I'm the Kind of Girl...

I'm the kind of girl who

wakes up to something different from Pandora each morning

feels uplifted after reading the Bible

cuddles with dogs and lets them kiss her

loves a good pair of tall boots

could live on popcorn

loves a good time with friends

eats Reese's Peanut Butter Cups way too often

can't pass up an opportunity to shop

would drive home in a tornado to save her dogs

loves a good young-adult book

could dance and sing all night

is just like her mama and daddy

loves having long hair even though it is SUPER difficult

loves sunshine and summer days

would spend all day at the lake (and has..)

loves listening to music every second of every day

tends to be a bit of a control freak

loves laughing and does it often

likes taking naps even though she used to HATE them a few years ago

10 Things I Love About My Husband

While reading through some of my favorite blogs this morning, I came across this post called 10 Things I Love About My Husband !  Her blog is called The Unveiled Wife and she offers many insights on marriage.  She challenges her readers to create their own list so here is mine!

10 Things I Love About My Husband

1.  He is hard-working.

    There aren't many men out there who actually have the option to stay home on Saturdays and still choose to go in to work!  For me, Saturdays are all about staying in bed, relaxing, and reading a good-sized chunk out of whatever book I have that day!  I try to convince him to stay home with me and sleep in but he rarely takes me up on it!

2.  He boosts my confidence.

    I'm not gonna lie, I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities these days.  In fact, there are days when I'm feeling downright low.  I tell him about my day at work or whatever else I'm struggling with and he reminds me that I am a good teacher or that I am a good friend.  He's great at it!

3.  He is going to be a loving father.

     We don't have kids yet.  We may not have them for another year or two still...but I know he will love his kids and do what's best for them.  I know this because of the way he treats our dog, Caya.  She recently hurt her back and he refuses to let her run or play too hard (no matter how much she wants to go crazy in the snow!)  We both love our dogs like they're our kids and he constantly impresses me with his love for her.  Now, let's not go too far into the detail that we have TWO dogs and the other one doesn't get nearly as much attention from Kyle as Caya does...  we won't play favorites with our kids, PROMISE!

4.  He knows when I'm overwhelmed.

     When I've had a long, hard day at work, he usually offers to start supper for me.  He respects my need to come home and do NOTHING after rough days with 34 preschoolers!

5.  His sense of humor.

    Now this one can go either way.  He makes me CRAZY with this at times but ultimately, I love how fun he is and most of the time, even when he's driving me nuts, I can't help but smile and laugh.

See what I mean?

6.  He asks for my opinion.

     "Are my lines straight?" when he's shaving.  "Does this shirt look okay with these shoes?"

7.  He tries to include me when we are around his friends.

   This one is something we've dealt with more recently.  I expressed to him how I felt so out of place (I am not a science person...) around his geology friends and that's all I had to do.  The next time, he tried to make sure we were talking about things besides geology.  We talked about TV shows and our hometown event called "Walnut Valley Festival."

8.  His common sense.

     There are a lot of times when I am a bit of an airhead.  Trust me, he's NOT!

9.  His interest in geology

    Again, I don't have the brain for science.  I never have.  He blows me away with his ability to sit there and talk science (he's super smart) and still be able to talk about football or shooting guns and all those "guy's guy" things.

10.  He is a problem-solver.

     I struggle with finding alternate solutions when my first choice doesn't work.  I get stressed out instantly when I fail!  For example, when we pack to come back home from a trip to Winfield or to visit his dad in Missouri, I throw everything in the suitcase and get very upset when I can't get it to zip.  Kyle comes in and puzzle-pieces everything in there and zips it right up!  Maybe I will just let him handle that from now on...  (He says he hopes that's not my solution for everything!)

Okay, those are my ten!  I am going to finish this off with a recent picture of us being goofballs.  Thanks for reading!

My Treasure vs. My Faith

Wow, I haven't posted on here in FOREVER! It's been like a year!  But this morning as I was spending a bit of time with God, I stumbled across an answer to my prayers...well, the start of one anyway!

