reilly family photo shoot

Reilly Family 

[2011]

keith, john, isabel, lindsay & carson

rachel, heidi, catherine

hold on? who are these people? they aren't your family!

Yep, these are the people who live life with us in the Reilly Building, serve with us, go to church with us, and come to our door for eggs and extra plates (and we reciprocate). It's SO fun to experience life with these wonderful people. Such a blessing to be right down the hall from good conversation, movie night buddies, encouragement, and amazing brothers and sisters in Christ. 

We're often busy, with conflicting work and school schedules, but as many of us are able try to gather for waffles, movies, girls nights (and I guess guy nights, though it's yet to happen) or discussions when we've got the time.

Carson and I are the only married ones in this group, so sometimes we get called "mom and dad". No big deal, since we're all in our 20s... I love all my "children", though three of them are older.

We had a "family photo shoot" last Sunday after church. 

Spelling "Reilly"

This is our band picture. Pretty sure we're supposed to look moody and cool. 

Pretty sure we failed. 

 Not so sure why we even took this one.

Awk...ward

Supposed to resemble this Beatles picture. 
Too many people and walking the wrong way. 
That's Carey, our pastor, walking alongside.

Not sure what this is about

I like this one the best (it's my desktop background). 

On the stairs of the Reilly.

Again on the stairs.

The wonderful (and moving back to Australia very soon) Fiona Dewhurst took these pictures. 

ABCs

A - Age: 24 and 22

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Actually putting the clothes away after folding

D - Dog's name: No pets :(

E - Essential start your day item: Makeup, Bible, Supplements 

F - Favorite color: Green and dark purple

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 6'2" and 5'1.5"

I - Instruments you play: Lindsay played piano for a short time and Carson used to play saxaphone

J - Job title: Sales associate, TA - Carson. Daycare employee - Lindsay

K - Kid(s): Zero.

L - Living arrangements: A tiny but lovely apartment in Spokane

M - Mom's name: Danita and Michele

N - Nicknames: Carson - Carse, Cod, Coddy, Carsy; Lindsay - Linds, Lindsay-lou

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Carson's been hospitalized due to pneumonia I believe. Lindsay has never had an overnight stay besides birth

P - Pet Peeve: 

Q - Quote from a movie: 

R - Right or left handed: Both right-handed

S - Siblings: Carson - Younger brother, Trent, sister-in-law, Erin; Lindsay - Younger sister, Becca, younger brother, Scott

T - Time you wake up: Carson - between 4:15 and 6 Lindsay - between 5:30 and 6

U- Underwear: Yes

V - Vegetable you dislike: Lindsay - carrots, peppers, most cooked veggies

W - Ways you run late: Lindsay - Everything in the book Carson - waking up late (happened like once)

X - X-rays you've had: Carson - lots Lindsay - one to my knowledge

Y - Yummy food you make: Neither involved in the kitchen so much these days...

Z - Zoo favorite: 

nine months

A friend reminded me last night that in the time that we have been married, we could be expecting our first child any day now. As you probably know, no such thing has happened... but it does give me hope for when I do eventually get pregnant... nine months goes by oh so quickly! 

Yes, it's been that long since we got married! 276 days to be exact (and I only know that because I found my wedding website which has that right on the front page). It's had its share of good and bad (we're two imperfect people living together, what do you expect?) but the good outweighs the bad and all in all it's been great.

You've seen a million wedding pictures which I have yet to tire of. So in the chance that you have, here are some shots from the week after the wedding... our honeymoon in Cancun!

what i really did this weekend

Over the weekend, I intended to attend to this:

But instead, I ate some of this:

And did a lot of this:

And this:

And more of this:

[it would be SO much faster with a sewing machine!]

To turn this:

Into this:

And the uncabineted cabinets to this:

[the floors are actually that scuffed and torn, not dirty]

And ended up with these:

And some more:

In the end, the living room looked like this:

So there's laundry waiting to be folded. But the living room has been cleaned and we have pretty pillows. All in all, a successful two days!

Line Leader

When you were little, were you ever chosen to be line leader?

The line leader is the person the teacher has selected as best listener. This special individual has been noticed for sitting down, following directions, keeping hands in their lap, and not talking when the teacher is speaking. Line leader is an important distinction. You stand proud as you walk to the lunch room, leading your classmates down the hall.

