Oh Christmas Tree & Winter Wonderland

I meant to include this one with our Thanksgiving pictures. My first turkey to cook! Wahoo!

Here's Greg cleaning off our car this evening. We have gorgeous snow today in Boston! I had fun walking home from work in my boots...maybe a little too much fun for a grown-up actually. ;)Here's our first ever real Christmas tree! We LOVE it, and we had so much fun picking and decorating it. Andrew & Angie came over to help decorate last Saturday.

Here's our little Ayse curled up under the tree. We find her here often, though not always looking so innocent.

We're off to Erie, PA in a few hours! Can't wait for the early Christmas celebration with Dad, Mom, Drew, & Carrie. It will be a cherished time!

Missing you

As the holiday season is underway here in the States, I thought I would take a moment to let some friends overseas know that they are deeply missed...and often thought of and prayed for...

Kaela, Jennifer, Dawn, Gina, Ecehan, Nuriye, Eylem, Derya, Elizabeth, Amy, Zeynep, Canan, Sibel...

I miss you, dear friends, and wish I could hop over to your country and hug your necks (or kiss your cheeks)!

Hosting Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving to host. I admit that it was a ton of work, but it was also as much if not more fun than I expected it to be. Greg was a marvelous host, leading socially and spiritually and lending a hand with food and set-up as needed. And though the food was delicious, the company made the day. Greg and I were blessed to have the following family and friends in our home for Thanksgiving this year: Andrew & Angie Bryan (brother-in-law and sister), Mike & Joyce Cole, Michelle Cole, Ryan & Janine WIlkinson, and guest appearances by Dan & Ann Brown.

After dinner, Greg led us in a time of reflection on our gratitude to God over the last year. Included were two new marriages, three successful cross-country moves and one international move, God's leadership in job and school changes, two promotions, a church home, community and friendship, stretching circumstances resulting in great character refinement, and God's abundant grace to all of us. I'm sure I am missing some, but those stand out it my mind. It was a special time of worship as we gave thanks to our Creator and Sustainer for his faithfulness every morning.

Andrew took some great pictures, so I've included a few below. I can't wait for next year!

A Promotion & a Celebration

Greg and I had a reason to celebrate tonight - I got a promotion at work! It's been in the works for almost a month now, but it became official this afternoon. In two weeks, I will be moving to a new position in Tufts Career Services -- that of Recruiting Coordinator. I am excited about this position for many reasons. One, it is evidence of how God does abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine. When I took the position of administrative assistant in Tufts Career Services after moving to Boston, I had no idea that He would be making a way for me to step into a more specialized field (college recruiting). I feel like He has turned another page for me to read in the book He has written of my life. Two, I am excited to work with a new team in my office, two colleagues I highly respect both professionally and personally, Robin & Steve. I look forward to deepening friendships with these two and my other amazing co-workers. And three (because Greg's telling me it's time for bed and I must wrap this up), I'm excited about the work. Working with the two ladies who have held this position prior to me, I've been privileged to learn much of the ins and outs of this position from them. (Thanks Jennifer & Liz!) I look forward to being a liason between employers and Tufts students and hopefully helping point some kids in the right direction in the process.

Okay, so Greg picked me up from work today, and we headed out to celebrate at TEXAS ROADHOUSE! IT WAS DELICIOUS! Funny story though. We haven't been there for quite a while, and we kind of messed up on our order. I was telling the waitress that we'd split the largest Dallas Filet, "What, is that, the 16 ounce?" Kim says. "Yep," our peppy waitress chimes. The steak comes out, and Greg and I stare wide-eyed in amazement at the huge steak. The funny thing is it's not until we get the bill and see that we bought a $30 steak that we realize we usually get the 8 ounce! Ouch! So, knowing that, here are some pictures from our celebratory dinner.

This is me, excited about the delicious rolls and cinnamon butter. Oh, and the promotion too.

Here's Greg mauwing down on the grub.

And here's how we felt after eating 16 ounces of filet, a sidekick of ribs, a ceasar salad, baked potato, and an average of 3.5 rolls each (with yummy cinnamon butter).
Just kidding. We brought half of it home. ;)

Saturday morning

I'm having one of those Saturday mornings that I love! I'm currently sitting bundled (it's a little chilly in here) cross-legged at our table in the kitchen typing away on our beloved Mac while Greg's playing and singing one of my favorite songs - Marvelous Light. I got to sleep in this morning and woke up in a great mood! I've spent the past two hours procrastinating what needs to be done by looking at emails, facebook, and blogs. How fun! I even added labels to our posts - finally! I keep asking Greg when he's going to start writing on our blog (I know our readership will triple with all his deep and witty thoughts). Today he said, "I could blog about everything I have to do today." Okay, so maybe he's not ready yet. But he will be soon! And then he'll be just as addicted as I am to this world of blogging.

So it's really interesting to add labels to posts. It really makes me realize that I want to add more on certain subjects - books, Turkey, spiritual thoughts, dear friends, etc. Will it happen? I don't know. We shall see.

I hope you are having (or had, depending on when you read this) a marvelous Saturday morning and are as excited as I am about the upcoming American holiday of thankfulness! I can't wait! (Oh, and it's Mom's birthay too! What a cool day Thursday will be!)

From Kitten to Cat

Okay, I promise this will be the only birthday of our cat that we actually celebrate. But for someone who doesn't have a baby, it was fun! :) Andrew & Ang came over for "Ayse's Birthday Party" tonight. We considered inviting another couple and their cat whom Ayse knows...but we decided that might be a little overboard. LOL! The humans had pumpkin pie, and Ayse was showered with gifts - her favorites thus far seem to be the cardboard box and the canned food (her first ever). No more kitten in the King household.

The hat did not stay on long...

My next plug

My next plug is for an author at our church, Dr. Jeff Brown (see picture below - nice looking fellow, eh?), who just released a book. BEFORE we went to the concert tonight, we went to a special reception held at the Harvard Faculty Club to celebrate Jeff and his book. My favorite point of the night? Getting to hold their son Grant. (I think he's 1.5? I want one just like that!) Greg's favorite part? The coffee and cheesecake and pretending he's a Harvard Professor. No, not really. We both enjoyed the opportunity to encourage and support Jeff and Carolynne and were honored they invited us to this special occasion. Check out his book - www.drjeffbrown.com - and get yourself a copy!