Our Merry Little Southern Christmas

Well I hope each of you had yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Tony and I sure did!

We kicked off our Christmas Weekend with seeing “A Christmas Story” at Cleveland Playhouse Square. I love the movie and now also love the play. You can see from the picture below my affinity for the bunny p.j.s!

We then packed our bags and headed down to Georgia to visit my folks and have a Southern Christmas! It was 78 degrees! So you better believe I put my sandals on as soon as I got down there. Unfortunately the socks, long johns, and boots had to come back on before hopping the plane back to Cleveland.

We got to hang out with my brother Ethan and his lovely wife Jamie and adorable daughter Abby. We hate that we live so far apart, but it makes the time we do get together all the sweeter! I must say my niece Abby stole my heart all over again as we hung out!

Great news-as of Thursday we got our 10 neighbors we needed to officially launch our NextDoor neighborhood. You may remember from my last blog NextDoor is most easily explained as a Facebook for your neighborhood. It’s a way to create more communication among you and your neighbors whether it be for a lost dog or recommendations for a plumber or even neighborhood safety.

Obviously this will be a great tool for Tony and I to use to both get to know our neighbors and invite them to events we sponsor. I really wasn’t sure how we were going to get people to sign up let alone get up to 10 people, but the Lord was gracious and we made it!

Please pray for our neighbors to continue to join so we can get to know more and more of them.

Also please pray for other believers to join us in our efforts to reach Old Brooklyn with the Gospel. We are hoping to start building a core team of believers to help us in our hopes of planting a church. And you just give us a jingle if you think you fit that bill-we'd love for you to join us! That is-if you think you can survive a Cleveland Winter:)

Having A Holly Jolly Christmas

What an exciting Christmas season it has been in the Loseto house already!

Tony and I got our first real Christmas tree this year. No no we didn’t go out to the middle of nowhere to chop it down ourselves. After all, we do live in Cleveland haha! We did the city folk thing and happily went to Lowe’s on Black Friday to find our tree.

However I do believe we still looked like rednecks as we stuffed our 6 foot tree into the back of my Camry haha! You can take the girl out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the girl!

Tony and I also (with the help of our Missional Community from Gateway West) threw a Christmas Party for our block!

One chilly Saturday we went door to door with invites and Christmas tree cakes inviting everyone to our party. We weren’t too sure of the reception we would receive, but you have to start somewhere right?

We had about 8-10 people open their doors to us. Which is pretty good for Cleveland! We had some great conversations and laid the groundwork for some great relationships!

We were so excited that a handful of neighbors actually joined us for the party! This is the first type of planned outreach Tony and I have done in our neighborhood, and we were truly excited by the outcome the Lord blessed us with.

What was even cooler was that it didn’t stop with the party! We had another 3 neighbors stop by just to introduce themselves and bring us goodies either before or after the party! How cool!

Please pray for us as we continue to cultivate these relationships!

We are also starting a “Next Door” site for our neighborhood. Next Door is like a Facebook for your neighborhood-if you haven’t heard of it-you should totally look it up more info. It’s a way to share information in your neighborhood such as someone lost their dog, someone needs a good plumber, or someone has a table they need to get rid of.

What we hope to do is use this as a way to invite our neighbors to events in the future so we don’t have to annoy people by going door to door. Please pray that Next Door would spread like wildfire in our neighborhood so we’ll have more doors opened to us.

Thanks for your love and support friends! 

An Alabama Girl And A Cleveland Chili Cook Off

Well today I participated in my first ever Cook Off. Sure I’ve attended many a cook off at state fairs etc. And I have even thought about entering myself in to a few of them…especially a bake off…..I make some mean baked goods! But this was my first time to ever actually participate in one!

The recipe I used wasn’t just any recipe I pulled offline. Although I must say Pinterest has given me some of my favorite recipes and cleaning tricks!

No this was my mom’s Chili recipe. Now my mom might be a bit of a goof ball….but this great woman does not mess around when she is in the kitchen! She’s gets down to business!

So wouldn’t you know that when I used her recipe…..I tied for FIRST PLACE at the Chili Cook Off! And I will have you know I was competing against 15 others! So what happens when an Alabama girl enters a Cleveland Chili Cook Off? She wins haha!

