Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know this is a little early...but I have a feeling this may be the last chance I have to write a blog this year! I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to challenge everyone to remember the reason for the season...and to read Luke 2 before any presents are opened to help remember that reason. I will definitely miss all my family and friends that are far away this Christmas...and wish we could celebrate together...hopefully next year! Anyway, know that I miss and love you all.

Also...Happy New Year! Again, I will deeply miss everyone that I cannot celebrate with...especially since I will be celebrating as Dani Marin! I cannot wait...and so excited for all those family and friends that will be with Bobby and I. Of course, there are many that can't be with us, so we are sad for those that cannot make it. It's been a crazy time for family and friends - lots of unforseen circumstances that have changed plans for coming to our wedding unexpectedly. Please know for all of those family and friends that couldn't be here that I pray for each of you daily with all the good and bad happening in your lives....and Bobby and I will deeply miss you on our big day.

An especially big shout out to my sister, Ryan, Kiara.....and (drum roll please!) Vera!!!! I just got to see Vera via webcam this morning with her new family....she is so CUTE! She can do SO BIG (I got to see that on the webcam)...and it's SO CUTE! She is officially with her new family now and not in the orphanage...and it's so weird to see her on the webcam while they are in Russia...usually it's just videos on Nikki's blog. So weird...but so wonderful! But...they will not be here for the wedding after all. As much as I was praying for that miracle to happen, it's not what God wants....and Dani's okay with that. =) I am so happy that Nikki and Ryan have their whole family together for Christmas....and at least they have their plane tickets they were supposed to use for the wedding to use later in the year to come and see us! Oh...and I booked a flight to IL at the end of January too....so I will officially meet Vera then. Can't wait!

Also, I wanted to make note that my cousin Lori is due any day, and we will miss her at the wedding....my best friend Jen is prego as well and too prego to travel...she will be deeply missed....and Jamie, another great friend, won't be able to come in the end either...so please know that we miss you here! Please pray for all of these three for health, comfort and peace.

I'll leave you with a couple pics that Bobby, the girls and I took for Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Marins!

One of my favorites!

I love this picture!

Cuties!

Talk to you next year! =) I'll have PLENTY of pics to share then!

Phillipians 4:6 when you're in a fix!

For whatever reason, this morning I remembered back to college and one of the church services. A girl was sharing that her dad used to remind her..."Phillipians 4:6 when you're in a fix!". Somehow, after all these years, this is one thing I have never forgotten....and it came to mind again today when I was reading the Bible. I've been reading about Paul...and he is the king of always being in fixes! Not because he deserved it...but for God's glory.

Phillipians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

This verse applies to so much happening around me right now. My sister, bro-in-law and neice are in a far off country....for weeks to pick up their little one. Travel, foreign country, long time away...all of that makes the situation nerve wrecking to begin with. Then, on top of that...they are gone for the holidays...and...most likely, my wedding. And I think one of the reasons I am okay with this situation (although majorly disappointed and sad) is the verse above. I have presented my requests to God (He definitely knows that I want a miracle to happen so they can make it!)...and I wholeheartedly trust Him with this. I know the decision to work magic in this situation and bring them back sooner so they can be here for Bobby and I's big day isn't mine...it's God's. There is some reason for this if they have to miss it. And I may never know the reason...and that's HARD for me! But...you know, I've got the peace from God right now that it will all work out. Will it work out to what I humanly want? Who knows...but it will be what God wants...and that's, in the end, truly my want as well. I have one millimeter of a perspective compared to my Lord's perspective....and one tenth of an iota of the knowledge and power...so why should it be what I want? It shouldn't. So, I keep praying EVERY DAY for the miracle to happen because God is so capable of making that happen...but I trust if it doesn't there is some wonderful reason as well.

