Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Once upon a time...

there was a girl who married a boy...
They didn't know what they were supposed to do with their lives,
but they knew that whatever they did, they would do it together. 
A year later, they found themselves on a journey to Colorado.

This is their first view of the mountains after driving 17 hours from their homes in Indiana


The boy and the girl were moving to Denver so that the boy could go to seminary.
A very nice family had agreed to take this crazy young couple into their home, and the 
crazy young couple was very, very grateful and so blessed to be there.
On their second night in Colorado, the boy and the girl went to a baseball game 
to watch their new little "brother" play third base.


Sometimes in the mornings the entire family went running, 
and then came back to have Bible study and learn memory verses.


One afternoon, the whole family took the light rail down town for lunch,


and walked along the pretty streets where there were old,
out of tune pianos for everyone to enjoy.


On the fourth of July, family and friends came to the house where the boy an the girl lived.
They played a big game of soccer, ate lots of food, and talked on the front porch for hours.


There were aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, husbands, 
wives, neighbors and a big gray dog.


A little while later, the boy and the girl headed south to
visit the boy's brother and to see a beautiful garden.


When it got dark, the boy and the girl snuck away to 
take a romantic picture while the brother wasn't looking.


A few weeks after they moved to Colorado, the boy and the girl 
went back to Indiana because the boy was in a friend's wedding.
But, before the wedding the boy and the girl stopped at the boy's house 
to see his family and thew cows.


There were lots of precious baby cows with their mamas.


After a few nice days with the boy's family, the boy and the girl 
headed north to see the girl's family and to go to the wedding, of course. 
The girl took lots of pictures at the wedding because her gorgeous friend was the bride
(and because her handsome husband was in the wedding).


The newlyweds took kissy pictures on benches and under arches.


The couple had the most beautiful flower girls,


and a pretty stunning wedding party as well.


It was really hot outside, and everyone was glad to get 
back to the church where final preparations were made, 
 and the bride showed off her amazing backless dress.


People came, the church filled up and soon it was time 
for the bride to walk down the isle with her daddy.


The bride and the groom said their vows,


and the preacher said his only important line...


After that, the newlyweds were ready to get out of there,
but were good sports and greeted all of their friends
and family before cutting the cake 


and dancing to the most precious song.


Soon the wedding was over and the bride and groom
began their happily ever after while the boy and the girl threw 
a big after party with awesome friends and played knock out in the rain.


The boy and the girl left the next day to return to Colorado, 
and the girl's younger sister came with them too. The boy and the girl
took the sister all over the state to do fun things.
 
First, they went hiking,


and one night, they went to a big dinner with all 
of their cousins and family who were in Colorado. They ate steak
and salad and yummy desserts while catching up with long lost relatives.


Later in the week, the boy and the girl, the sister and the family they lived with
all took the most wonderful trip to the mountains. The drive there was beautiful,
and they stopped often to take pictures.


They stopped at a gorgeous place along a river, 
where there was a waterfall and clear green water.
 
 
And crazy people jumped off of the cliffs into the freezing water while the boy took pictures.


When they got to town, everyone was hungry
and decided to eat at a sweet diner called Little Annie's.


After that, the girl and her sister walked around town pretending to be wealthy,
and the sister tried on a $ 7,000 dress.

 
The girl dragged the crying sister out of the store 
and they proceeded to go to the music festival with everyone else. 
They sat in the grass reading books while they listened to 
a world-renowned cellist and took pictures of pretty aspen trees.
 
 
Once the music stopped, they walked back to town
where the boy found a funny monkey statue.


 After they walked around the town, they stopped for dinner and ice cream. 
When it got dark, the girl made her sister take pictures
of her and the boy between the pretty street lights.


 The next day, everyone went to the farmer's market where there 
were lots of overpriced fruits, vegetables, flowers


and colorful bikes!


After the market it was time to leave, 
because the next day they were going whitewater rafting.
The girl was stupid and forgot her camera,
thus missing out on a priceless photo of the boy, his brother and her cousin in wetsuits.

[Insert mental picture here.]

Soon, the sister had to leave so she and the girl decided to go 
to a pretty botanic garden in Denver where there were beautiful flowers
and amazing places to take pictures.


In one place there was a canopy of grape vines growing over a trellis,
 
 
and one garden had crazy flowers the girl had never seen
 
 
and butterflies who posed perfectly for long periods of time.