I use this example for two reasons. The first is because five days a week, I see this carried out. Three times a day, we form a line to snack and lunch and someone is chosen to lead the group. With head held high, the line leader carries out his or her duty with excellence and a certain amount of pride.

Secondly I use it because it is a reminder. To be the line leader is to be different from everyone else. You're one of them, but you were the only one chosen to lead. Might we say set apart? Chosen?

Last night Carson and I were studying Colossians 3:12 - "So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

"Because you have been given a distinction [salvation, line leader :)] act this way..."

We got some specifics out of it too but I thought I'd share that little story and illustration with you :)

Our First Valentine's

Fun fact: this was our first Valentine's Day together! Two years ago we weren't even friends, last year we were engaged but I was in South Carolina, so finally this year, we got to celebrate!

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday, since school and work conflicted with the actual holiday.

Carson planned the whole day!

First of all, we went to a diner that I've never visited. There were so many good options on the menu, but we both got sandwiches. The breakfast menu looked amazing, so I'm sure we'll be back!

Then we painted pottery downtown.

It was his first time doing this but I think he liked it. 

A stretch, since he doesn't do creative things so often (but he's pretty good!)

We were there for nearly three hours. 

[closer look: our creations]

Afterward, we went miniature golfing up north. 

There was the option to go outside, but the chilly weather made that a quick no. 

It was dark with blacklights. 

We're both horrible at this (which made it better since we were on the same level). 

Our final scores were 58 and 53. He won. 

Finally, we settled in at home with some spinach ravioli and alfredo sauce. 

It was followed by some yummy brownie covered oreos 

(you just dip them in the brownie batter and place them in muffin tins) 

and watched While You Were Sleeping

(a favorite of mine and he loved it too!)

And for Valentine's Day, I received this: 

A white sapphire heart necklace

I'm wearing it in most of the pictures if you want to see its actual size

Love it :)
[in fact, I love it so much that you'll be seeing it a LOT]

I've always loved this holiday, the candy, pink and red and fun decorating...

 Celebrating it with my husband instead of with girl friends and roommates made it totally different. So, so fun!

Hope you had an excellent Valentine's Day as well, no matter who you spent it with!

Happy Anniversary!

A year ago, I was in beautiful Beaufort for a wedding.

One of those weddings you will not miss. 

I had the privilege of standing up with other dear friends as I observed the first moments of this marriage. 

A very happy first anniversary to Gary and Jillian!

[picture stolen from jillian's blog]

[em, jillian and i at the reception]

I Kissed My Ideals Goodbye, Part 2

[click here for part one]

So as previously mentioned, I had pretty well-formed thoughts on dating, courtship, and the like. In retrospect, it was a little like setting your parenting ideals on the table before your first child is born. Lofty goals, but without an ounce of experience.

You may remember that something dear to my heart was the idea of the family sitting around the kitchen table laughing and making memories while bonding with my future husband. It seemed only right that "he" would be a person I had known for forever, respected and trusted as a friend first.

Enter Carson: A man I had not known for years, did not know my family, and definitely had not sat at my kitchen table.

I'm going to add in here that my ideals have a lot to do with the fact that I am a firstborn. I get something in my head and there is no one who is going to take that away from me.

Carson Bay did not know this about me.

(He knew I was a firstborn because one of his roommates was in my speech class in which we gave biographical speeches and that loving friend recounted all my information to Carson. But he did not know that he was dealing with such a stubborn individual.)

I accepted his first offer, which was to be his date to the spring formal. My reasoning was because you just couldn't say no without a reason. That would be entirely too rude.

When he got obtained my phone number (a true mystery to me... I hadn't included that in any speech), he called me to see if I would be interested in coffee. I demurely replied that I did not think it was a good idea. He, also being a firstborn, gave me several reasons why it was.. I didn't buy it and again refused.

And then tried my darndest to ignore the guy. Meanwhile, he pursued with all his might. Our story is really one of persistence, his trying to get me and my trying to "not lead him on" (because he was not the long-time-family-friend of my dreams).

He won, as you might well assume. Two weeks after that spring formal, we had a conversation in which we calmly told one another that we thought it would work for us to get married. It was a conversation oddly devoid of emotion for being about marriage and a future together.

