Party Time

Last year was my first experience with this whole "blog party" idea and really where i got inspired to blog more often, and ever since I've been waiting for the Ultimate Blog Party again this year! I have been looking forward to it for a long time, and I'm so excited to party with other bloggers. :) (through the year this is the best link up too, that I have participated in. )

So about me----

ME -My name is Jessica Gardner. I grew up as a missionary kid in Ecuador South America (and yes I always specify that b/c you would not believe how many comments I have gotten in my life about it being on another continent). Now I am married to a wonderful man who loves me very unconditionally, Richard Gardner, and puts up with many of my unique pet peeves. :) We have 2 boys, Carson 3 yrs old and Landon 19 months old. You can read about their birth stories here if you're interested.

History of our Family - As a family we recently (as in August, 2011, about 8 months ago) moved to Fort Collins Colorado!!! We were living in Northeastern PA (scranton, home of "the office") where my husband was getting a masters degree at a Seminary there. He graduated in May, and him being a native from Colorado wanted to move back to the "homeland". We were in search of a Good gospel believing church that had a heart for and actually showed LOVE to the community around them, with strong goals to always be church planting. And we found one!!! "The Crossing". Go check out the website! Awesome church. So my husband quit his job in PA, we moved out on faith to Fort Collins, to jump right into "The Crossing" and help wherever there was a need. And boy have we been blessed. Richard found a job almost exactly a month after moving, we have a great little apartment, and friendships are blossoming, church is thriving and growing, and we as a family have been refreshed, encouraged, and challenged like never before! It's been quite a journey - but God has been faithful all the way through! And that leads me to my blog (if you desire to read a few posts about this journey check out here and here and here and here)

(on a side note: this Sunday, April 22nd, will be my very first half marathon race, and I have never raced that before! It's a difficult race and very hilly! so let's hope I'm alive next week to keep blogging. Stay tuned for the race results. I love running and after this race I might actually consider myself a runner)

BLOG - I want to document my boy's lives! I want family (who happens to be all over the world) to be able to see updated pics of the boys and hear stories of what they are doing. I want God to be glorified and praised. I want the story of the Grace that he has bestowed on me to be evident daily! I want the fact that Jesus died to save me b/c I am a wretched sinner, and the fact that I did nothing to deserve it and still do nothing to deserve it to be evident. I want to daily remind myself of this Good God who loves me more unconditionally than I even realize.
 This year my "word for the year" is to ENJOY life. I hope in my posts that comes out! I want to ENJOY life, ENJOY my God, ENJOY church, ENJOY the boys, ENJOY my husband. ENJOY LIFE!

So have fun clicking around on my blog and catching up on my life. And then go check out the party yourself. :)