Christmas Time Is Here

Yes, I am referencing the ever-famous tune from "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I LOVE Christmas! I enjoy the lights, the snow (for a period of time), and the opportunity to spend time with people I love.

Today begins what I have entitled "Christmas Extravaganza 2010". We begin today at my in-laws for brunch and what hopes to be a gift opening PAAARRRR-TAY! Woot! Presents aside, I really like spending time with them - they are down-to-earth and just like to have fun and celebrate with loved ones. Tomorrow is the Hren version. I always like going back to my childhood home and reliving those awesome Christmas mornings growing up. This time I get to go back with my wife and live it up even more. I love my family!

As for an opportunity to celebrate, just Jennifer and I, we may open a gift here sometime early next week, but our fun lies in JAMAICA! I am soooo ready to escape to warm temps, and lots of sun. WOOO HOOO! I am also pumped because this is my first overseas trip and I can't wait to experience that. We will take a present or two to open (that is, if TSA doesn't open it for us - sheesh!) and enjoy lots of down time, just the two of us. Obviously this will not be an annual tradition, but one that we will remember, I'm sure.

Despite getting away this time of year, we still put up a Christmas tree. Albeit a SMALL tree, it is a beautiful tree. It kind of reminds of Charlie Brown's tree - small and kind of wimpy, but still a work of art. Memories were made decorating it, and we savor every one of them.

Merry Christmas everyone! Remember to tell your family and friends you love them, and share God's love with those around you.

Until 2011,

Josh

Final Thoughts

Dear 20's:

Hello once again! As we prepare to part ways in a few hours, I felt like I should tell you how I feel about you. We've been together now for 10 years, and I've gotten so comfortable around you that I sometimes took you for granted. Yet, you still remained with me.

Now as I prepare to meet 30's, I can't help but remember all that we've been through together. It's been a pretty up and down ride, full of twists, turns, and sometimes some free-fall moments. There have been some huge milestones: 3 college graduations, marriage, weight loss (then gain and lose again), and some faith tests along the way. I grew up with you. When I started this journey with you, I was naive, childish, and carefree. Nowadays, I have experience, memories, and have grown up A LOT!! This has been a decade of change. Nevertheless, I always could count on you to remain constant. You were there.

In a couple hours you and I must part ways, never to meet again except in fond remembrances. I'll be embarking on a new journey, full of new memories and surprises. Don't worry - you'll always be a part of me, and I will miss you terribly. 30's will be good to me (so I'm told), so I'm looking forward to making a new friend.

To the many, many memories, trials, and high points,

Josh

Oh, by the way...

See what the Hren's are up to these days. Check out our joint blog: The Hren's Nest. It's great!

In Transition

Hello dear readers! It's been a while, hasn't it?

As the title clearly states, I'm (also meaning we're) transitioning into a lot of new things lately. Of course, marriage in and of itself is a MAJOR transition, but we are enjoying the ride and so far have done a pretty good job adjusting to it. Woo hoo! As with any marriage, there are growing pains, but it is good for us and it is teaching us a lot in the way of patience, selflessness, and agape love.

Also going on is that Jen has taken a position at my school as an instructional assistant. Also a big woo hoo!! It was an answer to prayer, as her now part-time, soon-to-be gone position is ending in October. The perks keep adding up, such as being able to ride together to and from work each day, seeing each other in the hall every so often, and getting a MAJOR discount on health insurance. We know that it is God who has provided for us and is blessing us each day.

The third transition we are going through is that of considering a change of address. I know - I JUST changed addresses a couple months ago, but with both of us now in Goshen, it doesn't make sense to keep living in DTSB, no matter how much we love it. So far, we haven't found anything comparable to what we have now in the rent range we would like to pay. It is frustrating at times to not see any clear option, but we know that with patience God will provide again. The patience is really the hard part - we know He's got the perfect place for us.

