Oh how the time flies.

Five years ago today, I took Matthew out on our first date :) Yes I know, I took him out. But, it was only because I wanted to take him out for a special dinner for his birthday {which is tomorrow, Dec. 3}. And in honor of how we began, I will take him out tonight for his birthday on our 5 year "anniversary."

It makes me kinda sad that we can't celebrate today anymore {although I will try to for the rest of our lives}, because it is such a special day. I think about how we've grown and changed since then, and it's unbelievable. For God to mold us together and see us through marriage is a miracle to me. So many relationships end through college or from other reasons as young couples mature and grow up.

But Matt has forever been an example of Christ to me. The way he talks, acts, and loves. Through these first 4 months of marriage, I have seen every sin in his life {and vice versa} and it's been rough sometimes. But I now understand what God was doing in our dating relationship. He was completely preparing us for the trials we're facing now {& will face ahead} in our marriage.

I always think how hard it is that we're so different, but I see that God put us together to strengthen each others' weaknesses and to calm each others' strengths. I'm so incredibly blessed for how God has changed my life with Matt; but I am more blessed that God has used Matt as a vessel for His glory. And to forever point me to Him.

And now, I had to show you guys these pics cuz it's so funny to see how we've changed. Enjoy :) {these are in no particular order}

Christmas Card :)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas is upon us! And we just wanted to give y'all a sneak peak of what we're sending out to our loved ones this year :) 

We really wanted to make our first Christmas momentous so we took some pictures with our lifelong friend and photographer, Mackenzie Martin. Check out her photography page at:

http://www.agapephotograph.blogspot.com/

Merry {almost} Christmas!!

Enter His Gates

Psalm 100:4 "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."

 

Thanksgiving is always an interesting time of the year for me. I think over time, we have seemed to twist the meaning of thanksgiving. It's kind of a filler between Halloween and Christmas nowadays. Or maybe it's an excuse to eat 3,000 calories in one meal. 

Although there's a lot of substance to the origination of Thanksgiving as a holiday, it's disappointing that I often wait until Thanksgiving to reflect on how God has blessed me in so many ways. I doubt many Americans even do that anymore though.

God dictates a posture of thanksgiving in our lives. Daily. In each moment. Towards each person. And I don't do it. 

I didn't understand how negative {i like to say realistic} I was toward circumstances in my life until I married the most optimistic man in the world. He always shows thanksgiving. And he always sees the blessing in every instance. Matthew reminds me to "enter His gates with thanksgiving...and praise His name."  

So to me, this holiday was more of a catalyst for me in our marriage--a reminder of the woman God wants me to be, and the man my husband is to me. My prayer is that thanksgiving will be an attitude in the hearts of Americans rather than a day of good food {and lots of naps :) }.

I hope to celebrate Thanksgiving on Christmas; Easter; Memorial Day; and the 4th of July. And I hope y'all do the same ;) Happy Thanksgiving friends! 

 

Getting In Sync

We finally are feeling so at home and comfortable in our marriage and the Raleigh area. It has been a difficult transition for me in the fact that I had such an amazing friend group {shout out to my girls} in Chapel Hill and I knew about zero people here in Raleigh.

Matt has been so amazing in spending time with me and doing the things I love--he's made it relatively easy to get used to this area. And he even let's me drag him on double dates to meet some new married friends!

Buttt, I figured, he does so much for me that I needed to pay back a little love. So this past weekend we did some of his favorite activities, which of course included going shooting.

I have never shot a gun before. I know. Hard to believe when I grew up with two rowdy boys and a kid-at-heart dad who loved wrestling, fighting, and shooting things. Well, let me just tell you, it's not like the movies. It hurts! The recoil from those bad boys is insane!

We met up with our new friends, Jessica and Daniel in Fuquay and they took us to their brother's house to shoot pistols and shotguns. We shot clay pigeons and I missed a-everything dang one!! But I did manage to hit some bottles with Matt's pistol. {at least I can defend myself if necessary}

After shooting, Matt proved his manhood by eating some world famous ice cream from Fuquay called "Cold Sweat." It's made with {habanero?} peppers. And you have to sign a waiver to get a sample spoon size of ice cream. Yea. Let's just say he's not doing that again.

