2 new loves

During our trip to Maui I came across two things that I now love dearly... Sanuks and Donovan Frankenreiter.

We spent almost every night at Donovan Frankenreiters bar right down the street from our hotel.  I'm not gonna lie... we spent almost every night there and I had never ever heard of Donovan Frankenreiter.  Come to learn he is good friends with Jack Johnson (my second husband) and he is a singer/songwriter/pro-surfer who lives in Hawaii.  Who would have known?!?!

The last day of the trip we headed to the Sanuk store in Old Lahaina Town.  A few of our friends, guys and girls, had purchased some when they were in Oahu before meeting us in Maui.  They were really cute, and looked super comfy.  One quick stop at the Sanuk store on our way to the airport and my life is forever changed.  Okay... that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but these are honestly the most comfortable shoes ever.  Maybe that is because the bottom is made of a yoga mat?!  Both Dustin and I bought a pair, and haven't taken them off since.  On the left is a link to they style that I purchased (and am wearing right at this moment).  Your feet will thank you... I promise!! 

Just to make it all a little sweeter, I learned that Donovan Frankenreiter is an official Sanuk spokesman.  Who would have known that two great things would join forces and become a shoe industry superhero  ;o)

Green Smoothie for Diabetics

Check out the Type 1 page for more information....

New Type 1 Post

Check out the Type 1 page for an update in our Type 1 world!!

Blessings!!

the POINTS paid off!!

For years Dustin has been accumulating points while he travels for his job.... hotel points, airline points, rental car points.  Anything that has points associated with it - he has been earning it!!  It seems like we have been waiting forever to reap the benefits of his travel (selfishly I have been waiting for the day when I would benefit from it).  And just recently it seems like we are using them... ALL!!!

This last month has been crazy!!  First, I had the opportunity to join Dustin in Europe for a week.  I was able to fly for free on his United points.  That trip was incredible - far greater than anything we could have imagined.  I know... I know... I still need to blog about it, share some of our favorite stories and pictures.  Believe it or not though, I/we have been so busy since returning from Europe that I haven't even looked at the pictures.  That post will come soon though, I promise!!

Last weekend we traveled to San Diego with some of my family.  Dustin and I stayed in the gaslamp district of SD with my cousin Maile and her husband Jeremy.  The boys combined their Marriott points and we were able to have all of our hotel charges covered!!  The reason for our trip was because my cousin, Zak, proposed to his amazing girlfriend Krystal on the beach in Coronado.  Dustin was the paparazzi that caught the whole thing on our camera, and we were able to celebrate with them the rest of the weekend!!  I had a fun part in the proposal and was able to help Zak make some of his creative ideas come to reality.  It was a really special day.  Zak has always meant so much to me - more than I think he even knows!!  He has been like a brother in every sense that there is!!  He has made fun of me, punched me in the face (literally when I was about 5 and he was 3), stood up for me, included me and loved me!!  I would do anything to see him happy - and I am so happy that I could be a small part of this special day for the two of them.  He found an incredible girl who loves him so much and has the sweetest heart in the entire world.  They are such a fun couple to be around, and I seriously couldn't feel more blessed that she is joining our family!! Here are just a few pictures

In two weeks we leave for Maui with 15 friends!!  Again, we are using Dustin's United points so that both of us can fly for free (which is a good thing since we are broke), and we are staying with friends/family to reduce the hotel costs. We haven't even had time to think about what we are going to do once we are there.  But as long as I can sit on the beach and ride on a catamaran I will be happy!!

It has been an incredible, and extremely tiring, month of travel!!  I am pretty sure we are going to be living off of salads and omelettes for the rest of the year just to save money - but we know it will be worth it!!

Outside of travel we have both been very busy.  Dustin is taking two classes towards his Masters in Material Science Engineering at ASU while finishing up his classes in real estate.  Don't worry, he won't be quitting his day job - this is just something that he has always wanted to pursue.  I have been busy as wedding season starts to gear up again.  I have a few post-processing jobs that I am working on.  I am also teaching a Freshman Seminar class at ASU this semester every Wednesday.  My Bible Babes group is meeting again every Tuesday, and every other Wednesday evening Dustin and I go to a small group bible study for newly married couples.  Some days I'm not even sure how we fit it all in... but we do, and thankfully our relationship isn't suffering because of it.

