home.

the wheels could not turn fast enough last friday afternoon as chris and i drove to east texas. i was SO ready to be home for christmas. after our six hour drive (i was over it after 45 minutes), we finally arrived at this house:

our family friends graciously let us have their farm house for the weekend. it was so fun for all of us to be together and kinda feel like we were away from the world. thankfully, the weather was beautiful, so we spent lots of time outside. it was just perfect.

on sunday afternoon, we drove back into town to do christmas eve and christmas day at mom's house:

she's been living there since summer, but this was only my second time to see the new digs. i think it's my favorite place she's lived. it's just got so much character.

so i've been thinking this week... all december i just so badly wanted to go home... and all week since christmas, i've been telling people how good it was to be home... but let's review: i spent time at a house i've only been to a handful of times in my life, then at a house i've only been to once... so was i really home?

absolutely. because home is about presence. home is about being with certain people more than it is about being in a certain place. we could have spent christmas anywhere and i would've felt at home as long as i was with these people (in matching pajamas, of course):

and the more i've let this whole home is about presence thing roll over in my mind, the more i've considered how the same thing is true with the lord.

in the message, eugene peterson translates christ's words in john 15.4 in this way:

"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you..." 

make your home in me. it's not about my surroundings or circumstances, it's about being in his presence... feeling at home in his presence. feeling like i can wear sweatpants and never put on make-up in his presence. being familiar with his voice. being familiar with his ways. just being with him.

and the fact that he has already made his home in me?! baffling.

thankful thursday: almost christmas!

i can't believe we're only FIVE days away from christmas. crazy pants. on a quasi-related note, here are five things i've been thankful for this week:

1. christmas party help.
being the only girl technically on staff with our church, i was somewhat singlehandedly in charge of throwing our christmas party. don't get me wrong, i love playing hostess, but the few days leading up to the party i started getting a little overwhelmed by the numbers. i happened to mention my slight overwhelmedness (is that a word?) to the girls i meet with every week, and the next thing i knew, they were making multiple desserts, coming early to set up, staying after to clean up... i was SO thankful. i don't think there's any way i could've pulled it off without them. why does it take me so long to ask for help?! lesson learned (i hope).

{incredible, right?! i was floored.}

{photo booth fun.}

2. early christmas with the in-laws.
chris's parents came up last weekend to celebrate christmas early! they loved seeing our new apartment and finally eating at syrup, and we loved having them -- we just wished it could've been for longer! and who knew we were actually going to open gifts?! talk about a fantastic surprise. i'm kicking myself that we didn't all get a picture together. next time.

{side note/shameless plug: they knocked it out of the park (as always) with super thoughtful gifts, but i think my favorite gifts came from paizlee -- my SIL saw me pin a few of their things on pinterest, but had no idea i actually know the owner! i'm so pumped to be able to show off my friend's business! be sure to check out their super cute clothes and accessories!!}

3. talented friends.
our christmas card this year is a result of us having crazy talented friends -- and we're so thankful for them (not just their artistic abilities!). nicole (our friend & pastor's wife) of nicole hager photography snapped quick pic of us on our beloved tandem, and leslie koch (a friend of mine from syrup) of touies design designed the rest! we love the way it turned out! thanks, friends!!

4. inspirational friends.
i've always been thankful for katelyn & walker, but i'm feeling especially inspired by them today and so proud to call them friends. katelyn is for sure one of those people who doesn't love attention on herself. she's incredibly thoughtful and loves to do things for others -- so this little story does not even a little bit surprise me. last weekend, as a way to respond to the sandy hook crisis and celebrate christmas, they decided to do 15 random acts of kindness around their little small town of lufkin, tx. you can read about their super fun, super creative day o' giving here. the best part is that their local paper and tv station picked up the story! how cool is that?! not only am i challenged by their thoughtful, others-centered acts, but i'm also reminded that this world has no box to put things like this in. people are shocked when you care about them for no reason. what a picture of jesus!