Now that I’m done gloating I guess I should share the recipe right:)

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Cup Onion

1 Can Chili Magic

1 Can Diced Tomatoes (Undrained)

1 Can Rotel

1 Can Ranch Style Beans (Rinsed)

(Or if you’re up north, and they don’t have ranch style beans….chili beans will do just fine) (If it weren’t for Walmart-I wouldn’t have found the Chili Magic either!)

Instructions:

Brown the Ground Beef with the Onion. Once the meat is brown, add in all the other ingredients. Let simmer for about 45 minutes.

And there you go! Delicious and Simple! Let me know if you try out the recipe….or if you have some secret chili ingredients you love!

Teachin', Trick or Treatin', and Truckin' On

We got our 2nd dose of snow this week. However, I do believe the fun is just beginning. I am trying to embrace it by singing fun holiday songs, but in the back of my mind as I travel to work I know this amount of snow would shut Alabama down for a whole week!

My job is still going really well! Thanks for all your prayers out there-the Lord has blessed me with a great job and a wonderful company to work for.

Sorry for my lack of blogging since the start of my new job....shew the tub is lucky if it gets cleaned during the week let alone me sitting down to gather my thoughts. But I do so desire to keep everyone updated and share what's going on.

I actually got the opportunity to go in to one of the local Cleveland schools this past Thursday. The opportunity came through my job believe it or not! I was able to teach a class of 1st graders about different topics including family, neighborhoods, and the value of a degree. It was great to hear some of the kiddos tell me that God made their family and that God has the power to do anything. This school was not religious in the least. Nor was I allowed to make such statements. But I sure did a lot of head nodding as they declared such sweet truths. May these kiddos never doubt that they were created by God and that our God is powerful!

Please pray this would just be the beginning of opportunities like that.

Tony and I also had the opportunity on Halloween to meet some of our neighbors. We dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Waldo as you can see below! We had 16 bags of candy, 7 batches of popcorn, a bowl of doughnuts, and spiced tea for the adults-but we were still looking in the pantry for candy before it was all said and done. Such a great opportunity to see some of our neighbors.

Tony and I are finally getting in to a normal routine of doing life in Cleveland. Now that we're settled the next step is trying to find ways to engage people. We want to engage unbelieving people to share the good new with them and we want to engage believers to come along side us in our mission. We need your prayers friends for the Lord to guide our steps and start a great work in people's hearts.

We have several other events coming up such as a Game Day at the park this Saturday and a chili cook off our development corporation is sponsoring the following Saturday. We covet your prayers our friends and we will keep you updated!

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

Yup that’s right Let It Snow. No worries I’m not skipping Halloween and Thanksgiving and going right to Christmas. I’m singing Let It Snow because it actually snowed this week! Here’s a picture of what I woke up to Thursday morning.

This Alabama girl was not expecting that! Bravo Cleveland Winter on that curve ball!

It’s been funny though, while I’m at work or at home it snows or sleets or rains so hard and then when it’s time for me to get in my car the sun comes right out. I don’t know if that’s the Lord blessing me or blessing those driving around me. But I’ll take that blessing!

I wanted to share some of the other exciting things God has been blessing Tony and I with in the last few weeks.

First of all……drum roll please…….seriously…..I’m waiting for you to do the drum roll….I finally have a permanent full time job! YAY!!!

I am now the main receptionist for a broadband internet company in downtown Cleveland and am loving it! I thought I would absolutely at all costs avoid anything to do with downtown Cleveland before moving here.  However I am loving my daily commute in to the city.

As some of you may remember I had a temporary 2 week position at another company in downtown Cleveland. That wrapped up on a Tuesday. Then Wednesday as I’m starting to get bummed about being on the job hunt again my phone rings and this company wanted me to start the very next day.

God has really taken care of me. Not only did He provide me with a job, but this is such a wonderful company to work for. He was just telling me to be patient and He would put me right where He wanted me.

Another blessing is that Tony and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on October 14^th. Can’t believe 2 years has already come and gone, but at the same time it’s starting to get hard to remember what life was like before Tony was in it:)

This was another lesson in patience. I didn’t do much dating in high school or college. As I’m sure any single person can relate with you often feel like you are the only person on earth not in a relationship. However in God’s great timing Tony and I started dating and never looked back:) I had no clue the blessing the Lord had in store for us in our marriage!

