UGH! I am so mad at myself for not taking any pictures this weekend! (Of Chris and I...) Sometimes I feel super lame going to grab the camera to take pictures of the really lame stuff we do, but I know I'm going to be upset when I don't have the lame stuff documented. So I'm promising myself right now-I WILL take more pictures! I love to take them of everyone else-just always forget to take them of myself. Poop.

K. On to the weekend..here's a (non-picture) recap. (Bummer.)
1. Got to spend SO MUCH TIME with my crazy awesome husband who worked SO many long days this week. I think we went to sleep before 10 every night because he was so tired. (Is it still cute that we don't go to sleep without each other yet or does that add to our lameness?) Anyways, we went on a hot date Friday night in Anderson because I had to pick him up from work. So fun!

2. It rained A LOT this weekend which was kind of perfect considering we wanted to spend quality time with each other. The last few weekends we were either gone, super busy, or had guests come stay (which was a blast..) but we were excited for a weekend with no concrete plans.

3. Therefore, we watched a few episodes of Prison Break...which we are obsessed with and yes we DO realize that show is not even on anymore. Or...that a lot of people haven't even heard of it. We're on season 1. We don't have cable but we have a couple shows we watch consistently on Hulu or Amazon video...(New Girl, The Voice, and now Prison Break.) But seriously, this show is addicting and it's perfect for rainy Saturdays.

4. The rain finally backed off enough for me to not have to reschedule a photo shoot with this super cute family. They were so flexible and changed plans within about an hour and a half to make this work. (We weren't sure what the weather was going to decide to do.) AND Chris came as my assistant which helps SO much with families with younger kids. What a man.



5. It was my brother's turn to drum this week so Chris and I finally got to sleep in on Sunday and get ready for church together! I love when he drums, but it's always a nice break to have a slower morning.

6. DCF's annual film fest was last night so we get to dress up and laugh a lot. We actually DID dress up this year. Last year, this happened:



On a different note..there's a new format for blogger and now when I log on it shows my "page stats" which is always a bit weird to me to see how many people read this thing. Who are you people!? Kidding--most people tell me when they read it but it's silly because I feel like I never really have anything exciting to say. So, now you're caught. 'fess up. But seriously, leave some love! I hope there will be pictures next time. Sorry.

This post probably shouldn't happen until our official one year anniversary, but our one year falls in a CRAZY part of the year right before we leave town for my brother's wedding (YAY!) sooo I just need to write a quick little cheesy something about HOW MY HUSBAND IS SO AMAZING.

On one hand, it feels like we've been together FOREVER. In fact, we always talk about how we have a hard time remembering what things were like before we knew each other.

But, it also feels like our wedding was just yesterday. Regardless, it's incredible being married to a boy that loves God so much more than he loves me (and in turn, loves me so much more than I deserve) AND who knows me better than I know myself. Sounds cliche, but it's true. And it sure does make my life a TON easier.

Anyways, the point of this post really boils down to one thing..what we've learned in our relationship together, and as beloved chil'ren of God and how the intersection between those two reaaallly works. I know, we're not experts, but listen...if you leave this post believing we're naive newlyweds, I'd like to refer you to my parents who will lovingly echo what I write in this post. There will always be people out there who have been married longer than us. Duh. But read on, and speak life.

We seriously love marriage. And no, we don't think it's challenging. At all. And we're not boasting about it either, we just think it needs to be said. We know what kind of marriage statistics are out there. And we're not going to be anything but honest, despite the societal pressure on us to declare how difficult marriage can be. I'm not denying that it has the potential to be difficult, I'm just giving you a bit of insight into our experiences. I'm trying not to be sassy either, but we'd sometimes like to go back and just be a bit more bold in response to those who told us our first year would be hard. (Aka, those who spoke discouraging words to us.) I digress..

This post isn't meant to be a condemnation. I have no right to condemn any one anyway. It is meant to be a celebration of marriage and the blessing, joy, and laughter that comes from it when we act in marriage (and all relationships, for that matter) the way God intended us to.

So, aside from loving God first, and loving each other second (the obvious one), the BEST part about our relationship is this:

We speak life, encouragement, and kind words to one another. All day. ALL. DAY. Not just after an argument, not just when we're on a date. When we're cleaning, cooking, getting ready for bed, you name it. And I don't just mean telling one another, "I love you." I'm talking ANYTHING. Anything encouraging!


