Up to Our Eyeballs?

Today at church, we got asked to do things this afternoon by three different groups of people: "Wanna hang out at John's tonight? We'll have pizza". "Hey, we're having people over after church - you should come!" "So we're going to start playing volleyball after the service at our church. Y'all should join!"

As it turns out though, we're making an effort to not make plans on Sundays.

The reason is because we want a day that's focused. A day to be able to say no and not feel bad about it. A day to spend in reading and quiet things. A day to refresh before the week hits full force. So we're spending it that way. With studying for class (Carson's landed himself some pretty reading-heavy profs), studying the Bible, talking, hanging out. Spending time together, with God, and with books.

So far, we've gone to Costco (Moody has all sorts of discounted memberships to things so we joined for 1/2 price... and yes, Becca, I got the hummus) to explore, get samples, get some lunch stuff for the week, and to enjoy the cheap food. Then we returned to the house where Carson is currently reading some Theology and Greek and I'm looking for furniture on Craigslist, new recipes, and blogging. Later, we're considering a walk and we'll read some Bible.

I'm looking forward to days like this, where we're not up to our eyeballs in commitments and we can just sort of decompress from the week's schedule.

Breathe.

Also, in case you didn't notice - the picture above (from our last moving trip) is the illustration for the "busy" thing. Get it? 

a little paint

We're moving into our new apartment this weekend, so we have no pictures of that establishment.  

Until then, remember this? 

(our first day in Naches, June 2)

Well, since the summer has progressed, it's improved in appearance. 

This is what it looks like now.

(our last day in Naches, August 22)

So much more like home. Who would have thought a little paint could go so far?!

baby

This is one of my very favorite pictures. 

Abishai was 12 days old at the time - 4th of July weekend.

Carson held him a lot. It surprised me a little bit. 

I love the contrast of the big strong arms holding up the little helpless baby. 

And the way they're both studying one another.

good to be back.

We sat in a crowded church sanctuary this morning, surrounded by 400+ others, worshiping and singing and being exhorted by a message from Dr. Lewis. Today is the first day of the 2010-2011 school year for Moody-Spokane. And what a year it seems like it's going to be!

Dr. Lewis talked about the importance of not just learning at this place, but actually growing, being changed, progressing... running the race that is set before us, well. I so appreciate that this place isn't about learning a lot of stuff. It's about our hearts. It's about growing and being changed by a living God. It would be great to do that and have a 4.0 but it is most important to let the things learned in this place to sink into our hearts. Yes! That's exactly it!

We'll be living in an apartment with most of the people we're doing youth ministry with this fall (not in the same apartment, but a couple doors down) which we are greatly excited about. Got to hang out and talk with them last night and we are EXCITED! It's going to be great. We can't wait to share exactly how it's great, and to experience that ourselves.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It's full of change - leaves change, weather changes; everything feels crisp and fresh and just pumps you up for what's coming next. And we are excited. Excited to be in Spokane, excited to be back at Moody (I plan on doing as much Moody-related things as possible), excited to do ministry, excited to see friends and meet so many new students, excited to rejoin our church.

We're on the brink of "anything could happen" and that's so very neat. Full of imagining and what-ifs. We're excited to move just past that brink and experience this fall and life back in Spokane. Dreaming and thinking is great, but we really can't wait to get our hands dirty. Looking back will hopefully be even more wonderful than thinking about the possibilities.

It's good to be back.

busy weekend

So here's the car from our first trip. Just so you know, it usually rides a lot (well, for such a low car) higher. We loaded it down. I think it was one of the boxes of books that made it so heavy. Can't wait to see what the box of all our dishes will do. Pots and pans and ceramic dishes... not fun!

And here's all that stuff in the basement of the place we're going to live. It didn't look like so much then. But that's half our stuff. 

And here's the list of things I need to do today and tomorrow. 

