Picture this scene: Living room of one bedroom apartment. Two bikes. Set of golf clubs. Box of golf balls. Bag of baseball bats. Bag of tennis rackets. Treadmill. Ok, so I made that last one up, but that would have fit right in to our living-room-fastly-becoming-fitness-arena.
Now, this scene crept upon me slowly. May and June are wildly busy for me with youth mission trips, so I have been out of town a lot in the past month. Before I left, the bikes appeared in our apartment. These bikes were going to be on the porch before I got back from my first trip, or so I was told. But alas, upon my return, not only were there two bikes, but that is when the golf clubs appeared. No big deal, I'm going out of town again in three days, I thought. So I left for the next trip, and when I returned - the small apartment living room/fitness club had been born.
I love that my husband is athletic. I love that no matter what sport he picks up, he dominates. Seriously, I pray that our children get his athletic ability (and my radiant beauty and supreme intelligence of course).
We recently started the process of beginning to look at starting to think about maybe possibly buying a home. It's a ways in the future, but we're starting to look and see what we like, what we don't like, what we need, etc. Must have on the list: plenty of storage. I can't wait until we can live in a place where all of our stuff, including his sports equipment, can live happily ever after in its very own space (maybe even a garage, dream big!). Until then, he has successfully removed everything from the living room, and we can't believe how spacious it now feels. Like a brand new place. The question remains... where in the world did he hide it all? Still a mystery to me, but at least the living room is clear :)
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Long time, no blog!
Please accept my most sincere apologies for falling of the blog wagon... I'm pretty sure that starting a fabulous blog and then not writing a on it for five months is the cardinal sin of the blog world... so please, forgive me.
Newlywed life has continued for us to prove to be the roller coaster we were foretold it would be. Lots of adjustment, lots of growing up, lots of need for grace, and lots of laughs.
Here are the top ten things you missed in the busyness of these last few (blogless, my apologies again) months...
1. We joined an eight week couple's Bible study for newlyweds, and it was awesome. It was so good for our marriage to be in the Word together and to make some new friends who can relate to where we are in life. Good times!
2. My mom underwent 6 weeks of radiation with chemotherapy. She is a champion and kicked that cancer where the sun don't shine (quite literally...). After a scan this week, her doctor told her that the cancer is gone and everything is back to normal. Praise God!
3. Jonnie got a new job. It is a more challenging job and a better fit to his outgoing personality, and it is just fifteen minutes down the road from where we live - so it was a great change! Not to mention that his first day on the job was at a conference in Las Vegas... not too shabby! So, he's been learning how to navigate his new world of sales these past couple of months and is doing a great job!
4. I got a "promotion" as well. My job currently consists primarily of directing a program for 5th and 6th grade kids, and beginning in the fall I will be venturing into Junior High world as the new Middle School Director. After a year of working at the church, I still love love love love my job. Couldn't design a more dream job for me than this!
5. I've gotten pretty good at this cooking biz, I'm just sayin. I still burn baked goods... but I swear it's my oven.
6. We had a minor emergency that resulted in a trip to Urgent Care and a couple stitches for Jonnie. We arrived at church one Sunday morning, and upon exiting the truck, Jonnie shut (and locked!) the car door on his hand. Ouch!
7. I went on a mission trip to Honduras with juniors and seniors in high school over Spring Break. Despite my prissy, high maintenance personality, I actually adored the trip and look forward to going back. Only problem... scorpions. A couple of our team members got scorped, forcing me to sleep with one eye open and my hand gripped to the flashlight all night... but besides that, it was awesome.
8. We joined a gym. And we're pretty much in love with it. He's hooked on racquetball and the fact that there is a hot tub in the locker room with a flat screen TV playing non-stop ESPN. I, on the other hand, am newly obsessed with Zumba workout classes. It's an hour of straight up clubbin' dancing that doubles as a cardio workout. Now that's my kind of exercise!
9. I've been freakishly sick a lot lately. Mostly colds (at least two each month), but the latest joy was a vicious stomach bug. Jonnie stayed home from work to take care of me. You know you have a good husband when he puts his conference call on mute so he can sit and rub your back while you hug the toilet. Now that's support.
10. We're going to look at our first house tomorrow. It was built in 1860 and it's tiny and we can't move any time in the near future... but we are beginning to dream. :)
So there's the high speed catch up. I fully intend on keeping up to date from now on... this life's too crazy not to document!
Newlywed life has continued for us to prove to be the roller coaster we were foretold it would be. Lots of adjustment, lots of growing up, lots of need for grace, and lots of laughs.
Here are the top ten things you missed in the busyness of these last few (blogless, my apologies again) months...
1. We joined an eight week couple's Bible study for newlyweds, and it was awesome. It was so good for our marriage to be in the Word together and to make some new friends who can relate to where we are in life. Good times!
