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.
♥

things making me smile...

this paragraph in pioneer woman's post on stuff she's learned about blogging:

2. Blog often.

Whether you write a sixteen-paragraph essay about the cosmic implications of a free market system, a one-paragraph description of what happens to your soul when you walk into your godforsaken laundry room, or a simple photo and caption, consider your blog a precious bloom that requires daily nurturing.

i heart that whole post. that one line really makes me laugh, though. i tell ya...

the fact that miss charla has blogged, for the first time in a while! [hello, old friends.]
so good to see her sweet self's writing populating the good old blogger dashboard.

this crazy coffee maker. thingy. whatever. i bet it costs somewhere in the upper side of 5k-10k. i. just. bet.

it's insane, is it not??

this repurposed barn.
i cannot say enough words for how much i really really really really like this.

Source: ninbra.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

yeah. i'm kind of sitting here in a state of shock, absorbing the wonder of it. 

gah.

maybe dress down the design of the interior decorating a little bit, more casual and not quite so design-looking but more homey, and i'll take it.

like...

that light fixture...eh...switch it out for something a little more normal looking. more classic.
in fact, just give me the shell of the remodeled barn. i'll decorate it. :P i do like that table, though.....

sigh:)

ah.

this lace.

Source: ruffledblog.com via Anna on Pinterest

it's so vintage-inspired. i love it.

and this.

Source: tumblr.com via Pascale on Pinterest

♥

and a piece from this poem by pablo neruda:

take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.

Source: goo.gl via shelia on Pinterest

happy.

i have 601 published posts and 22 drafts. i haven't been posting at a normal or decent record lately. just a few facts for you.

makes me happy posts.
pretty darn inspiring.
especially considering the facts that i'm looking forward to so many things, learning to rest in trusting God and His timing and just who He is, but i've started to let little things slip away.
so. with no further delay . . .

things that have made me ridiculously happy this week:

the smile my younger sister/s gives me when we share a sibling moment telling each other 'you're weird'.

and the laughing that comes afterwards.

the morning's hot shower. that feeling of a new day starting. clean.

the freshly-cleaned off kitchen counter. my ocd tendencies satisfied.

the loud, obnoxious hum of the coffee grinder in my hands. anticipation and enjoyment of my obsession. :)

attempting to accomplish how many push ups while the coffee brews. exercise, keeping in shape, who's heard of it? psh....not me.....

the sound of someone's really tired voice on the phone at the end of a long day... and the good-natured argument over when exactly he should go to sleep because he's so exhausted, or if he should stay up like he wants to/wishes.
the laughing that comes when either person wins the argument.

how about you? what has been making you ridiculously happy this week?

an announcement.

ahem.

ahehehehehhem.

i guess...i now have a pinterest.

Source: Uploaded by user via Beka on Pinterest

this is the day some of you have been waiting for, right? ;)

good day to you.

:)

the best weekend. ever. ever. eeeeever. :]

well, this is the follow up post that i promised to those dears that commented on the last post.

thursday night was pretty darn good.
they [justin, jonathon, and jacklyn] arrived at 7:30; an hour or two earlier than i was guessing at first, since it's a 6 hour drive and it was, after all, thanksgiving. family gatherings and all, ya know. 


friday was awesome.

i read a chapter of 12 + me to rach, jacklyn, and lyddie until 1am.
anna, jonathon, justin and i went to meet martha, where she was ringing bells with her mum for the salvation army . . . it was a gorgeous day, but oh so cold and windy.
we sat at caribou coffee for a bit; laughed over swing dance stories and people we've met there and stories from the restaurant where anna works, and a song title that neither anna nor i could finish saying.

when we got home, we made vegetarian tacos, and then lyd challenged justin to a game of war with cards, and a complicated string of games took place. lyddie, mostly winning . . . laughing at her brilliance and/or good luck. ah, dramatic siblings. ;)
we took a short trip to church to practice dance with me, it being the special we did today.
after practice, i napped in a pew and the guys were awesome and set up some trees for Christmas decorations . . .
we came home, the guys had an adventurous game of air soft in our front and back yard [ahem]... 

then we parted ways [guys to gram's house and me upstairs] and two of us got fancied up.
you might be able to guess.
well, some of you. ;)

you're welcome for the gif.

mhmm. i guess i should come out and say it now, shouldn't i??
meet my boyfriend.
justin.
:)
he happens to be the younger brother of my best friend, pj, whose family we've known for about 10 years.
he's hilarious. sweet. plays drums. loves God and people.
i kinda really like him.

we went to the restaurant for dinner around 5:30. stopped by to see chelsea and her husband [good friends from bible study] so he could meet them... :)
anna got a few pictures of us with the handy dandy flash on my camera. 

after a lovely discount because anna works there; a while of eating great appetizers and gelato; lots of talking and getting to meet all the people who anna's been telling me amusing stories about these past couple months . . . we headed home around 8:30.

the family was playing spoons when we arrived.
so what do we do when we get in there? sit down and start playing.

 photo cred: ma seester, rach.

