Moving Day: Tuesday November 20th

I never thought this day would come...moving into a new place, a place that Heather and I could call our own...even if it is only for a year. This truck, this ugly yellow truck as PJ would say, did its job.

We got a desk & a bed from Heather's parents & a bed. My parents gave us a dinning table and the dresser. It was very generous of them and for that we are grateful to God.

Elijah was so helpful that we rewarded him his own room.

Heather and Derrick, THE BOY COUSIN, messing around for the camera. Thanks again for the help. We praise God for you.

After we got everything in the house, we took PJ, Francis, Elijah, and Derrick to the petting farm at downtown San Juan Capistrano located by the mission.

There we saw and met new friends...

...Mr. Donkey...

Mr. Piggy, whom we found out that their names are...

Oreo is the black pig and the white one is Ruby! They had a ball in their play pen. Oreo would jump on top of it, smashing it, the would run around in a circle and then go back to the ball to smash it. Oreo did this a couple more times then started chasing around Ruby. Well, he tried. Ruby just stood her ground and they started to grunt at each other. After some more grunting they separated. Oreo went back to the ball and Ruby went back to the stack of hay to look pretty for her audience.

We then got hungry so we drove in traffic to go to Stonefire. Let's just say that this was worth the trip. We got the usual BBQ and Lemon Butter tri-tip and BBQ & lemon garlic chicken with Caesar salad and bread sticks. We spiced it up by adding a mesquite BBQ pizza, half tri-tip, half chicken. It was delicious! We were so hungry that we forgot to take pictures. Sorry...but if anyone wants to go, I found one in Costa Mesa off Broookhurst, west of the 405.

After that, we went for desert at Coldstone.


Heather, Elijah and I ended up sharing a strawberry blonde ice cream creation. We all had our own spoon. It was so tasty!



To recap...we had a great day of moving stuff into our home with the help of friends and family, followed by a fun time meeting new friends, to end it with dinner and desert. What a blessing to have fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to come to our aid. We are very grateful for their help and we know that God will repay them accordingly with his riches. Praise God for his grace and good times! We are looking forward now to settle in and eventually move in together. Only 20 more days to go...

We HAVE a house!!!

Well were leasing one... but praise God we have a place to live after we get married which is only in about 28 days! Ele's going to live there for now. We'll come up with better pictures These are our originals from our first walk through. The place is nice, safe, quiet and feels brand new! Ele loves the garage and backyard for barbequing but I love the tub and walk-in closet... priorities people... priorities!






We just found out that it is ours for the next year and we started moving in today. My productive little husband-to-be got busy and got the water, electric and cable all set-up before I even got home from Anthropologie. (I like saying that "Home" :) we have a home to come "home" to )

We were pretty tired after getting some of our things moved in after busy work day for Ele and wedding preparations for me; so once we had unloaded we decided to go out to treat ourselves to dinner. This decision to go out was secondary to the fact that our electricity will not be in effect until Wensday and we only had one flashlight. Otherwise we were considering pizza or something take-out from the Farmer's Market down the street by candlelight on the kitchen floor. Romantic huh? would be if we had candles... no so much though with just a flashlight... not exactly the right ambiance we were going for. We headed out to explore our new town some more.

Well what do you know there is a mall five minutes up the street from our new house! Uh oh trouble Nordstroms is the first store on the left.... :0
We had yummy PF Changs we shared the crab wontons with plum sauce, and then I ordered the Kung Pao Scallops and Ele had the Orange Peel Beef. But as always we just shared everything and it was absolutely delicous.

I really praise God for our safe place to live. I had concerns about securing a place in such a short time after Ele came home from Iraq and when we actually were to get married. I'm so happy God knew that I needed him to come home sooner. Just goes to show you that he knows the desires of our hearts.

FYI Please pray for the rest of Ele's squadron they are coming home this Sunday. Pray for a safe return and travel of these men and women. He was sent home early because of leadership and good behavior to set up the shop and get everything ready for the rest of the guys when they get here. SO GLAD HE'S HOME and that they are beginning to see in him what I see everyday.

Details for our Wedding Guests

This is our wedding web page. Click on the link below to find out information on when, where, and other important details pertaining to our special day.

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/HeatherLinder&EleazarNepomuceno

Love Eleazar and Heather

It's True! He's home! Early and Safe!

