How We Rang in 2012

Dying to know how we celebrated the arrival of this new year? 

Well, let me be honest... it wasn't super exciting. 

Nevertheless, here you go!

Carson worked New Year's Eve. When he returned, he went off to work out while I took the car to buy a few groceries so that we could eat dinner. We had chicken salads and crescent rolls.

Then Carson got some studying in. He didn't seem to notice that I took this picture.

We then played with the unpacked Christmas ornaments

And watched this movie. I didn't like it at all. 

While we watched, we ate Peppermint Candy ice cream. One of the best things about this time of year.

We're on Pacific Time here in Spokane, so we missed the live feeds of the ball drop in Times Square. So we watched it on YouTube before it was actually midnight.

The reason for that was that we planned to watch the fireworks downtown at midnight. We drove a few blocks away (if we had walked, we might have missed the fireworks; it was 5 minutes till midnight when we decided to see them) where we had a clear view of downtown and waited. 

Sure enough, we heard loud cheers from downtown (the squiggly lines below) and then the sky lit up!

Our first picture of 2012. I look way too excited. 

We returned home (our car's heater had kicked in by that time) and popped the sparkling cider with Carson's new alligator bottle opener.

I made this sign and we took a picture with it after church on Sunday. 

Welcome 2012!

Wedding Season

In one week, I attended two weddings! 

First, 

Chris + Josie

(Josie was the friend who lived with me from June - August)

Montana. Tuesday, August 9th. Amazing view from the church. Beautiful day. Fun. Lots of friends from Spokane. Decorated Josie's car. 

The next wedding was 

Catherine + Levi

(and Carson was here for the weekend so he came too!)

Saturday, August 13. Spokane. Christ the Redeemer Church. Backyard reception. Gorgeous day. Perfect weather. Dancing (Carson even danced in his boot!). Reminded us a little bit of our reception!

We're so excited for both of these couples. Both weddings were special, heartfelt and expressed their deep faith in the Lord. We can't wait to see what God does with them together!

four years

 Four years ago today, I graduated high school.

They DID warn me that they would pass quickly, these four years. And it has. I remember that day perfectly.

Two years ago today, I wrote a post. You can click here to read it. In it, I said that I would have laughed on my graduation day to know that I would be living the life I was, where I was living it.

What was significant about that day, and what I kept quiet in that blog post, was that was the day that Carson and I officially started dating.

That conversation went as follows (right after a weekend of not talking but praying about our future):
"I have been praying this weekend and God didn't really tell me anything, but I like you more and I really could marry you"
"Um, yeah, same thing. I really like you too!"
"So, do you think we should be friends first or just start off dating?"
"If we know we're going to date anyway, let's just start off dating now."
"I was hoping you'd say that!"

So four years ago today, I would have laughed at the fact that I would have met a guy. Two years ago, I was still laughing at the shock that it was reality. This year, well, I guess I'm still laughing. And a little bit amazed that the girl I was four years ago is the married woman I am today. Lots of flaws, tons of growing up to do, but definitely in awe of the things that happened over the past four years to bring me to where I am today.

What will 2013 bring? I really have no clue. But I'm excited for it to happen. I really am thankful for the life that has been entrusted to me.

Thanks, God! Looking forward to what's next!

March 11th, 2009

Do you know what today is?

Go ahead and say no. I knew the answer before I asked. This is silly anyway.

Two years ago today, I was at school. It was a Wednesday. I was wearing a new green sweater (my birthday was two days before) and my hair was up. I'd given a speech that morning in my Speech Comm class before going to an all-worship chapel. That afternoon, I sat between Molly and Erica (my roommates) in Research Writing.

Classes at Moody are typically three hours long with a 20 minute break in the middle, so there's time to run home (if you live nearby), book it to a coffee shop, catch up with friends, or visit Facebook. The latter is what I was doing on that particular afternoon, and as I walked out of the computer lab, I was approached by Carson Day. {Not a typo on my part - I knew him so little that I thought that was his last name. He didn't form the "bumps" on his capitol letter "B" very well.}

This Mr. Day asked if I had a few moments of time to give him.
"Yes?" I was not sure what this was about.
"So, um, hey, did you hear about spring formal?"
"Yes." Hold on...do I know where this is going?
"Oh. Yeah, well, are you, um, seeing anyone?"
"Nooo..."
"Oh. So... would you like to go to Spring Formal with me?"
*pause*
"Sure"
"Awesome! And there's a dance afterward so we could go to that too, or not -- not if you don't want to. And we could go with your roommates or whatever. I'm excited! Tickets haven't come out yet but when they do, I'll be the first in line! I'll let you know when I get them..."
"Okay."
"Okay! Well, see ya in class!"
"See ya."

We parted ways, him going downstairs, presumably to make certain that tickets weren't flying out the door and me to find my roommates. We spent a few minutes in the library rehashing the conversation and discussing its unforeseen occurance.

