Here is a picture of me with my nephew this Christmas.

My sister Kristin and her husband Matt came to town. She's so cute pregnant. I didn't take nearly the number of pictures I usually do but I got one with her. The new news.... Janelle is pregnant again. She just found out a few weeks ago. The new babies are due in April and August. That should be fun. :)

Pictures

A laugh about the lighter side of the holidays....

Okay I had to laugh. Check out this blog from my friend with children who love well lit christmas light. http://meandering-thru.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-heartfelt-thank-you.html

.... a falling star....

Last night I saw a falling star.... Wonder when my wish will come true? I still believe in magic (or at least God's blessings that surprise us) do you?

What blessings have you experienced lately. I'd love to hear you all share...

This Thanksgiving was fun. My sister Kristin and her husband Matt came to town. One morning we took my nephew to Disney on ice. We had fun and he had a ball. We also had some great meals. My sister Janelle and her husband Josie and I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I made the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole and she made the sausage stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie and pumpkin chocolate bread. The next day she did a pumpkin chicken soup that was great. We had a nice relaxing several days and we both took the time to put up a Christmas trees. It was fun to have the sisters together. Missed having Mom and Dad and Larrian & Teri and Justin, Joshua and Walker here...
Here are a few more pictures of Thanksgiving and a few more pictures from Disney on Ice

My reflective fall object lesson..

The sheer beauty of fall. It catches me in moments of awe at His excellent creativity and color. I haven't taken time to wonder in His design this year until today. I delayed it with busyness, but today I got off work an hour early and decided to take a moment for enjoyment. I had to share in the wonders of His hands.





It still amazes me that God creates these images for our pleasure and for His glory each year for but a few solitary moments or days. If He has the power and creativity to do that in nature -- what kind of creativity does He use for my daily life and the work He wants to do in it every day... And I love the object lessons we can learn from taking moments to stand in awe of His order and design...


Have you ever taken a look at your life and thought -- I'm not like everyone else my age or in my association... I should change -- maybe not-- sometimes God uses our differences to make us dependent on Him for guidance and to show the beauty of His variety...


Or,, have you ever gotten self conscience of your spots -- you pain or your weaknesses or your mistakes or your failures in life... - ever wanted to hide that part of your life from others.... I have... But that too can add to your beauty and your individuality and at times God uses it to hightlight things - sometimes right before a big change... are you ready to be used?




The pain of change can be beauty in and of itself to someone else. At times we experience the pain and try to run or hide, but the beauty of our vulnerability is the strength from Our Redemeer



And isn't it interesting that we at times feel stripped of those around us to support us. And yet my Creator is still in control and gives us the strength to hold on...He has a perfect time for each of us.


And then there are times when we feel the blessing of His hands in our life. We are overwelmed daily with the things He provides for us. And amazed by the beauty in the life He shares with us.. He gives us bouquets of beauty... like these bouquets of color...









Our Father is such an amazing God. He loves us deeply and creates things for our pleasure. Thank you Father for our beautiful moments in your hands and in this life you have given us. You amaze me!!!!

Salsa Halloween

 

 

 

So it is fun to dress up at times and hang out with friends...

Here are some more pics-click here and for the party pics -click here

Trick or treat

 

 

 

I got to see the joy of children last night. Finding out they can ask for and recieve and thank their friends and neighbors for candy while dressing up like their favorite character. It was a nice evening to walk and chat with Janelle, Josie, their friends Alyice and her husband Justin and their two boys--Sammy, Jonah, Josie's mother and his two cousins. Its was a great night for a walk. The temperature was great and it was fun chatting with Alyce and Justin who I would consider to be quality people. I enjoy time with quality people who are stable and enjoying their walk with God in a daily way. There is something comforting and encouraging about being around people that are secure and stable. Hope you had a great time with your friends and family.

