Happy Birthday... to me!

Today marks my birthday and the two-year anniversary of Josh's proposal. 

:)  I am one happy lady!

This feels normal.

Josh and I have been married for nearly three months now.

Our wedding feels like a long time ago.  The engagement, even longer (thankfully).

Puffy eyes and morning breath.  Lazy meals of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs.  Sweatpants and television.  Some days, lively chatter, other days, quiet contentment.  The apartment isn't always clean, but there is always hot coffee in the French press and several cartons of ice cream in the freezer. 

We have heard over and over, "Your first year will be really tough."  Sure, we've had a few tense conversations, but we've never gone to bed angry.  Living with your best friend is "really tough"?  It seems pretty easy!  I suppose we could argue about how to fold laundry, or how to arrange the furniture, or how much money to spend on groceries, but those things don't matter too much.  I think the "really tough" aspect of marriage is the absolute transparency.  My husband and I know each other intimately.  Our selfishness, laziness, and general quirks are on display to each other!  If we were to wield this knowledge selfishly, stacking next to it our own expectations, we would easily become critical, manipulative, or malcontent.   However, if we use this knowledge with wisdom and gentleness, then we strengthen and encourage each other.  So far, I think we are.

Married life is now the norm for us.  Normal is good, morning breath and all.

Love

In four months, I will be wed to this wonderful man.  Our affection is real and our dedication fierce, even withstanding five years of joy and trial, but these past few days have provided horrifying glimpses into our own selfishness.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13

Hello, 2011

Happy New Year, everyone!  How did you celebrate New Year's Eve?  I worked a double shift at Panera yesterday, but still managed to relax with some dear friends.  We sipped sparkling cider, munched chocolate covered pretzels and cookies, and watched the brilliant movie Inception.  This morning I slept in until 11:00 am, a glorious treat.


 
(Trix cereal is no longer cute, fruity shapes.  Disappointing.) This week in Chicago has been mostly spent at Panera Bread (working, not eating), but the lack of homework has allowed the busyness to be strangely restful.  The gift of work and the gift of rest can be simultaneously given by my gracious God.

(I like to post my work schedule next to that cute magnet from Second Go-Round.)  Oh, in other news, I have also been reading for fun!  Have any of you read this classic?  I began reading this on my flight back to Chi-town, and I have not been able to put it down.  Beth hasn't died yet, but I'm sure I'll cry when she does!

Well, unlike my blogging friends, I have not prepared an elaborate, pictorial overview of 2010, but re-living this memory is always a joy:

Josh proposed on my birthday in 2010, and we will be wed this year, in 2011!  It is a happy new year, indeed.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were married...

Remember Devin Dunn, my college friend who just happens to be an outstanding photographer?  He took our engagement pictures on Sunday afternoon!  They turned out beautifully, and I am exceedingly excited to share them with you!

The weather was cheerfully sunny and comfortably warm.  Guided by our artistic photographer, we posed inside the courtyard of Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue and around the lovely corners of Lincoln Park.

 Devin did a wonderful job!  These are only a handful of the shots!

Only 275 more days until I get to marry this man!