Permanecemos Unidos...

In one week, hubby, my family and a few other members of our church will be heading to Guatemala for our church's 2014 Mission Trip. I had the opportunity to go on the 2012 trip, just after hubby and I got engaged. It was life changing, and one of the most incredible trips I've ever been on.

I can't even begin to describe the impact the trip had on me, or the way it affected me. It's hard to put words into an experience where the range of emotions were all over the place.

The people there are so incredibly loving, giving and full of hope and faith. The children trust without having to know who you are or where you're from.

When you walk into a school, a church yard, or anywhere there are children, the first thing they do is run to give you a hug. They simply just want to be loved by and play with the kind strangers who have taken the time to visit them.

Oh, and then there is the history. Not the bloody, war-driven history that still leaves them scarred today -- that's why we are down there, to show them love and mercy and help those that are suffering from it. But the ancient history -- the ruins and the still standing buildings, left from the Mayans and the Spanish Inquisition. I kind of go crazy about those kinds of things. I'm one of those weird people who absolutely loves old architecture.

The country itself is also one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Mountains and volcanoes everywhere, and everything is so green, so incredible. Seeing it all up close takes your breath away. The waters are all so pretty, and looking at the volcanoes, with the agriculture and foliage growing up the sides make it hard to remember the violence and destruction they are capable of causing. 

And last, but possibly the most important thing that I love, is that we are down there doing what Jesus called us to do. Not condemning, not judging, not forcing change -- but helping the poor, loving on them and finding ways to encourage them. 

One of my favourite Christmas traditions.

Every town has their Christmas traditions whether it be decorating a park, a part of town that receives special attention or anything else festive.

For my town, it has been Christmas in the Park for as long as I can remember. The beautiful lights strewn across the trees, the displays from all the different community businesses and groups, and of course the naughty and nice list we could sign off on. 

Christmas is my favourite time of year and always has been. I was one of those kids who refused to believe Santa wasn't real for years after my parents told me the truth. Every year, I obsessively watch The Santa Clause movies, because they remind of that magic that used to exist in believing in Santa. 

Christmas in the Park does that every year. Even if it's only for the half hour that it takes to walk back and forth through the park, when I'm there, it's like that magic is back and I can believe in Santa, the North Pole and the elves again. Call me crazy, but I love it. 

I can't wait until I get a better lens to enhance the park and hopefully show how beautiful it really is. But for now, this is the best I can do, and at least it gives you a glimpse of what it is like. 

Our First Christmas

It was definitely a different Christmas this year. For me, Christmas has always been sleeping in late, having coffee and opening stockings with my family, then chilling out all day eating finger foods and just having family time. A complete, lazy, family-filled day.

This year, since we're all off and married now, the mornings were spent with our spouses in our own homes. It was exciting having the chance to put up and decorate our own tree, finding out where we could decorate in the apartment, and just spending the morning together.

Hubby and I opened our presents from each other and just chilled, watching Disney movies and all that awesome stuff.

Prior to that, the decorating was a blast, and I was very pleased with the results. Our little tree was perfect for the first year, and though most of the decorations were fairly generic (we just bought two colours of bulbs so we had something), we started a tradition of buying one ornament together each year.

No-one believes me at this point, but Hubby totally picked this one out. I told him we could get something else, but he said no. I think it's a good start, especially since Santa got us each Mickey and Minnie decorations as well. 

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of them, but they're adorable. 

We also have special stockings that we got on our honeymoon at Disney. They were so lovely, and we wanted to get our names embroidered on them, but it was going to cost too much and take more time than we needed. 

So instead, I decided to do it myself. I've never embroidered before, but I thought I'd give my hand. It was pretty difficult and it's clear I had no idea what I was doing but we like them.

I'm going to be sad to see our little window ledge go when the landlords change it, but for now it makes the perfect spot to hang our stockings from. 

I'm excited for next year, when I'll hopefully have more time to decorate and have been able to accumulate more decorations. And hey, if anyone wants to send any Disney Christmas decorations my way, I promise, they'll come to a good home ;)

Another disappearance, but this time a good one.

I swear, this time the disappearance from my blog wasn't because I didn't know what to say! Things got crazy busy after starting my new job as a reporter, and then with Christmas, New Year's, planning for Guatemala and all that, time became a very hard thing to find. 

I'm loving being a reporter full-time. Some days it's hard, because I feel like there's so many people to contact and not enough time, but most days, I'm just so happy to be doing what I love again. Being a community newspaper, it gives me the opportunity to tell the stories of the people around me -- to find the interesting and unique people and share what they are doing or have done in this world that stands out.

But yes, I do have five billion pictures of my kitty.

The depression has slowly faded back away into it's hiding place. There are moments it decides to come out with a vengeance, but lately those have easily been remedied by Disney movies, funny geek meme's and pictures of kittens on the interwebz (I SWEAR I am not a lonely cat lady).

Things have kind of been up and down. Hubby lost a lot of hours at work due to them trying to 'conserve' during the slow period, although it's been proven there was no need. For a while there, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make rent, let alone buy groceries. It was scary, and my faith definitely took another hit. But I tried to hang on, and things are finally looking up.

There are lots of exciting things to share (a new addition to our family, details on our first Christmas, and our upcoming Mission's Trip), and I promise I will start sharing soon.

In the meantime, here's one of the funny meme's I've found (we're working our way through Star Trek: The Next Generation).