The next day, the girl's sister left and it was back to the old routine.
The girl babysat her sweet nephew a few days a week and took lots of fun pictures.
 

But he didn't find it so amusing.


One weekend the boy and the girl went to stay with the girl's aunt, 
and they enjoyed many wonderful meals and good conversation. 
One night, they all went to the county fair where they saw all sorts of animals
and enjoyed the evening together.


The next afternoon, they walked around a sweet college town
and ate delicious $1 ice cream before the boy and girl had to leave.

The next day, the boy and the girl had to drive two trucks to Utah for an odd job.
It was a gorgeous drive, and the company paid for
them to stop in a lovely little mountain town overnight.


The day they got back from Utah, the boy and the girl had dinner with 
visiting family and spent another gorgeous day in the mountains with them.
 
After that, things finally started slowing down and the girl decided it was time 
to reflect on all that had happened in the past month. 
By the time she was finished, (two hours later)
she had come to an overwhelming conclusion:

The boy and the girl really were living happily ever after
and were blessed beyond measure.

 
 





Sunday, August 15, 2010

One Year Ago Today...

I married my bestfriend :) 


 After much too long, I am back to the world of blogging and excited to write about the whirlwind of a summer this has been. We have moved to Colorado, driven to and from Indiana for a wedding, gone to Aspen...twice, visited Chris in CO Springs, we've been whitewater rafting, gone hiking in Fort Collins, driven to Utah and back, stayed with my aunt and uncle for a weekend and now we're finally catching our breath and wondering where the time has gone.

This time last year, if you'd have asked me what I thought I would be doing right now; well, I wouldn't have cared much (this time last year I was about two hours into being married...) but if I had to answer, it would have gone something like playing basketball and working towards an art degree at Olivet while Michael searched for a steady job in the suburbs of Chicago. I wince just thinking about that idea, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am to be out from all that was Illinois. All that to say-God is so good, and when you follow Him, He never fails to lead you exactly where He wants you. And what better place to be than exactly where God wants you?

I think that's why Illinois was such a restless time for us. Not because it was that awful, but because we both knew that we were never supposed to be there in the first place. But, God is faithful and really does work all things for the good. So here we are now, smack dab in the middle of God's will for us, as happy as we've ever been. And today, we're celebrating our first year together.

It was such an awesome anniversary. We didn't do anything special at all; we just relaxed, went to church, had lunch with another great couple, took a nice Sunday afternoon nap, ate dinner with the Kenyons, watched football and took Truman for a walk. It was such a sweet and simple day that we both so enjoyed.

I think it's safe to say that church was the highlight of the day for both of us. We met some new friends at DU's campus to try out their church and were so blown away by the entire service. Michael and I were both overwhelmed by the worship. Not so much the music as the actual act of worshiping collectively as an entire church body. Every person there sang with reckless abandon, arms outstretched in shameless worship. It was such a real and liberating experience to remember that everyone isn't watching you, and that you are singing to God, and only God. It was refreshing to say the least, and a great way to start the week.

I'll be back soon to give each adventure of the summer it's due glory. Lot's of pictures and stories to follow. It's good to be back.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Twenty-five...

things that I love about my husband.

1. Have you seen his eyes? It's not fair.
2. He is ridiculously good looking.
3. He thinks I'm ridiculously good looking.
4. He sings me songs about fish and chips and turtles.
5. He makes new, very entertaining faces every day.
6. His hair gets really blond and curly in the summer.
7. He goes on extra slow runs with me every morning (and then runs by himself afterward and goes annoyingly fast....this part I do not love)
8. He is amazing with kids. Seriously, amazing.
9. He's the perfect mix of really smart and really stupid.
10. He is absolutely hilarious.
11. There are only about four people that ever have/ever will see him being his hysterical self, and I'm the lucky girl that gets to see it every single day.
12. He is freakishly athletic.
13. He wants to be in full-time ministry.
14. He's a farm boy...cows, tractors, corn, you name it.
15. He is extremely artistic.
16. He's a deep thinker.
17. He frequently quotes movies mid-conversation.
18. He makes embarrassingly corny jokes, and gets really excited when he makes one that is actually witty. I laugh at all of them either way...
19. He loves to take me out on expensive dates and buys me diamonds and all the clothes I want...ok, this is a lie. See below for the truth.
20. He is super stingy (this is more of me trying to love the attribute than actually loving it, but without it I would buy new clothes and other unnecessary purchases all too often)
21. His laugh is adorable.
22. He makes me laugh.
23. He has child-like energy and loves life.
24. He is ornery as ever, but it cracks me up.
25. And as cliche as this sounds, he really does love the Lord wholeheartedly and leads and loves me accordingly.

