Valentine's Day!!

I know this should've been posted a while ago, but it's been a little busy in the Carpenter life :)  Jerrod has always made Valentine's really special for us, even though its not my favorite holiday.  He is awesome about spoiling me and showing his love to me on any random day of the year anyway.  But we thought it would be fun to have dinner where he proposed at Michelangelo's.  It's definitely our favorite Italian restaurant in Houston.  It has a great ambiance, live piano player, live tree growing through the center of it, great food,  and also has a special meaning to us :)  We did this on Sunday night instead of Monday because Jerrod left for the 8th grade DC trip early Monday morning till Friday night.  Needless to say he was exhausted after that trip!!  And we like celebrating the night before because you don't have to order off of the prefix menu and its less crowded :)  Here are some pics from our fun night out!

Starbucks encounter today...

Today I went to Starbucks to work on my bible study homework for a few hours.  I'm in the live, Beth Moore study on James that she is currently writing.  It's at my church on Tuesday nights.... luckily she goes to our church so we are always her guenia pigs for her studies.  She's great on video, but it's even better live :)  I just love her insight and love for God's word.  Anyway, I'm sitting there with my bible open, notes scattered everywhere, and my hot grande mocha writing away when this man comes up to me and begins talking to me.  He asked me what I was working on and I told him it was a bible study on James.  He said, "oh well if it was on Jesus I could tell you anything you wanted to know, I could answer all your questions."  I said wow, really?! ( kinda laughing inside...wondering where this conversation is heading).  Then he tells me his cousin is Jesus, his aunt is Mary, he has the same last name as them, he's from Bethlehem, and he's from their royal family.  He says he knows more about Jesus than anyone else on the earth!  Wow, what confidence this man has! lol  He tells me how we aren't children of God, we are children of Adam and Abraham who God created.  He asked me if I believed in God or Jesus....and I said both.  He said well that's impossible, you have to choose, you can't believe in both.  I explained how I believe Jesus Christ came on this earth to die for our sins, but yes there is only one God, etc.  He goes on and on about how knowledgeable he is in the Bible, and how he can study something in 5 minutes and get more out of it than if I studied it for 10 years.  I wanted to share this for one because I thought it was funny, but two because God really showed me how we should always be ready to share our faith.  I'll be honest, when I was put on the spot like that my arm pits kind of started sweating! lol  It made me realize how important it is to know what you're talking about, and be ready to defend it when someone else is contradicting it.  His word is our TRUTH.  That's all we can go by, live by, and study.  I love how no matter how much we study, we always get a fresh word, something different, and begin to truly LOVE His word.  God can use anything, or anyone, no matter what you know or don't know... but just be prepared to give an answer to those who ask. :)

Go get a Starbucks drink to warm you up on this "snow day"...even though there is no snow in Houston!

Houston Half Marathon!

On Sunday I ran the Houston Half Marathon and boy was it brutal!  It rained, then poured, then rained some more, the ENTIRE race :(  Definitely the most miserable race I've done....BUT it was awesome because I had several friends run in it, and I saw about 10 different friends along the course cheering me on :)  So that made it fun and worth it.  It definitely wasn't my personal record time, but I'll blame that on the weather conditions.  I'm still deciding if I'll do another one before we move in July.  Maybe the Kenyans can teach me how it's done while we are there, lol.  I'd like to do another full marathon, but it takes over your life for about 4 months, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that right now....I'll keep ya posted.  I need to add that Amy, Layton and my mom came in town and stayed with us from Thursday to Sunday and we had so much fun but I didn't take one single pic :(  We went to the zoo, shopping, restaurants, Jerrod's basketball game, the marathon, etc.  It was so much fun and I really appreciate them making the drive with a one and a half year old!!!  Here are some pics from race day!!

Sarah, me, and Brad at the starting line....

Blurry, but the only action shot :)  This was around mile 12.5!

So glad it's over!!! lol

My biggest fan!

And my other biggest fan!!

Happy trails...
 

New York City & 25th Birthday!!!!

As you know from my previous post, we just got back from NYC on Monday night!  It was an AMAZING trip!!!!  It was so nice to get away because Jerrod and I haven't spent much time together because of his basketball season so it came at the perfect time!!  Sunday was also my 25th birthday so it was fun to be on vacation for my birthday...that's the first!

