Fun Fact

My Aunt Vicky gave me this really cool book called "The Pregnancy Journal" . You have a "day to day guide to a healthy and happy pregnancy". It's been really fun for Bryson and I have a book to track with the day/week of pregnancy and read a little fact, tip, or advice for each day.

I thought I'd share a very interesting fact that I read this week:
"By the time the baby is born, the fully developed placenta covers 15-30 percent of the space inside the uterus and will weigh 5.5 pounds! The placental tissue itself weighs a mere pound and half, but it takes 4 pounds of blood to keep it functional."

and you wonder why pregnant women get so big and are hot all the time :)

Happy New Years Eve!!

Home Sweet Austin!

After 9 days at my parents house in Houston, we are finally back home in Austin! It felt like a short visit and the drive back felt somewhat normal...but it sure does feel real nice to be back in our cozy home. I'm pretty tired right now and wondering how will I make it through a week of work after having such a long vacation, but here are some highlights of our holiday:

-Kimmy and Ryans wedding!
-Not having to cook!! and being feed delicious food my Dad made for us!
-Ice cream! I seriously think I had a few scoops everyday! oops! and go figure my next doctor appointment has to be this week, lets see what the scale says :)
-Sleeping in!
-Hanging out with Kim and Nick...and surprising Lindsey at work next door!
-Realizing that playing Frisbee 34 weeks pregnant is really hard. I can throw, but if the disc isn't thrown exactly to me, bending down is tough when done in repetition.
-Christmas day. My sister and her hubs, Matt, and their dogs finally got home and we had a good time just visiting with each other.
-AVATAR 3D. oh.my.word. if you haven't seen it. GO SEE IT! Amazing, amazing, a-mazing! after the movie Bryson said "I feel like making a banner saying "go see avatar" just so people know to go see it".
-Teaching my family how to play settlers of catan! we played 2 games in one night!
-Giggle fest. This morning Bryson was making me laugh so hard that it made him laugh and we could not stop laughing, all the while I'm brushing my teeth! Also there were tears rolling down my face! I haven't laugh that hard and long in awhile.

The Newmans

This weekend was the wedding of Ryan and Kimmy!!! It was a beautiful beautiful day!! Since I've been married, I just really enjoy weddings and especially when they are close friends. I think because I know what it means/is like to be married and I'm just so happy my friend gets to experience the joy that God has created in a marriage. Kimmy and I have been friends since about 7th grade, so it was really cool to see her as a bride and remember memories of us growing up. They had a Vietnamese wedding with a Tea Ceremony in the morning (where the Grooms family brings gifts/food and there are speeches from the fathers), then the church ceremony (it was cool cause it was a full catholic mass and half was spoken in Vietnamese) and then the Reception at Kim Son (we had a 9 course Vietnamese meal, and then cake and dancing!) Congrats to you two! Love you very much!

Here are a few pics....
Tea Ceremony

Ceremony


Reception...I didn't get too many, but the cakes were beautiful, especially the awesome Rubic Cube Grooms cake...you can see it in the corner of the pic.


And this is the CYP girls! :) We've all been in each other's weddings and our "last" one is Kim's in 3 months! woohoo

Comments

Today at work was a day of interesting/funny comments about my preggo belly! Seriously I see my co-workers almost 4 times a week and then I mean customers..you never know what they are going to say...

(girl) Co-worker #1- "I mean I know I saw you yesterday but you just look bigger today! I can just tell your shirt is a lot tighter than usual"

My manager- I was telling a story about how I just got flipped the bird for the first time driving the other day. and he said "you're like a care bear, you can do whatever you want!" ...I don't know if he was referring that my physical appearance resembles a care bear or my personality....

Customer (last week)- She nearly started crying when she saw my belly and then started telling me stories about her 11 year old daughter. Then as I re-enacted the story to my other manager he said "she probably nearly cried because she thinks your 17"

Co-worker #2- As I walk by "when are you due again?" "January 28" "oh wow you look like you are about to pop"


All my coworkers are so sweet and it's been fun to share this experience with them! I'm gonna miss them a little during maternity leave. They've told me they forget sometimes that I'm pregnant cause I'm not acting crazy like our old manager was. (they dont see me at home....j/k..kidna :) I think customer's reactions are the most funny (especially this skinny lady came in with her 3 year old and told me when she was pregnant she gained 80 lbs!!! 8-0!) Anyways I have 6 more weeks *hopefully* of pregnancy, and it only gets better :)

Old

You know you're old when you and your husband and 3 friends spend a Friday evening watching travel shows on PBS and dateline.

I'm not going to lie, the travel shows were pretty interesting :)

Rules

Okay so I'm trying to follow some new rules I've set for myself. Of course I break them, but I'm trying...

