Hello all...

I know it has been a very long time since I have done this but I thought I should update before 2007 is over. Oh, and a very good friend requested that I update, so he should get the credit for this more than anything!

My brother arrived home on November 27th after 14 months in Iraq. It was wonderful!!!! I bawled my eyes out when we saw him. I am not one to cry overly much, but on this ocassion it was quite the tear fest. I felt like a balloon that had been popped. I didn't even realize all the tension I had felt this whole year over him being in Iraq, but when he got home I sure felt the release of all that tension! Anyway, the only picture from the reunion with me in it is AWFUL!!! I look terrible...one would never guess from the picture that I was completely happy! I look like someone had died. Anyway, November 27th was a great day! Oh, and the next day was his and his wife's 15th wedding anniversary...how awesome is that?!!?

So, I am still doing the counseling gig. I absolutely love it! I am even looking into a Master's program at the University of Alaska here in Anchorage. They have what looks like a very good Adult Education program. I may or may not be taking a class in January. That is a long story and I don't feel like typing it out and everyone who reads this has already been told by me so yeah...

Well, I need to sign off here, I have been dogsitting for some friends of mine up here and the dog needs a bath. I am not really looking forward to this part of the job. Rose (the dog) is very well trained so I'm not worried about her behavior. It is just that she is such a big dog. Rose is a Weimaraner, so she is very big. But she is just a good dog and very sweet! Anyway, it is off for the bathtub!!!

Ash, here is a link for you to check out: http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/weimaraner-dogs.aspx

Hello everyone! I don’t usually do these “cheesy-updates-mass emails” but some of this is too
good to keep to myself. As most of you know, I came up to Alaska last December to stay with Cathy and the kids while Brian is deployed to Iraq . I pretty much came up here with no idea of where to even start looking for a job. I had just completed my Bachelor of Arts in History, but really what job field is that good for? Anyway, by February I had begun working here on the Army Post at the Education Center . God is so amazing! All I said at the Bible Study Cathy had on Tuesday nights was that I was looking for a job. One of the ladies told me to talk with her after it was over that she might have something for me. That very day her boss had told her that he needed someone for standby when others would call in. Wow! That very day, God knew that Jennifer would be at Cathy’s house and that she would be the vessel to provide for me (someone she had just met!). Anyway, I started off as a part time employee working where I needed to in the building (sometimes in the Library, sometimes as a receptionist, and I even taught a class for a couple of weeks) until May when they hired me to begin working full time in the Education Office as an education counselor. I work with Army Soldiers who are
attending college while Active Duty and receive money from the Army to do so. It is a very rewarding job and
I love watching Soldiers attain their goals and dreams for their education life. I am constantly amazed at the hard work and determination of some of my Soldiers. They are truly inspiring to me as I see them working for our country 40+ hours and attending college at the same time. And these are just the local Soldiers…the stories I have of my students who are Soldiers serving overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq are astounding! Suffice it to say that I LOVE my job and have even started considering Adult Education as a career. This year has been such a journey for me. I recently moved into an apartment in Anchorage in advance of Brian returning from Iraq in November/December (YAY!!!!!). God again provided an amazing place very close to work (about as close as
you can be living off post!) and also a roommate. God was working in that long before I ever saw anything as
well. One of the other ladies from Bible Study was here in Alaska staying with her friend while the
friend’s husband was in Iraq . Now, she is in the same position as me, needing a place to stay once all the guys return from deployment. We are the same age and we both work at the Education Center here on Fort Richardson ! Now we are going to be roommates and continue to work on post. We found an apartment and
then God started providing again. I mean really, now He is just showing off! I have made some amazing friends while I have lived here for this short time and I cannot thank God enough for who He has put in my life. At the same time I have been moving into my apartment, one of my dear friends (the Chretin family) have been packing up their house as the Air Force is sending her husband back to Oklahoma (again with the showing off…I can visit her when I go back to Arkansas!!!). Kim and her family have been in Alaska for 8 years now and while I can’t imagine a Chretin-free Alaska I do know that somehow we will survive! Well, as she has been going through her house getting ready to move she has been contacting me seeing if I needed some of the furniture she is not taking with her. (Niki, do you need a table, a couch, a bed, another couch, a coffee table…?) Amazing!! Here I was with an new unfurnished apartment and she needed to get rid of a bunch of furniture she wouldn’t have room to take (by they way, even with all the stuff they gave away they still filled a tractor trailer FULL with over 18,000 pounds of stuff). Of course my answer has always been a resounding YES when she would call! So, now my apartment is furnished, Brian is about to return, and my last need is in the transportation department. Why do we as Christians ever doubt that God LOVES to provide ALL that we need? I don’t know about all of you guys, but I struggle in that area a lot and am constantly (just ask my Mom!) having to turn over my worries and doubts to the Lord as I try to do His job and panic over not having ____ (insert choice of worry here). All the time, I give it
over the Lord and then take it back. Yet, He still delights in taking care of me and working out situations that I could see no possible resolution. By the way, this is all for His glory and that is what this email is about. I don’t normally do these kinds of emails, but this is something that I HAVE to do at this point. Anyway, to get back to that last need. What was it? Oh yes, transportation. Oh, if you only could have been in my head these past few weeks…it’s been like a tornado in there with constant thoughts whirling around “I need a car…I don’t have a car…I don’t want to go look for one…I HATE car shopping…I’m a girl, I can’t go by myself to find a car!” You get the picture! Well, last night Kim was at my house to pick up something when she told me that her and her
husband had decided not to try to take their Rodeo back to Oklahoma . (I didn’t even know this car existed by the way!) So, she tells me that it broke down earlier this year and they wanted a new car so they just stored the Rodeo until they left and had thought they would take it with them, but now they weren’t. Oh by the way, would you like to have it? Sure, maybe, depends on how much you want for it and how much it will cost to fix it, I say. Oh no, no, no, she says, we want to give it to you. Say do what??? I can’t even begin to tell you how shocked I was/still am. Who gives away cars??? So, last night I looked at the car and while it is older I think it will be a
great car for Alaska . So, now I can delete a monthly car payment from my personal budget. What a blessing!!! Isn’t God great? I can’t begin to express in mere words the thankfulness that I am feeling at this moment. Just let me leave you with these verses from Matthew 6:25-34:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

