the rich coast in fotos

don't tell my prof... I'm sitting in my MGMT class. it's so boring that I have resorted to updating the blog. that and I'm totally experiencing senoritis like I never have before. that and pinterest is updating their website so I can't pin anything. that and no one is on g-chat. ya. it's that bad.

anyways... here is the long overdue post of that one time we went to Costa Rica. (remember that one time when we went on an awesome vaca with the Blessings in March?) **please avoid looking at your calendars at this point in order to prove me "long overdue" by noting that the month of April is almost over** thanks.

 check out the hubs. he was excited to finally be in Costa Rica after a long day of travel. 

Chester provided endless entertainment. (don't tell him that's the only reason we brought him.)

One of the pools, complete with a swim up bar. We spent probably 70% of our time by the water... with a book and cold drink in hand. Now that's what I call a vaca!

fun mountain view from the resort. 

We went to the top of our resort one night to watch the sunset. 

View from one of the restaurants at the resort. 

 

One day we traveled to the National Park and hiked. This was on of my favorite days. Costa Rica is so beautiful and I loved being able to just explore and experience the forest. Jen officially gets the "Most Active Pregnant Lady" award. She was a rockstar! The hike took about 2.5 hours, one way!

Jen and I on a hanging bridge over water. So fun! 

We found one patch of monkeys. It was crazy to see them playing with each other and living in their natural habitat. 

They also had crazy big trees!

The final destination of our hike. An awesome waterfall! 

It was gorgeous! 

...and such a treat to swim in after the long, hot hike!

Will and Chester were brave and ventured behind the waterfall!

Will jumping. 

and chester. 

Things not pictured because we were having too fun (and mostly because I'm really bad about taking pictures)

• Jen and I got massages on the beach
• Will and I did a zip-lining excursion through the jungle and over this crazy gorge-thingy

• We went to another local beach for the day and hung out with all the locals. We even saw a pirate ship!
• We ate lots of yummy coconut ice cream! (couldn't get enough)
• We slept a lot...
• I won the award of "Reading Robot!" Literally- I read all the time! I went through 4 books! 
• Nurture
• One Thousand Gifts
• Hiding Place
• Tramp for the Lord
• We enjoyed our time without internet! 
• We perfected our ghosting skills. 

I'm sure I'm missing something, but you can take my word for it- we had a great time! Definitely a successful vacation/baby-moon.  Love ya Blessings! 

...oop. perfect timing! gotta go. class is over! :)

the good news

lent.

nope. not the stuff that you find in your belly button. not even the stuff that you find in your dryer after a fresh load of clothes.

lent.

 a season of preparation. expectation of redemption. hope for new life.

"The tradition of Lent- a forty-day sacrifice-is one way of mourning the death that sin has caused in our lives. As we see Jesus perfectly withstand Satan's temptation in the wilderness, we admit our own shortcomings, our own inadequate sacrifices. This period of "giving up" has a profound way of recalling our desperate need for Jesus Christ." - from Devotions for Lent, Mosaic Holy Bible

I have really loved reflecting on the weight of the gospel this season.

A Gospel Primer for Christians has been a huge blessing! It is basically the gospel spelled out in tons of different ways, perspectives over and over...all based on scripture. I have really cherished going though it slowly and really taking in the weighty-ness of the words, and meditating on the scriptures it refers to. It also teaches how necessary it is for us to preach the gospel to ourselves...everyday.

It holds such gems:

"The deeper I go into the gospel, the more I comprehend and confess aloud the depth of my sinfulness. A gruesome death like the one that Christ endured for me would only be required for one who is exceedingly sinful and unable to appease a holy God. Consequently, whenever I consider the necessity and manner of His death, along with the love and selflessness behind it, I am laid bare and utterly exposed for the sinner I am. Such an awareness of my sinfulness does not drag me down, but actually serves to lift me up by magnifying my appreciation of God's forgiving grace in my life. And the more I appreciate the magnitude of God's forgiveness of my sins, the more I love Him and delight to show Him love through heart-felt expressions of worship."

and my favorite so far (worth the long read!!):

"Viewing life's blessings as water in a drinking cup, I know that I could discontentedly focus on the half of the cup that seems empty, or I could gratefully focus on the half that is full. Certainly, the latter approach is the better of the two, yet the gospel cultivates within me a richer gratitude than this.