So Ele called me on Monday mid day I was sleeping (or least trying to) before going to work that night. He seemed extraordinarily happy. I could figure out why. I told him the woes of wedding planning without him and how much I loved him and wished he were here. We talked for a bit and then he told me his time was up and he had to go...

Went to work... ordinary night... nothing eventfull... no one coded... had some interesting patients.

Came home mom was giving me a list of things to do for the day we were on #5 when she started hyperventilating. I knew she had seen something outside because I saw her look out there before she started breathing so hard. I had never seen this strong of a reaction from her by the impression I got from her I thought it was an axe murderer or somthing. I turned around to look and nothing was there.

Suddenly there was knock on the door and she ran to open it. I had no idea what was going on. The door opened and there he was with a big smile. I could not breathe, and then I started crying which made it even harder to breathe. There were hugs and smooches exchanged, but I was in such shock and still could not breathe.

I'm breathing now. I still look at him sometimes and wonder if I'm dreaming or not. I'm not though it's such a blessing he's really here.

We've just been enjoying one another company. Getting things done and having a blast spending time together. We'll make our way around to see as many as we can or we'll see you all at church and others possibly on the 21rst.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. I'll post pics of his arrival when I figure out how to work our new photoshop system.

Whahoooooooooooo!

stress and decisions

Please pray for me and the plans God has for our future little family so many things need to get done within the next month or so and it's all starting to pile up.

Ele should be home in 33-37 days and I'm excited but I'm trying to get everything done before then so that when he comes home we can just relax and enjoy one another's company.

... I miss him I wish he was here to walk beside me in all of this and lend his ears, shoulders and hugs. :(

A nice cool day...

Today was beautiful day for flying...today the Lord blessed us with a cool day. The average temperature would range from 110 F to 120 F from 10:00 AM to about 4:00 PM. However this past week it has been nice and it has only been around 100 F to 110. I know this might be funny to you and you might think that I am talking madness but please understand that 10 degrees DOES make a difference. I praise God that I can give him the glory even though it is hot. His grace does abound...by the way, I looked at the temperature for LA and it said it was 62 F...i think i would be freezing!!! I hope that your weather there is not as bad as mine. Take care and as we are always told, "Drink water!"

Update

Baby Andrew is doing well he was discharged home last week with parents Paul and Shannon.

I'm awake @ 3:49 pm which is my 3:49 am when I work but I can't sleep...uuuuuugh!!!

On a brighter note though my studly little muffin man should be home in about 43 days not that I'm counting or anything. Gosh I just can't wait to get a hug...

When was last time you went 7 months without a hug from your love? Trust me this feels like forever. He sounds ready to come home, I spoke with him a few days ago and he is just as ready for a hug as I am.

It was a day for laughing and for crying...

Crying...

Today I heard news of a good friend from work that made tears swell up in my eyes. The news was of a co-worker Shannon who recently left on maternity leave to deliver she and her husband's first born, a son they would name Andrew. I remember she liked the name because people could call him Drew or Andy or Andrew (I vividly remember this conversation all of two weeks ago). Well, she was a week overdue so they decided to induce. Bring on the Pitocin... right Ruby... the delivery process was going smoothly until she got to the point where she was trying to push the babies head out he turned and his head became stuck. They tried vaccumm extraction and then moved on to metal forceps. When the forceps alone did not work they tried forceps with nurses physically on top of her pushing on her abdomen tring to get the baby out.
Three deep cuts to Shannon and three hematomas with blood coming out of Andrews head later the baby was delivered. 8lbs 3oz 21 3/4" long. The baby coded on delivery was taken immediately to the NICU. Intubated and on a respirator. The prognosis was poor but the next 24 hrs would be critical.
Currently the baby is doing much better. He's extubated now. Breathing on his own (lungs are the last system to develop in utero). Peeing which means his kidneys are functioning. The baby is even drinking from a bottle. However the baby is showing signs of brain damage on the EEG. The plan is to wait and see if when the hematomas and the swelling go down if the intracranial pressure resolves. Lord willing at that point brain wave activity will stabilize and Andrew will be okay. Shannon has asked for everyone to be in prayer for her baby so I thought I would share the new with her family members in Christ who read this blog.
The whole situation made me think and be thankful for all of my friends who are new mothers and for the gift of life to their children. Praise God from whom these little blessings flow. I stopped where I was in the middle of the chaos of the nursing station and prayed for Sabrina Hannah Barrett today. Life is a precious gift granted only by God's grace.

