Life Update! | 01.16

It has been a full month. Not so much in the doing of things, rather than just the sorting of heart things. But before we get to that, I must back up to the last week in December. What a full time!

Oh, and this is our sorry attempt at a Merry Christmas photo–epic fail! 🙂

ANYWAY 🙂

On the 23rd, Ben and I celebrated our Christmas day, as well as visited the creek where he proposed to me a year earlier. I can’t tell you how much sweeter it was to experience it all a second time. No, he didn’t propose to me again, but we walked to where we were, laughed, took pictures, and re-read the story he had written for the proposal–which by the way is an incredibly, sweet story written in the form of children’s literature.

And then on the 24th, we made the long trek down to surprise my Mom & Dad for Christmas Eve (hence, the reason we celebrated Christmas on the 23rd!). We told my parents that we would be there on the 26th through the 4th of January. So imagine their surprise when we showed up on Christmas Eve instead! It was amazing. My mom kept saying, “You’re really here!” I loved seeing their faces and spending extra time with them. Ben and I know that we won’t always be able to travel, so we took advantage of this time!

I spent most of the time with my Mom and we talked, went to town, ate DQ, drank Starbucks, and I personally indulged in an exorbitant amount of coffee that Mom made in her new French Press. It is always the sign of the holidays when the whip cream comes out with the coffee. I will not tell you how much I drank in this delight. 🙂 🙂 I also had some amazing chats with my younger brother who is graduating in May. My Dad and husband also made me a Down Cottonwood Lane sign—so neat! I loved spending the holidays with my family.

It was also during this time when I heard that the daughter of very dear friends was diagnosed with leukemia. I was shocked and sobered. Many tears fell for them, and numerous prayers have been & are being offered up. Audrey keeps a blog, and I would love if you took the time to follow her & pray for their little girl, Ellie. On my Facebook page, every Tuesday is #EllieDay, so I encourage you to follow that to know more of what is happening. But more than that, just follow Audrey!

After the most calm New Years ever, I spent a couple more days with my wonderful family and visited the place in our backyard where Ben and I got married. It was looking a little forlorn without all the festivities, but poetic all the same. And then we finally started the trip back to our home. 🙂

We also meandered our way to visit his sister and her husband. It was a grand time! We had scrumptious Thai food and enjoyed good company, and also STAR WARS. I am not an avid fan, but I was entertained. 🙂 And this is the best picture that we could get! 🙂

And then January 6 came around and it was my birthday! My 21st birthday. I confess that this is the first birthday that has had me feeling old. I know in my head that I’m not old, but I feel in my heart that life is passing and I just want to be a good steward of it. I also decided that I was definitely showing signs of age when one of the best parts of my birthday was walking out of the grocery store and spending less than I originally thought we would have to. 🙂 Ben got me chocolate pie + Peanut butter Pie ice-cream.  Oh the deliciousness.

And my gifts included a lot of this…..I am a mature 21 year old…promise!

And so January settled around me in an abrupt sort of way. It’s been very dreary and stormy where we are. I have missed the sun! I am not making coffee or going to Dutch Bros until February 1st. I drank entirely too much coffee in December, and knew I need to exercise some more self-discipline. I’ve been making a lot of smoothies and have discovered that I’d rather drink my fruit than eat it!

My heart has been all over the place and sliding back into routine has been hard. I’ve enjoyed slowing down, but slowing down takes work. I’ve just recently began meditating on Scripture again. I write verses on 3x5x cards and carry them throughout the day. There is so much freedom & comfort in God’s truth!! I am currently studying on Philippians 3:8. It has made all the difference in my day-to-day life!

So far January has looked like this…..

• A puppy that has turned into a dog & loves being with us (as you can see!).
• A spring-cleaned kitchen (not pictured)
• Unattractive dog kisses
• Stormy weather
• Trips to the creek when the sun is out
• Trying to blog with a big puppy..err..dog on my lap
• Frolicking in the field with our dogs when the sun comes out again
• A lot more, of course. But I shan’t bore you. 🙂

Ben and I have also been nailing down next step decisions this month. That has taken time, conversations, excitement, laughter, and preparations. Our time here wasn’t meant to be long-term, so things for the future are getting nailed down. And I couldn’t be more excited! I will blog more about that in February as changes are coming quite quickly. I also hope to do another blog post on our little home. We have many improvements since I last posted, and I look forward to showing you!

I hope you all are having a splendid January. I know it can be a hard month as life steps in and takes its toll.

But—

Rest in God, immerse yourself in His truth, and enjoy the companionship of the people around you. January can, in fact, be a lovely month…and not just because it’s my birthday month (I blame Mom for the entitlement I have concerning my birthday month…heheeee).

PS: I CANNOT WAIT FOR SPRING

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The Great Escape

September Grace

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