Is there anything in your life that you've been promising yourself that you'd get around to? Here I am, married for over 2 years and yet there is not a single wedding album or scrapbook! Now this is partly because I absolutely despised my wedding pictures and just have no desire to make them into hard copies. The other reasons are your standard "life is busy-I'll eventually do it-I don't know where to start" ones. But I've taken the first {and in my opinion, the hardest} by getting some prints made yesterday. If I tell myself that I didn't pay anyone to take these pictures, I don't despise them nearly as much.  On a positive note about those pictures, they do remind me of just how much I loved June 14, 2008. It was really and truly the best day of my life and I wouldn't trade anything about it. Those pictures on the other hand...

Thankfully for me, I have a group of equally procrastinating friends! So due to our combined lack of hard copy memories, we now have an excuse for a party! A scrap booking party to be exact. I believe that with the help of Snapfish and Michael's coupons, this should be a rather successful venture. No finalized details have taken form, but all in due time!  For any of you scrap booking experts out there, any advice that you can lend to me, would be greatly appreciated.

Wish me luck!

It's Summer Time and the Living Is...?

Remember summer vacations {for all you teachers out there, I'm jealous!}? Remember how there was nothing to worry about. Nothing to concern yourself with except for when you were going to the beach and if mom and dad were going to let you bring a friend. What happened to those? Here I am 24 years young and trying to remember my last truly relaxing summer. The summer months after we got married, I didn't have a job, but you couldn't call that a "relaxing" time exactly. Now, my summers are filled with work, trips, weddings, bridal/baby showers and most recently, yard work! I realize this may sound like I'm complaining, and I assure you, I'm not trying to. I love this time of year, but sometimes I wonder what happened to the lounging around the pool, reading books, and just hanging out part happened of summer.

As I'm sure most of you can agree, life is flying by. I keep trying to figure out where it goes, and so far, no answers. Another issue I have with this summer is that we have yet to buy a charcoal grill! It's all I really want, and I'm bound and determined to have one before September 1st rolls around.

Please don't let me think I'm the only one that feels this way! Don't you think that summer now is much busier than it ever was?

Feel free to contradict me! I'd love to hear how you do it!

But I will leave you with this relaxing image...

The Next Step

WARNING : This post is a complete ramble and there is nothing well written about it. I just had to say it...more for me than anyone

Have you ever felt that once you've reached a certain point in your life, that everyone around you starts asking "when are you going to do this?" I have to tell you, that question is about to drive me CRAZY! Andrew and I have been married for a 25 months and for past 12 of those, people have been asking "when are you going to start having kids?" I mean, really? Can we just enjoy this season of our lives? I LOVE being married. I love that right now, Andrew and I can be completely and utterly selfish with our love. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to house a life inside of me for 9 months and care for another living being more than I could have ever thought possible. But not yet. One great thing about getting married young is that there is no rush to have a baby; we have YEARS.

Also, the having a of 2 dogs and many adorable nieces and nephews help with that desire. We get to shower our love and buy fun things, but don't have to hold any responsibility. And for the time being {and foreseeable future} I am very okay with our situation.

I love babies and I can't wait to be a mom and I really can't wait to make Andrew Janke a father. I have no doubt that he is going to incredible. But right now, I also know that God is still working on us in a lot of areas. I'm not waiting until "we're ready" or anything, because I know that never really happens. But we are waiting until we're more ready. And until that time comes, I'm going to shower our nieces and nephews with love.

Help!

Help!

I have been in a serious drought of good books. I am so desperate, that I'm about to finish up reading the entire Twilight series for the second time!

I mean, don't get me wrong; I do actually enjoy the books, but I'd like something new to be sitting on my coffee table anxiously awaiting for me to turn the pages. One book that I know for a fact I'll be reading in the coming weeks is Emily Giffin's new novel, The Heart of the Matter

I have read all of her other books and haven't been dissapointed. I found this summer reading list, but would love any sugguestions you guys can offer!

We Drove Until the Map Turned Blue

This past weekend, Andrew & I were blessed enough to be at the beach. His grandparents are traveling up in Alaska and they allowed us to use their house {near Beaufort, SC} from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon. It was perfect. We relaxed, got some sun, ate a LOT of good food and just enjoyed ourselves.

