Fall!!

Ok, so I just have to say that I love fall. No, I ADORE fall. Here is a random list of why:


1. Weather - Ok come on, seriously. Crisp morning's, brisk evenings, sunshine, fog, clouds, rain, it's ALL experienced during autumn and it's magical! God's creation is so breathtaking!

2. Long walks - bundled up and snuggling close to my hubby.

3. Colors - Vibrant reds, oranges, greens and yellows! Trees, leaves and decorations abound! 

3. Relationships began - It was in the dead of fall that a love began to form between a guy and a girl. After a long fall walk, my now husband let me know that we were more than friends. So many fall memories of walks, snuggling, hand holding, and all the new exciting happenings of dating and falling in love.

 


4. Love - Every fall we spend together, I fall in love all over again with him.

5. Baking - so many options! Pumpkin everything, spice, peppermint, chocolate. Cookies, candies, cakes and desserts.

6. Peppermint Mocha's




7. Cornmaze's and pumpkin patches





















8. Sweaters - I look forward all year to when I can pull out my collection of sweaters and scarves!

9. Holiday's - From Halloween to Thanksgiving, so much to celebrate!

10. Photoshoots - Color is so much more vibrant in the fall!

11. My birthday! 24 and holding!


Tell me your favorite part about fall! 

Lots of life changes coming soon, including the possibility of me working part time! Can't wait to pursue photography, crafting, baking and general homemaking!

Lost

No, not the tv show, lost as in, 'man I'm feeling lost right now. Ugh. Bleh. Argh. Sigh. (Thanks, I needed to get that out.)

So I have a really good life. I mean, really, in the grand scheme of things, I have a wonderful life. I have a God who is patient and forgiving, full of grace and wisdom. A husband who would run around the world twice if I needed him too. Family. Friends. Money. Food. A roof over my head. But yet, with all that, right now, I'm feeling lost. Like I'm missing something.

I don't know. All I know is that life is wearing me out right now. I cannot possibly find the rest I need. And you know why? I'll tell you....

Because I'm not seeking the Giver of Rest. Yeah, Him. Why do I forget that so often? Why do I whine and complain and cry and beg and plead and nothing happens? Oh yeah, because He said 'Cast your cares upon me' and 'My yoke is easy, my burden is light' Why is it I so quickly forget the only part of my life that NEVER fails, NEVER quits, and NEVER grows weary of me.

So Papa, please give me rest. Please be my peace, my joy, my strength. Help me to see YOUR face in everything I do. Help me to be thankful and above all, help me to stop forgetting to ask You for help. Amen.

On another note, coming up soon I think I'm going to try something new with this blog. (For all 1 1/2 people that read it!) I've been reading and watching the news lately and it's so discouraging, depressing and downright negative. I think the world would be a much better place if more stories of triumph, overcoming and victory were out there! So starting soon, I'm going to blog 90 days of positive stories. I'm not sure where I will find the stories, whether the news, other blogs, or things I witness in life. Or hey, how about you guys send me stories! But I want to find the beauty in life, the real stuff, the happy stuff. I know life isn't perfect, but I know for a fact there are a lot more BEAUTIFUL stories than we hear on CNN or Fox News.

So let me know what you think of my idea my dear blog friends. Until then, stop and find something to be thankful for. If it's a person, tell them you are thankful. If it's a something, then so be it. Let's start making our little pieces of the world a bit happier.

Love you!

Peace

Good evening world. I'm not very consistent at this whole blogging thing am I? *sigh* 

Guess I'll add that to the long list of things I can't keep up on these days. Seems like life is flying by so fast that I can't quite catch it all. On one hand the days drag by, every minute feeling like at least an hour, until I can return home and be with that guy that I love so much. (By the way, I have no idea what this blog shall be about, it's just random thought bubbles typed on this page.) But at the same time, when we finally reach that beloved weekend, it goes by faster than I can say boo. There is so much to do, but I put it all to the side because I know my husband needs me to sit with him, to hold his hand and listen to him tell me some random details about metal and power tools and whatever else he has encountered in his day. And I know at that moment, this is part of my purpose! Those dishes can wait! Time with him is FAR more important than the mundane details of life! I love that guy so much, more every day. 

I'm sitting here listening to christian screamo music (I know right?) enjoying the breeze and the peacefulness outside. The hubby was so exhausted that he fell asleep mid sentence, so I knew I'd be flying solo tonight. Oh well, he deserves a rest I suppose. 

Trying to think of what to write about and realize I don't have much going on right now. Life is good. Yeah not everything is going the way I'd prefer, but I can feel my Papa teaching me to be grateful and joyful in the middle of hectic schedules and jobs that drain me. I love my Papa. I've gone all week with barely a glance in His direction but still He takes time to show me how much He loves me and protects me each and every day. He loves me enough to point out areas I need to work on and then gently takes my hand and says 'let me help you with that' Where would I be without Him, if you only knew......another blog for another time! 
Today I was just so reminded how far God has brought me. And how far I still have to go. I never want to 'arrive' at the place where I think I've got it all together. That's just insanity! I look around this world and I just don't know how people live without hope, true hope. 


Anyway, I clearly am tired and am typing in circles. I could just delete this all but there is something comforting about having the little thoughts in my head on paper so I think I'll leave it. Good night blog world.




 

Breathe.

Hello again my dear blog. It's been awhile...

So I am so full of feelings and emotions right now. I want so much out of life, but yet I'm unsure where to start. I am so over working full time for nothing but a paycheck. Life has to be so much more than that. Right?