I struggled with sleep last night.  While Kyle was busy sleeping soundly, I was trying to keep myself busy in hopes that sleep would find me eventually.  I was on Facebook, playing Candy Crush, checking the weather, and doing who knows what else in my MUCH too awakened state; but a hymn we sing frequently in church spontaneously popped into my head.  I don't know the exact name of it but it goes like this: "There is pow'r, pow'r, wonderworking pow'r in the blood of the lamb...."  Maybe you recognize it.

But anyway, this song pops up into my head and my mind started reeling!  I started wondering why that song, of all the ones I love to sing on a somewhat daily basis, is the one that came up.  I can't explain how/why my mind works the way it does; I suppose only God can because it's a mystery even to me.. but I ended up in prayer and realizing that I am TERRIFIED to die someday..  I'm not ready to leave this world because, honestly, I'm pretty fond of it.  I'm happy here.  This world has everything/everybody I've been blessed with in my life.  Last Sunday, at church, the sermon was about focusing on Heavenly things and not worldly things.  That might explain some of my thought process I guess...  But as I was praying, I asked God to please show me how to loosen my grasp on the world so that I can be ready when the time comes to let it go completely.

Well, at some point last night, I fell asleep.  But guess what my reading was about in my Women's Devotional Bible! The passage was the story of Hannah and how she dedicated her son to God after He had blessed her with a baby.  (1 Samuel 1:1-27) The devotional, titled "Ultimate Surrender," was written by Katie Brazelton and she talked about how she had a hard time letting go of her house when God was telling her to.  She fought and fought Him but she eventually did it and later came to realize that it was a blessing.  The reflection questions that followed the devotional asked:

• What one thing are you holding back from God?
• What would happen if you released it?
• Why does God insist we sometimes give up things that seem to bring us joy?

Honestly I'm horrible at answering those reflection questions and I usually find some way to distract myself to where I don't have to...terrible, I know.  But the lightbulb clicked at that moment as I was reading them and I realized that this can be applied to my struggles from last night!  One of the biggest things that I'm struggling with letting go of is the WORLD!!!  (Ding, ding ding!!!)  I went on to read the little "Related Readings" portion and went to Matthew 6:19-34.  I don't want to keep you reading my post any longer than you have to but if you're interested, I encourage you to read the passage on your own.  God was speaking (almost screaming, honestly) to me this morning and I know that it's more than a coincidence that I was pointed toward these verses and stories today.  

One. of. my. favorite. verses!  The rest of the passage really hit home too.  

While I know that it's not going to be an instant change, and I'm very aware that I will struggle with this my whole life, I know now where to begin..

I hope I didn't bore you too much.  I just wanted to share my revelation with you in hopes that you can help support and pray for me.  I know this is a worldwide, no pun intended, struggle for many others as well.  Let me know if I need to add you to my prayers and maybe we can help each other!

Also, while I'm going on and on and on.... I know I didn't cite my devotional and its author too well but there's a link here taking you to where you can buy it if you're interested.  Have a wonderful day!!!

Walking in the Spirit...

I have a confession to make.

I am not living the Christian lifestyle as I should.  It's been bothering me a lot recently and the realization hit me the hardest when I found myself thinking about the movie called Magic Mike.  My mother found an eye-opening blog post/article a while back about the unpopular decision to not see it.  You can find the article here.  But I realized that while it was good to decide not to see the movie out of respect for my husband, I never once considered not seeing it out of respect for God.  When it hit me, this girl was blown away...

Today I picked up my Bible for some much needed one-on-one time with my Lord.  I have a book from my younger college days called A Young Woman's Walk with God by Elizabeth George.  I pulled it off of my bookshelf because I don't remember ever reading this one.  It's unusual to have unread books on display in my home.  I have only read the introduction so far but I am pleased to see that it uses the Bible as a reference in just about every paragraph!  It's hard to find that sometimes...

The end of the introduction has a small spot for notes and studying.  The title at the top of the page reads "Would you like to know more about walking by the Spirit?"  I decided that I definitely would!

Try reading Galatians 5:16 today.  Ask yourself what we are being called to do in this verse.  Then go on to read verse 17 and decide what you think your biggest struggles are when it comes to lusting of the flesh against the Spirit.

I've realized how I have been living my life as a young, Christian woman in the last several months.  I wouldn't want to be called an example to any new believers.  This post is to remind myself to put my life back in order and put God back where He should have been all along.  Please pray for me and stay tuned...

old news

I am a horrible blogger.  When I created this blog, I really did see myself being totally into it but it's been four months since my last post and SOOOOO much has happened since then!

