Ten

I don't think I've gushed enough lately on how much I love my church. We had this thing tonight called "Dinner for Ten" where ten people gathered at our pastor's home and hung out, talked, and ate good food. I can't even begin to describe how connected I feel and how many prayers of mine are being answered by God. I have longed for community for the past year or so and I just have felt like it's no where to be found. I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would lead me to a group of friends that were like me (and liked me!)...and I had resigned myself to thinking that God's answer to that prayer was "later" and that I needed to draw closer to him and lean on him to fulfill my needs...and then something drastic happened, we switched churches, and I'm experiencing an abundance of blessing from the Lord. It is amazing and I am so thankful for each and every second of it! I had started thinking that Greg and I were the only young married couple out there...and come to find out, we're not! Not only are we not the only young married couple, there are four others in our COM group and we met two others tonight! God is SO good!

I ran ten miles on Saturday...TEN! 10! DIEZ! I'm still finding it hard to fathom that my body can run 10 stinkin' miles...that's like my apartment to my parents house...and that's just crazy! I'm not gonna lie, I spent the better portion of Saturday sacked out in bed and complaining because my toenails hurt (yes...I'm serious. My toenails hurt SO bad), but I did it - I ran/walked for 2 hours and 40 minutes. And if we're gonna get technical about it, it was actually 10.69 miles - not just 10. I've now reached a new place in my running where I'm discovering new things. Like my size 8 running shoes really needed to be a size 8 1/2, and even though I just bought them in August, they are getting replaced this weekend so my toenails don't get smashed in the bottom of them. Or that seams on sleeveless shirts can be the most painful things in the world and cause gaping sores on the insides of your arms from chafing. Or that Gu is super nasty and sport beans don't really work. Or that Accelerade may give you more energy, but it tastes like dirt. Or that my Galloway group is amazing. Or that God can give you strength to run 5 more miles when you fall in a hole and roll your ankle on mile 5. Lessons learned are great :)

Ten days until my first wedding with Allen! I'm so excited, so nervous...I feel like it's almost too good to be true. I was talking to my mom on the phone this afternoon about how I feel like I'm just waiting for something to go wrong with that whole thing. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because something has gone "wrong" in every single job I've ever had and I've come to realize that people don't really keep good on their promises. But I feel like God is stretching me to trust and to enjoy hard work. I trust Allen completely and I trust that he is going to teach me more than I can imagine. I trust that God has plans that are SO much bigger than me...and that he's given me talents that I can use in spiritual ways. A few weekends ago a passion that I didn't even know I had hit me in the middle of church...whenever I get good at photography, I want to find a way to help people with it. Before you say that sounds silly, it's not. I want to use my gift to go to NICU and take pictures of premies who may or may not live. I want to go to the children's cancer center and give the gift of memories in print to parents who may lose their children. I want to give people the gift of amazing pictures who otherwise can't afford it. And I'm not sure where this desire is coming from (well, I'm pretty sure it's from God) because I've never had this thought before. And it makes me get so excited thinking about it :)

Tenth of the month...we've been married for seven whole months! Seven glorious, challenging, beautiful, surprising, exciting, take-my-breath-away months. And I couldn't be happier with my husband :) It's still sometimes weird to think that we're actually married. I know it's been 7 months and 200-odd days of it, but it seems like we were engaged for SO long and all I wanted to do was be married that it still sometimes seems surreal and dreamlike. I remember after we checked out of our hotel the day after the wedding and were on our way to Galveston that everything seemed like this huge dream. I was still operating on about four hours of sleep in 72 hours, so everything was kind of fuzzy around the edges...but it literally took weeks for the reality of everything to hit me. We got rushed into this whirlwind cruise where it seemed like we were playing house (or maybe that's what the anti-dizziness drugs did to me! ;)) And sometimes I wake up and feel like we're still just playing house...and then I get to smile and realize "hey...I have a husband!" and it's exciting :)

I pray that God will be big in your life, that he will answer prayers and give you passions that you didn't even know you had. I am praying for you today!!
Faithfully His,

Things I've Learned in Six Months

I was going to post this yesterday, since yesterday was our six month anniversary (insert "awwww" here)...but I got so darn busy with school and quizzes, and more school that I didn't even get on the computer until I got home at 10:00...and then I was just too tired and lazy. But I'm not now!! So here is a list of things I've learned in the last six amazingly wonderful months.

1. Stealing covers and being a bed-hog in a King size bed isn't something to brag about.

2. Husband never gets anywhere on wife's clock. His clock runs 10-15 minutes behind wife's...Wife is of the school of thought that if you're early, you're on time...if you're on time, you're late...and if you're late, you shouldn't even bother showing up. Husband is of the school of thought that 5 minutes late is "fashionably" late. And this will drive wife nuts.

3. Do not eat everything husband eats. You will get fat. And then you'll complain about getting fat, and husband doesn't particularly like complaining.

4. Hints don't work. If wife wants kitchen cleaned, wife must say, "Husband, please clean the kitchen while I'm gone." Otherwise, it is not fair for wife to get mad at husband when she specifically said before she left, "Oh, I really wish the kitchen was cleaned!"

5. Wife's need for sleep on weeknights isn't recognized, although husband's need to sleep-in late on weekends better be recognized or a fight might ensue.

6. The nights when wife is the most tired and just wants to go to sleep the most will be the nights when husband gets crabby about wife's in-bed-at-9-so-wife-can-be-up-at-5 policy and will pick a fight with her.

7. A gallon of milk for the week isn't enough. Sometimes two isn't even enough. (and wife doesn't drink milk).

8. If wife makes even a teensy-tiny mess, husband will harass her about it.

9. Husband will set alarm at 6:30 when he needs to be up at 7...and then let it go off...and off...and off...and off. This will drive wife NUTS!

10. Every once in awhile, husband will do something really sweet like bring home flowers, or write a sweet note...and this makes wife smile.

I love ya sweetie ;) Those are all in good fun...even though every single one of them is true and you know it! For all others...sorry for the sappy/sarcastic entry. Back to business tomorrow as usual.



L is for the way you look tonight,