Just Pulling the Knife out of my Back...

I don't know why I care.

Maybe it's because I've been with Luke for so long.

Maybe it's because I just don't like arrogant, selfish sports stars who are paid way too much.

Whatever the reason, I was MAD last night when I heard Lebron James's decision to join the Heat in Miami.

Lebron has lived in Akron his whole life, and has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers for the past 7 years. He started fresh out of high school (actually graduated the same year as me, just an hour or so down the road). He has a lot of talent, and really helped to build up the team.

Apparently his biggest dream was/is to win a championship. The Cavs have been close now for the past couple of years, but have choked in the end.

The weird thing is that as much as he wanted to win a championship, Lebron sure CHOKED in the playoffs this year. He played so bad it was almost like he wasn't even there. There was a lot of speculation, and some people think he blew it on purpose.

So last night when he decided to leave Cleveland, I felt a little betrayed. In my opinion, we would have won the championship this year if Lebron hadn't choked or quit trying or whatever he did. He would have even made more money if he had stayed in Cleveland. And now he has a whole city/state of fans here who really never want to see him again.

But that's not really the bad part. The bad part is that ha has been dragging out this decision for the entire summer so far. And he went on national TV, on an hour-long special, to make his decision. So for me it wasn't so much that he did this to us, but HOW he did this to us. This isn't just effecting the fans. It's going to effect the economy of Cleveland, an already tanking city. So sad...

I've actually never liked Lebron. I don't like that he calls himself "King James" and that he makes such a show at the beginning of each game. I don't like how arrogant he was during interviews during the games. So this not liking him is really nothing new. But now I really, really don't like him, because he betrayed us all on national TV. Not very classy, Lebron.

This morning, all of us in North-Eastern Ohio are collectively pulling the knives out of our backs. All we can do now is hope that the Cavs somehow miraculously beat the Heat next year.

At least our city is joining together over something! Even if it is burning jerseys :-P

Okay. End of vent. This is probably the last time I will ever devote a whole post to pro basketball or any other professional sport. You all probably don't care about this at all! haha but I couldn't not post about it this morning.

I guess we will see what happens from here! Now that this decision has been made, I'm actually wanting to watch The Cavs more than ever next year. I'm rooting for them, even if they are all a bunch of underdogs now!

Happy weekend!

Pure Joy...?

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

~James 1:2-4

Okay, so trials = pure joy according to the NIV? That is both frustrating and amazing at the same time. Frustrating because it means that we will inevitably face trials in our lives or else we will never have faith. Amazing because God can use the worst times in our lives for such good.

What a bold statement. Any type of trial we face should be considered pure joy. So if I lose my job, I am supposed to trade all my anxiety and upset for joy. Because obviously God has something better in store. If I have an illness, I am supposed to trade in my worry and pain for joy, because I know God will not give me more than I can handle. Or if something that is beyond my control is absolutely destroying me, and I so wish I could get past this thing and be able to see the whole picture, I am supposed to trade in my panic and heartbreak for joy. Because God is bringing me through this situation to build my patience and faith, and He will bring me through it.

That last one is me right now, and probably a lot of you, too. Patience has never been something I've been good at. However, it seems like my patience is being tested this summer. It would have been easier if it were happening during the school year, because all 24 hours of my day would be busy with work, housework, spending time with Luke, and sleeping. There would be plenty of distractions then, and this thing that is eating away at me would not be staring me in the face. all.the.time. But this thing started right when summer did, and I have a lot of time on my hands, all by myself. I spend my days working around the house, alone. No distractions. And on the contrary, these mundane tasks around the house and yard make my thoughts seem so much louder.

It has taken me about four weeks to realize that I am going through this for a reason. And as hard as it is, I should be happy about it. As much as it hurts, and as impatient as I am, God is using this to bring me closer to Him. He is in the middle of showing me that I can trust him with anything. Instead of constantly asking, "Why me? Why can't things come easy for me?" I should feel honored that the Lord is not just handing me everything on a silver platter. He wants me to grow and become closer to Him. He wants to build my testimony so that I can help others in the same situation someday. He is making me mature and complete.