then someone requested a dessert.
so, what do i do?

i start making those famed pumpkin cake bars. ;)

after the 'rents went to bed, we all headed over to gram's house to watch wolverine with a borrowed projector on an empty wall.

mum came to give us a container of the bars that had finished baking . . . someone pushed pause on the movie, and i don't even have to describe how fast they were devoured by all the siblings. i stepped into the kitchen to find several of them rubbing their stomachs. rachel told me i shouldn't
have made them; they were so naughty...hah.

because of the impending arrival of early waking time for some farm work bonding with dad and cousin david, justin went to bed around 11:30 and the rest of us finished the movie.

the guys came home just before 10, cleaned up nice, and then i watched the first half hour or so of the green lantern with them and the sisters at gram's . . . came home with justin around 11:30am to start lunch: chicken curry.

after chicken curry, anna, jonathon, caleb, justin and i headed off to meet heather, derek, steph and casey [and ryan and michaela] at a coffee shop for a couple hours.
hilarious time over coffee. :)
some of them got to razzing me, and after some comfortable conversation and teasing from everyone, even justin, about some amusing things and quirks of mine, heather gave a few of her cents: "i approve of justin; he gives beka a hard time!"
hah. hah. thanks. i approve of him, too.

sadly, i don't have any pictures on my camera of the gathering; i'm waiting on casey to post some pictures on fb so i can save a few for the date. hence the lack of photos right now for saturday afternoon out. stay tuned for an update.
. . . when we got home from the coffee shop, i washed dishes and justin dried . . . he's kind of an awesome dish-washing partner. ;)

sarah, justin, eliyah and zechariah came over after they got some house-hunting done. it was all good. :)

justin holding not-so-little zechariah.

. . . fill in the blank. :) 

soon enough, i started on making one pan of lasagna while another pan from a friend sat, warming, in the oven. a pan of chocolate cake may have went into the oven, too.
right before everyone started arriving, we both sat down on the kitchen rug against the cupboards and closed our eyes. i'm lucky enough to have second and third winds; he was hitting rock bottom from his day starting at 3:45am --all good stuff, though of course quite tiring-- and sadly, he doesn't have second winds as to my knowledge yet. super freaking early mornings do that to a person, i guess. :P we're going to have to try to change that . . .

grandma and grandpa t. came over; so did uncle bob, cousin david, and david-cito.
talk about the most wonderful party ever.
afterwards, justin and i started washing dishes --him, drying--

as you can tell, saturday was jam-packed and a grand, lovely time.
grandma t brought a pan full of her famous apple slices.
everyone loved that. :)
after the eating and clearing the table was done; we started doing dishes.
grandma t came by our side. "can i help dry? or wash the dishes?"
me: "uh....the position's already filled..." [insert smile here]
grandma: "are you saying you don't want my help?!"
we all laugh.
grandma: "well?" [smiling expectantly] 
me: "well....i guess i could let you do the silverware." huh. my least favorite part of washing dishes.
grandma: "alright! put the plug in and get some water and soap in that sink!"
i stepped back and didn't return to my place until after the dishes were all done . . .

how could i interrupt that?!

it was a darling sight.
to be sure. :)

when everyone left, tiredness hit us again.
someone snapped a picture of it for posterity, obviously, or else this picture wouldn't be here. ;)

rach and jacklyn amused themselves with blogger and youtube vids by julian smith and playing classics by colbie and jason mraz --lucky; i'm yours. you know; the classics. ;)

then, lyddie challenged him to another round of war.

oy. i swear, it's his favorite game ever now; that utterly amusing littlest sister of mine cracked us up [and herself while she was at it] endlessly while she beat him once again with the cards.

all us siblings went over to gram's to watch a movie . . . then someone suggested charades.

everyone was brilliant.
i don't mean to steal the spotlight that everyone envies, but i sincerely sucked.

he asked me to shoot him. :)
[didn't you?? ;) ]
turns out, it was a scene from a film i haven't seen . . . the matrix.

yay for motion shots. lol.
because there was church the next day . . . and supposedly sleep is a necessity . . . us girlies went home to sleep and the guys had some chill time. 

sunday was full and beautiful and more sweet than bittersweet.
there was a ton of meeting people . . . so much of our church is just like family; so, of course, all these people got to meet who they'd been hearing about, and vice versa.

pretty little jacklyn :)

when we came home from church, we had lunch . . . then they packed up . . .
then it was picture time.

rach got into photog mode after her little rampage of funness in the car.

us at the park while they were having fun.

. . . now we know what it is to be on the other side of the camera.
it's not that bad. ;)

as i said on fb, my younger sister, rach, is brilliant. she almost fell off the bench edge getting this of her own inspiration. :]

shoe photo credit: anna. :D

today was the coldest day of this whole weekend. hence the fingerless gloves. but hoods off for pictures.

left to right: ben, caleb, anna, rach, jonathon, justin, me, jacklyn, lyddie.

all of us :)

the men.

the ladies.

and . . . see-you-later's . . .

thus ended a very wonderful weekend.

how was your thanksgiving? :)