The Lovely Little Introvert

     Wow! Where do I even begin?? This year has been one of the craziest of my life. It has been so very full. So amazing. So difficult. So awesome and challenging and a million other adjectives I can't think of at the moment. For those of you interested in the recap, keep reading. If not, I love ya and hope this new year is great for you.         If you're still reading, I promise I'll try to make this quick. Started off the year getting married (we hit our one year mark on the 27th of January!) That was the most shocking thing about the year, I think. After struggling for so long with wanting to get married, I finally surrendered to the Lord and whatever He had planned for my life. I was actually content being single. Then God brought Jake back into the picture (after I pretty much hated him for 6 month) and the rest is history. We got to adventure to the Virgin Islands on our honeymoon and it was awesome. We met some really great people (that we are still in contact

     It was dark and cold. Everything had an orange glow. We were crammed together, waiting. We knew the outcome was inevitable. I could hear breathing, slow and shallow. I heard an odd crinkling noise as someone shifted. Any minute now....And in a moment everything changed. Bells rang constantly. Some of us were grabbed and taken away. Others were left to watch in terror. We saw very little, just flashes of color. It was the noises that got us. The near constant screams and shrieks were chilling. In my whole life I had never heard anything like it. We were warned it would be terrifying, but we were in no way prepared for that horrible night.      All was quiet for a time. We thought perhaps it was all over, that we had somehow escaped. But the bell rang out once more, crisp and clear. I was taken, along with a few others. We were put into the hands of another. We knew we were now at their mercy. Our captors transported us to an undisclosed location where we were dumped onto a wooden

     A very popular topic of discussion over the last few weeks, as a result of all the hurricanes/earthquakes/fires, etc, is that the world is ending and Jesus is coming back. Welllll....I hate to break it to you, but the world has always been ending. Ever since He left, Jesus has been "coming back." Yes, I know what the Bible says about how the earth will groan and there will be all sorts of signs and whatnot. I know, but I want to challenge you to think about a few things...Do with it what you will.      1. Using a fear tactic isn't bringing people to Jesus the right way . Yeah, okay, I said it. Telling people the world is ending and Jesus could come back any second isn't how we should be sharing Jesus with people. We should be telling them that He loves them and has a plan for them. That He died to save them from their sins. We should be loving on them, not scaring them into salvation. I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem the most genuine way

     Since I've started getting ready for this craft fair in October, I always have my eyes open for anything I  can paint or repurpose. A few days ago at Goodwill I found a small stool for 3 dollars. It had a little boy's name on it and a big, smiling hippo. My hope when I bought it was that I would just be able to spray some white primer over it and paint what I wanted. Upon getting home I realized it would take several coats and might not even cover it fully. I dug through Jake's toolbox until I found some heavy duty sandpaper and set to work. At first it was slow going, but soon enough I had one full side done. It was hard. After a few consistent hours I had only managed to finish half the top and the edges and I was covered in paint dust. My fingers were raw and the sandpaper was all worn out, but the stool didn't look the same- even though I wasn't finished with it yet. Suddenly it wasn't just a stool with a hippo anymore. I could see all the possibility o

    A while back I promised to do a post about a Jesus moment I had when we were on our honeymoon. It's been a long time coming, but I finally wrote it! Enjoy! I'll try to keep it short.      It was probably the third day or so when the lady running the place we were staying suggested a we visit a special beach. She called it Norman Beach. It was a private beach and a little odd at first. It was hidden away behind all kinds of crazy twists and turns we took precariously in our golf cart. At the bottom of a steep hill was the entrance to Norman Beach. We walked past a hollowed out house with old items left inside, down some rocks  and a few rickety boards, past a paddle boat and some other washed up items. Then there we were, standing in our own little private paradise. To the left was big rocks and beautiful trees, a few vines and flowers. Above, the warm and glorious sun. To the right, nothing but ocean and island. The beach itself was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

      Most of you know this already, but about a week ago I finished the last classes I needed to complete my bachelor's degree. It's been a very long process, but I am so thrilled to be done! Now I just wait for my diploma and cap to come in the mail. Whenever anyone hears I've finished my degree, their favorite question to ask is : "Well, what now?" No matter who asks, I try to answer honestly. "You know, I'm not really sure. I'm just taking it one day at a time." The following are my favorite responses:  You have to get a Master's degree. A Bachelor's degree will do you no good. Become a teacher. I hear they make a lot of money. Just don't be one of those people who wastes their degree.  So...why English? You mean, you don't have a plan? English majors never make any money. Now that you're done, when are you planning on leaving Starbucks? You really need to go live overseas and teach English. Like in Japan or so