We got down there on Thursday a little after 7 and ate at this Mexican restaurant called San Jose. It was amazing! And after a semi-long afternoon of driving, it hit the spot. After we ate, we headed to Dataw Island to get to our home for the next few days to relax for the rest of the evening. On Friday we were lazy; watched t.v. and laid by the pool.

After the lazy day, we drove down to Port Royal and ate at 11th Street Dockside. I LOVE this restaurant. The food, view and service is always great.

Once our bellies were nice and full, we drove home and enjoyed a twilight golf cart ride around Dataw Island. The beauty of Dataw never fails to amaze me. God is an incredible maker that's for sure!

Saturday was filled with the beach and Hilton Head fun. It was the ideal last day!

It was so nice for us to have a little getaway, but as usual, it's always nice to come home. Our babies missed us and we missed them, so I was happy to get back to Charlotte.

What about you guys? Any beach trips planned or already happened?

p.s. can you BELIEVE we're halfway through July? Just crazy!

Make It Stick

{This is from the Proverbs 31 daily devotional for today and I loved it! I hope for all you wives {-to be} moms {-to be} you take this to heart! You're never too old for stickers}

"Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer."I Corinthians 7:5a (NIV)

It took creative measures when it came to potty training our daughter. No sweet treat was good enough to get her ready for her big girl pants. It was going to take something she really loved to lure her into this next phase of life.

Suddenly, it came to me. My daughter loves stickers. This gave me a great idea. I hung a large poster board on the bathroom wall. With colorful markers, I divided the poster into weekly sections. In a basket on the floor, I placed an assortment of sparkly stickers. Peyton's eyes widened with excitement when I showed her my newly decorated bathroom. "Each time you go to the pott y, I will give you a sticker to place on the poster board," I explained. "When you get a certain amount of stickers, I'll take you to the store where you can pick out a prize."

I've never seen a diaper come off so quickly before in my life. The stickers were working!

My husband also noticed how well the training was going. One day, he came in from work and tossed a sticker book on the kitchen counter where I was preparing dinner. "What's that?" I questioned.

"I noticed how the stickers were working for Peyton and I thought maybe they'd work for you too," he answered. I narrowed my eyes at him and thought what is he up to?

"Every time you and I have a romantic night, I'll give you a sticker to put in your sticker book. When you fill it up, I'll take you anywhere in the world you want to go." He continued with a huge grin on his face.

It's not that I didn't want to have romantic evenings with my husband, but most of the time tiredness trum ped romance. You know what I mean? As women, we wear a lot of hats that require much responsibility. We are constantly pouring ourselves out for others. At the end of the day, all I want is a soothing bath and a warm bed. I suppose my husband could interpret that the wrong way. He probably feels like he only gets my leftovers. This is not God's plan and why He gave married couples this passage:

The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control --1 Corinthians 7:4-6

God must have known both women and men would struggle in this area. Whoever is holding out in this, the Bible is clear. The cause of withholding should be mutual, short lived, and discus sed openly and privately between husband and wife. The reason for this is so that no one falls into temptation. Communication also helps your spouse hold on to their confidence when they know the reason behind the struggle. After I shared with my husband the cause for my tiredness, he started pitching in around the house. Nothing is sexier than a man running the vacuum!

Working together can bring about great results. On the other hand, buying your spouse a sticker book might also move things in the right direction. I'll be honest. I've not yet filled my sticker book, but I'm working on it. The best reward is really not about visiting some exotic place. The best reward is sticking it out with my husband as we learn to communicate, work together and trust each other through the struggles of everyday life.

Temporary Home

This weekend I was reminded just how short and precious life is.

This weekend I was reminded how very necessary family and friends are.

This weekend I was reminded to tell my husband how much I love him.

This weekend the Lord decided that it was time to bring one of His angels home. Cheryl Kinsela was an amazing woman of God and she loved the Lord with all that she was. She was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister and friend. I am so thankful that I was blessed enough to know her. And although it is automatic for our flesh to question why this happened, we have to remember that it's not our place to ask God why.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. -- 2 Corinthians 5: 6-9

This weekend many lives were interrupted...

The only thing that we can control with interruptions is how we react and handle them. I have to trust that this interruption will glorify the Lord more than I can even imagine.

 

I love you Cheryl and you will be missed greatly.

God Bless America!

For years {and maybe even now still} I haven't truly appreciated everything that Independence Day represents. God has truly blessed each and every one of us that lives in this country.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed -- John 8:36