Then, of course...just getting down to the details of the wedding...the last three weeks are inevitable with details, something that I wanted to avoid as much as possible so I don't get lost in them...but guess what...sometimes (especially now!) you just have to get engrossed in them and major stress comes with details. So...the verse above definitely applies here too...I am giving this new marriage (notice I didn't say wedding!) to God...actually, Bobby and I gave it to God a long time ago. Once that happens, you release soooo much of the pressure that you have on yourself to get it all to happen just perfectly. Perfect is God's perfect, not mine. I don't care if my dress gets lost, my hair all falls out and I trip down the aisle...if I get to say "I do " to Bobby...that's what matters. This reminds me of what Bobby always tells me...he always says that he'd marry me in a burlap sack (what the heck is that anyway?) on top of a garbage dumpster, as long as we get married. That focus is so important to me...the bigger, significant picture...although easy to get lost the closer the wedding gets. God's definitely helped me with this...the peace that passes all understanding is amazing...and the fact that it guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus is so spot on too. Since I have chosen (with God's help) to always focus on the marriage and not the wedding in all of this...my heart and mind follow.

By the way, the verses that precede Phillipians 4:6-7 are neat to look at too.

Phillipians 4:4-5
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."

Remember...these verses are BEFORE the first set. So...prior to the worry, anxiousness verses in 6-7 there is a focus on rejoicing and praising in the Lord and extending gentleness to others. That to me means that's our first priority in God. That's part of the package deal that God gives us. Even AS you have worry and axiousness consuming your mind, you still are to be rejoicing in God and being gentle to all. Now...picture yourself in a highly stressed, worrisome situation right now...how often do you or I rejoice in those times....and then are gentle to everyone around us? Probably not. So...rejoice in him...be gentle to all...and then you get to pray and petition your requests to God. The result? The peace that passes all understanding! That one of the best gifts God gives us, as His children.

This got me to thinking...how often do I praise and thank God first and foremost? Then on top of that...how often am I gentle to all (even when I don't want to be or they don't deserve it)? I got the praying thing down pretty darn good (sometimes for selfish reasons)...to ask for whatever I want...but there are two steps before the praying that I often overlook and miss. Therefore, my goal is to work on those two things from this point on....praising God and gentleness...shouldn't be too hard, right?! =)

Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I actually pulled off a big surprise party for Bobby's 40th b-day (not til this Saturday, the 13th, but that made it an even better surprise!). I had MAJOR help from the neighbors setting up, decorating and bring food. It was great, he was completely caught off guard...it was perfect.

So here's how it went down....Bobby and I had decided to go to dinner last night with another couple, Mike and Wendy. They are a blast to hang around, by the way. So a couple weeks ago, this was set up, and I had been thinking of a surprise party for Bobby, but wasn't sure if I wanted add another thing to the month of December for us...but after a while I just decided to anyway....and I am so glad I did! Although somewhere along the way Bobby (not knowing I had just told everyone in the neighborhood, his brother, and other friends that we would be having a surprise party) decided to invite everyone over and create his own party! I couldn't believe it, but went for Plan B and told everyone to just say they had stuff going on when Bobby talked about it to them. So...everyone invited had fake plans and Bobby in the end thought we would just go back to his house after dinner with Wendy and Mike to hang out and sing some karaoke. So, the gang was waiting inside Bobby's house for us....and as Bobby opened the door to go inside, Mike (a next door neighbor) was dressed in a black robe with a black hood and was holding a candle in the dark house, and said...."IT'S TIME ROBERT......" Completely looked like the grim reaper and freaked Bobby out! It was amazing....finally the lights came on, and everyone was there...it was perfect and more so because Bobby truly had no idea at all.

So, the night was filled with darts and karaoke and just a bunch of fun times with friends. Bobby had a perma-smile on his face the entire night. It was all so worth it....glad I ended up deciding to have it!

Here's some initial pictures from the night. Unfortunately, there aren't any pics (yet...haven't seen all of people's pics) of the initial surprise...but there are still plenty of good ones to share.

Post surprise with all his "I'm 40" garb on

Nice Bobby (Brenda and me)

Bobby and Mike (1/2 of the couple we went to dinner with)

Such a poser....

Wendy (the other 1/2 of the couple), Mike, Brenda and Ray (Bobby's sister-in-law and brother)

Ray and Brenda

Murphy (friend we karaoke with), Krista (next door neighbor that helped pull off the surprise) and Rocky (friend we karaoke and play Rock Band with)

Wendy and Bobby

Wendy and me sitting by the fire outside

Happy Birthday Bobby! Wow...look at the major fire that ALL of Bobby's candle made in the background! =)

Love Bobby's finger to his mouth!