Laughing...
I don't think anyone would call Ele's and my relationship the normal way to go about things. Fall in love, get engaged, plan a wedding, word of deployment, postpone wedding, get deployed, replan wedding, await arrival home with much anticipation. I have to just laugh sometimes. We're doing everything with such inginuity. I love that my husband-to-be wants to be as helpful as possible even from Iraq after long 12 hour days at least five or six days a week. I am thankful that God has grown us closer together through this time in our relationship. It would be easy to grow apart through this time of separation but were learning to lean upon one another more than ever before.
Our current project is our wedding registry. I went this past Saturday with mom to register and then e-mailed Ele a list of honeydoos to look at on things I was unsure of and wanted his opinion on. Things as simple as a shower curtain. It would be nice to have his opinion. I don't want to pick out anything too feminine, my man is a manly man, but I want it to have style. Knives, I know nothing about them but Ele who loves to cook is so particular about them. A knife set was definately on Ele's honeydo list.
My birthday was a week ago my sweetman tried for two hours after to work to call but the phone lines were down. I received an e-card the next day explaining the situation and few e-hugs and e-kisses to go with it. Heard from him a few days later when he had access to a phone. I cherish our phone calls. One week and two days later after being lost in the mail my birthday present arrived. An outfit picked out by my sweetie from White House/Black Market a dress complete with earings and a clutch. I'll have to post pictures. I never knew an outfit, a package, a phone call or even an e-mail could mean so much. I praise God for this trial.

So bring your cameras!

These are pictures of our wedding site. Heather and I enjoyed the beautiful, calming and intimate ambiance that Rancho Capistrano offers. The Lord displays the glory of his splendor quite well here. You cannot help but be swept away by his creativity, his grace, and his majesty. Pictures captures the essence of the scene as best as it could with the purpose of giving one the opportunity to share in the joy of what the beholder sees. With the help of these pictures, I humbly do the same. Though I am not the originator of these pictures, please, enjoy the pictures. I hope that this gives you a slight glimpse of what Heather and I was able to see. So please, bring you cameras. Enjoy what December 15th can entail for all of us. Celebrate the goodness of God by creating many memories, reminding us all of tGod's grace through scenery, family, and friends. However, of all the pictures you will take, I must admit and be honest. The best and most beautiful picture you will take will be of my darling bride to be...if you do not believe me, try it when the day comes. I am convinced that once you see the pictures, you will be in awe of the beauty that God has instilled in his creation, my soon to be wife, Heather.

This is the sign to the entrance...

This is the front of the church where the ceremnoy will take place...

This is the fountain in the spanish courtyard where the reception will be held...

This is the gazebo extending out to the middle of the lake...this would be a nice location for the wedding ceremony but it is quite small. One would definitely have trouble fitting 200 people...

This is a view of the trail that leads up to the spanish courtyard...

So, are you bringing your camera? I hope so, Heather and I will!

Even in the heavens...

Even in the midst of war and duty, the graciousness of God still abounds! With the idea of freedom and sacrifice comes love. I am and foremost in awe of the love that Christ has shown me through the cross of calvary. Moreover, to think that I am in the heavens, watching over cities and people gives me a minute and small glimpse of what God does for me. In the heavens he guides and watches over me. He leads and gives me direction of places where not to go and even gives warnings of protection. And when there is trouble, he swoops in and saves the day. He comes with blazing glory and speed that those that stand in his way find justice and peace for those he has come to save. I know that my job deals with these very things. I just pray now for the guidance and help of the Lord since I am not the perfect one as He is. May my mind and heart be of him echoed with my actions and thoughts for all to see. The picture here is to my love, that though I am not there to physically protect you and be with, my heart and my mind is; even in the midst of war you are in my thoughts. I pray that you also recognize what the Lord does for the both of us in our time of being apart. Heather, I love you and I will be home soon.

The Happy Couple

Ele and I decided to create this blog to post information regarding the wedding such as addresses, local hotels, and details like where we are registered. Then following December 15, 2007 the blog will become our little family's web blog. I am so excited to be joined to this man as my family. For the rest of my life he's gonna be stuck with me! Whahoo!

That settles it!

Heather and I were both glad to see the ring as a symbol of our commitment to stay true to one another as we prepare for marraige. A beautiful ring for a beautiful bride to be! The uniqueness of this ring is just a representation of the amazing and unique personality and beauty that Heather has been blessed with. A "lucky," blessed man that I am to be engaged, preparing to be wed to a beautiful and foxy lady as Heather...