With another significant milestone around the corner for me (can we say 3-0?? YIKES!), we know that no matter what turns and twists life takes for us, we can trust God to get us through it all. What a ride we're on!

Until next time, all!

J

Monday Mania!

A couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure. I hope you get a chuckle of of my weirdness. I sure did. Enjoy!

My How Time Flies!

As I sit here, listening to the sound of rain and with a quiet house around me, my mind begins to wonder about all that has happened (and will be happening) recently. Today is officially the 1 month mark since I married the love of my life, Jennifer! I can't believe it! It seems like it was maybe a couple weeks ago, but yes, it HAS been a month. I've got the calendar to prove it! :) Being married to Jennifer has opened my eyes to a lot. For example, there has always been the head knowledge of how Christian marriage is a way to glimpse the love of God toward us, but now I truly think I can begin to grasp it in my heart. Obviously, we won't know that full scale and depth of that love until Heaven, but there are times when words are useless (or just not there) to convey my love for my wife. I just have to sit in awe of this. It has also deepened my love for God and my thankfulness towards Him for all his mercies and love that we don't even deserve.

She is so good to me. I LOVE MY WIFE!!



In other news...the other big "time flies" moment is that, once again, school is starting in a week! Yes, I knew it was coming, but man how I will MISS my summer break. Tears will be shed. Fetal position will be obtained. ;) Every year, I find that I have mixed emotions about the beginning of school. On one hand, I am very excited to begin anew and fresh with kids, hoping for great learning moments and fun times with the students. I especially am excited to meet my incoming 6th grade students, who are experiencing middle school for the first time. It shall be interesting. On the other hand, I feel like I could always use just a BIT more break. I savor my free time and try to recoup my strength (mental, emotional, physical) to deal with the up's and down's of middle school students. This year, I am really trying harder than ever to see my work not only as a paycheck, as a profession, but also as a mission field. I truly believe that God has put me here and that I should show God's love to these wonderful, frustrating teens, even when it is REALLY hard to do. This excites me and hopefully will make my teaching and their learning all the better. Mold me, LORD... Until next time!

Dave Ramsey and I

As the title of this blog indicates, we are BIG fans of Dave Ramsey and his advice regarding debt and all things financial. Jen and I took the course in 2009 (Oct. - Dec.) and are putting his advice into practice, such as:

* Living at Navarre St. in South Bend - even though it's farther away from work for me, it is yielding better rent than we can find anywhere else. This allows us to save some money towards other obligations.

* Sale shopping & coupons - we take the opportunity to look for the best deals on things (groceries, eating out, items for the apartment) and use any and all coupons we can. Sometimes that forces us to go places that we might not regularly shop, but at least it saves a bit o' cash. :)

* No new credit cards! - I was a big believer in the power of credit and it got me into nothing but TROUBLE! Are credit cards bad? I leave that to you to decide but doesn't work for me.

* Debt snowballing - this is a DR term, which just means we start paying gung-ho on the smallest debt we have until it is paid off. Then that money that was used is focused on the next smallest debt and so on. You are still paying on all your debts, but the focus is on one at a time.

These are just a few of the ways we have begun our debt-free marriage. Even our wedding was debt-free, which was (and is) such an awesome feeling! Has it been easy...not really, but it is really easy to say goodbye to having to pay a given bill or two. And yes, it has forced me to come out of my old habits and comforts to think more frugally. We are also encouraged by the recent development of Jen's brother and sister-in-law becoming completely debt-free, even paying their house off in one year!!!

Sooo....all this to say that today, Jennifer and I paid off not one, but TWO CREDIT CARDS!! It was so awesome to write that check and do that last online payment. Such a burden has been lifted!

Someday WE will get to yell "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!" What a great feeling!

Car Repairs - The Saga

Greetings!

