June 13th...Through History

June 13.

19 years ago on this date, I was 2 months away from having my life forever altered.  I met Cody in August at a meeting for the 40 students who were headed to study abroad in London with Harding University.  I was immediately attracted to the strong and silent vibe he was radiating.  I think he liked my eyebrows.  Don't knock them.  Eyebrows are important.  He may have also thought I had the most gorgeous hair ever.

15 years ago on this date, Cody and I were married before a small crowd at Preston Road Church of Christ in Dallas.  It was a simple, but beautiful wedding...just what I wanted.  We were surrounded by family and friends.

10 years ago on this date, we were a new family of 3.  Little Ava Beth had come along just a few months earlier and we were adjusting to life as parents.  That wasn't such a easy adjustment.  Cody and I had a lot of great adventures during our years of marriage without children, but this was certainly the greatest adventure yet.

5 years ago on this date, we escaped our THREE children for an anniversary trip to Banff, Canada.  It was tough to leave these little cuties behind for a few days.  Just look at their sweet faces!  There was a time when we had a 5, 3, and 1 year old.  Those were very crazy times.

Today on this date, we are celebrating 15 years of marriage.  There have been good times, and very hard times.  And I can honestly say I love and appreciate Cody more today at this moment than ever before.  He has loved me unconditionally and helped me become a stronger, more faithful daughter of God.  He has poured out love on our children, and blessed them beyond measure.  I am so thrilled to call him my husband.  Happy Anniversary, honey!

Instagram

Do you Instagram?

This summer especially, I have been hooked on seeing what people are up to via photos they upload on this fun app/website.  I've followed my friend Rachel's adventures in Paris.  I keep up with former neighbor and book club friend Jenni even though she moved to a new city.  And I feel like I'm in high school again when I see the photos Cody's cousin Alexandra is posting...she's going to be a senior next year.

I love the idea of a snapshot and all it conveys.  No lengthy blog to read (although I enjoy that, too, sometimes.)  A picture really is worth a thousand words.

I plan to post a few pictures to Instagram while Cody and I are in Southwest France.  I have a feeling they might be beautiful/fun/romantic/crazy...

Follow me on Instagram

Summer Style

I've collected a few things over the past few weeks to boost my style level abroad this summer.

I've read that women in France never wear sweats or exercise clothing...unless they are actually exercising.  But I don't think they ever exercise.  I think they are all genetically engineered to be smaller than a size 6 regardless of the amount of chocolate, wine, and fois gras they ingest.

Regardless, I am not taking a single stitch of work out clothing on this trip...

Instead I have found a few pieces I can't wait to wear while strolling in Les jardins suspendus de Marqueyssac or dining at Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat.

 Simply Vera Panel Scarf from Kohls

 It's Totally Fort Worth It polish from Opi

J 41 "Forest" Shoes on clearance at DSW

But the very best part is knowing that no matter whether I look stylish, or not...Cody will tell me I look beautiful.  And he will really mean it.  We will hold hands as we stroll those gardens.  We'll look into each other's eyes as we dine at restaurants.  We will explore this great adventure together as we celebrate 15 years of marriage.

I can't wait!

Introspection

Why aren't people more introspective?

I can tell you exactly why as I sit here, my only companion a large gaping inner wound that is staring me in the face...because it hurts.

It's much easier to gloss over feelings and reactions of fear, resentment, anger, grief, depression than to carefully examine where they are coming from and why they have such a strong hold.  And by where they are coming from I mean the deepest, most true source which may not even be related to the current  situation.

I tend to turn my attention on my job, my kids, vacation plans, etc in order to avoid taking stock of the broken places in my life.  I have gone years, decades in the past without carefully peeling back the slapped on bandages I hastily applied.  But these days, I tend toward peeling off the sticky gauze and taking long hard looks hoping to discover the root of the problem.

A verse in Proverbs talks about how God searches man and knows the most true desires and thoughts of his heart.  I used to think this was a warning about trying to "put one over" on God because he can't be tricked.  These days I see it more as a warning not to fool ourselves.  There's a lot of people walking around that don't have a clue about their own truest thoughts, desires, and realities.  But God knows.  And I think in many ways we can only understand ourselves by joining with God in the knowledge he has of us.  He can reveal to us what's really going on in our core being and he can heal whatever wounds might be there driving us obliviously into wrong patterns of thought and action.

I've seen him do this in my life.

I'm developing a habit of introspection.  It isn't easy.  Henri Nouwen calls our deep inner wounds an abyss.  That about sums it up.  No wonder we toss things in to try and fill it up somehow without pausing to understand it or address it directly.  But while it's overwhelmingly hard to do, there is healing to be had by cautiously asking God to look at the abyss with us and to slowly fill it with his presence.

And it's really the only path to true freedom.  As long as we are functioning without introspection, we are slaves to our hidden selves.  We don't know why we act and react the ways we do.  We can't overcome compulsions and addictions without self-examination.

The big buzzword with me these days is authenticity.  Usually I use it in reference to others.  We need to be our true selves in our relationships.  But it actually starts a step before we bring it to the lives of those around us.  It starts by being authentic with ourselves.

Book Club Weekend

I'm feeling so thankful for the weekend away I got to enjoy with these lovely women.  God has blessed me with dear friends who know me...flaws and all...yet still love me.  And I hope that they feel my love and care for them as well.

I don't have a lot of close friendships at this stage in life.  But the few I have are incredibly beautiful and encouraging to me.  I have learned a lot about what it means to be a friend over the past couple of years.  Part of that education came from some of the women in this photo who have modeled selfless friendship and have mentored me.

We had a great time in Canton...you can read more about it here.

The Graduate

Not the movie from the late 60's...this is the Kindergarten kind of graduate.  I can hardly believe my littlest one is moving on to first grade.  He's becoming a "grader" as Ava liked to call it back when she was his age.

First all the kids sang some great songs including one from Charlotte's Web that I had never heard before but fell in love with.  It's called "We've Got Lots in Common."

We took lots of pictures, then headed home for some gifts followed by a special lunch.

I can't get over how handsome my little guy is.  That smile!  Those dark eyes!  Most of all there is a sweetness and a joy for life that oozes out of him.  I'm proud of his great year in Kindergarten and look forward to what next year brings.

And for your listening enjoyment- that super cute song I mentioned above...

Reverse Applique Shirt

We spent all morning cleaning the house.  We were tired, but happy with our clean rooms at noon.  As we ate lunch Ava wondered out loud how she might spend the afternoon.  Cody and the boys planned to work on the fence outside.  After some discussion, she and I agreed it would be a great time for the two of us to do some crafting.

I recalled something I pinned on Pinterest like a year ago.  It was a tutorial on reverse applique for t-shirts.  I also remembered that I have a purple t-shirt Ava's size I had picked up at the dollar store.  And, I knew I had lots of fabric scraps in a tub in the attic.  We gathered all the materials, and Ava started brainstorming about what to put on her shirt.

She really liked the Texas shape we saw on the tutorial webpage.  She also wanted to add a boot.  It was easy to find outlines on the Internet, print them off, and trace them onto fusible craft interfacing.

We thought her shirt turned out so cute that we decided to make another one for a friend of hers.  We hit the dollar store for another shirt and got busy.

I could explain how we sewed everything, but really this tutorial is awesome and easy to follow.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon with my sweet girl!