1. No using my cell phone while driving. "The risk of having a traffic accident while using a cellular phone is the same as that while driving drunk, according to a study appearing in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine." I've been trying to do this for the past month and it is H-A-R-D!! Because of time/life/schedules it is so much easier to make a phone call to a friend while driving somewhere, you have a time limit, its just enough time to catch up and well it makes the drive go faster. But it is so distracting to drive and be on the phone. On the news and through friends so many people have accidents while texting/using their cell! And the fact that I'll be driving with a little girl in the backseat soon, I better start driving more safely.

2. Read one book a month! I love to read, but sometimes I just get lazy and forget I like it so much. Since I finished "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" back in October I've been on the move. I've read "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. I really liked this book. It had an interesting take on a wife married to a wealthy political man. And well there were some parts in the book when I asked myself "am I old enough to read this?!" But overall even with the inappropriate parts, it all came together for a good novel. And then a friend gave us "BabyWise" and I've been reading that off and on to learn about feeding/sleeping routines. But currently I'm reading "The Time Traveler's Wife". I'm not even half way through but I've already cried. It's really good!

3.Composting and Recycling. We started a compost in our backyard 5 months ago. Mostly because Bryson had extra pallets left over from sculpture installation. And well it's so easy. Since we cook a lot at home we always have left over scrapes of vegetables, heels of bread, egg shells..etc. We just throw it out the door in the compost. We've been able to use the soil to plant and help our friends garden to grow. Also recycling has been a hobby for us. There is so much we would normally throw in the trash that you can recycle instead! Composting and Recycling has really cut down on how much trash we are throwing in the landfill.

Listening to christmas music

-Bryson is on the job search again. His previous job was not what we thought it would be. 10 hours of physical labor, 5 days a week. 10 hours of weekly travel time. No benefit and bad pay....no thanks! Even though we've been praying and praying for a job for Bryson, we believe there is something better the Lord has for him out there.

-Thanksgiving Holiday has been soooo relaxing. We've been with Bryson's family in Ballinger and San Angelo. This is our first Thanksgiving to celebrate with them. We've enjoyed being with the family, playing with Cayson and Ashtyn and just lounging. Okay I've been doing the lounging, Bryson has been cutting and laying tile in Jill's new house. Here's a pic of the Owen's:


-It's funny how strangers react to me being pregnant. We met some of Jill and Chad's friends for the first time and the women (who are also moms) could not believe that I was 31 weeks. They kept saying "you're so small, no way!" They didn't know me before I was preggo, cause I think/feel huge. I mean this is not what I normally look like! I saw my parents last week and they couldn't believe how big I was! But it was fun to hangout with those girls and hear their stories on pregnancy and being moms.

-I'm excited about my first baby shower this next weekend!! My best college girls are throwing it for me...and I think they are more excited than me :) I'm so thankful for them, for their support, encouragement to the Lord, love and friendship throughout the past years! I love how no matter how busy we are, we always find a weekend, a phone call, or an email to stay connected! Girls4Life :)

-We've decided on a baby name!! Violet Owen (we are still working on a middle name) But we are naming her after Bryson's Grandma. Its great to actually have a name to call her! Ahh! I can't believe 9 more weeks....I gotta start packing my hospital bag!

Saturday Breakfast

Bryson and I love our Saturdays! For me growing up, Saturday always meant a really big and delicious breakfast. Anyone who has been to my house knows my parents love language: feeding people. My parents would cook scramble eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, toast, breakfast fried rice, fruit, hash browns or muffins(upon request)....a lot of food!
Usually on Saturday Bryson and I try to make a fun breakfast that we wouldn't normally eat during the week. We ate this this morning:

Super Super Easy! I dont know the name of it, because I got the recipe from a friend and she got it from our friend Clare. We have just started to call it ClareBear Breakfast. If you want to try it:
Ingredients
1 pkg of buttermilk biscuits (I choose one with 5 in it)
1 roll of Jimmy Dean Sausage
6 eggs
1 pkg of shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Cook sausage in a skillet. Grease a round pan and then place biscuits around the edges, with on in the middle. Press/spread them out a little using your hands. Mix cooked sausage, eggs, and 1 cup of shredded cheese together. Pour on top of biscuits. Put in oven for 15mins. If desired Sprinkle cheese on top and cook for additional 10 mins.

Enjoy the weekend :)

First week: Third Trimester

28 weeks, 12 more to go! Really? 7 months preggo?!! I canNOT believe it. This pregnancy thing has really flown by!! I am truly thankful that so far I have had a relatively easy pregnancy. I never had morning sickness, I've had great energy (besides the first trimester in New York) and for the most part no crazy cravings. Now that I am more than half way through pregnancy, it almost seems like being pregnant is normal Even though I forget that I am a lot of the times until I see myself in the mirror or catch myself thinking "why do I have to pee again, I just went!?". I'm starting to notice that it is getting harder to get out of bed, finding shirts that are long enough, to tie my own shoes (Bryson has had to tie them a few times already),and I'm getting out of breath more easily now. Also when I do make it out of bed I notice how sore my feet are when I stand up this probably due to my job and just normal pregnancy weight gain.