It's super hard to feel discouraged and ready for an argument when your other half is speaking encouraging words to you. Example. Two days ago one simple text of encouragement from Chris was enough to brighten my entire day. All it said was, "Hey, guess what. You're beautiful." My parents modeled the truth of speaking life into relationships SO well growing up. I can remember countless times of hearing my dad compliment my mom about EVERYTHING, and viceversa. They continually lifted each other up with encouraging words.

But can you have a relationship without conflict? No! There are things that are "worthy" of some serious talks, but even then..we remind ourselves that we're fighting for the same goal (to live as selfless servants,) and that there is never an excuse to NOT be encouraging. You NEVER have an excuse to speak discouraging words. I repeat, you never have an excuse to speak discouraging words.

I love when things like this get "backed up" by research and lectures I hear in class. This very thing has been brought up in almost every psychology class I've ever taken: speaking kind words TO and ABOUT people decreases conflict. Makes sense!

Funny, the very same thing happens to be in the bible (in multiple places, but here's my fave): The power of LIFE and DEATH is in the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)

You truly can speak LIFE into your relationship and DEATH into your relationship through the way you think and the way you use your mouth. Looking back on our entire relationship (not just marriage,) I think Chris and I would both agree that our most memorable arguments (memorable in a negative way) have been ones where nothing but discouragement left our mouths. Because no relationship can be without conflict, but the conflict we've faced and still managed to speak encouraging words to one another have been some of the most beautiful times.

I'm not going to ramble much longer, but we just wanted to share. Speak life. God is always speaking life into your heart, never discouragement-and I hear relationships with Him are pretty sweet.

I semi promised a video of the haircut extravaganza and I don't even have a picture to put up. For some reason, as much as I'm obsessed with taking pictures of other people, I can never remember to take any of myself. Dumb.

Oops. Super senioritis isn't limited to just school work, I suppose. It is the chaotic last few weeks of the semester though. Excuses.

Also, I didn't have the option to do a video--because Chris was in his boxers. (Sorry for that, Mom.) It's just what he considers his pajamas, he doesn't get home till basically bed time anyway. Calm down people, It was just a haircut.

Also. The video would have been boring anyway. I know sometimes people think we're semi-entertaining when they read this, but we're actually super lame. ANYWAYS-you'll just have to take my word for it--my hair looks suh-weet. It's pretty short. Chris had a mini panic attach when he made the first cut. But to be fair, my hair was REALLY long so it just looked a bit shocking in his hand..detached from my head.

I'll put a picture up soon. Maybe. If I can ever get my hands on my new camera body then I'll be more motivated...I always miss the UPS guy.

Completely unrelated side-note. We like to watch health documentaries (see..SUPER lame) and so we watched that one with the british guy, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." We're pretty healthy considering Chris is a health specialist..but it still made us feel like we should add EVEN MORE good things to our meals. Anyways, we've been juicing basically once a day since then (this is also partially due to the fact that the local produce stand is back open and it's kind of the only way we can afford a lot of fruits and vegetables for juicing.)

And people-we just feel SO good and refreshed..especially since it's getting hotter and we don't like anything super heavy in the hot weather! I know juicers are expensive, we got ours as a wedding gift..but if you can afford it, go for it. We don't replace whole meals with juice drinks, we'll just eat a lot less and have mostly juice for one meal of the day. It's awesome.

Okay. I am done, I should be writing a paper. Or taking a picture of my hair. (But probably neither since my buddy Kim and I did some WORK at the lib today. That's library. We're so cool.)

I just realized that Chris and I are only true newlyweds for two more months.

Good thing I shared my outrage with a friend because we decided it's okay to call yourselves newlyweds forever. Not really forever, but mostly just for two years.

Anyways, I haven't written anything here in forever. I've been (happily) swamped with photography, and (unhappily) swamped with the end of my college career. Regardless, I realized while walking to class today that it is getting WAY TOO HOT for my hair to be as long as it is.

Therefore, I'm letting my awesome husband cut it. Before you cringe, know that he is super detail-oriented. Anyways, I just love the way that he talks about "girl things" because it's so genuine because he really cares and wants to talk about it, but it's also hilarious. Example: Earlier I was sending him links of how I want it cut. I guess he ended up straying from the hair cutting links and looking at "hairstyles." Later, he says this:
Chris: remember when i was saying i like updo's
i think its the "messy twist" that i like
where random chunks of hair are sticking out
Sent at 7:21 PM on Tuesday

Ahhh hahahahha. "Random chunks of hair." Love it. It's like man language for feminine hair styles. Anyways, I'll post pictures at the least...but I'm hoping we can get this situation on video..because I'm pretty sure it's going to be hilarious.