Hopefully my next post won't be too far from now  :o)

Lead Me

Its no secret that the dating and courtship part of our relationship was one of ups and downs and lots of heartache.  There were more times than I care to admit that I wondered if we would make it.  For years I did what I thought was best, and held on as tight as I could to a relationship that at the time was moving no where.  And I will never forget one day after bible study standing in the parking lot with my aunt Joni and bible study leader Becki, and crying tears of relief - knowing that I couldn't hold on any longer.  I had to let go, and give it all to God.  By holding on so tightly I was acting like I had control over something that only God had control of.  That was one of the scariest moments of my life, because sometimes when you surrender control to God, the outcome is much different than what you were hoping for... always better - but often different.  That day I surrenedered it all and just began to pray that God would bring a man into my life that would walk in faith with me (desperately hoping that the man God had in mind was Dustin).  I never knew where Dustin would end in his life of faith, and I never wanted to be one that pushed him towards Christ. I knew that it was a personal decision for him, and only him.  It had to be something he would seek on his own.  It was nothing I could ever make him do.  Almost two years later I married Dustin, a completely different person than the man I dated... he had grown into an amazing man of faith!!  The transformation in his life and in our relationship has been incredible to say the very least.  God gave me so much more than I could have ever hoped for.  Strangely enough - the reason that Dustin became so strong in his walk of faith had nothing to do with me and had everything to do with another person in Dustins life completely seperate of me or my family.  It is an incredible testimony that only Dustin can share.

Lately, this song has been playing on Air1, the radio station I listen to.  I love it because I know the story of why it was written (the video below explains), and I remember at one time praying for the same thing.  And today I am married to a man who is leading me to Christ in everything I do.  He is an incredible support and partner!!  When I surrendered it all to God almost two years ago, I never would have imagined that this would be my life today.  It is so much better than anything I hoped for or thought was possible.


The Story Behind "Lead Me" - Sanctus Real from BrightBulb Entertainment on Vimeo.

How I almost didn't make it to Europe

Here is an email I sent to Dustin while in DC waiting to get to Europe...

To say that this morning was stressful is the biggest understatement I've made in years!! I only slept for a few hours last night. I was up the majority of the night worrying about the flight from DC to Geneva. Praying that God would give my heart peace and not be worried. I was frazzled this morning, my heart in constant prayer. But I got up and checked things off my list. Passport - check. Marriage license - check. Camera - check. All the chargers - check. I even made a list for Joni of all our credit important numbers and contact phone numbers, and I gave her all the info on my passport. We even made a copy for me to take and her to have. Get in the car, say a prayer together and head to the airport. We get there with lots of time to share. Joni said I should get my passport and license out. Passport... Passport... Passport! Where the heck is my passport. Minor panic, but its gotta be somewhere. Joni goes to look in the car and I start going through everything. NOTHING!! We change roles... I go to look in the car and Joni calls Robin to have him check the copy machine, the bedroom, the garage, the kitchen counter. NOTHING!! Major Panic!! I can't find it, Joni can't find it, Robin can't find it. The agent can't check me in without my passport and says they only have about 25 more minutes to check me in, in order to get my bags on the flight. Now I am starting to wonder if God doesn't want me to go - maybe its a sign. But how will I get a hold of you?!?! Almost tears, but I'm fighting them. Then.. Robin calls, he found it. He looked in the wrong copier. But now we are racing the clock, he has to get to the airport. Now I am crying. The agent is asking where he is coming from wondering if he will make it. They say he won't, but I know he will. Robin shows up with about 5 minutes to spare to get my bags checked. He said he broke almost every traffic law to get there - and he almost ran out of the house naked. Drove in the carpool lane when he couldn't and went 70-75mph. But he got there. Huge relief and even more tears of relief. Now my emotions are running really high, and saying goodbye to Joni is even more hard! But... I made it. I'm on the plane as I speak. I will hopefully be able to get a hold of you when I am in DC. I love you so much and I can't wait to see you!!
Praying your travel experience has been less eventful than mine.
Leah
 
This was just the beginning of my eventful day!!  So much more happened.  Thankfully I made it to Geneva so now it is all just a funny memory!!

Switzerland/Germany Day 1

Hi family!!! Just a quick hello from Switzerland.  Thought I would post on the blog since it is a good way of keeping a journal of our travels!!  After quite the day of traveling mishaps and adventures (I will post an email I sent to Dustin about my morning adventure - because it is really funny in retrospect!!)  we have had quite the incredible day here. Once we got in we went straight to the hotel and checked in and took about a 4 hour nap. Thanks to the xanax, half ambien, and wine I had in DC (not to mention the time change) I was really tired.


After the nap we did lots of exploring since we had absolutely no idea of what to do. We are staying at the cutest hotel just a block from the beach - huge thanks to my mom who found the place for us!! We have learned that Geneva is known to be one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Dustin's salad at a little bistro was $21. In the evening we went to the beautiful St Pierre cathedral. We couldn't go in since it closed early, but maybe tomorrow. Apparently it was John Calvins home church during the time of the protestant reformation. Tonight we had an incredible dinner of the lake where we could watch the fireworks for the Geneva Festival. Another little jewel we just stumbled upon.

Tomorrow we are going to do a walking tour of Geneva and go to the United Nations building, then head to Zermatt. Zermatt is a small little town that is home to the Matterhorn! Being that I love Disneyland more than anything else, we figured that we couldn't miss this! As you probably figured, the Disneyland Matterhorn is a small scale replica of the actual mountain. In Zermatt they don't allow cars, so we have to leave our car in a structure about 30 miles away in Tasch and take a train in. I can't wait!!
 
I am posting pics on facebook as our day goes by, so if you have an account you can see pictures there!!  Love you all!!!