Well...I just want to say that I HATE car repairs. I hate them with a passion that burns deep within me. Not only are they expensive as all get out, they also inconvenience the driver and force a change in routine, plans, budget, etc. Don't get me wrong - if something is wrong with my poor Coby (my car...that's his name), then I want them fixed. The last thing that I want to happen is some day when I'm driving my daily commute to work via the US-20 bypass that I end up stuck on the side of the road like some poor schmuck. That would NOT be pleasant and I fear for the person that finds me. I think the deepest root of my hatred is that dealerships STRETCH the truth of what actually needs fixed and what could be fixed, but isn't a true problem, followed by an astronomically expanded cost to each repair. Why?? I know they want to make a buck - hey, this is America - but it REALLY costs THAT much to bolt on a rotor, or replace a shifter? Good grief!

So, that being said, today I took Coby (my car - remember him?) to a dealership here for a safety recall. No big deal - it's free to me and I would much rather have it fixed, especially if GM thinks there are going to be problems. To the credit of the dealership (who shall stay anonymous - they did their job well), they were very pleasant and I couldn't have asked for better service. They left the decision on the repairs up to me and I felt no pressure to do it RIGHT NOW (which one sometimes feels with these places). Of course, I receive my phone call at McDonald's (yeah, free wi-fi!) that the car is finished, followed by a litany of OTHER "problems" they found. ARGH! Well...of course, my lovely bride was not excited, but we decided with good discussion and thought and LOTS of prayer beforehand, to have a second opinion. Yeah for respect and communication in marriage!! :)

Now, as I sit here, waiting for that call to see how many of the "problems" are actually problems, I pray that this will not hurt the bank as much as I think it could. Thank you all for allowing me to vent my frustrations. Better on a blog than on a poor repairman. Ha!

Until next time!

BTW...marriage, weeks 2 and 3....still FREAKING AWESOME! I love my wife!!

Marriage Week #1...Some Thoughts

WOW!!!

That is my thought for week one. :) The wow is simply a way of saying that I have no words available to me to describe the love and admiration I have for my beautiful wife. This is something we've actually discussed and can only thank God for such beautiful, indescribable love. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I could be THIS happy with one person.

Now we are beginning to phase ourselves back into the public. Sorry if this sounds a little weird, but we've enjoyed being alone, just the two of us, and want to savor as much of that as possible. Yesterday we went out for a bit, but maintained that we were going to shop, explore, and enjoy, but not proactively invite anyone to us just yet. So today, I am o.k. with our public "unveiling" because I know that now I get to share my love for Jennifer with those around us, especially our church friends and our families. It is my hope that our marriage and our undying happiness with each other can be a testimony to those around at the power of God's amazing love.

In summary, as I sit here in my livingroom, thinking about all that has happened in the last week, I can't help but tear up a little. I can only hope that the next 60 to 70 years of our lives are this incredible. She has my heart forever.

Until next post,
Josh

The End of an Era

Greetings, readers! This will most likely be my final blog before my wedding day. Yes, it is FINALLY here! I am so excited to marry my sweetheart, I can barely stand it. This blog is going to be dedicated to the end of this stage of my life.

Marriage is not something I step into lightly. It took a lot of thought and self-searching to make the leap and get engaged. I've experienced a lot of hurt in my relationships, and definitely didn't want to go down that road again. Have I enjoyed bachelorhood? Absolutely! It has given me the opportunity to develop into my own person and mature beyond what living with my parents had done. I found myself along the way and began to relate to people as an individual, not someone's child. Getting married is a product of my bachelor days. Because I was able to figure out who I was and what I wanted, I am better prepared to enter into this new adventure with Jennifer. No longer do I need to wonder am I going to get lost in our relationship. The answer is NO - I am a unique part of a new family. I think my individuality will be enhanced by my relationship with my wife.

So, to all of those who are pondering and considering marriage, think long and hard, but do THINK. Farewell, bachelor days...hello, marriage!!

Grateful for the Small Things

This is not going to be a wordy blog, but I thought in light of the events of yesterday it would be an important one.