Love this picture! Mike (the grim reaper) made Bobby's favorite cake - german chocolate - and it was YUMMMM-MY!


The karaoke begins!

Typical Bobby karaoke face! =)

Great night! Thanks to all that made it happen!

Life's great in AZ, even if my blogging has sucked!

Not sure how many people care whether I post anything or not...but I haven't posted in so long (except for the awesome videos from Gib Gab!). I have been meaning to post soooo much...like:

1. Trip in October back to Illinois for the week
2. Halloween
3. Arizona State Fair...rides galore!
4. Another trip back to Illinois (with Bobby this time) for my shower/bachelorette party
5. Adoption news for my sis
6. Whatever else I'm forgetting....oh, we went to the Trans-siberian Orchestra last Sunday!

Anyway...I am sure I will get to bits and pieces of all of that...especially the pictures that go along with it all too. Right now, we are just so busy it seems. Not that we are different than anyone else I'm sure. But...Bobby and I are busy getting wedding stuff done...plus, there is Christmas, and Kyndall's birthday, and Bobby's birthday...and our New Year's Eve Party after the wedding...December will be crazy for us. But a good crazy that I am looking forward to!

When I get more pictures put on my computer, I'll put a post out of pictures that I have missed along the last month or so....until then...this wonderfully unexciting post will have to do!

By the way...36 days until I am Dani Marin! =)

Merry Early Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I'm back!!!!

Just a quick update...I'm back in Illinois for the week until next Friday. I'm here mainly for work next week, but got to come in a little early and sneak in some family/friends time this weekend. I'm very excited to be back home...except that Bobby isn't with me...and I have NO IDEA how we went for 16 months of our relationship this way! It's so much more difficult to leave my wonderful man now! So...I'm missing my man for sure...but ready to have a great week!!!!

New Kids on the Block...Let's Rock!

Oh yeah, that's right...I went to the New Kids concert last Monday. It was awesome. I love their new CD...as well as the old stuff (of course!). They are still great performers after all these years...it really was a fun night. Natasha Bedingfield opened for them ("Unwritten", "Pocket Full of Sunshine", and that song that goes..."I love you, I love you, I love you!"), and she was awesome as well. Poor Bobby went with me (was supposed to be a friend of ours that went...she actually was the one that asked me to go...but then accidentally booked a trip back to her home state on top of the New Kids concert date, so she had to give up her ticket...she was totally bummed too - she was a MAJOR fan like me, back in the day!)....anyway, Bobby had a fun time...he may not admit that to anyone but me, but he did...trust me! =) The fans were crazy though....screaming screaming screaming! Just like 18 years ago when I went before - no lie! It was definitely a little hard to hear after we left because of all the fans yelling and screaming for two hours. The average age was around my age - 25. Ha...I kid, I kid. Average age was 30-35 and some of them had their old school New Kids t-shirts, buttons, jean jackets, etc. on...it was great...loved it all. Bobby even bought me one of those big New Kids buttons, like I had 18 years ago (girls, you remember - they were almost the size of your head with the New Kids picture on it!). It is now proudly positioned on the entertainment center shelf! For those that couldn't make it, I am uploading some pictures and video for you...because I know...secretly inside yourself...you're jealous you didn't get to go!

Oh...and disregard the singing in the background! It was so loud in there I didn't think you would be able to hear it on the video! Sorry!!!!!

Bobby and I - pre-concert

The boys

The final bow - Danny, Donnie, Jordan, Joey, and Jon! Woohoo! =)



You got the right stuff...baby.......

"Single" - one of their newest songs

Another new song...they appeared in the middle of the audience with a spinning platform with a piano!

Step by Step - oldie but goodie!

