Whirlwind of Transition

Well....as my dad put it perfectly, "There is never a dull moment with you two!" And that is the case yet again because we just moved to San Diego for Bo's new job. Bo had been looking for a new job in the Ventura County area for a few months, but there were very limited opportunities. When this Training Specialist position with Intuitive Surgical opened up in San Diego or San Jose, we had to think about whether or not we would be willing to move because we loved Camarillo a lot! We both felt like God gave us peace about the potential for moving, if it meant that Bo could have a great opportunity doing a job that he would love. So....to make a very long story (Bo had to go through 9 interviews) short, God provided for us beyond what we could've asked for!

Below you will find a brief timeline to give you an idea of how quickly everything happened over the past month.

Mon, Dec 17th ................. Bo got offered the TS job in San Diego
Wed, Dec 19th ................. Bo gave his two weeks notice
Dec 22nd - Dec 27th ................. We flew to Minnesota for Christmas

Dec 28th ................. Drove to San Diego, toured 6 apartment complexes, test drove a car, spent the night in Irvine with Matt & Kimberly
Dec 29th ................. Drove BACK to San Diego, toured 4 more apartment complexes, test drove another car, bought a car, signed a lease, drove back to Camarillo
Dec 30th - Jan 1st ................. Went up to McFarland to celebrate New Years with the Bowmans

Jan 2nd ................. Bo started his new job with home study
Jan 6th - 11th ................. Bo flew to Dallas for a Sales Conference all week, while I packed up and cleaned our apartment
Jan 11th ................. Earl, Cindy, and Matt helped me with loading up the uhaul, and I picked up Bo from the airport
Jan 12th ................. Packed up our last few big pieces, said goodbye to Camarillo, drove down to our new place in San Diego, where we unloaded everything in a matter of a few hours with the help of 10 family members!!! It was amazing to have all their help!
Jan 13th ................. Unpacked EVERYTHING in one day with my mom and I!!! 
Jan 13th - 18th ................. Spent time with my parents as we unpacked and toured around a bunch of areas in San Diego.

Now we are continuing to settle in and decorate, which is my favorite part! Once our new couch set arrives next week, then I will be able to finish putting up some wall decor. As soon as everything is hung, you can expect to see a new blog complete with pictures. While this transition may have been a whirlwind at times, God has provided as He always does, and our trust and patience have grown immensely because of it! We can't wait to see how our "new life" unfolds and what adventures lie ahead!

The Idea of Giving

Well it is December 1st and Christmas season has officially begun!!!!! Nobody can say it's too early now. ;) With my favorite time of the year comes shopping for presents, decorating the tree, hanging up stockings, making Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music 24/7 (maybe that's just me!), decorating houses with lights, eating delicious dinners with family, going to Christmas parties, ice skating, and so much more! I love practically everything about the Christmas season...you could say that I am a Christmas FREAK!

Over the past month as I have been preparing and getting excited for the Christmas season to be here, I have been pondering a lot about where my focus should be during the holidays. I was struggling with the powerful materialism that seems to consume the majority of the population around Christmas. Everyone comes up with a list of material possessions that they want for Christmas, and often times this becomes the selfish focus of the holiday. I want this, I want that, etc. People spend more money during the holidays that pretty much any other time of year, and the majority of the moola is going into large corporate retail companies. All of these thoughts were unsettling for me, and I wanted to make sure that I did not have a focus on myself but rather a focus on others and what I could do for them.

Now...before I continue, you will need to understand that I eventually came to the realization that giving gifts to each other is not a bad thing. As I was struggling with this conflict of whether or not I should buy anything for myself, if it was even ok to ask for presents that would benefit me, or if the idea of giving material goods was ok, I realized that shopping for and giving presents is completely fine! The simple fact that I was struggling with the concept and I was not consumed with materialism showed that my heart was in the right place (as my husband helped me see). While there are definitely people who get consumed by materialism during Christmas season, simply exchanging material goods does not mean I have to be consumed by it myself.

Giving gifts at Christmas originated from St. Nicholas in Greece, who would go around at night on December 6th and give gifts to children who were less fortunate than others. I think it is so cool to see where the tradition came from and the great heart and act that started it all. What a great opportunity to be generous to those who may not have as much as you, and show Christ's love through the giving of a gift to friends and family. If our mindset is one of generosity and love, then I believe giving gifts can be a beautiful tradition and action! 

