Confession Friday - couple style

Hey there! Today is not only Friday (finally!) but it's also Jake and I's anniversary! 7 years ago it all started with holding hands :) That's almost a third of my life that I've spent with him. Crazy! So I'm going to try and do a confession friday about us...not sure how it will work out without airing all our secrets :)

I confess that I can't even remember life before we started dating...it was so long ago!

I confess that I see high school kids now and wonder if we were really THAT young when we started dating. It felt like we were so much older and mature.

I confess that this picture absolutely cracks me up. Taken 7 years ago! Bad hair pretty much sums it up. Our kids are going to have so much fun with this some day.

I confess that I don't like having our dating anniversary and wedding anniversary so close. We're already making wedding anniversary plans so today is just another day...but I really want to celebrate!

I confess that the last 2 years have been the hardest, most stressful but definitely the most rewarding out of the past 7.

I confess that I want to spend the day with my husband but we're both working ALL DAY and won't see each other until about midnight :( Boooooo

That's about all I got. Happy 7 years, baby! I love you and can't wait to spend the next 70 years with you :)

New Addition to the Family :)

No, no it's not a baby ;) For those of you on facebook you have probably seen the shameless number of photos that I've put up of this new addition....our puppy Trip!

He's a cutie :)

We've had him for 2 weeks today....I know, I've been slacking as a blogger! I finally have something to write about and I wait 2 weeks to do it. He's almost like having a furry, barking baby.  He wakes up several times in the middle of the night. He cries (whines, barks) when he wakes up and can't see us.  He's so affectionate and needy and cute. He's a red heeler mix and they think he'll be about 40-50 pounds. Homeboy has pretty much doubled in size since we got him....so we need a house with a yard pronto!

Car ride home after a long weekend

We went to the parents' house this weekend for a wedding/the long weekend and he played with Jake's family's dog all weekend and he is POOPED! We cuddled in the backseat the whole ride back home.  Nigel even joined us towards the end.  He's a lovable little guy....I'm just worried that our neighbors don't love him quite as much as we do :)

Becoming an Adult...Officially

So tomorrow is my last day of undergrad classes. I love how I say that like I'm going to grad school. Let's get one thing straight: Homegirl is DONE with school. Got it? Good.

I just got moved up to serving at work and sadly I'm making more there than I would with my degree so I think that's what I'll continue to do for now while I volunteer at places around town that may open up job opportunities. Jake had an interview for a graduate assistant position for grad school.  He also has a big boy job interview next week and then another one the week after that. Holy grown ups.  One of the jobs comes with full benefits and 4 weeks of paid vacation...holla!

I think the thing I'm most excited about (and I tell Jake often) is being a "normal" married couple.  When people find out I'm married and I tell them I'm 22 (because they always ask how old I am because apparently I look like I'm 16) they won't think that's outrageously weird.  We won't be in this weird limbo of student and adult.  We'll just be normal adult married people. Yay!

As excited as I am, I'm still anxious about the future. I pray about it daily.  I just want to make the decision that is going to allow me to glorify God the most. I have no idea what that is.  My heart aches for children, which seems almost silly to me because I still feel so young. On the other hand, I have been married for 2 years, which I've been told is about the time most couples get the baby itch if they don't have kids yet. However, I also know that I love sleeping through the night.  Part of me wants a family now and part of me wants to just enjoy the time that Jake and I have together without school for a little while. Who knows. I digress.

Basically those are all the crossroads we're at right now. But the major crossroads I'm facing right now: to study for finals or to watch season 4 of Giuliana and Bill since my amazing husband bought it for me on iTunes earlier this week....I think we all know which one I'm choosing.

Catching Up

 A blog post?! I'm not dead?! Nope...just really busy and really boring. Since it's Friday I guess I'll do a little Confession Friday to catch everyone up on my not so exciting life.

I confess I still get on blogger 2-3 times a week and read blogs like crazy. I just never have anything interesting to say!

I confess that Jake and I graduate in approximately 3 weeks and we have no idea what we're doing with our lives. None whatsoever. The trip to Africa is still in the air, as well as jobs and house hunting (eek!), and Jake possibly going to grad school. Decisions, decisions. When did we become such adults? I'm just waiting for God to start closing some doors and pointing us in the right direction.

I confess that I had one class cancelled today so I just skipped the second one and came into my job at the church early.  I'm definitely ready to be out of school and working.

I confess I'm typing this at work.  This job is so laid back and amazing.  I get a to-do list and when that list is done I hang out and answer the phone if it rings.  I've gotten a lot of homework done today and now some blogging!

I confess that two jobs and school doesn't leave a whole bunch of time for doing things I want to do like seeing friends, reading, going to visit my family....it's a rough life.

I confess that I started training to be a server at work last night and I was so nervous I felt sick.  Definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't spill anything and it was actually pretty fun.  There were like 4 people being trained and we all got free training meals so we had a big family dinner afterwards :)

I confess there are pregnant women and babies just about everywhere I look and baby fever is getting the best of me.  I just want a little one to cuddle with.

I confess that I also love getting a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night which makes me ok with waiting a little bit longer to have a baby.

I confess that I hate these stupid Wonka pictures but this one made me laugh. I just have to laugh at people that drive so stupidly and then end up like one car ahead of me.

I confess I've been watching a lot of The Hills on netflix lately. It's just so addicting.  No matter how many times I've seen each episode I just find loving it.  Guilty pleasure.