Thank goodness he's only 25 because I'm going to need at least a year to find another thing to love about him...

Michael's 3D birthday card from the Kenyon's
Michael and Jack playing some birthday Fifa. I'm not sure, but I think those smiles are saying "hurry up and take the picture, we don't have time for this!"

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Beautiful


I'm sitting on the front porch of our beautiful new home, (rather the home of the wonderful family who has taken us in) in the beautiful, sunny, hot, humidity and bug free Colorado.  It's quiet, breezy, and you guessed it . . . just plain beautiful! We arrived Monday evening after a two day trek across the country and since then our days have been filled with two awesome little kids, a precious golden-doodle, lots of frisbee, football, back yard soccer, meals on the front porch, good conversation and lots of laughter. I could get used to this, but I'm a little afraid to because I know we are getting spoiled big time and someday soon we're going to come face to face with reality and realize that we need to get jobs, find financial aid for Seminary, pay off student loans and save up for a second car and maybe a down payment on a house somewhere down the road. Am I getting ahead of myself? Yes, I always do. But, this is just me thinking out loud so prepare yourself for a lot of Lexi getting ahead of herself...way, way ahead of herself.  

So here are my options, I could . . .
A. find a nanny position near our neighborhood.
B. enroll in a CNA program, get certified, find work, work for a year, become a resident, go to nursing school, spend lots of money, get a BSN, find work, have a stable job, have good insurance, make good money and support my full-time ministry zero income husband.
C. find a receptionist/secretary position.
D. be a complete overachiever and work at Starbucks...just like the good old days.
E. none of the above. 
F. win the lottery, or hope that someone who actually plays it wins and gives us 1/16 of it, then have children, start a photography business and live happily ever after. 

I choose F! 

Ok, back to reality. And reality is that I am equally not enthused by any of the above options. So, I'm just praying for direction and wisdom, because I know that this is only a season in our lives and the Lord has a plan for it. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out what it is, and do it. But don't get me wrong, I would be thrilled to find a solid temporary job opportunity, and any of the said options would be fine. It's just that I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing any of them. Actually, I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing anything other than being a wife and mother, playing around with photography, working alongside my husband in the church, and making a difference in the lives of those around me. As far as I know, there's no degree for that. So for now, I'll just follow where He leads and rest in His sovereignty. 

Matthew 6:32-34 ...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.


Friday, June 25, 2010

Daddy's Girl

It's true, I'm a daddy's girl. And I know it's a little late for a Father's Day post, but better late than never right? (story of my life...) We celebrated Father's Day as a family on Monday by going to Pine Hills for a 95 degree extra humid hiking adventure. We got a little whiny as the hike went on (girls, bugs and heat don't mesh well) but, as always, dad lightened the mood when we got to a little creek that ran along side the trail. We were crossing through the ankle-deep water when he handed me his phone, keys and wallet and announced that he was going to lay down in the water. Eyebrows raised, I watched as he proceeded to lower himself into the stream and scream as he submerged himself in the freezing water. Needless to say, we all laughed our heads off and the rest of the hike was packed with lots of fun, pictures and clay face paint.

  So it begins...
...

 Just one of the many reasons I love my daddy. All my life he has supported me and encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be. He made me feel beautiful and special, and loved me in a way that made it easy for me to believe in God's love. Between my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I have been loved well. I know how blessed I am to have experienced such love, and I am so thankful for the love of the two greatest father's of all.

This weekend I went through tons of pictures and found these gems to share with you from the good ole' days... (plus a few recent ones)

Love.
I never liked getting dressed up.
Itty bitty.
My favorite shoulder.
Very classy.
Best big sister ever, folks.
Then... (so photogenic)
Now.
Daddy's girls.
Momma's girls.
Sisters.
Best picture ever. (Click to enlarge)
Monkey see...
Family.
Face paint.
Dad wanted to help too.
Best pic of the day.
Second best.

Forgive my photo heavy post, but I had to cover a lot of ground. Hope you enjoyed! I'll be back soon for a sad, nostalgic post on leaving Indiana...