2013.

2013.

This was a big year. It's come and gone but has left a lot of lessons learned for Matt and me. God stretched us in ways we never thought we would be. But we grew together as a couple and also in our walks with the Lord. I wanted to share some things God taught me and Matt this year. Here's a list of 5 biggies our family learned.

1) Be present, wherever you are in life.

Matt and I went through a lot of transition this year {from school to work & work to school, buying a house, getting a dog}, and it was easy for us to always look forward to the next big event. But we learned that if we are constantly looking forward, we'll never be content in our lives with what God has given us. So be present. Even in the seemingly worst of circumstances. God is there.

2) Live at peace with all, as much as you can.

Matt and I had to learn to be selfless toward one another very quickly in our marriage. But not only with each other, we learned that living a peaceful life with others is such a testimony. If our co-workers and neighbors see our peaceful lives, they'll want to know why it's so different from the chaos of this world.

3) Be thankful.

Each and every day is a gift. Not only that, many things in our lives can be seen as gifts if we change our perspective. People are quick to take many things in this world for granted. A warm cup of coffee. A house to live in. Clean water. But if we start to pause and thank God for these seemingly small gifts, it really changes our perspective and our contentment in this world.

4) Trust the Lord.

We had several big decisions to make this year, and it was easy to trust in our finances or in our circumstances instead of God. But we learned that those things will always fail us. God is the ultimate Provider and Giver. So we need to trust that He knows what He is doing in every season.

5) Laugh a lot.

Life is hard. And it's easy to get caught up in our sorrow and in the disappointments in our lives. But, life itself is a gift. Sometimes when life is at its toughest, we just need to laugh. It too will pass.

Have a wonderful end to your 2013. And Happy New Year! :)

In a Dry & Weary Land.

It's been a while since my last post. I've found it hard to write about anything because our lives haven't been that eventful lately. It's just been work, school, take care of Brody, make dinner, clean the house, work out, repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And I just realized yesterday that I've become very negative. Seeing my life as a list of to-dos rather than the amazing gift that it is.

I've felt like I've been walking in a dry and weary land. I haven't been able to find joy in the mundane. & I feel sometimes as though God isn't here. I think that's the routine most Americans get into. It's hard when we are rich {in comparison to the majority of the world} and lose sight of how much we need God; because we focus more on the things He's given us rather than the Creator Himself. We forget that the things that we are bothered with (going to school, having to clean our houses, making food for our family) are gifts in and of themselves.

I've begun to read 1000 gifts by Ann Voskamp. And it's been such an amazing platform to get back in the right mindset. To start to see the ordinary details in my life as blessings from God. If we all just slowed down and understood that the running of freshwater in our homes, the lights that turn on in our houses each day, the shoes on our feet, the vacuums that suck dirt are all gifts, we would start to better see God as the good God that He is.

So my challenge for myself is to start looking at my life through the lens of God's goodness. To see each seemingly burdensome task as a glimpse of God and His character. I'm tired of just trying to get by. I want to live this life abundantly. I challenge you all to do the same.

Family Photos :)

In light of Brody turning SIX MONTHS on Saturday and Christmas coming up {maybe a little premature}, I wanted to post some family photos we got taken recently! Our friend, Sarah Hoehn, took some pictures of Matt, Brody, and me for our Christmas cards this year. {She did an amazing job}. It was quite an experience trying to get Brody to sit still and pose for photos, but we managed to get some good ones. Below are some of my favorites :)

#fallforfall.

#fallforfall. #psl. and whatever other fall hashtags there are. IT'S FALL. and although I'm still trying to get with the hashtags {and by get with I mean I don't get them}, I'm definitely onboard for all things fall.

Bonfires. S'mores. Cooler weather. Scarves. Boots. Pumpkin-flavored everything. Leaves changing. I could go on and on. What's especially special about this season is that it's the time of year Matt started "courting" me. I use the word "courting" loosely because he basically asked me to play Rock Band with him everyday and I said ok and then one day we started dating. I don't know how to explain it except to say it had to be the magic of Fall.

So because Matt and I especially like Fall, we want to do everything Fall-related we can! {I mean he doesn't really instigate these fall activities but I know he loves them}. So I wanted to share with you all a little montage of what we've done this season so far :)

Happy Fall everyone! 

Delight Yourself.

Today I read a blog by John Piper describing marriage as a self-seeking way to gain joy. Um what? Over the past year I've viewed marriage as anything but self-seeking. I've tried time and time again to pour out myself and deny myself to better serve my husband. And of course the reason that hard times come is that we are selfish people.

Yet, John Piper argues that our selfishness need not create a troublesome marriage. In fact, it ought to create a delightful one.

Us being selfish means us seeking our own desires. And our own desires are happiness, love, comfort, etc. {all things considered in a Christian walk}.

But how can we fulfill these desires? How can we feel loved or comforted by our spouse? By pleasing them. Pleasing and delighting one another is ultimately pleasing and delighting ourselves. By serving our spouses we may be denying ourselves temporarily, but we are gaining a more joyful and loving marriage overall.

All this to say, sometimes marriage can feel a bit one-sided. We may feel like we're giving up so much or sacrificing so much for our spouse. But in doing this, we're ultimately gaining so much for ourselves. By delighting our spouses we are delighting ourselves.

