Weekend fun and exciting happenings!

Happy Friday! I've spent the day so far doing laundry at my grandparents' house. They are officially AWESOME. I love them.

I also love my husband, who took me out for lunch today (Subway, yum!). And who is working super-hard, like he always does, to help provide for me. Seriously blessed with that man.

I have two exciting things to tell you. One is that I'm guest-posting for Lindsey Brackett today! She is one of my favorite bloggers, and she asked me to talk about one of my favorite things: loving our husbands. From that post:

The source of all love—whether love between friends, between children and parents, or between husbands and wives—is God.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

We know what love is because Jesus has modeled it for us. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3:16 “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

God has described to us what real love looks like. 1 Corinthians 13 is a great starting point, although that kind of love is only shown perfectly by Jesus himself. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are these: to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).

These Scripture passages all give us a great definition of what love is and where real love comes from. But what does love look like, practically speaking, in a marriage?

Head to Lindsey's blog HERE to read the rest, and leave her some comment-love! And read her other posts...she has a beautiful family and a beautiful heart for the Lord.

The second exciting thing I can't actually tell you about yet. It's TOP SECRET business. But not for long. Keep an eye on the blog, and my Facebook page-- trust me, you're going to want to hear about this the second the word is out!

Finally, I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Today's payday, which means grocery shopping (I'm probably one of the few people in the world who has fun meal-planning, grocery-list-writing, and playing the how-little-can-I-spend-on-groceries-and-still-get-lots-of-good-food game). Plus tonight we're going to an ice cream social at my in-laws' church and going to see the new Wolverine movie with my brother-in-law and his friend, and tomorrow we get to see another of Joshua's brothers and pick my friend Sara up from the airport. Mini road trip with my hubby? Yes, please! I'm also hoping to squeeze some garage sale-going in there...we're on the lookout for a couple of bedside tables and a hutch for the kitchen. Dreaming big!

So. Go read my post on Lindsey's blog. Keep your eyes and ears open for the news I'll finally be able to share soon. Have a fantastic, joy-filled weekend. And tell me in the comments what you're up to! I love hearing from you!

the weekend

We spent a LOT of time with friends this weekend, but it was such a good thing and so much fun!!  Friday night we hung out at Neutral Groundz (the college-kids-only coffeeshop that's open on weekend nights, which is also where Joshua and I met) with Ruth and Joe.  Saturday for lunch we had over another married couple, and then two girl friends of mine from school came Saturday night to watch Phantom of the Opera and Ruth and Joe joined us then, too.  Sunday we went to the Evangelical Free church and a friend who goes there came over for lunch, and then after work Sunday evening we went to Ruth and Joe's.  Yes, we were with them three days in a row.  Plus I worked out with Ruth this morning. :)

It's funny how much our social life has actually expanded since we got married.  This weekend was more of the exception than the rule--we normally aren't quite this social!  We both really enjoyed it, though.  I LOVE being a hostess.

In between all the company we managed to do two weeks' worth of laundry (which was so much easier now that we have our own car again!) and get the house really clean.  It's gotten a bit cluttered since last night but tomorrow we'll have time to get it in order again.

I've been learning quite a bit this weekend:  about communication, about marriage and relationships, about how couples and people in general relate to one another, about love and forgiveness and acceptance.  I've been learning that it's okay if we don't always see eye-to-eye on things; we can still love each other and be friends and get along.  I've learned once again that it's easy to hurt those closest to us, even unintentionally, but that there's forgiveness and reconciliation and through the love of God our relationships can be restored.

I've been reminded how much of a blessing it is to be a blessing, and the joy that comes from serving and caring for others.

I love the privilege we have of being able to share the gifts that God has given us.

And as today is Reformation Day, I'm thanking God for those people who He worked through in order that His Gospel might be clearly proclaimed, preached, taught and practiced.  I'm also thankful for Martin Luther and the work he did within the Christian church.  (I'm glad I'm Lutheran! :) )

This week I have wedding thank-you notes to finish (no, they're not done yet; yes, I'm a horrible person) and a big history test to study for.  So blogging might not happen for a few days.  But every day God pours out his blessings, every day I have so much to be thankful for, every day I get to serve and love and glorify Him.

