My Golden Boy

I so adore my husband.

I have learned so much from him over the years.

He is a strong man of God, a wonderful friend, a patient listener, a humble leader, and just so much fun to be around.

I feel beyond blessed to have him by my side as we go through this life journey.

We had a little get-together last night with some friends. I was hoping he would get a glimpse of just how very loved he is. I think it worked...

Happy 25th to you, Matthew.

Back at it

I've taken a break from this blog. Mostly because no one reads it...but also because I feel like I have nothing important or exciting to say. I'm writing tonight because I feel inspired. I think I need to change my intentions. I read a lot of blogs. I read blogs that that hundreds...thousands of other people read also. I'm not doing this so I can get a "following." This is a place for me to write, vent maybe, explore, encourage...maybe it will be therapeutic for me. We'll see. :)

Anyway...

Matt and I went home to Chicago last weekend. It was one of those weekends that just rejuvenated my soul. It's funny...I left feeling upset that it didn't last longer, that we didn't get to do more together. As the week has gone on I've realized how much I gained from that visit. I love where I grew up. I love the way I was raised and I'm proud of where I came from. I feel so grateful for the relationships I have with each and every person in my family. We get along. We laugh together. We share experiences. We do life together. I've really been struck lately with how blessed I am to have all of this.

I have this patient at work...he's 73, and about the crankiest, most sarcastic man I've ever met in my life. At first I thought he was funny. I'm sarcastic...I like when I can be sarcastic with people and I really like it when they give it back to me. As our visit went on, I realized he wasn't trying to be funny. I saw sadness in his eyes. The last time he was in, his daughter and son came along...separately. They refused to talk to each other - they even made me be the "go-between" so they could get all the information they needed about their dad without having to say a word to each other. They were both in the room and started arguing, so their dad asked them to leave. It was heartbreaking to watch this all go down.

My family is not perfect. We have our struggles and we have our disagreements, but we sure love each other. We support each other and we care about each other.

I. AM. BLESSED.

Crafts and Garage Sales

We had our first garage sale outing as a married couple. I was never into garage sales...I really don't think I've ever bought anything at a garage sale before this. I don't have the patience...I didn't think I had the eye. So anyway...there was a community garage sale a few weekends ago. We drove around for awhile without finding anything. I had some things in mind that I was looking for. Finally, we drove by a house and I saw a really cute blue bench. So, we stopped and went to look at it. It sure was cute, but there was so price tag so we figured it wasn't for sale. We left and moved on to the next sale. Then Matt said, "why don't we just go ask?" So we went and asked and the woman wasn't so sure, but her husband told her they should sell it. Apparently they were moving out of the country and just needed to get rid of everything. She said it was one of their family's favorite items. The best part...TEN BUCKS!!! Everyone else at the sale was really jealous...all you have to do is ask! So...without further ado...here's our new bench. I LOVE IT. One of the things on my list was a blue chair for our living room and it's perfect.

These are a few of my crafts to date...

My book page wreath...which looks way better in person (at least I think so), and it would probably look even better with some color on the walls, but we'll have to wait til we're done with apartment living for that...

This was my very first craft. My aunt had one of these in her house and I always loved it so I decided to make one for myself. I think it's perfect in my green dining room...and so easy!

Now this was definitely an interesting project...I had read about a fabric store in northeast Minneapolis, so we went and checked it out after church one Sunday. I was in heaven - such fun fabrics! If only I knew how to sew...

Matt's friends were coming over later that afternoon, but I decided I wanted to try to cover a really ugly lampshade that was in our dining room. I had seen a tutorial on a blog so we decided to give it a shot. It took us a LONG time to come up with a plan, but we eventually used some wrapping paper to trace the lampshade...then traced it on to the fabric...then cut it out and glued it on. It looks really good from far away and adds some great color to our dining room. Just don't look too close...

So those are some of my crafts...I need some new inspiration..and some more money please.

Friends

The best thing about my college career was my girl friends. Before college, I never really had a consistent group of girl friends. I had the best roommates in college. They were girls from my soccer team and we had SO much fun...all the time. From watching ALL the seasons of Friends...and One Tree Hill...to birthday celebrations to soccer trips and trips to each other's home towns, we always had a blast. These are three of the most incredible women I've met. They are kind and loyal and funny and beautiful.

The worst part about leaving college was that everyone moved away. One lives in Wisconsin and the other two are in Colorado. It's been hard not having them close and trying to make new friends...definitely a work in progress. BUT when we get back together, it's like no time has passed. Esther flew in from Colorado last week so we had a night out last weekend. We had a blast. I haven't laughed that hard since...well, since we lived together. I am so grateful for these girls and what they bring to my life.