Click here for more pics

My dolphin sighting actually caught on camera... YEAH

 

Okay so there I was minding my own business... enjoying nature.... watching hermit crabs scatter and butterflies flutter by and what did I hear? A puff of air like an blow hole -- on the back side of a barrier island in the shallows off the coast of Charleston.... as I looked up the second time I see the dolphin spin and head back to the coast... A WHAT .... A DOLPHIN... I can't believe it.... And yet I can. Just one more sign of God's great design, creativity and curiosity and desire for contact... a dolphin who came up to say hi and dart away. I stood in awe before capturing myself and trying to take pictures as it swam away. The first picture is the small area of water I was looking at. The next is the water swirl left behind the others are close ups I shot to try and capture the moment... For those who enjoy dolphins as much as mine.

This is my fish story and I'm sticking to it...

 

 

 

Kiawah Island CME trip

I went to Kiawah Island this weekend through Tuesday. Most days were spent listening to dull lectures. Friday through part of the day Monday it rained -hard. I tried to go to salsa under the stars in Charleston twice but the rain stopped it both nights. I was able to make a phone connection with Yaennette in Charleston and find their Friday evening dance but found it slow to a visitor. Saturday night Adalia and I hit Harbor Grill for dancing but it was slow getting started after a wedding and only stayed for a while and had fun memories trying to drive/float back through flooded roads to the island for a few hours of rest before getting up for more conference lectures. I did get one afternoon and evening without rain to hit the beach and found some beautiful nature spots along the way and later watched the sunset....

Here is a link to the video if its not working... click here

and a few sunset pics are HERE

 

Myrtle beach Salsa Congress

Hi my name is Karla and I'm a salsaholic...
Myrtle Beach Salsa Congress was this weekend. It was a great time getting to dance with people and learning new things including a good reminder in staying positive...

Check out some pics. I'll write more later... click here

Since a picture is worth a thousand words...

I'll upload a slide show. Those are fun and reveal more of the story.

We have been blessed with great weather so far :) And had some beautiful days. We've been so blessed.

Hilton Head Island

So we made it to the beach..... ahh. What a life. :)



Of course we had to check it out after unloading the cars, getting groceries -even if it meant eating PB & J sandwiches for supper. After talking about the beach for weeks Jayden was too excited to wait. So we went out and found a few shells and and went out in the water. Jayden was brave and took splash after splash with a few blinks and a nod yes that he was okay along with a "ahunh".

I believe I've enjoyed my role of aunt. I even got to build sandcastles with Jayden today. He later enjoyed using them as a stump to sit on. :) And his Daddy helped build a "monument" (that would be the the two layered sand pile in front. I decided it must have been a monument to our two castles and moat :)

Maddie has enjoyed splashing in the water and jumping up and down with assistance with balance. She definitely is going to be a water bug like her big brother. Well I gotta get some sleep since I'm done with home work. Ill load a few more pics tomorrow (or later today that is)

Priceless weekend

 
 
 
 

This weekend was great...... Sun, surf, attempting to sit,lie, and balance a 8 foot surfing board. The sheer physicality of balancing a board while sitting on it in the surf was an interestingly amusing task... Let alone learning the power to paddle and catch a wave. (okay so I didn't get to brag that I could stand up), but I had a blast trying.. Then good seafood, good conversation, great salsa then a few more hours in the sun and surf before heading home.

A weekend full of refreshement, relaxation, doing what I love, trying a new adventure and swimming in the sun.... the sheer exhaustion and ache of sore muscles but the satisfaction of working hard at all the fun things of life..... priceless
Here's a few more pics

salsa Congress in Orlando 2008

Okay, so I didn't take my good camera to Orlando Salsa Congress. This weekend was to throw myself into Salsa -absorb as much as possible and leave all the stress of day to day life -- at home... And get away. Ah you gotta love it... Its just hard to blog all the fun moments afterwards. How do you put into words the thrill of getting down a routine, of learning a new lead or of spinning so many times you loose count on the floor, or the feeling of floating like a beautiful princess with one guys lead and change it up with the next lead who teases you into showing everything you've got.

And the fun part of salsa conventions -- you meet people from all over -- the US and outside the US -Romanian, Hungarian, Italian etc.

