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.

Back to School

Today I reality finally hit me. I'm an adult.

I woke up to Matt's nudging me at 7:15 am, asking me if I could drop him off to school today since it was storming and he couldn't take his motorcycle. Naturally I jumped at the idea of getting to take my honey to his classes :) However, I found myself wanting to stay with him on State's campus (even though I'd rather it be UNC).

I can't believe I miss college already as much as I do. Hearing all my friends go back to school and move into old shabby college-y houses makes me a bit nostalgic. And when my husband is still in school too, well I'm sure you can understand my longing.

So, today I will clean the apartment, put a slipcover on our old & memory-filled sofa, and prepare dinner. But 2 weeks from today I will be going to work at the same time Matt goes to school and learning how to be an adult. Scaryyyy.  

But, even though I'm missing a season of my life, I know that God works in all ways and at all times for His glory. I may not feel prepared or ready for this next chapter, but God knows I am. And He blessed me with a PIC (Partner-in-Crime) to weather the stormy change. Matt has not only encouraged me in this new phase of life, but helps me cling to the Lord and seek Him instead of myself.

How blessed I am! 

Oh! And I thought you'd like to see our finished bedroom!! Yay! Matt's such a good fixer-upper :)

 

Boxes & Bills

Well, we finally tied the knot!

I can't believe how the Lord has orchestrated our relationship from the moment we met in 6th grade until now. It's so beautiful how God works in our simple lives.

I thought since many of our loved ones in other cities wouldn't be seeing us on the reg anymore, I would start a blog with my honey to keep you guys in the loop!

After a wonderful honeymoon in Cancun (a very pleasant surprise), we have finally settled in to our little apartment near Matt's school. I have to say even 30 minutes from Chapel Hill is a culture shock for me. But, Raleigh feels much more like Charlotte than the small college-y town of Chapel Hill did.

For 2 weeks our place was FULL of boxes--not just moving boxes, but furniture boxes since we had the grand idea of building ALL our bedroom furniture (not happening ever again). Yet, I have to say it was a bonding experience building and often rebuilding the various ensembles. Matt proved his man card with his handy carpenter skills and I proved my lady-likeness by watching in encouragement :) 

But being newlyweds has not been just fun and games. Bills. We refuse to let these nasty adult bills quench our new apartment spirit! We just think of them as reminders of our leaving and cleaving...and to us that's the most optimistic we can be.

I start my job the beginning of September at an accounting firm where I will be auditing. Thankfully, the Lord provided us a means to pay those bills ;)

We are so thankful and blessed to have all our friends and family loving and supporting us as we start our journey as one!

Check up on us via this blog to know how to pray, and please let us know how we can pray and encourage y'all! Love you alll