He is doing the same for you. Our pastor always says there are three kinds of people: people who are in the middle of a troublesome situation right at this moment, those who just went through one, and those who are about to go through one. And that is because God wants to bless us. He wants us to experience pure joy.

Remember the last time you saw a rainbow? Did it take your breath away? I know I'm always in awe when I see one. In that moment, you realize the rain was TOTALLY worth it, because it brought you something so beautiful.

(Sorry to be so mysterious and not letting you know exactly what it is that I'm going through. Someday I will explain it all :-))

Year 2: The Memories

I'm posting this as my Wedding Wednesday post this week, even though there are no wedding pictures here!

As I mentioned yesterday, our 2-year anniversary is coming up this Monday. Last year I really enjoyed listing my favorite memories from each month, and I've even gone back to that post a few times throughout the year just for fun, to remember some of the fun things we did the year before. So I thought, why not do it again for year 2? Although, it was admittedly probably a little less exciting than the first year! Although this year, I have added links to my memories for my own future reference...yes, I have too much time on my hands.

July 2009
Highlights:
- Celebrating our 1-year anniversary by going out to dinner and a movie. We ate our extremely dry year-old top layer of our wedding cake.
-Using our tent for the first time when we went camping for a weekend at Berlin Lake with friends.
-We went to town working on the landscaping of our house

Picture Memories:
Happy Anniversary to us! ;-)
The guys cooking during our camping trip

August 2009
Highlights:
- Luke had softball tournaments, and I had lots of fun making us picnic dinners and eating them at the park with him, and then watching him play in his softball games
-Spending a week-long vacation together with my family in Virginia Beach.
-Buying a new (to us) car.
Picture Memories:
One of our many picnic dinners
On our Virginia Beach Vacation
Our new VW Passat (which has given us way more trouble than it's worth! literally...)

September 2009
Highlights:
-Having our first OSU football game party of the season
-Bringing our second kitten, Ellie, home
Picture Memories:
Baby Ellie ;-)

October 2009
Highlights:
-Going to the Ohio State/Wisconsin game at The 'Shoe.
-Having our car break down and finding out the engine needed to be replaced (okay, not a highlight, but definitely a memory that really sticks out!)
-Helping out at the church while The Power Team was there. And spending every night that weekend at Applebees with our friends after the performances.
-Making our first trek to White House Fruit Farm for pumpkins and donuts
-Decorating a vehicle together for Trunk-or-Treat night at the church, and then spending the evening passing out candy there.
-Spending Halloween evening carving pumpkins and eating the roasted seeds
Picture Memories:
OSU/Wisconsin Game
At White House with our donuts
Our Trunk for Trunk-or-Treat night

November 2009
Highlights:
-I turned 25! I spent my birthday with my family.
-I got to go with Luke to Youth Explosion where Luke's band played for their biggest group yet.
-We decided to turn our Ohio State room into a nice living room, and started working on it.
-Spent Thanksgiving running around like crazy, going from one family gathering to the next.
-Bought our second real Christmas tree from Sanors, and set it up the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Picture Memories:
I'm 25!
Here we are at Youth Explosion, backstage with the famous people ;-)

December 2009
Highlights:
- Spent many nights Christmas shopping and looking at lights
-Attended our annual Christmas TSO concert
-Spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after, traveling all over Northeastern Ohio visiting family for Christmas.
-Rang in the new year with each other at a quiet gathering at my parents' house.

Picture Memories:
Our tree
TSO
Our Second Married Christmas Together

January 2010
Highlights:
-Spending lots of time shut in the house trying to stay warm and cozy together!
-Continuing to work on the attic room
-Having random date nights
Picture Memories:
Here is Luke on one of our date nights. This one consisted of shopping, dinner at Chick-fil-a, and Avatar in 3D.

