Jason.

So, evidently many of you have read my blog closely and picked up on my hints about someone who has become a very important part of my life.

Jason and I were introduced by our families. His sister and my mom work together in Abilene, Texas and for literally months they were nudging us on either side. I totally thought he was too good to be true. I knew he had just moved back from Australia, was a pediatrician, a world traveler, and from Abilene, Texas. At the very least, he sounded interesting – a West Texas guy who had grown up and had some fascinating global experiences.

I gave in to my mom’s nudging only once. I told her, “I will email him ONCE. And that’s it.” Basically I was hoping to sort of pacify her and satisfy the building curiosity about a man I knew virtually nothing about. I was willing to go out on a limb just to learn a little more about this man my mom (and his sister) seemed convinced would be a good match for me.

From his very first email response, I was impressed. He shared a bit why he had chosen medicine, his desire to be a part of global work in the future, and his willingness to entertain the idea of him and I emailing to get to know each other “just to see how it goes”.

Over the course of several weeks, we discovered that we did indeed have LOTS in common. He is driven by a desire to love and serve Christ in life, be actively engaged in global work, and welcome any opportunities to grow and learn along the way. These are the qualities that shine most brilliantly in who he is. He also likes to laugh, is a great communicator, and radiates generosity – all qualities to love in a person. We even figured out that we had the most random things in common: we have both spent time in Kathmandu (Nepal), grew up 30 minutes from each other, went to the same high school hang-outs, and were even in Berlin this past summer within days of each other.

We met in person in early October (the original email was at the end of August) and hit it off. Our first date consisted of him taking me to eat Lebanese food and both of us getting to know the person behind all the emails. Since then we’ve seen each other as much as possible and spent time with friends in Fort Worth and in Houston. All of the friends seem to agree that he and I are very well-matched. That has, perhaps, been one of the best things about this journey…to have friends who are close to me affirm that he and this relationship are something really special. A real gift from God… one that has been a tremendous reminder to us both that a Christ-like relationship is truly worth waiting for.

I’m also now a little bit less skeptical that family and friends really ARE capable of arranging some pretty good dating match-ups.

For now, he’s in Houston. But by July 1st, he’ll be in Fort Worth. I can hardly wait to start hanging out with him in person a lot. He and I both agree that we’d like to hang out in a together sort of way for a long, long, long time.

Absent Blogger.

So I have been a terribly absent blogger lately. Life has just been too busy to take a few minutes and update. So, here's a short one (update) and a few photos to keep the faithful Notice:Nicole readers pacified...

It looks like Spring in Texas! I am very much looking forward to wildflowers on the Texas Highways, exciting family happenings (sister's having a baby and brother is getting married, in that order), and a very special man in my life is moving to Fort Worth soon. So many exciting things to share...

But for now, I'll post a few pictures of recent (meaning last couple of months) events. Enjoy. More later...especially for those of you who read carefully and just picked up on the fact that I have a really special man in my life. More about him very soon.

It also snowed a bit this winter in Fort Worth.

Running in February.

In February, I ran the Cowtown Half Marathon with my roommate. It was a fabulous race - I shaved a whole 10 minutes off of last year's half marathon time.

Since then I've been eating a lot of chocolate cake and donuts.

Just kidding.

To all of you who think of doing something like training for and running a half marathon - just do it!

Also in January, my foursome of friends Callie, Amy, Rebecca, and I celebrated the pending arrival of little Caroline Olivia. Caroline is already here, but here's a cute picture of how she looked in Rebecca's tummy prior to her debut...

In January, I went to Purgatory, Colorado to ski with my grandmother for four days. She's so cool, isn't she? All I can say is that when I am 79, I hope I look half as good as she does on the slopes! She has promised to take me next year too just so she can say she skiied down the mountain at 80 years old. I am SO there.