I am a new bride who is loving the new role of wife! I am learning how to cook, keep the house clean, and satisfy my unsatiable desire to learn about anything and everything.
Sometimes God does funny things. He really threw something at me the other day while I was driving.
I was listening to the radio, and the song "Light Up the Sky" by The Afters came on. One of the band members explained that the song was talking about how God sent a pillar of fire to the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert.
Do you ever just picture yourself in someone else's shoes, and it kind of just shocks you? Maybe I just have a really good imagination, but I was imagining I was an Israelite during that time. I imagined myself exhausted because I was walking through the desert (one of the few things I haven ever had the desire to do). I imagined it starting to get dark and feeling worried because the pillar of clouds that was guiding us would no longer be visible.
I can hear myself going, "God...um, should we stop now? Because we can't really see where you want us to go...and I'm kinda tired anyway...the desert is really big, in case you haven't noticed...some of the kids could wander off..."
And then, out of nowhere, this giant pillar of fire comes down. I picture it kinda like "The Prince of Egypt" portrays it. Random thought, I wonder if it was hot? I've heard the desert gets cold at night. I wonder if it provided some heat, or if it was so hot they just had to stay away from it.
But more than just the cool image in my head, it made my realize something. That, and this is the point of the song. It made me realize that God is always there. And not only is He always there, He will ALWAYS show you where He wants you to go. He doesn't leave us high and dry! Even when my circumstances feel like He has. No, He has some awesome cool plan, and He will show it to us (even if it is just one step at a time). We don't have to play hide-and-seek in the dark, He will shoot down some cool fire show, send someone to encourage us down a particular path, or just give us a peace.
My fire pillar has been an incredible peace, in spite of crazy circumstances. That doesn't mean that pain from the circumstances isn't still there, because it is. But, I don't have to be afraid.
Paul said, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15 NASB).
This song inspired all of that. I hope you like it too!
Since we got married, I have wanted a picture of my handsome G.I. Joe in his Army uniform. I couldn't talk him into the dress blues, but I did manage to get a picture while he was already dressed.
Unfortunately, not much has been happening around here. I just read the Inkheart series. When I get into a book series, I am like a kid who just got twirled around the living room. I keep coming back for more until I drive someone crazy - like my husband who wants supper and clean laundry. Oops.
Finally, I finished it. The whole series. It took about a week and a half. And yes, they were written for young adults. (I like children's books - what of it?) The first book in the series was great. I loved it. It had a great plot, the characters were a lot of fun, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
The second and third books were disappointing. First of all, it seemed that the first book ended just fine without them. Also, the second and third books were filled with curse words, sketchy situations, and things I wouldn't want my young adult reading if I had a young adult.
One more thing, the movie just about killed the book for me. It made the characters beyond cheesy and ruined the story. In my opinion.
So that has been my last few weeks. There have been no posts because there has not been anything to post about. However, I do have a couple projects up my sleeve so hopefully those will be up soon. And I haven't forgotten about my love story series. The next installment will be soon as well!
G.I. Joe has had some time off work, so I have been spending time with him instead of writing on here. Maybe that makes me a bad blogger, but I just can't give up any time I have with him.
Even to do something as fun as blog!
G.I. Joe and I love to just hang out together. Usually, we do free at-home stuff though. We love to play games like Scrabble
(we used every single letter in this game...and were really proud of it), Upwords, ERS (a card game), Dutch Blitz (the best card game ever invented), and now Uno.
We just added Uno over the weekend. We bought the Toy Story version. There is even a "Claw" card which, when played, the opponent has to lay down a card with a small alien in the corner. We love it.
Another thing we do in our spare time is explore. One day we walked all in the woods behind our house (ended up in the apartment complex half a mile up the road). We love to visit old army forts and parks. Swinging is my favorite.
It is kind of rare for us to go out on a "date" date, but Saturday night we did. And we had so much fun.
We went to O'Charley's. As rarely as we go out to eat, this is our restaurant of choice. Their rolls are just perfect and they have half-price appetizers from 2-7pm and 9-10pm. We usually get just appetizers. SOooo yummy. I wanted to take a picture, but all the food was gone before I remembered. Ooops.
Then we went bowling. We have only lived here for a few months, so we are still learning where things are. Saturday night we found the bowling alley. And it is adorable.
It is in a barn. They call it "The Bowling Barn". How cute is that? And only in the south do you go "bowlin".
We had a lot of fun. G.I. Joe beat me...soundly...both games. In fact, his score was double mine the first game. I never boasted of being a good bowler. Maybe I need to work on my stance...
I don't know what it is about bowling shoes, but I love them. If I could, I would wear them out. I know they're supposed to be ugly, but I have never thought so. Maybe it is just because I associate them with something so fun.
Then, to top it all off, we went and saw a movie. After a hot fudge sundae and lemonberry slulsh from Sonic. It was a perfect night.
It may seem simple, but it doesn't take much to entertain the two of us. I guess that's why we get along so well!
And an update on my poison ivy. It definitely got worse before it got better. It spread all over my legs, my arms, my shoulders look like they are just sunburnt, and my neck is covered. It is still itching like crazy, but the swelling and the redness are starting to go down.
I tried Ivy-Dry, Hydrogen Peroxide, Alcohol, Ivy-Rest, and just plain hot water. Honestly, the hot water worked better than anything. The other things were really starting to burn my arms, so I quit using any of them.
This is one of those times when, just as it starts to get better, I think "I should have gone to the doctor." Oh well.
I am a huge fan of Louis Armstrong. I always have been.
G.I. Joe and his mom danced to his song, "It's a Wonderful World" at our wedding.
It was really precious.
