the wonderful weekend was topped off with even more wonderful news monday morning! stacey got a job offer from mactec, an engineering consulting firm, and she will start an energy auditing position on august 20! what an answered prayer! she is said to leave the wonderful women she works with at the doctor's office but is excited to start a career in her field of engineering. one of the women stacey worked with, margie, had a contact through her church at mactec, and opened the door for stacey with this company. three godly women at the doctor's office then lifted up stacey and this job prospect up in prayer, and 3 weeks later there was a job offer! we prayed again this morning thanking God for providing and for being so faithful.

the lord is just blowing us away with new friends, a church family and now a job for stacey! praise be to God!

Lately

We were road warriors last weekend. This was definitely our longest road trip yet, and we had a great time. We went to Pensacola to see the Greenes and loved seeing Alex and Robyn, too. We went skeet shooting with the boys' toys, and the girls were actually pretty decent! We went to the beach Saturday night for dinner. It's beautiful out there! We scoped out some beach houses and yachts we'd like to own one day and took a stroll down by the water. Stacey had never really seen sea oats, but they are absolutely beautiful close up! Robyn collected a tar ball for her classroom, and we saw a late night clean up crew on the beach. We spoke with them about how clean up is going, and they had really positive things to say. Jimmy Buffet's new Margaritaville Hotel just opened up complete with a Landshark bar! We hope the gulf gets its visitors back soon.

Pensacola was just a stop on our way up to Jackson, MS for the wedding of dear friends to us- John and Anna Clemmer. We got to see Stacey's college roommates and stayed with the Thomas couple! Stacey misses those girls so much, and being together felt like old times again. We missed Brian, but other than that- it felt like the whole gang was together! How about we all go to the beach this spring before the Pages experience PCSing (did I use that term correctly?) and move to El Paso?

The wedding was beautiful. It was the first wedding Zach and I have been to since we got married, so that made it extra special. We heard the vows and remembered the promise we had made to each other a little over one month before. As always, seeing friends was such a joy! And instead of saying “see you later”, we were able to tell them that we'll be back in Starkville in one month for the first MSU football game! We're so excited to get back home!