Friday Randoms

- My sweet husband ordered some flowers to be delivered to me on Valentines Day.  He wanted to surprise me since he was leaving for Houston that weekend.  The only problem with that is that I decided to go out on a last-minute day-trip to Columbus to visit my sister, so they sat in the freezing cold all day.

I got home at about 9 that night and my flowers were frozen and droopy.  I was so bummed!  Luke emailed Pro Flowers and told them what had happened, and they re-sent the order.  Now there is a huge bunch of lilies in my living room making me smile every time I walk in.  I took this picture last weekend, and they are even prettier now because they're all open and beautiful.

- Have you been watching Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show?  Luke and I have been enjoying it so much!  We DVR it every night, and then watch it the next afternoon or evening when we both get home.  We're obviously too old to stay up late enough to watch it live.  Anyway, we pretty much laugh through the entire show. 

- I've finally gotten brave, and I've been using my camera in manual mode lately.  It is really fun to experiment, and not nearly as complicated as I would have thought.  I wish I had more time to experiment, and I can't wait until it's warm enough to take more pictures outside, but for now it's fun to experiment during free time on the weekends.  I have been trying to take comparisons between automatic and manual modes.  There's a big difference, and I think I should have figured out what this thing could do earlier!

- Luke and I are having a date night tonight!  Having a baby changes a marriage so much.  It is awesome to see your spouse become a parent, and you basically fall in love with them all over again.  But then real life and major stress sets in, and things become difficult.  At least for me, it is hard not to take my frustration out on Luke and snap at him.  I will probably write a whole post on this at some point, but the nutshell version is: it is so important to give each other the benefit of the doubt, be patient with one another, and forgive each other.  One of my favorite quotes is, "A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers."  It's also important to take time out together.  I am excited spend some quality time with Luke tonight.

- I have to say, I think 7 months is my favorite age so far.  Scarlett just keeps us constantly laughing.  She loves to sing and dance! It's so funny.  She rocks back and forth while she yells "ahhh."  She also just has so much more of a personality now.  And we seem to be coming more and more out of her whiny stage.  And to be completely honest, I'm trying to enjoy the fact that she's not mobile yet!  Ha!  I know our days are limited, because the past few days she's been trying to push herself up on her knees when she's on her stomach, and I know she's going to be creeping and then crawling before too long!  She also can push herself backwards on her stomach.  I guess we better do some baby-proofing!

 

Happy Friday!

 

Finally, A Day Out!

I have to be honest and say that the winter blues hit me pretty hard this past winter.  I don't even think I realized the extent of it until it started warming up past freezing temperatures in the second week of April, and I started feeling alive again.

It really was a long and very cold winter here in Ohio.  That's something we can say every year, but this year was even worse than normal in that we had no relief from the cold during the entire month of March.  Praise the Lord for the warm weather and sunshine we've seen in the past week!  

Anyway, Luke and I have a tendency to live slightly like hermits in the winter months, because it seems easier than going out in the cold.  But I had been itching to get out and spend some quality time with him.  Especially since these are our last few months just the two of us!

Luckily, last Friday we had some errands to run in the Akron/Fairlawn area, so Luke took the day off and we made a whole date day of it.  I needed that quality time so badly, and I'm so thankful for it!

We started the morning off at The Sweat Pea Cafe for breakfast, after Luke's phone told us to go there. (What did we do before smart phones and the "Around Me" app?)  Luke ordered chocolate chip pancakes that were as big as the plate, and I had an omelette filled with avocado, cheese, spinach, and tomatoes.  I told Luke it was a super food breakfast with all that healthy stuff inside.  The hash browns on the side were delicious, too.  Although admittedly not as healthy!

