Sunday, May 23, 2010
GOODBYE, BLOLGGER! HELLO WORDPRESS!!
We moved our blog to a new platform. We will not be posting to this site anymore.
If you'd like to continue reading our blog, visit us at www.rssoriano.com.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Ghost Speech
During our wedding, I had the pleasure to address some words to our friends and family. I know my words moved Sarah, sadly they didn’t get recorded and they were impromptu. So before time takes its toll on me, I decided to write down what I remember saying.
“I would like to start by thanking you for joining us on this special day. We know some of you have traveled long distances to join us, and we are very happy you could make it.
I would also like to thank Sarah’s parents for raising such a wonderful woman, and my mom for everything she has done for me.
This is the day I get to marry my best friend,
The one I’ll live with, love with, laugh with.
This is the one God has given me for life,
My partner, my love, my soulmate.
These are the words that Sarah wrote for our wedding invitations. When I first read them I liked them a lot, there was something about them, but I didn’t pay much attention. Later on I kept thinking about them, I even looked them up in Google to see where they came from but couldn’t find anything helpful.
I kept thinking and reflecting over these words, until it hit me. What was so meaningful to me is the part that says “This is the one God has given me for life, My partner, my love, my soulmate.” This is the one that God has given me for life.
I realized that Sarah doesn't belong to me, she is a gift to me from God. I started to think how would I like to return the gift to back to God when our time is up. I want to go to God and tell him “Thank you Father for a wonderful wife, for a great woman. I loved your gift, treated her with love, respect and helped her grow in faith.” I want to be successful at this.
Speaking about success, this is something I have been thinking about. I want us to have a successful life.
There is a man that I grew up with that is really successful and I never even knew it. This is a man has given up his title, his job and his personal desires for his family. This man is my brother. He recently moved his family to Canada and gave up his career as a doctor for the future of his kids. He doesn’t have money, he doesn’t have cars or a fancy job but he is successful. I can see it in the way his daughters love him and treat him with respect, the way his son looks up to him and the way he leads his family in faith.
Don’t get me wrong, I have ambitions, I want to keep growing at my job and do well financially. What I don’t want is to miss what is important to me. To remember that I am part of the world, but I don’t belong to it.
I have seen success at the house of Rodney and Lisa, the way they love and respect each other. The way they raised Sarah and their serving spirit. You guys have a marriage I hope to model ours after.
My friends, I want us to be successful! And I know that with the help of God, our church and family we will be successful.
Thank you ”
“I would like to start by thanking you for joining us on this special day. We know some of you have traveled long distances to join us, and we are very happy you could make it.
I would also like to thank Sarah’s parents for raising such a wonderful woman, and my mom for everything she has done for me.
This is the day I get to marry my best friend,
The one I’ll live with, love with, laugh with.
This is the one God has given me for life,
My partner, my love, my soulmate.
These are the words that Sarah wrote for our wedding invitations. When I first read them I liked them a lot, there was something about them, but I didn’t pay much attention. Later on I kept thinking about them, I even looked them up in Google to see where they came from but couldn’t find anything helpful.
I kept thinking and reflecting over these words, until it hit me. What was so meaningful to me is the part that says “This is the one God has given me for life, My partner, my love, my soulmate.” This is the one that God has given me for life.
I realized that Sarah doesn't belong to me, she is a gift to me from God. I started to think how would I like to return the gift to back to God when our time is up. I want to go to God and tell him “Thank you Father for a wonderful wife, for a great woman. I loved your gift, treated her with love, respect and helped her grow in faith.” I want to be successful at this.
Speaking about success, this is something I have been thinking about. I want us to have a successful life.
There is a man that I grew up with that is really successful and I never even knew it. This is a man has given up his title, his job and his personal desires for his family. This man is my brother. He recently moved his family to Canada and gave up his career as a doctor for the future of his kids. He doesn’t have money, he doesn’t have cars or a fancy job but he is successful. I can see it in the way his daughters love him and treat him with respect, the way his son looks up to him and the way he leads his family in faith.
