can you do me a favor?

Brett: Hey babe, can you do me a huge favor?
Me: Hm?
Brett: You haven't blogged since August 31. Can you blog about how much you love me?

Yes this was a legitimate conversation that Brett and I just had. Although I don't know if you can include what I "said" as having an actual conversation. I wish that you all could be a fly on the wall for the many hilarious conversations that Brett and I have (yes he was joking about the blog, but here it is).

So this is my blog about how much I love Brett. But seriously though, he has been great during this time of never-ending transition. Brett can adapt to change a lot better than I can (something I've learned very quickly during this season of life), so through my many melt downs and freak out moments, he is always there to care for me so well. He has such a servants heart - even though he will tell you that is an area he wants to grow in. He listens well and tries SO hard to make me laugh, which usually makes me laugh just because he puts in so much effort :). I love my husband despite not knowing where we are going to live when we get to Baton Rouge, when we will not be living with my parents anymore (no offense mom and dad :)), or how/when we will ever get a second car. There are a lot of unknowns in life right now, but I do know that God is good and I have someone on my team...Brett!

I know I will be able to look back on this season and see how much I grew with the Lord, and how much Brett and I grew as a couple. It can be hard to see in the midst of everything going on, but I trust the Lord that He is good and has a plan that is far greater than anything I could ever even pretend to imagine.

Until next time (which honestly will probably be another month),

Kim

I'm not that interesting

So my life is not that interesting as of late. But I actually remembered to blog and wanted to. So what does one blog about when their life is not interesting? Whatever I want :)

One thing I love about living at home with my parents is the fun late nights Brett and I spend talking with my dad! The 3 of us are all a bad influence on one another because we stay up way to late chatting away, but it has really been a highlight of my time at home. I am thankful for Brett who is a HUGE question asker. So of course, he asks my dad questions about life that I would have never even thought to ask, because....he's my dad. And I already know him. RIGHT?! Well, actually I've learned a TON about my dad's childhood, passions, work, and just his life in general. It's really fun. Hopefully the feeling is mutual :).

Tonight Brett and I made dinner for my parents. We try to do this often since they are letting us stay in their house, but we have realized that we have more night/dinner appointments with ministry partners than we thought, so this is actually only the 3rd time we've cooked for them. OOPS. Anyway, I combined several different recipes and made garlic-lime chicken (idea taken from Brett's cousin Kimberly, who got the recipe from Pioneer Woman) with a Mango-Peach salsa/relish to go on top (Brett's sister Julia made this for a family gathering and I loved it!). We had sides of cilantro-lime rice and crescent rolls. Absolutely delicious other than going a little heavy on the cilantro. It was fun to cook since we haven't in a while and to try out a new dish that was easy and inspired by people I love. I'll leave you with the recipe!

Click HERE to get the chicken recipe. The Pioneer Woman made this with a corn relish, but I changed that out and did the Mango-Peach salsa because I had loved it so much when Julia made it.

Here is what I used for the Mango-Peach salsa, all props to Julia Marcos:
2 mangos (slice to small sqaures)
1 peach (slice to small squares) - I added this to Julia's recipe b/c I like peaches - and I was slightly afraid that the mango wasn't good so I wanted the peach to balance it out - ha!
1/4 red onion (cut up finely)
1/4 cup of cilantro (cut up to small pieces)
1 tablespoon of lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and put a spoonful over the chicken :)

The Salsa - I also love that it's colorful!

And for the rice I just went to good old allrecipes.com. Click HERE for that recipe. We used minute rice though :)

Until next time,

Kim

Houston

Once again I'm back to the feeling of "it's been too long since I've blogged, WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?!". I can't believe a whole month has gone by. Well lots has happened so I'll give you the BRIEF update!

We are currently in HOUSTON as we raise our financial support to get to our new ministry assignment at LSU (yay!) . I've lived in Houston my whole life until college, but I've learned the city more in the past 3 weeks than I ever have in my whole life! We've been seeing lots of people on all different sides of town which = LOTS of time in the car.

Before we got to H-town we stopped in Lubbock and moved all of our stuff into a U-haul and then drove it down here where it currently sits in a not-so-beautiful storage unit.

We also celebrate our 1 year anniversary on July 31! It was really fun! We went to downtown Houston, got massages, ate at a fancy place, got dessert at the Cheesecake factory (which it was national cheesecake day so it was 1/2 off...who knew they did that just for our anniversary ;) ), stayed at a high rise hotel and had a wonderful brunch the next morning. Brett planned the whole thing and it was sooo good to relax before getting started on our support raising journey!

So now, here we are, we are in the middle of week 4 of raising support. The Lord is teaching us a LOT about His provision for us, relying and TRUSTING on Him, and how to love one another well in the midst of spending 24 hours a day 7 days a week with one another. Literally :).

A few of my favorite things about living in Houston for the time being:

1. We get to see our family often: my parents (we are living with them), my sister and bro-in-law (they live 10 min. from us), Brett's sister Julia (we've had several family gatherings), Brett's sister Jessica and her husband Griffin (we are currently staying with them for a few days since a lot of our appointments have been near their apartment), Brett's parents (they are in the states a little longer before they go back to Italy)
2. We see my cute niece almost everyday since my mom is her nanny. I love her so much I can't stand it!
3. We've eaten lots of good food
4. We live in a CITY and I like that a lot - even though we may drive 45 minutes to get somewhere, those 45 minutes feel a LOT closer than the 45 min. from Lubbock, TX to Post, TX :)
5. Getting to connect with lots of people I don't see on a regular basis

And really there is just one main thing I am not liking:

1. HEAT + HUMIDITY 

So there is my mini update. I don't promise to write more often although I DESIRE to do so :)

Until next time,

Kim

CRU

It's been a while since I've updated...so here is the run down of happenings since then.