Please pray for us as we continue to make relationships in our community. This Thursday (Halloween) we with other people from our church will be outside our home with a popcorn machine, apple cider, and some Halloween tossing games. We really hope for a chance to build relationships with others on our street. Pray for not only lots of people to stop by but also the chance for good conversation. Thanks friends for all your prayers and support. They are most definitely felt up here in Cleveland!

Cleveland Field Trip

Good News! My 2 week job assignment is going really well! Yay!

It is actually in the downtown Cleveland area. So I feel much more like a Clevelander now making the daily commute in to the city.

For this week's blog I thought it would be fun to take you on a field trip of the sights I see on my way to work that are famous Cleveland landmarks. Why not give you a taste of Cleveland.

My drive starts in the Clark/Fulton area of Cleveland. This is a part of town that has been home to many immigrants through the decades starting with the Germans and moving on to the Czechs, Polish, and Italians. The building of the highway actually hurt this part of town dividing it in half. It is now home to many Hispanics and Puerta Ricans. There are always kids everywhere! Below is a picture of the Clark Fulton local library.

I pass by the WestSide Market. This market is always hopping. It has been open since 1840! You'll find any type of meat, fruit, veggie, cheese, or pastry in this place. It is loaded with over 100 vendors of all types of ethnicities trying to bargain with you over their produce.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I go over the Lorain-Carnegie bridge. It has huge statutes of the "Guardians of Traffic". It was completed in 1932 and meant to signify the hope for the continued progress of transportation. Each of the 8 guardians on this bridge have a different vehicle in hand from a covered wagon to a stage coach to a 1930's car. Pretty cool! But to be honest they kinda freak me out and I try not to look them in the eye:/

Right after that is Progressive Field home to the Cleveland Indians. Tony and I actually went to a game a week ago. What a blast! It was my first major league baseball game, and it will definitely not be my last!

As I keep going I pass by lots of hot food spots from local stores like Aladin's a Middle Eastern eatery to lots of not so local stores like Mickey D's and Burger King.
 

 

I also pass by the City Mission. A non profit charity that is doing a lot of great things for the homeless and needy in Cleveland.
 

 

Once I pass under a train bridge similar to this, I am ready to pull in to work.
 

 

Now you can say you've gotten a taste of Cleveland!

This last weekend we had a house warming party! It went wonderfully! We had a great time hanging out with family and friends and cheering on the Browns to victory! Yup I just said Browns and victory in the same sentence!

Our neighbors also stopped by for a moment which we were really excited about!

Please pray for continued connections in the Old Brooklyn community and for my job placement:) Thanks for reading!

Curve Ball

Isn’t it so funny how fast things can change in just one week!

This time last week I was hoping to secure a job as a receptionist at a financial firm.

I imagined myself welcoming and assisting people as they enter into this large office preparing to make investments. Instead I found that I was going to be more of a personal assistant to the 2 head honchos of the office. CURVE BALL!

Just to fill you in on these head honchos, one of them had a cardboard cutout of himself in the meeting room and the other seemed like a young hotshot that thought he was all that and a bag of chips. My job would have included reserving flights, hotels, and rental cars for these two. I have a strange inkling, they might have been a bit picky;)

So although my second interview went well with them and they offered me a third and final interview, I turned them down. CURVE BALL!

While I could do that job, I don’t think I would enjoy the job all that much! Seeing as they were going to put me in a corner cubicle and only give me a 30 minute lunch break, I don’t think that I would be a very valued employee in this office.

Thankfully the temp agency that suggested me for that job had another job for me as well! This will only be a 2 week assignment as a front desk receptionist at an entrepreneurial agency, but I’ll gladly take it.

Isn’t it funny how the things we think we really want, turn out to be a blessing that we never got them at all! 

I am now taken care of on the job front for the next few weeks. We’ll just have to see what else the Lord has up His sleeve after that:)

The Job Hunt

I’m not going to lie to you friends….job hunting has not been a fun process.

In fact it has not even been a mediocre process. It has been an unfun process. Is unfun a word, NO! At least not according to the angry red squiggly line under it telling me I have a misspelled word. But unfun just seems like the most appropriate phrase for this job hunting process.

I have put in countless resumes to all sorts of random jobs hoping to hear back from someone. When I say random….I do mean random. I applied anywhere from a receptionist at a senior living facility to a store manager of a Five Below (a local chain that sells everything for $5 or less) to even being in a medical billing office.