5. tomorrow!!
i'm so thankful that tomorrow we're headed to east texas for christmas with my family!! i feel like it's been way too long since we've seen them (over 2.5 months! that's a lot for us!). i could not be more excited about time with them... especially play time with the cutest little 19-month old i know! expect lots of pictures...!!

what are you thankful for this week?

lose/lose situation.

last week was jam-packed... attending christmas parties, throwing christmas parties, finding those last few christmas gifts, cleaning for then hosting the in-laws, loving on our friends taking finals and our friends having a baby... all on top of just normal life stuff. and for whatever reason, i just felt kind of heavy all week. it wasn't a bad week at all, it was actually full of fun things, but my heart was just heavy.

somewhere in the week (maybe tuesday?) i found myself procrastinating and playing on the internet... clicking from link to link, blog to blog... and somehow i ended up on this girl's blog {i mean, we're talking like a friend of a friend of a friend kind of situation}. she and her husband lost their one-year-old son completely unexpectedly a few months ago. while grieving a dad and grieving a son are two very different things, her writing was all too familiar. i remember having such similar thoughts and feelings a few years ago. don't get me wrong, i still grieve, but it's more of an every now and then thing than the every minute thing she's still walking in.

now, you're going to think i'm crazy, but as i read her writing, something in me missed that pain -- that it-hurts-so-bad-i-feel-like-i-can't-breathe pain. weird, i know, but i think what i mean is that i miss how fresh it all was, because sometimes now it seems so distant. just in case you don't believe me, here's an example -- again, from last week (i told you it was quite a week). thursday would have been my parents' 32nd anniversary. now, this is the sixth december 13th we've had since dad died, and the previous five weren't easy. it's just always been one of those dates that threw in my face the fact that my dad was gone, my parents' marriage was over, my family was no longer the picture-perfect little family that i naively used to think we were, and that my mom was experiencing more pain than i could ever imagine. so what about this year? december 13th came and went, and their anniversary didn't even cross my mind one time! WHAT?! i know it's just a date on a calendar, and i know that my brother probably wouldn't have remembered their anniversary even if dad were still here, but dates have always been a big deal to me, so a couple days later when i realized i had completely forgotten it, i was absolutely stunned -- not even like overwhelmed with sadness, but like utterly shocked.

do i wish i still felt like i couldn't breathe because of the pain everyday? i guess not, because those were hard days that i don't ever want to live through again... but forgetting things like their anniversary (as silly as that may seem) makes me feel like i'm forgetting him and i can't even handle that feeling. just typing that makes me feel a little bit nauseous. 

oh grief, you are such a terrible lose/lose situation. you are such a reminder that this world is broken, but thankfully not our home forever. you are such a reminder that i am completely incapable of mustering up hope, peace, joy, and love on my own... such a reminder that i am desperate need of the savior whose coming we celebrate this time of year. 

thankful thursday: christmas music.

you know those annoying people that are sticklers about only listening to christmas music after thanksgiving? well i hate to break it to ya...  but i'm for sure one of those people. so good news: it's FINALLY time to listen to christmas music, people! and you better believe i'm taking full advantage of it.

i've realized recently that christmas music is a pretty crazy phenomenon. i mean, words like "his law is love and his gospel is peace" are blaring out over store speakers everywhere. what?! people who would never step foot inside of a church building will gladly bundle up and sing, "joy to the world! the lord is come!" at a christmas tree lighting. completely bizarre, but kinda cool.

all of that to say... i'm dedicating this week's thankful thursday post to 5 new christmas albums i'm thankful for this season.

