it is well!

has it really been seven months since my last post?!

I sincerely apologize! 

I can honestly say, though, that things are going... well.  

Brian and I had our wedding March 23.  Marriage is going great! Though "real life" has sunk in rather quickly, we constantly find ourselves pulled and stretched with life in ways we ne

ver thought of. We are continuously being challenged, and in the process we are learning more about each other.  From what I hear, that's what the first year of marriage is all about right? 


A few months after our wedding, we added another furbaby to our family.  Kai, our Golden Retriever puppy [now seven months old], is a joy to have around and very friendly! Luna [our German Shepherd furbaby] and him get along well, which we're also thankful for :) 


Job-wise, Brian is almost going on his third year working for Caribbean Mountain Academy, which is also the campus we live on.  He has taken on more responsibility with the title of Residential House Manager, which is basically overseeing the Girls and Guys house here at CMA.  It's a LOT of work, but he does it well.  

I've had a bit of a change in my job as well. As most of you all know, my job at Jarabacoa Christian School had been incredibly difficult and challenging - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.   The director of CMA's youngest daughter needed someone to homeschool her for this school year.  This was the perfect transition and just what I needed to make the change to step down from the unhealthy work environment of my teaching job from the last three years.  With a lot of prayer and encouragement from others, I decided this school year I would not teach at JCS anymore. So, I started my fourth year in this country teaching Lydia.  It's only been about three months, but she's improved TREMENDOUSLY and becoming such a great reader!  

Lydia reading to her cat

Along with homeschooling in the mornings, I have also been tutoring English [which I LOVE!] to new students at JCS, helping out with some students at Doulos [the other English immersion school in Jarabacoa], and been doing more photoshoots around Jarabacoa [I just shot my first wedding last weekend!].  I love the fact that I can, for the most part, make my own schedule and feel more free in what I'm doing. Over all of this transition, it's been so apparent how God has weaved Himself in every decision I've had to make regarding my job this year.  There is no doubt in my mind that He was in control the whole time - I just had to get in the back seat and watch Him drive! 

Health-wise, I've been having heightened anxiety attacks within the last seven months.  I guess I don't take change very well? They've now been becoming farther and few between, but I've learned how to control them with the help of God and essential oils ;) 

Well, the question has started to pop up more...."when are you guys moving back to the states?" I will state that Brian and I are content with where we are as of right now this very moment.  However, Brian has been getting more calls from the US Army, and seems that if he does not move back to fulfill his contract within the next year, he may lose his contract altogether.  With that being said, we will probably be leaving the Dominican Republic some time in the year 2014 - hopeful to move to Grand Rapids, Michigan!  Stay tuned for more information.

Please pray for direction and God's provision for our future.  We'd really appreciate it!

Thank you for reading! Be blessed today :) 

-Jessica

drained.

You ever have those days where there is absolutely NO motivation to do anything, it's just hard to wake up in the morning to go to work, and you feel completely emotionally/ spiritually/ physically drained of LIFE???? 

I would love to say right now that things are great with my job. As far as I recall, I believe I wrote a blog last year around this time about last school year being incredibly difficult for several different reasons, but I felt God leading me to teach there again.  Well, I can't say anything has changed..

...for the better. 

Things right now are so----eh.  Sometimes the only thing that gets me through a day of work is a cute note on the chalkboard from a student. That little bit of hope to finish the day.  That gentle push to a happier place when daily frustrations arise.  Gosh it's so nice when that happens. 

I just found out I'm allergic to 167 types of food, which is what had been causing my daily headaches and stomach aches for many years.  

I'm tired. I'm grumpy. I'm stressed. I'm negative. I'm done (my favorite phrase lately). 

And what blows my mind everytime,

what brings me to my knees,

something I don't think about enough,

(uummm....reality check?)

Who am I to be feeling this way? 

Who am I to think I can do this on my own?

Who am I to think I can change this world by myself? 

Who am I to be motivated to do well only by what others encourage me to do?

I am alive today.

My heart continues to beat.

I got the chance to wake up this morning.

I have no right to take on God's tasks [in which I know I will fail].  This is impossible.. to be God, I mean. I've started living by the phrase,"if you want something done right , you have to do it yourself." NO! The reality of it is that if you want something done right, give it to God. Like, for real give it to God. He'll handle it. 

Isaiah 41:10 says, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

But why is this so hard to believe sometimes?

I need prayer. Continuous prayer.  There are several unknowns about the summer and next school year for me. Please pray for the future for not only me, but my husband Brian as well.  Who knows what's in store for us, but please pray that our journey is all on God's timing, along with His encouragement, and that we take our lives and throw it up to God to bounce us around wherever He wants. 

don't wash your passport...

Well, we're married. Legally.  

First time on a plane together!

As many of you know, Brian and I decided to have our wedding here in the Dominican Republic on March 23.  Unfortunately, to make our marriage legal in the United States that would proceed to be a lot of paper work to deal with, so we decided to fly to Miami to get legally married instead.  

On January 18, 2013 we flew to Miami on standby (thanks to my wonderful new flight attendant mother-in-law!), went to the court house in South Beach, and got married.  The whole process took about 2 hours, and went surprisingly very smoothly! 

Waiting in the ghetto courthouse room

Married! (I left my cardigan on...balls.) 