The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude. If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that other wise empty cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me. That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of "every spiritual blessing in Christ," and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy. As for my specific earthly circumstances of plenty or want, I can see them always as infinite improvements on the hell I deserve.

When I look at any circumstance that God apportions me, I am first grateful for the wrath I am not receiving in that moment. (The empty part of the cup never looked so good!) Second, I am grateful for the blessings that are given to me instead of His wrath. (Life's blessing, however small, always appear exceedingly precious when viewed against the backdrop of the wrath I deserve.) This two-layered gratitude disposes my heart to give thanks in all thing and it also lends a certain intensity to my giving of thanks. Such a gospel-generated gratitude glorifies God, contributes to peace of mind, and keeps my foot from the path of foolishness and ruin."

good stuff!

More gospel goodness:

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.


Ok one last thing... sort of on the subject of books and grateful hearts.
I read One Thousand Gifts while in Costa Rica...

o. ya. Will and I went to Costa Rica! (update with pics to come!)

...and it was such a good book! It is basically Ann Voskamp's story and her journey to discovering eucharisto and finding joy and thankfulness in her life. She is a gifted writer and I ate. it. up! You should check out her blog too!

ok. that's all for now. more to come!

ketchup

no this is not a post about condiments.

this was my attempt to play off the fact that I haven't posted in a while. So heres some quick ketchup for you.

Will's brother, Ben and his wife, Jordan came into town 2 weekends ago to hang out with the family. It was a really great time to spend with them before Ben deployed for Iraq and Jordan headed back to New York.

It was also Will's dad's birthday. So of course, we had to celebrate with a family golf outing!

happy birthday!

the cute couple

my golf-pro husband (he really is getting good!)

I was probably teasing Ben

isn't he cute?

speaking of birthdays...

I feel as thought I need to do another huge b-day shout out!! (told you this was catch up!)

Noelle!!

such an old picture! back in the day!
The Peters & Agnors at Christmas

Ashley!!

sweet friend!!

beautiful bridesmaids: jenn, ash, april, megan, michelle

Jada!

at Jada's 1st dance recital in May

jada the butterfly- at her 4th birthday party

Chester!

Chester & his hot wife at the wedding... sweet dance moves!

Happy Belated Birthday friends!

Biggest loser started on Tuesday.

so great. so excited. tuesday nights. watch it.

onto other news....

I went garage sale shopping with my wonderful Grandma Smith. she is garage sale queen. I have so much to learn from her. She walked away from the morning with a stash of wonderful treasures. The first sale of the morning, I picked out 2 good books I found and walked to the check out to pay for them. The sweet lady told me they were free because they were "jesus books." saweet.

Later, I found this classic:

do you remember reading this? anyone? I picked it up and laughed out loud. How could I forget about "Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo"??? When my teacher read this to us, I would say the name aloud as fast as I could with her. So I bought it, (actually dad gave me the quarter) and proceeded to take it home to read to Will.

We laughed at how racist this book is. really. it's a folklore tale about why the Chinese name their kids with short names. how did I miss that as a kid?

and it's got some weird stuff in it that I'm not sure I will ever want me kids to read... like the idea that the mom values the firstborn way more than the second child, and references to evil spirits bewitching tongues and an old man "finding his youth again" in a dream. weird.

anyways, it was worth a good laugh and a glance down memory lane.

at the last stop I found this:

yummy! I've been debating on getting a tea maker or not. you can make tea without one... but its easy with this contraption. its about $20 at target and I bought it for $5, brand new, in the box, complete with card from the wedding! can't beat that!

ok, I've officially made the most random blog post...

tonight: date night with my wonderful husband. we are going to a dinner that my sweet friend, April, is hosting to raise money for her journey on the world race. The food is going to be AWESOME and the fellowship: even better. To find out more about her story and how to support her, here. and for your viewing pleasure:

Pictures from tonight to come...

hope everyone is having a great weekend!