Going Home(coming)!!!

I am so excited!!! This weekend is Harding University's Homecoming and we are going!!! This is especially thrilling because we haven't really been back since we graduated (there was this one time, but we basically just saw a dorm lobby) and I am stoked.

I wish I could write down my entire college experience in this post, but that would probably be more exciting for me than it would for you. Instead, I'll just jot down a few of my favorite things about Harding and call it a day (yes, there will be flashback pictures).

10. Chick-Fil-A--That's right. There is one. On campus. No more popular place after Chapel than the Student Center.

9. Muffin Chapel--I loved Chapel because it allowed us to stop the hustle and bustle of our day for 35 short minutes to worship God with all of the friends I loved. What could be better than that? After announcements proceeding outside to find rows upon rows of Muffins and juice for the taking.

8. Jazz Band--One of the coolest concerts of the year--standing room only. There's just something about that rough, raw sound that gives me the heebie jeebies. In a good way.

7. Concert Choir--The first people I ever met at college were all going to Choir camp. We had a glorious week out at Camp Tahkodah were we got to swim, sing, and basically geek out with a bunch of other choir nerds before Pitch Perfect made it cool to sing Acapella.

6. The Front Lawn--The first time I stepped foot on Harding's campus waaaay back in high school I fell in love instantly. You see, right outside the Heritage is a heavily shaded front lawn with soft, green grass and trees that have sockets built right in.My gorgeous roommate and I spent many a day studying ::coughcoughhangingout::  with our friends there.

5. Theatre--I was a total theatre geek growing up. In fact, my first starring role was in School House Rock in the 6th grade! When I got to college, I knew I had to keep performing.

4. Friends--I met the bulk of my friends at Choir Camp and theatre productions. It was such a rag-tag group of people but we sure did have a lot of fun. I still stalk them on Facebook. FYI.

3. Christian Education--I started college at a state school--it was 20,000 people strong and one of the loneliest times of my life. When I got to Harding I found myself in a place where it's ok to pray for each other, to speak about God freely without judgement, and to tell your friends your love them. My faith is precious to me and Harding only made it grow.

2. Roomie for Life--There is no one in the world like Anna. We became roommates because our grandparents met at a Summer Youth Series and found out we both needed roommates. After a few Facebook conversations, we knew it was the real thing. Since then we've stalked boys together, pranked called our boyfriends, and stayed up countless nights talking until we fell asleep. We always told each other that if we didn't get married, we would be roommates for life. I'm still holding out hope that when we're old ladies, we'll be in the same nursing home laughing it up!

1. My husband--I wrote in another post how much I love my husband and Harding is where we met. We both went down a lot of broken roads before we found each other in Acting Styles. We were scene partners, playing reluctant lovers Benedict and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing, when in the end we fell in love with each other as well.

Tea? Don't Mind if I do!

This is what happens when you're too sick to do anything else.....

String of Pearls

I am pleased to announce the first issue of String of Pearls! This is a Young Women's online magazine run by my very talented baby sister Kelsie along with a few of her friends. The magazine features inspirational articles, life advice, recipes and much more. Articles are written from a Christian perspective by real young women with the occasional guy column and advice from adults as well. Check it out and look forward to many more issues in the future!

String of Pearls

A Home of Our Own

Renting is not for the faint of heart. Knowing that a random line of strangers lived here before you. You never quite settle in because this is not yours--you don't own it. No warm, inviting paint colors or permanent pictures of the family on the walls. No door frame to mark the growth of a child and certainly no loving animal waiting to welcome you home. Living somewhere semi-permanently but never really feeling "at home" because you know, at any time, you could be made to leave. My homebody soul is slowly inching toward the door. I need a space to call mine--to mold and change with my aesthetic. My mind is ripe with ideas for decorating my make-believe palace and my dreamer heart is about to burst for waiting. There is such a comfort in home. It's where warm, fresh-baked cookies live and tacky, redneck Christmas decorations stay in the yard all year long. Home is where you stay in bed all day and watch movies in your underpants. Home is where love is. Someday, hopefully soon, we'll find a home of our own.

