A year ago today I married the man of my dreams.  Sorta.  Wait, not that he’s sorta the man of my dreams, that it was sorta a year ago today.  Feburary 29th to be exact.  Leap Day! But we’re celebrating today…and tomorrow:)

This has been the most incredible year.  Marriage has really blown away all my expectations.  I really married my soul mate, my best friend.  He perfectly brings out what is good in me and I encourage him to be all that he can be (just not in the Army).  We enjoy every moment we spend together and have grown closer than I ever imagined through some of the toughest situations we’ve ever faced.  It’s been a blast learning how to live with a boy and getting to take care of him everyday.  I find so much joy in supporting him and serving him as his wife.

What a blast this year has been with the love of my life.  I can’t wait to spend MANY more years with that guy!

A look back on that wonderful day…

I love you baby!! Happy Anniversary!!

Brook and I are going to Vegas this weekend to celebrate the big one year anniversary!! I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by! I’m so excited to get away for a couple days with my man and just focus on him And Vegas is fun!!

To do while in Vegas:

1.  Ignore my diet

2.  Enjoy my husband

3.  Say hi to Nick Stokes

4.  Win millions

I’ve been feeling a little homesick this week.  (No, mom that doesn’t mean we’re packing up to move back…) It was different being in Texas where we were only a couple hour drive from our families and closest friends.  We are still settling in here, and it takes a while to really find great people you connect with.  I’m SO thankful for the great friends we’ve already made here, but still makes me miss the ones back home a lot!

Here are a few peeps I’m thinking about and missing…

My amazing parents!!

My big brother & sis in law. She's 6 months preggo and I want to see that belly!

Brothers & Sisters...Probably the greatest picture ever too. Oh..and the In Laws, miss them too

The Practice child...and his parents of course

This girl. A lot.

Simply amazing friends. Sisters.

This place:

I was never really one of “those girls” who struggled with insecurity.  I was always pretty solid in who I was and loved myself.  As a teenager I felt like I was doing pretty good that I made it through those years without hating myself & my body and never went to drastic measures to change who I was. 

As I approach my 25th year of life, I am becoming one of those girls.  The insecurity has started to set in.  I’m not afraid to talk about it.  Obviously, I’m telling the world here in my blog.   It’s interesting to me that for about the first 23 years-ish I was confident in who I was, and secure.  Now, I find myself struggling with those things I thought I had lucked out on. 

Maybe it’s because I strive to be the best I can be for my husband who I love more than anything? Maybe it’s because I’m getting “old”. Who knows.  As a pastor’s wife I’m supposed to be “PERFECT”.  Maybe that has something to do with it (I’m obviously not perfect!)

As a woman have you struggled in this way, or maybe you are now? How to you find security in who you are?

We attended this on Sunday and it really got me to thinking about some things. Time is something we can never get back.  We can’t go back to college and do things over, we can’t get back the time we had at home with our parents, we can’t get back the time we should have spent doing other things.  So why not make the best of the time we’re in NOW?

I’m completely guilty of looking so foward to the future that I miss the present.  Not that this comes as a surprise, but I’ve pretty much had baby fever since I said “I DO”.  Shocking.  I like kids.  But the past year has been incredible with my husband.   I absolutely am obsessed with the time we get to spend together and the only thing we have to worry about is our little (very overweight) dog!  Why should I rush into having kiddos when we’re going to have them the rest of our lives? Just an example though. 

This awesome chick posted a great blog today that got me to thinking about it even more and how blessed I am with my husband.  That’s so going to be us in 50 years and I love that! But I am hanging on dearly to these years we have while we’re young and still have the ability to do so much!

Are you living in the NOW or are you looking for something that is to come? How do you spend your time?

GASP!

**Disclaimer: This is not about any church in particular, nor pointing fingers at anyone! Just my thoughts in general

Ok, yeah I’m a pastor’s wife.  But hear me out here people.  Church irritates me! I don’t understand why we go to church and sit up straight, act extremely spiritual, and suck up to our pastor’s as if they are the gateways to heaven.  We don’t get excited about worship, and we act super perfect. 

Is that really us though, or is it what we think is expected of us?

I wish church was more like a football game or a concert.  I wish we got excited to be there.  Talked to people like they are normal human beings.  If someone showed up at a football game that had never been before, you wouldn’t start talking to them about the line of scrimage, a safety and get all excited about a 1st and 10.  You would explain to them what a 1st and 10 is, and use language they would understand.  Make sense? Stay with me people. 

On the subject of football, you don’t go to a game that you really love and just sit there.  You jump up and down, you scream, you clap, you cheer.  You are REALLY pumped up.  And when your team wins, there is celebration. 

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret….our team ALWAYS wins! Duh! But where is the celebration? Where is the excitement? I tell you where it is: it’s at the football stadiums and the concert halls.  We don’t dare bring that in the doors of a church because heaven forbid we get excited about Jesus Christ!

I think heaven is going to be like the super bowl of all super bowls.  There is going to be more celebration than we have ever experienced!! But why aren’t we preparing ourselves for that NOW? Why do we treat “church” like a place we have to sit up straight and use big fancy weird words? Why don’t we act like we do at a football game (ok maybe not yelling at the pastors when you don’t like their song choice or something…that would be funny though!!). 

I’m craving some passion and some sacrifice.  To really reach the lost in a way they’ll understand.  Why do we cater to believers? We’re already in the big game, it’s the people around us that aren’t. 

They need to not be freaked out by our “churchy” ways that have been drilled into our heads.  We have to be willing to change and adapt to the culture or we’re losing people even more.  We need to make them comfortable enough to confront them with the truth.  That’s what it’s all about!

What can you do to reach the lost and get more excited about the celebration of Christ that we call ‘church’?? Your thoughts?