We tried not to stuff ourselves, because we were meeting my sister and brother-in-law for lunch in 3.5 hours.  To burn calories between meals we did a little shopping.  I found another pair of maternity jeans that actually weren't too long at Motherhood Maternity, and they weren't as expensive as I was expecting, so it was a successful shopping trip!  Other than that, we just browsed and had fun window shopping in stores that we don't have around where we live.  You really realize how limited your choices are in Salem and Alliance when you visit a place like Fairlawn for the day!

Next stop was lunch with Andrew and Julie.  I've had dozens of people tell me that I have to try this burger place called The Rail.  Especially considering that Scarlett apparently wants me to eat her weight in burgers daily.  Anyway, all of The Rail's beef is all local, so that's a win in my book!  The atmosphere was fun, and the food was delicious!  So hopefully we can go again sometime.  

Next stop was the movie theater to see Jurassic Park in 3D.  Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books, and I love the movie too, so I've really been wanting to see the movie again in 3D since it was re-released.  It was totally worth it.  After seeing it many times before, I nearly had a heart attack at least eight times during the 3D version.  Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen.  It is just one of the best suspense-building movies of all time.

Source

After that it was time for a little more shopping, and then we headed home.  We came home and I think we fell asleep around 7.  Seriously, being old and pregnant is hard work.  Or just being old, in Luke's case.  In our defense, we had to be out the door at 6:30 AM to make it to to an appointment that morning, and we had gone to bed later than we should have the night before.  But seriously, you know you're not young anymore when you spend your Friday evening sleeping on the couch.  In fact, Luke turns 29 in a mere 2.5 weeks.  Our twenties are rapidly coming to a close!  ...Along with a lot of our freedom.  But that is something I would gladly hand over after spending 9 years together, just the two of us.  Bring on the babies! 

Regardless, I was glad we got to spend a little time together before Scarlett gets here.  I'm hoping to squeeze as much of that in in the next 3 months as possible!

Acts of Service

I'm finally continuing love languages series today with acts of service.  This is a difficult one for me to write about, because acts of service is pretty low on my list.  But I'll give it a shot!

Acts of service are basically any tasks done to help someone else out, whether it be washing the dishes, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, paying the bills...etc.

You can tell if someone's love language is acts of service because they will be the one always trying to help out.  Because you love others through your own love language.

Keep your eyes open for people in your life who have this love language!  Taking time out of your day to unexpectedly help them out will mean the world to them!

...the key word in that last sentence is "unexpectedly."  If your spouse has to ask you to complete a task for them, it certainly loses its value.  However, if you surprise them, you will make their day!

Even though this love language is not high on my list, I still feel loved when Luke unexpectedly does things for me!  For example, last fall I came home from a 12-hour day of classes in Akron.  I was tired and didn't feel like doing anything.  As I walked into the kitchen, I noticed that Luke had done all the dishes!  Doing the dishes is my least favorite chore, and it seriously made my night that he had done them without being asked.

So what is one task you can surprise someone with today?  I would love to hear your ideas! Especially if this is  your main love language.

Hey Christian Girl: My Thoughts

I've seen many blog posts about and pins from the website: "Hey Christian Girl."  Have you heard of it yet?  It really is hilarious!  Honestly, I think all Christian girls or women have wanted our men to say these things to us.  It's funny in the same way that Jon Acuff's blog, "Stuff Christians Like" (one of my favorite blogs) is funny. It's just so relateable to those of us who are a part of the Christian culture.  

Here are a couple of examples if you haven't seen the website yet: 

Both found here

I'm sure if you have a Pinterest account, you've seen the "Hey Girl" posts, and this just puts a Christian spin on things.  Basically it's a bunch of ridiculously good-looking guys saying stuff that every Christian girl wants to hear.  

There's no harm in that, right?  I giggled while I clicked through a few pages.  Back in high school, I can remember wishing for a guy that treated me like that and said all those things to me.  

And I'm not going to say that it is wrong to enjoy this page.  However, as Christian women, I think we really need to examine our own hearts and make sure we are not getting idealistic expectations through these websites.  

