Sweetness

Andy tutors one of the neighborhood boys a couple of times a week.  It is so sweet to see how he responds to Andy and to see his progress.  

Reason number 127 I know he'll be an amazing father.  

(But not anytime soon...don't get your hopes up family!)

Life Without TV

It wasn't a conscious decision not to have a television in our apartment; it was more of an afterthought.  The fact that we didn't own one, didn't want to spend the money to buy one, and didn't want another monthly bill coming our way helped in our decision to just live without one. 

We don't really miss having a TV either.  Do you have a television?  Could you live without it?

It's Official!

After 8 months, multiple calls to the Flagstaff courthouse, and two failed mailings of our marriage certificate, we finally received the paperwork so I could legally change my name!  A visit to the social security office, hours at the DMV, a quick trip to the bank and a phone call to my credit card company and I can finally stop signing my maiden name--I'm seriously so excited!

Weekend Recap Part 2

Tamara's wedding happened to be the same weekend as my 10 year college reunion/homecoming game. It was fun to be back at TCU--it's amazing to see how much the campus and the city has changed; I didn't recognize the majority of what I saw.  What is interesting is that it didn't seem like anyone had changed from our college days.  Everyone pretty much looked exactly like they did in college...which is strange because I think I look pretty different than I did in college. 

Do you think you've changed much from your college days?

Weekend Recap Part 1

My college roommate Tamara got married this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.  The rain forced us indoors, but regardless it was a beautiful wedding!

I LOVE the stained glass...just gorgeous!

Tamara told me she stole my idea of getting custom made wine labels...I told her I stole the idea from someone else...so go for it!

Fun candy bar!

And my favorite detail...this record player cake.  Both Tamara and her new husband are amazing musicians. 

The lovely bride getting ready.

Old college roommates reunited!

Congrats Tamara and Chuck!

Sniff Sniff

Well, unfortunately I got the news right after I posted yesterday's post.  We didn't make it through the next round of eHarmony auditions.  I'm bummed, but hey, I got the most awesome husband ever out of it...so I guess I can't complain too much. 

I'm off to Fort Worth Texas for the weekend for a friend's wedding and my 10 year college reunion.  I can't believe I've been out of school for 10 years!!

Have a great weekend!

eHarmony Update

If you didn't know, Andy and I met on eHarmony about 15 months ago.  I thought it would be awesome to be featured in a commercial so I submitted "our story."  A couple of months ago we were contacted to set up a phone interview with the higher ups at eHarmony--we had a great interview and we were then required to submit a video of us.  We're patiently waiting for a response either way...they didn't give us a date they'd get back to us...but every time my phone rings and I don't recognize the number I think that it might be them. 

Do you know anyone who met on eHarmony or online? 

Follow Up

Thank you for all of your honesty regarding yesterday's post.  I posted it for various reasons, but mostly because prior to becoming a Christian (I was a self described flaming, liberal, feminist), I really could not stand the hypocrisy of so called "Christians."

As I've grown in my faith, I've seen that we "Christians" have done so much HARM in the name of "Jesus;"  It causes me to use the term "Christian" carefully.  Not amongst other Christians--because there is a vernacular, an insider language if you will, that is known in Christian culture. However, had we had a conversation prior to my "conversion," and the words sin, repent, damned, hell, savior, king of kings,  blood of the lamb, redemption, and so on and so forth were tossed around, I would have kindly flipped you the bird and would have told you to eff off. 

After becoming a Christian, I have to admit I was a bit zealous and turned people I love away from me.  I was self righteous and judgmental--I became the exact person I used to loathe. To all the people who I hurt, I am SO, SO sorry. 

James 1:26 says, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." 

My husband and I started a discussion group in our living room a few weeks ago with total strangers...some call themselves Christians and some don't.  It's an open forum...we hope to start a church some day, but not the traditional way.  Our thoughts and ideas are a work in progress and I'm excited about what the future holds. This is a topic I will frequent often in the future because it's a daily thing in our household right now...your comments (especially from those of you who do not call yourself Christians) and input are something my husband and I will be discussing as we are in the formative stages of beginning a "church."

Thank you again for your comments and honesty. 

Please Comment--Honesty Appreciated

I'm A Christian.

I'm very curious what your response is to this statement.

Do you roll your eyes and think "please don't preach to me?"