February 2010
Highlights:
-Finishing the new living room in the attic
-Having a Super Bowl party at our house to break in the new room.
-Snowmageddon kept us pretty much confined to the house for a week or so. We had so much fun watching movies and just hanging out together. But the most fun was the Saturday we spent sled-riding and 4-wheeling at his parents' house!
-Spending our second married Valentines Day together having dinner at home, with delicious fondue for dessert.
Picture Memories:
New living room
Our day of fun in the snow during Snowmageddon ;-)

March 2010
Highlights:
-Helping together at 30 Hour Famine one weekend
-Going to another TSO Concert...their first spring concert
Picture Memories:
TSO...again!

April 2010
Highlights:
-Once again, spent Easter Sunday running around visiting our families.
-Luke finished landscaping our house, and it now looks beautiful!
-Had a lovely drive-in date night
Picture Memories:
Easter Sunday

May 2010
Highlights:
- Luke turned 26, and we celebrated with our families.
- Had a fun weekend getaway to Cedar Point, shopping and a movie in Cleveland, and a Cleveland Indian's game on fireworks night.
Picture Memories:
Happy Birthday, Luke
Indian's game during our weekend getaway

June + a litte July, 2010
Highlights:
-Spending lots of time at softball games
-Grilling out on lazy summer evenings
-A spontaneous weekend trip to Kelley's Island for the 4th of July
-An early anniversary celebration with my parents and grandparents at Caffe Capri

Picture Memories:
One80 Softball game
Kelleys Island

Here's to many, many, many more years like this one! :-)

(Here are my favorite memories of Year 1)

Early Anniversary Dinner

Our 2-year anniversary is in exactly one week, but my parents took us out to dinner to celebrate tonight. Okay, so they were bringing my grandparents out for their 55th anniversary, and invited us as an afterthought since our anniversary is coming up too :-P But it was still really thoughtful!

We went to a delicious, local, Italian restaurant, Caffe Capri. I had only been there one time before, years ago before we were married. But I remembered that the atmosphere and meal were both great!

I had been spending the last three days bumming around in shorts and tank tops, no make-up on, and my hair in a bun. When you're camping or doing housework, there is no need to look glamorous. So tonight it was nice to let my hair down, put on some make-up, and wear a pink sundress after looking like a bum all weekend! Who doesn't like an excuse to dress up a little bit?

Anyway, we had a great dinner! The food was delicious and so was the conversation. It was fun being together, all three generations of couples. What a nice evening!

The only down point was when my grandma made the statement that I hear on average 3 times a day now that my cousins are pregnant: "So I guess it's your turn now!" (Other variations include, "You better not drink the water!" and "Stay away from your cousins, it might be contagious!) I'm soooo sick of hearing that, and so tired of the twinge of pain I feel every time I do. However, I have been able to restrain myself from punching anybody in the face, like I threatened to do in this post :-P And I'm numbing myself and trying not to think about babies. That helps too.

So anyway, it was a very fun night celebrating marriage. Next weekend we will celebrate it, just the two of us, but we have no idea what we are doing at this point. Apparently we are flying by the seat of our pants these days when it comes to making plans. I'm okay with that! Anyway, here we are in the van on the way home tonight. We both got a ton of sun this weekend, but I still look completely pale next to Luke! I'm so jealous!

Have a great Tuesday!

24 Hours on The Island

I almost don't even want to write about our fourth of July weekend at Kelleys Island, because I feel like my words won't do it justice. It was a beautiful weekend; the perfect getaway that I think we needed.

Kelleys Island is a little island (um...obviously) in Lake Erie. I have visited it a number of times with my family or friends. We have pictures of me toddling around there in my little pink bathing suit and strawberry blond curls when I was just a couple years old. We didn't go there every year, but I've been there enough times that it has become a special place for me.

At the last minute on Friday, Luke and I decided to go there for the fourth of July to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Last-minute trips are my favorite kind :-) We excitedly spent Saturday night packing and preparing instead of going to see fireworks at the park like we had planned. And the minute church let out on Sunday morning we were off on our three-hour drive to the ferry. We had fun on the ride listening to the comedy channel on Luke's iphone radio, and reading the book I had purchased specifically for our getaway, "Eat Pray Love."