For the teenage girl or single woman: 

Maybe you're perfectly happy being single, and that's awesome!  But I know I was far from content before I got to know Luke.  A website like this probably would have made me more discontent.  (kind of like how I can't look at baby clothes now without feeling pangs of discontentment).  

Also, I know before I started dating, I started drawing a picture in my mind of what I wanted my future spouse to be like.  I had lots of ideas.  Parts of that picture came from my experiences, parts came from my personality, and lots of other parts probably came from outside sources, like the media, the church, and my friends.  Websites like this may have given me standards that no human person could live up to.  Remember, the people we date aren't perfect, or else they would take the place of God in our lives.

For the woman who is in a serious relationship or married:

Anyone who's been in a relationship for more than a few months knows that serious relationships aren't always chocolate and roses.  Our spouses will fail us, and we will fail them.  Multiple times.  Sometimes in the same day.  It is easy to become disillusioned in our relationships.  Again, we have to remember that God is the only perfect thing in our lives, and we can't expect our spouses to be perfect.  If your marriage is on rocky ground, I would say this website is something to steer clear of!  It could make you feel more discontent with your own marriage, giving you an impossible standard for your husband to live up to.  

Is my main point in this post to say that websites like this are evil, and no Christian should ever visit them?  Definitely not.  I'm just saying that Satan likes to use unlikely places to plant ideas or doubts in our minds.  

Think of the movie Inception.  Cobb said, "What's the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world, and rewrite all the rules...."  

It's so true.  One little thought or idea breeds more and more like it.  Before we know it, Satan has a foothold on our lives.  

I can compare this website to romance movies or novels -- even Christian ones.  It is fun, and definitely made purely for entertainment.  We need to know ourselves, and whether or not it's okay for us to look at this website.  

Read with caution.  Don't take it seriously.  And never compare the men in your lives to those on this website!

What are your thoughts on this website?

Presque Isle

Luke and I took our anniversary day trip to Presque Isle, PA on Friday.  We were't sure what to expect since this was our first trip there, but what we found was a very peaceful place.  We were expecting a little more in the way of shopping or entertainment.  However, we decided that it was a great place to just get away for a day of relaxation.

There are about eleven different beaches on the peninsula.  We found one beach lined with picnic tables where we ate ham sandwiches for lunch.  We sat and faced the lake while we ate.  The sun was blazing, but the breeze was perfect.

After lunch we headed out to explore the peninsula, and found another beach that was much less crowded.  We staked out a spot in the sand and spread out our towels.  I devoured a few chapters of a good book, and Luke had a nice nap.  When the sun became too overwhelming, we took a dip in the lake.

 Later, we opted out of hiking or biking, because it was too hot, and somehow relaxing in the sun had exhausted us.  We decided to check out the nature center, which was full of exhibits and a cute gift shop.

There was also a big look-out tower that we wanted to check out.  Luke insisted we take the stairs, but it was worth the climb.  We had nice views of the lake peeking through the trees and of the fun carnival rides at a little park nearby.  (We almost visited that little park, but we thought $23 per person was a rip-off). 

We decided we had had our fill after that.  I'll admit that Presque Isle wasn't exactly what we were expecting (We were holding it up to Kelley's Island for comparison, and it didn't measure up).  Still, time away with Luke is always worth it, and I think we both felt refreshed afterward.  We stopped at Quaker Steak on the way home, and we were both in great moods after our day out.  I laughed afterwards and told him dinner was the best part of our day!  I guess we could have just driven 30 minutes down the road instead of 2 hours to Erie, PA!  But I think dinner was so enjoyable because we had spent our entire day relaxing and reconnecting.  

I don't know if we'd choose Presque Isle for a day trip again since we like something a little more fast-paced.  But it was a great anniversary trip nonetheless.  Now, on to make many more memories in this next year of marriage!

Four Years

A modern day mix tape for my husband on our anniversary:
(all the links in this post lead to cheesy love songs that I am dedicating to Luke today!)