A couple of weeks ago, G.I. Joe and I were at a store here in town. It is similar to Barnes and Noble, but a little less fancy. They sell used books, CD's, movies, and games, as well as new ones. They also rent movies and TV shows.
We don't have TV so we have had fun renting TV shows.
Anyway, I found a Louis Armstrong CD. I have always wanted a Louis Armstrong CD, but I never actually bought one. Actually, I never found one, but I wasn't looking very hard.
This particular store had a three disc album for $3.99!!!
I love good deals.
I have one of the discs in my car and another in the stereo in the house.
Cooking to the horn of Louis Armstrong is one of the most fun things ever!
Because I have been enjoying his music so much, I wanted to share him on here. I found this video on YouTube and decided to post this particular song because my nephew is crazy about "The Jungle Book".
I don't know if he appreciates Louis Armstrong yet, but he is showing quite a bit of musical promise so I'm sure he will.
I just love watching him sing! He looks like he is having so much fun. And listening to him is so much fun!
Next to our mailbox is a small flower bed. Earlier in summer, the most beautiful irises bloomed there, but lately all that has been blooming in that spot is the poison ivy.
Last week, I decided I would weed the little flower bed because it was starting to look really ridiculous.
My mom and my sister have always been highly allergic to poison ivy. I never got it that bad. I might get one little spot, but it would usually go away within a couple of days.
That was my mindset going into this weeding job. Sometimes, I just do stupid things.
I did wear gloves, but also wore short sleeves and shorts.
My arms are the worst, but it is on my shoulders, my legs, behind my knees, on my neck, ears, and two small patches on my face.
Needless to say, I have been pretty miserable the last few days.
BUT on a happier note, I have to tell what my wonderful husband did for me last week!
First of all, since I moved into our house, I have had a hope of one day putting a bakers rack in the kitchen. There is a perfect spot for it, and the counter space in the kitchen is very limited. I didn't want to pay full price for one, I just kept my eyes out for one at Goodwill, consignment stores, yard sales, etc.
A couple of weeks ago, G.I. Joe and I woke up early on a Saturday morning and checked out yard sales. We were driving through our neighborhood when we noticed one house had the most beautiful bakers rack sitting outside!
I said, "Turn around! That was a yard sale, and they have a bakers rack!" I was already turned around in my seat and jumping up and down.
G.I. Joe turned around and we drove back by, but we realized that it wasn't a yard sale. There was stuff sitting outside, but the owners had apparently just set boxes and this bakers rack in the yard to get it out of the house.
We drove by that house four times trying to figure out why it was outside and to gather up the courage to ask them.
We never did get the courage.
We went home, but I could not forget about it. I called my mom, who is amazing with these types of situations, and she immediately encouraged me to knock on the door and ask, with some cash.
Well, I am a bit of a sissy and wouldn't go by myself. So I tried to talk G.I. Joe into asking, but we never had time to go.
A couple of days later, he went for a run. He came back only ten minutes later and said, "Quick, put on your shoes. I want to take you for a ride."
At first, I thought he was just being crazy, but then I remembered the bakers rack.
He had knocked on the door and asked the man who answered about the bakers rack. Apparently, they had given it to someone else, but that someone else never came to pick it up.
He said we could have it. For FREE!
I was about to flip my lid. We loaded it in the truck and brought it home. I Clorox wiped it down real well and brought it in the house.
It fits perfect in the spot I wanted it! I cannot walk into the kitchen now without a happy little sigh and a little stare. I love it.
G.I. Joe added his own little touch to the top.
That old saying, "It never hurts to ask," was definitely true for us!
Four months ago, yesterday, G.I. Joe and I were married. I can't believe it has already been four months! It seems like four weeks.
Ever since I moved here after our wedding, we have been searching for a church. We have visited so many in the area, and liked and disliked different aspects of all of them.
A few weeks ago, G.I. Joe's commander was telling us about the church he and his wife had been visiting. So we checked it out this past Sunday. I must say we were very impressed.
The church building itself took up several blocks downtown. We went to the contemporary service and really enjoyed it. The musicians were very talented and sincere. The pastor who spoke was not the senior pastor of the church, but did a very good job. Everyone was so friendly to us. I was so excited to discover in the bulletin there is a ladies Bible study every Wednesday, starting in two weeks, for 30 weeks!
G.I. Joe and I really enjoyed the service and were VERY excited about all of the different ministries we saw offered.
Then it got better.
Last night, G.I. Joe and I were just chilling at the house talking about his deployment. I asked him, "What happens if my car breaks down while you're gone?" G.I. Joe got sad because he hates the thought that he can't be right there to take care of me. He told me that we would sign up for Triple A and find some good towing services.
As we were talking, we saw a car pull up and two people get out. They started walking toward our door. We looked at each other, but neither of us recognized them.
There was a man and a woman at the door. They introduced themselves and explained they were from the church we had visited! We invited them in, and they proceeded to tell us all about their church and ask us if we had any questions. We had put on the card we filled out that G.I. Joe was in the Army. The woman looked at me and said, "We have all kinds of ministries for military wives, including a class for women to help them cope with deployment." Then the man said, "It seems like everything breaks down when your husband is gone. We have a ministry to help you when your fridge breaks down, the washer stops working, or if your car breaks down on the side of the road."
I looked at G.I. Joe, and he looked as shocked as I did.
I cried a little.
It is amazing how God can answer prayers, even little ones like that.
Needless to say, G.I. Joe and I are planning on joining this church. We are so excited. I already have two classes I am going to get involved in, and the children's minister is supposed to contact me soon about getting me in as a volunteer in the children's ministry (something I really enjoy).
God works in mysterious ways. Maybe not on our time frame, but He always has perfect timing.
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