a good night

It is a good night.

Half the boxes are empty. Most of the closets are full. And I haven't the slightest idea about how to arrange the furniture...totally not my character.

But it's still a good night.

It may seem like an obvious statement, but our 'life' and routinechanges dramatically with each move. Relocating gives us the opportunity to make different choices (or 'changes') in our life without upsetting our routine. We don't know 'normal' anymore; we just lived in a hotel for 90 days.

We've been in this house for one week. One week without internet and cable.

And it's so good.

That's one of the 'changes' from our Grand Junction routine. But it's given us more freedom, time, and opportunities for discovering a 'new' routine.

So tonight? Well, I'm sitting on our deck, (which we didn't have in GJ), drinking wine (usual routine), listening to the John Mayer live album on our new outdoor speakers (totally a new luxury for us), and watching Caleb assemble his new gas grill (woohoo!). The weather is cool with a slight breeze, and I'm actually wearing sweats and a fleece. The (crank) windows are open to cool the house to the high 60s for a cozy sleep tonight. Bella is on her bed inside the house by the screen door (we had to put her in because she began hacking after consuming too many bugs...a new discovery for her).

I like this new evening activity for us. Summer is short, so this routine will change in a couple months when it's too cold to be outside. Instead, we'll be inside by our gas fireplace (couldn't do wood burning because there's no wood to burn in NoDak) still enjoying our music, wine, and peaceful evenings.

Life is good...even in North Dakota. :)

august

It's been pretty much the usual here. Caleb works, I monitor the house and make more decisions, we work out, and I sew. :) I finally finished Kacey's baby quilt!!! It is my first ever completed quilt, and I am so pleased with the result! I love the entire quilting process!

Caleb's 26th birthday was last Friday. We spent the evening with some other Marathon families, slept in Saturday morning, then shopped for a new mattress set and deep freezer. No purchases yet, but close to making a decision. Sunday, Caleb golfed and I went to a friend's to sew her curtains. We also took a large load of stuff from our hotel to a storage truck that is parked across from the new house because...

We have THREE....yes, THREE!!!....more nights in a hotel!! WOOHOO! But it will be another ten nights until we are in the house. Thursday morning we are flying to Texas to visit with both of our families and honor my late-grandfather's life with an intimate memorial service at Lake LBJ. We come back to NoDak Tuesday and close on our house that afternoon!

Today I am going for a round 2 job interview. I'm ready to get a job, but a little nervous, too. We will see! I'm relying on the Lord for getting a job and knowing whether or not it's the right one for me. One really awesome thing: the office is less than two miles from our house, which will be great for those really snowy days. :)

That's all for now. Love y'all!

two years

Yesterday was Happy Caleb and Lindsey Day! :) We celebrated our two-year anniversary. I can't believe how fast time has gone! We can't consider ourselves newlyweds anymore...not even close! I love my dear husband soooooo much! We have grown so much in our friendship and marriage, and I know it will only continue to grow. I love that God created every little detail about Caleb that would be a perfect fit for every little detail about me....long before we were born. Our God is magnificent and truly an all-knowing God.

The homily presented by Pastor Ted Kitchens at our wedding was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I still plan to get the transcript from Ted, as I want to frame it. :) He spoke about our hands. Standing at the alter, in my wedding gown, I held Caleb's hand and admired every little wrinkle, crevice, color, and scar, listening to Ted describe how these are the hands that will love me, comfort me, hug me, wipe my tears, hold my child, build things around the house, etc. (I still remember the snot and tears pouring from my face, dripping on the 500-yr-old persian rug...haha!). Caleb then held my hands as he listened to Ted describe how my hands would encourage him, prepare food, clean, build him up, love him, and hold his child as well. I'll never forget that message, and I can't wait to see how our hands age and carry the wisdom and many life moments through our marriage. :)

Last night I came home to flowers and my man standing over the stove making chocolate-covered strawberries. :) We had a gift certificate from my parents waiting for us at The Winery restaurant, so we enjoyed a bottle of wine and fantastic dinner, reminiscing....

- the moment we first met in class our junior year in Manufacturer and Distributor Relationships course...how romantic! I sat by Caleb, but he introduced himself to me first. :) I melted when I saw his eyes....still the first and only guy whose eye color I can remember. Then we walked to the library and decided to talk until our next class. This became a routine for us the rest of college. :)

- that night at Breakaway where my roommate, Sara, and I spotted Caleb through the crowd, so we literally ran towards him just so I could figure out a way to say hi. Caleb offered to buy the course textbook for me, so he got my phone number...how smooth. :) Props to Sara for totally playing cool and acting like she never heard anything about him, even though I told her every detail of our library conversation that day after class. :)

- the first time I invited Caleb over for dinner. He thought he was getting leftovers or something, but I had a steak on the grill, cooked medium-rare, with some veggies and wine....yep, right to his stomach is how I won his heart!

- how I dropped obvious hints on Valentine's Day about how my cousin and I have each other's permission to ditch each other if a guy asked us out ...thankfully he got the hint, so he brought over wine, Pei Wei, a framed picture of us, and a movie....still our Valentine's Day tradition :)

- our first date at Carino's, where I wasn't afraid to ask Caleb if I had anything in my teeth :) then Starbucks (he knew me so well already), and then hanging our legs off a peer at a pond in the community golf course...our first time to hold hands....awwwww. :)

- our first kiss...that Caleb planned to occur on the Meatball track so he would never forget :) He also asked me to be his girlfriend, which was both so romantic but different from the "norm" at the time. He said he didn't want confusion (are we "dating", "talking", "in a relationship"...one of the many "statuses"), but instead to know that we were on the same page and committed to only each other. I love that about him!

- how I almost blurted out "i love you!!" so many times but I wouldn't until he said it first :)

- the first time he said "i love you"...South Fork, CO...which is also where I saw a completely different side of Caleb....I love my mountain-man :)

....that was as far as we made it last night in our conversation, but of course we won't forget his proposal, the many formals and Aggie football games, camping trips, mountain biking, wedding day, honeymoon, and all that we have done in only two years of marriage! :)

I love Caleb. I love being his wife. I love being his best friend. I love our life. :)