The "pizza" up there is because we haven't bought any food, having a goal of not taking every morsel with us to Spokane. We're down to pasta with no sauce, popcorn, tortillas and salad dressing. I have a good imagination, but not good enough to make something out of those things. So we're breaking down and getting a take-and-bake pizza for dinner. We apparently haven't eaten pizza since we've been married because we also need to buy a pizza cutter.  

Lots to do in the next two days! We head over on Sunday afternoon.

And for good measure, we'll add a picture of the pie I made last week. It tasted better than it looks (Carson likes the criss-cross top) and I'm proud because I made the crust without a recipe... a big deal for me!

New Address

We're in the process of moving! We moved a carload to Spokane yesterday and we'll be squeezing everything else into the Civic on Sunday for the real move! I meant to bring the camera cord along to show you what half of our possessions look like stuffed in a Civic (it's funny - bikes on top and everything) but I forgot the cord. I WILL share though.

Meanwhile, our house looks strange, missing things. Our dinners for the week are also strange - we're eating as much of the food in our kitchen as we can so that we don't have to bring it. Bizarre combinations.

AND, (this is only exciting to me) Carson got a haircut while we were in Spokane. He looks more like the picture below once again. No more shaggy hair!

So it's our last week in Naches. Sad but also exciting. We LOVE Spokane and look forward to going back to Moody and back to our friends and church and all the things we love there. Plus, our apartment will have internet. This will make communication more frequent :)

Here's our new address for all those interested (click on it to make it bigger):

Happiest Returns of the Day

Oh my, it's that time again. Time to wish another lovely person a happy birthday! 

Emily is a dear, dear friend. We became friends over a broken spatula in writing class, which is a story in itself, and have remained friends and grown closer over the years. I've known this wonderful lady since we were quite small, but it wasn't until high school that I actually had the privilege of becoming close to her. 

She's off to Colorado next month, and I'm over in Washington, so we're thankful for cell phone service, Skype and a host of other modes of communication. 

Happiest returns of the day, my dear! 

Many Blessings.

We have a place to live this fall! Our church in Spokane has some apartments behind it. They're letting us rent from them. This is a blessing in so many ways. For one, we aren't in Spokane and can't go look at apartments so we've been concerned about ending up with a place to stay that's affordable and decent. We haven't had to make any new trips to Spokane for apartment-hunting (I was a little worried about completing that mission alone), and it's really good rent, right next to church, and in a great distance from downtown and school! We're excited to live there.

The job hunt continues. This in itself doesn't feel like a blessing. I would love to report that I've found a job and that it's over. But it isn't. It is a blessing in disguise, because God has been teaching me about patience and joy through this process. If you'd pray that one pops up soon though, I'd appreciate it!

About the apartment again... it's not going to be "ours" until the first of September. The other tenant is still there. Naturally, with school starting on the 23rd, that puts us in the "living-out-of-a-box" or staying in a hotel for a week category. We are so blessed to have friends who are willing to put us up for a week! The great couple who hosted us for Thanksgiving last year is allowing us to live in their basement until the apartment is ready. 

On another note...

I forgot to put the detergent in the washer yesterday. I realized this while loading the clothes in the dryer.

Regretfully, I confess that I compensated by adding several dryer sheets instead of paying another $1.75. 

August 11th

This day holds a special place in my heart. 

Though Carson most likely won't remember, he proposed a year ago today. 

(I asked once if he knew when we got engaged and he said "August? September? I know it was hot...")

In all honesty, I couldn't care one bit whether he remembers or not. 

It was there, at Old Sheldon Church in South Carolina (he had also surprised me by coming to visit), dripping with sweat (direct sunshine at about noon + nerves + humidity + August) that he asked me to be his wife, after very sweet words that I can never remember correctly (in my defense, I had no idea that he was proposing - I would have focused more had I known). He got on one knee, presented a ring, and asked the fateful question.  

And I said yes, of course. It's a miracle that that came out instead of "Is this for real?!" 

