Everlasting Arms

Deuteronomy 33:26-27, 29

There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in His majesty.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword...

I think that is enough said. Thank you dear Lord. You are my refuge and my helper!

Christmas in KC

I know it is past Christmas and New Years, but I wanted to post pictures of our little home all decorated. I had SO much fun decorating! It also gives me an excuse to do some furniture rearranging, which I love to do!

:)

I love how the Christmas tree looks at night! So cozy.
It makes it feel not quite so cold outside.

These were already up, but I added some snowflake ornaments to make them a little more fun.

I think stockings are my favorite part of opening gifts!

Our living room

The bookshelf- had fun with it this Christmas!

Welcome!

Love my nativity scene. My Aunt Karen got it for me for Christmas last year.

I am going to add to it every Christmas.

One of my favorite Christmas decorations! It says, "If a kiss were a snowflake I'd send you a blizzard."

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was amazing! We got to spend some good time with friends and family, but there were still people I love who I didn't get to see. It is amazing how time just flies. We left Kansas City for Little Rock on Wednesday the 23- just in time to miss the big snow storm that came through! Tim was kind of bummed about missing the white Christmas, but I did not mind a bit!

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. SO fun! I have so much fun with my siblings. We took Kada over there too. Jake (the Grissom chocolate lab) was not quite sure about her being in his house, but they did pretty well!

Christmas day was at the Dietrichs. That was a fun day too! Andrew was able to fly in from Salt Lake which was so fun! Kada and Kobi had a blast playing outside all day. They would just be exhausted at the end of the day.

We came back to Kansas City on the 2nd. There was snow everywhere. And It has not left since. I have been trying to have a better attitude about the weather. I've been praying that God would help me see the beauty in winter and snow....I'll keep praying....I feel like my love for spring and summer is being reinforced. There is a season for everything.

Well, I guess I should wrap this up. I love you all, and hope you are having a wonderful beginning to the new year. I am excited to see what God does this year. He sure is good!

Catching Up

I have so much to post, but so little time.

The days seem to be flying by lately. We have been busy ever since we got back from Thanksgiving in Arkansas, and we are getting ready to head back there on Wednesday morning. We are all looking SO forward to going back. From the looks of the weather, me might be missing a white Christmas. I am not so sad about that, but Tim is kinda bummed. Personally, I have had my fill of snow for at least a couple of weeks.

We had a WONDERFUL time in Arkansas for Thanksgiving. Our dear friends -Andrew and Jenny Brochu- came home with us. It was a fun/interesting drive home. We took the Camry. Tim and Andrew sat in the front. Kada, Jenny, and I sat in the back. It was up close and personal, but Kada was an angel in the car. I was so thankful!

Besides being with family and friends, one of the BEST and most entertaining parts of going home was watching Kobi and Kada play! They just had a total blast playing with each other. They would wake up at 6:00 and be ready to go for the day.

They were stinking cute!

We had lots of fun with the Dietrich family and the Grissom family at the Thanksgiving dinners! We got to spend some good time with Grandma and Granddad Borden too.

We even got some updated family pictures while we were there.

(Susan, Joanna, me, Jenny, and Abby)

A bunch of my girls met at our favorite breakfast restaurant Delicious Temptations on Saturday morning. We had so much fun, and laughed alot! My sisters were also there, they just weren't in this picture. I have some of the best friends a girl can have! I have missed those girls.

We also got to go to our church in Little Rock, The Summit Church, while we were there. I have a special place in my heart for Summit. I love so many of those people. This was after church on Sunday before we made the roadtrip back to KC.

We came back to KC and decorated for Christmas. (I'll post those pictures next time.) Tim and the guys proceeded to study away. They had four days worth of finals. Ironically, that week of finals was also when it decided to have some winter weather...so much fun...as well as a little allergic reaction for Kada which resulted in a trip to the emergency vet at 1:00am the night before Tim's biggest final. Icy roads, late night, early morning, a precious dog with a very swollen face, a stressed Tim, and a worried Anna. Oh the drama of it all. Kada is doing just fine now ($150 dollars and 2 shots later), and Tim passed his tests with flying colors! He finished his first semester of medical school with two A's and a B+!

The past week has been just as crazy even with Tim done with school for the semester. After Tim finished with school, Operation Issue began for me at work. Operation Issue is crunch time at Northwestern Mutual. Everyone is trying to meet deadlines and production goals for the end of the year. It has been kind of crazy this week, but I just keep loving my job more and more. Since I work for 3 reps, there are times where I wonder if I can do it all, but thankfully, I am getting a part-time assistant at the beginning of the year. I am so thankful!

