two wonderful years!

last sunday marked two wonderful years of marriage! these past two years have been fun, easy, exciting, challenging, encouraging, inspiring, and full of growth. i can’t believe two years have gone by since we made these vows to each other! we have both fallen short and know there will never be a year where we get it right EVERY DAY (how’s that for encouragement!) but we have grown so much in Christ and closer to each other while striving the live up to the covenant we made with each other and God.


the weekend was a crazy one to say the least! it was marathon night for st. andrew youth where stan works. so we kicked off the weekend with an all-nighter! we started at 7:00 pm and hit up whirlyball & laserwhirld plano for a tourney sweet-16 style, then went to dr. pepper star center to play some broom ball and eat some pizza. at 1:00 am we headed to zero gravity for some extreme rides and thrill-seeking fun! it was a blast and (most of) the kids really loved it. we got back to the church around 5:30 am and i snuck out and went home to my bed and the dogs—who were forced to sleep in their crates all night. my favorite thing at zero gravity is their bungee jumping. i even got brave this year and did some flips. i’ll post video in a separate post—as soon as I can figure out how to do that!

after a mid morning nap on saturday, we attended a wedding for a lovely bride who works with stan. it was a beautiful wedding at st. andrew umc in the one of the most gorgeous chapels ever i’ve seen.


after an late afternoon nap (yes, that was the theme of the weekend), we went to the keg for a yummy steak dinner—my fave! it was delicious. we never got a picture together-oops. we drank some yummy (and i’m sure over-priced) wine and split a piece of cheesecake for desert! if you are looking for a laid-back atmosphere that is still upscale this is the place to go!


we picked up a redbox on the way home and could only make it through half of the movie. hey, that’s what happens when you turn 25! i may have inadvertently omitted that detail of my life here on my blog. moving on!


sunday, stan was in a wedding for dear friends of ours, devin & kelly. i’ve known devin since the end of my sophomore year (i think) in high school. he introduced stan & i! i went off to college & we stayed great friends and he joined a band and found their lead singer (aka stan) at a starbucks later that year. he has found himself a beautiful woman and i’m so excited to see where married life takes them! currently it is taking them to seattle—which is awesome and a bit of a bummer at the same time.


and because their engagement photos were amazing (and what stan & i had wanted to do but due to the lack of a carnival—even the ghetto mall ones!—it was impossible) here is my fave…


after the wedding we came home and finished sherlock holmes and watched our wedding video again this year! watching it a second time was awesome because we heard all the hilarious things we missed the first time. case in point: stan and i took communion and then he prayed over us. at that point the water works turned on for stan and he couldn’t stop crying. his lapel mic picked up a phrase i didn’t hear at the wedding or the first time watching the video—stan’s admission that he was a girl. hey, that’s what i’ve been saying for the past 4 years about him :)

that pretty much wraps up our ridiculously random and busy anniversary weekend. don’t fear—next year will probably be the exact same.

one of the faves...

…is this worship song, written by matt boswell and michael bleecker:

no day of my life has passed that has not
proved me guilty in your sight
the best that i have to offer are these filthy rags
and yet you love me

all things in me call for my rejection
all things in You plead my acceptance

i am guilty but pardoned by grace i’ve been set free
i am ransomed through the blood you shed for me
i was dead in my transgressions, but life you brought to me
i am reconciled through mercy, to the cross i cling

no more am i a slave to sin but
bought with a price
redemption that was purchased through the blessed cross
that you bore for me

all things in me call for my rejection
all things in You plead my acceptance

i am guilty but pardoned by grace i’ve been set free
i am ransomed through the blood you shed for me
i was dead in my transgressions, but life you brought to me
i am reconciled through mercy, to the cross i cling

both of these godly men have been so encouraging to my husband and i am so grateful for their willingness to teach and love on and rebuke my God-fearing man! he has learned so much from them…and so have i!

police escort

...the Cowboy Stadium

...hello 2010

2010…you’ve been good to me so far! i watched the cowboys win their first playoff game since 1996 in a boxed SUITE and i found out i’m graduating with my MS in Accounting this semester! WAHOO!

and even though i perceived 2009 to be an awful year, God is sovereign and He has provided for us through every disappointment. He continues to reveal Himself and why His ways are better than ours to us, and for that we are so blessed!

here are my hopes, small and large, for 2010:

*1* hang things on our walls in our bedroom! it is the only room in our place that is bare!

*2* figure out how to hang this purchase from Z Gallerie!