1. jeff berry, christmas
okay, okay, so maybe i'm biased -- he's a family friend and he sang at our wedding -- but my goodness he's got a great voice and he's a really good songwriter. {shameless plug.}
fav song: "you are the light"

2. ben rector, jingles and bells
as much as i love ben rector, how did i miss that he has a christmas ep?! supposedly it was released in 2009, but i had no clue until i saw it for free this week on noisetrade! it's a christmas miracle!
fav song: "jingle bells"

3. folk angel, glad tidings
i fell in love with folk angel last christmas -- their comfort & joy album is now one of my favorite christmas albums ever (let's not kid ourselves, mariah carey's merry christmas is at the top of the list, but theirs is up there). so, i was eagerly awaiting the release of this year's folksy christmas goodness, and glad tidings certainly did not disappoint.
fav song: "joy to the world"{tough call. "o little town of bethlehem" was a close second.}

4. drew holcomb & the neighbors, another neighborly christmas
i love their a neighborly christmas album from 2009, so i was super excited when they released this ep this year. they've got such a great sound -- sometimes folksy, sometimes rock, sometimes bluesy. it's just real good.
fav song: "white christmas"

5. andrew peterson, behold the lamb of god
this album is far from new -- in fact, i think it's over a decade old -- but it's so good that i had to include it. one of my roommates in college introduced me to it, but i haven't really listened to it much since. some friends here in norman reminded me of it this year, and now i'm its biggest fan all over again. the whole album tells a story -- starting with moses, moving through the old testament, the prophets, into the birth and life of christ. it really is incredible and worth listening to all the way through at least once.
fav song: "while shepherds watched their flocks"

hope these tunes help you get in the christmas spirit even though it's 75 degrees outside! enjoy!

what are you thankful for this week? do you have any new favorite christmas albums this season? favorite ever christmas albums?

noonday & fair trade.

attention all females or anyone with any female on your christmas list -- this post is for you.

i have recently fallen in love with this jewelry/housewares/accessories line (thanks, abby) and i can't wait for you to fall in love with them, too.

let me introduce you to noonday collection:

is your heart not FREAKING OUT?!? you can empower women around the world and look super cute doing it! if you're going to spend money this month (which you are), you might as well change the world while you're at it. 

on that note, i'm trying to be super conscious these days about where our money goes -- not necessarily in a budget way (sorry, chris) but in a "who really gets this money?" way. i'm realizing most of the clothes and products we buy are at the expense (not profit) of people (sometimes children) overseas. not okay, y'all. 

i'm only a recent passenger on the fair trade train, so you should read these posts from others who are much more knowledgable on the subject:

jen hatmaker: the christmas conundrum

katy rose (a friend of mine here in norman): traditions in gift giving

kristen howerton (this one's about chocolate at halloween, but same general idea): the inconvenient truth...

it's a bandwagon worth hopping on (did i just mix metaphors there?), so i hope you'll join me in taking baby steps toward fair trade this christmas season.

"and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday."

-- isaiah 58.10

do you know of other fair trade products or other posts about the necessity of fair trade? please share them in the comments section!

thankful thursday: thanksgiving weekend.

it's only appropriate to write a thankful thursday post for thanksgiving, right? here are a few things i've been thankful for this thanksgiving weekend:

1. our brand new nephew!
the husband got a call on tuesday morning saying his sister was headed to the hospital, so we packed in a frenzy and rushed to dallas. a little over 24 hours later, benjamin made his debut into the world! 24 hours, y'all. that's just brutal. but, we'll never forget the thanksgiving we spent in and out of the hospital celebrating his arrival. we're so glad he's finally here!! he's such a cutie (can you even handle those chubby cheeks?!) and we're so pumped to be his favorite aunt and uncle!

benjamin daniel hardy. 9 lbs, 22 inches.

2. sweatpants.
i think sweatpants were made for thanksgiving. cozy, stretchy, baggy... they're perfect (okay, they're perfect for everyday, but definitely on turkey day). this was my first thanksgiving at the brister house, and let's just say, i'm still full. thanks for way too much good food, bristers!

3. facetime.
one of the best parts of getting married is gaining a family, but one of the hardest parts is not being with your family on holidays. this was my first thanksgiving not to see my family, and while i loved being with the in-laws (especially little ben!), i sure missed my fam. so to whoever invented facetime, thank you!! it made my weekend to see them... eh... screen-to-screen.

4. auburn.
it's no secret auburn was TERRIBLE this season... and today's iron bowl performance was no exception. i mean, it just hurts. but... i still wore my auburn shirt proudly. it's still great to be an auburn tiger. i wouldn't trade it for anything. war eagle.

