a day for love

ohhh how i love valentines day as a married woman! ryan and i were talking last night about where we were last year.... and well, it wasn't here! just for the pleasure of my faithful readers out there, i'm going to share how it all began with ryan and i....not all that long ago! ;)

there is this great movie that came out like a year and a half ago. i love it because it's just so easy for everyone to relate to it's characters. who hasn't questioned God as to why He has given us certain desires to do things in life, seeing as to how we don't have such talents needed to do them..
you know like, "why have you given me such a love for wrestling, but made me such a stinky warrior?!" (though you can't hear it, i'm quoting this line with a spanish accent!)
or, others of you maybe can relate to the feeling of having to do things in life you just don't want to do... like you get stuck with just the no-good, no-fun jobs..and think, "i always get stuck with the bad duties: cooking duty. dead guy duty. man, i've got to get me some new duties!" Okay, maybe you can't relate to either of those things...
but who can't relate with being totally in love with a person, and delighting in finding out that you love the same things (or at least, telling them you love the same things...)??
"Well, my favorite color is light tan. My favorite animal is puppies. I love serving the Lord. Hiking, play volleyball..." "You gotta be kidding me! Everything you just said is MY favorite thing to do, every day!"

So, for those of you who are just not all the smart, the movie I'm talking about is Nacho Libre. If you haven't seen it, go and rent it and watch it tonight with your love...it's romantic, let me tell you! :) It was after Ryan and I awkwardly sat on my little love-seat couch and watched that movie, that he revealed his love to me. Inspired, I'm sure, by Nacho's romantic-ness toward Encarnacion ("Would you like to join me in my quarters this evening for some toast?" Flash forward to the scene of them sitting in her room, loudly crunching on crispy toast...), Ryan could hold his feelings in no longer! :) And out they all gushed....and then came a lot of gushing from me! And here we are, not all that far from then, living happily ever after!! :)

For Ryan: ooxxooXoxxO (translated: hug, hug, kiss, kiss, hug, hug, big kiss, hug, kiss, kiss, big hug)

...here.

"Wherever you are, be all there.

Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

-Jim Elliot

I was doing some reading this morning and I came across this quote from Jim Elliot. I have heard it and pondered upon it before, but it's been a while. And this time, I finally looked up the definition of "hilt." Apparently "to live to the hilt" means to live "to the maximum extent or degree; completely; fully."

Sometimes I really struggle with "being all there." Especially in this odd place in life we are in right now...I'm ready to be past here. I'm ready to start doing whatever it is God would have us to do with our lives. I'm ready to get down to business, you know? But...we aren't "there" yet, we are still in transit, still trying to figure out just exactly what it is we're going to be doing. And, well...we are here. Here at this funny little place...here, though, is where God has us for now. Not only does He have us here, this must be where He wants us. And though we don't exactly understand the reason why, it's enough to know that He is the One who has put us here. Here, as we work two totally different jobs on opposite ends of town. Here, living like busy little bees trying to learn what it means to really love one another. Here we are. Here. And since we know God has us here, then we might should really follow Jim's advice...and live completely right here. ...for now! :)

it also makes me think of when Jesus said, in the Gospels, "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly." I don't think He was only talking about life after death. He brought us life, life that began when He drew our hearts to salvation. ABUNDANT life...think about that!

surprises...

well, it is officially ryan's birthday week...and tomorrow is the big day! this will be our first time to celebrate his birthday for "us." last year, i thought and thought about what to get him and finally decided on something that he could play with-3 frisbee golf discs. one year later, he still hasn't used them. and not because there haven't been opportunities.... okay, well, there haven't REALLY been opportunities. we talk about going to play like once a month, but we aren't exactly sure where the course is. we know it's on (or just off) greensprings...somewhere. anyway, we do have plans to go and play soon. especially if we keep having weather like we did this weekend- that was GREAT! anyway, i put a lot of thought into this year's gift, too...even more than last year. ryan is very hard to surprise--he's very good at the guessing game. but, i've asked him like every other day if he knows what his present is from me...and he's guessed, but not correctly. i'm hoping it really will be a surprise for him! because i love surprises, myself! :)

speaking of surprises....we went to see fool's gold this weekend, the one with matthew mcconaughey and kate hudson. i thought it was going to be a guy movie, and then heard someone say it looked like a chick flick to them. i thought it was a happy medium, which rarely happens. it had it's fair share of action and romance...and really, let's be serious-anything with matt m. you know is good! :) it was a bit riskay at first, which was appalling to me. but then the rest of the movie was akin to national treasure, i thought. but that's just one girl's opinion....

escaping into another place

Oh my goodness-I didn't write yesterday because I was engrossed in a wonderful book. I just didn't want to take time away from reading it to write. :) My mom and I always say that you know you are reading a good book when you find yourself praying for the characters. The book I just finished was one of those good books! I actually have read it more than once before, but I still got so into it all the same. I laughed with Ryan as we went to lunch today because I finally put down the book this morning because I knew I was near the end of it. And I didn't want to get to the end of it, because, well, then it would be over. And I would lose all these people that had become so dear to me in the past 2 days of reading. How silly is that? But, really, I LOVE a good book like that-something that, in a way, gets you totally involved. Almost like you know the characters personally or something. It's amazing that writing can do that... I want to be able to write like that. It's one of my goals in life. I really want to write a book, one day. The only trouble is, I don't have any good ideas just yet! :) But, one day.... keep your eyes out for that in about 20 years or so!!

So, the name of the book I've been reading is The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers (no doubt one of my favorite fiction writers of all times!). No, the book has no relation to that book you read in high school, The Scarlet Letter.. anyway, it's a wonderfully redemptive book, just like everything else I've read by Rivers. My very favorite by her is called Redeming Love, though. If you haven't read that book, you need to stop doing whatever you are doing right now and go to the local library or book store and borrow/buy this book. I'd say go ahead and buy it-totally worth the $15. It's one of those books you will read again and again. Be prepared to sob a little, though.

