on life, and settling in.

it's the most interesting feeling, having your own place.
if i must be honest, i love it.
it's fun. the details. the mundane. the every day.
they're our towels.

it's our kitchen sink.
our laundry to do.
(two loads desperately need to be done right now.)
our coffee maker that brewed fresh, hot, yummy coffee this morning.
our front porch.
(it could use a rocking chair or love seat of some kind...maybe craigslist will let something out of the woodwork again. hah.)

our couch.

our entertainment center that we put hard work and concentration and teamwork into, one night from 10:30pm to 2:30am.
our budget to sketch out and write up.
our rent to be paid (and what a great deal do we have!! so blessed.).
our dresser.

our mirrors and awesome leather chair that i found while rummaging with lady friends back in wisconsin. :)

our coffee mugs. (great gifts from awesome friends, used all the time, if you would believe that. ;))

our milk glass bud vase from my grammy who passed on in june 2011.

our at-home date nights late on sunday nights with a movie and caesar salad kit from wally's.
(p.s. i love you is one of those films that i watch 2 or 3 times a year and it gives me a whole new appreciation for life and loved ones. just because. these humans are so precious to me.)

friday and saturday night, while justin worked, i had rachel over for one night, and anna for the other night.

we talked and talked and watched a movie before sleep. the next morning, i made them coffee in my kitchen. poured them coffee into my collected (or gift-given) mugs. 
it's pretty fantastic to be able to have sisters over for a night of quality time and coffee in the morning.
i like it a lot. ;)

after-dinner walks out here in southern illinois are amazing.
no doubt about it.
i used to live in a small town, about 10k. i could see sunsets, but not like this. 
friday night i think it was, justin and i took a walk alone on the country road. all the way up to the stop sign like we always did over the past almost-2-years. we stopped and stared at the sunset. hugged and talked about how we couldn't remember the last time we'd done this together. the past how many months were too busy to randomly take a walk.
i believe after-dinner walks are some of the best things to have in your life. it's pondering time, whether you have good, lovely things to think and talk about, or hard, frustrating things.

and i can't believe,  that I'm your man,
and i get to kiss you baby just because i can.
whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through...
[michael buble]

all in all, we're loving the challenge and joy that is marriage.
i'm just so glad we're in this crazy life journey together.
♥

hello again . . . marriage links, and life lately.

wow, wow, wow.
since when does blogger randomly just start working for me, one night at nearly 11pm?
shoot. i wanted to go to sleep early. ish.
but since it's working, i wanted to get a few words in before it goes funky and fails again, as technology and sites and complicated stuff like that tends to do. :P

i made some cream of mushroom soup today, completely from scratch [and it turned out freakin' yummy, if i do say so myself and quote the family members who devoured it. lol] . . . also, baking powder biscuits, and a 2 dozen batch of blueberry muffins.
oh my word, the last paragraph and the picture line up above makes me feel like my blogging a year ago....food, food, food. ;)
anyways, during that and afterwards, i was reading all over online about young people getting married.
here are a few favorite links i found...

a stunning post by the lovely erika [the life artist]:
12 years and why are we married again?

and this one, by david lapp:
did i get married too young?

the case for early marriage.
found in the magazine/webzine christianity today. [first mentioned to me by jen and craig, justin's awesome older sister and brother in law.]

and this really good one from boundless:
paddling after jake and myrtle.

and another really interesting one via boundless:
i got married young, but not young enough, part 1.

in other news: starting last thursday, rach and i got to spend 5 nights down with justin and his family, and then he drove us up here and he got to spend 5 nights with us. :)
needless to say, the past 10ish days were filled with laughing, fascinating and quirky family members, shopping, hanging out, swimming [hello terribly hot summer weather, anybody?], watching a couple movies, making food, singing, painting [yes!!! you read that right! ;) more on that later]....having interesting discussions face to face for once [mostly they happen over the phone, obviously]......let me just say, saturday when justin and i got to go to panera bread and have a scone and coffee --a chai tea latte for him-- it was so good to just spend one-on-one time talking about all the stuff under the sun that we puzzle over on the phone.

sunday morning with him as he left for home in southern illinois, saying see-you-later was the roughest time yet, but i can feel time speeding up just a bit more, closure coming, the next step drawing nearer and nearer...

so . . . that's been my last couple weeks.
maybe some more pictures and descriptions later.... :)

oh! also. i'm growing out my hair....just trying, right now, to even get to an even-length bob. heh.
kinda rough some days. but i'm getting there. i've had only the back trimmed straight for the past few months....i'm getting there. it's almost to the tuck-behind-the-ears-and-it-stays phase! so excited. hahah. at least i liked the short-short hair cut for nearly a complete, fully year. i'm pretty proud of that.

this was today. me and rach, sharing a dark chocolate coconut frappuccino at a cute little independent coffee/antique shop. :) no, i don't have instagram. rach does though. :P lol