--- Special shout out out to Kansas City-- Lauren -- you were so open and friendly-- it was great fun hanging out in the classes and getting pointers from a styling Salsera who is newer than me, but could easily put my shines to shame... It was great meeting you. You go girl!!!

-- A second shout out to the amazing instructors -- thanks for breaking down the routines and giving so many different ones. All the little pointers about leads was great. And the moments of humor to break up the fatigue were well appreciated. As was the laughing at my own inadequacies at times. -- sorry to the guys I hit with my elbow. And laughing about others inadequacies -- my big toe felt its own retribution, when one guy backed up on me in class and the mutliple hits to the top of my head during complicated cross body leads.

-- A third shout out to the great male dancers who were way above my league and made me smile, flirt, laugh and spin controllably with delight. Its great to get out of town and meet new friends.

-- And finally a fun shout out to the friendly crowd from home -- it was nice hanging out chatting with people and getting to know more about you.

And for those who have never gone to a salsa congress -- its a weekend packed with classes all day and social dancing at night into the wee hours of the next morning (usually around 3 am)only to get up the next morning to start all over.

This year was nice to have our share of restaurants across the street -- I got to go to a BB King Bar/ Restaurant and listen to a live blues band one night and got to listen to and participate in a traditional "Opa" Greek dance and watch a belly dancer routine who was also a fire eater. All around entertainment every which direction. And even a few minutes to put my feet in the spa jets of the pool to soothing my throbbing feet.-- Orlando provides a great packed weekend.

... One video from class -- most instructors asked us not to put it on the internet and I will respect that --but this instructor from Kissimee Florida didn't care -- he does it for the fun of salsa. Here is a clip of a laid back routine he taught us.

Some cute video updates of Jayden

Okay, so while babysitting I caught a few video clips. One of Jayden counting... and then bored when I asked him to start again so he tries to change the topic then tries to whisper and then in frustration yells it for me...



and later at bedtime while reading one of his favorite books-- a cute book that he loves to act out, I couldn't help but video him again...

Delayed gratification..... two parts

Part 1.
So the pastor talked about something Sunday. It struck me then, and tonight I took time to go back over it. I needed to reread it and let it sink in further. He challenged us to "develop the art of delayed gratification". That is a weakness of mine... and I dare say its a weakness of my generation. He challenged us to learn to delay gratification for the proper time. (reading from my notes) --a quote that struck me specifically was "Don't eat today what God has planned for tomorrow" -- "do it right, now, so that you don't have to re do it/ fix it later". So often I don't keep that in mind. I see a piece of clothing and want it now -- put it on credit. I see a piece of chocolate -- it sounds good to me. The examples abound, but do I take a moment to try and practice patience or self control -- not often...

He challenged us to have more self control and diligence. He particularly identified that diligence is something you do every day for a long time. He went on to share some vs that confirm God's desire to see these things to develop. And he shared that often God blesses us for our diligence -- you don't get blessed for quitting. That message hit me on so many levels... I wanted to share it with others and let it encourage others out there...

Part 2
Recently my aunt sent me a fun scuba diving map. She challenged/encouraged me to dream of having a dream vacation --scuba trip to Maui Hawaia in the future. A dream.... why is it that I don't easily allow myself to dream of big dreams. Am I too much of a realist to allow myself to have big dreams? But tonight I was challenged to dream big and expect God to bless me with special times, places, people and moments to refresh and encourage and surprise me. And then it struck me...





Part of dreaming big dreams -- delayed gratification. (My weakness). To dream big or have faith or expect big things... AND... be willing to wait for it to happen.

The bible is full of delayed blessings... the land of Isreal to the slaves -only after 40 years in the desert, Jonah's release from the belly of the fish -- after three days in the cramped dark claustraphobic area (imagine falling asleep only to awaken wandering "what is that thing swishing past your leg?"), Joseph being raised to second in command after years of being a slave and being imprisoned, Esther became a queen after being orphaned and raised by her cousin Mordecai.

So this week even when I fail I am going to retry at diligence and self control and dreaming big and wait to see what God has in store for me...