Once on the ferry, we jumped out of the car to enjoy the breeze. As we got close to the island, I got increasingly more excited as memories kept filling my head.We went straight to the campground when we arrived on the island and set up camp. Of course it happened to be the hottest day of the year so far, pushing 95 degrees with lots of humidity. We headed down to the beach to cool off a little after putting the tent up.

Our men...Jared, Luke and Doug

And my cousins Rachel and Sarah...they are the ones who both have a bun in the oven! ;-)

After our trip to the beach, we had a great evening lined up! First was our delicious dinner. We all couldn't move after we ate. I don't know why, but food tastes so much better when you're camping!

After we stuffed ourselves silly on ribs at dinner, it only made sense to head into the little downtown area of the island for ice cream! I wish I had gotten some good pictures of this area. It's so quaint and adorable with it's few restaurants, souvenir shops, and a putt putt course. My favorite is the fudge shop, which I unfortunately didn't have time to visit this trip. There's always next time! Anyway, our ice cream was delicious, and I had fun eating it outside on the picnic tables in front of the restaurants.

After dinner, we all sat in the back of my uncle's truck (totally legal there) and took a long drive around the island. Here we all are with the wind blowing through our hair:
We saw some beautiful scenery during our drive, including the lake, some deer, the quarry, the sun setting, and some adorable/beautiful houses. I love houses, so I snapped pictures of some cute ones

Here are a couple more images from our drive. The second one, in person, took my breath away. The picture does not do it justice.

Our final destination of the evening was the old ferry dock. It was a pretty secluded area, and it felt like we were on the tip of the island. There we spread out a blanket and set up some chairs so we could watch fireworks. First we contemplated going on the old ferry to watch them...
But decided that would probably be considered trespassing, so we better not! ;-)

Once we got settled in our seats, we realized we had a looong wait before the fireworks would start. Luckily, there was another show going on for us to watch until it was time...
The fireworks had nothing on this majestic display!

However, once it got dark, the fireworks weren't bad either. Any direction we looked, we could see fireworks going on for about 45 minutes. We must have been watching 5 or 6 shows at once! And while they were far away and a little small, it was so much fun! Cedar Point's were probably the best of the bunch. We passed around a pair of binoculars during the show so it would feel like we were a little closer ;-)

I thought we would call it a night after the fireworks, but the best was yet to come. We got "home" to the campsite, and sat around the fire. We all tilted our heads back and looked up at the sky. I kid you not, we probably saw 4 shooting stars while we were sitting there, in the span of just a few moments. Even though it was close to midnight, we decided to walk out on the pier to get a better look. We got there and sat on the rocks beside the pier and looked up. I have never seen so many stars in the sky before. It was so clear, and they were so visible! Breathtaking is not a strong enough word. After a few moments, we all just laid down on our backs on the warm cement and looked straight up. I looked up and could see nothing but stars as far as I looked. I have never in my life felt so small. I felt so close to the creator in that moment. I don't know how you could see what we saw, and not believe. I can't believe the creator of all those stars and galaxies created me too. I wish I could put into words how it made me feel...anyway, that was the highlight of the trip for me!

It was hard to walk away, but sometime between 12:30 and 1, we walked back to our tent. So past my bedtime...I felt like such a rebel! ;-) Although it was still over 80 degrees, I promptly fell asleep, and slept like the dead until 9:00 this morning!

Today we spent most of the day at the beach. There are two different beaches, and we went to the one that's a little less crowded where all the boats come in. We swam, we went out in the boat, got way too sunburned, and enjoyed the scenery...
My favorite part of the day is when I was sitting in a beach chair with the sun shining down on me, waist-deep in the water, devouring my book while little waves came in every few seconds to splash me. I realized I was totally relaxed. I have not felt so relaxed in such a long time. My worries were a distant memory, and all felt right with the world. I already want to return to that moment!