Loving our new "fake" wedding bands! (The real gold ones will come at our wedding) 

Besos!

My new mother-in-law :) 

We then spent the rest of the weekend in Miami, soaking up the sun, going to the mall, and loving AMERICA! 

First married dinner

On Miami Beach :)

A HUGE GRANDE thank you to Brian's mom, Karen!! This couldn't have happened without you!!!! :):):):)


...Oh wait I'm not finished...

To finish the story we have to go back a few months, where Brian accidentally washed his passport by leaving it in a pants pocket.  I had a feeling that would come back to haunt us later, but coming back into the US wasn't a problem when we flew into Miami.  The guys at immigration actually laughed about it.  So, Tuesday finally rolls around after our long weekend was over.  We were due to be headed back to the Dominican later that afternoon.  

It all started at check-in. 

The first person we went to to check us in for our flight at the airport took one look at Brian's passport and said, "uummmm, no. I can't accept this."
The second person said, "well, you can try to get through security, but once you get to the country you could be detained and sent back to the US." 
The third person wouldnt even let us go through security.  

Panic started to hit, but with the help of a nice airline agent she told us it would only take a day to get a new copy of a passport since he was an American citizen.  
alright, that's fine then. 

Since I had to go to work the next day, I left Brian behind to fly back to the Dominican.  Little did I know it would be a little more than a day that I would see him next.  

Soon after I got home, Brian figured out he needed an appointment to get his passport copy.  The only problem was that the next appointment was for a week later.  So, even though he called every 20 minutes to see if an appointment was canceled, nothing worked.  Meanwhile, I was stuck by myself, a newly married woman, separated from my new husband for a week and on the verge of a mental breakdown every day (which also included me taking care of our HUGE crazy dog by myself....enough said.) 

Fortunately, by the grace of God, everything went smoothly when he DID receive his new passport, and flew back safely - exactly a week later.  The whole situation could have definitely been worse, and I'm so grateful he came back okay, safe and sound :) 



Thanks for all your prayers during all of this! They were so very much appreciated!

'Tis the Season!

After school ended for Christmas break things slowed down... 



waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay 



d
            o
                          w
                                        n. 



I spent my mornings sleeping in, waiting for Brian to get off work, and making life simple again.  I wasn't going to leave for Hawaii until December 28th, so I spent Christmas day with, first, Brian and the guys house at CMA in the morning.  Then, in the afternoon I went to Melissa's house for a cookout with her, her parents, and fiance Carlos.  We had EXCELLENT chuleta (pork chops) on the gril. OH. MY. GOODNESS they were so good! Melissa and I got engaged around the same time, so we of course had to take a picture of our fabulous rings :) 

The next day, the 26th, was the reason I stayed in the DR till the 28th...Melissa's wedding! We got our hair and makeup done - dOmInIcAn style - que chulo! 
We were basically dominican barbies...

Her and Carlos looked so great, and we had a great time! Definitely had a great time at her big, fat, dominican wedding (as she calls it) ;)

The 28th of December I flew on three planes, and 18 hours later landed in Honolulu.  It was super weird to be home at this time of year, let alone for only about 12 days.  But who knows when i'll be in Hawaii again? 
In one word, here's what I did while I home...

SHOP.


Every single day, except new years. For what? Pretty much all wedding stuff. At least now I can say I'm prepared for my big day! 

New Years Eve was uneventful. I fell asleep at 7pm, woke up at 11:59, said "happy new year," and went to bed. stupid jet lag.... or maybe i'm just old? 

In between shopping, I was in desperate need for the beach. The stupid rain kept me from my tanning crave, so I just went anyway.  Luckily, there were some patches of sun up there somewhere. 


The Saturday before I left, my mom threw me a bridal shower.  It was so great to see some old friends, make some new ones, and just celebrate getting married with people that have known me for a very long time! I'm really not used to having all the attention centered on me, but it wasn't all that bad after a while ;) 

Then I had to say goodbye :( Not as many tears at the airport like normal, but it was still hard to say goodbye.  At least I'll see my family again in two months!!! :):):):)

teeny tiny update

First of all, my sincerest apologies. Not even a small update since September? I am so sorry about my neglect of updating my blog.  So much has happened this school year so far - definitely a year of change! Here it is in a nutshell ---

I house sat for a family for the month of September, and took care of their dog.  It was a great, relaxing time...after school, at least.  This month as well, I was one of the administrators of JCS, as well as third grade teacher.  It was completely overwhelming and very stressful!  Thank goodness God did not see me fit for this role, and soon brought my best friend Melissa back to JCS to teach and fill in for my administration role.  

In October, I not only (gladly) stepped down from my administration part of my job at JCS, but I got the opportunity to move out of my house onto the Caribbean Mountain Academy campus, where Brian works/lives.  I moved into the house that we would eventually live in together.  It's very cute! Soon afterwards, Brian and I got a dog together - a purebred German shepherd named Luna.  She's super cute! Although she doesn't live with me yet, I still see her a lot :) 

November and December seem like a blur..everything just seems to blend together.  Brian and I went to the beach for Thanksgiving, we had our Christmas program at JCS, things were crazy CraZy, CRAZy!!!!! 

Things are now settling down, kind of, and wedding planning is now at FULL FORCE! 

Updates on Hawaii and Miami shortly :)