Honestly, I think that's one of the great things about a good piece of fiction writing. It allows you to express emotions that you might have been holding in for a while...even ones you didn't know you had. It also helps put your own life in perspective sometimes, which I think is a good thing. Plus it's just enjoyable. As embarassing as it is to admit, I absolutely love a good Christian romance. Sure it may be a little cheesy, but sometimes it's good for the heart for me! :)

a house?

ryan and i are thinking about getting a house. okay, i'm thinking about it, haven't talked to ryan yet. but someone from my company sent me these pictures and i just know we have to have it! the only problem is that it's located in toronto..but, i'm sure there's a seminary somewhere around there. this is a deal we just CAN'T pass up!


here are some of it's "listed" features:

* Completely re-done top-to-bottom, front-to-back!* Tumbled stone entrance walk * Renovated Bath* Renovated Kitchen with newer stove, new cabinets and new stacked washer/dryer * Bedroom with Murphy Bedd + "Built-Ins" ... (doubles as a den)!* Walk-out to fenced patio* 100 Amp service * 2 Satellite Dishes and Receiver* Window Air Conditioner Available







and some pictures... I know what you are thinking--"that is SO cute!" Well, right you are! It is believed to be Toronto's smallest house, sitting on land that is 7.25 feet wide and 113.67 feet long, with the interior being just under 300 square feet! It's built on what actually used to be a driveway! But, it has just what we need: 1 bedroom, 1 bath


here's a picture of the living room, looking towards the front of the house! Look at that cute little chair-couch thing! Plenty of room for snuggling!


here's the living room again, this time looking towards the back of the house...

and here's the spacious kitchen! look, they even have made room for a washer and dryer!

here is a picture of the bedroom. they have built-in one of those fold-into-the-wall beds. here it is folded down...

and here's the bedroom when it's folded up. look at all that extra room you get when you put the bed up!!!

you also get some nice outside space. who needs grass really? it's just a pain to keep up with! also, the fences all around the patio offer plenty of privacy, which is plus!

and here's one more view of the GREAT patio!! :)

And all of this is only $179,000! What a DEAL!!! don't worry guys, once we get out there we will have a housewarming party so you all can see it for yourselves. actually, we'll probably have 5 or 6 parties considering that only a few people can fit inside the house at a time... ;)

random thoughts

"the underdogs"

well, they did it! the underdogs won the super bowl and i could not be happier. though i didn't outwardly stand up and shout with joy as ryan and nick did as the giants scored at the end of the game, i did jump for joy on the inside. (i couldn't very well jump up physically because then they might think i was actually really interested in football, and of course, i'm not really ;)) though so many people were pulling for their victory, i think very few people really thought that the giants would actually win. i know i didn't! but i'm so glad they did. yay for the giants!!! every last one of them....

"known"

yesterday, as our church service began, i whispered a quiet prayer to the Lord that He would speak to me through His Word during the service. and, as He is so gracious about doing, He did... scott's message yesterday was from galatians 4. as he preached a wonderful message, he all too quickly moved passed part of a verse that really spoke to my heart. in context...
"formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?" (gal. 4: 8-9)
i love that words in the middle of the verse... paul is all about talking about the law and the follower of Christ in galatians...the jews were preaching that self-righteousness comes through obedience to the law. they were all about self-efficiency--"you can be good enough on your own, just do these things!" and paul tells his brothers and sister over and over again in this letter that thinking like that is straight up wrong. well, even though i don't think blantenly "i'm going to work hard and be good enough so i can earn God's continual love," my every day actions sometimes show otherwise. i slip back into the old way of thinking, thus enslaving myself to sin all over again. but, how loudly this verse screams to me that this way of living is no good at all! paul reminded me that i didn't even get to come to know God on my own-it was Him drawing me all along! and...
i am known by God-the creator of this world knows me. He knows my joys and my pains and everything in between. that brings a smile to my face every time i think about, even on my bad days-God knows me and what's crazy...He loves me all the same. what an absolutely, amazingly wonderful thing that is!!

"knitting"

i know all of you have been holding your breath to hear about how my knitting is going. well, hold it no longer-it's going really well! i get to knit a lot at work on my down time, which is fun! i have been working on some new patterns and things-i'm now on my third pidge. the last one and this one are even made with really cool stitches! so, that's fun! my next project is going to be a tam, which is a really cool hat thing. my sister got one for her birthday from my grandmother. it was made a long time ago by a relative that's not alive any more, for whom mollie is named. it was a sweet gift and mollie loves it so much. i think it just looks neat and figured, why not try one? i'm more confident in my knitting that i have ever been before... so, i'll let you know how that goes. hopefully one day i can get some pictures up of the different things i have made. just so you can all "ooo" and "ahh" over them! :) but for now, you'll just have to imagine! ;)

2 mOnThS!

as you can see on our new handy-dandy "how long have we been married?" tool, today marks 2 months of our wedded bliss! it's truly hard to believe it has been 2 months already-time has flown by! sometimes i forget we are married (okay, i don't really...but i have a temporary brain-lapse or something). the other day, i was talking to ryan, of all people, when i referred to myself as his girlfriend. i said something along the lines of "people are going to think you have a crazy girlfriend" (can't remember why i even said that)!! before he could correct me, i started laughing as a realized my mistake. i haven't technically been his "girlfriend" for like 8 months or something! silly me! anyway, yay for us on our two month wedding anniversary!!! here's to many, many, many, many more!!!!!!!

here's some of our photos.. i have been trying to make a slideshow out of them all day, but i have failed miserably! here's some of my favorites... :)