Twelve years ago, I was just a nerdy sophomore from youth group, and you were the cool junior that all of my friends were dating.  Wouldn't it be funny if we knew then what we know now?

 Eight years ago I fell head over heels for you with just one look. We started dating, and I knew you would be the one I would marry.

At the beginning of our relationship, I didn't know it was possible to feel so in love.  I would wake up thinking about you every morning, and you would be on my mind every night when I fell asleep.  The first time you kissed me, I knew you'd be the last person I'd kiss, like that, for the rest of my life.

We continued to date and our puppy love grew into something more.  We had our first arguments, and some ups and downs, but ultimately we learned to love each other in spite of our imperfections.  And that is what real love is.  I knew you really loved me when you put up with my quirky, absent-minded ways! (Pretty sure that last song was written for me). 

Five-and-a-half years ago on December 23, you asked me to be your wife.  With one word, I sealed our future together forever.

And finally, on July 12, 2008, we tied the knot in front of all our friends and family.  It was the best day of my life!

I can't believe that day was four years ago already!  We have been through so much in four years -- difficult things, exciting things, and amazing things.  We have grown together, and we aren't even the same people we were eight years ago when we went on our first date.  I am so blessed to have you in my life, and I just love you more and more every day.  

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!  He completes me.

Year 4: The Memories

{I took an unplanned, 2 week break from my love languages series since it's a busy month with the 4th, and our anniversary.  I plan to continue next Wednesday.}

It's almost our 4-year anniversary, and I almost forgot to do an anniversary post this year, highlighting the fun times Luke and I shared in our fourth year of marriage.  I do this every year for my own memories.  It's always fun to look back on the things we did and the places we went during the year!

July 2011

We spent a weekend at Cedar Point to celebrate our anniversary.

I watched Luke play lots of softball on the nights he didn't have to work late. (summer is his busy season)

**

**

August 2011

More softball games

We went on a day shopping trip with JC to Grove City.  We are pretty much the Three Musketeers.

We also went to an Indians Game with my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday

**

**

September 2011

During this semester of classes, I was basically in Akron for half the week, and Luke was still working his second job a couple nights a week, so time together was scarce.  So most evenings we'd both get home around 8 and have a late dinner while we watched new episodes of our favorite shows.  Chill time at its finest. 

We went to another Indians game with our friends Alex and Michelle.  It was a cold, rainy night, but it was fireworks night, so that made up for it. 

**

**

October 2011

We had some date nights this month, including a lot to Di's volleyball games.  They are so fun to watch!

We also helped make donuts for our church's trunk-or-treat night with Luke's family and my mom.

**

**

November 2011

We celebrated my 27th birthday

We spent Thanksgiving back and forth between both sets of family.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, and this year as no different.  We had fun catching up with my family, playing games with his family all afternoon, and then staying up until 2 or 3 watching Friends. We always end up having Black Friday off from work/school, so we always stay up half the night on Thanksgiving night.  Just because we can!

The day after Thanksgiving we bought our Christmas tree and put it up, because this is our tradition. 

**

**

December 2011

Spent a fun night driving around, looking at Christmas lights together

As always, we spent Christmas day running around like crazy, visiting relatives.  Between Christmas Even and Christmas Day, we visited 7 different places!  It's always such a full day spent with family, and we love it!...however, we usually need about a week to recover afterwards!

We also went to our annual TSO concert a few days after Christmas with Luke's mom and sister.

**

**

January 2012

We had a really fun New Year's Eve and New Year's Day spent with friends and watching football.

Luke made us a new bed!  That's right, he made it all himself!  Isn't it gorgeous?

We found out our renters were moving out of our downstairs apartment at the end of the month, and it was a big faith-stretcher.  We had some big decisions to make!

**

**

February 2012

This was the craziest month since we moved into our house!  We decided to move into the downstairs apartment and rent out the upstairs one.  So we spent the entire month renovating it, with tons of help from our parents!