We're loving getting to know so many great new friends up here! But of course we miss all our old friends. We're excited to go to Charlotte for Thanksgiving to see our families and hopefully friends too.
Unfortunately, Matt has to work Black Friday. So get ready for some, I'm sure, great stories from his experience :)

Going the Distance

Honestly, we sometimes get lonely here in Raleigh. We haven't made many married friends yet and we're still lacking marital mentors. But, it's comforting to be reminded of how close our family and friends are across the state. And that our relationships can really go the distance, no matter how far.

We had a full weekend full of new and old friends. I'm blessed to live near my best friends in Chapel Hill, where I can always go to have a girls night out. With Matt working more at Best Buy and Summit, I've had a lot of quality "me" time as well as girl time. On Friday I visited Ciara and Andrea who are such lights in my life. Just being able to eat dinner together and catch up was such a treat for me.

But what a highlight for our weekend it was when our dear friends Courtney and Matt ventured from Charlotte to stay with us Saturday and Sunday. We showed them around town, took them to Summit, and had a wonderful dinner together.

On top of all of that, we got to meet up with some new friends for breakfast who are married and love Jesus. It meant so much to us.

However, I think God has really been tugging at my heart to start pouring myself out to others and really investing in new relationships. Whether it was by His hand or not, my iPhone somehow "fell" in the toilet this morning, giving me plenty of time to think and reflect. And I think Matt and I really want to make some drastic changes in our lives. Whether that's giving some idols up that we didn't realize we had before {sadly maybe my iPhone} or donating more of our time, money, and efforts to God's kingdom.

We'll keep ya posted. But pray for us and our purpose in God's brilliantly designed plan. {And that we make more married friends!}

Learning to Love.

Matthew and I have always been two very different people. I'm Type A. He's Type B. I like country. He likes Dub Step. I love running. He loves playing video games.

It was easier to look past our differences when we would get together on dates because we would always do things we both enjoyed. In the "wooing" phase we would always try our hardest to please each other. I remember playing Rock Band with him almost every day of our first year of dating. And he watched many a chick flick with me.

Yet now, as we're letting down our guards and showing each other our selfish selves, we're beginning to notice just how different we truly are. Yet, instead of seeing the differences as causes for division, God is challenging us to see them as reasons to come together.

I've had to learn to hang out while Matt plays on the Xbox. And Matt now gets roped into watching Married to Jonas with me. But even in these silly things in life, we're learning so much about one another. I think love is way more than just "choosing" to be with someone, or choosing to put them first. I think it's studying them. Learning them. Wanting what they want because you love them so much. It's supporting them and being their teammate when you are directly hurt by them. It's seeing them as Christ does and not for how they treat you sometimes.

Marriage is about the hardest thing we'll ever do in our lives. But it's also the sweetest. And the most growing and humbling experience. Already in these first few months, we have learned how to forgive more than ever, humble ourselves more than ever, and love more than ever.

It's the most beautiful concept: marriage as a demonstration of God and His love for us. I'm thankful He's teaching me that each and every day.

Memories in the Making

Sooo, not everything went as planned for this weekend {we didn't get to go to the state fair}. But, we did get to go to a corn maze and pick out a pumpkin, which was enough for me. And, I've had 3 pumpkin spice lattes this week {yes I counted}. So I'd say that I've had a pretty successful Fall-filled week.

Matt and I met up with an amazing couple in Apex this Saturday to experience the wonders of a corn maze. Morgan and Jake were so fun to enjoy the day with and made the time so special. When we first got there we walked up to an old, cute little white house with a pumpkin patch in front. From there we boarded a hayride and rode to the entrance of the corn maze.

