Braving the Cold

Great Falls National Park

Last weekend, our church community group went on a hike to Great Falls National Park. Yes, it was the coldest day of the year, but we managed to have a great time anyway :) After a 2 hour hike, we went to Sweet Thai for dinner to get our energy back, and to warm up of course! We have been so blessed since moving to NoVa to find a wonderful group of believers at Portico church and a small group of friends to be in community with throughout the week. Here are some pictures of our adventure:Scenic OverlookDanielle T & Rebecca M at the top of the cliffAfter traversing the valley... they don't look cold, do they ?What's fellowship without food, right? Sweet Thai in Falls Church. Yum!

HS counseling

I just finished week 2 of my high school internship, and thought I'd share some of what I've been up to. I don't know what experience you may have had with your school counselor, if any, but I often get asked "so what does a school counselor actually do?" While I may only be a counselor-in-training, let me fill you in on some of what goes on in a high school counseling office...

- I listen to teachers complain about students: their attitude, their lack of effort, their late assignments, their skipping of class... I mean I figured this happened, but I was surprised at how much it happens!

- I listen to students: complain about their teachers, complain about their parents, explain (poorly) why they skipped class or failed a test or didn't turn in an assignment. Don't get me wrong, its not all bad... some kids come by to ask for college guidance, to switch classes, or to say that they got accepted to so-and-so college! woohoo!

- I wrote a recommendation letter to a college for a girl I have never met. And it was good.

- I observed special education meetings, to determine if a student is eligible, or to write their individualized education plan

- I gave a presentation to 8th graders about what electives we offer in 9th grade (most of which I learned about myself as I was talking...)

- I talked to some students who applied to Old Dominion about what it's like there

- I leave school everyday overwhelmed at how much I don't yet know, trying to retain the thousands of facts thrown at me that day

- I have learned that high school is not nearly as scary as I thought it was :)

just in case...

You may be one of those people who, like me, follows your blogs on googleReader and rarely visits people's blog pages individually except to help pictures load faster. I love the convenience of reader, but realize that I miss out on the beautified pages people have spent time (minutes, hours, days?) creating for my viewing pleasure, or because they had nothing better to do? Anyway, the point of this is to invite you, our blog follower, to visit our individual page to see the new design my handsome and handy husband created! He was supposedly teleworking that day ;) You will notice that the name of our page has changed since, sadly, we have been dog-less for a year now since putting Jeter to sleep. On a good note, it now tells a little history of how this girl and that guy came to be a couple :) Enjoy.

oh my darling, clementine

We had a staff meeting all afternoon at school today and our director provided pizza and fruit for us since it started during lunch. I walked in holding my beautiful green salad, telling myself how delicious it was going to taste (despite the intoxicating smell of Papa John's pizza nearby... my favorite of course), and reminding myself that I could be perfectly content with this tasty grilled chicken salad. I ignored the looks of other staff eying my salad with disdain as they bit into the gooey cheese, crispy pepperoni and soft crust. I would have been fine if the meeting was shorter, the pizza was all gone, or there was not a giant bowl of fruit directly in front of me on the table. Eventually I decided it was either fruit or pizza but I couldn't resist them both. I caved. Oh clementine, you were just what I needed. Thank you.

Top 10 of Twenty-Ten

Happy New Year blog readers! Here are our top ten highlights from 2010, in no particular order…

10. Moved from Virginia Beach to Arlington (D.C. area). In May, we packed up the U-Haul for the 3^rd time since we’ve been married, headed to northern Virginia, and moved into our smaller and more expensive apartment! Our main reason for making the move was to be closer to Danielle’s family, and it was made easier because Geoff was able to keep his same job by transferring to his agency’s D.C. headquarters.

9. Danielle finished her class requirements for grad school. Oh happy day! She also just finished her first semester of internship at an elementary school in Arlington, with another in the spring at a local high school. Lord willing, she’ll graduate in May!

8. Two trips to Wisconsin (a.k.a. The Frozen Tundra). Our first trip was over the 4^th of July, where we cheered on the Brewers (in vain), toured the Sprecher brewery, and enjoyed Danielle’s famous scones while watching Wimbledon. We visited again for Thanksgiving with some last-minute air tickets that allowed us to celebrate the holiday with Geoff’s family – and watch the Badgers clinch a Rose Bowl berth!

7. Regular visits from friends and family. While we think that the visits were just to see us and had nothing to do with the tourist attractions in D.C., we enjoyed hosting Geoff’s brother and Danielle’s sister and mother, a couple couples from Virginia Beach, and good friends from high school and college. Showing our guests around town has been a good excuse for us to explore our new home.

6. Sunny Mexican vacation in December. Winter is great, especially when it’s spent on the beach soaking up 70 degree weather! We spent a week with Danielle’s family at a resort in Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean Sea, where we enjoyed sunbathing, snorkeling, shopping, and authentic Mexican cuisine like chilaquiles and queso fundido.

5. Safety during trips to the Middle East. Geoff’s job at the Government Accountability Office took him to the Middle East twice this year, including one trip to Afghanistan and visits to 5 countries overall. Observing Ramadan, enduring 130 degree heat, and traveling in body armor were some of the more interesting aspects of the trips. Graciously, God kept both of us safe while we were apart.

