Sonic has arrived

The trip up, waiting in line, ordering, eating, and returning only took three hours!

And here's proof that we survived:

Welcome to the land of amazing cherry limeades and 2-4pm Sonic Happy Hours, Boston!

(Sorry to rub it in, Carrie. Just another reason for you two to move to Boston! ;)

Thankful Thursday

Hmmm, you might just see a theme this week...

I am thankful for...

1. Liz's hug today to encourage me to keep on.
   
2. Steve's phone call this afternoon to make me laugh and let go of some of the stress.
3. Dinner with Karen tonight to help me forget about work and share life with a dear sister.
4. The hope that my office will hire someone in the next couple months to take some of the load off of the rest of us!
5. The knowledge that I'll make it through this crazy month and probably look back and think, "Oh, that wasn't too bad." haha
6. Music that calms my mind and heart and focuses me on the God of Peace.
7. Sleep - and that's what I'm off to do RIGHT NOW!
   

4th Anniversary - 28 hours in NYC

Just over two months ago, we boarded a BoltBus to New York to celebrate our 4th anniversary.

We had lunch in Times Square.

We walked for hours around Central Park.

We had an incredible anniversary dinner in Hell's Kitchen -- 44&X.

Greg had a rack of lamb, and I had duck.

The bathroom at the restaurant was GORGEOUS. It had candles and roses everywhere!

We enjoyed a leisurely walk and took in the night lights on our way back to the hotel.

This is an awful picture of our hotel - the Grand Central Hyatt, but it really was amazing. What a gift!

The next morning we walked around some more.

We went down to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty and the construction at Ground Zero.

And we stopped at the Starbucks by the Empire State Building on our way back to the bus.

It was a wonderful time to just be together, enjoy the city, and celebrate four amazing years of marriage.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. The promise of a New England autumn. The oh-so-slightly cooler temperatures have given rise to great anticipation in our home. We LOVE autumn in Boston!
2. Our church's generosity to children in need. Our annual Back-to-School Festival is this Saturday, and donations this year provide both backpacks and school supplies for neighborhood children as well as water bottles for children in Istanbul. Greg and I are thrilled about the added link to Turkey this year and the awesome opportunity to bless children in Istanbul and the work of the community center with which we partner.
3. Watermelon - beautiful and delicious!
4. A husband who loves languages just as much as (okay, even more than) I do! We stayed up way too late last night after having pulled out our Turkish language books around 9pm. Greg said he had a dream last night that we were living in Istanbul! :)
   
5. How supportive and sacrificial my parents were in making it possible for me to go to Baylor. As I watched all the SUVs piled full of family and freshmen things pull into Tufts yesterday, I found myself reminiscing to move-in day my freshman year at Baylor, way back in 1999! Thanks, Dad and Mom, for going above and beyond your call (regularly) to enable me to follow the Lord where He leads me.
6. Free access to a gym around the corner; working at a university and living close by definitely has its benefits.
   
7. A much needed three day weekend!
   

Thankful Thursday

I hope you're not tired of these. I have ambitions to pull some pictures off our camera soon, but it's not going to happen today. So, on with the main attraction.

I am thankful for...

1. A much needed three day weekend. This will be my last Friday off for a while. Summer is almost over.
   
2. The strength to make it to Friday! September is going to be LONG; good, but very long.
   
3. Panera Bread's broccoli cheddar soup and fresh lemonade. Yum!
4. A good night's rest. I missed a few of those recently, and the last night I slept incredibly well was truly a sweet gift!
5. The energy and life the college students are bringing back to campus and our neighborhood as they return. I'm sure this will become annoying quite quickly (when the loud music and frat parties keep us awake), but I really do love this time when they start trickling back and stopping by to say hi. Can you believe classes don't start here until the 8th?!
6. The times my husband picks up his guitar and just plays and sings around the house for no other reason than because he loves to play.
7. These 30 days of Ramadan in which I can join with many others around the globe to pray for God to reveal Himself anew to our beloved Muslim friends.
   

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. A safe trip last weekend to visit Drew & Carrie, Greg's parents, Scott & Robin, and Paul & Sheila. (Greg was able to visit some of his college friends as well -- Bryan, Elizabeth, and Huang.)
   
2. Being able to pray in person with Paul & Shelia and Scott & Robin. How encouraging and life-giving that was!
   
3. Greg's willingness to drive the more difficult portions of the trip; that 13.5 hours coming home was sooooo long!
4. Clean clothes! Thanks, Drew & Carrie and Mike & Mary for letting us make ourselves at home with your washers and dryers.
   
5. Other brothers and sisters in Christ who stand beside us and pray in faith for us when we are lacking the faith to go it alone.
6. The White Mountains. Greg and I are hoping to squeeze in a day trip this weekend for some beautiful hiking and cooler temperatures! They're not the Rockie's, but they're still beautiful.
7. A wonderful window A/C unit which has been well worth the expense on the unbearably hot days earlier this week.
   

I know I need to add some pictures, but that's more than I can handle right now, AND I forgot our camera on our trip! Ah!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. My husband's amazing homemade smoothies. I admit they're much better for me than the chocolate malts I like to make. (But they're not quite Jamba Juice.)
   
2. A job that is cyclical. I love change, so having work responsibilities completely change every couple months is refreshing!
3. Hope that is ever constant, never failing -- grounded in the promises of my God and fulfilled through my Lord, Jesus Christ.
4. Healthy plants that truly brighten a room.
5. A few minutes to chat on the phone this afternoon with my friend Jennifer in Turkey.
6. Friends at work who make my 9-5 just that much better.
7. A car that, though it is old ('96), will (hopefully) take us to Erie, PA; Novi, MI; and Ann Arbor, MI this weekend.

(Apparently, you're supposed to write seven, not ten. ;)