And...Re-start.

For the past several months, I've felt like I'm in a get up-work-go home-eat-sleep-repeat rut.  I tell myself that I have nothing worthwhile to blog about, and therefore I don't write.  This is bad, and in reality it's just not at all true.  The fact that life if more of a routine than it was during college does not in any way, shape, or form mean that it's less interesting.  And while it is true that much of my time is spent at a desk each day, there's a lot of life that happens outside of work.  For example, here's a list of things that I haven't blogged about and should have over the past several months (in no particular order):

1. At least four business trips to places I've never been to before.

2. The fact that Potomac, Maryland has the most enormous mansions.  And a Tesla store in the mall.

3. The gardening project on my office's windowsill (I'm now a gnat-killing ninja).

4. Downhill skiing after not skiing for over six years.

5. Buying a wedding dress.

[No picture available due to pre-wedding secrecy.]

6. Traveling to Milwaukee to see a Tolkien exhibit in two days.

7. Hiking in the rain in New Hampshire.

[The view from the top.]

8. A trip to the Grand Cayman.

9. Making new friends from work.

[Well, I guess I don't have pictures of said new friends...yet.]

10. The gloriousness of crock pot cooking.

[Yet another thing I didn't take a picture of.]

11. My new-found obsession with NPR.  (I'm the nerd with the NPR app on her phone...)

12. 2013's goal of trying several new restaurants in the area.

13. Not-so-small brother heading to college.

14. Oh, I don't know...planning a wedding.  Obviously not a big deal.

[There is no picture.  We're too busy emailing people.]

15. Getting engaged.  (BOOM.  DONE.)

[This photo is actually two years old.]

So clearly, my imperceptive view that nothing exciting happens anymore is a total and complete lie.  College does lend itself to random, exciting, blog-worthy activities, but college ended more than two years ago - and for crying out loud - my life is just as good (if not better) than it was then.  So in short, I am without excuse.  The no-internet-in-my-apartment thing is just a cover.  If I'm going to "suck the marrow out of life," as Kelle Hampton is fond of saying, then I better start recognizing the fact that everyday life is worth capturing.  I've said it before, but I think there's a good chance of succeeding this time: it's time to bring this blog back from the dead.  I might even give it a fresh coat of paint.  Here's to 2014 - the year of weddings, blogging, adventures, and the beauty of the routine.

10.26.13

One time, the official blog boyfriend and I went on a trip.  We decided to go hiking - but he decided the rest of the trip should be a surprise.  Eventually I asked enough questions that I found out we were going to Maine, but that didn't ruin any of the surprise since a) I couldn't think of any mountains in Maine that would be hike-able in October and b) Maine is a pretty large state in comparison with all the others in New England.

We drove for four hours or so (with a quick pit stop at McDonalds...classy, right?) and eventually stopped at Camden Hills State Park.  The person at the gate told us that the park closed at 4:30, which meant that we only had 1.5 hours to hike.  I was mildly concerned about that fact.  Nevertheless, the official blog boyfriend would not be dissuaded and we proceeded to hike Mt. Battie nonetheless.  I started to become mildly suspicious, but I talked myself out of it: Don't even think about it.  This is a fun trip, and you can't ruin it by being disappointed and lame just because you thought one thing and it didn't turn out that way.  

We got to the top at 3:40 - just enough time to look around for a little bit and then head back down before the gates closed.  The top of the mountain had a great view.  We could see all the way out over the ocean, including a bunch of islands. 

One of those islands happened to be familiar.  "Hey look!  It's Deer Isle!" I said to official blog boyfriend.  The significance of this particular island is that Diana and her husband Nathaniel live there. "I'm going to text Diana and tell her I can see their island."  

Official blog boyfriend hesitated for a second, then said, "Maybe you should wait until we get back to the car to text her since we don't have too much time up here."  

Too late.  It was sent.

Diana wrote back to say, "What!  So cool!  I've been there.  Wish I could see you!"

(In retrospect: sneaky, Diana.  Very sneaky.)

There were a few other people on top of the mountain.  We wandered around looking for a good lookout spot.  We walked to the edge of the hill.  People shortly followed.  There was a tower on the top of the mountain.  We climbed up there and looked out.  People followed.  Finally, we walked around a copse of trees to a different (deserted) lookout spot.  We looked out.  We hugged.  Official blog boyfriend looked at me and said, "Do you want to get married?"  

I said yes. Enthusiastically.  And he pulled a ring out of his pocket.  

(Admittedly, this picture was from a little later that day.)

And then we had to turn around, because we only had 40 minutes to get back and drive out.  

On the way down, official blog boyfriend told me the story behind the ring.  It was a long, complicated, interesting story.  He'd done an amazing job - at risk of sounding incredibly cliche, I think it's the prettiest ring I've ever seen.  Also, I'm really picky, and he found one that I absolutely love.