Complete with blue, smoking drinks...what could be better?!

Mom

I am not with my mom today. It hurts my heart that I am missing out on celebrating with her today.

My mom is incredible - these are some of the reasons...

-She is so humble

-She works harder than anyone I know...2 jobs, 7 days a week, 13 hr days...I don't know how she does it

-She is a wonderful cook - it is so effortless for her to throw things together and they're always wonderful.

-I have never met anyone who is more hospitable that her. She loves entertaining and our front door has always been open to EVERYONE. I desire for my home to be just like hers some day - a place where people want to be and people feel safe.

-She shares my love of ice cream...and she taught me to eat it out of a mug :)

-She is an incredible teacher. I often go to her classroom and am absolutely amazed at what she does with those children. She is so respected in her school, among the teachers and the students.

-She has amazing patience. I don't know how she puts up with 7th and 8th graders every day and rowdy high school kids every week. Not to mention, she's put up with her own crazy kids for 25 years.

-She has the softest skin ever

-She loves shopping with her girls

-She is an extremely talented knitter, and though I don't share the love of knitting, I can certainly appreciate her talent

-She an even more talented writer. I have always admired her writing abilities...if only she would get that first book going... :)

-She is beyond thoughtful

-She is beyond gracious

-She is beautiful. I'll never forget my high school choir concert when the 5 people around me were telling me I had a hot mom. Her beauty has always captured me

-She smoked a cigar with my brother once...I won't even do that

-She put up with our skiing trips for 10 years when she would much rather have been laying on the beach

-She has always encouraged her kids to follow their dreams and do the things that make them happy - even when it's hard for her

-She walked 40 miles with my sister and I...woof

-She always has the right thing to say, the right advice to give

-She loves God and is so good at sharing His love and His word

-She loves her children so deeply

I have the most incredible mom. I wish she could know just how much I love and admire her. She has taught me so much and she inspires me to be a better woman, a better daughter, and a better wife. She has set such a wonderful example for me when I become a mother. I can only hope that I will raise my children with the love and passion that she has taught me throughout my life. I am so grateful for my mom and I am so proud to be her daughter.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy.

Making a Habit

So...I'm not the neatest person in the world. If you asked my sister, she'd say I was messy and it was always my fault when our shared bedroom was a mess. I've always denied it.

I lived with a total of 11 different girls throughout college. Our room or apartment was always messy. I always denied that it was me.

Being married does not allow me to deny this anymore.

I am messy.

I'm not a dirty person. I just fail to put things away. It's just easier to drop my clothes on the floor when I change. Or to leave my shoes wherever I take them off rather than putting them in the closet.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the heap of clothes in our bedroom yesterday. I was sure it was an equal amount of mine and his clothes. Sure enough...he had ONE sweatshirt in the heap. Woops...

SO all this to say...I'm trying to make a habit. I remember hearing that it takes 21 days to build a habit. So I'm trying. I'm putting my clothes away and my shoes in the closet. I'll keep you posted.

One day down...so far so good.

Adventures

One of my favorite things in the world is when my husband and I go on "adventures." I think we started this little tradition my senior year of college. One or the other would think of something fun and plan an adventure. It usually wasn't anything big...a new store, a new restaurant...something like that. I love that it doesn't have to be extravagant. It's just one person thinking about something that would make the other happy. Something that would brighten the other's day. It's ALWAYS special.

Matt took me on an adventure on Sunday. He went on a 16 mile run and came home and told me he had somewhere to take me.

This is what he found for me...

I could not believe the beauty of these trees. I was reminded of our great God - what a beautiful creation.

Oh, and I want these in my front yard some day. Please? Thanks!

 

Giving it a shot...

So...I look at about a million blogs a day and I always think about how much fun it would be to have my own, but I don't think I'm very interesting or crafty or creative so I've held off...until now. I've decided to give it a shot. Maybe this will be a collection of random thoughts, attempted crafts, boring stories...I'm not really sure where it will go. I will try.

To kick it all off, I'd like to share something that's been on my mind today...
I read this passage in a novel...at work (working very hard, clearly)
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicket. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:27-36

These seem like simple rules...GOLDEN rules. These are rules I was taught as a little girl. Love everyone, turn the other cheek, treat others as you would like to be treated. These rules hit me hard today, though. It is so hard to love with His love and to be merciful, just as HE is merciful. I really struggle with this. It is a trait I long to possess - to be able to LOVE like He loves, with zero expectations.

So there it is...my first post. DEFINITELY RAMBLINGS!!