All too soon it was time to leave, and I realized that I think we only spent about 24 hours there, total. But it was the best 24 hours I've had in awhile, and maybe the best 4th of July ever. I had forgotten how much I love Kelleys Island. I really can't even explain why, except that it feels really nice getting away from everything, it's beautiful, and I feel close to God there. I may have been just a few short hours from home, but I might as well have been halfway across the world, because I felt so free and detached from the real world.

I hope to go back soon! I even suggested we go back for our anniversary next weekend...but it is super expensive to visit, mostly because of the ferry ride. Anyway, I hope that when we have kids, we can visit often. I can see it becoming our special little place in the world :-)

I hope your holiday weekend was as blessed as mine was!

Happy Fourth!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 4th of July! And Happy Birthday to our country!

What are your fun plans for the weekend? We had no plans until just a few days ago. And now we are actually planning for a pretty busy 4th! We are beginning the festivities tonight with fireworks at the park where Luke works...And then tomorrow after church we are heading to Kelleys Island, and staying until Monday! It was a spontaneous decision, but I can't wait! It's a little Island right in Lake Erie. We have to take a ferry over, and it's actually right by Cedar Point. We used to go every summer with the youth group, and it was always an amazing time. It's beautiful there, and it's nice to get away for a few days. So with that said, I'm off to pack and prepare. I'll be back Monday or Tuesday!

News, News, News!

It seems like not a week goes by this summer without some kind of earth shattering news in my family or group of friends. First there was the week when I found out my sister was engaged, then later I found out my cousin was pregnant, and just last night, my other cousin who also happens to be my neighbor and childhood best friend, came over to announce that she, too, is pregnant! It's like every time I turn around, somebody's pregnant! I'm so excited. And the two cousins who are both pregnant just happen to be sisters and their babies are due just one month apart. I think my aunt and uncle are slightly in shock right now! What an exciting time for their family! And for our grandparents who, after years of bugging, are going to finally be great-grandparents.

For fun, I counted up in my head all the women I know right now who are pregnant. Guess what the grand total was....15!! Holy cow, that's a lot of pregnant ladies! Must be something in the water around here. haha...

Anyway, back to my sister and my cousins. I grew up with these three girls, and I'd say we were almost more like sisters than cousins. Our moms were very close, and we lived within walking distance of each other. When we were growing up, hardly a day went by that we didn't see each other. At least a weekend or two each month were spent sleeping over at each others' houses. We had so much fun together! I remember we all loved to play "Little Women," because we were all exactly like the characters in the book. Sarah, the oldest, was Meg...always looking out for us and maybe a little bossy back then (haha...sorry if you're reading this Sarah! Not bossy anymore! lol). Rachel was definitely Jo, the wild, rebellious, independent one. I was Beth, the quiet, cautious, reserved one (also, the one who dies. I never liked that part! haha). and my little sister was, of course, Amy, the littlest one who sometimes was a little bit of a brat! But we loved her anyway ;-) (And sorry if you're reading this, Julie, you're not a brat anymore either!)

From left to right we have Sarah, Rachel, me, and Julie.
(I must have been sitting down or crouching because I'm actually 9 months older than Rachel. I was small, but not THAT small!)

Anyway, it's just fun to look back and to see how far we've come. We're all married/engaged, all grown up, and two of us have babies on the way. We might not be quite as close as we used to be, but I know I will always have a special bond with these ladies. And I'm so happy for all three of them! Congrats, guys!

That being said, if one more person finds out the news and says "all right, Jessica, now it's your turn!" I'm going to punch them in the face :-P haha, not really, but their words hurt me more than I'm sure any of them realize. And that's all I have to say about that! I guess I'm in a very strange place right now. I've never felt such strong feelings all at once: such deep joy for my cousins, and yet such a feeling of longing because I wish I could join them, too. But I guess God is just testing my patience and trust. Sometimes being a woman is just so confusing!

Happy Thursday, everyone! I can't believe the 4th is just right around the corner!