*3* refurnish our bedroom with some rhoden originals,
(specifically: *buy and refinish an old dresser and set of nightstands*build a bed frame and headboard*refinish my vanity and chair*)
kinda like this one we made for our dining room back in october:



*4* make a ‘B’ or better in my 4 classes throughout the spring and summer semesters (considering i have to if i plan to graduate in may!)

*5* start CPA review/exams

*6* run 300 miles over the course of the year

*7* read the entire ESV Study Bible using this plan from discipleship journal

*8* start Dave Ramsey’s total money makeover. we started a cash budget system and i made these cute envelopes so the envelope system isn’t so boring :)



*9* have the CRV paid off by december—a year early.
i’ll blog every time i accomplish one of these goal and cross it off on this list so you all can see how i’m doing…because let’s face it—you don’t have anything better to do! kidding…

goodbye 2009...

so, i know we’re already half way through january and it’s a little late to talk about my goals for 2010…but i really couldn’t make myself sit down and type out everything that i hope for in 2010 when 2009 was such an awful year for me. to be honest, before the new year i wrote an entire blog post about how horrible 2009 was…and deleted it today. it was REALLY depressing, so i thought i’d spare all 5 of my readers from wanting to stab their eyes out :)

i do want to do a small recap of 2009 before i move on to my hopes for 2010 (in the next blog post), because there was a LOT i didn’t share with you all!

a little history about my families valentine’s day activities: every valentine’s eve my parents and i would dream up a really cute yard display and buy all the materials we needed and do the prep work. around 2 or 3 in the morning, we would drive over to a woman who was like a mother to my dad and we would decorate her yard for valentine’s day, which was also coincidentally, her birthday. she passed away late in 2008, and valentine’s day in 2009 my parents woke up to this: (ignore the large tree stump…my neighbor and my dad had a little miscommunication on what exactly ‘trimming the branches off’ meant!)



her children had come to our house in the middle of the night with heart-shaped balloons. tied to each balloon was a sweet note that said something like, “thanks for all the great memories.” it made a day that would normally have been sad for my dad very special!

we celebrated our ONE year anniversary! i know i blogged about this but it was so super special that it deserves another mention…and picture!



stan and some great friends started another band: the lion and the archer. We starred in a zombie photoshoot and they played their first show!





we played outdoor paintball in the summer heat with my parents and my nephews!



i got my mom and dad good! And my nephew TWICE (neck and back)!

 

we had two super cute additions to our home group! eliana paige nealy anda da kathryn herron! hopefully eliana doesn’t mind I posted a nakey photo!




we saw U2 in concert at jerryworld! And yes, I was close enough to take this photo :)



and I got some new ink!



check back for my hopes and dreams for 2010!

the proverbs 31 wife

half of our home group is pregnant—read: all of our closest friends have babies. naturally, that means i have had babies on the brain, which has me thinking about what kind of mom i want to be. i want to be intentional in pointing my children to Christ from the start. and that got me thinking about being intentional as a wife…which is something that i fail miserably at! i know i’m not currently the wife i want to be and the wife stan deserves, and a lot of the time i make excuses like “i’m working full-time and going to grad school.” while this is true, there are plenty of other things i can cut out…like gossip girl, one tree hill, 90210, criminal minds, etc. so anyway, lately i’ve just been contemplating what kind of wife i want to be and how to be proactive in making the necessary changes.

The Woman Who Fears the LORD

¹⁰An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
¹³She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
¹⁵She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
²⁰She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
²²She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

in loving memory

Gregory Keith Monroe
January 25, 1951-November 4, 2009



greg served in the army with my dad in veitnam. i didn’t meet greg until my high school years, but he was like a second dad to me. he was a loving husband and father and one of the most caring, generous people i know. he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. he helped my dad through some hard times and my dad did the same for him. i’m really going to miss him.

he taught me how to drive my first motorcycle…



…and if i were any good at it (which I wasn’t) he would have given it to me in a heartbeat.

he bought me my first leather jacket…



…and pair of leather pants.

we went on many a ride on this bike.



i think my favorite memory was riding in the memorial day parade in d.c. what an incredible trip that was!

he let me stand on his shoulders to get a rubbing off the vietnam memorial wall for my dad.



he hooked my dad and i up with a ride in one of these:



he bought me my first laptop as a high school graduation present.

he paid for my first sky diving trip as a going-off-to-college present.



he took me to get my first tattoo when i turned 18, which REALLY upset my dad…

…because my dad wanted to take me to get tattoos together.

so many good memories, and i will cherish every one of them.