Anything I thought I was slightly qualified for, they got a resume from this girl.

I have taken countless personality tests, timed math tests, typing tests, and Microsoft capability tests. Let me tell you, unless you are a genius which I am not those tests make you feel pretty discouraged about what you’re bringing to the table ha ha.

This was a great time though that the Lord used to open my eyes to the fact that my identity is not in my job. My identity is not in the fact that I wear dress pants to work at a hoity toity office. My identity is not in the pay check that I bring home. My identity is in Christ. Which is something that will never change unlike a job. My identity in Christ is the truest and best thing about me. I am His daughter that He chose to die for that I may live eternally with Him. What a great truth!

While it was great to be reminded of that truth, I am also thankful that this unfun job hunting process looks like it just might be coming to an end!

I had an interview downtown on Tuesday with a temp agency. I was a bit nervous going to down town Cleveland…it is definitely a bit larger and taller than Louisville’s downtown area. I find myself in my little black business dress with my pink polka dotted folder going up an elevator to the 18^th floor yup 18^th and that was not even the top of the building! But the interview went beyond well and hopefully after a second interview Monday I will be a receptionist at a financial firm.

Your prayers would be beyond appreciated! I will of course keep my awesome blog followers updated!

Little Hands Little Feet Invincible Spirits

Tony and I have been around a lot of kiddos lately.

No no no, this is not a baby fever post! It may even seem like a baby preventive post! Although that is not my main intention ha ha:)

Tony and I are helping out with kid’s time on Sunday mornings at our church Gateway West.

We have recently had up to 36 kids.  What a blessing to have all these kiddos coming to us on a Sunday morning! However we have had as little as 3 adult workers….yikes! It can be a bit of a zoo some mornings. 

Many of these children are from Laura’s Home, a local homeless shelter for women and their children. This shelter serves as a rehabilitation center for these women. It provides them training for jobs and help finding homes. It does so much more than just serve them a meal and send them on their way. It helps the women and children in every aspect of their lives including spiritually, which is their and our biggest need!

Well I go in Sunday ready to teach these kids, but they always have something to teach me as well.

We have been learning that we serve a powerful God that is always with us and we have no need to fear.

We sing about these truths, talk about these truths, and color pages with these truths on it.

However these kiddos show me what it really looks like to be fearless. They have such invincible spirits about them.

Don’t you miss having that invincible spirit you had about you as a kid? You didn’t think twice about getting on a ride at an amusement park. You weren’t worried about the economy. You could care less if your pants matched your shirt. And you didn’t let what others thought of you stop you from doing anything.

Many of our fears were resolved due to our trust in our parents taking care of us. Mom or Dad were going to be with us no matter what so we did not need to be afraid. This picture of trust links right back to our relationship with God. He is going to be WITH us no matter what. What a comforting truth!

Tony and I have gone through so many changes in just the last month. Many changes that have the potential of being pretty scary. From moving to a new place, looking for a new vehicle, meeting new people, looking for new jobs. But God is with us-no need to be fearful! 

I think I’m going to teach these kids all about being fearless when in reality they reminded me what being fearless really looked liked.

How often do I allow the “what ifs” in life to scare me out of doing something? If I try I might fail. If I do this what will others think of me.

But just like these kids I need to remember my Heavenly Father is WITH me and is POWERFUL I have no reason to be afraid! What a great reminder of what an invincible spirit in the Lord looks like.

It's My Party And I Can Cry If I Want To Right?

Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family.

Sorry to all the other moms out there but my mom is hands down the best birthday party thrower there is. She is….it’s true. I’ve had every type of birthday party there is thanks to this woman.

I’ve had the princess birthday complete with a photo op with everyone’s own throne, cape, and scepter. I’ve had the Pocahontas birthday complete with costume, cake, and Indian jewelry making.  And who could forget the messy birthday complete with pie throwing, chocolate syrup squirting, and handless watermelon eating.

When I transitioned to college, my friends and I took turns throwing each other “surprise” partys. Surprise is in quotations due to the fact that we all knew it was coming….but it HAD to be a surprise!

I threw myself a red neck birthday last year, which entailed a burping, spray cheese eating, and spam carving contest. It was a definite blast. I would recommend it to everyone…that is except the spray cheese eating…YUCK-O!