2. My mom underwent 6 weeks of radiation with chemotherapy. She is a champion and kicked that cancer where the sun don't shine (quite literally...). After a scan this week, her doctor told her that the cancer is gone and everything is back to normal. Praise God!
3. Jonnie got a new job. It is a more challenging job and a better fit to his outgoing personality, and it is just fifteen minutes down the road from where we live - so it was a great change! Not to mention that his first day on the job was at a conference in Las Vegas... not too shabby! So, he's been learning how to navigate his new world of sales these past couple of months and is doing a great job!
4. I got a "promotion" as well. My job currently consists primarily of directing a program for 5th and 6th grade kids, and beginning in the fall I will be venturing into Junior High world as the new Middle School Director. After a year of working at the church, I still love love love love my job. Couldn't design a more dream job for me than this!
5. I've gotten pretty good at this cooking biz, I'm just sayin. I still burn baked goods... but I swear it's my oven.
6. We had a minor emergency that resulted in a trip to Urgent Care and a couple stitches for Jonnie. We arrived at church one Sunday morning, and upon exiting the truck, Jonnie shut (and locked!) the car door on his hand. Ouch!
7. I went on a mission trip to Honduras with juniors and seniors in high school over Spring Break. Despite my prissy, high maintenance personality, I actually adored the trip and look forward to going back. Only problem... scorpions. A couple of our team members got scorped, forcing me to sleep with one eye open and my hand gripped to the flashlight all night... but besides that, it was awesome.
8. We joined a gym. And we're pretty much in love with it. He's hooked on racquetball and the fact that there is a hot tub in the locker room with a flat screen TV playing non-stop ESPN. I, on the other hand, am newly obsessed with Zumba workout classes. It's an hour of straight up clubbin' dancing that doubles as a cardio workout. Now that's my kind of exercise!
9. I've been freakishly sick a lot lately. Mostly colds (at least two each month), but the latest joy was a vicious stomach bug. Jonnie stayed home from work to take care of me. You know you have a good husband when he puts his conference call on mute so he can sit and rub your back while you hug the toilet. Now that's support.
10. We're going to look at our first house tomorrow. It was built in 1860 and it's tiny and we can't move any time in the near future... but we are beginning to dream. :)
So there's the high speed catch up. I fully intend on keeping up to date from now on... this life's too crazy not to document!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Reflection Time...
So this marriage thing? Not a piece of cake.
Learning how to live together, share our finances, and spend all of our time together has had its ups and downs. We have shared many moments of fun and laughter, and we have certainly had our share of disagreements over these past couple months. I suppose that when you spend twenty three plus years living for yourself, it is not the easiest transition in the world to begin putting another person first.
There is a book called Sacred Marriage that poses the question: "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"
In marriage we are harshly confronted with the reality of our own sinfulness. Our tendency to look out only for our own needs is met with the call to love, honor, and cherish our spouse. And I know that for me, that really brings all of my junk to the surface. Marriage has revealed to me how selfish, stubborn, and immature I can really be.
I believe fully that God designed marriage to be a reflection of His love. The commitment, the faithfulness, the laying down of your self for another person - all a beautiful picture of God's love for us. And we are purified to become more like Him when we allow marriage to change us and grow us, when we kick our selfish tendencies to the curb and remember our commitment to love our spouses more than we love ourselves.
Can I just confess how hard that is for me sometimes? I love being right (even when I'm wrong). I love doing my own thing and having my own stuff. I love being in control. But now that I'm married... do I love these things more than I love my husband?
Marriage makes us better. The benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. We are made stronger, as a team and as individuals. As the years go by, the good times and the bad will bring us closer together, and as we seek God in our marriage, we will be closer to Him as well.
Learning how to live together, share our finances, and spend all of our time together has had its ups and downs. We have shared many moments of fun and laughter, and we have certainly had our share of disagreements over these past couple months. I suppose that when you spend twenty three plus years living for yourself, it is not the easiest transition in the world to begin putting another person first.
There is a book called Sacred Marriage that poses the question: "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"
In marriage we are harshly confronted with the reality of our own sinfulness. Our tendency to look out only for our own needs is met with the call to love, honor, and cherish our spouse. And I know that for me, that really brings all of my junk to the surface. Marriage has revealed to me how selfish, stubborn, and immature I can really be.
I believe fully that God designed marriage to be a reflection of His love. The commitment, the faithfulness, the laying down of your self for another person - all a beautiful picture of God's love for us. And we are purified to become more like Him when we allow marriage to change us and grow us, when we kick our selfish tendencies to the curb and remember our commitment to love our spouses more than we love ourselves.
Can I just confess how hard that is for me sometimes? I love being right (even when I'm wrong). I love doing my own thing and having my own stuff. I love being in control. But now that I'm married... do I love these things more than I love my husband?
Marriage makes us better. The benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. We are made stronger, as a team and as individuals. As the years go by, the good times and the bad will bring us closer together, and as we seek God in our marriage, we will be closer to Him as well.
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