Your Eyes

I've been on a preaching kick lately....sorry, I hope it isn't interpreted as preaching, it's just thoughts that I have to get out of my head and onto "paper" so that I can think through them intentionally and fully. I've been reading through the Bible this whole year...and just finally got through the Old Testament since it is 3/4 of the entire Bible (dang...I wasn't sure if I would ever make it to the New Testament!)...and I am now into the New Testament just in the past week or so. Even though it took a good 9-10 months to get through...I learned so much from the Old Testament, and found a new love for those books that I never had before...and a new love for my Father as well. That said.....it is still refreshing to start the New Testament and read about Jesus' life and teachings. Therefore, that is where this new inspiration is coming from lately I think...change always brings new thoughts and ideas.

Anyway...today while I was reading, it is from Matthew 5-7, which are chapters of Jesus' teachings as he traveled around sharing his knowledge. This passage is great through and through....very insightful altogether. One piece of it stuck out at me - Matthew 6:22-23.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If you eyes are good, your body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness."

Okay, so what first hits me is that Jesus is light. And darkness is not it's own entity....instead, it is just the absence of light. Therefore, the absence of Jesus. Also, our eyes here represent our attitude, perspective, interpretation of events in our life....and those eyes are directly influenced by the light (God/Jesus/Holy Spirit). So, if our eyes are good, they will be full of God's perspective, attitude, and interpretation of life. In other words, we will see each event we come across in life through God's eyes. How amazing is that perspective - to not knock down each other for the small stuff or the big stuff, to love even our enemies and treat them well, to see the good in each situation instead of the negative, to catch others doing good things for us instead of always finding what they are doing wrong......and the list could go on.

I find this verse extremely powerful. It directly connects to a program that I have managed and developed at work, which deals with the power of your mind, thoughts, attitude, etc. I have found verses like this one for the past couple of years that truly supports many of those concepts in the program. This one is no different. Mentally, whatever our attitude is at the moment, we each see situations differently. It's like we are all wearing different colored glasses that tint (or affect) what we see. For example, say an important announcement gets sent out at work via email to all employees. How many different interpretations or stories come from that email? Probably about as many as there are employees! Based on our current situation, we each filter each sentence differently. Certain parts to us stick out, and we may completely pass by other parts and not even absorb that information. In general, people with positive attitudes see positive things, even if there are many negatives to see. And of course the opposite is true....people with negative glasses on pick out the negative...even at times when there is only positive to see! I'm sure we have ran into or know someone like this - leave it to them to find the negative! Or...we recognize this in ourselves sometimes as well.

So, back to the verse and how this all relates. If your eyes are good (focused on God/Jesus/Holy Spirit), you will be full of light - see the good in the situation, as God would want you to. If your eyes are bad (not focused on God/Jesus/Holy Spirit), you will be filled with darkness (absence of light - absence of God). And Jesus even points out, not only just darkness, but great darkness. You can only imagine how negative great darkness would be.

The application here for me is everyday life. What am I seeing? Do I find myself always finding the bad in the situation? Judging others, knocking people down, getting irritated at the small things? The BIG DEAL here is that it is OUR CHOICE what we see. I choose which glasses I wear each day. I choose my attitude....I choose to see the good, EVEN IF there is a lot of negative in a situation. Some people may think that means I am being too idealistic/optimistic...not living down to earth....but I strongly disagree. My choice here is affecting my happiness. I don't deny there are negatives...but I do choose to deny them from affecting my viewpoint, skewing my thoughts, and tinting my glasses - therefore darkening my eyes. I want Jesus' eyes...I want to see just as He sees. Isn't that the point in this life anyway?

So...connecting what I wrote about yesterday (showing mercy), the next time a co-worker truly ticks you off, your kids are irritating the heck out of you, or your significant other is on their last straw with you....CHOOSE mercy - SEE the good - and then WATCH what happens after that. I think (just as I have been many times) we will all be amazed at the peace that comes after.

And for those that know what that peace feels like...there is literally nothing better on this earth than that!

Beatitude

I was just doing my Bible reading this morning and came across the Beatitudes...which is when Jesus is on a hill and speaking to his new appointed apostles. The one that really spoke to me was the one about mercy.