Falling In Love

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." -Mignon McLaughlin

I find myself doing this more and more lately.

Joshua and I have been married for three and half years now and we no longer consider ourselves "newlyweds." To be honest, I can't say that I ever felt the newlywed glow that people talk about before you get married. Except for the semester after I graduated, we had been together almost every day for the two years before our wedding--we basically felt married, but we didn't live together. We've had our fair share of rough patches and knock-down-drag-out fights, but I still keep coming back. I will always keep coming back. Why? Because look at that smile--it makes my heart melt every time! But you know what else is in that smile? 

Two eyes that see only me amongst the scores of beautiful women out there. 

One mouth that tells the silliest old-man jokes. And I laugh. Every. Time.

Two hands that prove he labors diligently to provide our every need. Just look, you'll see the signs.

One mind that chooses to do the right thing, even when others try to convince him of otherwise.   

Two legs that "would walk a thousand miles." And oh far we've walked.

One Heart that loves God, loves me, and loves his comic books.

We can go suffer the worst argument but when I see him standing over the sink washing dishes, I consider all that Joshua is--even the not-so-nice bits--and I fall in love with him again just like I did in the beginning. Let it be known that these feelings don't happen automatically. When the rush of excitement is over, it takes work. Every day, we work for our marriage. Every day we Choose to love each other and every day we Choose to fall in love again. Here is a man that loves me physically, emotionally, and most important--spiritually. He would do anything to save my soul and I adore him.  Even when he leaves his dirty socks on the floor.

Taking Stock

I found this list on another blog the other and thought it might nice to see where "I'm at" at this point in my life. 


Making : A new blog post..because this place is sadly neglected.
Cooking : Tonight we're making Baked Chicken Parm--sans bread crumbs (healthy here we come!).
Drinking : Room temperature water and wishing it was Route 44 Root beer (my fave).
Reading: Emails at work (oops!)
Wanting: Some outdoor cushions for the pallet bench the hubs made for me.
Looking: Forward to some fried Oreos at the BBQ festival in town this weekend (our splurge treat!).
Playing: 
Wasting: Vegetables...always the vegetables.
Sewing: Nothing...but I have two projects half finished.
Wishing: To be with family--my family, his family, just family.
Enjoying: The cooler weather that lets us sit on the front porch without melting.
Waiting: For the holidays--we live so far from family and I ache to be near all of them.
Liking: That a very sweet baby came home yesterday.
Wondering: What God has in store for us in the next year.
Loving: People in my life who make me smile.
Hoping: We will get ahead one of these days...
Marveling: At the beauty of the place where we live...I will miss parts of it when we leave someday.
Needing: To lay on the bed with my Momma and have a deliciously long talk.
Smelling: Something rank in the office fridge--whoever left that container needs to get on it. Stat.
Wearing: My new faux leather skirt with snakeskin pumps. Feeling sassy.
Following: Too many shows on the internet--I can't keep up with them anymore!
Noticing: Girl's starting to wear leggings as pants again. Cover your bums please.
Knowing: Somehow, it's all going to turn out fine. We never see it until it's over--God is so good.
Thinking: That I spend far too much time thinking instead of doing.
Feeling: Joyful that my sister is coming early--Happy Birthday love!
Bookmarking: Return of the King. Almost done. 
Opening: A textbook to finish out this 8-week course for grad school.
Giggling: At the most adorable corgi playing with a little green ball.
Feeling: Overwhelmed. We have had a lot of heartache and struggles lately, but we're pushing through.

The days are getting shorter and I can almost taste the holidays coming. I'm excited to get back to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and Texas for Christmas--husband and I have really taken stock about what is important to us and family is at the top. Thinking about seeing them again almost makes my heart stop. We are so blessed to have the support system that we do and this time of year just makes me feel even more grateful.

Have you taken stock lately? What is important to you?

First Day of Fall!

Happy First Day of Fall--the leaves are beginning to change!