Off the grid

So, I really want to have a blog. And I want to update it, and post cute crafty things that I (don't) have time to do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I want to be able to be creative, in my writing, decorating, and crafting in general. Apparently I'm not allowed to have what I want. It doesn't help that my computer is dead, and I have no way to charge it. Yay for iPhone apps!

Since the wedding (which I will hopefully be able to write about one of these days) a lot has happened. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, and I'm trying to type this on my phone...




Coleman opened wedding presents...



Grapes started maturing...



We started a garden, that gets watered probably once a week. Good thing it consists of mostly succulents.



We puppy sat for some friends. I love Sampson.



We used our cuisinart nearly every day since we got married.



Filtered table wines at work.



Went to a bachelorette in manhattan beach



Visited Coleman's parents and ate amazing food



Went to a cousin's wedding, who didn't want to attempt my new last name



Found heaven.



Sampled beer in orange county



Watched star trek



Crushed some grapes...



...then pressed them.



Made bleu cheese burgers and sweet potato fries



And I learned how to drive a tractor.

Also, apparently I have stopped caring about punctuation.

Crush is happening right now. Here's hoping I don't have to work 6 days/week for two and a half months like last year.

Bouquet

So last week I started making my bouquet. Fun times. I enlisted the 8th grade girls I volunteer with to help prep/make some of the flowers. Here's the close up/examples of the flowers:


And here's what I have done.


I have probably 30 more fabric rosettes to make. Time for movies and crafting! :)

Wedding project

So Kaitlin and I have been working on a wedding craft tonight.


So far we've cut around 60 feet worth of fabric for the bunting! Too bad I forgot to get the cord from Coleman so we can't actually finish it and see how long it really is. Oh well. I'll just get Coleman to help me attach the fabric to the cord for the aisle runners.

Here's hoping the rest of the crafting goes smoothly.

125 days and counting...

Our wedding is in 125 days. In honor of that I would like to post this video of a wedding that I am considering taking inspiration from. Does anybody want to volunteer to make this a musical wedding ceremony?

Lots happening

So I started a post a few months ago. Obviously that didn't turn out so well.

Coleman and I are in the middle of planning a wedding. Parts of the actual planning is stressful like everybody talks about. But the most stressful part so far has been my brother. His wedding is almost a month to the day before ours. And apparently ever since Coleman had the audacity to propose before Chris and Colleen were married (note the sarcasm) he's been incredibly selfish. This is where all of my wedding related stress has come from. He didn't talk to me for 6 weeks because we're using the same venue for our reception that he is. It makes me sad.

I've spent so much time praying for my own pending nuptials that I haven't at all for my brother's. Sometimes I feel like he is still living off our parents' faith and not claiming his own. He didn't find a community of believers in college. He still hasn't connected to anybody in the group he's going to now. I think more frustrating than his selfishness about wedding stuff is his lack of spiritual growth since high school. I feel like the rest of the siblings have taken the opportunities for growth that God has given us. Sometimes we learned our lessons the hard way, but we still grew. But it appears as though he's stagnant in his faith.

Please join me in praying for my brother, and my, marriage to be anchored in Jesus.

House

I've been offered a room in a house with a few girls from church. I would love to move out, into a real house, into a place with Christian women. And it's a block away from church.
Rent is about $100 more than what I'm paying now, but if I'm working full-time at Chick-fil-a I could make rent in a week.
Coleman doesn't want me to move, I think that's because we finally live close to each other again, and can just walk to each other's places.
Move in day would be June 1, so I need to decide soon so I can give my notice to my roommates and apartment complex. Pray for this decision!

UPDATE: Turns out the house that I was going to move into went into foreclosure. This was a surprise to the ladies living there and to the owners. I don't know how you could not know that your house was going to be going into foreclosure (doesn't that happen because you haven't been paying your loan off?).

Crime Alert

((Parental warning: This warning is directed specifically at my mother. Don't worry, I don't walk to or from Coleman's alone after dark. And my doors are locked at all times. I don't want you freaking out thinking I'm not safe where I'm living, I have never been afraid for my safety while living here.))

After the shooting that happened right off campus my last year working in the dorms (also around the same time of the Virginia Tech shooting), the school started emailing everyone that attends school anytime a major crime (robbery, harassment, shooting, stabbing, etc.) has happened on or around campus. This is their attempt at helping keep the campus more safe.

Sometimes it's annoying. Sometimes it's a little bit freaky. Like last year when the email said there was a shooting or stabbing right around the corner from my apartment ("So that's why the helicopters were flying about my complex", although this seems to be fairly routine).

Tonight I literally cried when I read one of the 2 that had been sent out this last week. 1) A girl was mugged, her purse stolen. Two days later, there was a report of a young woman being raped by two men. She was walking westbound on Shaw, near Backer. She was alone, it was night. But this happened right next to my complex. I feel for this girl.

It broke my heart reading that word. I can't even hear that word without my eyes watering. Today after hearing the message at church I was reminded of the focus of the last bible study series we did in Nehemiah (this is to the specific sermon I'm referencing, if you want to hear the rest of the series click on "More episodes" scroll to the bottom and click on page 4). Brad talked about our Holy Discontent. The thing that God has called us to do with our lives/skills/gifts. Perhaps mine has something to do with victims of this horrible crime. I'm not really sure, I still need to pray on it to determine if and what I could do. Nehemiah went 4 months before being able to do something about his calling to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.

When we were studying Nehemiah I wanted to think that I was called for something else, specifically to teach the junior high girls about relationships/dating. I knew that wasn't right, but I wanted to think it was, because it's easier to talk about. I had a brief moment that I thought it could have something to do with this but didn't want it to be true. I can't even say the word without wanting to cry, how could that be my holy discontent if I can't even say the word? Maybe the real question should be: "How could that not be it?" My heart is clearly broken for that. Maybe it's broken over that, but I'd rather not split hairs at this point.

Right now I want to just turn this over and give it to God. If I'm supposed to do something with this line of thought it will become something, a ministry perhaps, or even a mentorship? Who knows at this point.