The small things I'm grateful for:

* being able to spend time cooking a meal with the love of my life, Jennifer, then sitting down and enjoying it and some good conversation.
* spending some time with my mom and introducing her to the love of gourmet popcorn.
* having dinner and drinks with friends, even in the midst of flickering lights and raging rainstorms.
* being kept safe from a very NASTY storm.
* despite seeing trees knocked into streets and on top of houses and power outages, our street wasn't barely TOUCHED (a few small branches and some leaves in the street...that's all).
* getting to marry my soul's perfect counterpart in 15 days!

Find some time today to thank God for the small things He's blessed you with. It's the small things that keep us from being overwhelmed by the big things.

A Good Place

Joy is such a great feeling. The feeling that wells up and lets me know everything is as it should be. I've heard it described as a small taste of eternity - that's such a GREAT description (too bad I can't remember who said it and where...sheesh!). I love how God gives small samplings of what heaven will be like and I can't wait until I get to taste the full menu!

As I sit here, listening to Coldplay (one of my FAVE music groups) and typing away, I realize that, "hey...I'm in a really good place right now!" So many times, we only see the negative things: the stress at work, the messed up relationships, how little money we have for the ever-increasing bills, etc. It's so easy for us to get bogged down with all the problems we face that sometimes it's hard to see how God has blessed us and provided so much for us.

The biggest blessing is my beautiful fiance, Jennifer. She is my PERFECT match. God has provided this light in my life just when I was pretty sure all lights were out for good. It is uncanny how much we share in common and how manage to read each other's thoughts. I know it's cliche, but can finish each other's sentences and do things at the exact same time without discussing anything (just ask our family and friends how many time we've matched or coordinated outfits). With our wedding just 26 days away (WOW!), I can't help but be excited for what God is going to do in and with our marriage. It excites me to no end!

Another big blessing is the continued good health and the improving health in my family. I've always struggled with weight issues. I'm a foodie and it happens. For the majority of my 20's, I've been hanging right around 190-210 lbs. at any given time. Finally, as I move forward toward those blessed 30's (eek!), I've dropped 50 lbs. and am sitting pretty at around 155-160 lbs. YEAH! My mom, too, has been inspiration to me and an answer to prayer as she too has improved her weight as well. I've very proud of her and her continued commitment to improving her health. My dad, too, is working on improving his health. I am so happy to see us becoming healthier - I want at least 30 more years with them. :)

The last blessing talked about here are my new friends and family. I have been so blessed to have people in my life that help me through any particular season - good or bad. These people are so important to me and I love them all dearly. They come from different places (church, work, etc.) and have made my life that much more colorful. I especially thank God for my future in-laws. They have adopted me into their family and I couldn't imagine a GREATER group of people. These are people I can just hang around with, be silly with, or share my deepest feelings. Thank you!

Today, as we process all the problems in this world, be sure to also thank God for all that he has blessed us with. Find your silver lining...find your joy. God bless!

31 DAYS!

That's right folks....31 DAYS!!! In a little over a month, I will be taking Jennifer as my wife. Yippee!! Wahoo!! Party on!!

I am so pumped right now it's not even funny. Sometimes I get our wedding bands out of their safekeeping place and just look at them for a while with a grin that some people would classify on the verge of crazy. Just thinking about having her as my wife brings a smile to my face and tears (of joy) to my eyes. Of course, along with all this excitement comes some of the nervous jitters that rightfully should be felt. If one DOESN'T feel these, there is something wrong with them! Just some of the things I get nervous about are:

1. Will I be a good husband to her and be able to love her the way I so desperately want to?

2. Will the transition to living in the same place work out and will we be able to adapt to each other's idiosyncracies?

3. Will I be able to keep her entertained so she doesn't resign me to the attic? :)

4. Will I be cooking or cleaning up?

Don't get me wrong - I am ALL for this marriage. I love Jennifer with all my heart, body, and soul. She is my perfect fit. I just really want to make sure that I have a successful marriage. As we get closer to the big day, I'm sure I will feel a myriad of emotions, both positive and negative, but I am striving to give all my cares to God, because He "cares for [me]". Jennifer is doing the same and we are working together and separately to make sure the He is at the center of our marriage. We pray each night that not only will the wedding be a success, but also the the marriage that follows.