1. We spent an intense last week of New Staff Training learning how to raise up a team of ministry partners.
2. We saw the very last Harry Potter with the Burgers - some great new friends from California! I cried.
3. We were officially commissioned as Campus Crusade for Christ Staff.
4. We went to Boulder with more new friends from California - the St. Pier's!
5. I got my hair cut.
6. Our New Staff Training is over and the National Staff Conference has begun.
7. We kicked off the conference with a County Fair!
8. Our cafeteria is now crowded.
9. My favorite in-laws are here for the conference and we've been able to spend some good time with them - and of course they brought us gifts from Italia!
10. Campus Crusade for Christ announced their official name change which will take place in early 2012. We will be named CRU, and I love it :)

There has been lots of talk about this whole name change business, and rightly so! Hearing that the well established, 60 yr. old ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ is changing their name is definitely a shock, but it's been a work in progress. I'd encourage you to read my friend Jess's blog about this. It has lots of information on  the name change, the reasoning behind it, and lots of links to more information about it! CLICK HERE to read it!

And of course, I'll leave you with some pics :)

The end of an era :(

We did it - officially staff!

All of our new staff friends from our floor + some :)

Us with Matt and Leah St. Pier! Love them.

Until next time,

Kim

Colorado

I love Colorado! It is so beautiful and I am happy to be out here every other summer for as long as we're on staff with CCC. Yesterday my parents came in town. I LOVE that they plan their vacation in places where they can visit me! (they did this a few summers ago in Santa Cruz as well). Today we went up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. BEAUTIFUL! I have been there before with my family on a camping trip (yes we used to camp, no I can't really picture our family doing that anymore) but it was in 1997 so I vaguely remembered it. Here are some of my favorites from our trip today:

Bear Lake

Best part of the trip: accidentally finding the RV park we stayed in in '97!! We missed you Jen!

In other news, I finally caved and got on Twitter. You can follow me if you wish @ka_marcos. There is a lot of pressure in the Twitter world...so I don't know how good I'll be at this. Brett is teaching me well though. I've literally asked a Twitter related questions every 2 hours or so since I've had it :).

Until next time,
Kim

we're moving to....

BATON ROUGE!!! It's official, we have been placed at at Louisiana State University! We are VERY excited about this transition, even though it hasn't really hit us yet. It's crazy to think I won't be living in Texas anymore, but I am SO happy that we will only be 4 hours away from our families (in Houston). We've got a lot to learn about Louisiana culture...but it will be a fun adventure. Of course there are natural nerves that come with transition....will we make good friends? will we find a good church? will we get lost every 5 minutes? will we have community? will Brett's stomach handle Cajun food?! You know...the normal fears :). But in reality, we are looking forward to the move and we would be crazy if we weren't nervous!

I know it's been a while, and I predicted that for you in the last post, but we are officially done with our seminary classes!! Well, we still have our final exam for our Theology class on Tuesday, but other than that we are done! It has been an exhausting, draining, fun, learning, crazy 2 weeks...but overall I can say I've enjoyed these classes and have learned a lot. We still have about a month left here in CO. The rest of our time will be learning how to raise our financial support and then a staff conference (where all the staff from the US come!). It feels like time has FLOWN by. My parents are coming in town this next weekend and I think we will make a trip to Estes Park with them, which I am REALLY excited about. I have a vague memory of us going there when I was younger and not being appropriately dressed for the freezing cold and snow at the top of the mountain. This time we'll be better prepared!

 I'll leave you with some pictures...

Our view from an afternoon in City Park!

At Horsetooth Reservoir

Another one of the Reservoir

Our awesome candy sign that the LSU staff team made us to welcome us to the team!

Until next time,
Kim

1st Day of Class

Well I figure I'll update now and go ahead and tell you I do not know that I will ever update again in the next 2 weeks! HAH! Today was the first day of our two seminary classes we are taking. I think I will overall enjoy the classes, but here is a glimpse into my day:

• Class 8-12:30
• Lunch 12:45-1:30
• Study/read/do class work 2-6
• Dinner 6-6:45
• Study/read/do class work 7-10:30 

Those of you who know me well may be wondering if I am exaggerating at all...and aside from a few breaks here and there, I truly am not. I hear the first few days are the hardest, and what can I say?! I have not studied in 2 1/2 years and even then, I don't think I ever did this much work in 1 day! Needless to say, I am exhausted. I still love Jesus...but it was hard to connect with the Lord on a heart level today. I was reminded in 2 simple ways though that God is good and his grace is sufficient.

1. I looked up from my studying and saw the most amazingly beautiful Colorado sky...God is good and kind to give us creation that we can enjoy!
2. Amidst all the reading, I realized on a heart level that the Gospel frees me from having my self worth depend on my own success. Love this.

Until next time (which will probably be a while),

Kim