iDone.

Thank-you to ALL of you who have been so encouraging along the way.  I can't believe this is real.  

Two weeks and a full-time job begins.  Welcome to postgraduate life? 

On a more sombering note, I lost my camera with all my graduation pictures the day of graduation.  Leaving it atop my husband's car, we pulled out of my favorite restauraunt and waved goodbye to the Elph and all its glory and irreplaceable memories forever.  I've only called the stores nearby the fateful place on the road where it probably landed a dozen times.  I've only talked to the same people at Campus Safety at my school just as many times, and I think they're a little tired of opening the lost and found to look for "the little blue camera."  Oh well.  Thanks to my Dad and friends for snapping some shots, too, so I could remember these special moments!

It's been emotional.  I recycled every piece of paper from my last semester of college.  It all filled an entire grocery bag.  So many hours, so much work, so many things to be proud and ashamed of.  I still can't believe it has come to a close.

Then there's the fact that my Dad moved to Thailand yesterday.  I have only had a couple of breakdowns so far - wishing he was sitting at the dinner table with me, whistling away, playing the piano at the most random times of the day..... 

Dad, you have left a permanent mark on my heart and I will forever cherish these 6 months that we got to live together.  You are such an amazing man.

Two days ago, I bought a suit for the first time!  And button up shirts, work pants, the whole gambut.  And thanks to my AMAZING mom and step-dad, I have an iPad which I am trying to only use for "business" like activity - in other words, I take it to coffee shops in the AM and (try) to read the New York Times.

The iPad for me marks a new beginning into the adventures of adulthood.

So, in continuing with that theme....

iDone.

iMovingOn.

the light at the end of the tunnel.

So.  This is a bound copy of my thesis.

All that stands between myself and graduation is a powerpoint presentation of this bad boy.


 Just looking at it has inspired me to make a list of things I want to do post-graduation.  These things include:

- Bleach a stain out of a white shirt that I have been meaning to bleach for 6 months
- Try a DIY teeth whitening tutorial from Pinterest
- Exercise.  Seriously.
- Buy new hair ties, since I only have one suuuuper loose one that is barely hanging on.
- Wash my car!  (This includes vacuuming out the millions of particles of debris that have accumulated over the last year or so)
- Shave legs thoroughly.


Amazing the little things that you can look forward to after spending 4 years with your nose buried in books.

pray about the little things.

I remember marriage counseling.
Every Thursday night at what, 8? 9?  How they fit us in I will never understand, and will be forever grateful for.

One night they gave us a piece of advice that has played a big role in our marriage.

"Pray about the little things.  Even the color car you want, what kind of car, how many miles you want on it, everything."

The meaning behind this madness?
When these prayers are answered, God doesn't just get the glory for the big life altering events, he gets glory for everything.  For every moment, for every decision, for everything circumstance.  God gets it!  Isn't that great?


In church this last weekend, both Matt and I were completely overwhelmed during worship.  At the beginning of the year, we knew it was going to be a season of transitions.  Out of college, out of grad school, new city (for the first time since 3rd grade... no big deal), new church, new friends, new jobs... transitions were written all over 2013 in fat red sharpie.

There aren't even any words for how faithful God has been in our transitions.
From getting the internship I applied for to having someone wanting to put an offer on our house (one week after we put it up for sale by owner? sure..) to my dad getting a job that moves him out the same day we would move out (this doesn't happen) to being at our church at a time when the way we were called to serve was exactly what they needed for the last 2 years.

How does He do it?

In church I sat wondering, how can I give God glory for this?  How can I make the world know it is Him, not me?  How can I honor Him?
I guess one of those answers was to write about it.  To tell you all: God is so good and so faithful.  He hears your prayers, and is so worthy of glory for answering them.


Isn't life sweet?

Choffy:

"... brewed chocolate.  100% premium cacao beans roasted and ground for a rich, full-flavored drink that delights your senses while it nourishes your body.  Think of it as bliss in a cup."

Health benefits include antioxidants (twice as many in 8oz as there are in two servings of blueberries!) and theobromine.  Read more here.

Not only are there health benefits, choffy actually tastes like coffee with chocolate in it.  BUT... there is no acid no caffeine, and it's GOOD for you instead of BAD.  For a girl with extreme caffeine sensitivities and acid reflux, this is basically a dream come true.

welcome spring.

!!

Skirt weather.  Amen.

Also just the Spring essentials happening in the background.  Pumpkins and a blue can of.. something.

[Target Skirt // F21 baseball tee // vintage bag]

Also, now that our house looks perfect and like I've always dreamed.... let's sell it!  The sign went up today.  I refused to go outside for the ceremony.  

on changes.

This time last year (spring break) I was steaming my face away in a bowl with a towel over my head, trying to kick my sinus infection of AN ENTIRE WEEK to the curb.  This year I've spent nights praying to Jesus not to have a sinus infection again on my week off from school.

Unfortunately, my body thinks that this week is actually not just resting time, but time to squeeze in illness so I don't have to deal with it at school.  I guess that's fair.

FORTUNATELY, I do not have a sinus infection.  Just a mild cold and a little tummy ache.  Nothing that will stop me from doing the piles of homework that I need to accomplish.  Nothing that makes me start weeping as soon as I stand up.  So, I count this as a win.


Spring break is also a time where I get to press pause on the crazy whirlwind that is my life and think about what has been, what is, and what is to come.  I can't believe I am graduating in 46 days.  DID YOU KNOW... there are only 20 more days of actual classes left?  There aren't containers big enough to contain my joy.

... But then there's moving.  And having a real job.  And leaving behind the first house we ever bought together.  And moving out of the city I've lived in since 3rd grade.  And taking a vacation 2 days after my new job starts.  And leaving my church.  And my friends.  And my whole life, really.


The other night Matt and I were standing in the kitchen talking about all we need to do to get our house ready to show, and I just burst into tears.  I hadn't felt so attached and not-ready to leave until that moment.

So while these Spring Break days go whizzing by, we keep cleaning and organizing and decorating and preparing.  On top of this, I'm trying to finish my thesis (by tomorrow, fingers crossed!) and get my senior recital performance-ready.  Ohhh life.  You are good.  You are a good crazy thing.