Also on the way down, he mentioned that we'd be spending the remainder of the weekend with Diana and Nathaniel on Deer Isle.  Here's the subsequent continuation of the correspondence with Diana:

We made it to the park exit at 4:28!  

After that, we drove the remaining two hours to Deer Isle, and spent a glorious weekend with the most wonderful of friends.

And so 10/26/13 has taken on a special significance for us.

We're so excited.

Too Much Recognition

Confession: I end up at Target probably three or four times a week.  Sometimes more, sometimes less, but on average, it's probably three times a week.  This has never bothered me - I love Target and I will never take it for granted because I didn't have one within a 100-mile radius until college, at which time it was miraculously only 7.7 miles away.  

I like Target because it's clean and nice and it has almost everything I need for day to day life.  It's big enough that I feel comfortably anonymous and no one notices how often I'm there.

UNTIL NOW.

On one of my recent trips on my way home from work, I wandered around for about 15 minutes, picked up the two or three items that I needed, and headed to the checkout.  Following my customary routine (which is probably everyone else's customary routine also...), I picked the shortest line and prepared to pay for my stuff and head out the door.  The cashier woman started ringing me up and, following protocol (no doubt), she asked, "Would you like to save 5% on your purchase today by signing up for a Target card?"  As usual, I declined.  Expecting that to be the end of the conversation, she surprised me by saying, "Well...are you sure?  You come here all the time!"

::awkward pause::

"Uh...haha...ha...you're right...I am here a lot..."

::pays and runs away::

Folks, it's one thing to be recognized at Starbucks or Pinkberry.  It's quite another to be recognized a Target.  I have a problem.

{via google images}

Recent Tragedy

Last Sunday I woke up to four missed calls and a text, all from my mom.  Naturally, I wondered which of my relatives was in the emergency room.  However, I was completely unprepared for what she said.  Tammy called this morning.  There was an accident.  Elijah didn't make it.

At 12:30 am, our dear friends' oldest son passed from this life into the arms of our Lord.  A recent high school graduate, Elijah was headed to boot camp in three weeks, scheduled to depart on his 18th birthday.  He was a leader in the church youth group, an excellent percussionist, and a gifted athlete.

There are so many things to say.

My broken heart is aching.  But this pales in comparison to the agony of my brothers...Elijah's five siblings...his parents...

This is not fair.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

The town's response to this event has been nothing short of miraculous.  What an incredible blessing to count this my home.

God's presence is so much more visible than ever before.  He has already worked wonders through this tragedy.

I wish I could describe the profound, grief-stricken, worshipful beauty of Elijah's memorial service, but I don't think it could be put into words.  Elijah's life meant so much to so many, and his faithful commitment to Christ has reached the entire community and far beyond.  Through his death and his parents' constant witness in the following days, hundreds - perhaps thousands - have heard the gospel.



Thanks be to God.

Elijah Todd Davis
September 2, 1995 - July 28, 2013

2013 Wedding No. 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a big year for the apartment friends...

...which brings me to

Meghanne's wedding!

I was the maid of honor for this wedding, so I was busy for the entire event.  Certainly not a bad thing - it was an honor to be the maid of honor.  (Too much honor?)

Let me set the stage for you.  Meghanne's favorite-beyond-all-favorites color is pink.  I figured this out pretty early on during our roommate-ship.  

It went without saying that the bridesmaids dresses and basically everything involved with the wedding would therefore be pink.  Therefore, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I present you with a post that is almost entirely pictures.

Bachelorette party:

(Please forgive the photo quality - all photos are either from my phone or taken from Facebook, which is admittedly deplorable.)

The bachelorette party was great.  We went to Fire and Ice for lunch and then walked around Boston, keeping mostly to Newbury Street to go shopping.  Woo!

After it was all over, I put together a scrapbook!

And then it was time to head to Rhode Island for the festivities.  Here we go...

Rehearsal dinner:

(Confused?)

Getting ready:

(I wrote my speech on my phone...and then I scrambled to try to write it on paper that morning.  I ran out of time.  I used my phone.  Hashtagfirstworldproblems.)

On the way to the church!

Favorite picture of us...

(CLOUD OF PINK.)

Ceremony:

Flowers:

(Super pink!)

And reception:

And once again, the beloved apartment was reunited!

It's so wonderful having watched Meghanne and Jon's relationship blossom from the very beginning until this stage in their lives.  I have spectacular friends.  If you feel like reading about that, my entire maid of honor speech is below, because I think it says it all better than anything I've written here.

And this time, while I spent a lot of time running around doing stuff, this time I had the world's best date.

If you've made it this far, congratulations!