5. christmas season.
the end of thanksgiving weekend means the beginning of christmas season. while i'm not really into the black friday madness, i'm super into christmas music and christmas decorations. both are in full swing in our apt and i couldn't be happier about it.

hope you had a great thanksgiving! what are you thankful for this week?

national adoption day.

did you know that november is national adoption month? probably. did you know that today is national adoption day? i just learned that! anyway, if you know me at all, you know that everything about adoption makes my heart freak out. i don't think i can read/watch an adoption story with dry eyes... and i'm hoping chris and i will one day have an adoption story of our own!

all of that to get to this -- i read an article from buckner about national adoption month, which led me to this video of francis chan discussing why believers should be about adoption. i just love the way he describes it -- so clearly and so passionately. it's only 2 minutes long, so you have no reason not to watch it -- enjoy!

Francis Chan For Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

psalm 100.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

the phrase "give thanks" is used over 70 times throughout scripture, and several of those times it is phrased something like this: "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" it's all over the place.

the act of giving thanks seems to be unquestionably connected to the act of recognizing his goodness and his steadfast love. why? because, unlike our circumstances, those things are unchanging. i think that's why paul was able to write, "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 thessalonians 5.18) -- because we're not necessarily giving thanks for the circumstances, but for the one who doesn't change even when our circumstances do.

the author of psalm 100 seems to get this connection, too. he calls us to enter the lord's presence with thanksgiving and praise -- why? not because of who we are, what our circumstances are, or how we feel, but because of who the lord is -- the lord is god, he made us, he is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness extends to all generations.

at times, i've for sure questioned his goodness, love, and faithfulness in my life, but i wonder if that's because in those times i've looked for evidences of his goodness, love, and faithfulness in my circumstances, rather than in his character.

i'm in the process of re-learning these things. i feel like i'm learning how to recognize his goodness, love, and faithfulness all over again -- as if for the first time -- and the psalmist was right, the only proper response seems to be praise and thanksgiving.

"The highest form of prayer is to the goodness of God... God only desires that our soul cling to him with all of its strength, in particular, that it clings to his goodness. For of all the things our minds can think about God, it is thinking upon his goodness that pleases him most and brings the most profit to our soul." -- Julian of Norwich, quoted in "one thousand gifts"

thankful thursday: 11.08

i missed last week's post, so here are a few things i've been thankful for over the last couple of weeks:

1. pumpkin scones at syrup.
i love all things fall, which also means i love all things pumpkin. just last week the bakery we get our scones from sent us some pumpkin scones to sample. y'all. it took about .03 seconds to decide we had to have them. these scones are like autumn in your mouth -- so unbelievably good.

2. election day.
i'm so thankful i live in a country that gives me the right to vote. there are way too many places in this world where that is not the case. i'm so thankful the lord calls us to pray for our leaders and assures us he upholds the universe by the word of his power (hebrews 1.3).

3. nephew #2.
the fact that it's november a little bit blows my mind, but the good news is, our second nephew is making his debut into the world this month and we absolutely can't wait!! chris's sister, katie, is due november 21st, and we are counting down the days. chris doesn't even know what to do with himself he's so excited. we can't wait to meet you, benjamin daniel hardy!

4. weekend in norman.
after traveling 4 out of the last 5 weekends, we are super excited about just being in norman this weekend! all of our out-of-town trips have been so much fun, but we're ready to be home and feel normal for a little while before the holiday madness begins. also, OU is playing baylor here in norman this weekend -- we'll be wearing our green and gold proudly. sic 'em!

