Merry Christmas!

Tonight, JJ and I stopped by our local grocery store, Publix, and were greeted by some beautiful Christmas artwork. The artists of the holiday cheer happens to be his middle school students!

JJ is now on Christmas break and loving every minute. :) We're excited to celebrate our first actual Christmas Eve and Day here in Orlando and see what traditions come out of the J&S Peterson household. It definitely will be different not being with our families, but we'll try and make do by ourselves. :)

We also celebrated my friend Megan and Soo's (early) birthday tonight. Our good friend Carrie made a delicious dinner and cake to celebrate. We are so beyond blessed to have made some super friends here in Orlando that makes our adventure so much more incredible.

It's been so fun receiving your Christmas cards in the mail--thank you so much! Wishing you all a special Christmas season as we celebrate our Savior's birth!

All our Love--JJ and Soo

hallelujah!

This morning I watched an awesome video that truly sings praises to our God. Check it out at: http://vimeo.com/17510221

Merry Christmas!

Phil Vassar!

JJ, Soo and Pam had a weekend of fun at the Phil Vassar concert!!

Check it out! :) http://non-fatvanillalatte.blogspot.com/


What a blast!!

Our house!

Hey everyone!

I thought I'd post a couple pictures of our new place! It's a one-bedroom apartment over a garage. So, really, there's not a whole lot to see. :) However, it's the perfect size for the two of us.

We're having a great weekend so far! JJ is actually in Wisconsin for the big Badgers and Packers game! So, I've been holding down the fort with spending time with friends going for lunch and a movie. :)

It's beautiful here today...82 degrees! This is fall for Florida!

A fun Sunday!

Yesterday, JJ and I had the chance to visit our old pal, Bolton. I first started nannying him when he was only 3 months old. He's now 1.5 years old. :) It was a gorgeous day to play at the park. He can now say, "JJ and Soo."

This weekend, we also made a move into a new place...with central air and windows that lock. :) Believe it or not, we didn't have central air this summer in the FL heat. (Window boxes.) It's a one bedroom garage apartment and it's perfect for the two of us. :) We love it. When we have everything set up, I will have to take some pictures so you can see what it looks like.

P.S. Thank you to our friend Patrick (see picture of JJ and the U-Haul) who helped us all day Saturday load and unload our things! Thank you, Patrick!! :)

nonfat vanilla latte

Hey everyone!

If you haven't checked out my health, fitness and what's for dinner blog--you should! :)

Here's the link: http://non-fatvanillalatte.blogspot.com/

JJ and I have decided that blogging is now my hobby since I have two. :) I guess I'm a fanatic.

A lot has been going on in the Peterson world. We are moving into a new place close enough so JJ can walk and I can ride bike to work. We're very excited to have newer amenities and central air. :) We will have to take some pictures and post them.

School has been going as well as it can be going for a first year teacher and JJ is doing a marvelous job. Last week I helped out in his classroom and the students adore him. :)

We're sad we're missing out on the fall colors, so send us some good pictures of what you all are enjoying!

Have a wonderful day!!

engagement, grading and star wars

This past week we had the great privilege to celebrate the engagement of our two Florida friends, Carrie and Dru! We met them at our church and have been so blessed by their friendship. We are so thankful that God provided some wonderful people here in Florida! We celebrated with Carrie's family and are absolutely thrilled for them. :)

JJ had a pile of quizzes and collages to grade this weekend so I was able to help him write comments on the top such as "Wonderful, Fantastic, Wow!, Good Work!, smiley face..." How fun it is to be a teacher for a day! He's an awesome teacher that's for sure. :)

After we finished grading, we resumed our Star Wars watching. I had never seen the movies before, so JJ and I have made it our goal to watch them all. So far, we've completed four of them. Only two more left...what will I do??! They're actually quite interesting and I am pleasantly surprised at the wealth of knowledge JJ has on what's going on during the movie. :) It's very helpful for this young pad-e-won.

That's all for now! I better get back to work! Opps! Blogging isn't work...

Beach day and then some

Yesterday, jj and I headed to the beach! It's only 55 minutes from our house, so we decided we better take advantage. :) it was a beautiful day! Lots of sunshine, a picnic lunch, huge waves, and a ton of sunshine. We're so lucky. :)

JJ has enjoyed his last couple weeks of school and is getting a hang of how to manage a well run classroom. :) His students are in the midst of working on collages...sounds fun!

I am working on studying for a personal trainer certification with Pam and am on a study break. :) we will be taking a weekend course together in October.

Today we also found out our new little cousin was born on sept 3rd!! Welcome to this world baby Mary! :) and congrats e and a!

Have a happy labor day!! Enjoy your day off !