Here's the rundown of everything about our trip: visited my friend Joanna, tapas restaurant, our hotel at 5th Ave and 51st (perfect location!), hot dog stands, pizza, boat tour around Manhattan (thanks Jessica for surprising me with that!), Lion King on broadway (a must see!), times square, m&m store, starbucks daily because we were so cold, ground zero (that was surreal), the church across from ground zero, wall street, the bull, battery park, China town, lunch in Little Italy, bought a purse from someone on Canal St. (that has its own story), riding subways, crazy taxi drivers, walking, walking, walking, dinner at the Top of the World with amazing views, steaks and wine for my birthday, Empire State building/observatory, cheesecake at Carnegie deli, Central Park, snow, snow, snow, shopping on 5th Ave, FAO Schwartz, Apple, Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, H&M, NBA store, Cartier, Dior (8 stories), Versace, Chanel, just to name a few, MACY's (holy cow!), NBC tour, Top of the Rock observatory (highly recommend), Rockefeller center, iceskating, Radio City, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Columbia University, Food Network, Jersey city, NJ, famous people's homes (Beyonce, Rockets owner, Hinz house, Leonardo Di Caprio, Trump, Richard Grier, just to name a few), cathedrals, stock exchange..... I think that's all....yes we fit all of that in, in only 3 days :)  It was an awesome time together!!!  Here are some pics from the trip...there are lots more on facebook!

Birthday dinner with my best girlfriends in Houston the night before we left :)

Dinner at the Tapas restaurant with Joanna, my New Yorker friend :)

Boat cruise going by the Statue of Liberty

There she is .....

Jerrod in front of the Brooklyn Bridge

View of "downtown"

On our way to the Lion King, passing through Times Square!

 It was about 5 degrees that night....these Texans were FREEZING!!!!

 Ground zero....

The church across the street from the twin towers.  This is where all the workers, firemen, etc came to take naps, eat, pray, read encouraging notes, etc.  This is also where George Washington was inaugurated.

At the corner of Broadway and Wall street!

NY Stock Exchange....

Battery Park...this was when I stopped having feeling in my toes!

This was in Battery park, and it's hard to tell, but this is the only thing left of the statue because of 9/11.

Literally across from our hotel, we walked out to this every day :)

View from the restaurant where we ate for my birthday dinner!  Jerrod did a great job picking it out for us!!!

After dinner on my bday!  2 years ago on my 23rd birthday we became "official" and married 8 1/2 months later :)

Empire State building observatory

Pretty bridge in Central Park

All the snow!!!!

Empire State building :)

View from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center)

View of Central Park!  Notice all the frozen lakes...

That's all!  I hope we get to go back one day, but probably in the summer next time :)

The Big Apple

I couldn't be more excited because Jerrod and I are leaving tomorrow morning for NYC!!!  Jerrod and I decided that we wouldn't do birthday gifts this year (Jerrod's is 12/29 and mine is 1/23) and instead take our last little getaway for a very long time because we know we wont be traveling once we are full time missionaries!!  It's my first time EVER, and Jerrod's second time to go.  Today I'm going to run some errands and buy a hat, gloves, scarves, etc. because the highs are around 20 degrees right now and it will probably be snowing when we fly in.  I'll definitely post pictures next week when we get back!  We are also getting to stay with one of my good friends Joanna Johnson who moved there in October from Houston.  I can't wait to see her new life in the big city :)  Have a great weekend!!!

Kyleigh Came to Visit!

My awesome friend Kyleigh came to visit me the first week of January!  She was on my Africa team when I went 3 years ago and we have kept in touch but hadn't seen each other since Swaziland.  Lots has changed for both of us in 3 years, but we had no problem just picking up where we left off.  It's amazing how much you can bond with someone in 3 months, once you take bucket baths together, share a bunk, and experience some of the heaviest struggles in your life.  I think that is what is so special about our friendship.  She is a senior at Wheaton, outside of Chicago.  She was glad to get away from the snow for a couple of days :)  While she was here we went shopping, visited Jerrod's 5th grade class, had dinner with my Houston friends, went to Austin, met my sister and Layton in Gruene, and had lots of fun together.  It was so weird dropping her off at the airport because I have no idea when I'll see her again, but I know we will be life long friends.  Here are a few pictures of her 1st visit to TEXAS!!!

Kyleigh and I in the lobby of our hotel in Austin...The Driskill :)

At our table for dinner at the Oasis on Lake Travis.

Sun setting over the Tx Hill Country :)

Kyleigh learning how to two step for the first time ever!!!

Our hotel at night....absolutely beautiful!

Amy & Layton at the river in Gruene.  We had lunch at the Gristmill of course!!

Thanks for coming Ky!  I had so much fun and I'm so glad you were able to make the trip!  I can't wait till our next adventure!!!!!