awkward....balloon?

ever heard of awkward turtle?  no?  PLEASE ask me to demonstrate the next time you see me!  it's a hand motion you use in awkward moments, to emphasize the awkwardness (or just to cope with the awkward, depending on your personality type).

i used the phrase this morning in an email to my love, and he returned with the phrase "awkward balloon."  and i was much struck!  balloons are inherently awkward little beings, bumping into things, no concern for havoc they may cause.  why has their awkwardness not been highlighted more often??

the genius of the man i've married.  no wonder i love him.

jellybeans no more!

i've stopped being a jellybean eater.  i KNOW.  :'(  in between increased budgeting emphasis, and focusing on eating healthy / working out.....the jellybeans have become an infrequent luxury.

don't get me wrong - i still dream of them, and hope for them, and they will be on my christmas list.  but....no longer a part of daily life.

and now, this is me shamelessly taking shakespeare out of context to express my resolve concerning jellybeans:

"Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
...To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny..."
~ Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing"

the little things

mike does so many little things to serve me.....so constantly, that they can easily be taken for granted, or missed in life's crazy shuffle.  one in particular is standing out to me this morning - he drives me to work every single morning.  i don't think he's let me take the bus into work once since we've gotten married!  some days, due to class schedules, etc., i need to bus home......but never once on the way in.

my husband loves sleeping in, yet uncomplainingly gets up at my insane hours to drive me.....even at times arguing for the "right" to serve me and protect me in this way.

you're amazing, my love.  thank you for your servant's heart towards me!

cruise!!!

(photo credit: jackie!)

we're going on a cruise to "nowhere" tomorrow - the ship sails out into the ocean for a day, and then turns around and comes right back!  the appeal is that it is over the weekend, so you don't have to take vacation days to go.

mike and i have neither been on a cruise before, so we are SOO excited!!!!!  especially sweet because, coincidentally, it is the year anniversary of our engagement!  and for different reasons (midterms, work challenges, random extra splashes of physical/emotional tiredness), we are grateful for the timing of being away together this weekend.  i think i must be the luckiest girl in the whole world, to get to be married to my mike.  i literally thank God for you constantly, my love.

but!  we haven't left yet, so these verses are encouraging me today, as different things are tempting me to impatience and frustration:

"...forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, i press on toward the goal...our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself."
~philippians 3:13,20-21

amen.

it reads minds???

my brother shared this site with us today, and it's pretty incredible......you think of a person (real or imaginary), and it asks you questions, and then tells you who it is.  it's completely accurate....give it a shot!

COW DAY!!!!!!

it's finally here.....today, we get our cow!!!  mike is picking up our portion during the day, so when i get home, i'll find a freezer full of red meat!!!!!  can't wait to start working with it!

church retreat!

we're going on our second annual retreat with our church this weekend - soooo excited!  especially so because we know our community group better now than we did last february, and getting extended time with them just sounds soooo blissful.

sometimes, your church small group is hard to knit into.....sometimes it's good fellowship while you're there, but takes a bit of work......sometimes you build into it over time and experience sweet fellowship based on months/years of trust.  for us, this group has taken little effort to build with - a huge blessing given our commute from silver spring!  i've gone from dreading the weeknight drive out, to looking forward to getting to see these people....even knowing the tired thursday that will follow!  they are just that wonderful.

we love you guys!!!  so, so looking forward to spending a chunk of the weekend with you!!!

picture from our wedding reception, with laura's almost-perfect photoshop of david and casey!  ;-)

Hide and Seek in Historic Ellicott

The other night (Monday) Kati and I went to explore Historic Ellicott City! It was fun! We found a brewery to eat at and tried a sampling of their beers! We had Firecracker (hoppy IPA style), Pumpkin, Dunkel (german style dark), and an australian style beer! They were all decent, my favorite was the aussie beer and I think Kati like the aussie and the firecracker the best! We ate ribs and hung out!!

We had planned to go to the coffee shop, but time was short and we were anxious to get home, so we are hoping to return on a Saturday for the coffee and when the town is more lively!! :D