Don’t get me wrong, I have ambitions, I want to keep growing at my job and do well financially. What I don’t want is to miss what is important to me. To remember that I am part of the world, but I don’t belong to it.
I have seen success at the house of Rodney and Lisa, the way they love and respect each other. The way they raised Sarah and their serving spirit. You guys have a marriage I hope to model ours after.
My friends, I want us to be successful! And I know that with the help of God, our church and family we will be successful.
Thank you ”
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Dear neighbors...
Good morning, dear duplex neighbors!
I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the wake-up call this morning. The music itself wasn't quite enough to get me out of bed (although I know Gilda loves death metal at 5 am), but the pounding on the walls shook me up. The animal noises in the back yard were a nice touch. I hope the yelling helped you as you broke in through the window. Who needs keys?!
Oh, and I'm very sorry that your girlfriend broke up with you. I don't want to take sides, but I agree that she was defending Kevin too much and that it is likely they have fornicated. I don't blame you. You certainly have a wide variety of words to describe your displeasure at the situation! The yelling and screaming were tough, so I'm glad you had enough cigarettes to calm your nerves. Luckily, that smell comes right over into our "home" so we can enjoy it too.
I hope you get a lot of time to catch up on your sleep throughout the morning and afternoon. We will be at work, so it should be nice and quiet for you. If I'm lucky, we can do this all again tomorrow!
Love,
Your neighbors
I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the wake-up call this morning. The music itself wasn't quite enough to get me out of bed (although I know Gilda loves death metal at 5 am), but the pounding on the walls shook me up. The animal noises in the back yard were a nice touch. I hope the yelling helped you as you broke in through the window. Who needs keys?!
Oh, and I'm very sorry that your girlfriend broke up with you. I don't want to take sides, but I agree that she was defending Kevin too much and that it is likely they have fornicated. I don't blame you. You certainly have a wide variety of words to describe your displeasure at the situation! The yelling and screaming were tough, so I'm glad you had enough cigarettes to calm your nerves. Luckily, that smell comes right over into our "home" so we can enjoy it too.
I hope you get a lot of time to catch up on your sleep throughout the morning and afternoon. We will be at work, so it should be nice and quiet for you. If I'm lucky, we can do this all again tomorrow!
Love,
Your neighbors
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
We made an offer!
We made an offer on the Sherwood house today! I am excited, nervous, excited, terrified and excited all at the same time. But I can't be too excited - we are in a multiple offer situation on the house, which is in short-sale. In my newly-augmented real estate knowledge, this means that the bank will take a practical look at the numbers and accept whichever offer results in the largest net for the bank. Now we just have to wait and see if the offer Rafa and I entered hits that magical mystery number.
We walked away from our meeting with our Relator (the absolutely fantastic Jennifer Murphy) knowing that we made the best offer we could. We didn't get emotional and go out of our price range. If our offer isn't accepted, it simply isn't the house for us.
But we really hope it is!
We have been praying through 1 Chronicles 4:10. The verse is better known as the prayer of Jabez, a man who was described in the previous verse as "more distinguished than any of his brothers." He prayed, "Oh, that You would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain." The last part of the verse is, "And the Lord granted him his request."
My dear friend Kita reminded me of this verse on Sunday. It is pretty much the perfect verse for a first-time homebuyer! Let's break it down:
1) Extend my land (literally, the house is on 1/2 acre in Eagan)
2) Please be with me because this is a nerve-wracking process!
3) Keep me from trouble and pain, i.e. major damage not reflected in the inspection, etc.
We will find out on Friday if our offer is accepted or not. Please join us in praying!
We walked away from our meeting with our Relator (the absolutely fantastic Jennifer Murphy) knowing that we made the best offer we could. We didn't get emotional and go out of our price range. If our offer isn't accepted, it simply isn't the house for us.