He called my dad the next day (after he had talked to me... there went one ideal... but then again, how else would he get his phone number?). That evening, over coffee, we...

Started dating. Not courting. Dating.
One thing I've realized... the terms kind of coincide. But I've always pictured courting as more of a "family hangs out with the guy" thing and dating as a "family meets the guy after there's a relationship" thing... and so I call it dating. In reality, it doesn't matter. It's just a term thing, right?

He would sometimes come over and hang out with me and my roommates, but that was as family-oriented as it got. We were often unsupervised, unchaperoned, as we visited an Arboretum, went to lunch, went for walks, and sat under a tree at school, talking. It was not what I had envisioned. We even held hands once in awhile. It was wild.

After three months of dating (we dated in Spokane for 3 weeks and then were apart for 2 months), we got engaged.

Three seconds after that (or in that general vicinity), we had our first kiss. We were not married yet. Another ideal, just flushed down the toilet.

[While that was written oh-so-flippantly, I must let you know that none of it was actually done in that manner. The dating a boy I had not known for years and years scared me to death. I prayed about it like there was no tomorrow. The holding hands was discussed. The kiss before marriage was discussed.] 

One of the biggest things being in a relationship taught me was that I had been locking my ideals up in an iron castle. I had made things that weren't so big out to be non-negotiables, and not even considered things that were actually of importance.
The decisions we made while dating were made after lots of prayer and a considerable amount of discussion. We both tend to be over thinkers so that wasn't very hard for us.

Throughout my life, one of the bigger things God has had to "talk" to me about has been my setting my ideals above everything else, often including seeking Him in prayer on the issue.

This was the case initially with Carson... the reason I was deadset against his interest in me was because I was sure that it wasn't the right time. Unfortunately in my certainty, I had failed to consult with the One who created time. Once I prayed about it I realized that perhaps this was something that He had brought about at that specific time for a specific purpose.

I had to trust God and let go of my ideals, which has sort of been the story of my life.

This has really been written because God has been teaching me a thing or two about my ideals (did I not say it was the story of my life?). This whole relationship thing was entirely new to me before Carson and SUCH a good example of how easy it was to set my "I will" and "I will not" plans before the Lord.

It's reminded me that even really good intentions in ideals can become idols if we don't place them before God. And honestly, at least in my case, they could probably ruin relationships.

- Mrs. Bay ;)

the swing of things.

I'm a busy girl these days. Though I still continue my full-time job, I have resumed the role of student! I'm just part-time, taking two classes each Tuesday afternoon. My Christianity and Western Culture (history/Christianity throughout history) class meets from 12:15 to 3:05 and my Contemporary Issues in Science and Christian Thought (is that not the longest name ever?) class meets from 3:40 to 6:00. 

I'm enjoying being back in the classroom, though it's kind of new and I'm not used to being still for so long during the day. Both classes are going to be a challenge but not too difficult. I'm excited to be learning, glad to be back, and happy happy that this is part of the path to FINISH! The projected plan is that I will graduate next spring (2012), which means a few summer classes and going back to full-time school in the fall. 

Carson, meanwhile, is ten times more busy than I. He is taking 20-something credits, which includes regular classes, his internship, and two directed study classes. On top of that, he's the teacher's assistant (TA) for two Moody classes and is working part-time. When does he study? I'm not so sure. Somewhere between his 4:45  gym trip, daily classes, cleaning the church, and MTS class at the church. He plans to graduate this May (2011) which I've probably already mentioned. He is one busy guy so I really shouldn't complain about my load (not that it stops me, sad to say).

It's fun to have an ID tag, syllabi, textbooks, quizzes and papers to plan for, conversations regarding class, and just the reconnection and fellowship with people I don't regularly connect with outside of Moody. 

flushed.

A bowl of brown rice. 

What could the implications be? 

I'm trying to eat better, attempting to show you how I made a delicious meal?

Um. NO.

Neither of those things are remotely true.

 I am ashamed to say that hidden in that rice is my cell phone.

Which fell out of my pocket and into a toilet I had just finished cleaning at work.

Plop! Gasp! Realization. Embarassment. 

(relief that it was at least clean...)

I've heard/read that the best way to revive a wet phone is to leave it in rice for 24 hours. 

So I did.

And 26 hours later, it works!

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 :)