Preggers!

remember when I didn't blog for a really long time.... (you might be thinking, which time?), but it's mainly due to me and jas being preggers!!! these last 2 1/2 months haven't been my most energetic (not to mention the nausea) and blogging just wasn't on the agenda. but I did want to announce it on the blog that jas and i are expecting a little one on September 3rd! we are so thankful and grateful to God for this little life in me. i'ts crazy to think there are two heartbeats going on inside my body right now. but we are just praising God our Creator-the Creator to this little babe being knitted and formed in my womb.

Here are some photos below....the first two are from the night we found out, which was Dec 27th. i took a pregnancy test at a dairy queen in madisonville, tx when we were on our way home from from visiting my parents in houston. it went a little something like this-i had the pregnancy test...and couldnt wait anymore and of course a blizzard is always a good excuse to stop, right? a blzzard and a positive pregnancy test would be the best combo one could order at DQ! so i ran to the bathroom with the pregnancy test in hand (more like in my purse so it wouldn't be obvi to the post-church lunch DQ customers) and had to be super accurate with my one pregnancy test (TMI?) and quick...because there were two ladies waiting behind me! anyway, i did what i needed to do and then washed my hands trying to get out of the bathroom quickly and not really looking at it because in all honesty I really didn't think it was going to be positive. and then i glanced at it to throw it away and then ta-da! there it was...a little positive sign. so then im sort of dizzy and leave the bathroom thinking for sure my face would give it away to jason. and i met him in parking lot and told him the news! baby sudan on the way! we celebrated with a chocolate dipped cone (for Jas) and a butterfinger blizzard for prego. needless to say--who knew that DQ would be such a memorable place for us?!

the last photo is the sono pic from 10 weeks! our next sono will be the 19 week gender appt, which will be in about one month. we are so excited to find out the gender and give the little guy/girl a name!! if you ever think about us, please pray our baby. it has been my prayer thus far that this baby would be a light in the darkness...a light in a dark world that would shine and exude the love of Christ to all who know him/her. please pray this with us. thank you!! :)

the civil wars

jason and i are suckers for girl/guy duo's...maybe it is because we secretly wish we could write songs and be a legit guy/girl duo. but we first got stuck on the swell season...saw them in concert a couple of years ago and we were hooked. now our new fave is the civil wars. i'd heard of their name before, but for whatever reason the name made me think they were some genre of music i wouldn't like. so i never tried them out. thankfully, jason's little sis suggested them and now (after one day) we are hooked! their new CD just came out yesterday- Barton Hollow. please enjoy this music video from you tube (it's from their previous EP). this song is beautiful...a great little tune to enjoy if you are stuck inside because of all this ice cold weather!

The Pancho Challenge

I talked to Alex, my wife, on the phone just before lunch and I told her I was craving Panchos and needed to make a Panchos stop. So, I did, off 183 East in Euless, TX. And I must say the 2nd time was just as good as the 1st
A few weeks back I issued the challenge to visit your local Panchos Mexican Buffet, fill your tray with tasty Mexican food and raise the flag.
So, I wanted to hear from you all that took my challenge and accomplished it. What did you think of Panchos Tasty Mexican Buffet? (I would add tasty in the title if it were my restaraunt)

For those not stepping up to the challenge, this is my encouragement, my nudge to do so.....and let me know.

Spurgeon on the Trinity

Over the past year I have heard many pastors encourage people to read books written by men who were dead. Authors such as C.S Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, etc. A couple of months ago I was in my parents den looking through some of their books and I found "Spurgeon on the Holy Spirit", so I borrowed it and have been reading it for a month now. It is small (page number wise) but extremely thick (depth wise). In the 4th Chapter: Personality of the Holy Spirit, Spurgeon mentions the importance of the Trinity in the Gospel.
"A Gospel without the Trinity! It is a pyramid built upon its apex. A Gospel without the Trinity! It is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A Gospel without the Trinity! Then, indeed, Satan can overturn it. But give me a Gospel with the Trinity, and the might of hell cannot prevail against it. No man can anymore overthrow it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break a mountain in two."


