Very Exciting NEWS!!!

So, after months of waiting and expecting nothing....I have been granted an interview with the University of Washington Masters program for Physician Assistants. My first thought was praise Jesus (in a deep southern baptist way) followed by joy at the opportunity to continue my education. I am very excited. Jordan will attest to this as I broke out in tears when I tried to tell him. I would would like to express my gratitude for those of you who were praying for me during this waiting period and request more prayer. Those of you who didn't know to pray or didn't pray...start now. My interview is on January 7th. This is very complicated because I am in Boston working full-time and still on probation because I am a recent hire. This means I am not truly allowed any time off until I have been here for 3 months. That doesn't occur until the end of January. Please pray that my boss will be understanding of this situation especially since so many people have already requested holiday time around this date. Pray also that I would be prepared for the interview and in all things that God's will would reign. Many blessings friends and family.

Sincerely,
Barbara

Christmas Traditions - Family Pics

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate with whipped cream.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

Santa's big hands could not create the complicated bows (knots) we have on our gifts.

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white?

Depends on the look you are going for that year.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

sadly we don't decorate our home because we are never there for Christmas. We spend the whole season in other places.

5. When do you put your decorations up?

We decorate my parents house whenever we can all make the trek into the mountains to hunt up a tree.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Ham

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?

No specific moment, just the general feeling of family and comfort, being truly blessed.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I honestly don't know that I ever believed in Santa. Having older siblings brings the truth out really quickly and I don't think my parents ever really put forth the idea that Santa brought the presents.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

No, we are at church all day and night

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

With the ornaments we’ve collected over the years but now there are so many we only get to choose like 10 each not including all the angels, joys and balls. Julie is in charge of the lights (colored) which I usually assist her with. Then we put the balls on and then the other ones. The finishing touch is the angel on top which I usually put on because I am the tallest :). I still have to stand on a tall stool and use a walking stick to get her up there. We get really tall trees :).

11. Snow. Love it or dread it?

Love it.

12. Can you ice skate?

Yes, backwards, forwards and in circles. I am not so good at the jumping though.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

My family

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you?

Jesus.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Pumpkin Pie

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Christmas Eve service and Christmas day lines up of family events.

17. What tops your Christmas tree?

An angel

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

being

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck?

I love them...especially the cherry ones

21. What do you want for Christmas?

Quality time with my family

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party?

Yes, but the location is always changing. So, annual but not the same party.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's?

We dress up for church.

24. Do you own a Santa hat?

Yeah, my dad got us all hats for Christmas one year.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?

My fabulous family.

Christmas decor in Boston

Quincy Market with all the lights!!!

This is the tree at the Market. I don't know how tall it is but it is really tall as you can see in the picture to the right. I went back to get night photos and was in ah over all the lights on every tree and building.

Below is some of the decor and Macy's was having at street fair with a petting zoon. Jordan pointed out the animals and was probably really sorry he did because I spent quite a while ooooing and ahhhing over the bunnies and goats. I missed the fair this year. There was a really friendly sheep who wanted to hop right out of the pen and snuggle with you. She is in the picture below.
We are headed to NY City this weekend to fufill the life long dream of seeing the giant Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and lights in Central Park. I also plan on ice skating if possible.

Jordan travels and I get gifts

When Jordan and I first started dating it quickly became a tradition for Jordan to bring me a gift of some sort after a trip. My first one was a rock after he went on a hiking trip to Glacier National Park. With the million and two committees he serves on as well as medical conferences Jordan accrues a great deal of travel time. My last two gifts we fun so I thought I would share them. The left is a mask from New Orleans and some of the Marti Gras beads and from San Antonio there were Texas sized Jelly beans. I thought this was really funny because I have a huge sweet tooth so now I have a candy that is the right size for my appetite. They are each the size of my thumb. Much love,
Barbara

Mapparium (details later)

This is a view of Boston harbor from the top of the Bunker Hill Memorial. It was a beautiful sunset. I think Julie got some pictures of it.

Julie was here!!! This is her at Revere Beach just north of Boston. we had a great time there and collected many shells. We spent tons of time walking around Boston during the last nice days of Boston fall. It turned remarkably cold right after her departure so be thankful Julie. On the right is the Bunker Hill Memorial. You can climb to the top (that's right the tiny dark whole you see at the top is a window). It is 294 steps to the top and kind of like climbing a very skinny lighthouse. I forgot my camera for our biggest day out (Saturday) so you will have to request more pictures from her. It was fabulous to see her and we had fun running around and learning new things about Boston. After seeing so many things we thoroughly recommend the mapparium at the Christian Science Center pictured at the top of the page. It is a 3 story stain glass globe with a glass bridge in the middle. Pretty incredible. We also recommend a stop in order to look through the Boston Public Library in at Copley Square. The building is amazing, very much like the library of congress in D.C. We don't recommend the free tour unless you like poor public speakers but one interesting fact about the building is that if you rub the lion's butt on your way up the stairs and he wakes up you will gain great knowledge and wisdom. Both the lions are made of unpolished marble but their butts are very polished from all the rubbing. ;) At the navy yard you can board and tour the USS Constitution, the oldest floating ship, and the USS Casian (sp), a world war two navy ship. They were both interesting. Any time you set foot in Boston you should definitely go to the North End and eat too much Italian Food and probably hunt up Highland Pizza because they have discovered the perfect crust, although the communication is a little hard because they speak Italian perfectly. BTW, Canadian bacon is ham here (not the same but you will get a blank look if you try to order Canadian bacon). That's all for now. I have a ton of stuff to put on here because it has been so long since the last post. Much love,

BGS

Julie is coming today!!

I hope she is already on her way. So, I am very excited to see my only oldest sister and have fun touring around Boston with her. Hopefully she is already on the last leg of her extended commute from Yakima to Boston. I will post pics from the trip later.
hugs,
Barbara

So many things

Well, it has definitely been a while since I last posted. I have not been out on any new adventures but have instead been enjoying the adventures of everyday life. Two weekends ago I started serving in the children's ministry at church and have been reminded of the genius we can find in children. God has richly blessed me by allowing me to be a part of their lives and thoughts as they grow in the Lord.

Jordan, busy as usual, has been to San Antonio and back with a trip to New Orleans at the end of this week. He is touring the country one conference at a time. For you Californians he will be in Carmel this Jan/Feb although I don't think Carmel is very close.

I started my new job and love it here. I work in the Shapiro Building at Brigham and Women's Hospital which is brand new. It literally opened about 3 months ago. http://www.brighamandwomens.org/shapirocenter/CenterTour.aspx some pictures.

The building is so spacious and windows everywhere (the sun shines most of the time). I love it!!! We had the heart failure and LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) team move down here on Monday and it was so interesting to work with them. If you have ever seen Grey's Anatomy think of Denny. As an added benefit Jordan's work in around the corner and we are able to have lunch together most days. God is richly blessings us here, as he has everywhere else.

I know I said I would post pics of our new home decorated but it is never clean enough to take pictures so please give me a little more time. I will get them up.

Last but not least for Jordan's b-day, November 25th (yes we are preemptive) we purchased Rock Band for the Wii and we (haha, that pun was for you Laura) are very excited to play with everyone else. So much fun!