But we really hope it is!
We have been praying through 1 Chronicles 4:10. The verse is better known as the prayer of Jabez, a man who was described in the previous verse as "more distinguished than any of his brothers." He prayed, "Oh, that You would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain." The last part of the verse is, "And the Lord granted him his request."
My dear friend Kita reminded me of this verse on Sunday. It is pretty much the perfect verse for a first-time homebuyer! Let's break it down:
1) Extend my land (literally, the house is on 1/2 acre in Eagan)
2) Please be with me because this is a nerve-wracking process!
3) Keep me from trouble and pain, i.e. major damage not reflected in the inspection, etc.
We will find out on Friday if our offer is accepted or not. Please join us in praying!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
A little love in your heart
Rafa and I just got done volunteering with a bunch of other people from our church, The Rock, at the AIDS walk in Minneapolis. We cheered until our throats hurt and rang our cowbells until our knuckles bled (not even kidding!). We jumped up and down at the starting line to get people pumped up for the walk and gave about a million (almost kidding) high fives to participants as they reached the end of the 10K.An AIDS walk is probably the last place most people would expect to see a bunch of evangelical Christians, but that's one of the reasons why we are there.
Jesus didn't just come to save the people with neatly packaged sins. People with public struggles need Jesus more, not less, than people who seem good on the outside and keep their sin hidden. Jesus didn't tell Christians to only be around other Christians. He didn't tell us to stay away from people we might not understand or even agree with. Jesus said "Go." He said to love our neighbors as ourselves and to be a light in a dark city.
AIDS is absolutely devastating. When I think about it, the first thing that comes to my mind is death. The hope of my life is the complete opposite of death. That's why it felt great to be there volunteering. We put smiles on the faces of hundreds of people.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
House hunting
We walked through five houses tonight. It really struck me how hard it must be to sell your house.
Forced to allow all your doors to be opened,
people poking in the nooks and crannies,
judging every color, carpet and crack,
questioning every spot and stain,
knowing that everyone is imagining how to get the memories of your family out.
As we drove home, I couldn't help but peer into houses of every shape and size. I wonder if the people inside love their house? Or if they are just comfortable and love the memories they have there? I wonder if they had it all to do over again, would they buy the house again?
I can't wait until we are inside our new house, making our own memories in the space that is just right for us.
Forced to allow all your doors to be opened,
people poking in the nooks and crannies,
judging every color, carpet and crack,
questioning every spot and stain,
knowing that everyone is imagining how to get the memories of your family out.
As we drove home, I couldn't help but peer into houses of every shape and size. I wonder if the people inside love their house? Or if they are just comfortable and love the memories they have there? I wonder if they had it all to do over again, would they buy the house again?
I can't wait until we are inside our new house, making our own memories in the space that is just right for us.
Monday, May 10, 2010
More stuff about food and houses
I made a new dish tonight that is now on Gilda's favorite foods list! It's called the Crunchy Couscous Salad:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry couscous
3/4 cup water
1/2 cucumbers, thinly sliced and quartered
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
4 oz black olives
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbles
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preparation:
1. In a medium saucepan, boil water and add couscous. Return to boiling, then remove pan from heat, cover, and let stand for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool while preparing veggies.
2. Add cucumber, bell pepper, onion and olives to couscous.
3. Combine olive oil, vinegar, feta, basil, salt and pepper to make dressing. Mix with couscous salad.
4. Refrigerate and serve chilled. Add cooked chicken to make it a meal.
AND - We are enjoying the house hunt! We love the house in the previous post. Rafa would have been ready to write the offer letter then and there, but I want to be sure. So, we went to an open house on Sunday (hated it) and we have five more to look at this week. The Sherwood House (our name for it) is the new standard. If none of these five measure up, then we will put in an offer on the Sherwood House. It's going to be an exciting week!
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