And what is more, is that this is what GOD delights in! For us to seek pleasure for our spouses and also gain pleasure for ourselves, is glorifying to God. He wants us to find marriage joyful and sanctifying.

So all you married people out there, go delight yourself :)

Ephesians 5
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

a house is not a home

...until you've lived in it at least 2 months. Today marks TWO months of home ownership for me and Matthew :) Even after 2 months, we're still adjusting to the ups and downs of owning a home. First of all: nonstop cleaning. There is always something to clean. Maybe that's because our ridiculous border collie has free reign around the house. But nonetheless, it's a lot more work than our little one bedroom apartment.

New additions to our living room!

 Brody causing trouble on the couch.

Brody causing trouble on our bed.

Brody causing trouble in the man cave.

Brody causing trouble by the back door.

Second of all: My eyes are bigger than my stomach. I just want to buy everything to make our house purdy!! But our wallets are pretty shallow. Our financial position in buying a house did not calculate in all the fun decorative items I see at Home Goods. Funny enough, it did include a budget for a home theater projector. {Matt's pretty proud of his man cave}.

Third of all: Why is our yard 80% weeds and 20% grass. Before we moved in it was grass. And now it is weeds. How does that happen??

But, all this to say, our house most feels like a home because of the people that make it that way. We had a housewarming party last month and it was such a blessing to see all who have supported us through this transition. That is our biggest prayer for this house. Is that it would be a place for people to come and experience life with us and feel the love of God in our home.

I think we're well on our way to seeing that prayer answered :)

P.S. On an unrelated note, I dyed my hair for the first time!! I'm half blonde!

Brody's Bros

So now that Brody is past the age of parvovirus contraction {dogs can't really be in public places before 12 weeks}, we've really been trying to socialize him in society. He's met 3 dog friends in the past few weeks, 2 cat friends, and a lot of animal strangers including bugs.

But for a while, Brody was people-prejudiced. He only liked people. And when I say liked people I mean peed on them when he saw them out of excitement. Don't get me wrong I love coming home to a puppy running at me full force ahead, I just wish he had that same reaction to other dogs.

In order to overcome Brody's fear of dogs {ironic I know}, we had puppy play dates with Comet (our friend Andrea's golden retriever) and Mikey (our friends Ty and Erica's great dane). Brody also met my childhood dog, Nike, Matt's family's cat, Holly, and Cassie's kitten, Cheeto.

The following pictures will convey how it all went down:

Nike vs. Brody

(He wouldn't even acknowledge him)

Mikey vs. Brody

(They're giving kisses)

 Cheeto vs. Brody

(The claws came out)

Comet vs. Brody

(Comet clearly won)

(Twice)

I guess aside from Mikey, Brody's only friends for now are humans. And the stairs :)

Grillmaster.

One of my earlier posts I mentioned my mom and dad gifting me and Matt with a brand new grill for our house. Welp, we finally bought it and it is pretty much the coolest grill ever. I don't really know much about grills except that this one has this "infrared" technology that apparently cooks your burgers better...or something. At any rate, we finally bought it, built it, and used it this weekend!

We also finished setting up our patio area. We bought a little dining table to entertain friends and family. Ciara and her new man Trevor, were our first friends to use it with us! Ciara and I "cooked" while the boys did their grillin' thang. They are pretty much grillmasters now.

Brody also likes the new backyard where he can sniff to his hearts desire without running into 7,468 people at the apartment complex.

 And he likes cooking with me :)

But he's a little scared of the vacuum cleaner. If only he knew he was the cause of the messes that we use the vacuum cleaner on.

Our first home.

August 8th we closed on our first house! The process was so easy and smooth. Shout out to our favorite realtor Mom Taylor :)

We moved in August 10th with the help of some amazing friends. We came out virtually injury and accident free {with the exception of a broken concrete step in our apartment complex}.

This week has been quite the adventure adjusting to a new place and trying to unpack and get settled. I started my Master's of Accountancy program at UNC the Monday after our move. SO, needless to say, we haven't gotten much work done this week. Baby steps I keep telling myself :)

Here's some pics of the beginning stages of the move and such. I'll keep posting blogs of new projects and fun house stuff as it comes.

Oh and Brody loves the new house also. And by new house I mean eating all of our boxes and everything that's temporarily out on the floor. But he's so cute that I'm okay with it :)

dominican republic.

Matt and I just got back from our anniversary trip to the DR. It. was. gorgeous. We were trying to decide on a trip to take back in the Spring to celebrate a big first year and Matt instantly gravitated toward the DR. Why? Not sure. But apparently he made a good choice. My old roommate and friend from college, Janice, is from the DR and always spoke highly of her hometown. And she was right--it was awesome.

We stayed in Punta Cana for the week at an all-inclusive resort. The weather was beautiful every day, but the sun was H-O-T. We got fried the first day {we hadn't seen the sun since our honeymoon to Cancun}. And the rest of the week was spent under the shade of an umbrella. 

The view in the picture is from Saona Island. We took an excursion to the island and snorkeled and met some starfish and danced on a catamaran. Our guide said part of the Pirates movies was filmed on this island. I'd believe it from the looks of this beauty.

We're back in the States and getting ready to close on our house in 5 days. Updates on that soon to come :)