The Speech:

I met Meghanne during our freshman year of college at Gordon.  Through a number of connections but mostly through the music department, we became close friends and eventually roommates.  I quickly learned that Meghanne considered wedding planning to be one of her most frequent past times, which I has no problem adopting as one of my own.  This led to numerous purchases of premature bridal magazines, the most memorable of which involved a trip to the grocery store at 10 pm on a "school night" for a magazine and some Ben and Jerry's.  Not wanting to be the typical "Gordon girl" - a common stereotype that usually came in conjunction with the somewhat derogatory phrase "ring by spring" - we made a point to hide the magazine under our other purchases as soon as we saw other college students wandering the aisles.

We made it stealthily all the way to the cashier, who loudly asked, "Oh, are you getting married?"  Meghanne thought fast and answered, "No, my....sister is getting married and we're going to her bachelorette party and we want to help her come up with ideas for the wedding..."  We thought it was entirely convincing.

It's worth noting that all of this happened before Jon even entered the picture. Another common past time was making lists of what we wanted in a future spouse.  We thought these lists were so important that I actually took the time to write them down.  So, as of early sophomore year, here's a portion of what Meghanne was looking for in her future husband.

- strong Christian
- has an appreciation for music
- will dance...extensively (all kinds, minus sketchy)
- likes kids and dogs
- good conversationalist
- has an equal say in matters
- doesn't mind talking
- has red hair

Clearly, the next step was to keep an eye out for said Perfect Match.  But our good friend Amber took a look at Meghanne's list and said, "You know...I don't think your perfect match is here yet.  I think you're going to meet a tall, red-headed transfer student, and he'll be the one."

I think it's safe to say that truer words have never been spoken.  Sure enough, the following year a tall, red-headed transfer student showed up in Meghanne's life, and things have never been the same.

But while we joked around about finding the perfect combination of characteristics in our future spouses, we also talked about marriage and what it meant to have Christ-centered lives.  We sought to prepare ourselves to strive to be the wives of noble character described in Proverbs 31. Meghanne...you've been preparing your heart for both this day and the rest of your days together for so long.  You look beautiful today, but what shines through your relationship with each other is a love for God that far surpasses the beauty of today.

Jon, I can't imagine a better person to be Meghanne's husband.  The way you treasure and cherish her in all of your actions, words, and attention toward her is such an incredible witness for what a godly relationship should be.  All of the above makes me fully assured that we can confidently relinquish her to you :)

I'm so blessed to call you both my dear friends, and I feel privileged that I have watched this relationship grow from the very first email Jon sent on February 6th, 2010 all the way through to this wonderful celebration of your marriage, and I can't wait to see how it continues to blossom and grow in the years to come.  

2013 Wedding No. 1

This year has been an important one for the apartment friends.  Let's recap:

Diana's wedding!

As usual, I'm well behind on blogging.  Like...months behind.  Which means that I'm now blogging about a wedding that happened on April 27th.  Nevertheless, it will be blogged!

It was a beautiful Saturday up in Maine.  They couldn't have possibly asked for better weather the entire weekend!  I traveled up with two good friends part of the way, dropped them off at their house, and then continued up to the island for two hours.  The following morning, I met Diana for breakfast.  Here's what went down:

Me: "DIANA!  You're getting married TODAY!"

Diana: "I know...isn't it horrible??"

Of course, she didn't really mean it.  She was beyond excited to actually get married, but I think it was a little overwhelming to realize that her months of planning were finally coming to fruition and there was nothing more she could plan.  I'd say that's a little stressful.

At breakfast, we ran into Laura and Nathaniel! 

Turns out when a wedding is a tiny town and you know many of the folks invited, you and your friends are very likely to take over fill up the local inn.  Meghanne and Jon arrived later that morning and Jon took a room upstairs (Meghanne stayed with me - roommates for life?).  Lauren and Nathaniel stayed in the room one floor above.  Catherine, Beth, and Joel stayed in a room adjacent to ours.  It was a glorious reunion.  

Later that afternoon, we all headed to the church and witnessed the union of two dear friends.

Their love story is beautiful, but that's worth a blogpost of its own.  Summary: read Anne of Green Gables.  Remove all the initial consternation between Anne and Gilbert, and you have Diana and Nathaniel.  What a blessing to be a witness to something so sacred and precious.

Once the ceremony was over, we headed up the hill to the reception.  I was sadly dateless due to the official blog boyfriend's business trip to India:

(I actually missed him even though this photo makes me look gleeful...)

We ate cake, chatted with friends, and watched Diana and Nathaniel dance.

It was beautiful.

After everything was over, Beth, Joel, Catherine, Meghanne, Jon, and I ran around Deer Isle in the dark.  Everyone else in town was asleep (at 9 pm).  We walked in the middle of the road.  We swung on swings in the playground.  I tripped over a curb and went flying about three feet before landing (I was fine).  We acted like we were back in college, and then we went to bed.

Finally, we met up for breakfast and then we headed home.