Since my last post, we have settled things with the car. Stephen went ahead and claimed the accident with the guy's insurance (which also happens to be ours) and they had their own adjustor look at it. Whether it was the combination of a dirty car covering previous vandalism and -7 degree weather or that the Jeep is actually worth more than we thought, we did not have to total Alexander. And we're both hugely thankful for that. The adjustor estimated the damage and handed Stephen a check to repair it with at our own discretion. Since the damage isn't that bad and it's a Jeep and looks rugged any way, we were able to bank the check for other uses. Combining that with our tax return, we were able to pay off my credit card completely and make a huge dent in Stephen's credit card. This is a REALLY good feeling. It also helps us to get closer to a place where we can start talking about having little Rabinos (Rabons + bambinos= Rabinos).
We also threw a Pro Bowl party since my last post. It was a lot of fun to have our friends over to the house, eat some kalua pig, drink some Mai Tais and make the most pointless NFL game of the year fun. We had a pretty good turn out (Us, Brandon, The Gossetts, Jameson, Kevin, Lauren and Mindy) and the food was a hit. So much so, in fact, that we cooked the other half of the giant pork butt to take over to Brandon's for the Super Bowl :) Seriously, look at the size of this thing:
The Super Bowl was great- we were all cheering for the Packers, so it made the experience that much better. It was great to see one of my high school classmates out there playing and bringing a ring back to Vacaville. It was kind of sad when it was over, knowing that that particular group of friends got together every week to watch football together and football was over. Hopefully we'll find many reasons to still get together going forward. Those of us in the Rabon household definitely felt the post-football season "hangover" of knowing that it would be months before another football game. We'll get a slight taste of football during the draft at the end of April, but then it will be months again... sigh.
Lucky for us, Rockies baseball has started in Spring Training and in a matter of weeks we will be there enjoying the Arizona sunshine and the boys of summer with Brandon. We're trying to make it as cheap as possible, so we're driving down (my car gets great gas mileage) and splitting the cost of the hotel and games with Brandon. It's still a good amount of money but the experience will be amazing. Road trips always lead to great stories (Sandi, I know you know what I mean!!) and let's face it-- sunshine, a hot dog and baseball? Is there anything wrong with that? The stadium, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, is brand new and gorgeous.
Plus it will be nice (and probably kind of weird) to be back in my old stomping grounds (I did a lot of stomping between the ages of birth and 8). I'm interested to see if I recognize anything and if so how different it looks. It should be a great trip and I'm really looking forward to seeing the Rockies take on the Reds, Angels and Giants.
Thanks to my amazing husband donating the free flight he earned to the cause, I was able to go back to California for a long weekend and get to visit with my family and friends. It was so great to get to see everyone and catch up. Let me tell you, this was a weekend talk-a-thon. I spent 4 hours catching up with my former boss and family friend, Judy and then later that night spent 5 hours catching up with my amazing "Bad Things Happen in Chapter Two" book club. Thank the Lord for technology so that Nikki could webcam into the conversation. My dad and Holly came out too, which was great. We were able to have long family talks with them, Mom, Gram and Grandpa. I love my family. We certainly put the fun in dysfunctional and I love it. I was also able to hit the must have California meals-- In-N-Out, Murillos (with a great group of people, including the Adys and Matlocks) and Chin Hua. I ate VERY well.
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We are quickly approaching our first wedding anniversary... with as fast as this year has gone by we'll be there before we know it. I think about our wedding very often and how truly perfect it was. Every time I think of it, the memories are nothing but good and they make me smile constantly. Being married to Stephen is the best thing ever. I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend, a person I trust with my life, who I am always proud of and love to brag about, who I respect and admire and who loves me better than any one else possibly could. I am so happy to be his wife.
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The title of this blog is from "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath. We played this song during our wedding ceremony when we did our first communion as man and wife & when our parents came forward to pray over our marriage. It is so strongly connected to that memory and the feeling of that moment that I get emotional (ridiculously happy) when I hear it. I also think of our DJ, who though not a practicing Christian, felt an intense spiritual moment during that part of the ceremony due to the depth of what was going on paired with the music. He made it a point to mention it to me during the reception and to another wedding guest who told him what it was he felt-- the Holy Spirit moving.
