Valentine's Day

So many times, I've thought about the "what if" scenarios that could have been true in my life. Now that Carson's a part of it, it's only natural to think about the things that concern him too:
What if I hadn't been rejected from Moody the first time?
What if I hadn't reapplied?
What if I hadn't accepted to go to Spokane for "a year"?
What if Carson hadn't been in my classes?
What if I had said no from the beginning to his offer of a date?
What if we never went on that second date?
What if we hadn't decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend?
What if he hadn't proposed in August?
What if I'd decided to go to Chicago?
What if we felt we didn't know each other well enough and broke things off?
What if ?

Lots of what-ifs. But they're only questions in my head because I do know what happened on each of those occasions. I know and I'm thankful for the reality that Carson is a part of my life, and I'm part of his. I'm so very glad that God knew what He was doing.

Because this has gotten a bit sappy, I'll close. But I couldn't let the day go by without wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day! I'll be back later this week with pictures from our celebrations. Carson has a whole elaborate gift system this year for me which is so fun!

I'll give you a sneak peek of my gift to him (but don't tell... he doesn't get to see it until 5pm!)... Molly, Erica and I spent all day Saturday making blankets for our guys :)

Mac and Cheese

So, I am loving the recipes I'm finding on Pinterest!

I've made quite a few, which I actually do plan to share because I think they deserve to be tried by others. 

This one was pinned here and it's called "Revolutionary Mac and Cheese". I liked that it didn't have too many ingredients and looked nice and creamy. 

Here's the recipe. Please try it yourself!!

Revolutionary Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 2-4

You'll Need:

2 Cups Macaroni Noodles (I used shells)

2 Cups Milk (I used 2%)

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard (this is what makes it really tasty!)

How to:

Mix noodles and milk in a medium sized saucepan. Just barely bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Don't forget to stir often. I didn't have a problem with the milk burning, but I'm sure it could. 

Turn heat off and add cheese and salt, then mustard. Cover and let it sit for a few minutes, then if it's not creamy enough, add a bit of milk. 

As we were eating, I thought that for something a little bit more healthy, peas or broccoli could be added. I don't love anything mixed into my pasta, but this is so good that I bet I wouldn't even mind :) 

Enjoy! 

Carolina on My {Heart}

Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest (click here for link), I decided to create something to brighten my day and that of two lovely Carolina friends.

First, I googled "South Carolina outline image" or something like that and found an outline in the right size. Then, I placed a normal piece of copy paper on my computer screen and traced. It would have been easier to just print it out, yes, but I don't have a printer.

Then, I cut out my home state. All those little islands made it tricky so I probably left out something important.

From there, I just traced my tracing onto a piece of canvas (I used canvas "paper" that's meant for printing pictures on... my lovely mother-in-law gave me some and I loved it so much that I've even purchased more...so fun to paint!)

The painting part is self-explanatory. After I was finished, I covered my work in a coat of Mod Podge to give it a sheen, and finished up with a tiny heart over my hometown. It was an easy way to spend an afternoon, and they made for fun gifts I hope my friends will enjoy! 

Going off the Pinterest idea from earlier though, I traced smaller versions of Washington State and South Carolina onto the inside of a cardboard box and painted those for the frames over the sink in our bathroom.

Technically, there should also be a heart over the West side of the state since that's where Carson is from, but I went with the idea seen here instead and put hearts over where we met (Spokane) and where we married (Beaufort). LOVE how these turned out... and I'm okay if they don't hold up to the humidity of the bathroom since they're just cheap acrylic paint and cardboard!

To Love and to Cherish

For awhile now, I've wanted to do something frameable with our vows. I've looked on Etsy and Pinterest for ideas and found things I loved but couldn't afford or loved but not quite. 

The one I love most is this, and actually, I might go back and purchase it. It's affordable for sure and would make a lovely valentine's, birthday or anniversary gift, all of which are coming up soon! Anyway, it mostly inspired my not-nearly-as-nice version. 

Basically, all I did was tear pages out of a notebook with brown kraft paper pages. I put a wedding picture in the middle and then wrote out our vows, which you saw recently, in cursive. It's not perfect and I had no idea what the spacing should be so I'm glad there was room for our names and wedding date at the bottom. 

I still love that I did this, even though it's not perfect. We can walk by anytime and be reminded of the things we promised to each other 20 months ago.

My Favorite Wedding Detail

One of the details I loved the most from our wedding is our programs. 