I will post more and more quotes, as I come upon them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year from the Sudans!






(this one was our christmas card)



JAson's little sister, Mary Beth, took these photos to help us with our Christmas card this year! Isn't she talented? Check out her tumblr at www.marybethsudan.tumblr.com thank you mary b!!

26th birthday and our midget tree

I'm not going to apologize for my lack of blogging...sometimes, there are just thoughts and ideas that are better left off the blog and more for a face to face conversation over coffee or tea. but other blog-worthy news... I just celebrated my 26th birthday on Saturday! i love birthdays and jas and family & friends made it really special, so thanks for the birthday wishes! It's crazy to think that I am close to 30 than 20 now....but I welcome this next year with anticipation and waiting to see what God has in store.

I also wanted to post a little picture of our little, midget Christmas tree. this will be our first christmas in the Marable's back house and space is limited. But even though we don't have much space, we didn't want to completely nix the Christmas tree this year, so here is our little guy (see below). He only cost $20 from home depot. He was kind of deformed, so we trimmed him up a bit, although he still has quite the awkward shape. we like him that way though. anyways, I'm hoping that this year I can shop for some Christmas ornaments after Christmas because there are always really good sales and our ornaments are lacking. what is everyone's favorite store to shop for Christmas ornaments...just looking for suggestions.



Happy monday!!

jury duty

several weeks ago i received my first jury summons in the mail. dallas county was requesting that i take the day off work to wait around hours upon hours at frank crowley court house for the possibility that i might make it on a real life jury panel. welp, turns out i am good juror material because i was one of the 12 out of the 65 that was selected to be on the jury. did i mention it was for a murder trial?? yes, it was for a murder trial.

so there i was....and once the judge read the indictment, i had to ask myself, can i do this? can i be fair and impartial based on the evidence presented? what a responsibility and weighty role to take on. what if the defendant isn't guilty and we give him 40 years or even worse- life? what if he is truly guilty, but there isn't enough evidence to prove it?? what about justice then? these were all questions i was asking myself while sitting in that terribly hard wooden bench in the 1st criminal district room. but deep down, i did feel that i could do this task through God's wisdom and i felt that if i was selected, it was simply God's sovereignty that i be put on that panel. soo are you wondering what happened??

so last monday, after much prayer, i returned to frank crowley to report to the jury room to begin the trial. of course, i hit traffic and was the last juror there, but it didn't matter...everyone was waiting for the trial to begin and it was a busy day in the court room. about 45 minutes later the judge came in and told us that the defendant and the state had come to an agreement and that the defendant plead out. yep....no trial and no jury needed. so he goes on to tell us that he got 31 years in prison for this brutal stabbing. the judge explained that this often happens once the jury is selected because it puts the pressure on the defendant and his attorney and forces them to come to an agreement that may be a better punishment than what a jury would give. so i guess they felt that 31 years in prison was a fair and just punishment for the crime. it's possible we could have given him more...but i guess we'll never know. do you think 31 years in prison is a fair punishment? how do you determine how many years is appropriate for a murder?? ...(you can read the details of the crime at the link below...it's a really sad story).

so that was my jury duty experience. i will say that i learned a lot about how the justice system works. and it really hit me that average joe people serve as jurors, then given the evidence and the rule of law....they decide the fate and punishment of others (you could argue that the individual committing the crime decided their fate, but you get what i'm saying...). it's really a crazy idea, but it also makes sense. it made me thankful to be a part of a justice system where the people actually have a say. i know there are lots of flaws to it, but i do think having a jury is a legitimate set up and i am glad i was able to serve in the way that i did. plus, i made a whopping $46 for my day and a half served....extra spending money for clothes thanks to Dallas county. anyways, thanks for reading.... and here is the article below if you want to read it.


http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/man-accused-in-fatal-stabbing.html