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You are at our old blog! Visit the new one at http://sojoandco.com

Back to the Blogging World!

Hi y'all...I'm sorry for our long absence. With the wedding rapidly approaching, I have had increasingly less time to sit around and dilly dally on the internet. (Also, I really like to say "dilly dally.") This post will serve to catch you all up with a slideshow of photos from mid March until the present. Enjoy, and stand by for another post this week. Seriously.



PS John is working on a new hosting site for our blog, so stay tuned for a completely new look. You will still be able to find us at the same address (sojoblog.com).

To Give Him a Piece of Home, She'd Mail Texas Dirt

I was starting a happy blog about everything that has been going on lately, but I just got a phone call that changed my mind. I can't be happy and pretend like nothing is wrong today. A friend's husband called, and I was surprised to hear from him because usually I just talk to his wife. I asked how he was doing, and his response was "not so good." As soon as he mentioned his wife's brother, I knew what he was going to say. Her brother was a soldier deployed to Iraq. He was killed, and she had just been notified. I heard her crying in the background.

I want to help her and her family so badly. I want to make it better, and I know I can't. I just sat on the kitchen floor and cried. Perhaps it hit me harder than others, because it hits so close to home. In the midst of all this, I wanted to find something to be thankful for. And I am thankful that my friend has her husband in this time. Please pray for my friend and her family, as well as all troops at home and overseas.

A conversation about shopping...

The other night, Sarah and I had a conversation that went something like this...

Sarah - "WHY ON EARTH DO PEOPLE THINK THAT IF I SHOP IN GERMANY I CAN GET REALLY COOL STUFF?"

Me - "I don't know honey, 'cause every thing you can get over here is the same as the stuff you can get in the states."

Sarah - "AND THE DOLLAR SUCKS SO EVERYTHING OVER THERE IS NEARLY TWICE AS EXPENSIVE!"

Me - "Yeah..."

Sarah - "I MEAN, WITH GLOBALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY, I CAN GO DOWN THE STREET HERE IN TEXAS AND BUY COOKIES THAT WERE MADE IN ITALY, OR ALL SORTS OF OTHER THINGS THAT ARE MADE IN OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE SWISS FURNITURE FROM IKEA... BESIDES THAT, NOTHING IS MADE IN THE U.S. ANYMORE!"

Me - "Yeah..."

Sarah - "IF I BUY THINGS OVER HERE RATHER THAN OVER THERE, WE SAVE LIKE 50% AND STILL GET THE SAME STUFF!"

Me - "I know..."

Sarah - "I JUST WISH PEOPLE WOULD STOP TELLING ME TO BUY STUFF OVER THERE BECAUSE I CAN GET COOLER STUFF. I CAN GET THE SAME STUFF OVER HERE! DO PEOPLE THINK GERMANY IS A MAGICAL LAND WITH STORES FULL OF MAGICAL FURNITURE WITH MAGICAL POWERS?"

OK, OK, so she didn't ask about furniture with magical powers, but that was the point... People think that somehow living in a different country allows for finding cooler stuff, but really we live in a very globalized economy where all the same stuff is available over here... Just thought this was a funny conversation.

-John

The First Nightmare

I have had a handful of wedding-related dreams where something goes awry, but last night, I had my first full-fledged wedding nightmare.

We forgot my dress, so I had to wear a long black dress I wore to Alamo Heights' fall version of prom (Senior Party) for my senior year. Black? Really? We also forgot my bra. Uhhh....

I forgot someone was coming to do my make-up, so I did it myself and didn't have time to wash my face for her to do it when she arrived.

I forgot to blow dry my hair in the morning and just put it up in a clip while it was wet, which is my typical low-maintenance hairdo. I failed to remember that the hairstylist said I had to come with my hair dry, unstyled, unwashed the day of and without product in my hair before the wedding. She was unhappy that it was wet. Somehow it was static-y as well. I'm not sure how that works out. Suddenly, Leigh Ann was doing my hair. Leigh Ann, do you do hair?

My mom also forgot all the bags that are currently at the foot of my bed which contain my veil, the ring bearer's pillow, my garter, the guestbook pen, and many other wedding day items.

To top it all off, John and I had a fight the night before the wedding, and I wanted to talk to him before we had the ceremony, so someone was leading me to him in the church with my eyes closed. We talked some, but I don't remember the outcome. I might have remembered it, but thank goodness the home phone rang at this point and woke me up!

A Different Kind of Post.

I know that we normally use this blog to keep everyone updated on what's going on in our lives, but I wanted to Share something else with everyone...

I just read an entry on an old friends blog that really knocked the breath out of me. All too often we worry about what is going to happen in the future. For Sarah and me this means concern about deployment, where I will be stationed, what will happen after I get out of the Army, what kinds of careers we will go into, what kind of house we will have, where we will live, and all of the other things that go along with the uncertainty of being in the Army. I get so caught up in what might happen in the future that I sometimes forget to faithful to where God has me at this moment. I think that it's too easy to forget that God has a plan for me in my present situation. God has a plan for Sarah and me, and it involves where we are currently. Even if where we are is not our "dream" or "calling", we are where we are for some purpose.

I think our lives should be a blank slate for God to write on. We need to be okay with whatever he wishes, because our plans may not be his.

I always hated the story of Job. I always thought it was because God didn't act the way that I wanted him to. I felt like God gave Job the short end of the stick. I realize now that I didn't like the story because I didn't like the way that Job responded. I wanted Job to do something about his situation! I wanted him to either curse God and die, like his friends (or was it his wife?) suggested, or take some action to fix his situation. I didn't like (and still struggle with) the idea of honoring God in the times he allows us to suffer. Its hard to see past our problems and see that God has a purpose for our suffering, our happiness, our boredom, and all the other moments of our life. Job lived in the present. He accepted his suffering as part of God's will. Who am I to question God's sovereignty? It is our job to honor the situation we are in, and follow God's will the best we can.

So all of you who might read this, take a moment today to think about why God has you in your current situation. What you have to learn and how you can grow and be faithful to where you currently are. I sure am.

It's Not Raining Men, but...

Mud?

Really? It's raining mud? Apparently that's the story. Catherine and I just came out of a coffee shop in Olmos Park, and her white car was covered in reddish brown splatterings. It was raining, so we were confused. We got in the car, turned on the windshield wipers and examined the subsequent falling raindrops. They, too, contained the grainy red brown bits.

Confused, I called my mom, who informed me that dust from El Paso came through with this storm and so the forecast was calling for mud showers. How odd.