Then, we returned to class. I remember that it was a strange day. After class, I misplaced Molly and Erica and found myself waiting outside the library for them to reappear. Carson walked by and began to make small talk: "So, your dad's a mechanic?" "Nooo..." "Hm. Brian (his roommate - also in my Speech class, where I guess he got his information) said he was. He said he worked with cars." "Oh. Yeah, he works at a car dealership. So I guess he works with cars..." And it went on like that until the roomies returned and we had to go.

Later that week (the next day), he emailed me to ask me if I would go to hear a speaker at a church that was in Spokane. Oddly enough, it was the church I had been attending. He didn't know that at the time but it pleased him greatly. He wore a suit that was too short in the arms.

From that email though, I did discover that his last name was Bay.

the ghost of Christmas past

Carson and I did a survey once that asked "What do you talk about the most?"

He replied that I talked about the past and pictures.

And I've got to say, he's got me pegged. I talk about the past a lot. Which is absolutely no surprise to the readers of this blog. "Remember the time we...?" "One time I..." or "Look at this! It was taken the day we..."

For so many reasons, I enjoy thinking about what was. What used to be, how things were, and how they've changed.

Nearly two years ago, I wrote a post entitled, "I Would Have Laughed", based on how things had changed in the two years since my high school graduation. The day I wrote that post was the day that Carson and I started our relationship, though I was coy about that on my blog.

Now, nothing like that is happening today. Nothing spectacular, nothing shocking. Just a normal day of thinking back.

But I do think it's funny... 

That I'm in an apartment near downtown Spokane.
Where I live with a boy.
That I'm married to that boy.
That I decided not to be in Chicago after all.
That I don't regret that.
That I don't hate the idea of marriage.
(I didn't hate it before; I was just opposed to pursuing it and totally content being single)
That I can drive decently in snow.
That I work at a daycare.
That I have dishes and house things of my very own.

I am thankful for these things.
Still surprised by them sometimes.
The surprises, the things I didn't think I'd be doing... those have been wonderful things. Each year I can honestly say has been better than before. Not because I'm here or because of being married or because of anything but God Himself.

And I'm glad that though things change, that never has.

thankful

It's our first Thanksgiving as a married couple! And already starting off to be interesting :)
How? Well, on Tuesday, I ate a turkey and cheese sandwich that Carson made. I hadn't realized that we still had that turkey in the fridge, which was possibly a huge clue that I shouldn't have placed it in my mouth.
After feeling funny on Wednesday, having zero appetite, and being totally grossed out by the smell of pumpkin pie baking (weird), I decided to skip the Thanksgiving Eve service. Good thing too, because not thirty minutes after Carson walked out the door, up came everything I'd eaten in the last 30 hours, which wasn't much. I visited the bathroom a few more times last night and am finally feeling better this morning.

I've learned my lesson though: Don't eat questionable food from the fridge!

Moving along...

We are quite thankful today! We've been blessed in SO many ways that I'm sure getting them all down won't happen. Here goes:

- Thankful for snow tires
- Thankful for SNOW (my first white holiday!)
- Thankful for our jobs
- Thankful for six months of marriage!
- Thankful for the ability to go to school
- Thankful for our church family
- Thankful for a place to live (and the people who live on our hall)
- Thankful for a car that is dependable (and now can drive on the icy streets without freaking me out!)
- Thankful for our parents
- Thankful for our siblings, siblings-in-law, and nieces (the one we have and the one who will be here soon!)
- Thankful for not being sick this morning!
- Thankful for friends, many far away, and many who are right here with us
- Thankful for a place to spend Thanksgiving
- Thankful for our relationships with Jesus Christ, the security and freedom we have there, and the growth we experience through Him.

We really have much to be thankful for today, and the rest of the year.
I love that we have a day set aside to consider all that God has done, and to spend that with people we love.

our little house

Naches and our surrounding area: 

This is pretty much what it looks like. A totally different kind of "beautiful" than the coastal lowcountry beauty I'm used to, or even mountainy, like I've lived in more lately. This is "high desert".

The "downtown" of Naches. Makes Beaufort look huge :)

Us! In front of our house, which is currently in the process of being painted... hence the really old and worn look. 

First thing you walk into - the kitchen! I didn't put away the clean dishes before taking this picture. Oops!

Our little table

Our bedroom. This is the clean side. The other side has bookshelves and all our clothes folded and stacked up. It's organized but looks super messy. Maybe one day we'll share a picture of it. 

The bathroom - the most storage in the whole house so we keep everything that won't fit anywhere else in here. It works, but I guess it is a bit strange to keep duffel bags in your bathroom. Oh - that's a hot water heater right there by the door... also doubles as a place to put clothes and things for after a shower. 

Dad asked yesterday if I wanted a dog. I told him that we have two. But they aren't ours; they just hang out in front of our house. They belong to our next-door neighbor and landlord, Kathryn. This is Ivy and Sage. They happen to love us (and I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that they got samples of dinner the other night).

There ya go! Our house and a little bit of our surrounding area.