On a Sunday

Tomorrow marks one week since the Tornado that swept through central Illinois. Derek and I were at 5 points in Washington when the Tornado came through and we'll be there again tomorrow. I remember being ushered out of the auditorium right before our church service was about to begin and crowding into the hallways. The hallway I was in had sturdy block walls on either side of me and I felt secure, somehow safe even though the winds howled mercilessly outside. It wasn't the block walls that gave me peace though, for I know they could crumble in a moment. No it is the might and the power of my God that made me feel safe in His hand no matter what the outcome. The lights flickered...once, twice and then all was dark. We began to sing softly and then louder the words of Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty and I remember Derek's voice lifted in praise to our Heavenly father. The rumble outside grew louder and then it seemed to slowly dissipate into the distance. After awhile we were allowed to leave and even then the enormity of what had happened hadn't hit us. We left 5 points and noted some debris, a few missing shingles, a powerline tipped over but nothing seemed too out of place. Perhaps we had overreacted. We drove home on highway 150 completely oblivious to what had truly happened. It wasn't until later that we started seeing footage of what had been soo close to us.

Finally on Thursday night Holly and I got to go help serve food to the people of Washington and sort food. The outpooring of love and giving is truly incredible!

Bread! (Excuse the fact that I'm in scrubs, I came from work:)

Food Galore!

 On a different note Derek and I celebrated 5 months of wedded bliss yesterday, although I haven't been keeping track very well I guess :) Here's our conversation from yesterday:
Me: Happy 6 month anniversary honey! Can you believe it!?
Derek: Ummm....well not really because actually it's our 5 month anniversary.
Me: Oh...opps.

  We went out to Granite City with some good friends and then afterwards Derek and I went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We did it together last year when we were engaged, we enjoyed it this year too and wish we could be there when the kids get to open their box...

Derek did the boy box and I did the girl box:)

Have a great rest of the weekend!
I will leave you with the scripture Derek and I read the next day after the tornado....

²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
²⁶ He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27

Monday thru Friday

Monday started off in a flurry of...flurries:) and ended with Sister's Night at the Blend. I drove Holly and Tiffany there and they screamed the whole way. Apparently they think I needed a little more class time in "Snowy Driving 101". Anyway we made it to the Blend and met up with Teri for some delicious hot drinks and a game of Phase 10. (We missed you Marti and Allison).

  I worked four days at my nursing job this week {which seems to be just the right amount to keep me coming back happy and non sleep deprived}. I drove Derek to school one day and dropped him off, I may have waved obnoxiously and pretended to be an over excited parent;) Then I ran errands and figured out that I do Not like getting groceries when it's cold and then when you're at Aldi's and have to return the cart to the store to get your quarter back....well I never really cared about the quarter in the first place and now that my hands and face were about to freeze off and I was parked a half mile from the store...well I especially didn't care about getting a quarter back at that point. I did return the cart though {and now I will wear a snowsuit, glove, ski mask on future similar excursions}. 

On Wednesday I watched little Miss Everly, my ever adorable 1 year old niece. She pooped in my bathtub and it was gross. Alas my husband was home and saved the day. Other than that she crawls laps around our duplex and likes to push buttons and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She makes a lot of happy noises too and says "puppppy".
I've been making a lot of pumpkin chocolate chip bread lately. It seems to be our breakfast of choice around here lately. That and hot chocolate:)
My wonderful friend Katy Knapp got engaged this week! (eek!) I can't even say how excited I am for her and Jake, they are a great couple! And I'm even more excited that it's her turn to make all those decisions and do the planning;)     

The future Mr and Mrs. Devine

That was the short version of my week. Have a fabulous weekend:)                                                 
                         

Winter Denial & November Thankful's

It would seem that winter is closing in on Illinois and I'm in a slight state of denial. Don't get me wrong I love Thanksgiving, Christmas and New years, but I wish Winter would leave when they ended. At breakfast I watched through our back window as an elderly couple mowed their lawn (yes it is a joint effort between the two of them, they take turns pushing the mower so the other one can rest). Anyway I started to daydream that maybe it was springtime and people were starting to get their mowers out after a long winter. A winter that I had conveniently slept through. Alas I went out for a run and was rudely awakened by cold sleet like rain, grey skies and wind that seemed to whisper "Novemmmbeeerrrr". I double checked my calender and it seems that Winter is indeed quickly approaching and in an act of rebellion I've started to browse Caribbean all inclusive resort sights. Trust me pictures of pearly white beaches and crystal clear oceans are enough to boast anyone's winter moral;)