An update from my pregnancy weekly email about 28 weeks: "By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport eyelashes and eyebrows. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. The baby has also developed taste buds and sucks its thumb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world."

I had a doctor's appointment today and he said everything is going perfectly :) Suprisingly I only gained 3 lbs this month!! I was shocked because last month at the doctor I had gained 9 lbs, from the appointment in September.I was a little nervous earlier this week because baby girl wasn't moving as much as she had been. Normally she moves lot before or after meals and then at night around 9 or 10. But I had not felt much movement in 3 days, so I was glad to go see Doctor Mac today. He said it's normal to have a few lulls because baby is sleeping a lot more and she may have shifted to a different position where you can't feel her as easily. (But tonight at dinner, Baby Girl was very very active...but it may have been because I had Poblano Rellano with a lot of salsa :) We live near the Austin airport, so the airplanes fly over our house and are noisy. Every time a plane goes over, baby girl moves or kicks! It's very fun to feel and see a little movement when I hear a plane go by! I wonder if she can hear it or feel the vibration or...is she going to be a pilot and give her parents first class tickets?

Halloween 2009

We started Halloween a day early with the Murphy's. Now Grace was my roommate for 3 years in college, she always had awesome halloween costumes. But the last two years she has been really really excited about this holiday, "it's my favorite holiday" she says. She made dinner: Mummy dogs, Cheesy ghosts, and Vampire Blood!

For dessert we made Chocolate Spiders:


While our dessert had to "chill" we started on our Pumpkins. Carving Pumpkins is a "common" thing in my family. We normally did it while growing up. My dad taught us how to carve the top out at an angle and to clean the insides really well so it doesn't get moldy. Well as far as Grace can remember this was her FIRST time!! I kid you not! I could not get over it! And check out her pumpkin, it has warts! We both had tool sets and got to work! I forgot that its tough carving a pumkin! I was using a trace set and My hand got a cramp and I seriously was about to just say "i'm finished" haha! After I finally did finish, Bryson said he was proud I actually finished...he knows when anything gets tough or too much detail I'm inclined to stop. :) So I appreciated the compliment.
Check out Grace's FIRST pumpkin!! She did great!! and well I was trying to compare the size of my belly to my pumpkin: Here are our pumpkins! thanks Murphys for a fun night!

A tree grows in Brooklyn

I just finished reading this book and loved it! I'd like to thank Melinda Carter for having a (free) book sale a few weeks ago, where I found this book. The first thing that caught my attention about this book was that it said "Brooklyn" in the title. Since living in New York this summer, I feel like I have some claim on the new york city/surrounding boroughs like Brooklyn since I worked in Brooklyn 2 days out of the week. I mean I really dont...

Anyways I really enjoyed this book. It's a coming of age story of a girl named Francie Nolan through the years 1910-1917, when she was 10-17 years old. Now I know that might sound boring, and but it was so interesting to read about how this girl lived and what she did how and what is was like to be poor in those days. The author Betty Smith, wrote a lot from her own experiences growing up in Brooklyn during these times too. A lot of historical events/places were mentioned and it was cool to think that this girl Francie really lived during them. It was fun to hear of places she was talking about in Brooklyn or NYC and remember them with her.

I love reading, but get sad once I finish a book, knowing that its the end of my relationship with these characters! Yeah...sometimes I feel like these characters are real and my friends. I guess that's when I know it's been a good book!

It is fun though getting to choose another book from my book list :)

First Day!!

Well Bryson just left for his first day on the new job!! After 2.5 long, stressful and hard months of job searching, he was hired! We are so thankful God has provided this opportunity! It's amazing how He has provided financially for us these past few months! It has been really tight, but we made it! It felt like the first day of school again...Bryson got all his tools, clothes and lunch ready last night! This morning unfortunately we woken up by a rainstorm...but we still had an exciting morning getting him out the door and ready for his first day.

It is amazing how the Lord orchestrated this job. Bryson faxed his resume Thursday afternoon, got a call at 7pm for an interview for the next day (friday) at 11pm. After his interview, they wanted to see pictures of his art work, because he only has 2.5 years of carpentry. So Bryson sent them an email around 3pm, then at around 9pm they called and offered him the position of Assistant Carpenter! The company is called Tiny Texas Houses..see picture above. They have an awesome outlook on building with 99% salvage material and the houses are beautiful!! Check out the website. Bryson loves to build and create AND use salvage material! So everything sounds perfect for him!! And his co-worker he is carpooling with lives down the street! We are continuing praying that this is a stable and wonderful job for him! Thank you everyone who has been praying and going through this with us!

A few more months...

