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]