4. Getaways for just the two of us. We took advantage of Danielle’s spring break in March to visit New York City for a few days, where we caught two Broadway shows, took a tour on the rivers around Manhattan, and visited friends who live outside the city. Then in June, we celebrated our 3^rd anniversary at a Bavarian-style bed and breakfast in West Virginia. We planned on having dinner at a local establishment we found online, but after actually seeing it in person we decided on Plan B – Applebee’s.

3. Found a new church home in Arlington. Undoubtedly, the hardest part about moving away from Virginia Beach was leaving behind our beloved church family there. However, we have been blessed with a new community of Christ-followers at Portico Church in Arlington, which had started just a couple of months before we arrived. We have been able to form new, close relationships in our small group, and have recently completed the church’s membership process.

2. Brand new (well, to us) wheels! Anticipating our upcoming move to northern Virginia, we wanted to downsize to one car from our mini-van (don’t laugh) and the unreliable vehicle I was taking to work. After receiving a larger-than-expected tax return, we mentioned what we were in the market for to a car-salesman friend of ours from church. The very next day, he called us with great news – he had found just what we were looking for! With Geoff able to take public transit to work every day, having just one car has worked out perfectly for us.

1. Standing in awe of what God has done for us. God has blessed us tremendously in earthly terms, some of which we have tried to capture in this list. But what we are most thankful for is the new life we have through Jesus Christ, who came to this world, lived the perfect life that we are unable to, and took the punishment of our sins upon himself at the cross. We rejoice that, even when we miss the mark, God sees the righteousness of Jesus instead of our shortcomings, and patiently uses his Spirit to gradually make us more like him. May you find peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ during 2011, no matter what the New Year brings!

Day 8

So today is Day 8 of our South Beach Diet (phase 1). A few thoughts to share:
- I have never eaten so many vegetables in one week in my life. While they may be tasty, vegetables do not fill you up like a nice plate of spaghetti...
- sugar free jello is y.u.m.m.y.! as one of the only dessert options we have for another week, jello has been critical as a 8pm snack to help take the edge off.
- cheese, meat, eggs and vegetables pretty much sums up our diet of the past week; I think I could go without any of those for this next week... especially eggs... but no, another casserole is in the over. we have to eat something for breakfast!
- Geoff's biggest craving has been for pizza, which I admit sounds pretty good but I have been mostly craving fruit, fruit juice, fruit salad, fruit snacks... you get the idea
- going through the grocery store when you can't eat 90% of it is basically torture
- I have avoided watching the Food Network, Rachael Ray, MVF, etc. Its just not worth it
- some recipes that you don't think sound all that good turn out really, really great (for example, last night's dinner: SB barbecue chicken, and roasted cauliflower= delish!)

here's to hoping this week flies by, cuz next week I get some of my fruit back and Geoff can have his homemade pizza. oh happy day :)

a Goodling Family Vacation

On the 10th of December, Geoff and I met my parents, brother and sister in Baltimore where we managed to get a few hours of excited sleep before boarding a plane for Cancun, Mexico! My parents have a time share at a resort called Fisherman’s Village in Playa del Carmen, about an hour bus ride south of Cancun. We all vacationed there 2 years ago, in August of 2008, and were excited to be going back, especially during a different season when Mexico would not be so oppressively hot, and we could escape the cold of the north for a week!

Some highlights from the trip:

• spending a week relaxing with the ones I love- laughing, exploring, and creating new memories
• stuffing ourselves with some delicious, authentic Mexican cuisine (for the most part, we escaped the restaurants along the main drag in Playa in favor of finding “where the locals eat,” which was sooo worth it- delicious tacos, fajitas, and queso fundido just to name a few)
• perfect weather almost every day! We were so blessed to have 70degree days that made laying on the beach enjoyable and just hot enough to entice us into the cold Caribbean water. The nights were cool, which was perfect for walking around the downtown area, but not too cool that you couldn’t still enjoy some tasty gelato :)
• exploring an ecological water park for a day! We went snorkeling in the cold, underground river… swimming through dark caves where you couldn’t see anything in the pitch black water but wondered what had just touched your leg… finally to reach a beautiful lagoon where bright blue and yellow schools of fish could be seen. We’re still deciding if it was worth it… but a memory for sure! We also enjoyed inner-tubing in a peaceful lagoon, watching people swim with dolphins and sharks, and the absolutely stunning beauty of our surroundings.
• Geoff and I enjoyed a date night of dinner and shopping. Walking along the main street in Playa, every shop and restaurant worker calls out to you “Hey honeymooners, we have what you want” or “where you from? your people love it here.” Its pretty comical for the first day or two, then it becomes a bit annoying, until finally you learn to avoid all eye contact and walk quickly with your head down. Anyway, back to our date- we eventually decided on a restaurant that offered mostly “authentic” Mexican dishes, was decently priced, and offered a nice view of the street. Well, the atmosphere was enjoyable, the food was delicious, and of course the company was delightful ;-) We even had a stray cat come and sit by me for much of the meal(escaping the dangers of a busy street I guess) until children passing by kept scaring him away. Oh well. The thing we will probably remember most about our date, though, are the 5 or 6 groups of singing children that stopped by our table to sing for money. Anyone stopped along the street for a length of time is a prime target for these children, as we had found out the previous night when we sat and ate our gelato outside the storefront. If you don’t pay them, they just kind of stand there and stare at you for awhile. Needless to say, we learned that by paying them right away you won’t have to endure the whole song… maybe next time we’ll eat somewhere with a second story…

stay tuned for more pictures to come!