I joined BabyCenter.com website. It gives me a weekly update on my pregnancy progress, on how the baby is growing and what I may be feeling. Tomorrow I will be 25 weeks. They have all sorts of information on their website. Information on getting pregnant, pregnancy, infants and then childhood. Once Baby girl is born, I'll continue to get updates about where her progress is and suggestions about things she should be learning. Since I'm due January 2010, there is a "birth month club" where other soon-to-be moms due in January can write questions and receive answers or just chat about pregnancy. A question I read recently asked "Since you've been pregnant, what are a few things you can't wait to do once the baby is born?" Here are my answers:

1. Sleep on my back
2. Sleep on my stomach
3. Wear jeans. I've been craving to wear normal jeans lately! I miss the tightness, comfy jeans I use to wear all the time. You know how your favorite jeans just feel good? I have one pair of preggo jeans that I wear, but hate wearing them. I feel frompy, and they are suppose to be capris, but I'm short so they cut right above my ankles. I roll them and feel not cute in them. I just need to search for some cute pregnancy jeans!!
4. Drink a beer, wine or margarita!
5. Go for a run
6. Get an out of breath workout
7. Eat Sushi. (okay i haven't actually craved this, but I'm in Houston and my family usually goes to a sushi buffet. And I may just have 1 roll...)

oops!

it's been awhile and I've had total intentions to blog! oops, it's almost been a month! I'll blog something interesting soon!

25 candles

Today is my twenty fifth birthday!! Am I really that old?! Not like old lady old, but I never imagined myself being 25 and married and pregnant all at the same time! :)

I was talking to Bryson yesterday and we were remembering when we were little and when it was our birthdays, how that day was so special and the day was anticipated with so much excitement! I still look forward to my birthday, but it's much more normal now then when I was little. My mom would make us pancakes for breakfast in the shape of M on our birthdays (yes, my dad, sister and I are all "M") And then if I remember correctly she would bring cupcakes (funfetti cake and frosting) to school at the end of day. And usually a birthday party followed that day or the weekend.
Now thinking about it, not a year has gone by that I haven't done something for my birthday! This weekend a group of friends and I went to Inner Space Caverns (which was really really cool!) and went to Maggie Moos for ice cream! And today I took off of work and Bryson said I need to be ready at 10am....

I wanted to write about 24 things over this past year that I learned, did, enjoyed, remembered, disliked...lets see how far I can get:

1. Hurricane Ike was on my birthday last year
2. I was unemployed for 3 months and learned how hard it is to find a job. And realized how emotionally draining job searching is!
3. Fell in love with slow cooking.
4. Had really fun Girl weekends with my college girlfriends!
5. Celebrated our one year anniversary in New York!
6. Lived and worked in NYC for 7 weeks
7. Realized I dont want to live at 34th and Broadway in New York...
8. Bryson and I joined/became partners with Austin Stone Community Church.
9. I love living in Austin.
10. Our house is the longest place I've lived anywhere in 5 years! yay for not moving...yet!
11. I really enjoy decorating according to the seasons.
12. Living on a budget is hard but totally worth it when you know you are glorifying God with your finances.
13. Is so glad Austin went with stream line recycling cans...it makes me feel like I"m helping the environment!
14. I became a huge fan of yoga!
15. We started a compost in our backyard
16. I started a bookclub with friends in the neighborhood.
17. I was able to celebrate two best friends weddings.
18. My Two CYP girls got engaged too.
19. We found out we were pregnant.
20. Being married is more about God than it ever is about yourself or your spouse.
21. I started to like movies again...and can actually remember them!
22. I wish we lived closer to family.
23. I know I need to use less Red Pepper Flakes on pizza...
24. This past year was great! Filled with lots of new adventures, learning, and loving life! Thank you 24 :)

life goes on....

So I admit some days I try to think about a topic to blog about...and well lately nothing has come to mind! Here are a few "new" things in life:

-Bryson ended his internship with Fireseed and is currently job searching. Pray he finds a job soon!

-Though Bryson's "offical" work has ended, we still live in the neighborhood with Fireseed team and the intentional community members. Our family dinners, firepit nights and fun hangouts have started! Its good to be connecting with friends again.

-It rained this week.

-We had a doctors appointment today. I'm 20 weeks! Half way done! It's crazy how fast time has gone by! We heard the heartbeat again today! I love our doctor and the staff that work there, they are so great!

-Bluebell ice cream new flavor: Groom's Cake is sooooo good!! Our friend Kristie bought it last night and omg, it's delicious!

Wedding Cake

This was our wedding cake! This was a custom designed by Lisa Allan of "About Cakes and Catering" in Martindale, Texas. She was wonderful! We had a consultation and she made the cake to coordinate with my dress and gave me so many helpful tips for the type of wedding we were having. The taste of the cake (from that one little bit I got at our wedding) was delicious!! Now as tradition goes the couple freezes the bride's cake top tier to eat on their first anniversary. I looked this up and this tradition goes waaaay back! Not everyone does this, but we wanted to for the fun of seeing if it would still be good after a year!