Anniversary:
For our first anniversary, we went to Lone Wolf, Oklahoma to stay in a lodge buried in the Quartz Mountains.  It was no Disney Cruise, folks, but it was just what we needed!  I still feel that when we were in our room, it felt like we were on our cruise again.  We hiked, we ate, and took TONS of pictures!  It was nice to actually have a real camera on this trip.  I won't post them all of course but I will show you my favorites!

This is the lodge and the mountains in the background.  Kyle had no idea that Oklahoma had such a thing!

Our fabulous room! Super cozy!

In the cave!

We did a lot of driving...

Stole this idea from Pinterest!

Eating the top layer from our wedding cake...uhhh...

Nephew:

Our first nephew was born last weekend!  Kyle's sister did a wonderful job of patiently waiting for baby Rhys to arrive.  Rhys was born weighing 7 lbs and 9 oz, 19 inches long!  I have never felt such an attachment to a baby in my life!  This has definitely started the baby fever in me though...  no good!  But that's a story for another day! 

Thanks for visiting! Maybe in four months I will have something else to post about... :-)

2+2=4

On Friday, Kyle and I drove back home to pick up our doggies and bring them back to our house to live with us!  This has been discussed ever since we moved to Wichita but we were waiting for the right time to add to our newlywed lifestyle.  The time finally came and our household of two has become a household of four!  We were so excited up until Friday actually got here.  It was then that we became pretty nervous about the whole ordeal.  What if they don't get along like we think they will?  What if we are taking Legit back to his old personality by taking him away from where he's comfortable?  What if we can't keep up with Caya's endless supply of Husky hair?  What if? What if? What if?!

But we still went through with it.  They had never met until they were both in the car and even then, it wasn't a good opportunity to meet each other.  They both tend to get carsick and with the hour drive, they were definitely more fidgety than happy to see each other.  I was disappointed that when we all got into the house, there was no rear-sniffing or anything to meet each other.  They didn't really seem to acknowledge each other until we were walking around on leashes out in our backyard.  Once we got inside, Caya tried to play with Legit but he snapped at her and since then, I have been on edge when they're next to each other.  They seem to have no problem following Kyle and me around the house together, but if she's right up in his face, he's going to make it known he doesn't want her there.  (Legit is a bit of special case for those of you who don't know about him already...)

My sense of contentment with the situation didn't really start until last night when I witnessed this:

They both finally ate their food today and we have gotten a pretty good "potty schedule" down so that this week while Kyle and I are at work and school, we can know that they should be able to hold it while they are at home alone.  (Still a little bit worried though...) The dogs aren't getting along as well as we would like but I do honestly believe it will come with time!  Kyle's and my void has temporarily been filled.

Now if we can just find time to cuddle again without our furry friends in between us... :-)

2011..

My 2011 consisted of 11 major things:

1) recovering from the most painful surgery I've ever had...just a tonsillectomy, but still! (I'll spare you the picture, it's not pretty...)

2) my first "big girl job" interviews

3) kicking into high gear with wedding plans (first time going to a bridal fair, first wedding shower, first time registering for gifts, etc..)

4) accepting my first teaching position!

5) experienced the happiest day of my life by stealing Kyle's last name!  May 21, 2011! 

ps-within a few months, all of my bridesmaids were blissfully married as well!

nothin like a family picture...lol

6) a honeymoon and my first cruise!

the Disney Dream!

7) moving into our first place together in Wichita

I actually took this as we were moving out of it because I forgot to take any when we moved in!

8) my 24th birthday! (and i forgot to take any pictures?! what?! haha)

9) the beginning of my first year of teaching

10) moving into our first house (those pics were just posted not long ago so I won't repeat them!)

11) our first holidays as a married couple (those were also posted a post or two ago..)

I know that there were more things that happened but those events stand out among the rest.  I could not have asked for a better year.  Getting married was something I've been waiting on for a long time and it happened in 2011!  The next step is getting ahead financially so that we can start planning on....BABIES!  But, unfortunately, that financial stability could still be a few years off so it might be a while!!

Enjoy your new year everyone!