captions

"Let's take a picture in this mirror"

I'd rather not... but I'll humor you

"Look happy to be next to me!"

I am... just not so happy to see that camera

"Oh, this will be funny. Let's be serious."

This WILL be funny...

"No seriously, come on!"

No, seriously. I'm patient but not that patient.

"What's that you say?"

People are coming! They'll see us taking pictures like fools!

notes

carson and i write notes to each other a lot:

from "hey, would you mind stopping by the bank on your way home?" 

to "hey, i love you!" 

to "you know, i was wrong and didn't realize it till you had already left. so here's my apology."

our index card supply is dwindling as a result.

anyway, here's one i found on the table last week when i was sick.

he's so sweet :)

I Kissed My Ideals Goodbye, Part 1

When I was in Junior High, I read Joshua Harris' "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".

As a very mature (in my own mind) fourteen year old, I defined several key elements to my own future courtship. That book and its sequel, "Boy Meets Girl" were actually quite influential in my early dating philosophy.

[disclaimer:] I will say this... they're not bad books! And while I think "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" does idealize courtship perhaps a bit too much, I think much of the advice is sound. The book has nothing to do with it other than setting ideas in my head. I made ideals of my own free will. I tend toward making rules on things that are actually more like gray areas... and that's what this post is actually mostly about...

So for several years, I planned to do things the old fashioned way. I would be friends with a boy, he would like me and without my knowledge, speak to my father. He would outline his plans to woo me and wed me, and we would have a lovely little wedding in a small white church, in which we would have our first kiss. During the period of courtship, he would spend Sunday afternoons at my parent's house after church and throw the football with my dad. He would be from the South and our babies would have accents just like him.

Well, I moved away from home at the age of 19 (a year away from my intended "marry by" age, also determined when I was fourteen), thoroughly single. I did have close guy friends, but no marriage proposal kept me home.

By this time, I was actually a bit cynical on the whole relationship thing as a whole, having seen so many broken hearts from both dating relationships and courtships. I liked the idea of getting married, but the pre-marriage, relationship part freaked me out. It was at this time that I decided that I would agree to an arranged marriage. No games, just "Here he is!"

That didn't happen either.

So I was 3,000 miles from home, single, and content in that. Possibly overjoyed in that. Possibly smug and prideful in that. Possibly just about to have my lofty ideals kicked in the face.

Over Christmas break that year my relationship status was discussed. A friend asked me about my single state. I made lovely comments on being content and all sorts of things. I even had a conversation with God about possibly making a vow to not get into a relationship that year... not that I had all sorts of offers that needed turning down, but it was really heavy on my heart. The sign I asked for didn't happen so I didn't make that promise...

...and that turned out to be good. Because just five or so weeks into the semester, a strange guy from two of my classes (who coincidentally happened to be around a lot more), asked me to the spring formal.

My ideals were about to be crushed. I was going to lose a battle.

And to make it even worse, people from Washington don't have Southern accents. No hope for those future children.

...to be continued...

favorite places

china. 

the great wall. sharing the GOSPEL in a place like Beijing. 

old sheldon church. 

south carolina. old. pretty. place where we got engaged.

ukraine. 

place where missions captured my heart. gorgeous. one of my favorite places.

washington. 

mountains. evergreens. place we started life together.

once upon a saturday evening

if only every evening could be spent this way...

Eight Months

There's nothing special about eight months.
Nothing monumental about the number eight at all.
Not really.

And yet, today we've been married for that long.
And it's gone by very fast.
And we're loving it.
And we're really growing.

I love the man I married more now than before marriage.
Not that it's a surprise, I just didn't get it before.
But living with him has given me a new perspective on him:
His temperament, his character, his quirks, his strengths and weaknesses.

And for eight months, I've had a front seat to all of this.
And he's had a front seat to who I really am.
Yikes.
But really, it has been so good.
Even the not so wonderful moments - seriously anything can turn out for good and for growth!

Happy eight!

an adorned home: bedroom and bathroom

I've been making things, revamping things and making small purchases to make our formerly unfurnished, sparse apartment a homey, inviting place.

May I show you around?

First, we'll begin with our bedroom.

We got our bedspread from Target after the unfortunate stolen comforter incident this summer. I really like it! The pillows are all made by me! The bigger ones are just placemats that I've stuffed with fiberfill (couldn't find a link... but they're Target also). The smaller one is inspired by this post.

Our nightstand looks like this, minus the wheels. Three plastic drawers, filled with things that would fill a dresser, if only we had one. You can see that I've attempted to make it prettier by adding more burlap with another strip of fabric across it. looks better than plain old plastic! The lamp was mine from before we were married. 

The wall opposite our bed was bare and lonely, so I gathered up frames of various shapes and sizes and made a collage. It's a look I like, though perhaps it could have been more carefully arranged. Just something to tweak in the future!

There's also a mirror on this wall... and what you'd have seen if I hadn't used the zoom would be the hamper. The closet may not get a spotlight. It's pretty crazy. 

This is our bathroom! 

It's tiny but we don't really need a huge one. No fights have been had about the lack of sink space and the size hasn't been a problem. I recently (this week) added the two frames to put something pretty in the space and really like it. We added two metal shelves under the sink for storage and it makes it look messy but it's worth it for the storage!

This is the other side of our bathroom. It's so nice to get that natural light during the day. 

I'd like to hang something on that wall and I'm sure I will in due time. 

The shower curtain is from Wal-Mart and it coordinates with the mat that isn't pictured and is the color of our kitchen walls :) 

More for another day! I'm working on pillows for the living room right now and trying to organize :)