4

in 4 years, one can do lots of things:

serve as president.

graduate high school.

graduate college (but who are we kidding, this really takes 5. or 8 if your me...or kip)

most likely get tenure.

the show weeds can go downhill...fast.

the show dexter can become UNBELIEVABLE.

and the hardest and most wonderful one of all: being married to their high school sweetheart.

nay and i have been married 4 years today. it's crazy. i have spent most of my life in love with this man, and now i will spend the rest of my life loving him. we have worked so hard to learn each others language.

i love knowing that i can understand nathan while he brushes his teeth. i love knowing that when he says "yeah, totally" he isnt really listening but knows he needs to be. knowing nay NEEDS lettuce in his grilled cheese along with a gigantic heap of mustard for dunking. tickling his feet to get him out of bed. buying him imported monsters to let him know i love him. the fact that he sits on the kitchen floor and watches me cook so we can spend time together. the way he makes me laugh like no other. how goofy he is. the way he makes me feel.

4 years of all of these things can cause an immense blissful overload. here is a synopsis of the past 4 years.

enjoy!

Alaska

swimming with sharks in hawaii

nay in hawaii showing off his ring

san fran

first cruise- mexico

getting our hound

skydiving

nathan's sisters wedding

going on the price is right

actually getting married

dating in college

however, we also bought a house AND i started at a university so i can finally finish school. it's been an awesome 4 year bear, i cant wait for 100 more.

christmas

i have these friends.

they are kind, and funny, and i have the honor of calling them 'friend'.

we got together to do secret santa and nay got the awesome jacket he is wearing in the photo below (courtesy of blue) and i got seinfeld season 8 which i am currently watching (from joey).

i made janvier a purse. like went and picked out the fabric and sewed it.

it was my first time.

and it wasnt great.

but when she got it she acted like it was great. like the fact that the colors didnt go and the strap was uneven didnt matter.

tonight i made spinach artichoke dip and cookies and we ate and talked and listened to bing crosby on my record player.

it was a perfect ending to our busy christmas season.

thrift sunday

sunday is thrift store sunday.

it should be a national holiday, but instead it is the Lords day, and that is fine with me.

thrift store sunday originated when my husband, and my friends husband would gather at another one of our friends house and hang out. they would play video games, basketball, or watch whatever game happened to be on at the time.

well, being as how i'm not good at any sport on dry land and that my video game talents stop and end at super nintendo, i was no use to those guys. plus, its good for the guys together and do manly things, and for me and the other wives to go find some cute clothes and stuff for our houses at discounted prices.

it is so lovely when we can leave a store and know that we won. our wallets still possess the sweet smell of dollar bills, but our trunks quickly become full. yesterday i won. i went out alone looking for some fine home furnishings as an after christmas gift to myself, and found some buried treasure in the isles of my local goodwill.

vintage green pitcher

coffee decals for the kitchen

floral tray...yummy

in addition to these glorious finds, i also found a nice pair of gap jeans AND a cute little basket for our mail. how much for all this loot you wonder?

$16.50

it's a glorious thing to walk into a store and actually find something that you love for only $3.99 or $1.99.

lights.

i love me some christmas.

i think most people love it. the air is crisp. starbucks comes out with all its fancy overpriced seasonal drinks. there are sales on things you wouldnt buy otherwise and the music, is well, heavenly.

and most people love this.

and who wouldnt?

but i happened to marry a man who does not love christmas.

he just thinks it's, blah. he cant get into it, but he tries, and every year he tops the way he tried last year. last year he learned my favorite christmas song and played it whenever i asked him to. cooking dinner, doing laundry, eating breakfast: whenever i asked he would whip out that acoustic and play me my song.

and this year, it was his idea to get 13 boxes of christmas lights to decorate our house. he spent the better part of yesterday on our roof and on ladders making our house look amazing. and when he had done the entire house, even the back of the house that no one sees, he wanted to do lights on the inside windows.

my husband? the cutest grinch i know?

and you know what he keeps telling me? "feel bad that i am out-christmasing you?"

the nerve of that punk.

here are photos of my husband showing me the best way he can that he loves what i love. that he wants so badly to share in this with me.