I confess that I kind of love that blogger tells me how many views each post gets but it makes me feel like there's an awful lot of creepers that need to follow me and comment! :)

Well...that's about all I've got. Who knows when I'll post again? I'm going to try to get back into this blog so hopefully my life gets a little more interesting :)

This will not be a happy post

I know I've been absent from blogger world for awhile...I've been reading blogs, I just haven't felt that I had anything to blog about. However, my heart is so full of a thousand different emotions right now and I don't know where to begin.

About a month ago, I stumbled across Katie Davis' blog. Warning: reading this blog WILL change your life. God is continually using her experiences to break my heart. I started reading through from the very beginning and quickly showed Jake. Within about a day we came to the same conclusion; we can't just sit here and not DO something. So we started looking into trips to Africa, first to Uganda just to visit Katie's ministry and let her know how God is using her. After talking to a few close friends, we started looking a little bigger. We're currently in the process of filling out applications with Africa Inland Mission to go somewhere over there for 6 months to work with orphans.

We're not sure where God wants us or for how long or what we'll do when we get back. Life's just one big question mark now but it means we HAVE to put our trust in Him. Today I had a rare day off (which I should be spending studying...but I haven't done much of that) so I decided to spend my afternoon reading more of Katie's blog. I read all of her posts from 2010. Challenging stuff. God is using it to majorly convict me.  I found a statistic from UNICEF that says there are between 143 and 210 million orphans in the world. Please don't just read that as a statistic. That's about half of the United States population. Orphaned. Alone. 143 to 210 million individual children. They aren't just a statistic.

I also found a statistic that said approximately 16,000 children die every day from hunger-related issues. 1 every 5 seconds. Katie blogged about Matthew 25 and Jesus separating the sheep from the goats. "...And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you sick of in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

There's a little bit more to the passage but I think you get the point. Eternal fire = Hell. I can guarantee you Jesus did not say these things lightly. He fully meant just what He said. And all my head can think is "What am I doing RIGHT NOW? How am I picking up my cross and following Him in this moment?" Yeah I can say I'm going to Africa in January but how am I serving Him and the least of these today?" I'm not saying I have all the answers but I know I need to DO SOMETHING. In the time it's taken me to write this post dozens of children have died. That's not ok with me.

The best Jake and I have come up with is selling the excess we have (our tv, our blu-ray player, xbox, clothes and shoes we never wear, etc.) and giving the money to Amazima (Katie's organization) to help feed orphans in Uganda and reach them with the gospel. I'm writing this to bring awareness to her agency, to the need, and also to hold us accountable. Already as I'm writing this we're talking about how hard it will really be to live without the excess comforts of this world but how can it not be worth it? I don't want this post to sound in any way like we're trying to draw attention to the "good" we're doing. My best deeds are still filthy rags. We're going to prayerfully consider where God is leading us and what He plans to do now that He has so drastically changed our hearts. Please pray for us, as well.

Day F - Fast Forward Five Years

Hm...again...I'm not really sure what to do with this one. My plans never work out the way I intend them to...which is ok with me because God's plan has always been better.  It just makes me hesitant to plan things because I feel like that's just asking for God to laugh in my face and change everything :)

But in the perfect Katie world, here's what it would look like in 5 years. I'd be 27 years old...hopefully have at least one kid...maybe a toddler with one on the way or a newborn :) I'd be a stay-at-home mom and Jake would be doing a job that he loves that would pay the bills but of course if I need to work to make ends meet, then that's what I'll be doing!

Really the future is all just so unknown. Other than knowing I'd like to be a mom by then, everything else is up in the air. I have no idea where we'll live, what we'll be doing, or how close to our families will be. It's scary and exciting at the same time. My life has never been so open and unplanned. As a planner that freaks me out. But it's also so cool to know we aren't going to necessarily be tied down to anything. I'd love to live close to both of our families but I don't know if that will happen right away or not.

Basically...it's all one big question mark. God knows and I'm content with that. Besides, maybe Jesus will come back before then and I'll be on the new earth...which would be way more awesome than ANY of my plans!

Day E - Explain to me why

I really have no idea what to do with this day...I guess I'll just kind of ramble about things I don't understand. Boo.

Explain to me why....the weekends seem to pass so quickly and the school days seem to pass so slowly. I don't get it. I'm still all for 4 day weekend and 3 day school weeks...

Explain to me why....gas is so stinkin expensive?! Or why we haven't found some kind of alternative, cheaper way to get from one place to another. What about teleporting? Apparating? Harry Potter anyone? Bah.

Explain to me why...money is so important in the first place. I hate the control that money has on my day to day life. Boo.

Explain to me why...Britney Spears is still performing, singing, doing anything in public. She was good back in the day...then she went crazy...know when to quit, Brit! (I admit I added that last line just because quit and Brit rhyme.)

Explain to me why...the nights you get the most sleep are the mornings when you feel the most tired. I slept SO well last night for so long and I feel exhausted today. No idea why....

Explain to me why...people in this town drive a constant 45 mph no matter what the speed limit is. I get tail-gated on some roads and then I'm passing people left and right on other roads. Makes no sense to me.

Explain to me why....some of the teachers in "helping people" professions can be so heartless and un-caring. It baffles me...you're obviously a teacher because you could never work with real clients....

Explain to me why....I have to go to work tonight instead of staying at home and reading?! What the heck?! Buhhh.

So if anyone has any good explanations for these I'd love to hear it :)