it's been a BIG year

hi!  it's been awhile since i last posted a blog.  every now and then i have very good intentions of writing something, but what can i say?  u don't want to hear my excuses!  lol.

2012 has been a really big year for johan and me.  we both turned 30 this year.  we hit our 4 year wedding anniversary.  we FINALLY made it to north point church after desiring to go to Atlanta for the last few years.  i'm finally at a company where i could see my career grow and johan found a job that God was saving just for him after almost a year of unemployment.

during the period after johan lost his job, it was a very trying time.  for us as individuals and also on our marriage.  it put a lot of strain on our marriage!  but we made it through by the grace of God and honestly i don't see how we could have made it otherwise.  times were tough, but God always stepped in and helped us financially and with grace and mercies just when we needed it.  His timing is impeccable.

during this time we buckled down on our expenses and paid off a lot of debt.  yup u heard that right.  while we were living on ONE salary we paid off more debt than we ever had before!  God is soo good.  i guess when we made money we recklessly spent what we have, but when we were forced to only spend on what was necessary, wow, we really buckled down and saved.  i am really proud of us.  i believe that's one of the reasons why God allowed us to go through this difficult time.  so we could truly learn how to budget and manage our money more wisely.  in retrospect, we were truly blessed through the tough times...they were still tough, but God really strengthened us.

THE BABIES!

we love spending time with our nieces and nephews.  they're a lot of fun, so naturally we've been thinking more about having kids in the near future.  we're not quite there yet, but we're getting closer.  still need to pray about it more!  :)  these girls are just adorable.  girl's nature are so different from boys.  it's been so much fun watching the girls grow. 

 here's xuying in his fighting stance.  go ninjago!

chuseng was really tired and being silly.  he kept giggling and smiling even though he was drowsy!   

the year is already halfway over and i haven't even gotten over the fact that 2011 is over yet.  haha.  time flies when ur old!  i need to accomplish so much more before this year ends!  sigh. 

johan and i dont have any big plans for the rest of the year.  if possible we'd like to visit his parents in IL and my parents in MI.  also i'd like for us to take a trip to NYC and visit my brother, hoshia. 

in the next five years, i'd like for us to visit our sponsored child, sergio, in the dominican republic.  also, for our honeymoon i would like johan to take me to paris!  i know it's already our 4 year anniversary, but he still owes me a honeymoon and i won't forget!  haha.

here's a little tribute to the best husband ever!  he's so handsome here!  kekeke.  (my friend said johan is a snappy dresser.)  thanks for letting me go on a girl's trip to vegas, hun!  =)  i owe you an amp!  haha. 

- p