As you have read, we were in NYC for our one year anniversary, therefore did not get to eat our cake! Well now that we are back in ATX for no particular reason I decided this week, 14.5 months later, to defrost the "foil wrapped thing" that has been in our freezer for so long. I let it defrost on the counter for one day and then in the fridge for another day. And voila:


Now Lisa was at our wedding to set up the cake and to box it up after the wedding. (well worth the extra $25 for the box up fee!) So after removing layers and layers of foil and then layers and layers of plastic wrap the cake appeared!! I had to remove the ribbon that was still on it and chunks of hard frosting came off of it too. Then we cut it:

We each had a bite:


The results: DELICIOUS!! Seriously it was still really good!! I was nervous, but we loved it (again)! The cake part itself seemed dense and a little dry, but other than that it tasted great!! And there is still some in the fridge....hmmm snack time!

Dreams

For about a week now I've been having really vivid dreams! When I wake up it takes me a few seconds to decide was that really happening! This whole week has been full of crazy dreams, from what I can remember from the week: (these are all separate nights)
--Bryson and I are walking in the Greenbelt and I look up and its a spaceship and aliens are trying to capture us. My view in the dream pans out, where I see a birds eye-view of the scene and watch me and bryson run through the trail near a river.
--Me killing a random girl that I did not recognize in the middle of a school lawn. She kept moving and I couldn't get a good shot. The girl ends up moving into the crowd watching, stands by Sarah Moon and Sarah says "I'm getting out of here". I shoot the girl and as the crowd and I walk away the school bell rings with people coming out of the building, I slowly look back and see the body getting covered with a jacket.
--Matt Luna and I were seated in airport waiting for our flight to take off. He gets up to talk to someone in line and I follow after him and we are all talking to this guy. Then suddenly Matt kisses this guy!! I'm so shocked because Matt is not gay but remain calm and just smile and walk back to my seat.

So I heard that while pregnant women experience vivid dreams here is my findings: "Dreams reflect your emotional state, so it's only natural that during pregnancy — a time of many mixed emotions — your dreams seem more intense and stranger than usual. Hormonal changes (specifically, a surge in progesterone) also make you dream more frequently and vividly. And you may be remembering more of your dreams if you're regularly waking up during the night, interrupting phases of dream-filled REM sleep. Experts have found that moms-to-be often dream about such things as water, talking animals, sex, and large buildings during their first, second, and third trimesters. As you find out more about your pregnancy and your growing baby, your dreams will probably be affected."

So I'm completely normal :)

Dinner

If you didn't know I have a slight (okay, a big) excitement every time I use my slow-cooker! I have been able to find amazing recipes that turn out so delicious!!

Tonight we are having Asian Peanut Butter Pork. (courtesy of the crockpot link to the left...) If you want to try it yourself:


1.5-2lbs pork tenderloin
1 onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Kikkomon)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons water
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (garnish; optional)
1 lime, cut in wedges (garnish; optional)


The Directions.

Use a 4-6 quart crockpot. Put onion slices into the bottom of your crockpot. Put the pork on top. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, and peanut butter. No need to stir--the peanut butter needs to melt before you can do so. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. The pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving, flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the peanutbuttery goodness. Garnish with chopped peanuts, and serve with lime wedges. The lime juice mixed with the peanut butter is delicious.

Enjoy! We're having it with Rice and Broccoli....and watching Big Daddy!

Positive

Bryson and I were able to keep a secret for seven weeks and now are excited to say "We're having a baby!!!" We found out at the end of May right before we left for New York and wanted to wait to tell our family in person, which wasn't until last week! So that makes me 14 weeks and due January 28th! By finally telling our family and friends it makes it that much real...and fun to finally talk about! We have visited our doctor twice and heard the heartbeat last week! It was going to fast! We are still shocked at times but so excited to be blessed with a new life.


***Disclaimer: This picture is fake! We weren't even married yet, which says a lot :) It was taken April 2008 while Grace, Kim and I were joking about one day when we get preggo. And I'm currently I dont have a bump...just my clothes are feeling a little snug***

HOME!!!

After 2 months of being gone we finally made it back to Austin! We had such a relaxing vacation at the cabin enjoying family and nature. But man, does it feel great to be home! As we walked in our house it seemed more colorful than I remembered and smaller. After saying goodbye to the in laws, we crashed on the couches for 2 hours. We both feel like we have jet lag or something! (I have a cold, so I blame that!:) But it feels so good to be in our home and a city that is familiar.

R&R

View from the porch (minus some snow this time of year):

I'm looking forward the next week of vacation in the Santa Fe National Forest! Bryson's family built a house up there and its surrounded by trees, mountains, a porch swing, trails, peace and quiet. Bryson and I are hoping for a lot of rest, catching up with each other, and quality time with his family. It will be nice to not be on a schedule, sleep, be with family, and actually spend time with Bryson after 6 week of city living.

