Countdown.

1...  More day of work this week.

2...  Days until the Rehearsal Din.

3...  Days until I get to marry Jack.

12...  Days until our honeymoon in Ireland.

...  I'M FREAKING GETTING MARRIED.  REALLY SOON.  AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Deep breath.

So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so stinking excited.

Can't handle my life right now.  :)

Life lately.

Life has been zany lately.  Not in a bad way.  Just... reallyreallyreally busy.  And tiring.  And crazy.  And a little bit stressful.  And exciting.  I have so much joy and anticipation in my bones.  25 days till I get to marry my best friend.  I can hardly stand it!

I'll blog more... someday.  But for now...  enjoy this fantastic light show from the 6th Annual Castlegiving celebration.  You're welcome.  :)

October baseball.

Sorry for being MIA lately.  It's because of this: 

Rats in the Cellar.

“We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful acts, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed.  And the excuse  that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.  Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated.  On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly.  But the suddenness does not create the rats:  it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man:  it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.  The rats are  always there  in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.” 


Humbling/challenging thoughts this morning.  Thanks, C.S. Lewis.  :)

City girl?

This past weekend, Jack & I attended an ever-so-lovely wedding out in St. Albans.  Very fun and fancy.  Lots of new friends, hilarious memories, and a whole lot of dancing.  We decided it's one of the most fun weddings we've been to yet!

I guess technically, St. Albans/Wildwood area is considered St. Louis County, but my goodness...  it's quite a drive!  More than I remembered it being.

On the way back, we stopped at the Chesterfield Mall to drop off Jack's suit, and then the Chesterfield Chipotle for a hefty burrito lunch.  While there, I mentioned to Jack that it was just "so crazy" there were so many Cardinal fans!  (I briefly forgot we were only 40 minutes from STL city.  Ha.  It seemed so foreign!)

He laughed.

"Well," he said, "It's good you think that way.  Just means you feel at home in the city."  :)

Just 89 days left until I get to finally LIVE in the city!  So. Stinking. Excited.

New favorite youtube vid:

:)

Thoughts on blogging.

I've blogged since the spring of 2005.  2005!!!  I cannot believe that.  I recently looked up my old xanga to reminisce.  (Yeah, remember xanga?)  :)  Hilarious.

Throughout my blogging "life," I've blogged multiple times a week and I've gone months with not a word.  I was better back then, with the ritual of sitting down, most likely a mug of coffee in hand, soft tunes playing over my macbook speakers, inspired to put my thoughts on the screen.  These days, I'm sporadic at best.

I want to change that.

To save money for the wedding, I moved home a few months ago.  Consequently, I've been sleeping in my old bedroom, filled with old pictures and magazine clippings, old notes and journals and memories.  I used to be so good at capturing my day-to-day life on paper.  In high school and college, I wrote constantly.  About everything.  Pages and pages!  I don't really have time to do that these days, but what I do have time to do is this:

I found this on my new favorite website, pinterest.com.  Go there, and you will be hooked, I promise you.  It's a treasure trove of DIY project ideas, style & food inspiration, and lots of dreamy things that make you go ooh and ahh.  ANYWAYS!  This is "week at a time journaling."  My Grandma actually does this.  She records what she does all day: if she had a meaningful conversation, what the weather was like, what's going on in the world.  I am seriously considering this. How fun to look back on!  I like it.

In addition... I am going to make a bit of a blog comeback, here.  I miss it.  And there's much going on these days to write about.  :)  More later!

Best Day of My Life.

On an unseasonably gorgeous March 17, Jack and I marched alongside an Irish dancing float in the Dogtown St. Patrick's Day parade.  He has asked me a few days earlier if I'd march with him.  I didn't ever really understand why we were marching, but I didn't ask questions...  I thought it would be fun, so I went along with it!

After about 15 minutes of bead throwing and waving, Jack grabbed my hand.  "Hey, let's go see our families!" he said.  "You know where they are?!" I asked.  He knew the exact intersection.  Weird...  He began taking huge Jack strides, while I ran to catch up.  (Confused, but still oblivious.)  Upon finally spotting our families, what did I notice first?  The huge "Blake, will you MARRY ME?" banner???  Nope.  In the excitement of the moment, I immediately spotted my brother in the crowd, in town from college.  I freaked out.  "PAUL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"  Ha.  :)  ...Upon taking a step back, I read the banner.  And well.  You should probably just take a look at the pics and video.  All captured for your viewing pleasure.

TOTAL SHOCK.  He got me goooooood!  And now we're freakin' ENGAGED!!!  I get to marry my best friend on December 17, 2011!!!  Christmas wedding!!  And then guess where we're honeymooning?  Yep, Ireland.  SO excited.  :)

When I'm old...

I want to be this lady.



(Shoutout to my sis!  Thanks for sharing this, El.)  :)

Lately.

Per usual, I have fallen into a blog drought.  ...  Aaaand, no one is surprised at this.  Ha.  I keep getting nudges to write from my sister and a couple other friends who may or may not even read/check this blog anymore.  I don't blame you!  However sporadically, I promise I'll keep writing.  So, feel free to check back from time to time.  :)

Life lately...  It's been good.  I've been so deeply encouraged and challenged by my church and Bible Study group these past few weeks.  I'm in a really good place.  In Bible Study, we've been discussing and dealing with our own personal roadblocks that are in the way of total freedom in Jesus.  I've wrestled with some things.  But I've also experienced total peace and freedom... the kind that just washes over you.  Know what I'm talking about?!  So beautiful.  OH!  And I'm about to start membership classes at church.  Exciting things.

This past weekend was unbelievably beautiful.  70 degrees and sunny in mid-Feb?  I'll take it!  I know it's inevitably going to get cold again, but I'm hopeful that at least the ice and snow are over.  I doooon't really know how much more of that I can take.  Once March hits, it really better be over.  Too many fun things happening!  In addition to all the usual St. Pat's parades, parties, and festivities, Jack and I are going to see the "trifecta" of Irish bands.  Flogging Molly, Gaelic Storm, AND Dropkick Murphy's!  All in March.  All in St. Louis.  Sorry we're awesome.  I can't even tell you how excited I am for March.  15 days till it alllllll starts.  (Oh, and did I mention that all of this is tucked in between Mardi Gras on March 5 and Opening Day on March 31st?!)  Geeze Louise.  Slowly exhale.

Ok.  It's this working woman's bedtime, but before I sign off...  a few pics from the past few months to catch you up on my life.  :)

 TBOX in Chicago: Ethnic Santas.  

 Christmas Day in the Dominican Republic!

 My 24th Birthday!  Celebrated at McGurks, of course.

 Indy with the girls.

 Aaaand these last two are random...  but I just finally hung things on the walls last week.  (Yep.  Been here since Sept!)  Anyway, this is my cute little room.

Don't you love that retro flower chair?!  Courtesy of the g-ma.  

Alright.  Now, goodnight!