he's so good.

paint.

working for the school district has some amazing advantages.

it works perfectly with my school schedule, pays great, it is the best job i have ever known...and

i get holidays off!

like all major holidays. for thanksgiving i have this entire week off (insert angels singing and streams of golden light here). it is magical. i am connecting with things i havent connected with in ages.

like sleep.

and good movies on netflix watch instantly.

and reading my bible.

and harry potter.

holy cow, it's been a good few days.

but one thing about me is that when i have an ENTIRE week of for thanksgiving, i get bored; restless. so i assign myself projects, like, oh i dont know, painting the entire living room by myself.

before you start to judge me, i love to paint. it soothes me. i have NO artistic talent, but when i have that paintbrush and start, i get lost in the blur of the old colors turning into the new ones. the smell of the paint and vanilla extract i was told hides the smell but is a crock. when i asked nay if i couldnt paint the living room, he gave me that look like "really?" and i gave him the look like, "what do you mean really?!"

he finally relented but under one condition: he wasnt going to help. if i wanted to paint the living room it was ALL me.

and guess what?

i agreed.

so here it is friends. all my work and all my glory.

enjoy.

before

after

hurry.

"the world went and got itself it a big damn hurry."

brooks, your right.

it isnt even thanksgiving and we are already putting christmas trees up in town squares and christmas sales. i thought it was proper christmas etiquette to give thanksgiving it's day, and then right after you can put up your christmas decorations. thanksgiving is being snuffed out of it's own day! month even!

and christmas will be there. it's always there. it is the mama jama of all the holidays and requires the most money, time, and efforts. of course it is the holiday in which we celebrate the birth of our dear Savior, but isnt that an event we celebrate all year long? in births of children, the recovery of a sick friend, a job when we have been without one, having a home and food to eat, amazing spouses, doors slamming shut, doors swinging open. in all things, are we being thankful for the One who saves us?

i fall short constantly. almost in some sort of sick schedule, and as the amazing dustin kensrue says "feels like the devil rents a room in my brain".

but God is merciful.

He sees and He forgives.

He is the same God to us as He was to Job and Peter. He is unchanging, and does not hurry Himself. He is patient and waits for us to come back to Him when we wonder away.

because we will wonder.

the worlds lights are shiny and words sway us like helpless birds in the sea.

but in those lights and in that sea, there He is.

waiting.

waiting.

patient. with no hurry and no schedule. no unrealistic expectations or hard feelings. He takes His time in all things.

it's beautiful to see, especially when it involves two certain friends of mine, who will remain nameless, (cough, cough, katie, cough, cough, truman) who have decided to spend the rest of their lives together. God saw it fit to bring these two together and I am lucky enough to be able to watch a portion of it.

His timing is a blessing.

friends.

my car squeaks.

ALL the time. when i am in the parking structure at school it squeaks so loud fellow students cover their ears and give me that look like "do you have any idea how freaking loud your car is?!?"

oh, i know.

it is so loud it wakes up nathan as i leave for work. it's pathetic.

i finally had some time to take it in and have it looked at. the conclusion: a new belt costing $120. for one silly belt. i called up our good friend who is a mechanic and asked him if that was a reasonable price for the type of belt we needed to which he proceeded to tell me it was not. he offered to come by and look at.

today, i am thankful for good friends who are generous with their time and their talents. i am thankful for people who are smarter than me who can save me $100. i am thankful that i have a community of friends who can fulfill all those random but SUPER necessary needs that make like easier. for example:

Katie- amazing hair stylist. a gem. a true artist.
Truman- provides us with the best coffee i have EVER tasted. for free. and he delivers it.
Ricky- the mechanic of champs. knowledgable. helpful. and super kind.
Christine- an amazing photographer. truly knows how to make things beautiful.
Desiree- my massager and giver of free starbucks. what a peach.
Justin- taker awayer of the fleas brought in by our neighbors. has sprayed our house at least 6 times and does it in exchange for a warm homemade dinner.
(i'm sure i missed someone, so if i did write me an angry letter and i will add you to this prestigious list.)

we are beyond blessed to have the friends we have who help us the way they do.