The Lovely Little Introvert

    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 ...

      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 h...

      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...

     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 ...

     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 st...