This year was going to be a bit different. I’m in a new place. Just getting settled in Cleveland. I am still getting to know people. I was pretty sure my birthday was going to be a bit of a sad day for me. I was ready to listen to “It’s My Party And I Can Cry If I Want To” and eat cake all day. Am I pitiful or what?

The great people of Cleveland wouldn’t let that happen though now would they?

Of course not!

My sweet mother-in-law Kathy threw me a surprise birthday/welcome to Cleveland Tony and Beth party on HER own birthday. We had a great time chowing on some Italian cuisine at Buca di Beppo and chatting with everyone that came! I felt so loved by our literal family and church family!

Tony went above and beyond on my birthday to make it special:) I woke up to a chocolate pop-tart in bed (This might be a nightmare for some….but I love me some chocolate and I love me some lazy time in bed) and red roses! We went out to a lake to go hiking and canoeing and had a blast! It did my country girl heart good to get out of the city for a bit! 

We even happened upon our new car! Tony sold his putt putt of a car before we moved up here, and we have had the lovely experience of dealing with car salesmen for the last few weeks in hopes of finding a new car. They had a dealership out by the lake that we went to, and they had the right price for the right car (after a little bit of bargaining that is haha).

So it was my red birthday! I received red roses, divulged myself in red velvet cake, and am now cruising in a RED corolla.

Blessed? Yes definitely blessed maybe even spoiled! No crying on this birthday!

We Might Just Be On To Something Good

Tony and I have talked about moving to Cleveland for a church planting opportunity through the North American Mission Board for quite some time. Finally in Spring 2013 we took the plunge and committed.

We did not do this without some hesitations or doubts though!

As we talked to various friends and family members, we received quite varied responses. Some people were ready for us to pack up and leave immediately while others were quite hesitant.

We had it made in Louisville. Why change things up? We had great jobs. We had great friends. We loved our little town home. We had a great church family. We were already serving within our church. Why change?

On top of that why go to Cleveland? Home of failing factories. Home of infamous criminals. Home of the Browns, Indians, and Cavs haha.

Right as we were getting quite discouraged about our move to Cleveland, a church that we have never met volunteered to donate monthly support to help in our hopes of a church plant. What a blessing! This church has a heart for urban areas in Ohio and wanted to help support us in our efforts. We weren’t searching for support. They simply volunteered. It came right at the time we needed some encouragement.

I knew God had something great in store!

Moving is also quite expensive! Gathering moving supplies, searching for a new home, and renting U Hauls…YIKES! We were running up quite the tab. Right as we were getting discouraged, we get an email letting us know the North American Mission Board will be reimbursing us for our moving expenses.

I knew God had something great in store!

I am a weirdo, but I despise driving on the interstate. I used to drive back and forth to Alabama (an 8 hour drive) by myself no biggie! Then one day on my way home, I hydroplaned into a ditch on the highway. By God’s great grace myself and my car lived to tell the story. However interstate driving has never been enjoyable since.

Well in order to get up to Cleveland, Tony had to drive a 14 foot U Haul and I had to drive my car. I was dreading this the whole time leading up to the move. And wouldn’t you know, it was supposed to rain on us the whole way between Louisville and Cleveland. Perfect hyrdro-planing weather! We drove through storm clouds the whole 7 hour trip (normally a 5 hour trip but everything is a bit slower with myself and the U haul) and we only ever got sprinkled on.

I knew God had something great in store!

Tony and I have officially been in Cleveland right at 2 weeks and have loved it so far.

It is quite Urban! Silly things throw my little southern self off.

Like how many houses I can see from my house! I’m used to being out in the boon docks where I can only see about 3 houses from my house. I can count 15 houses from our home in Cleveland!

Or like the grocery store. Woah baby there are way too many people packed into this place. Have the fire marshals seen this place!?

Or the word pop. Goodness gracious I hate that word. I lived in Illinois for 2 years and was made fun of in elementary school for not knowing that pop meant soda or as us southerners know everything as coke. So I now abhor the word pop. I will forgive/accept those that use it around me though:)

But I am falling in love with this place already and can’t wait to see the GREAT things God has in store!

I’m falling in love with all the small shops in our community filled with people that are so proud of their city.

I’m falling in love with the constant cool breeze from Lake Eerie even on the most humid of days.

I’m falling in love with the people that pack in the houses on our street and the pride they take in their hard work.  

God has blessed us so greatly thus far, He obviously has GREAT plans!