Happy Anniversary to us :)

Today marks 2 years.

Today is kind of a big deal.

Joel went out for a couple of hours this morning to "run some errands."

He came back with these:

And an idea:


We had a picnic at the arboretum, where we had our reception.

Let me tell you what was in that picnic basket:
A NoFo lunch consisting of a grilled pimento cheese sandwich for him (sans one bite), a shrimp BLT for me, sweet potato fries, fresh fruit, and the pièce de résistance: an Oreo cupcake from Whole Foods.

Oh baby, you sure do get me.


Sadly, the mosquitoes ate us alive. I kept trying to get "just one more picture" and quit when we were so squinty from the sun that our pictures looked like this:Joel looks a bit pained. But he's not because he got new Under Armor from me.

Happy day.

Redemption

I recently finished Timothy Keller's The Reason for God. This morning, I'm reflecting on this passage:

"The Biblical view of things is resurrection-not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater...

Jesus insisted that His return will be with such power that the very material world and universe will be purged of all decay and brokenness. All will be healed and all might-have-beens will be."

I am so thankful for the God of redemption.

I'm not an expert on religions, but from what I've read I understand that most major religions try to tackle this concept of sin. We call it very, very different things, and understand it's origin in different ways. But there is no denying that there is something wrong with us. Man has a problem.

It's always tempting for me to ascribe to the idea that desire is what causes suffering.

Paula Rinhart, one of my very favorite authors/speakers, writes in Strong Women Soft Hearts:

"Disowning desire saves us from having to wade through some really difficult places in our lives. When we deaden desire,
-We don't have to fave the disappointment of a lost dream;
-We save ourselves from doing the slow and tedious work of repairing a broken relationship;
-We don't have to sweat through trusting God with the things we don't understand; and
-We can avoid, a little longer, our fear of what others will think."

I just love this:
"God made our spirit to respond to Him-to hunger and desire beyond ourselves that which is wholly other, Holy Other. He made us incomplete-with gaps, holes, yearnings, desires that woo us to our real home. We make a big mistake if we toss our longings away lightly...Christianity begins with an invitation to desire."

"Given that we live on the far side of Eden and that this world will always fall short, desire will lead to pain as often as pleasure... How we see pain determines, in large part, the life of our hearts."

I totally get her. I get this.

And living in the memory of Eden is what makes me so very thankful for redemption. Jesus died to redeem all that was broken, and not only to fix it but to make it better. That is something to be joyful about, even during trials.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

Roadtrip!

The hubs and I spent the last week in Murray, KY and Olive Branch, Ms.

Now we are exhausted.

Memaw and Pepaw, Joel's grandparents, were kind enough to host us in their beautiful house for 5 days. We did super exciting things like play cards and go to Dairy Queen. But really, I love them. They may be the most amiable people on the planet.
We mostly loved "small town life" for a week. It was pretty special to drive on country roads, surrounded by barns and various farm animals/crops, listening to Allison Krauss and Emmy Lou Harris.



Days 6, 7, and 8 of our trip were spent in the Memphis suburb of Olive Branch with Tyler. We are ribs at Rendezvous. That was a huge deal.

Thanks Tyler :)

Now we are back in our slightly messy house, and rumor on the street is that Target has a grocery store now, so that's a big deal in my life.

Upcoming events in my very eventful life:
1) Our anniversary is Monday.
2) By birthday is Wednesday.
[I am extremely excited about both of these things.]
School starts back in less than a month. I'm actually warming up to the idea!

[stop laughing. I know, the second my alarm goes off at 5:45 I will eat my words.]

Super boring

I think my background on the blog broke. So I deleted it. And now nothing will work. So for now, I have an extremely boring background.

Washington, D.C.

This weekend, I went to D.C. with my mom and brother. I got to see lots of museums, but took few pictures. We did watch the fireworks last night, which was awesome.
(My awesome brother and half of me.)

When I returned, Joel had a surprise for me! He had bought an awesome red bookshelf at the fairgrounds and filled it perfectly. He even organized the rest of the kitchen and cleaned the house.
(We kind of love Coke products...)

The Cutie Robinson girls

A couple of weeks ago, I got to hang out with my favorite Nugget and her new baby sister. This girl is hilarious. She looks like such a big girl here!
And little Eleanor (peach fuzz), you are just as sweet as your sister!


Laura and Caleb, you sure do have some pretty babies!
Thanks for letting me play :)