Yes, I’m one of “those girls”.  I love Valentine’s Day.  I think it’s great.  However, I’m lucky and have a wonderful husband who constantly shows me how much he loves me, but it’s so fun when he goes above and beyond so I get super excited for this holiday. I never know what to expect so I just wait patiently like it’s Christmas morning or something and see what the day will bring.  Lucky for us V-Day fell on a Saturday so we had the whole day together!!

My day begins by me being woken by a really annoying alarm.  I don’t recognize it, so my first thought is that Brook has changed his ringtone on his phone or something.  It doesn’t stop though, so I gently nudge him (or stick my elbow in him really hard, whichever) to turn it off.  He claims it’s not his and I grab my blackberry off my nightstand and it’s not mine.  I’m totally blind for those of you that don’t know me, so without my contacts in, I can’t see past my nose.  So I can’t see what it actually is that’s making that noise.  Finally, since it won’t stop ringing I decide to put my glasses on so I can see.  There is an iPhone laying on my nightstand ringing!!!! WHAT?!? I don’t have an iPhone! My first thought was that it’s Brook’s iPod Touch, but nope.  It was my very own iPhone!! The alarm is going off to suprise me with my wonderful gift!!! There were flowers waiting for me on the kitchen table, along with quite possibly the best card ever.

All that to say, he did good!! Since we got to spend the entire day together, we decided to break up the day into 2 hour increments and each choose what to do for 2 hours at a time.  Which actually turned out to be pretty fun, because he didn’t have to worry about planning out the whole day, and we both got to do things we really enjoy that we might not typically do together.  We did breakfast, shopping, starbucks, more shopping, steaks, movies, etc.  It was a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  I feel so incredibly blessed to be loved so much by the greatest man in the world!!

Thank you baby for loving me as much as you do and for showing me that EVERYDAY! Of course, a new iPhone does help prove your love more

I hope you all had a wonderful day of love!!

I find myself being very impatient sometimes.  Well, a lot of the time.  We live in a world of instant gratification.  We can pause our TVs and record shows so we don’t have to wait 3 minutes for the commercials to end.  We can pick up our cell phones and call, text, e-mail, facebook, etc.  When I don’t get an e-mail back from someone in  matter of minutes I start either worrying something is wrong with them, or getting frustrated that they are taking so long to get back with me.  I expect it NOW. 

I reached over to my radio this morning to rewind it because there was something I wanted to hear again.  Seriously? How selfish am I that I think I should get everything I want when I want it?

We were created by a God with great patience.  He has to be.  Have you met the human race?? We’re nuts! If he wasn’t the most insanely patient being, he would have zapped us all LONG ago.  ZAP!

All that to say, I’m thankful I was created in the image of HIM.  Who is way more patient than me. 

However, I bet he got a good laugh out of me trying to rewind my radio.  Give it a few years, we’ll be there. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to find good girlfriends as a pastors wife.  I mean real, down-to-earth girls who get you, and understand you.  Sometimes you wonder if people just want to be your friend to get in the “know” of what’s going on at the church, or they don’t want to be your friend because you’re so “holy”.  Oh goodness, I’m far from holy! I think the closest I get are the holes in my jeans.  It’s like we have a plague or something sometimes!

I’m so thankful for my friend Wendy.  She has been one of the greatest mentors and friends to me.  I’m thankful for her experience in the ministry as a Pastor’s Wife and how I know I can always be transparent with her and she completely gets me and understands.  I’m still learning this Pastor’s Wife role.  Not always the easiest, especially in our first church change and starting all over.

If you’re a pastor’s wife or work in the ministry, do you ever struggle with this?

If you aren’t, is it difficult for you to be friends with Pastors Wives? Come on, be honest!!

I begin with a story.  Since Brook has started his new job at the church, we are about 18 miles down the 5 freeway from each other.  So I have this brilliant idea that if we both drive 9 miles we can meet up for lunch!! Not a bad idea!! So I text him the coordinates of where our meet will take place, and then I’m off.  He calls to let me know he is there, but that there is nothing to eat around there and to take the 55 South.  So I hop on the 55 as he’s naming off streets to take.  Only I’m not seeing any of these streets.  Now I realize my sweet husband has taken the 405 instead of the 5!! Completely different freeways that run parallel, several miles apart! Simple mistake, but kinda ruins our lunch plans because by now I’ve been driving 20 minutes and have to be back at the office in soon.  Meaning I need to turn around and start heading back in order for me to even get any food!

All that to say, it was a little miscommunication.  I was frustrated for a minute.  But then I ask myself “IS IT WORTH IT?”.  No, actually it’s not.  It’s not worth getting into a silly fight with the person I love more than anything in this world, because he hopped on the wrong freeway.  I was upset more that I wasn’t getting to see him!!

Sometimes in marriage we just have to pick our battles.  And to be completely honest with you, there is yet to be battle worth it.  Spending so much time with one person (and believe me, we’ve spent a LOT of time together over the last several months) can sometimes make you want to punch the other person in the face.  But I’m lucky.  No punching!! And actually I haven’t even wanted to punch.

Now you’re thinking…”You’ve only been married a year though!”.  That’s the point.  Most couples have the hardest time of their marriage in the first year, when in all actuality, that should be the best!!! It’s all about how you approach situations and learn and grow together.  Is it worth a fight because he doesn’t know how to clean a bathroom? No, probably not! Is it worth a fight because you’re a crazy girl who cleans the bathroom too much? No, probably not.  Hopefully not.

As we approach year number two in this wonderful journey, I feel so blessed to have a person that “completes me”.  It’s easy to live life with my best friend, and easy to pick my battles!

Think about that in your marriage. How do you pick your battles? Is it really worth it?