Well, I guess that is all for now. I will post pictures of our apartment all decorated for Christmas soon. Tim and I are having our Christmas on Tuesday night, and then Wednesday morning we will drive back to Little Rock for the holidays. My boss is being so gracious and not having me come back to the office until January the 4th. I am so thankful. We will get some more good time in with our families and dear friends!

Can't wait! :)

Things I'm Thankful For

It was so wonderful to get to be HOME in Little Rock this past weekend. I'll post more details about the fun weekend later, but I just wanted to share some of the things I am thankful for. So of them are kind of silly, but oh well! :)

• road trips with friends
• our new puppy- Kada (and the other two puppies in Little Rock. Jake and Kobi)
• that we got to see both of our families for Thanksgiving
• for my DEAR DEAR friends
• laughter
• time with grandparents
• my pillow
• The Summit Church
• our new home in Kansas City
• my job at Northwestern Mutual
• Tim doing so well in medical school- I am beyond proud of him!!!
• Dr Pepper :)
• that I got to marry my best friend
• my friends and family at the Rice Lewis Clinic
• for little kids
• Delicious Temptations and Senor Tequila (my favorite places to eat in Little Rock)
• quality time over a cup of coffee from Starbucks
• my Dad
• hugs
• introducing new friends to old friends
• the book of Psalms
• Beth Moore books
• cameras to capture memories
• safety
• my sisters who make my stomach hurt from laughing so hard
• my brother who would do just about anything to protect me (and visa versa)
• the peace and protection of my Savior
• praise and worship music

I am just overwhelmed time and time again with the love and provision of the Lord. He is so good and so faithful.

Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands for us.

Psalm 90:17

SNOW

Yup, it snowed. Before Thanksgiving even. It's not winter yet, and it snowed!

Apparently, this is the 6th year in a row that it has snowed before Thanksgiving. No one told me that before we moved here. (Which is probably a good thing.) We made it to work/class just fine though, and to make things even better, the snow was gone by the time we got home from work/class!

I guess God is trying to break me into this winter thing early. It is beautiful...if it were only not so cold... :)




Some of the pictures didn't turn out quite so well, but I still wanted to share them.

In other news, we are headed to Little Rock on Wednesday for Thanksgiving! Tim and I are SO excited. Kada is making the trip with us, as well as our friends Andrew and Jenny Brochu. Their families are in Texas which is a little far for a roadtrip...even if it is a long weekend.

Andrew and Tim go to KCUMB together. They actually had classes together at Baylor, but really weren't close enough to really keep up after college. They both walked into med school the first day and were surprised to see each other. Jenny and I met and clicked pretty quickly. She actually is how I got my job at Northwestern Mutual (NMFN). She had worked for a rep there since her and Andrew moved here after they got married this summer. She connected me with the office manager at NMFN, and God worked out the rest of the details.

There is also another couple, Jacob and Jetta Perry, who we all met at a KCUMB social function. At the event everyone was supposed to wear shirts from their college. (It was like a sports social event.) Jacob and Jetta both had University of Arkansas shirts on, and so Tim went and started talking to them. Tim, Andrew, and Jacob have been inseparable ever since. When the boys get together to study, usually the girls head to the plaza to shop or watch a movie! We have so much fun together! I am so thankful. It has been so fun to see how God works in the details.

Anyway, we are headed to Little Rock this coming week. Our families (and the 2 family dogs) haven't met Kada yet either, so it should be an interesting week! SO excited!!! :)

Home Sweet Home

I have been telling some of you, for a while now, that I would post pictures of our new little home. I am sorry it took me so long, but here they are! :)

Our bedroom

The Grissom siblings!

The furniture in our room is a set that Tim has had since high school. It was a lighter wood, but I wanted the furniture in our room to be dark. Tim was so sweet, and spent hours sanding and re-staining all the furniture this darker color. I think it turned out awesome!

My favorite part of this room is the chocolate brown wall! I think it just makes the room so much warmer.

Our little bathroom. The picture hanging there is a gift from my dear friend Rebekah Holloway.

Other side of the bathroom.

This is the second bedroom in our apartment that we turned into an office. This room is a work in progress. We are going to put some floating shelves and Colorado pictures in here...eventually.

If Tim is not studying at his beloved Starbucks (the employees there know who we are if you can imagine that), he is sitting here. We got this awesome desk from Grandma and Granddad Borden (Mrs Dietrich's parents). I think it might be my favorite piece of furniture in our apartment.

My area in the office. It looks small, but I love it!

Our dining room area.

Looking from the hallway to the dining room-kitchen area.