Please comment by giving me some tips on how to deal with the emotional roller coaster I'm feeling and/or rendering some tips for a successful marriage. Come on, be creative! :)

My Two Moms

I can see it now...some of your faces are showing great confusion and awkwardness. Hee hee...

A couple of weeks ago was Mother's Day. I always enjoy this holiday a TON, as I am very close with my mom. I seemed to have inherited most of her quirks and tend to favor her physically. We have always enjoyed the occasional mother-son lunch, full of good conversation and food. She and I both are very emotional creatures (sorry, honey...I cry) and have a penchant for the occasional shopping trip. My mom has given me so much and has helped in countless ways since I moved back to Michiana 4 years ago this month. I LOVE MY MOM!!! Well, back to Mother's Day, I have now the opportunity to celebrate it TWICE!

As many of you know, I am getting married in 47 days (whoo hoo!!!) and I have gained the world's BEST mother-in-law! Donna (as I get to call her) has been so good to Jennifer and I, and she has put in tireless amounts of time and energy in helping us prepare for our big day. Her basement has become our storage unit and testimony to my finace's love of Hobby Lobby and Michael's. :) She is so excited for both of us and what I love most is taht she has adopted me as just another member of the family. It is so important to me (for many reasons which my family and Jennifer know) that I am accepted as a full-fledge "son", not just her daughter's husband.

Both of my moms have shown me a glimpse of what God does for us each day. He loves us as HIS children, not his "in-law". He shows me how much I am made in His image and should be proud to be a child of God. Happy Mother's Day to BOTH of my moms. I can't wait for the day when I get to celebrate THREE moms...hee hee hee...but that's a different post. :)

So long it's been...

WOW! Has it really been 3 months?! Man, I suck at this...

So much has happened - good, great, sad - in the last 3 months. Here's a recap:

*Jennifer and I celebrated 1 year of our souls being connected together. :)

* Jennifer and I spent our first Thanksgiving together. We visited my extended Michigan family and mowed down some great food. Poteca (pronouneced "poh-tea-tsa") wa

s a big hit and didn't do too much damage to my waistline. We

also spent some time with the Gregars enjoying the festivities. Food-related holidays are my favorite! :))

*We had the opportunity to see an IU basketball game fr

om the floor! 2ND ROW FOLKS!! We also got to explore some of downtown Bloomington and visit some neato shops.

* WE GOT ENGAGED ON DECEMBER 23RD! DID I MENTION THAT?! Jennifer does such a great job telling the story so you can read it from her (I tend to garble things and make them sound less fun). I am so pumped to marry her!!!!!!!

* We had a great Christmas! My family hosted Christmas Eve and Jen got to show off her new "present". Christmas Day was an extravaganza hosted by both the Gregars (in the AM) and Seitzs (in the PM). I love present-related holidays, too! :)

* Jennifer got to meet my Arkansas family for the first time and I think had a great time. I am always so happy that she connects well with my family - it is very important to me.

* On a sad note, I lost my Grandpa Passmore on January 12th. He and I didn't have a great relationship and sometimes I feel a lot of regret in that I hadn't seen him in years, but also I take comfort in that I had dealt with my anger and know that he is with Jesus now...at peace. I was so glad to have Jennifer by my side, helping lift me up and allowing me to cry a bit with her.

Such a lot of big events - I feel like I couldn't do them justice. I guess this means I need to do a better job blogging.

God is good and I look forward to what he has in store for me this year.