The story behind them is one of pure laziness, if I'm being honest. I knew that I planned to make them, but I really really dislike Microsoft Publisher and didn't really like the options I had there. I've seen plenty of super cute programs but I didn't think that I had the patience to complete the necessary 200. 

So instead, I wrote the programs... but I did NOT write each one individually. I wrote them out on copy paper, had others check for mistakes (they missed one... a missing apostrophe that drives me crazy now), and then someone copied them onto cream colored cover stock paper, double sided. 

Someone else punched two holes in each one and tied ribbons. I think there was a group of people who did this but I have no idea now who they were or even when it was done (the week of the wedding, I think). No idea either what I was doing during that time. Thank you, whoever you were!

It's all self-explanatory, but the cover said our full names and wedding date.

The left side of the first page had the names of our parents and wedding party (the missing apostrophe is on this page. Can you spot it?). I wanted to put a detail about each person in the bridal party, but there wasn't space so I wrote how we knew them. Given time and space, I would have included a brief description of our relationship to each person. That's the one thing I'd have changed.  My nosy self loves to know why each person was chosen for a wedding party so I assumed I couldn't be the only one.

The right hand side of the page had the order of ceremony:

Prelude music (my best friend's little brother played violin)

Seating of parents and grandparents (Air on G String, Bach - this is my mom's favorite, so it was appropriate that it was playing as she came down the aisle)

Bridal Party (Butterfly Waltz, Brian Crain)
Bride's Entrance and Presentation (Canon in D, Pachelbel)
Congregational Declaration of Consent (this was from the Book of Common Prayer. It is basically a charge to the people attending the wedding to keep us true to our wedding vows.)
Prayer
Two Songs: (chosen because of their Gospel-centeredness)
In Christ Alone
Before the Throne of God Above
Reading from Isaiah 42:5-8 
*Not in our program because it was a surprise of sorts - Carson gave a little sermon on what marriage is as a picture of Christ and the Church and how he hoped ours would illustrate that
Sermon
Exchanged vows and rings (we wrote our own based on passages of Scripture)
(Instead of a unity candle:)
"Jesus Paid It All", sung by my sister and her fiance. During this time our parents came up and we all prayed together.
Closing Prayer
Pronouncement of Marriage

I included the lyrics to the two songs. My hand almost gave out because I kept messing up halfway through and having to start over.

Our vows.  We wrote these out because they weren't the traditional vows and we wanted people to hear them (we didn't have a microphone). Carson pretty much wrote them and I offered input and vetoed ideas. 

Finally, on the back, we included a schedule for the reception. My reasoning in doing this was so that people knew the kind of time frame they were looking at, so they didn't leave before it was all over.
We kept it short because we still wanted there to be a lot of people there when we left, in case you're wondering why our 5pm wedding ended at 8. We stayed longer than the schedule says, by the way. And apparently after we left, many of our guests stayed another three hours!

So those are our programs, and more details about those than you thought were possible for simple pieces of paper!

Dinner and a Movie

What May or May Not Be

Uncertainty has GOT to be the pattern for every person's life. It certainly can't be just us.

In the next six months (less than that, but I'd rather not think about it), we may or may not be here.
Here, in this apartment,
here, in this city,
here, in this state,
here, on this side of the country
(pretty sure we'll be in this country, but you never know, I guess).

So many things are supposed to happen before then that sometimes I don't think it will possibly work out. Before we may or may not move, these things are supposed to happen:
Start and finish last semester of college.
Graduate.
Internship. Six weeks overseas.
Pack.
Move. Possibly during internship. Scary.

And then more things:
Find a new church, make new friends, get to know a new place, find a job, Carson starting grad school.

In two months, we will probably know where and most likely even when this change will take place. We'll see the puzzle pieces come together. Our questions will have answers and decisions will be made. Though money probably won't grow on trees, our needs will be met.

Our life is in the Lord's hands.
That's both reassuring and scary, if I'm being honest. He's got it and I trust Him but still I want to make sure everything's under control. In so many ways I'm like a little child. I know He knows it all and has it figured out but sometimes I doubt the sovereignty of God in my mind, which is probably where it counts the most.

So for the next couple of months, we wait. It's our only choice; a perfect one for two impatient people. Keeps us reliant. Keeps us praying.

I realized today that the "next step" isn't to go to grad school or whatever is to come in the distant future but to trust God now. That should always be our response to Him.

No matter what may or may not be.