What happened to January?

I guess February begins tomorrow (in Korea) so that begs the question, "what happened to January?!?"  Apparently a lot because I haven't blogged much!  Truth be told, I haven't taken many pictures either.

So what did January hold for us?  Let me look back over my calendar (thanks Grandma Hope!) and remember.... Steve ended 2011 on a ski trip with the youth group.

 He arrived home in time to change clothes, eat dinner with us (Side note: I made tacos, homemade tortillas, salsa, shredded pork and all! We - meaning I - was on a big high because we found cilantro in the market. Unless you've lived outside of the US you just can't appreciate what it is like to go to the store and not know what you will find there for dinner. Takes meal planning to a whole new level and it makes finding things really exciting!),

 and run off to our Church's combined English/Korean late night service. Caleb and I went to bed early and I woke up in the morning to a text message "kiss kiss" somewhere around midnight.  New Year's Day was a Sunday so we went to Church as usual and then had a small group ("Community Life Group" as our church calls it) party.  We had a new couple join us (Tim and Danielle, they have 2 girls and a baby on the way).

We also had a "late Christmas" party with the youth.  We decorated and had a fun time hanging out.

I made some revisions and changes in our Church Nursery (I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I took on the nursery for our church this past spring?) and that kept me busy the first part of January, along with recruiting volunteers and organizing the 2012 schedule.

The second week of January Steve left for a pastor's retreat.  Guess what they did? They went skiing! At the same resort he had gone to with the youth.  But he had a good time and enjoyed his time with Pastor Chapman.

If you haven't picked up on all our cheesy "peace" signs, Korea is big on the "peace" sign in pictures so all of us foreigners have picked up on it for a classic Korean look.

While he was gone, I had one of the girls from the youth group over and we baked hundreds of cookies (or so it felt) and had a good time bonding and digging into life together.

Steve and I went to see Sherlock Holmes in theater.  This was momentous because it was the first movie I had been to in theaters since I was 8 months pregnant with Caleb when we went to see The Blindside.  Almost 2 years exactly since I'd been to the movies with my sweetheart.  It was about time.  To our regret, Steve and I haven't been exactly good at dating since we moved to Korea.  In part it is because finding a free sitter isn't easy, in part because we haven't wanted to spend the extra money, in part because we are busy and in part because we haven't made it the priority we should. We are trying to work on it.

Gail and I started our Childbirth Education classes  that I  mentioned previously on weekends in January and planning/executing that has taken a good chunk of time up (especially on weekends!).

Our Logo

Caleb and I got really sick for a good week or so mid January (which I've also posted about) but was no fun at all.  We ended up missing the annual church sledding trip, which was a bummer.  It seems Steve might have it now, he has been yuckie the past few days.

We received a lot of oatmeal from family back home in our Christmas boxes (which we were thrilled about and have almost completely devoured, I've been savoring the last half a canister that we have left - the rest is gone).  Caleb especially enjoyed it, if you can't tell by his facial expression below

We've also done a lot of puzzles and books this month, he seems to really enjoy both - a lot.  Some of his favorites right now are "Giving my Heart to God," "The Berenstain Bear's Too Much Camping," "Dog and Bear," "Bee-Bim-Bop," "Cars," and the Bible story about Simeon and Anna.  Dad has also started reading to him from "Kingdom Dawn" before bed (when he is home to put him to bed). It's a chapter book with no pictures that we intended to bore him to sleep.  Turns out he recalls what dad read to him when he wakes up so he must be semi following it.  Either way, he loves when dad reads to him "Kingdom Dawn!" (said in an awed voice) and he is full of talking about going on "quests for mama."

Found him reading in the corner

We have also spent significant time watching high school basketball games.  It's been a lot of fun and something all 3 of us enjoy doing together.  Go ICS!  Go Osan! It's been a great way to connect with students and support the local schools.

This month I have been reading "Secrets of the Toddler Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg, "Heart and Hands Midwifery" (a textbook) and "1,000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  Steve has been reading "Almost Christian" by Kendra Dean and "Stepping Up" by Dennis Rainey and we've been growing together in all sorts of ways!

The Lord continues to bring us back to the idea of adoption and it is heavy on our hearts right now.  We covet your prayers in this.  We don't wrestle with the idea lightly, knowing adoption journeys can be fraught with much joy and also much heartache.  We want to follow the Lord in faith and also have wisdom and discernment.

As we end 2011 and begin 2012, as January comes and goes, I am struck again with the quickly fleeting time we are given and how easily it passes.  One big area of my life I am working on this year is being intentional and purposeful with the time I am given - it is hard to do, given how many things (many of them GOOD!) clutter and fill our days and weeks.  But it is so easy to let the time slide right by and continue doing the "same old, same old."  Without intention, a week, a year, a decade can pass me up and what do I have to show for  it?  Is it something lasting or something trivial?  Is it lasting or passing?