Lest you think I only complain;), Ill share with you something that I'm loving right now. The "30 Thankful Days" of November. Some people have been doing it on Facebook, Instagram or wherever, all you have to do is share something that you're thankful for each day of November. Derek and I have a notebook that we've been writing down something in each day that we're thankful for. We're hoping to continue this long after November ends as a testament of God's faithfulness and blessings in our life.

In no specific order here are a few we've come up with so far:
1. Wiener roasts and smores with good friends and family.
2. For Emily because you're always here for me.
3. Sunday afternoons together
4. Good health
5. For my husband Derek who loves me and is kind and considerate
6. For our church family who are supportive and challenge us to grow spiritually everyday
7. Family, who are constantly there for us no matter what.
8. Seasonal change b/c it makes us appreciate each season
9. God's grace and Christ's Death on the cross for our sins.
10. "Sick days", so I can stay home and spend time with my wife 

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thes. 5:18

Weekend Edition

Hooray for the weekend and all the fun and memories that come with it! Not that memories can't happen during the week, but I don't necessarily consider catching two mice a fond memory that I want to keep....or 4 loads of laundry in various states of completion. Nope I'd prefer the fun things (don't think I live in denial, just sometimes;) Derek and I had pizza in on Friday night and then he worked steadily on homework while trying not to lose his mind. He has several group projects that are coming to a close this week so it's crunch time. I was feeling a little pity for myself because I didn't have much to do and here he was working away on homework on a Friday night so I went to see my sister Tiffany. *Sigh* she also was doing homework....soo I annoyed her for a bit (she's easier to distract from her studying than my husband I've found haha) Eventually I returned home to my husband who was still doing homework. Anyone not in school anymore that wants to celebrate our freedom together?!:)
Saturday Katie Wag was in town so we went out to eat with our high school friends group and then back to Haley's adorable new home. It was great to see everyone and catch up:) Sunday was such a refreshing day. Physically because we got an extra hour of sleep (hooray!), spiritually we were fed by God's word and blessed by our family at church and then for lunch Derek's family always spoils us with a great meal and it's so nice to catch up. For supper we went to Holly and Pete's for a weiner roast, possibly the last one of the season although Derek insists that you can have a weiner roast anytime of the year as long as you have wood and matches. I felt especially blessed with our time with family that night. We enjoyed our time together, played games, and talked around the fire. I wish I'd taken some pictures, but alas I'm sure you've realized by now that I'm not a photographer and I'm not quick to whip out my iphone to take a picture like I should be. Nevertheless it was a successful memorable weekend:) Have a great week!

Derek trying to focus on homework and escape all my chattering :)

Raindrops on roses

Raindrops on roses and warm fuzzy kittens......these are {not} some of my favorite things. *Sigh* Mary Poppins would be so much more cheerful about this weather than I am I'd have to say. Really though, I haven't seen a warm fuzzy kitten in awhile......mainly because the kittens at Derek's parents barn are far from friendly. There mom is wild and they decided to follow suite....leaving me with scratches on my arms and hissing fur balls whenever I go near them. Rainy days aren't all bad though. Well actually that's not completely true. Yesterday I babysat my niece for awhile in the afternoon. I drove her home around supper time and it had been steadily raining for most of the day. When I got to my sisters house her gravel drive resembled a muddy lake. I decided right away to get inside as quickly as possible so I slung her diaper bag over my shoulder and held the carseat in the other hand. Maybe I was going too fast I don't know, but I lost my balance and landed in the mud. Of course my niece wasn't terribly thrilled about the turn of events and started crying. We made it up the rest of the drive to my sisters doorstep and there I stood wet, covered in mud with a wet little baby in tow. It wasn't exactly the most picturesque rainy day.   