5. my preacher husband.
chris gets to preach at our church about once every 4-6 weeks. i know i'm 100% biased, but i really do think he's got a gift for it. he's especially great at the studying and preparation. then he's able to communicate it in a clear, matter-of-fact, down-to-earth, somewhat sarcastic way -- would you expect anything else? the most incredible thing is when i hear people talk about what they got out of the sermon -- to realize the lord is speaking through your husband to work in someone's life is a pretty crazy/awesome/humbling thing. i'm so proud of him and eager to hear him again this sunday.

one thousand gifts.

ann voskamp's book, one thousand gifts, has been on my nightstand waiting for me to read it now for about four months. in the meantime, i've started following her on twitter, checking her blog occasionally... but for whatever reason i've just let her book collect dust.

then, last week my friend posted a video of ann voskamp on her blog. i'm not completely sure, but i think it's a preview video of a new one thousand gifts bible study. whatever it is, it's fantastic. i sat there watching it (and have watched it again) with tears in my eyes.

she talks about how at an early age, she went through tragedy and her heart became closed off toward God. she talks about how she couldn't see his love and his grace toward her. she talks about how this project of finding one thousand blessings in her life became a journey of restoration. she talks about how gratitude changed her entire perspective on life and allowed her to understand God's love for her.

the tears came because her story sounds way too familiar. i've struggled to understand God's love for me in the last five and a half years. i've tried to keep him at a distance. i've allowed my faith to become something in my head, rather than my heart. on top of that, i've recently felt like i've just been going from job to job, event to event, weekend to weekend... just feeling like i'm existing and getting by rather than really living.

but, i find myself really wanting my heart to be engaged. i want to really live in the moment. i want my affections to be stirred for him. i want to see his love and grace in my life. it may seem scary and difficult sometimes, but i want it desperately.

whether you're in a similar place or not, i hope your heart is encouraged and your perspective is renewed by this video. it's only 20 minutes long, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy. oh and i'm only a few pages in, but i can already tell you i'd recommend the book, too!

wedding weekends.

in the month of october, chris and i went to three out-of-state weddings three weekends in a row. i mean.... what were we thinking?! october was basically a whirlwind for us, but all three weekends were a blast and we can't imagine missing any of those weddings. so here's to being young, not having kids yet, and loving so many good people in our lives (even if they did all decide to get married at the same time)! here are a few of the highlights -- this should probably be three separate posts, but we'll cram it into one gigantic one -- get ready for a LOT of pictures...

october 6: emily (my cousin) and nathan serven / austin, texas

pit stop in waco at my favorite coffee shop ever -- i never thought i would say this, but i actually really miss waco.

always fun for all of us to be together -- whit did that all by himself right before they snapped the pic -- adorable, right?  

dad's side of the family -- my first time to be around all of them since our wedding a year ago -- that's way too long!
 {random fun fact: emily wore the same dress my aunt and my grandmother wore! so cool!!}

the boys went to a UT football game while the girls and whit drove down to san antonio to see gigi. i just adore her.

we took whit to the pumpkin patch down the street from gigi -- he loved it!

other highlights: being in texas, eating great mexican food, seeing chris's family on the way back thru dfdubs (next time we see them his sister will have a baby!!), oh and being in texas...

october 13: chase and lauren sievers (friends of mine from auburn) / montgomery, alabama

we were SO happy that alan and melinda (norman friends) made this crazy long 12 hour drive with us --  they brought with them good stories, lots of laughs, good snacks, better music selection, stellar road trip games, and most importantly, car knowledge. alan came to the rescue when the volv battery decided to die on the trip back.
yes, we used coke to corrode the rust. yes, we drank the rest. yes, we left the car running from tupelo to norman. yes, we pumped gas twice with it on. 

saturday morning breakfast with friends

quick trip to the loveliest village on the plains

weagle weagle

'nam friends + spouses. some of my absolute favorite people in the world. easily worth the 24+ hours of driving.

other highlights: celebrating chris's birthday the whole drive there, seeing friends (the littlepages) that live on the other side of the world and meeting their brand new daughter -- miss adelaide, talking adoption with friends (the mcgees) who recently adopted from ethiopia, catching up with my college pastor and his wife (the deans) and meeting one of their sweet daughters they recently adopted from china, hearing the incredible things the lord is doing in all of these friends' lives and dreaming of doing life together again one day... 

october 20: brian (chris's friend from tech) and jaime griggs / amarillo, texas

quick trip to lubbock for a texas tech fix

while chris was doing the groomsman thing on saturday, i hung out with my cousin, sheree, who lives in amarillo. she took me to all the amarillo hot spots -- like cadillac ranch -- what even is this place?!?!

palo duro canyon -- second largest canyon in america. BEAUTIFUL!!

