Christmastime!

As usual, a lot has happened in the last few months. Meet the newest addition to our family - Trotter! Named after the Eagles football player (of course) Jeremiah Trotter. I told Steve that I get to name our next pet since he obviously took the cake with this little guy. He definitely adds some spice to our otherwise boring married life...haha. He is currently 7 months old and nearly 70 pounds, and probably the most perfect dog you could ask for. Rarely barks (only when someone he doesn't know comes in the house) and a great partner for brisk walks or even running. He's really smart and extremely affectionate. He is constantly giving us something to laugh about with his crazy puppy antics and occasionally makes us piping mad when he wakes someone up at 5am to go potty. We had to move to a different apartment in order to get him, but it was totally worth it! Steve and I are officially house hunting. We have started to tighten our budget and put as much money as we can towards paying off his school loans and saving up for a down payment on a house. We have until June for our current lease to run out, so we have a bit of time before we get a little more aggressive with our hunt. The last couple months have been a great learning experience as we hang out with some realtors and squeeze them for all the housing advice we can get. We are extremely blessed with the people God has put in our lives to give us wisdom concerning finances and finding a home. With Trotter growing as quickly as he is, we're going to need something bigger than a two-bedroom apartment to contain him by next summer! I am currently about halfway through my Master's degree. I decided this summer to change from the MSCM (Master of Science in Counseling Ministries) to the MA (Master of Arts) program with an emphasis in counseling. The MA program is much shorter and I can do it all online, which saves me the trip to BBC every week for classes and is much more convenient with my full-time job. If I continue to do classes at the rate I'm going now, I will be done this time next year. This weekend is Christmas...which means we will be traveling a lot and spending time with family. We'll start by heading down to Steve's parents' house for Saturday and Sunday, then head up to Michigan on Monday for a few days. It's not as long of a trip as I would like it to be, but I'm still very excited to see everyone up there. If you think of it, please pray for us as we brave the roads of PA, OH and MI this next week. Well I should probably scoot...Trotter is whining because one of his bones is stuck under the couch. Have a blessed Christmas and don't forget to thank God for the reason we celebrate this time of year!

Summertime!

Wow, it's been a while...I always start these journals thinking that I'll be posting a lot, but life kind of gets in the way and my motivation tapers off after a little while. I do love the idea of journaling, but usually my short attention span and laziness gets the better of me. So here's a little update on what's going on in my life right now and what I have been learning over the past few months.

Steve and I are coming up on our one year anniversary! I can't believe that we've been married for almost a year already. We feel a bit like the odd ducklings because it looks like nearly all of the couples from school or home who got married last year are already busy with repopulating the earth. Steve is petrified of children right now, but I know he'll warm up to the idea eventually. The plan is to have me finish my Master's degree first anyways, so I'm okay with waiting a couple more years. I've really enjoyed my first year as a married woman, falling more and more in love with my dear husband every day. We have our little fights and disagreements, but I couldn't think of anyone else who could fill that special place in my heart but him. I prayed for a good husband, and God has blessed me with that and so much more!

Later this week we will be spending time with my family in Michigan. I am SO excited to go home! Believe it or not, we haven't been there since the wedding last July...so I am very anxious to spend some time with good friends and my family. My youngest brother, Benjamin, is having his high school graduation party that the trip is kind of built around. My other brother, Nathan, is getting ready to head off to basic training in September. I feel like I miss so much of them "growing up" because I haven't really been home for the last 4 years, so I am really excited to see them again.

I have this philosophy about life - all the experiences and phases that you go through don't really mean anything unless you observe and learn something from each one. As lazy as I can be, I do try to step back once in a while and kind of summarize what I think I'm learning at that particular time in my life. Right now I am beginning to realize the stages of life and how small my childhood will be in comparison to the time that is (hopefully) left before me! I said to my husband the other day, "You know, I'm just beginning to realize how small of a percentage my childhood is compared to the rest of my life. At the time, I felt like I would always be a child - I would never go to college, never get married, never have a family of my own, etc. But now all of those dream-like ideas are coming true, and I'm realizing that there is so much more to life than I could ever imagine!" I guess you could say that I'm starting to understand the complexity and beauty of the life that has been given to each one of us, and the precious opportunity that the Lord has gifted me with. It is my responsibility to take hold of my life and make sure that I live according to His plan for me, to be a person who glorifies Him in my short time on earth.

I am starting to take after my husband's love of listening to sermons. Right now I'm only listening to Mark Driscoll sermons simply because I love the way he preaches and the passion with which he shares God's Word. His sermons are practical, interesting, and convicting. Recently I listened to one of his parable sermons about the Barren Fig Tree, which was extremely convicting. I highly suggest that you log in to iTunes and download the podcast of that sermon...you won't regret it! Along with listening to Driscoll, I've been working through the commentary/book "Be Joyful!" by Wiersbe. It's a study on the book of Philippians, which has always been one of my favored books. It's taking me a while to get through it (like I said, I'm lazy and have a short attention span) but I am really enjoying the journey so far.

Well, I think that's all I will try to stuff into this post. Hopefully I will start to write more often so that I don't have to write a book every few months. I hope that eventually my writing will be a source of encouragement and/or conviction for the few who do read my ramblings. God bless and have a great week!