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Seems almost too simple. You can miss a lot if you don't really think through that verse. When is the last time that you were completely justified to be upset, angry, even revengeful with someone...and instead of going there...you just blankly forgave and let down the grudges that came with it instead. No residual resentment still building in your mind...just wiped the slate clean and showed mercy. Just think how different this world would be if we all just did this once a day....much less practiced mercy all the time.

There is Ultimate Mercy in Jesus, of course. He is completely justified to shove me away from his sight forever with the way I treat Him, and He doesn't. And there are no grudges either, just open arms.

I think I'm on a mercy mission.

It's been a LOOOOOONG time!

So, I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted anything...so I'll just do a review of the second half of September (can you believe it's already October?!).

First of all...Bobby and I got a note that Kyndall was getting a student of the month award at school...and we attended the assembly they had for the 7th and 8th grade awards. She ended up getting the student of the month for art, which is awesome...especially the first month of the school year! Here are a couple pics...didn't get the best shots though!

The next big deal in September was that my parents came out to Phoenix for a trip on September 19th. We, of course, had a great time together...a little pool time, a trip up north to Prescott (a cute little "midwestern" town that's just fun to explore and walk around), great food, and we celebrated both my Mom's and my birthdays that weekend. The pictures below are mostly from the Prescott trip, but we have a couple from my birthday as well.

A shot down the street of Prescott from the town square.

Courthouse in Prescott in the town square

Cuties!

Look at that hot man! =)

Megan and Mimi spending some quality time together

Mimi-lovin'

Dad and Bobby eating some AMAZING carmel corn!

Kyndall finding some interesting stuff in an antique shop

Bobby's b-day cake that he made for me....YUM!

The girls and I on my birthday

Happy Birthday Megan!

Today is Megan's 11th birthday! And although Bobby and I won't see her today (she's with her mom)...we did PLENTY of celebrating on Saturday with her. She had plenty of friends and family around to help celebrate too. I think I have mentioned before that she wanted an M&M birthday theme...so that's what she got. It was really a cute idea...but bad for the waist line! We had the party at my apartment's cabana house, which is connected to one of the pools...and that worked out very nicely. The kiddos came around 4:30pm...started swimming immediately and having fun. You can see how Bobby got involved in their pool fun in a video below too! After lots of swimming, we had pizza, did a little more swimming and then dried off for games, cake and gifts. Sticking with the M&M theme...the games were 1) guess how many M&M's are in the jar - no one came close - there were 571 and the highest guess was 415! 2) pin the M on the M&M - the girls, Bobby, and I made a green M&M out of foam and poster board earlier that week...then cut out a bunch of foam M's for the sticking...it was a fun game - video and pictures below 3) hot bag of M&M's...otherwise known as "hot potato." =) After all the winners received their prizes, we sang happy birthday and had Megan blow out her candles on her M&M cake. Of course, we got waaay too much cake and ended up eating the rest of it the next day! Then, it was gifts...money, oragami, and gift cards seemed to be the trend. All in all, I think Megan had a great day...and we all did too. The party actually lasted throughout the night with five girls staying with Kyndall and Megan at Bobby's that night....thank goodness I got to go back to my apartment! =)

Bobby being a kid in the pool

Megan pinning the M on the M&M

Kyndall, Megan and Kyndall's two friends Lacee and Brooke pre-party in my apartment

Nate (cousin/nephew), Kyndall, Keely (cousin/neice), Ray (uncle/Bobby's bro), Brenda (aunt/ sister-in-law) and Stefan (cousin/nephew)

Megan's friend Ashley (or Brittany???) and Megan

Megan and her birthday button and crown

AJ, Megan, Brittany (I think), Ashley (I think or vice-versa!) and Courtney

Fun in the Pool

Post-pool fun...Megan and her daddy

Megan's birthday cake. Bobby and I couldn't find an M&M cake...so we ordered a "colorful" general birthday cake...and added our own M&M decor!

Unfortunately didn't get any pictures of her blowing out the candles...so this is as close as it gets!

Pin the M on the M&M Game - Courtney won!

Bobby's bro, Ray putting in his guess for the number of M&M's in the jar next to him. He was the winner!!!!!

Gift time!

Always have to have a musical birthday card nowadays!

More gifts!

All the birthday party friends - can you spot the twins? =)