My greatest desire is to be a wife and a mother. Call me old fashioned if you want, but I feel this desire...no, need, to nurture, to love, to create. And let me tell you, working at a bank requires none of those things! I so want a child of my own, but looks like there could be complications with that. I want to be creative, but that doesn't come to me naturally. I want to take care of my husband, cook for him, clean the house, but with working full time, I cannot do those things to the extent I want.

Am I just being hard on myself? Or was I created for something more than counting cash all day? This is the point in my day where I have thoroughly exhausted myself trying to sort all the colliding feelings out, so I give up. But not today. Today I'm writing it on paper. For anyone to see. I want something MORE! I want to love deeper than I can imagine. Be it my husband, family or a random person on the street, I want to give the best of me to those I'm around. I want to create, with my hands. I want to learn new skills, like making jewelry and photography, so I will experiment until I've learned it. I just want to squeeze every last drop out of this life, so that when I get to heaven someday, I will know I didn't miss a thing.

All that being said, I have no idea where to start on this journey, so ideas are welcome. I know a lot of you are stay at home moms and have stories similar to mine. So encourage a girl would ya? It is possible for my dreams and goals to come true, I guess it just requires hard work and patience.

On to the next subject: I will be celebrating my one year anniversary in a couple weeks. Wow, time sure flies when you are fighting..I mean having fun. The first year is sure a lot of work, but so worth it. I am sitting here typing while my amazing, hard working hubby sneaks in a much deserved nap on the couch. How wonderful is he! I can honestly say that he has changed my life, so much for the better. He opened my eyes to the good things in life. To true, honest and pure love. Unconditional love even! No one knows me quite like he does, and even after seeing the horrible nasty sides of me, he gives me his adorable little shrug and says, so what, I just love you.

I think what I've learned most from the first year of marriage is this. Work on the things God puts in front of you, and beyond that, just love. Just be married and love. For the first few months I strived and strived and we strived and fought and battled to make everything perfect. So not what marriage is about! It's about growing...together. Living and loving....together. More about this another time I guess!

I'll leave you with this: If you haven't told someone you love them in the last 2 hours, go find someone, look them in the eye, and tell them you just love them. And let me know what happens :)

Love all!

Jewelry!

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything, not that anyone actually reads it, which is totally fine. More so that my brain is a huge jumbled mess that hasn't been straightened out on paper!

So much to say and it'll take me a decade to do so. So for today, I'll post something new I'm trying. I've been thinking lately that I need a hobby. Not just a hobby but maybe something I can do on the side and make a little cash, you never know. But mostly, I just needed to conquer something new. So I decided to teach myself how to make jewelry. Sounds easy huh? NOT FOR ME! I stood in the neighborhood craft store three different times for at least an hour each attempting to reason with the aisles and shelves of various beads, wires, charms etc. Long story short, I successfully paired some items together and a necklace was born! I made it especially for a dear friend's birthday. Secretly I wanted to keep it, but don't tell.

Without further ado, here is my first attempt at jewelry making. I think I shall call it.........spirit. The wonderful woman I gave it too said it reminds her of the Holy Spirit.

Lesson Learned...

So you think to yourself, oh yes, I trust God. I know He has a plan for me and is taking care of me etc etc right? Ya me too. Really thought I was getting a good grasp on it lately, given that we've made the decision to move to another state because we feel that God is leading us there for something. That's a scary decision for me! Anyway, about that later.
So today, trying to make arrangements and everything that must be done for this move and it just fell apart. Things we're going right, I got some info that I had to deal with and I'm just so stressed that I got overwhelmed and started getting mad at God. How silly is that?! I mean, it wasn't THAT big of a deal. So we don't get the exact apartment we wanted, big whoop. But no, I get mad. I cry. I yell. And then it dawns on me, where is the TRUST I've been thinking about. One little hiccup and all of a sudden God's not taking care of me? He's not helping me?! I mean, seriously Kristen, you know better than this! *sigh* Guess I haven't learned my lesson quite yet eh? So I calmed down, apologized to God, and started working again and quickly found resolutions to my problem. Everything should be fine and the lesson I've once again is how faithful is my God. Even the littlest of problems are so important to Him and all He wants is for me to include Him in everything. Now I know He doesn't mind a little yelling and whining occasionally, but I just picture Him shaking His head and going 'Oh Kristen, I thought we'd figured this out by now'

*sigh*

Life......

So life is getting interesting. My husband and I are finally getting ready to embark on our first adventure as newlyweds! (more details to come later!)

Interesting how God speaks and guides us isn't it? He does huge things and such tiny tiny things to lead us where He wants us. I'm so glad that I don't ever have to be in the driver's seat for life, because I would have wrecked so many times! Crazy how controlling us humans can be, but the second we let go and let God take the reigns, life gets really fun and exciting! Had I had my way, I would have been in the Coast Guard, married at least 37 times, probably had as many children, most likely be regretting a few tattoos, you get the picture. Various decisions and choices that I tried to do, but God led me another route. Man He has saved my rear on more occasions than I can count.
Most recently, I just look at the man that He had been saving for me all this time. Like I said, I would have settled so many times, but my God is so good, he protected me from myself time after time. THANK YOU GOD! Because the best is worth waiting for. Obviously our marriage isn't perfect, but it sure blesses me every day. All this rambling to say, waiting is a good thing, even if it's hard.

Romantic or gag me?

Is it sweet and romantic, or over the top, that my amazing husband of 8 months took the time to carve little messages in some of my apple slices this morning? I thought it was positively adorable but sometimes I wonder if the 'gag factor' is a bit much with the two of us :)