    Believe me, I do realize I've only been married six months, but I have learned a few things in that time that I wanted to share. :) I'm sure all my married friends can relate.     Here are the Top 10 Marriage Lessons in the last six months. 10. Your spouse doesn't always appreciate your sleeping position. Especially when you take up most of the bed and the blankets. 9. Sometimes you have to step into their world and do what they love, even if you're not that interested. Like eat sushi or play Pokémon Go. 8. You don't have to do everything together. In fact, time apart is a great idea. Like, honey I love ya, but I need some quiet time. 7. Have tickle fights and wrestling matches. :) 6. Be little kids together. Eat too much ice cream. Watch Disney movies. Swing on the swings at the park. Have a good old fashioned foot race. 5. Talk about the hard stuff . This has been one of the hardest for me, but something I'm working on. 4. F

     When I was little we watched Little House on the Prairie all the time. I used to want to live in the 1800s just like them-the clothes, the cooking, school, chores-I wanted to do it all. After that, I pretty much fell in love with that whole historical period. One Halloween my Nanny even made me and my American Girl doll dresses with bonnets. For the longest time that was all I would read and write, too. So much historical fiction! I always pictured myself as the heroine and could get lost among the tall grass for hours.      Deep in my heart I always had that desire to be a Laura Ingalls Wilder wife. You know, the really wifely, home-makery kind of wife. While I haven't tried my hand at making homemade bread yet and I don't have a spot for a vegetable garden, I try do what I can. Recently I've gotten into making my own cleaning supplies (thanks to Pinterest). Seriously, if not for Pinterest, probably none of these creative, homey, wifey things would happen. I've t

      Some of you cringed when you read the title of this blog post. "Christmas? Now? It's five months away! You can't seriously be talking about this!!" Well, I am and I have a good reason.       First off, I love Christmas. Always have. It could have to do with the fact that my birthday is thirteen days before Christmas or that I grew up with a mom who was a Christmas freak. Whatever the actual reason, I love it. I start listening to Christmas music in October and sometimes even watch Christmas movies mid-summer (Judge all you want, I won't change!). One of my most favorite things about the holiday season is being able to bless other people. There were a few times growing up when we couldn't afford presents and there were whole church groups that came alongside us and gave us Christmas! Ever since then, I wanted to do what I could within my power to make sure nobody went without.       One of my favorite ways to do this is through Operation Christ

     I've been so excited to write this blog post for the past two weeks and now I can! Jacob and I are back from our honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands and we have so many stories to tell! (Although if I told them all, this would be the longest blog post in history. If you want to know more, just ask an we will be happy to share.) Going into this vacation, we did not expect to have our lives changed, but we did. There is something about this little corner of paradise that is almost magical. It's as if the rest of the world does not exist there.  (Borrowed this pic from Google...)      See what I mean? This is Honeymoon Beach (ironic, no?) where we spent most of our time. It is the favorite beach on Water Island where we stayed, just a fifteen minute ferry ride from St. Thomas. We made friends with locals and tourists alike and became regulars at a little beach bar called Dinghy's. We got sunburned, went kayaking, swam and soaked in the clearest water and really just l

     I've not been good about blogging here lately, so I'll give a quick life update before I get too far into the topic on my heart.      It has been a full year already and it's only April! January 27th I got hitched. Jacob is my best friend, my partner in crime, the one who never stops challenging me and loving me even when I can't love myself. He makes me a better version of myself and I could not have asked for more. Currently we are planning our honeymoon as we weren't able to go right after the wedding. Caribbean paradise is being much anticipated.      As for me, I'm trying to figure out this wife thing. Cooking is not exactly my strong point, so I've had some challenges there. The crockpot and pressure cooker have become good friends of mine. Thank God for those and easy recipes even I can follow without much trouble. Other than that, I'm just trying to finish school strong (3 more classes until graduation and all English lit) and stay focused a

     It's been so long since I've blogged anything. I'm sorry! Life has been a little crazy. I'm busy with school and work and, oh yeah, I got married in January! I'm loving every second. Soon I'll write a post on that, but for now, I wanted to share a story I wrote a while back. I'm trying to get better about writing again, so here goes! Time to pick up the pen again. Enjoy and let me know what you think! The Last Letter             I just hold a few dates and some words. She holds a thousand memories and a love I could never imagine. I am cold, hard, unfeeling. She feels sadness, loneliness, desperation and everything in between. I mark a mound of dirt. She marks a life loved and lost.             Those in my line of work see a lot of people, but she’s my favorite. She spends hours sometimes looking at me and talking to the memory of the one whose name I bear. She’ll laugh. She’ll cry. Sometimes she just sits in silence. I love listening to her talk.