So much to be thankful for.

We're getting our car TONIGHT!!!

It's an absolutely beautiful fall day.

It's Friday!!!

Several friends are coming over this weekend.  I'm very much looking forward to time with them.

My husband is amazing.

God has given us good health and strong bodies.

We have really good food to eat, every single day.

I love our home.  I even like cleaning it (sometimes).

God is so good to us, always, in every thing.

We have the best friends in the world.

I talked to my mom AND sister on the phone this week!

Neither of us has much homework at all this weekend.

A test that was going to be today has been moved to next week Wednesday!

I have fifteen followers as of today and pageviews have been going up a lot.  (I try really hard not to make this the source of my encouragement to blog, but it is very encouraging.)

As of tomorrow, Hubby and I will have been married for five months.  And what an incredible five months it has been--and just keeps getting better! :)

Things I'm liking right now.

Several blogs I follow post a list of links on the weekend, which gives me a lot of things to read and peruse and discover.  I've also been busy this weekend and I have things to share!!

First, Hubby and I went to see Celtic Thunder last night.  If you haven't heard of them, it's like Celtic Women except they're men, and if you haven't heard of Celtic Women then you need to look up both groups on YouTube!!  Joshua introduced me to Celtic Thunder when we were dating and I've loved them ever since.  Yesterday was the first concert of theirs that we've ever been to.  We ended up sitting next to a family with two teenage girls who had been to at least two Celtic Thunder concerts each!  The concert itself was amazing, everything we were hoping and more, especially since one of our favorite singers sang one of Joshua's favorite songs. (That's the best version of it that I could find, but gosh it's still amazing!)  So anyway, it was an incredible night.

Today we went to see Courageous, the newest movie by Sherwood Pictures, makers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants and Flywheel.  If you haven't seen this yet, please find the nearest theater that's showing it and go before it's gone!!  The movie is such a witness to the life-changing power of the love of Jesus, and such an encouragement to men to be Godly fathers and husbands.  Joshua and I went with his parents and brothers, and my mother-in-law and I were both crying.  We all laughed a lot!  And the movie made me more thankful than ever for the amazing dad, father-in-law and grandfather I have, who have all been such amazing examples of what it means to be a Christian, and who have all shown such love to their families.

One more thing, just for fun.  I found a different Myers-Briggs personality test, much better than the one on Facebook, I think--easier and simpler.  And it gave me the same results with links to other information.  I think it's interesting to know what people's personality types are.  Joshua's and mine are nicely compatible. :)  (So if you take the test, let me know what your results were and if you think they're accurate for you. :) )

So there you have it: my weekend, with four bonus links! :)

Quick Weekend Recap

Car-hunting.  Mulling over our choices.  I think we might be going with the truck.

To Bee (a town) for fish on Friday: a tradition in the area!!  Good home cookin' with really good friends.

Brother-in-law's football game on Friday: his last senior varsity home game.  It was chilly but fun.

Camping out Friday night with friends.  The forecast was for a low of 40 degrees during the night.  I do believe it got down to the mid 20's.  We were quite cold, but it was still fun and totally worth it.

Biscuits and scrambled eggs at home Friday morning: warming up after the cold night!

Shopping at Sam's Club (still with the same friends).  Proud of myself for saving money by buying in bulk.  And excited about the amazing produce I got!

Roasted hot dogs, s'mores, and frisbee with the friends in the afternoon.  Laundry at the grandparents' in the evening.  "Green Lantern" with hubby and friends at night.

Sleeping in Sunday morning.  Amazing morning. :)  Fantastic church service, lovely walk to and from church.  Spaghetti, garlic toast and salad for a mid-afternoon dinner.  Hubby not feeling good so he stayed home from work but feeling good enough to organize the closet and do dishes and clean up the living room!!!!!  I have an AMAZING husband.

Now...chicken to get out of slow cooker, short reflection paper to write, movie to watch, bed to visit.

I realize this post is grammatically terrible.  But I haven't written in a while and it was such a good weekend I wanted to capture it quickly: a sketch, if you will, instead of a detailed drawing.  Maybe I'll come back later and fill in the blanks. :)