Wilmington

So Josh and I finally are settled in Wilmington,NC. Josh has been working for the army corps of engineers and has been really enjoying it. I am still in search of a job here in Wilmington, although I have been working at my job in Raleigh, twice a month. This week is my last week doing that and will officially be unemployed. I have resume's out at almost every salon/ spa in town and I believe its just a matter of time before I receive an offer. I believe the Lord has been trying to teach us patience , which for me is never easy. I am not a naturally patient person, so this has been a total learning experience for me.

We were however, able to purchase our first home! We live 45 min from the South Carolina border and are about a 15 minute drive to one of the best beaches in North Carolina. Our home is a quaint 3 bed / 2 bath and I have enjoyed having some time off so that I could decorate and make the house a home. We are thrilled to be in this area, though there are a lot of challenges with moving to a new area. We went to a church this week that we believe we will be our church home and hope to be able to be used in their ministry. Now that we are back into more of a routine Josh has started writing more songs and we are looking forward to being able to use our gifts together once again. Pray that we get linked in with friends and others to support us in our journey of life! Thank you for your prayers and constant support! Josh and Tiffany~

New Job, New Decisions

Well, it has been a great summer here in North Carolina. Josh has been working a couple different jobs to try to pass the time and make a few dollars. He landscaped the neighbors' yard and took a job framing artwork, and is researching and listing 18th and 19th century newspapers to be sold on Ebay for commission. He has gotten really involved in the local disc golf community and started a singles round on Saturday and has been playing quite a bit.

Tiffany has been working a lot doing hair and nails at La Therapie Spa and Salon and has been very busy throughout the week. Most of her time has been spent there and commuting back and forth (45 minutes each way). On days off, we either hang out by our Aunt and Uncle's pool, adventure out to find new places to hang out and shop, or high tail it to the beach for a day in the sun.

At the end of June we found a church that we really like and have been very excited to get more involved. We met with the worship pastor and auditioned for the worship team at the beginning of August. Hopefully soon we will be worked in, as there are dozens of talented people who are already involved in the worship ministry. Tiffany has been helping out with the nursery once a month.

At the beginning of August, we went back to Salisbury to collect some more items we will need for the fall, and hit the beach (Ocean City) and we bought a 2005 Jeep Liberty! It is awesome! Great price, excellent condition! It is like it is brand new! Check it out:

So, getting to the new job, new decisions part...Josh received a job offer last week, which he took, from the Army Corp of Engineers in Wilmington, NC. He starts work on Monday, August 31 and is very excited. He will be a Regulatory Specialist, which is right up his alley with all of the environmental and engineering work he has done for the past 5 years. Tiffany is still working in Cary, which is a little over 2 hours away. Here are some pics of Wilmington:

Josh was able to find a room to rent in Wilmington, to stay a couple days a week and Tiffany will be staying in Fuquay-Varina through the month of September...until we can figure out what is next. It is definitely going to be interesting.

Wilmington is a beautiful place, and here is a picture of Josh bodyboarding at Wrightsville Beach during our recent visit:

More news on its way!

Kauai and the Big Move

So I have finally gotten the chance to sit down and write a new blog. It has been a bunch of craziness for the past few weeks as we moved out of our condo, went to Kauai, moved back to the east coast, and I started my new job.

First off, Kauai... it was totally AMAZING! Our favorite island so far! We can finally say we have seen all the major islands of Hawaii... I didn't want to leave. It was absolutely fabulous... Here are the highlights: Hiking the Na Pali Coast ( 8 very treacherous long miles) to a Beautiful waterfall with a massive deep freezing pool of water that we got to swim in. ( While shaking uncontrolably.. we later found out it was the coldest waterfall on the island), Going on a Catamaran tour of the Na Pali Coast, seeing dolphins, swimming with a reef shark, and going to Hanalei Bay, rated number one beach of the United States right now! It was absolutely amazing!

After our trip there we came home packed up our stuff , celebrated Josh's 30th, and moved to NC. I then started my new job 2 days later! I LOVE it!!! I am already getting booked and very busy and am getting the priviledge to work at one of the BEST spas in NC. Its amazing. I thank God so much for His blessings. So far Josh still does not have a job, but has been able to do some landscaping on the side, he has been searching continually for new jobs advertised, so hopefully soon he will find something. For now, we are thankful for friends who have taken us in and let us stay witht them until we can afford to move back on our own. The Lord continues to bless and we are so thankful! Here are Kauai pics!!!!

MOVING ON

So it is official.

Josh and I are moving.

God has opened up some doors for us to move to Raleigh, NC.