{i just realized we don't have any pics from the actual wedding. oops. i'll try to find one.}

other highlights: being in texas, eating great mexican food, not ever being able to get over how FLAT west texas is, seeing my cousin kaitlyn in lubbock, watching sunrises and sunsets in the biggest sky, sneaking away from the reception to watch tech beat tcu in overtime, watching chris around some of his best friends in the world, oh and being in texas...

whew! the end. october, you were so so so fun, but maybe just a little bit crazy... cheers to spending most of november in norman!

thankful thursday: flood edition.

my phone rang friday night around midnight as i was sleeping in a hotel in amarillo. it was our apartment complex in norman trying to calmly tell me that our apartment had flooded. hmmm... okay. feeling quite helpless 5 hours away, we decided to eat, drink, and be merry. we enjoyed the weekend's festivities, while trying not to let our minds wander to the busted pipe and the floating-in-2-inches-of-water carpet. we finally made the long drive home on sunday, and this is the scene we found:

oh and most importantly -- imagine the most rank mildew smell you can possibly imagine and multiply it by twelve -- that was our apartment. chris had to preach that night, so we just grabbed clothes and got out as fast as we could. sick.

thankful #1: the apartment complex put us up in the la quinta sunday night. so a) we didn't have to stay in that rancid apartment b) we didn't have to be in anyone's way, and c) we didn't have to pay for it. 

so on monday, they completely redid all of our floors -- carpet and wood. we came home at lunch to check on their progress and found some of our furniture in the rain. my goodness gracious.

thankful #2: our original carpet was clearly old and worn, so our new carpet is much better! and our new wood floors are darker and nicer than our orignal ones! yeah!

thankful #3: the maintenance guys left at 6 that night -- all of the floors were finished, but there wasn't a stick of furniture in its original place. i figured we would just set up our bed and figure the rest out later, but when i came home from my small group, chris had rearranged ALL of our furniture! everything was back where it was supposed to be! AMAZING!

we were so excited to be able to stay at our home monday night after a weekend away and a night at the la quinta, but unfortunately, we began to notice a few not-so-small problems: the air conditioner was broken, the dryer and oven wouldn't turn on, the internet didn't work, we had zero hot water... minor details, right? wrong.

thankful #3: the apartment complex has been super gracious through this whole thing and very willing to help. they sent out maintenance people on tuesday while we were at work to fix our long list of problems. yeah AC and hot water!!

on wednesday, we finally started going through the mounds of wet things they had thrown in our guest bathroom and bedroom. gross. our overflowing laundry hamper got soaked, but thankfully after our dryer finally got fixed, we were able to wash everything and the smell went away! slowly but surely, we're knocking out the hints of mildew smell and getting our little apt back to norm.

thankful #4: let's be honest -- when we were driving home from amarillo, we had no idea what we were coming home too. even though it's been the MOST inconvenient week and we've been exhausted and on each other's nerves most of the week, it really has been the best case scenario -- none of our clothes or furniture seem to be ruined. a few things that were on the floor in our closet or under our bed have been drying out on our porch all week, but man, it could've been MUCH worse. we are so thankful.

i'll leave you with this. since the maintenance and floor guys had our doors and windows open so much, we've got way too many flies flying around our little place. i mean, WAY too many. 

thankful #5: but have no fear... fly killer husband is here. he killed 4 flies in a matter of about 10 minutes and was SO proud of himself. unfortunately, i don't think he's had much luck since, but hey, at least we have this picture to enjoy.

sunrise.

chris was in a wedding in amarillo this last weekend, and on our early morning road trip home yesterday, we were driving due east -- right into the sunrise.

west texas at its finest.

i don't think there's anything as pregnant with expectation as a sunrise, and i don't think there's anywhere better to watch it than west texas. there's just nothing quite like it. we tried to capture the progression -- so much anticipation!

thankful for this visual illustration of the psalmist's thoughts in psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning, 

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord! 