There were Valentines Day festivities in there somewhere, but all I remember is making Luke his favorite meal that night: brinner.  

**

**

March 2012

We finished our new place, and moved in!

We celebrated our newly finished apartment with, again, Luke's favorite meal: brinner.

I had major health problems during this time, and one day, Luke took half a day from work to meet me at the emergency room due to my allergies, and not being able to breathe.  I am so blessed to have someone who will drop everything, and come be beside me when I need him.

**

**

April 2012

Our new renters moved in upstairs this month -- into our old apartment.  This was a huge answer to prayer!

We spent Easter at church and then with our families, where we ate lots of great food, and played Mexican train all day.

We celebrated my acceptance into grad school!  This month was full of answered prayers.

**

**

May 2012

We celebrated Luke's 28th birthday with a small party for family and friends.

We partied all weekend long on Memorial Day weekend!  It was hot and beautiful, and we loved it!  We ended it at yet another Indians game.

**

June and a little July 2012

We've been spending lots of nights at the softball field, as another season is underway.

I went to my first ever tractor pull with Luke and some friends.  It was...interesting...

We headed down to Columbus for a weekend for Luke's cousin's wedding.  We had a blast at the wedding, and then spent the next day shopping. 

We had a fun 4th of July camping with friends, and dodging the storms!

We've also spent a lot of this HOT month so far in the pool at my parents, staying comfortable.

**

Until next time...

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Date Day

Luke agreed to go on a little date with me this weekend, and nothing could have made me happier!  We clocked a bunch of quality time hours during our date on Sunday, so my heart was very happy!  Luke really doesn't have a whole lot of spare time right now since he's working two jobs, and when he chooses to spend some of that precious spare time with me, it makes me a happy wife!

We started our date at Outback Steakhouse, continued with some shopping, followed by a movie, and then ended with my first trip to Menchie's.

Date highlights: 

• The Aussie cobb salad at Outback.  I am sick of salads, but decided to stay true to the diet today.  And this salad was surprisingly great! 
• The fun things I found at Target:

  

A new journal, just for fun.  It says, "She's a dreamer, a doer, a thinker.  She sees possibility everywhere."  Hopefully I will be inspired every time I look at those words.  I can't wait to start filling the pages!

Some new nail polish, $1.99 apiece.  I saw someone post about this brand on Twitter or maybe a blog recently (I can't remember where, so let me know if it was you!)  I bought them, and tried them, and ended up hating both of the colors! ("rise and shine" on the left, and "easy going" on the right).  So instead of wasting two bottles of nail polish, I decided to be inventive, and I mixed the colors together.  It made a really pretty turquoise!  I feel kind of funny with turquoise nails (I'm usually a pink or red kind of girl) but I think it's growing on me! 

(ignore the smudge on my ring finger.  I didn't paint them fast enough, and the polish started to dry and made it difficult to go on smoothly).

And these therapy tools, found in the dollar spot.  One of my professors told my class to keep our eyes peeled at Target because their dollar spot has great therapy tools or reinforcement activities.  On this trip I found rhyming flash cards, alphabet bingo, and a dry erase board with a handwriting template on one side, and fun reinforcement games on the other.  I was so excited to make my first therapy-related purchases!  And for $1 apiece, you can't beat that!

...back to date highlights:

• Seeing the new Spider-Man movie in 3D!  Luke and I were a little skeptical because we are huge fans of the Toby McGuire Spider-Man series (well, the first two in the series at least).  But we loved this new one even more!
• Going to Menchie's without breaking any diet rules.  I got sugar-free raspberry frozen yogurt topped with chopped peanuts, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

This weekend contained so many blessings with our date day today, and then spending most of the rest of the weekend at the pool with friends!  And I think this week will be equally awesome with our 4-year anniversary on Thursday, and a possible trip to Presque Isle to celebrate together on Saturday!  These summer days are going way too fast, but I'm trying not to take any of them for granted!