Friday, January 11, 2013

Hubs' Big Debut

Reading this made me cry at work... I truly do love my husband. 
I don't even know how else to introduce this, so here it is: hubs' blogging debut!


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Hey everybody it’s me, C’s husband J/Hubs/Babe/Mr. Wonderful! C has been nagging me asking me for a couple weeks now if I would guest post on her blog and the reason I've been dragging my feet is because I just did not really know what to say on these things. I mean I blog stalk my wife every chance I get and love reading what she has to say about me and love seeing all the nice encouraging comments everyone leaves her, but I have had absolutely zero inspiration for this post, which is odd because I am without a doubt the wittiest, most charming, and most debonair man anyone will ever meet, but apparently I also suffer from extreme blogging performance anxiety. (I don’t even know how long these posts are supposed to be. I mean, how many pages in Word is too much??) Alas, here I am, at a loss for anything amusing or charming to say, and since I actually do despise talking about myself, I am going to tell you all the story of C and I, from my perspective.

            Now I know my wife has that cute little section of her blog where she tells how we met and our engagement story and blah blah blah and all that. But this is the real and gritty truth of what went down. Its kind of funny, I have no memory of meeting C for the first time. She claims that it was the day our mutual godson was born, I came into the hospital room with flowers for her sister and earplugs for my cousin. She saw me and immediately fell head over heels while I, on the other hand, apparently had no idea she was even in the room. But we must’ve had made some sort of connection along the way because I began torturing the heck out of teasing her via social media constantly (yes, apparently I flirt like a 9 year old school boy). This went on for a few years actually, until in early 2011 I went to my cousin’s house for dinner and C was there as well. Well, my cousin and his wife went out after dinner to get dessert and left us alone watching the baby. So while C was doing the dishes and I was playing with the baby I walked up to her and said, “So is this what our life is going to be like if Cassie and Jordan die?” Very morbid I know, but it was by far the slickest pick-up line I’ve ever used. Little did I know at the time how right I was. Of course, Cassie and Jordan are still alive, but you get my drift. Well, we started the whole courtship ritual, then got engaged, and then married and all that. But I want to tell you all about today is how that series of events has changed my life. Seriously, like 100%. When I first starting dating C, I was at the lowest point of my life. Things were pretty bad. Looking back on it now I really have no idea what she saw in me outside of my ruggedly handsome face and charming personality. But she saw something; she saw a lot actually. She saw more than I even knew existed. At that time, I was still living with my parents, (seriously, never moved out once, not even in college), I had no car, I had a decent job that I had been at for 10 years but it was a dead end job. She saw through all of that and saw the man I could be. And here I am now, not even two years after we first met, and I am not only moved out of my parents house, but I have house of my our own. If you had asked me three years ago if I would ever go back to school I probably would've laughed. “No way, I’m fine where I am now, I’ll get that promotion eventually.” And now look at me, I’m halfway through getting my Master’s degree. A MASTER’S, me, I’m going to hold an advanced degree. I also spent last night working on my resume and cover letter for job applications, scratch that, CAREER applications. My life is so ridiculously good right now it’s not even funny. And I owe 100% of it to the owner of this blog. I personally know that I have made fun of hear guys all the time make fun of their friends for being whipped or changing when they meet a girl like its some terrible thing, and I know it can be... but when you meet the RIGHT girl, the girl God has planned for you since before you were born (seriously, my mother has prayed for my wife since she was pregnant with me), it is something to be proud of. And when you meet that woman you will WANT to change. I never thought about going back to school or buying a house or even growing up in general because I never had anyone to do those things for. And now that I do, it doesn't stop. I try to do my best to make the best life possible for my wife and I, and I always will. Like right now, I have to go run an errand before I pick up C from work. So thanks for bearing with me through this, and I promise that next time I guest post you’ll get to see that charming witty side of me.

J

Monday, January 7, 2013

DIY Project - Our New Pantry

I am so beyond excited right now!

When we moved into our house a few months ago, we didn't have a pantry - just an empty closet in between  the kitchen and the dining room. (I have no clue what the previous homeowners used it for...) For the past few months, I've been keeping the food (ok, let's be honest - the massive amount of holiday treats!) in random cupboards throughout the kitchen. It hasn't worked out well - the shelves aren't high enough so I've had to lay down the cereal boxes... I can't see what I already have so I end up buying extras I don't need... I don't know what's stuck in the back so sometimes things get icky (ew!!!)

I had this vision to turn the closet into a pantry, but it had no shelves or anything at all! It seemed like a tough project for little old me to tackle.


One day last week while I was at work, my sweet husband surprised me by putting the shelves up. It took a lot of measuring, sawing, sanding, priming and lots of other manly stuff I don't know how to do, so I was super grateful that he took care of it all. (Thanks, hubs!) He also remembered me saying that it would be cute to have a chalkboard on the door, so he went to Lowe's and got some chalkboard paint and molding to frame it!


Have any of you ever used chalkboard paint? It's pretty cool, actually. You have to lay on a few coats (we did three) and let it dry for about 24 hours in between each coat.  When it's dry, you "prime" it by rubbing a piece of chalk all over the board and letting it sit for an hour before wiping it off, and voila! You have your own custom chalkboard that is exactly the size and shape you want it! One day when hubs and I have kids, I want to incorporate this into their rooms!

Side note: as I was wiping it down, I had this memory of the "bad kids" who had to wash the teacher's chalkboard after school as a form of punishment. I also remember volunteering to wash the teacher's chalkboard as a form of sucking up. What a nerd I was...

Anyway, I'm super happy with the end result:


I especially love our husband/wife apron hooks :)

Friday, January 4, 2013

Faithful Friday


Marquis at Simply Clarke, one of my favorite bloggers, wrote a post today called What Is a Disciple? She explains "discipleship" in a way that I can completely relate to, and it was something that I really needed to read this morning.

In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus instructed His disciples: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

"Take up your cross and follow Me." How many of us, even us Christians, are really doing this?

Not choosing the parts of the Bible we feel are relevant and avoiding the rest.
Not "toeing the line" between His plan and ours.
Not following Him but complaining the whole time.

I'm feeling a little convicted right now. How about you?

A few months ago, Emily at Newlywed Moments (another of my fave bloggers!) wrote THIS post about trusting God, even when we don't understand what He's doing in our lives. Em concluded that we need to trust Him NO MATTER WHAT and "be faithful in the little things". I really like that phrase. It means that even when things aren't going the way I want or expect, I still must faithfully:

Follow His Word daily 
{{wake up and read my Bible/devotional even though I don't want to get out of bed}}
Praise Him for what He's given us 
{{even when I feel like I deserve more that what I currently have}}
Be a kind, loving, respectful wife to hubs 
{{even when I feel sad, miserable, lonely and friendless}}
Act as a good testimony to others 
{{smile, be joyful, be a good witness at work - even when I wish I was anywhere but}}
Pray for what others are going through 
{{even when I feel like my own problems are bigger and more important}}

Jesus says we have to deny ourselves for His sake. That means that the little plan I have in my head {{ALWAYS}} about how my life could/should/is going to be? He wants me to throw it out the window. He's in the driver's seat. I AM NOT.

All He wants me to do is follow Him. Trust him and be faithful to him. He will decide the rest. And it WILL be better than anything I could plan myself.

 
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