With this mindset, I believe that it is perfectly fine to give gifts that you find in large retail chains and department stores. I myself will be purchasing some gifts from those companies this year. However, I would also encourage you to consider what kinds of gifts you can give to others that will have a deeper meaning behind them and will contribute to helping others. Many people have their own small businesses, shops, or homemade goods. Christmas is a great time to show our support and use some of their items as awesome gifts. Additionally, there are numerous organizations that are trying to make a difference in the world in a plethora of ways by providing water, food, clothes, end to slavery, restoration, etc. In the midst of your Christmas shopping, consider supporting these organizations by finding beautiful Christmas gifts for family and friends through their stores that help them continue their cause in changing a little piece of the world. I have listed a few websites below in no particular order.

May we all have truly generous and loving hearts as we give gifts this Christmas, and may we also have ever grateful spirits to God for sending his Son!!! It is truly a time of the year for celebration!

To Write Love on Her Arms

Presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

World Vision

Creating a better world for children.

People Water

For every bottle purchased People Water will give an equal amount of clean water to a person in need.

Not For Sale

Fights root causes of slavery and human trafficking.

TOMS

With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Invisible Children

Bringing an end to LRA atrocities in Africa.

The A21 Campaign

Abolishing injustice in the 21st Century (Human Trafficking).

ROOZT

Discover the brands that give back. Every purchase has a story. 

And We're Back!!!!

Well I've been off the blogging map for a while....only a whole YEAR! I've decided it would be beneficial if I started "talking" via my blog, so Bo doesn't have to hear me babble on and on. Now you all can enjoy it! 

There will be many more blogs to come in the future, but I'll use this first one to recap what has happened in our lives in the past year.

 

We've spent time with family...the Bowman boys

Got to celebrate Brooklynn's 2nd Birthday in February

We are so blessed with such wonderful family!

 Spring break was fun time with my cousin Kelsey visiting us out here in California!

We had a blast at Disneyland and California Adventure.

 Bo and I got to visit Santa Barbara and explore the beautiful coastal town. Including the gorgeous architecture at the courthouse, awesome view from its bell tower, and delicious Mac's Fish and Chips that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. 

 We got to take another trip down to Mission Beach in San Diego to spend a weekend with friends at Lorna's beach house. This are always such fun and cherished times with our closest friends.

 Played a little beach wiffle ball

 So blessed to have these people in our lives.....now if only we all lived closer! ;)

 Got to celebrate Josh and Paige's graduation from APU with them! They did it! Future PA and Nurse in a hospital near you.

My parents came out to visit in May, and we got to spend lots of quality time together! We cherish the few times we get to be together and not 1500 miles apart. 

 Almonds at the Bowman farm

 The big walnut trees on the Bowman farm.

 We spent some days at the beach digging holes, playing frisbee, and laying in the sun!

We celebrated our ONE YEAR anniversary in July by taking a backpacking trip in the Sierra Mountains to Cliff Lake at 9,000ft. We loaded up our packs and got a seriously great workout. 

 We climbed up a nearby mountain to 10,000ft and the most BEAUTIFUL view I have EVER seen in my life!!!!! This picture does not even come close to doing it justice! God's creation is so freaking amazing and gorgeous!

Bo loves fly fishing and he got to spend lots of time catching dinner and teaching me how to properly cast without hooking a tree, my clothes, the ground, or Bo. ;) 

Once again, pure natural beauty one morning on the lake! AMAZING!

In August we got to fly to Seattle to see some close friends, which was a much needed fix!

 The main reason for the trip was to see my beautiful friend and freshman roommate, Andrea Berkey (now Hilliard) get married! It was such a beautiful wedding filled with God's love!

That pretty much brings us to now. We have been enjoying fall (decorating the apartment, eating all of our Halloween candy, carving angry bird pumpkins, drinking apple cider, etc) and waiting for the "cold" weather to come. Instead, we had a record breaking high today of almost 90 degrees in Camarillo. (Camarillo is on the coast, so this is SUPER hot for us! We are used to mid 70's weather most of the time.)

All in all, God has blessed us over and over this past year, and we are so thankful for each and every blessing!

More to come soon! 
 

Things are happening!

Well, a lot of exciting things have been happening around here in the past week!

SISTER TIME

Calli came and spent the weekend with us!!!!! It was so great to have some much needed sister time! We went to a chili cook off at our church, took her to the beach for the first time in CA, watched Matt Bowman's team play a football game in Valencia, ate some delish food, and got to spend quality time together! What more could a sister ask for?! Bo and I will be headed to APU on Saturday for Homecoming, and then we'll head back down the next weekend for the full weekend. Let's just say, I like being close to my sister and friends at APU. :)

EMPLOYED WOMAN

I got a JOB!!!! That's right....an actual paid JOB! It's part time, but ya gotta start somewhere! Starting November 1st, I will be a Membership Counselor at 24 Hour Fitness in Oxnard, CA on the Channel Islands harbor! 