While Morgan and I were more interested in taking pictures than finding our way out of the maze, the boys got a lot of bonding time {and enjoyed valiantly leading their women to the finish line}. At the end of the maze, we were able to have some more fun, playing cornhole, riding bouncy horses, and climbing haystacks. It was a glorious afternoon with some dear friends. OH and Matt & I picked our first pumpkin at the end :)

Matt is enjoying his Best Buy job and comes home with exciting news about the different gadgets he can buy with his employee discount. It's awesome to see him so happy at his job {I'm just not looking forward to Black Friday}.

We're looking forward to Matt's sister and brother-in-law come up to Raleigh at the beginning of November. They're going to look for houses since they're moving here next Spring! We're so thankful we can live close. I'm just now praying for my older brother to come back to NC!

What's to come for the Taylor Twosome: pumpkin carving tomorrow, State Fair this week, and I'm possibly getting highlights this weekend! eeek!! I've never done anything to my hair before and I'm a bit nervous. Buttt the lovely Morgan will be accompanying me and she's a pro hair dyer ;)

Home Sweet Home.

I. love. being. home. There's nothing like coming back from a long trip, running into the arms of a loved one, and relaxing on your own couch and sleeping in your own bed. I've been traveling quite a bit for work, so it makes it so much sweeter to be at home and just enjoy the little moments being a newlywed.

This weekend was full of relaxing for one Taylor {Matt had to work allll day Sunday from 6am-6pm}. I was able to go to my dear friend Morgan's birthday party, play tennis with my husband, go to my awesome church, and catch up with my good friends Cassie and Ami.

Matt on the other hand was busy training for his new job at Best Buy and working as a Sound Tech at Summit. He's so sweet to work so hard when he's got so much to do as a full-time student. This was supposed to be his "Fall Break" this weekend, but instead he worked so hard!

Matt and I are really excited for this season approaching because it reminds us of our beginning. We started hanging out in the Fall. We went to corn mazes and hayrides and bonfires as we were getting to know each other. So every year when October hits, we reminisce on how beautiful our beginning was :).

With that being said, we are going to do our first milestone together as a couple and pick a pumpkin this weekend {if all goes as planned}. Not only that, but a corn maze and the state fair are in the mix as well. I'm already looking ahead and this weekend just ended!

Back to the daily grind this week. But we're comforted by God's gift of Fall and of course all that comes with it...especially the pumpkin lattes ;)

For Granted.

I haven't posted in a while because life has become so busy. And with the craziness of work, school {for Matt}, and everything in between, I've slacked on updating you all. Butttt, as I've been struggling to juggle all the new challenges in life, I've had some time this weekend to reflect on how wonderful this life is and how often I take it for granted.

So, after my second week of work {and my first week out in Georgia}, I was sent back to Georgia for one more week. It was great getting to know my co-workers, but a little sad to be gone from Matt for so long {he was so lost without me I'm sure}. But a week back at the office helped things settle down a bit both at work and at home. It was so nice being in Raleigh and getting to go to our new bible study together last week.

This weekend Matt and I were able to spend time with both our friends and our families. Friday night Matt and I journeyed to ole Fuquay-Varina in whoknowswhere, NC and met up with our good friends Andrea and Greg. We had such a blast at dinner and were able to get to know some new friends!

But that was just the beginning, the night really started at the NC State Campus Crusade Barn Party. And what a party it was {sorry UNC, they have you beat on this one}. Candied apples, fried oreos, mechanical bulls, and line dancing made this night quite a rowdy one!

But unfortunately it was cut short by a 7 am wakeup call the next day. Matt and I rose early Saturday morning to visit our families in Charlotte {and pick up my new car sold to me by Jeremy} for the first time since we've been married. I also had the privilege of wedding dress shopping and venue searching with my childhood and lifelong friend, Cassie. Although Matt's mom was missing {she was visiting his sister and brother-in-law in Fl.}, we still so appreciated seeing our loved ones. By the way, Jessica and Josh (Matt's sister and bro-in-law) are going to be moving to Goldsboro, NC, which is an hour from us! Yayyy!