***Those of you who went on the New Mexico Spring Break trip 2007, dont worry there is running water this time :) that trip was rare and freezing!!***

2 days

Summer Project always amazes me. I went on two as a student and this is my first one as staff. There seems to be a point when I'm so ready to go home but then always a sadness of leaving a place/people I have become so familiar with.....

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are

For there is no one like our God
There is no one like You God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here


You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all kings
You Are

You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You Are

For greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
When glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for You and love for You
In this city

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Summer Postcard

Dear Friend,
The New York Tribeca Summer Project is in session!! We are here with 110 students and Staff in four ministry teams: Inner City, Art, Campus and Epic (Asian American ministry). The Lord is challenging us to trust and obey him more as he continues to encourage us to teach people in the city about him. We have been very blessed to experience the summer here! It has been demanding getting used to the busy city but we have seen God at work! The college students on this project have so much faith and motivation to see their area of ministry affected by Christ and we are seeing transformation! Please continue to pray for our last two weeks here!
Bryson and Marisa Owen

End of Week 5

Happy 4th of July!!! We are ending our fifth week of living in New York and have 11 days until we leave. I'm not going to lie and say it's been easy living here! This past week I think the busyness of our schedule and just the busy city caught up to me. I was tired, ready be in my home, and wanted to curl up in bed for the rest of the day. I was craving comfort. As the days went on, the Lord slowly began to reveal that He is comfort, he is home. In our bible study here we are going through the book "Prodigal God" by Tim Keller. And he talks a lot about feelings of homelessness, that our home is in Heaven not here on this earth. I realize that no matter where I am it's never going to be home, I may feel comfortable in a place and it may be cozy, but ultimately my home is with Christ. I think this lesson is really hard to "know" sometimes, because here (america, earth, wherever) we want to be comfortable, we want to know everything is going to be okay, we want to be financially able to do anything we want to. But I think there is more to it than that. It's okay to want those things, but do you really NEED to be. What is your greater purpose in life? For the summer, my purpose has been to guide, demonstrate and teach students about Christ. Which means/is so many jobs at one time!!! But through this experience, I think I have learned more and more about depending on God at ALL times. Even though this is really really hard to do all the time, i'm learning that if I don't, life is meaningless.

Walking

It still amazes me how many people there are in this city! I mean there are really people everywhere! Me being an extrovert you think I would be more energized by this, but more and more I have retreated back to our apartment to be alone. But as I walk to the office every morning, I've started to realize other peoples walking habits. Or shall I saw "rules" to walking in the city. This is what I've learned:

1. Walk fast! New Yorkers have a destination in mind and dont want you or someone else to get in their way. It's all about time and if you get behind someone walking slow, it messes up your flow. Often times I have find my self annoyed when I'm on my way, getting into a good stride and bam a person is in my way with a slow speed.

2. My Director said walking in New York is like driving. If you need to tie your shoe, or look at a map, pull over and do it. Don't stop right in the middle.

3. There are soooo many vendors, newspapers, flyers, and Cds to be passed out on the street. All it is advertising and a lot of wasted paper. The put it right in your face sometimes! Bryson said the trick is to just look them in the eye and nod "no" and they move to the next person. I tried this, and it worked!

4. Wear comfortable shoes! Oh my gosh, this one is serious. I'm so use to just slipping on my flip flops and i'm off. I've learned my lesson. If I'm just going to the office that might be okay, but if I'm on campus that day, shoes are a must! Back home I usually only wear shoes when I'm working out, so wearing shoes so often is strange, but I totally appreciate my Nike's this summer!

5. Okay, it's been raining a lot here this summer. Umbrellas are dangerous!! Seriously, while walking you have to be aware of the people around you, to not hit someone in the face, or shake water on the person next to you. I'm sticking to my raincoat...

First Week

We had a successful first week of ministry!! Even though Bryson had I have lived here for 3 weeks already, we were really excited to start this week with our students! Both our tracks (Art track and Campus track) spent a lot of our time on campus. The Campus track is divided into 4 ministry teams and we were given 2 or 3 campuses that we will be spending time on. So this week our "goal" was to decode and prayer walk the campus we were assigned. Decoding is sort of like being an detective. We basically walked around and talked to students and asked them lots of questions about their campus. (For example: Where do students hangout? What's your major? Are their political issues on your campus? Are there clubs or organizations? Are you in any? Is there any Christian clubs? What would make you want to go to one?) So we just asked lots of questions this week! It was really fun on the 3 campuses my group is at, to find out about it! The students in my group are so excited to be here and so encouraged by God to make a difference! Its very motivating! College "campuses" are so different here, then any that I've ever been to! Prayer walking really gave us a chance to pray for the campus, the students, faculty and the surrounding area. I truly believe the Lord is going to GREAT things on the campuses we are at!!