Hallway from the living room/dining room to the bedrooms and bathroom.

Living room. Love my chocolate brown wall in here. Still working on finding curtains that I love for this room. And you can see Kada on her balcony too! :)

Love my wedding pictures! :) The vase is one-year anniversary gift from Grandma Borden. It is a family heirloom. Priceless.

Other side of the living room.

Our built-in bookshelves. I have a love-hate relationship with these things. I love having them, but I can never get content with how to decorate them.

Out little kitchen.

I love fall decorations.

A gift from my Suzy! :)

I hope you enjoyed the little tour. I'll post more pictures up once I decorate for Christmas.

Catching Up

I have meant to update the blog for weeks now, but I am just finally getting to it. Our little Kansas City world has been very busy lately. Since my last post alot has happened. Good things that have helped us get even more settled in our new city. God just continues to confirm that this is where we are supposed to be. I am going to try and catch you up in this post, and I'll give more details later.

• We got a dog! Last time I blogged- we knew we were getting Kada, but hadn't gotten her yet. I took a last minute road trip to Little Rock to pick her up, and I got a few hugs and some quality time with LOVED ones while I was there. We have had her for about 5 weeks now. It took a little bit, but we are all settled now. Tim and I both just adore her. She is very sweet and cuddly, but has enough spunk to make things interesting. :) I'll post some pictures later. I made a photo album of her on Facebook, but I know some of you can't see that so I want to share on here too!

• I got a job!! And I love it! :) I started at Northwestern Mutual as a Associate Financial Representative at the beginning of October. It was actually right after I brought Kada back, so it was a big week for Tim and I! I had a couple of interviews with them, and really liked everything I heard and saw. God was so good too. Throughout the whole process I just had a complete peace about everything.

To give you some details about what I am doing- I work as an associate for a Financial Rep named Jared Wirsig. Northwestern sells different kinds of insurances (like life and disability and a number of other things that I am still learning about.) Basically, my job is to keep things running smoothly at the office while Jared goes and is out meeting with clients. I keep the process going, from Jared meeting with clients and taking information to applying for certain policies to when the policy gets delivered to the client. It is alot of detail work and multitasking- which I love! Jared's strong point is not details and organization, and that is where I come in. He can't do his job without me doing my job, but I can't do my job without him doing his. I am not a saleswoman, by any means. ;) I also do some work for 2 other reps who haven't been doing this for very long. I work about 5 hours a week for both of them, and I think I am about to add another rep too! More details to come!

God's timing is just so perfect. I had been struggling with becoming restless, and was kind of feeling useless. God in his perfect wisdom had the timing all down. Jared had been needing to hire someone for a couple of months, but had just been so busy he had not taken the time to look. Over and over God just keeps confirming that this is a good fit for me. I feel challenged and some days I am pushed out of my comfort zone, but at the same time, my strengths are being used! It is a good feeling.

• Kada and the new job are the biggest things that have happened. Tim is still doing awesome in med school. He has finished the Foundations of Medicine and Musculoskeletal sections, and is currently in the Cardiopulmonary section. I am beyond proud of him!!! His grades have been excellent, which has encouraged him and given him more confidence. God is SO good!

• We have had some visitors since I last posted as well. Susan came to visit me about 6 weeks ago. We had so much fun just catching up and laughing. Tim had to study all that weekend so we just played. The weekend got topped off by Susan and I getting rear-ended. Sadly, it was in her car so we had to do a quick bandage to her Honda with some duck-tape for her drive back to Little Rock. We ended up being ok, just very sore for a couple of weeks. There has been some drama with the other driver, and him not being entirely honest about what happened. Susan and I are just thankful that God is in the details, and praying that it all works out ok.

• Kari (my youngest sister) and her boyfriend Hudson just came this past weekend. We had a blast! There was A LOT of laughter which was wonderful! :) We went to the Cheesecake Factory in the Plaza last night and had Pumpkin cheesecake. So good.

• We will be headed to Little Rock for Thanksgiving in the next couple of weeks, and are SO looking forward to it. Kada will be making the road-trip with us. She will get some quality time playing with Kobi (the Dietrich's German Shepherd) and Jake (my family's beloved Chocolate Lab). This will have been the longest stretch I have been away from my family and Little Rock, so it has been a challenge. But I am so grateful for how God has carried us through, and for how He continues to show us that this is where we are supposed to be. He keeps reminding us that He has our footsteps established. I love the peace that comes from just being able to rest in that knowledge.

Well, I think I have kept you long enough! I finally took pictures of the apartment so you can see our home, but I will post those next time. I figure this post has been long enough! :)

Love you all so much. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. God is SO good!