After a day of family and friend time, Matt discovered he would be training for his brand new Best Buy job early this morning {praise the Lord for a job!}. So he had another early morning and drove back to Raleigh at 6 am. I, on the other hand, finally caved to going to a golf tourney with my always-golfing-dad and mom today and was surprised at how much fun I had. It was the Chiquita Classic so there was a Banana Man and a Chiquita woman {which obviously meant picture time}.

All these events, have made me realize how often I forget about how blessed I am. To have a wonderful husband who loves me so deeply, beautiful friends, and a loving family is such a treasure. Yet, I often forget about how truly special it all is. And buying my brother Jeremy's car makes me miss him especially {he is all the way in Cali training, and I'm just praying he finds a blonde babe over there! Ha}. But I'm thankful for the struggles Matt and I have faced so far and for the good times that make me realize just how sweet life is {and how good our God is for giving us this life}.

All Grown Up.

Wow. So a bunch has happened since I last posted.

Starting with the fact that last weekend I {finally} turned 21!!!! But this was not just a special birthday because of the age I was turning, it was special because Matthew Taylor finally surprised me. {I'm still struggling to see how I somehow missed all the signs}.

It all started last Friday night, Sept. 7, when Matt and I went to my lovely alma mater of Chapel Hill to celebrate our good friend, Greg's, birthday. He was turning 21 as well and we had a grand time with our very much missed friends in Chapel Hill.

After carefully observing all of Greg's party's events, I was sure mine would fall along the same lines. Matt explained to me that Saturday night we would be having dessert at Top of the Hill {best restaurant ever in Chapel Hill} with all my friends and then hang out until midnight when I turned 21 and could have my first drink.

I was excited for this plan until none but my dear friend Morgan Sims and her boyfriend Jake showed up for dessert. I was a little confused but so happy to have an impromptu double date.

Then toward 11:30 several friends started showing up, which quelled all my fears and made for a wonderful 21st celebration!

The day of my birthday, I awoke like any other day and Matt and I ran some errands and hung out at our place. I knew he would be taking me out that night for a special date like he always does for my birthdays :) but something still felt off.

You see, I'm a HUGE birthday person. I love love love celebrating birthdays no matter whose it is. So naturally, I anticipate big things when any 21st comes around. And I guess it just kind of felt weird that there was no party this time around, but I resigned to it being due to most of my best friends being out of town.

Matt and I went to the amazing 18 Seaboard in downtown Raleigh {we splurged} and then headed back to our apartment. When we arrived the door wouldn't open, like the deadbolt was locked inside. I started freaking out that there was a burglar in our house and Matt tried to console me saying it was probably just maintenance. For some reason I believed him at 9 o'clock on a Sunday night. But finally as the deadbolt unlocked by the {maintenance} people inside, I heard "SURPRISE" and lost it. Tears. Oh definitely tears. I was just sooooo thrilled and happy for this wonderful surprise. And I came to find out that Matt had planned it all {with a little help}.

There were subtle signs along the way that I wrote off as Matt wanting to practice his bar tending skills from our home. But I was oblivious to those signs this time around. So finally, I was surprised! And my amazingly awesome best friends were all there to celebrate with me :) Ahhh how I love them.

Unfortunately, the next day I had to leave at 5:45 am for the airport for work. Not only did I turn 21 last weekend, I finished my first week of work and was starting on my next! I couldn't believe I would already be traveling, but it was such a growing experience. I really enjoyed the time there with my new colleagues and gained a lot of industry knowledge. The best part: I flew back to Raleigh first class :)

Andddd my husband surprised me with a pumpkin spice frappe when I got home...how blessed am I?!

After such an eventful last couple of weeks, I had to write a long post! I will try not to torture you with such a long read next time.

Thank you everyone who is praying and blessing my and Matt's life with your love and support!

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend turned out a success. Although we experienced some of Hurricane Isaac's wrath, we had an amazing weekend with our families.

The weekend started with a Habitat build Friday morning. Matt and I had never experienced doing a build before so it was quite a treat to do it for the first time together :) We got to use a circle saw and I handled a drill for the first time. I was pretty much a construction stud, I have to say. (Matt may disagree with that).

