A New Year, A New Adventure!

I cant believe that the new year is almost upon us. This past year (2007) has been an amazing one! As I think back on all the blessings that have come our way this past year, I am curious what other blessings the Lord has in store for us in 08. I don't know much about the future, but I do know that the Lord is in control and has some new things in store for Harrison and I.

This past year has held so many precious memories and blessings and ended with a bang! Christmas was amazing! A great way to end a special year. This year, we completed our first full year of married life! The first of many!

This past year, so much has happened. God blessed us with two special little birdies that have fast become so special to Harrison and I. Tootsie and Lily have given us so much joy and happiness. He has helped us set up our home to be a place of love, peace, comfort, and joy. But most of all, He is there to guide us through all of our big decision making. The Lord has really blessed us this year, not only with material things, but with spiritual things.

This next year will be full of changes. David is away at collage following his dreams and we will be leaving to pursue our dreams. The Lord is leading us down to southern ca for Harrison to take the classes he needs to pursue air traffic controlling. After he is accepted, it is off to another place that only the Lord knows.

This January will definitely be a busy one as we pack and as Harrison hunts for a job. We are excited for the adventure and yet sad that we have to leave so many special friends and family.

This past year and a half in the East Bay has been a special one. I hope everyone has a very blessed 2008.

White Christmas

Well, it's that time of the year again!

Christmas!

I have decided to celebrate the Christmas season today with a viewing of White Christmas! Cant beat White Christmas and Hot Cocoa while working around the house and preparing for Christmas!

I definitely recommend it!

Lily in Action

I am in the process of training my new parrotlet named Lily. So I decided to post pictures of her progress and her antics. She is definitely a handful! Today she learned the trick of being an escape artist and escaped from her cage! As I sat on the bed and looked on the computer, I look up and find lily has squeezed out of a little 3/4 inch gap in the cage. She was outside her cage, trapped between the wall and the cage. So now we need to figure out how to keep her from doing that little trick again. Enjoy the pictures of Lily!

Here we have Lily looking cute as always!



In the 2 pictures below, we have Lily trying to get a way from me by burrowing herself into the covers!



Here we have Lily learning how to forage and eat her pellets.



Here we have Lily Learning to Finger Train.

Introducing My Lovely Lily!

Pictured above is Lily, our new birdie addition to our family!

This morning Harrison came home with a surpise for me and a big smile on his face...but let's start at the beginning of the story.

Yesterday, Harrison and I went to see a baby parrotlet at the pet store, and thought she was so adorable. Most of you know that I have been wanting a pacific parrotlet for so long! Although, I really wanted a blue one, I had to have this green beauty. I wanted her sooo bad! We talked about it all day trying to figure out if we should or not. I had decided that I probably was not going to be able to get her. Which was heart breaking for me! So I went to bed sad and disappointed. Little did I know what Harrison was planning for me. :)

So today Harrison came home (I thought he was at work) and surprised me with a receipt saying he bought her. He came home with bird cage and bag of toys in hand! So we put together her new cage and went to pick her up from the bird store!

She weighs only 27 grams but is packed full of spunk! When we first saw her she was hanging upside down just staring at us! She climbs just like a little monkey! She is the most lovable, adorable, acrobatic bird I have ever seen.

We have to quarantine her in the bedroom away from Tootsie for 30 days to make sure she is healthy! But I just know That Tootsie is going to love having a new sister around! HeHe!

So now we have the most wonderful birds! My Sweet Tootsie Girl and My Lovely Little Lily!

I am so thankful for my Birdies!

Room With A Past...

Well, Harrison and I are off to my favorite store! Wish me luck that I find a treasure like I did last time. Except a cheaper treasure and one that doesn't involve a truck or van to haul it home...hehe.

Rose Petal Tea and a spoon full of Patience

I am finally able to sit down, drink some rose petal tea and really relax before heading off to Ladies Bible Study. This weekend has been one of stress, anxiety, fun, and adventure! It is possible for those feelings to occur all at once as I have found out this weekend.

This weekend we traveled to Rancho Cucamonga to go apartment searching. We headed out at 5:30 am Sunday morning and arrived in Rancho 7 hours later. We then got in our hotel and got ready for our apartment searching. We drove all over the area after touring 2 apartment complexes.

The first one in Mira Loma, was absolutely beautiful! Except the area smelled like cows and it was out in the boonies. The next apartment we looked out had a great layout. Except the layout we wanted was by a freeway. So the kitchen window outlooked trash from the freeway and of course the freeway. It was a quite depressing location. So we ended the day a little worried. We only had one more apartment worth looking at. It was very hard to sleep that night. The apartment complex that we were going to look at Monday morning had such possibilities. It is only about 5 min. away from Melissa; which is wonderful! It was in a great area and the grounds were beautiful! But we had no clue how the inside would look. If we didn't like this place we had no clue what we were going to do. But as always, the Lord was looking out for us.

That night we tried very hard to relax before the next day. I became hooked on the cable channel called HGTV....lots of home and gardening tv. I loved it! I love watching home decoration/organization and home improvement shows. The next day arrived and we checked out of the hotel and headed to the leasing office.

We were finally able to tour Ironwood at Empire Lakes Apartments. The apartment is right across the street from shopping. There was everything from Sam's Club to Target and Chipotle to Daphne's Greek food. The area was packed with all sorts of wonderful stores and restaurants all within walking distance. We were given a tour of inside the gated community. It was very quiet and peaceful. All the amenities were wonderful! We toured the inside of 2 apartments. Inside was very spacious and the layouts were wonderful! The appliances and kitchen was really nice. It even had a pantry. For those who have seen my small kitchen will understand how wonderful a pantry is. hehe. The apartment was everything we hoped and more. We decided on the layout called the Reflect. The Reflect has 975 sq footage. It is a one bedroom and 1 bathroom apartment that comes with a Den. We loved it. It had a very nice covered patio and a small storage unit. It had a huge walk in closet, lots of sink space in the bathroom and kitchen and a wonderful pantry. It also had 9 foot ceilings which made Harrison very happy.

We are so thrilled that we found the place we want. We started looking about a month too soon, so there weren't a lot of options yet. So we were told to wait a month and check back to their website daily, since they wont know about any availability until it gets closer to our moving date. So now that we found the apartment complex and layout. Now we are praying that the right apartment becomes available for the right pricing. The Lord has brought us so far and I am thankful that I never have to worry because God is in control. :) With a little bit of patience and lots of prayer, I know the Lord will work everything out in the end.

Here are some pictures of the apartment.

I bought the post beautiful autographed Christie Repasy Canvas Painting. Pictured above. I found it in my favorite store in Benecia called Romancing The Home! It is a Canvas Copy that Christie Repasy put together of her original painting on Canvas. She personally signed the back too. I simply adore this painting.

Update and Prayer

We just received word from the apartment complex that they have an opening for a move in date of December 27th. We cant make it down there until the end of the week and They cant hold the apartment, so pray if it is the Lord's will that the apartment will stay available until we can look at it on Monday. Thanks for your payers! Love, Rebekah