AMEN

In Christ our Provider,
Niki :)

I have been asked oh so politely to update. :)

About 3 weeks ago I went on a 26 mile hike here in Alaska called Crow's Pass. You should look it up online and read about it...fun times. Anyway, about that hike. We had many wonderful adventures such as: summiting the 3500 foot mountain, crossing near vertical snow patches on the side of the mountain, and here's my favorite...we crossed a very wide glacier fed river halfway along the point. I have never been in such cold water. We could actually see the glacier that fed the river...pretty amazing. What I saw on the hike: 6-7 glaciers, 22 HUGE waterfalls, fields of wild moutain flowers, stunning mountain views, and much more. What I did not see: no bears, not one single bear. This was after EVERYONE I told about the trip told me that I was going to die from a bear attack. Ok, so that was a little dramatic...but you get my point. Anyway, there is much more to tell about the hike, but I am tired of typing now. But, I hit the high points.

Hope this satisfies those who requested an update! Bye for now!

Exciting things going on! Perhaps a place to rent up here...FULLY FURNISHED!!!! That's right, fully furnished. I am so excited that I don't even know what to say....

....Katherine when can I call you tomorrow????? I neeeeeeeeeeeed to talk to you!!!!

Wow...that was scary....

I just looked up and across the room my niece was just spaced out zombie like staring at me...she claims she had just looked up at the exact moment I did...but that sounds sketchy to me....

Not much else to write about...except that last night I went for a run/walk...that was pretty cool, I haven't ran in a really long time. I guess the marathon I saw on Saturday inspired me. Yay for inspiration.