It is an exciting time and a scary time. It's exciting because we feel the Lord is moving us on and He has given me an awesome job at an Aveda hair salon. I am excited and very nervous about this job. I just hope that I will be able to do well and make people happy. It is scary, because we are venturing into once again a new territory. Josh does not yet have a job lined up and we are still praying about that. But we feel the Lord has made it clear that this is what we are supposed to do. As I was just reading Elise and Bryan's blog, the Lord reminded me how sometimes we just need to step out in faith and let the Lord take care of the rest. Its of course much easier said than done, but I am working on it! We are looking forward to the things that God has in store for us. Josh was able to raise up another guy from church to take over the role as worship leader. His first Sunday was last week and he did very well. We hope to be able to continue being used in our musical gifts as we move on. I am definitely going to miss it here. The beauty, the warm weather, the beach in the winter time! I will so miss it! But I so look forward to the things that lie ahead and to the awesome plans God has in store. Our last day on the big island is May 31st. Then we are going to Kauai for a couple of days, the last of the islands we have left to see... Then I start my new job June 6th! Of course your prayers are always welcomed and appreciated! Also, I will post pictures from our hike in Polulu valley. Josh and I did this hike 2 weeks ago in a town called Hawi ( pronounced Ha V). It was absolutely beautiful and after I got over the fact that I ruined my sneakers in mud, I had a really good time!

Maryland in March

Aloha to all who read our blog!

It is 6:15 AM on a Saturday morning and Tiffany wants me to come back to bed, but it is beautiful and sunny today and I am so excited because we are going up to the Hawi side (Northern Coast) of our island and going hiking. After that we are going to chill out on the beach and then have a nice dinner. I am sure we will get lots of pictures and may even have a neat story to tell about it.

A lot has happened since our last Blog of February 10th. In early March, we returned to the mainland in Maryland and visited first my parents, then Tiffany's parents. When living so far from home, sometimes special occasions are the motivation to buy those $$$ plane tickets and take off work. The special occasion was Tiffany's dad's 60th Birthday.

First off, we received a warm reception from BOTH of my sisters at the airport in DC. Elise flew in from Oregon to surprise us and it went off without a hitch! We were blown away that she was here.

I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with my dad as we played disc golf, took the dogs walking and frisbee on the beach, and generally just driving around. My mom made fantastic dinners and amazing breakfasts and we played games as a family. It was a wonderful time! Also, Tiffany did my mom, Sarah, and Elise's hair all at once and they had a great time doing "girl stuff." We introduced my family to Tyler Perry movies and laughed and cried together.

Next we drove down to Raleigh, NC to visit Tiffany's Aunt and Uncle and also visit some friends. We had a very relaxing time down there, and went to Tiffany's favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory.

After that we drove up to Williamsburg to stay at this place called Great Wolf Lodge which has an indoor water park. We spent a day and a half there celebrating the birthday! Shawn and Kara drove in from Ohio and we came back into Salisbury on Saturday night. We got to spend three more days in Salisbury, then went up to Cockeysville to stay overnight with Jon and Shannon before returning back to Hilo.

The whole time we were gone in Hilo, it rained EVERYDAY! It wasn't a downpour, but a steady drizzle for 24 hours a day. March had 31 inches of rain! We are glad that we missed all of that rain.

We are just now coming out of the rainy season and the sun is so beautiful!!! For some reason this thing won't let me upload any pictures...I will try again later!

Birthday Fun!

Josh and I decided to take advantage of the low inner island flight rates... and the convenience of it being so close to my birthday so, we went off to Oahu for some shopping, food, and a chance to get out of our Hilo Rainfall! It was a short trip, but we had a blast! The weekend that we were there, happened to also be the weekend of the Pro Bowl. Well we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village right in Waikiki and there were HUGE football players everywhere! It was exciting. Unfortunately, Josh and I had no idea who any of them were. However, when we were sitting on the beach, I thought for sure I saw Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo! I was stoked. I love Jess! But I was too nervous to go up close and see if it was really them... I don't think it was though, I think I jsut wanted it to be them ... ha ha! Any way , we had a really great time and we had a lot of fun just hanging out, relaxing, and of course eating good food! P.S. the pictures below are from us on Waikiki, Diamond Head Volcano, and they had PENGUINS at the resort! They were too cute! This has been and continues to be a journey of a lifetime!

Some Shaky Business

So Josh and I have officially been in an earthquake! Our Island has over 200 earthquakes per day, however they are usually so small that we don't feel them. Well, on Friday night Josh and I were hanging out in our condo and all of a sudden our building swayed. It lasted a few seconds then, a few minutes later, yet another one happened. Josh wa excited that he got to be in one. I however, just wanted to get out of the building. I mean for all I know it could collapse right?!?!? But it didn't and after a trip to Ken's House of Pancakes for some hot Pineapple Upside Down Cake , I was good to go. I am thankful for the experience , for yet another story of Hawaii to share, but mostly for the Lord continuing to protect. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support as we are on this incredible journey!

Christmas Weekend at the Waikoloa Marriot

So I am a little behind on writing this blog...

Christmas has come and gone, but Josh and I have been really busy lately, but still wanted to share some pictures. Josh's company really blessed us this year.... The weekend before Christmas they took us on an all expenses paid weekend trip to a resort in Waikoloa ( other side of the island, about and hour and a half away). This place was beautiful and we were in our glory, sitting pool side with any amount of food and drinks that we wanted. They also took us to a fabulous dinner at Roy's. Again, this was such a great time for us , wonderful food, something that we could never afford, and bonding time with Josh's co-workers. Over all the weekend was great and so was our Christmas! I made Christmas dinner and had our pastor and his wife over. I made a spiral ham and trimmings, it was delish if I do say so myself! We pray that you all enjoyed your Christmas season as much as we did ! Hau'oli Makahiki Hou ! ( Happy New Year!)