For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

thankful thursday.

so i missed last week's thankful thursday post. let's be honest, it had to happen sometime, right? october is proving to be a doozie and i'm having a hard time keeping up! but here we go -- things i've been thankful for this week:

1. ethiopia travels.

our friends, katelyn and walker, are in ethiopia this week with a group from their church. it is killing me that i'm not with them. they're staying in places i've stayed and working with people i've worked with... i just hope they're loving it as much as i have. i'm not-so-secretly hoping they decide to adopt from there and our ethiopian kids marry each other and we all become family and live happily ever after.

2. texas tech upset west virginia.

if you follow college football at all, you probably know that the texas tech red raiders seemingly out of nowhere defeated the west virginia mountaineers last saturday. this likely has no effect on any of you, but at the brister house, it means i've had a husband walking on cloud 9 all week. get your guns up -- peyoo peyoo! (he hates my gun noise.)

3. this blog post.

i've said this before, but i'm not much for politics, so when i stumble across a post that actually interests me, i get excited about it. it's no surprise that jen hatmaker had something witty and thought-provoking to say about the upcoming election. i love the way she thinks and writes, so of course i was thankful for how she communicated about this topic. also, follow her on twitter -- i promise you'll thank me later.

4. pumpkin muffins.

spice cake mix + can of pumpkin = pumpkin muffins. or, if you're feeling extra indulgent, put cream cheese icing on top and call them cupcakes. don't worry, it's only october 18th and i've already made these twice. yum. enjoy!

5. small town life.
my car battery completely died on our trip back from alabama this last weekend (yes you read that correctly). we bought a new one at o'reilly's, but they refused to put it in for us -- something about volvos being complicated. whatev. anyway, we pulled into a body shop only a few minutes before they closed and basically begged someone to put in the battery for us. sure enough, this sweet man volunteered and didn't even charge us! who does that?! thank you, small town. (i offered to pay him in pancakes at syrup, but unfortunately he was a no show the next morning.)

what are you thankful for this week??

needtobreathe.

syrup is next door to a local record shop, and one day i saw this poster in the window. needtobreathe in okc? yes please. so, chris and i got tickets and called it our anniversary gift to each other. (fun bonus: tickets = paper = the traditional one year anniversary gift. who knew?)

we waited in the will call line (outside in the cold) foreveerrrrrr, but the good news is, we got to see an incredible sunset -- easily the best perk of living in oklahoma.

if you're not into needtobreathe, you should be, and if you ever get the chance to see them live, you should go. they put on a really great show. i know i'm naive, but i just feel like they love what they're doing and it's so fun to watch. they just seem like good ol' southern boys singing from deep in their souls, not for money or fame, but because they just love music. okay i'm done. no i'm not -- their lyrics, y'all. they're just so good. okay now i'm done. for real.

i'm not good at picking favorites, but i think my favorite performances of the night were "the reckoning"(with drew holcomb), "keep your eyes open," and "difference maker." click the links to see videos of the other two, but here's "difference maker" for your viewing pleasure. enjoy!

for myself.

one of the first times i ever hung out with chris, we were on a walk and somehow it came up that i had never been to pappasito's. it's been his favorite restaurant for years, and he was somewhat appalled that i'd never been. so, sure enough, on our first date we split fajitas at pappasito's. he was so excited to introduce me to something he loved so much. we've been multiple times since, and now i can honestly say pappasito's fajitas are the best fajitas i've ever had -- not because of how much chris likes them but because i've tasted them for myself... and you just can't beat that garlic butter sauce, y'all.

in john 4, jesus hangs out with a samaritan woman at a water well. he says very jesusy things like, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (pretend you aren't sitting on the other side of centuries of sermons and commentaries -- pretend you just heard him say that in the moment -- what?!) then, he proceeds to know crazy things about this woman that no one should've known. so what's her response? like any girl would do, she runs and tells her friends. then comes the good part -- "Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me all that I ever did'... And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.'"