After our build, we went home for a few hours of rest before we ventured to good ole Chapel Hill to help our dear friends, Lauren and Tom Kuell, move into their first house! It was so fun seeing our old friends and getting to help them in such a huge transition. {They even fed us pizza}. It makes me and Matt really really want to buy a house. 

And with all of that our weekend had only just begun! Matt's family arrived in Raleigh at 10 am on Saturday and we met up for brunch before the Tarheel game. And what a glorious game that was! I wanna say 68-0...guess that new coach must be doing something right ;)

Once the game was over, we headed back to our apartment to show off our new digs to the in-laws! My parents got into town just in time to see our place. {i hope they liked it}

Together all 9 of us went to Summit church (best church ever) and then dinner to celebrate early my 21st! It was such a fun time! It's not until I don't see my family for a while that I realize how hilarious and fun they are. I guess I kind of like them ;) 

Then came the hurricane which meant a sad journey to the beach. But, the Wrights and the new Taylors chugged ahead and had an amazing time in Wrightsville! After all, it is our namesake. We went shopping and had lots of froyo and went to the beach for a whopping TWO hours!!

But I think we ended up having more fun without the sun than with.

These boys are literally crazy. But oh so funny.

It was such a treat to spend the weekend with our families, and especially to share our new life with them. There was definitely no laboring on this weekend!

The In-Laws are Coming!

The in-laws are coming this weekend! Ahh! It'll be the first time both my and Matt's parents will see our apartment fully furnished and complete. 

Our families both mean so much to us, which is why this weekend should be such a blessing. On top of that, our distant siblings both came home to Charlotte for Labor Day and will be coming up to Raleigh also! We've missed them so much.

While I normally am training myself to be as domestic as possible {sometimes a challenge with my business degree}, this weekend I want to show off my awesome wife-y skills by cleaning up, organizing, andddd baking :) 

What better way for the daughter-in-law to get "brownie" points?

Now, these brownies were created from a mix. But I figured I needed to do something special and homemade. So for the first time ever, I made icing from scratch.

 Thankfully, I was able to use my "new" {a wonderful Christmas present from my dad-in-law} Kitchen Aid because there was no way I was going to cream this stuff with a wisk.

Unfortch, I didn't have powdered sugar and I wasn't about to go to the store in the middle of this. So I had to grate the granulated sugar in a blender. But it's still a little grainy. So if you ever try this, invest in the confectioner's sugar. 

And I learned that you have to slowly blend in the sugar.

After the icing was mixed to the right consistency, I spread it over my brownies. Voila!

I had to sneak a piece. I couldn't help myself :)

These brownies may make the fams happy, but I know that we are going to have such a joyous weekend no matter what. I'm hoping we make our parents proud when they see us in our element here in Raleighwood.

Weekend Beauty

Being young newlyweds in school and on a tight budget proves difficulty in choosing how to enjoy the weekends. And watching movies at home can get a little stale after 8 nights in a row.

But after driving home one night, we noticed a little (or so we thought) state park about 2 miles from our apartment and decided to schedule that in to our weekend festivities.

When we got there on Saturday, we were surprised to find out that this park is huge--stretching across RDU. And we found plenty of hiking trails and grassy areas to take in the scenery and throw a frisbee or two.

The size and beauty of the park was amazing, but I didn't realize until hearing a sermon at our church--The Summit--last night what most amazed me.
What most amazed me was the brilliance of God. God who from the beginning knew the heart of man and knew what pleased man. God who fashioned a beautiful creation with hidden gems in the middle of the busiest street in Raleigh. God who knows how to take our distracted and self-filled minds and redirect them to His beauty.

Matt and I didn't get to stay long at the park (we had a Dish TV installation appointment, which turned out worthless since we have trees blocking the sky from our balcony).
But, I am challenged as I think about God's love for us and His ability to make our hearts of stone into flesh, to bask in His beauty each and every day. Matt and I want to just look unto Jesus as our fulfillment in every moment, especially in moments when we can't afford crazy romantic dates on the weekends.