Team Espinoza

Happy New Year! 

Some of you have heard of Beth Moore. She does a ton of amazing womens’ Christian studies. Did you know she has a blog?

Beth Moore is a huge supporter of marriage and is honest about the hard work it takes to keep it going. Today was her and her husband’s twenty-ninth wedding anniversary. She blogged about the day and gave some practical advice on marriage. Check out her blog post, “Twenty-Nine Years”.

Our grocery list last night:

milk
bread
eggs
brownie mix
vanilla ice cream
vegetable oil (for the brownies)
chocolate sauce
avocado (for Ace)
freezer bags
cinnamon rolls

Now that the holidays and our trip are over, it is time to get back to healthier eating habits. We ate buffet every day for lunch in the Philippines. There were four church services in one day in the Philippines and we had to eat buffet at all of them. I can still eat more pancit, though. The stuff is addicting.

So this weekend we are enjoying our last few days of sugar freedom. Bring on the brownie ala mode and cinnamon rolls!

Do you set goals each year?

Daniel and I did last year. We met some of them and failed on others. On Tuesday, Daniel and I are dropping Annabelle off at the grandparents so we can go out and have our Family 2008 meeting. We discuss our family and personal goals for the next year. We try to make a goal in each category – physical, spiritual, family, travel, career and personal development. We also list out all the big item purchases we want to make (furniture, travel, home repairs, etc.) and then prioritize them.

It is fun to write down our goals and see what we accomplished the next year. Most of our friends know we are goal setters. We set a goal and then break down how to accomplish it. It’s fun for us.

I’ve been making my list of goals and items to talk about. I can’t wait.

You Will Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

You planning on making a resolution that’s smart, attainable, and perfect for where your life is.

Daniel, Annabelle, and I are getting back into the swing of our comfy routine here at home. Every time I walk into my house after being gone a while, it reminds me how much I love it. When you are at your house almost all day, every day, you take it for granted. I love coming back home after a long trip. My bed and pillows feel great again.

There is not much to report on. We had a quiet raucous Christmas at Daniel’s parents. We arrived at Daniel’s parents house just in time for lunch. We slept in until 11:00 a.m.! We knew that this would be our last Christmas to sleep in. Annabelle didn’t even a chance to open her gift at home. In fact, she still hasn’t opened it! It is still wrapped under the tree.

Annabelle is doing so much better now that she is back at home. She is almost sleeping through the night again and is taking several naps. She is getting more fun everyday, now that she makes different noises, sits up on her own, and laughs out loud. She is so much fun.

Matthew 1:21

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

I was thinking about what I could do for God this Christmas, what I could give Him, or something that would be personal to Him. Not just a prayer asking for something, but a prayer that would touch His heart. As I was thinking about this, I thought about why God created me. He created me, because He wants me to hang out with Him. He sent His Son to save me from my sins, so I could be together with Him. My sin separates me from God, but through Jesus’ death for my sins, I can be with God.

I had the answer to my questions. God wants me to be with Him. That is all He wants. He doesn’t want beautifully sung songs. He doesn’t want me to do anything. He wants me to be like Mary and sit at His feet and enjoy who He is. My prayer became that I would remain in His presence as I go through Christmas. That I would always be mindful of Him as I go throughout my day. The greatest gift He has given me is the availability to be in the Creator of the Universe’s presence, through His Son Jesus. I couldn’t ask for a better gift.

Now we are off to Houston tonight for three days to visit my family. The drive is about 4 hours. Hopefully, Annabelle will sleep in the car and at the hotel. This will be her third time at a hotel and she shouldn’t have any problems there.

We are still walking around in a fog, but I am seeing little rays of sunshine passing through.

I will write a post about the trip soon. Its hard to process everything without balling. I started crying in my hairdresser’s chair yesterday while I described what God had shown me through the trip. I promise a post will come soon. Right now, we have shift gears and do Christmas.

One way that Daniel helped prepare me for Christmas was by surprising me with a Christmas tree when we arrived late Tuesday night! During our trip Daniel had our friends, Pete and Rachel, buy and set up a Christmas tree complete with lights and ornaments. I love it and was completely surprised. He knew I wanted one, but didn’t have the time to get it done. Daniel wanted Annabelle to have a Christmas tree her first Christmas. She loves it too!

Back to the Philippines, I posted a few pictures on Flickr if you want to see more.

For those of you in San Antonio we will be having a sharing night at our church on January 8th at 7:00 p.m. We will have desserts and refreshments. The team will tell stories, show pictures, and video of the amazing things that happened during the trip. I hope to see you there!

Side note about our site, Everyday Annabelle has resumed operation. I think I have a photo of Ace from everyday of the trip, except the 9th. We skipped the day while flying to Hong Kong and crossed the International Date Line. Next week I will update her gallery with some trip photos and let you know when it is updated.

We’ve returned home, but somehow our bodies feel like they are still 14 hours ahead.  Jet lag’s always a trip and even more so with a 7 month old.  Ace woke up at 2:00 a.m. and was very happy to show us how loud she could happy scream, this being her new trick and all.

We weren’t able to go back to sleep, so what did we do?  Finished watching ‘Live Free, or Die Hard’ with a bowl of cereal.  We also decided we have the best friends – Pete and Rachel brought us dinner and listened to our stories while looking through 4GB of photos, and after picking us up from the airport JD got us cereal and milk.