Do you think "awesome?" 

Do you wanna say "eff you?"  

Do you trust me right away?

Do you feel you've been hurt by the church or discriminated against?

What does the word "Christian" evoke in you?

Feel free to be honest...very honest.  

Finishing Touches

I love Goodwill...I was looking for candle holders and mason jars to decorate and spent about $4.00.  Then went over to Michael's  and bought some candles to decorate the mantle where we hung the picture we put on to canvas. 

I love this picture of Andy and I at our reception!

Unusual

The Pacific Northwest is not known for it's beautiful sunshiny days.  We however, have been having unbelievably gorgeous days...for almost two weeks in a row!  We have a beautiful waterfront about a mile from our place that we strolled along this weekend. 

I don't know how long these days will last, but I am SO thankful for them...I know dreary winter is around the corner and I want to savor the sunshine!!

Hows the weather in your neck of the woods?

Replacing Bad Habits

Andy and I often make store runs to buy our favorite pints of Ben and Jerry's--Phish Food and Chubby Hubby.  We realized we were making the trips a little too often and decided we needed to make a change.  So now we eat bowls of sugary cereal late at night instead.  Baby steps.

What's your late night indulgence?

The Reveal...Kind Of

I wanted to wait until we had our pictures hung before I posted pics of our place, but I have no idea when the one I ordered will be in, and we dropped a different glass frame and shattered it...so those pics won't go up any time soon.  So, here is what we have so far!

 The frame on top of these shelves is the one we broke while trying to hang it.  :(

 Like my rug?  I found it on clearance at Ikea.  For some reason it looks wrinkled in the picture, but it doesn't look that way when you're standing over it. 

It's small and eclectic, but we love it!

Meet & Greet

Andy and I hosted a meet and greet at our apartment Monday night so we could get to know our neighbors.  We posted signs throughout the building, but we had no idea if anyone would show up.  We are happy to report we had a great turnout, met most of neighbors and had an awesome time.  Turns out there are a lot of folks around our age in the building...one of our neighbors (who we have yet to meet) wasn't able to come and left these at our doorstep.  We love our neighbors. 

Have you met your neighbors?

Making a House a Home

Because work has been so busy, I haven't been able to decorate and furnish our apartment the way I've wanted to.  I finally decided to take last Thursday off so Andy and I could finish unpacking and buy things to complete our home.  Our apartment is pretty small, so we were looking for pieces of furniture that didn't overwhelm the whole place.  And remember that great vintage couch we found?  Well, we love it, but it's been very difficult to find separate pieces of furniture to go with it.  But we did it!  We found a perfect love seat that we strapped on to the roof of our car.

We found paint colors to paint the table and chairs we found at Goodwill.

We realized that we didn't have a single picture up, so we bought some frames and also ordered a big canvas of one of our favorite pics from our wedding.  Once I hang them I'll get post the pictures. 

We still have a huge wall that we're trying to figure out what to do with.  We're trying to find a piece of art to hang, but it would need to be really large to fit the space.  Any ideas? 

Withdrawel

I've been blogging for a little over one year, and I literally had anxiety about not posting most of last week.  Isn't that crazy?  I kind of went through blogger withdrawal. I felt like I missed out on all of your lives this week (you definitely did not miss out on mine--I did nothing but work!).

I'm happy to report that one of our neighbors is letting us poach his wireless signal...it's weak, but we can finally use the internet in our home.  Hopefully you'll see a lot more of me this week. 

Thanks for all of your encouraging comments last week! 

Balance...Or Lack Thereof

Last week I had a huge problem of being "present."  I've been trying to balance an a-typical work schedule, commuting, being a wife, being a blogger and being intentional about forming community.  Let's just say that while I'm doing one, I'm thinking about another.  The honeymoon is definitely over.  Alarm clocks, schedules, and meetings are consuming most of my time and I've only been doing it for a week.  I can't even imagine if a kid or two were in the mix....how do moms do it?!

My posts and comments may be sporadic...but I'm thinking of you all and trying to figure out this balancing act.

Local Flavor

Andy and I went to a local Greek Festival with our favorite couple, Matt and Kelly over the weekend. Lets just say that you can never have enough feta. 

 Kelly and Andy eating Gyros...I'm not sure what's going on with the guy in the background.

Me and Matt with Calamari and fries...with feta.  

Yum!