Diversity

Family and friends back home have asked me: "So whats been your favorite part of being in New York?" My first answer is always about how diverse it is! I love seeing different kinds of people everyday! I see people with all different skin colors, different economic status, different clothes! It's great! I mean in Texas I feel like I grew up with friends from different ethnic backgrounds, which I'm so thankful for! I think there is so much to growing up learning about different cultures and even taking part in your own. Even though I'm half Filipino, I feel like I'm not very "in touch" with that side. I just feel like a normal American white girl...that has a touch a brown skin. I mean I know some things about the Philippines, I know how to cook a few dishes, but I know nothing about their traditions. Since I have been here there has been a communist china parade, Filipino parade and last week (one of the biggest parades) is the Puerto Rican parade! I really love experiencing all the different people/cultures here! I think it has been an eye opening experience for the students on project too. A lot of the campus track students I am working with are from North or South Carolina and are just surrounded by white students. So I think by going to the colleges and seeing the diversity is just cool for them.

Speaking of diversity....Here are the Filipinos on Project! This is Emily, Cinelle and Me! Emily and her husband Nate are the couple we share the apartment with. Emily's Dad is Filipino just like mine!! (and her and her Mom's middle name is Jean...just like mine!!) and Cinelle is working part time with the summer project. She just graduated from the fashion institute. She moved here from the Philippines 6 years ago! She has just gotten back from the Filipino Independence Day Parade in the picture and we were really excited to take a picture together!

One Year Anniversary

I can not believe it has been a year since we were married!! I know everyone says that, but I guess it's true!! It really went by so fast! It was fun to even think through to last year at the certian time of the day what we were doing in order to prepare for the wedding!

This past year we've had really good days and really hard days. But in the end through knowing and experiencing the love of Christ we are able to love and serve each other too! :) Without having a relationship with Christ I don't know how we would of gotten through some days, or how we would even love each other! I think I've learned more about God's love and care for his people in this one year of marriage!
This is us on our actual Anniversary 6-7-09. We had to work later in the afternoon, but we went to Church at Redeemer Presbyterian with other Cru staff friends and then went to lunch at Seoul Garden with Sarah and Simon, who are staffing the Epic Track of Summer Project.

The next day we had the day off to relax and rest before students arrived. So we decided to use this day to celebrate and enjoy each other. We were able to sleep late and then just lounge around! I don't think we left our room until 12:30pm. We walked down the street to a cute Thai restaurant. Oh my gosh it was good!! Bryson then said we were heading to Chinatown for a massage!! okay, I was a little nervous about this. I was imagining me having to be in my unders, while a strange Asian man gave me a massage! Bryson assured me the website looked legit and I didn't have to remove clothing! And the website has pictures of the ladies with Adrian Brody...so I decided to calm down! So we get there and it's a little weird looking, but the Lady was so excited and hurried us down the hall that I didn't have time to think! Anyways so we are in the same room and they put these big towels that cover from our shoulders to ankles (over our clothes) and we enjoy our massage. My Lady really worked my neck and Bryson said his guy was really strong! ha!

After this Bryson says we have to stop at the office to print off something. And our next destination we need to be there at 6:15pm. So I'm thinking he bought movie tickets and we are going to see UP! Nope....so we take the subway and then have to walk a long way. Like my feet hurt and I'm getting tired! And finally I see that we are going towards water! He got us a Harbor Lights Sunset Cruise! It was beautiful!! The cruise went around the lower tip of Manhattan on the Hudson. While on the cruise you could look to your right and see Manhattan and look to your left and see New Jersey! It was so cool! And the tour guide gave so much history and information while we were able to see so much! Here a a few more pics:

Brooklyn Bridge

Lady Liberty is so pretty at night!

We then ended with a chilly walk back to our apartment while stopping to grab a bite of $1 pizza! :)

So I was a little bum, because all the planning Bryson did for us was great, I didn't do any of it, and I even forgot a card!!! lol there's still time right?! lol Anyways, I'm so thankful for our first year of marriage! I've seen the Lord provide for us in so many ways! He has definitely blessed us while we have lived in Austin!



I'm looking forward to the next many many many years ahead! :)

First Saturday

I'm tired!! Like, woah! In a good way though! Our campus track has been in meetings the past few days to prepare for the students to come. Today I found out how I will be mentoring for the summer and who I will co-lead bible study with! I couldn't me more excited! I think we are getting an awesome group of students to love the Lord and excited to serve in the city! I can't wait!! And the bible study we are teaching is from a sermon from Tim Keller! If you dont know who he is, get to hear his teaching quick! so great!! And we are going to his church tomorrow!



Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary!!!


Gotta go! Our directors are having us over to dinner in Brooklyn!