Carpooling to the first day of school

Today was JJ's first official day of school. Because we work a mile a part, and we have one car, we will carpool to work this year. When I dropped him off an hour before school started, kids were already waiting for the school to open! I am so excited for him! This past weekend, we worked in his classroom and JJ let me do his bulletin boards! I will have to post those pictures later. :)

So, here's to you, Mr. Peterson! I hope you have a great first day of school! You'll be great!

half-marathon

When JJ and I were dating, I decided it'd be a great idea for us to sign up for my hometown's annual half-marathon. To train for the race, we used one of Hal Hidgdon's half-marathon training guides. Every day we'd get together and run. Looking back, it was one of my favorite memories from dating. It takes a lot of time and dedication to prepare for a race. When JJ said he'd run a half-marathon with me, it showed me what an incredible guy he was. He doesn't even like to run, and he was willing to run 13.1 miles..plus training! :) We ended up training for about 2 months and finishing in 2 hours and 5 minutes. The training program we used really was fantastic. I highly recommend it!!

Now, we're training again. Except this time JJ will be cheering me on from his bike. :)

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Northwestern College

When JJ and I were home, we stopped by Northwestern College, where we both graduated from in 2008 and 2009. :) Here's a picture of us standing in front of the chapel where we were married last year! They are doing a lot of construction to build a whole new dining area and student life area. (It's in the parking lot of Maranatha)
I wonder if the food will taste the same in a new building...?

Duluth

Today JJ and I went to Duluth with my Mom, Grandma and Aunt. JJ had never been before so it was fun traveling to a new place. We had a nice afternoon walking on the boardwalk and getting some sun. The view from the top of the city was beautiful! (Too bad we didn't take a picture)

We also decided to return (to Herberger's) one of our KitchenAid mixers we got for a wedding present over a year ago! (We were lucky enough to receive two mixers.) They took it without the receipt! Now that's what I call customer service! :)

Tomorrow we head for home. :)

This one's for you, Ethan!

JJ and I finally made it to Minnesota after our delayed and canceled flight and enjoyed some quality time with his cousin, Ethan, his wife Anika and their girls. JJ is pictured here with his little cousin, Amelia Mae. (Hi Amelia Mae and Ana Marie!) This post is dedicated to you, Ethan because of your encouraging words about our blog. Thank you for your commitment of following "Life is Sweet." :) A golden star is awarded to you. :)

We had a great time with some college friends who we miss dearly and are now waiting for my Mom to pick us up and visit "home" for a couple days. :)

So, while we wait we're enjoying the sunshine and musical sounds from Panera.

Stranded

Today JJ and I headed for the airport, bags packed, ready to visit some friends and family. To our surprise our flight was suddenly canceled. Bummer. So, after 6 free meals, free hotel room, and $100 off our next flight, we are enjoying the central air and the company of one another. Sometimes it's not so bad having things go differntly than what we would've expected.

JJ's Bike

Yesterday, a big package came in the mail for JJ...a bike from his Dad! He has been anticipating this for a long time. To celebrate, he rode his bike around the lake in our neighborhood while I ran. All we need now is a helmet. :)

New Job!

Today JJ went in for an art teacher interview at a nearby middle school and 45 minutes later he got the job! God is sure good in answering our prayers! We really are blessed. You can now call him Mr. Peterson. Here are some pics of our trip to the Keys (found our camera cord) and also a picture of JJ from this morning--what a handsome guy!

Key Largo

Last week, JJ and I took a trip to Key Largo! We had a wonderful time relaxing in water that felt like a hot tub and eating some really good food! Unfortunately, we cannot find our camera cord to upload our pictures. We will be working on that one...because we understand that blogs without pictures=boredom. :)

We have made it a goal to shop at our local Farmer's Market every weekend to get the best bang for our buck. I even bought a basil plant which I'm trying to keep alive. :)

Today, we spent some quality time with our friend, Bolton and his sister, Sophia. We love them and are thankful to be a part of their lives.

Hi to you all! Hugs!

Barnes and Noble

JJ and I are sitting at Barnes and Noble this evening checking our email and catching up on some reading. :) It is HOT outside and we're loving the A/C. We had a wonderful visit from Jeff and Pam last week. Pam made our place look amazing! We hope you all are doing wonderfully!

Love to you!

Year: One

Soo and I have had a great year as a newly married couple. These pictures show a small portion of the journey we've had! Family and friends have visited, new friends have been made and we continue to explore Orlando "The City Beautiful!"

P.S. Soo was baptized this past Fall! God is good!

P.P.S. The beautiful baby is our friend, Bolton. Soo was his nanny when we first moved down, though she wishes he were her own. :)

Surprise!

After much thought and inspiration from fellow bloggers, I've decided to launch JJ and I into the blogging world! This way we can keep y'all in the loop up north. :)

We recently started moving into our new place (see picture) closer to my new job! I am the Children's Ministry Coordinator at our church and am loving it! Check it out: www.summitconnect.org. JJ has been showing some pretty great kids our nation's capitol and is enjoying the mass transit system--something that's lacking here in Florida.
He continues to master the art of illustration and has been working on some awesome characters! Check him out at: www.jjpetersonart.com.

That's it for now--happy reading! :)