I'll tell you more about the details of the job once I actually start doing it. The crew of employees there seem really awesome, so I'm looking forward to getting to work with them! The timing of this job was perfect! Thank you God! I am currently looking to pick up another part time job in the afternoons/evenings in order to bring in a little extra dough to cover student loans...yippee....NOT. Student loans are great when they're getting you through college, but when it comes time to pay them off it can be a bummer. If it weren't for APU, I would have never met Bo, so I keep telling myself, "You can't put a price on LOVE!" ;) hehe

HOLIDAY DESIGNING

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, Bo and I are EAGERLY waiting for Christmas season to be here!!! We are both Christmas freaks, and we just discovered that our neighbors are too! Yes! (I knew we moved into a good area) haha Anyway, I have designed a couple Christmas cards that can be personalized. I am going to continue designing some cards, and I will be putting them up for sale on Etsy.com. I will post the link once I put all the designs up on there. Here is a little sneak preview of one design with my FAVORITE ADORABLE niece, Brooklynn, as my model picture. She is the cutest thing ever! Ok, I better not get off on that tangent....

Anyway, just wanted to spread the word about my Christmas cards. I haven't set a price yet, but it will be super cheap to pay for the design. Then you would take the personalized design and get it printed at Costco, Sams Club, Walmart, Vistaprint, or wherever you like to do your printing. If you are interested in using one of my designs or create something specific that you had in mind, just shoot me a message on facebook or email me if you want more information. I would be happy to do it for you! AND you get a personalized, super cute Christmas card that NOBODY else will have! 

On that note....enjoy the season of fall and get excited because Christmas is just around the corner!!!!

Love,

Newly Employed Wife ;)

Hangin' with the Bowmans

I decided that it's been too long since my last post. I'm definitely still working on the whole "consistency" thing with blogging! Bear with me!

Here is a little update of this past month. Sorry for the lack of pictures...i'll make up for it next time :)

We had some friends from APU (Josh, Brad, and Paige) come spend the weekend with us! It was so great to be able to see them again and just spend some good ol' quality time together. We hung out, laughed, watched Dispicable Me, laughed some more, ate a lot of food, spent an afternoon at the beach (football, frisbee, volleyball, and chatting on the lifeguard stand), and spent a few hours getting bargains at the Camarillo Premium Outlet! All in all, it was some much need quality time with 3 of our best friends!

The following weekend we headed to APU for the day, so we started it off with breakfast at Flappy Jacks (just like any APU student would). It was the five of us again plus Calli (my sister) too! We got to spend the day spending some more time with each other and watching the APU women's volleyball team. It was great sitting beside Calli who was going, "whoaa...nice dig libero", "oh yeah she got there", "i like watching her", "aw man, i really wanna play now"! hahaha We were both having the same thoughts and feelings about missing that sport that is a crucial part of our being now. ;) Volleyball will forever run in the McLellan blood and be a part of our lives! I LOVE IT!

Our weekends are usually pretty full with people coming to visit us, or us going to visit someone else. HOWEVER, we finally made friends with our neighbors a couple weeks ago!!!! Seriously, you have no idea how ecstatic we were! We all did taco Tuesday and had dinner together out in the common area of our apartment. It was so refreshing to meet 2 couples who are just a couple years older than we are. We're planning to do some other fun fall outings together, but ultimately it is just so nice to know that we have a few friends where we live! We also found a church that we have started to go to. They have a few young married couples small groups that we really want to get connected with as well. I'll keep you posted on our social life and friend status. ;)

Earl and Cindy (Bo's parents) came to visit us a couple weekends ago for the day! Bo and I went on a short hike to a dried up waterfall about 15 min from our place, which was pretty fun, and then we spend the afternoon as the 4 Bowmans. Once again we hit up the outlet mall. It's quite the legit place to check out, so if you ever come to visit us, we can take you there too! After they left, Bo and I were talking about how great it is to spend time with family! We both love our families so much and cherish each moment we get to spend with them all!

Speaking of family, last weekend we got to have Brad and Shellie Bowman to our place for the first time. We all went to the David Crowder concert in Hollywood on Saturday night. They are on their final tour, so we couldn't miss it. The concert was phenominal, including the 3 opening acts (John Mark McMillan, Chris August, and Gungor)! The ONLY downside was that we were standing for a total of somewhere between 5 and 6 hours!!!! UUUggghhh! It was general admission standing room only. It was a great spot because we were close to the stage, but man were we all feeling five times our age when our knees kept screaming at us to give them one little break! haha None the less, it was a super fun night and we only wish that we all could have hung out more.

In case you haven't realized it yet....hanging out with us can be pretty sweet! ;) hahaha just kidding! Well, hopefully it is enjoyable for people, so let us know if you're ever in the area and we'll be glad to show you around!

Thankful wife,

Abby