3 Days and 2 Nights

We have officially made it to our "summer home" in NYC!! It's been great so far! We are living in Herald Towers at 34th and Broadway.Our apartment is about the same size as our house. Its a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, full kitchen (with dishes included), great living room and couch. Our roommates are a married couple that works for CCC as well and they move in tomorrow. Here's our building:

The Gap is downstairs on the left, Forever 21 is to the Right and Macy's is across the street! Ya'll start praying that I have self control and dont spend ALL our money!

We have really been enjoying the past few days!in the above picture, we can see the MetLife building from our bedroom view. While Bryson has been in a Director's meetings, I've been able to do a little exploring on my own. We have this really cool book called "NFT...Not For Tourists Guide to New York City" and lets you know everything! Like I needed to find Kinko's and it had listing of them. And let me tell you, when I found Kinko's I had a huge smile on my face and wanted to yell "Yessss!" after my find, I was determined to find a Gyro stand for lunch. When we were here in February I had the most delicious Gyro...so I was on the hunt. Where I was yesterday was East Midtown and there weren't too many food stands around, but I kept looking and finally had myself a gyro! And it was good!

Last night we were in a photo shoot for the Wyndham hotel. The overall project director for the arts track, LeighAnn, has a friend who was the photographer. She needed 50 people to mingle and eat and drink for free. So a group of us decided to go! Whether or not we even make the photos chosen it was still fun to take part in it. Here are the Art Track project directors looking good at the photo shoot:

Hair

When I was little my mom would never "let" me or my sister have long hair. By "let" I mean, we just always had short hair. It was probably more easy for my mom to manage. I remember in 6th grade I told her I wanted to grow out my bangs...cause that's what all the cool kids were doing. And still I haven't had bangs since! In high school and early college I let my hair grow pretty long! It was finally longer than my usual shoulder length hair! Junior year in college it was probably to the middle of my back. I had thought about donating to Locks of Love the, but when I went to get a trim, I ended having Sandi (hair dresser at Calcutta's on The Square in San Marcos) cut it and I really didn't know all the requirements for donating hair.

Now that my hair is long again, I really want to donate! I've like that Locks of Love is a nonprofit, gives to children under 18, promotes self confidence and normalcy for children who have lost their hair. And most of all they give to financially disadvantaged, the children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need. Anyways, I will donate! promise! I meet all the requirements for the hair donations, except for the minimum of 10 inches of hair. (I think in a low ponytail, my hair if cut right above the rubber band is 9...) So I will continue to grow until Im ready to cut for a new length.

Celebrate

We celebrated this morning. We took our breakfast, Juan in a Million's Don Juan, to Eastside townlake. Nice cool weather and a a great breakfast taco!

We have lots to get done. If you haven't heard already, Bryson and I are staffing the New York Tribeca Summer Project!!! We will be living in the Big Apple for 6.5 weeks next door to the empire state building. The Tribeca Summer Project has 4 tracks: Art, Campus, Inner City, and Epic. In 2005 Bryson was a student on the first NY art summer project and this year he is returning as the Creative Director! He will be directing a program for about 20 college students around the US. They have all come to summer project to create a collaborative art piece and also to grow in their spiritual life. I will be staffing the Campus Track! I think there is about 30 students on the campus track, and I'll have girls group. We will be visiting several different college campuses building relationships with the students and holding events at the campus. Every week is scheduled for something/events. But all of the 4 tracks of the summer project will be working together. For example: The students I make friends with on campus will most likely be invited to the Art Track's end of the summer installation. Or the Inner City project, might need extra volunteers for a kid's event...So I'm excited all the tracks will be working separate but together on this project.

Bryson and I are both excited to live and work in New York this summer! It will definitely be a new adventure and a lot of fun!

Hopeful Green Thumb

Yesterday I had the day off from work. The morning was spent doing Pilates and weights followed by a noon time coffee break with Bryson at Benu, a new coffee shop in the Eastside. (really good by the way!) So afterwards I headed to Home Depot to buy a few things: potting soil, air filter, and a copy of our house key. Well I finished gathering all those things and started to wander through the "garden" section. I've recently been dreaming about house plants, our front yard flower/plant bed design and grass.

As I continue my grazing about the plants, I'm reminded of Christmas. We did a Secret Santa gift exchange with the Owen's side and Bryson's Brother-in-law, Alan, gave me a house plant! I was sooooo excited! Pick out the perfect spot in the house: living room, front entrance table, by window. Two days later we get a freeze, and the plant shivered to death inside the house!! RIP

So I've been on the look for another one, and found it! A little leafy green guy, and picked out a perfect pot for it! I had myself a project for the afternoon! I had already been planing to transfer Zinnia's a friend gave us into a big pot and now I wanted to plant the leafy green guy


New house plant and Baby Zinnias


Transfer pots


The Aloe plant now has friends :)


Home Sweet Home

I hope there is a future with these plants :)