did you catch that? some came to faith because of what the woman told them about jesus, but even more came to faith because they actually heard jesus for themselves. the power of another's testimony is absolutely undeniable, but even more powerful still is actually getting to experience it for yourself. chris could tell me a million times how good pappasito's is (and he did), but i didn't really get it until i tasted it for myself.

have you personally tasted the Lord's goodness (psalm 34.8)? or do you know he's good because other people tell you he is? it's so easy to know God through other people. sermons, podcasts, blog posts, books, even conversations with friends... it's so easy to get wrapped up in what other people know about God, how other people relate to him, what he's doing in other people's lives... so easy, in fact, that i've recently caught myself settling for it. the lazy me loves it, the rest of me HATES it.

i want to experience Christ in intimate ways for myself. i want to know the power of the Spirit in my life. i don't want or expect these things because of who i am or anything i've done, but because of who he is and what he's done -- because he's worth it. i don't want to be lazy in my faith. i don't want to miss something he has for me because i'm too busy with things that don't matter.

may we be able to say like the samaritans, "we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

thankful thursday: hello, october.

i think october might be my favorite month. i love cooler weather, soup season, boots and scarves, college football, baseball playoffs (although my rangers are scaring me), and changing leaves. i just love fall. here are a few things i've been thankful for this week...

1. my fall candle.

it immediately puts me in a better mood and makes our little apartment smell delightful.

2. mondays off.

syrup is open tuesday-sunday and closed on mondays, so since i usually have to work there at least one day during the weekend, i've decided to treat mondays like saturdays... and it's awesome. i'm always thankful for the much needed rest.

3. thawed wedding cake.

we took a few bites of our one-year-old wedding cake on monday night... let's be honest, it was a little anticlimactic, but super sentimental, and actually kinda tasty! 

4. dinner with friends.

last week and this week we were invited into two different families' homes for dinner. there's just something so good about sharing a meal with people... especially when they have great senses of humor, good wisdom to share, and cute kiddos to play with.

5. leaves.

at our wedding reception, we had our guests write little notes on these leaves -- everything from verses to quotes to inside jokes -- and for a year now i've been trying to figure out what to do with some of them. when my fam was in town, my sister-in-law finally helped me pull the trigger on this creation over our bed. i absolutely LOVE it. i'm so thankful for the friends, family, and memories these leaves bring to mind. 

happy october! what are you thankful for this week?

1st anniversary!

one year ago this morning, chris and i said vows, exchanged rings, and became husband and wife. when i think about that day, i'm filled with so much awe and gratitude. it was just the best day ever. we were so moved by God's love for us and so overwhelmed by our family and friends who were there to support us. it was such a worshipful experience for us and hopefully everyone there. i wouldn't have changed a thing. (see the highlights here!)

but as thankful as i am for that perfect day, i'm even more thankful for the last 366 (leap year) not-always-perfect days. this last year has been a whirlwind of transition -- new marriage, new roommate, new town, new friends, new church, new jobs... no family nearby, no best friends nearby (thankful for whitney in okc for a few months!), no school (which consumed my life for the last 19 years), no girl roommates, no texas, no good mexican food... i mean, it's been an adjustment. but again, i'm so thankful. in all the transition, we've been forced to lean on each other. i wouldn't trade it.

our friends, katelyn and walker, celebrated their 1st anniversary recently, and i love what she wrote on her blog. i couldn't agree more, but i often forget: "Through this year of countless laughs and a couple of tears, we have realized it can be so easy to long for someone else's story. To desire a different path -- one that might seem more adventurous, more carefree, more romantic -- but at the end of the day we have each other and a chance to write our very own unique story, and it can't get better than that!"

i'm so thankful chris and i get to write our story together. he's the most patient, steadfast, funny, persistent (read: stubborn) person i know, and i couldn't be more thankful to call him my husband.

dear thawed cake, PLEASE be good.

 

 

{photos by whenitclicks}