This little girly was mesmerized by the rain

Today made up for it though:) It was one of those days where I had nowhere specific to be and could do whatever I chose. I made some chocolate chip pumpkin bread...I think it's delicious, Derek wonders why everything I make comes out of the oven with chocolate in it;) Then I watched Downton Abbey....it's addicting and I'm afraid I'm going to start talking in an English accent soon:) Besides all that I've been enjoying warm blankets and hot cocoa and all things fall-ish
Happy October 31st, if you ring our doorbell we have free candy for you;)  

Choc chip pumpkin bread:) Yumm

A Running post

It's really a love hate relationship. It all started freshman year when my friend Joy and I decided to do cross country. More accurately I decided that we were going to do cross country. See it was at that point in your life where you can't do anything without your friends, so after using a little peer pressure I made her sign up with me. I'm not sure she's recovered yet... (just kidding). Anyway so off we went to our first cross country practice where we huffed and puffed along through the hot July sun. A typical cross country race was 3 miles long. Joy and I were fairly certain we couldn't run that far so we asked our team captain if we could take walking breaks during our race......our poor team captain probably didn't think there was much hope for our team winning when two of the "runners" were asking if it was ok to be "walkers". She encouraged us on though and the rest of the summer passed in countless hours of running, running and running. Oh our coach would call it different things and say things like, "today we're going to do an Indian run!", but no matter what he called it we knew if would end in our shoes pounding the pavement. To our great surprise we actually ran our first race without stopping and went on to run at the state cross country meet at the end of the season. I thanked God for the ability to run, but eventually said good-bye to the competitive aspect and choose to do it for fun. No more practices, meets and crack of dawn workouts. No now it is just me and the outdoors. It's a time to think, find a rhythm and just enjoy. The good thing about running is that it doesn't take a whole lot of skill. You don't have to be good at catching a ball or hitting a target.

We Care 10K...enjoying running for a cause together :)

Enter Marissa. We became running buds probably a year ago and I'm fairly certain we've worn down the streets of Goodfield and Congerville (although I do not take responsibility for all the cracks in their sidewalks). I was just thinking maybe we need to move to a bigger town. Or at least a town that we don't lap twice in less than 30 minutes. Anyway this poor girl has probably heard far too much complaining from me while running...."it's too hot, I'm so cold my lungs are freezing, are we done yet? my side hurts, my legs hurt, I think i just want to go eat ice cream".....you get the picture. Nevertheless she puts up with me and we get along pretty swell I'd say. It especially helps that we both went through nursing school/are nurses:) That always leaves plenty to talk about on our runs:)
Now that I've completely rambled on about running for two paragraphs (kudos to you if you read this whole post) I have to say that no matter how nice it feels to finish a 3 mile, 6 mile, 13 mile.....dare I say 26 mile marathon...it means little to be in the utmost of shape if your soul is weak and frail in the faith....

 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto ALL things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8

Have a great week:)

In Love?

Derek and I get asked quite a bit how married life is going. We typically say "good" and then smile (then there's an awkward silence where we're not really sure if we should elaborate or not) but it is going good and that's probably the response people are expecting. Plus how weird would it be if we said "oh just Awwwfulll"? Don't worry there haven't been any major breakdowns and it's not awful;) It goes especially well when Derek knows And remembers to do his husband-ly duties which include taking out the trash, getting my hair out of the shower drain, keeping his office clean, helping with dishes after meals and doing outside stuff. Oh, and not wearing more than 3 shirts in a day. I decided that laundry was getting a bit excessive so I had to put a limit on it. Who knew guys needed a different shirt for work, school, home and lounging around? 
In reality though sometimes I feel like when people ask us how married life is going they're really asking "are you still in love?". It's like they're trying to look deep into our souls and gauge whether it was worth it to bridge the gap between dating and marriage. Maybe they're scared the butterflies will go away. Maybe they've seen too many marriages go stale. To that I would answer that staying in love isn't the first task of marriage, it's the happy (maybe sappy) overflow of covenant keeping for the glory of God. In John Piper's book This Momentary Marriage he says keeping first things first makes second things better. If the main goal in marriage for the next 50 years was to stay perfectly, over the top, butterflies in love it would probably get very emotionally tiring very quick. But oh the joy of representing Christ's commited relationship with the church through our marriage! And the joy of glorifying Christ through our actions toward each other. When you keep first things first, I truly believe there is an overflow of sweet love. 

Fall hayrack ride with this great guy:-)