And he slipped this ring on my finger, which was WAY more than I'd ever have expected or even desired. But it was perfect. Chosen carefully and long-searched for - the only ring agreed upon by his ring shopping committee consisting of several aunts and uncles, his mom, and naturally, Carson himself. 

The size was even perfect. He asked my dad, who asked my mom, who asked my grandma, who randomly decided to have my promise ring sized as a ploy to get the correct size (I resisted - I'd already had it for four years and saw no need. But I did get sized. Size five.)

One thing I always wanted the day I was engaged was to be pretty. Unfortunately, having no clue I would be getting engaged, I put on little makeup and clothes I didn't like very much. Oh well.

Met Spring of 2009, classmates for a little while (I wouldn't even really say friends - read the "Story" link), dated for three months, two of those spent long-distance (letters and cell phones!), engaged for 9 months and eleven days, married for allllmost three months. Yay!

19 years

a very happy birthday

to my oldest friend (19 years today!)

little sister

workout motivator

late night conversation buddy

clothing thief 

(other than those couple of items now stashed in my closet)

Africa-loving

exceptionally creative

middle child

only good singer in the family

sugar-addict-turned-healthy-eating-advocate

oh yes, and now, sister-in-law to Carson

to Becca:

we wish you a delightful 19th birthday!

A Trek Up the Mountain

Okay, so it wasn't a mountain. Not really. But it felt like it. We climbed from 6,000 feet elevation to 8,000. A totally uphill "stroll" on the way there that took 9.5 hours (would have been shorter but I am both inexperienced AND a good whiner). Pretty. Fun, looking back.

We climbed up the part that is partially hidden by the tree branch on the left. It looks very mush like the snowy part in the middle.

At our campsite. I have three pictures of him with this same pose. Apparently he was proud of his climb. 

There were fifteen or so mountain goats wandering around our camp in the morning. They got really close to us, sniffed around, and weren't afraid of us in the least. This picture is like an Eye Spy, goat version. They blend in pretty well. 

We used snow to wet our toothbrushes. No shower, no bathroom (unless you like rocks), but we brushed our teeth!

Before setting out the next morning: My brother, me, Carson. 

At the end of the journey. I think it took us six hours to get down. From going downhill all that distance, I had the hardest time going up and down the stairs after that (funny thing - only 24 hours after this venture, I donned a cocktail dress and heels... what a contrast from being dirty and probably smelly)

of weddings and things

Any absence from this blog has been because we have been BUSY! 

First of all, we went backpacking. Pictures from that trip are forthcoming! 

Last weekend, I returned to Beaufort for the wedding of my own maid-of-honor, Brooke. 

Carson has been working 12+ hour days lately, I'm trying to pack things up, and we're working on getting everything together to move back to Spokane in about two weeks.

Post-bachelorette. Sadly, my camera stayed at the hotel (and we had such good photo-ops too!). We went out for pizza, then out to a wonderful nice restaurant for dessert, then walked down River Street before retiring to our hotel to "shower" Brooke and hang out. We stayed in downtown Savannah.

Arriving at the church - accompanied by Erin P, Erin L, Molly and Jessica

The bride and the matron of honor... let me tell you, all week, people kept asking who I was. I would say  "I'm Lindsay the - um, Brooke's friend". It felt very weird to say matron. 

The Mixson family with Levi, their newest addition :)

Leaving the church! We threw part Lindsay's-dried-bouquet and part gardenia leaves. 

Following their getaway, we took bridal party pictures at Palmetto Bluff. It is beautiful there! 

Olivia (Brooke's most recent roommate), Molly, Jessica, Erin P, Erin L (all PHC friends), me, Rachel (Levi's sister), Meredith (maid-of-honor). 

By the way, aren't the dresses gorgeous? I almost had these same ones for our wedding (but in purple) but I'm glad I didn't and Brooke did - because now I have one! And I love the navy.