Bucket List, trolleys, and the redwoods.

So typically when daniel takes me out to dinner, showers me with flowers, puts his adorable smile on, and follows it all up with, soooo i have some good news and some bad news"...it means one thing.

He's going out of town for work.

Which means-i will mope around the house for a sufficient time depending on how long he is gone until he finally gives me his, "lets enjoy the time we have now" speech, to which i will agree but not without a few more nose scrunches.

So you can only imagine my "mope state" when he let me know he was going to California for (what turned out to be) over a month!! About a week after Daniel broke the bad news he came home with his famous "i have something really good to tell you smile" i knew he was up to something. Daniel couldn't hold his surprise in and told me he was flying me out to Cali to visit him. As much as i hate him traveling on the rare occasion i do get come along and that i LOVE.
We planned our whirlwind tour for the few days i would come out there. This is where my bucket list comes in to play. You see part of the reason Daniel decided me to fly out to Cali was because it would knock off two of my things on my bucket list...see the famous redwood trees and ride a trolley in San Francisco.

So i took the red eye to Cali and met Daniel after he had already been there a week.
First things first: the Trolley ride:
So you see, as a teenager my all time favorite movie was Princess Diaries. i would come home on Friday afternoons put in my favorite movie and watch it..every single Friday. Ever since that movie i have wanted to visit San Fran and ride a real trolley.
So we got to San Fran which started off a little rocky when i realizes it was freezing and i had only a little sundress on. i froze! To top that off we had to wait in a little over an hour just to buy a ticket to get on...and listen to some guy sing terribly at the street corner. so we finally got on after multiple pep talks to myself that this was what i was here for and it would all be worth it. i pictured myself holding on the side hair blowing (you know just like the movies). well let me tell you..they pack those puppies like sardines!! I could see the pure misery on Daniel's face which turned into a slight grin when he (who knew all along) noticed how terrible i too thought it was. So maybe i often imagine things to be more fun than they really are (like the time we were in Houston and i really wanted to see the space center...b.o.r.i.n.g) Anyway i made Daniel snap this picture just so i could recount our "fun" ride.

Our trolley ride went one-way so we had to stop a clown (no really, the balloon making kind) to help us catch a cab. Which my husband did all with enough time to get back to our meter. Daniel paid the clown and he made me this "animal" we are not sure what it is...

Daniel really wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge which as it turns out was much cooler than my trolley ride. We had such a fun day!


Since Daniel was only 4 hours away from Yosemite National Park we decided to wake up early and make our way to see one of the most beautiful places in the world!! i treasured the over 10 actual hours we ended up spending in the car. its one of my favorite things about my relationship with Daniel, he is so easy to talk to and makes me laugh so hard. Especially when we are apart i really miss the luxury of having the comfort of him next to me. The day ended up being all that i had hoped it would be. Daniel ended up having to drive another hour once we got in the park to make it to the redwoods but it was beautiful. i never knew how big Yosemite actually was and i would absolutely recommend going at least once in your lifetime..the scenery is breathtaking! We saw Waterfalls, huge redwoods, took a hike when i fell but recovered, slid down a hill and got my jeans caked in mud (much to my husbands laughs), drove a lot, and ended the day at a delicious restaurant.









We had such a good time and i am constantly reminded why i married Daniel. We just celebrated our 6 months of marriage, and i can honestly say marriage is even better than i thought! Daniel is truly my best friend. Not just because i have a great time around him, but because he loves me when my hair is crazy, and my attitude is bad, i burn the dinner, and an endless number of other flaws. I miss him so much when he is gone but it constantly helps me remember the genuine appreciation i have for the man he is.
So maybe the trolley ride was lame, and the whether was cold, and we spent half the time in the car. it was one of my favorite trips with Daniel of all time. just because, well, we got to be together.

-Leslie

the road to Houston

Well-it's been a while here!! I never have time to blog anymore and when i do i usually end up doing something else. So much has been going on and i could literally spend hours writing about all the exciting things that have happened ie: Linny came to visit, the constant remodeling of our home..not to worry i will dedicate an entire post about that as soon as we finish, Thomas and Lauren getting hitched, my crazy job, and the fabulous family picture Sara Tyer did!

But this post is about our recent trip to Houston.

It all started in March. Let me preface this post by saying that for the last couple years daniel has bought me roses in March as a concession to letting him watch all the basketball he wants. He would say it's because he loves me..which he does, but im no fool here. and hey, this girl loves roses! Anyway, i mean im not a huge sports fan but over the last 6 years i have learned to enjoy what Daniel loves. How does that saying go, "If you can't beat 'em, Join 'em." So that became my motto a few years ago after realizing no matter how much i didn't love sport we were still going to all the games, so i might as well get excited about it too. In effort to show my true love i even bought Daniel and i season tickets for VCU basketball this year as a wedding gift. i mean, if we are going to every game anyway we might as well have reserved seats! right!?
Who would have known after a less than exciting season that VCU would be in the Final 4. Daniel got the news that VCU made it in the tournament and that was the beginning of the most crazy month ever! It seemed like every single night there was a game and we had friends over. who ever thought it was a good idea to START games at 10pm? it felt like college again! (okay, okay, so we've only been out a year, but you get my drift!) All along Daniels parents had said if we made it to the final four they would get us tickets. (i mean, really, what were the odds of this) So imagine why face when crowded in our living room with Jake and Hannah , Matt and Sandy, and Rob and Liz...we beat Kansas to make it to the final four!!

Now. Let me pause here for all you non-sports fans. At this point i do really enjoy the game and especially the date nights i get out of it. But for those of you who tuned out to all the sports talk lets get down to business. Remember me saying i got us season tickets? Yea, well that proved to be a great idea. Being season ticket holders allowed us to purchase the package deals. LADIES. the hotel they put us up in was LITERALLY. attached to a 350 store mall!! like walk out your room to the elevator and boom..heaven!!! yea. it was awesome. did i say 350 stores? I mean seriously! the best of both worlds!! Daniel got all the sports he could take and me...SHOPPING!! plus the place was so swank and the mall had tons of fabulous restaurants. It was so fun!!! also-getting to see my in-laws wear bright yellow wigs and VCU jerseys was such a highlight!!! they were rocking the black and gold!!

So VCU lost to Butler but we still stayed for the yawnfest of a national championship game and overall one of my all time favorite memories with my husband. Seeing him so excited makes every bit of all the sports ive endured totally worth it! Thanks VCU for a great season, and a super fun mini-vaca for us!!

Snow thoughts.

I am currently sitting in the office in our house. Junie B. is snuggled down in my lap covered in her blankey (that dog isn't spoiled is she?) The snow is STILL falling outside the window next to my desk and i keep thinking about going to make a cup of coffee but its 4:16 pm and i think Junie will be wild if i wake her up. Daniel hooked up in speakers in the office this morning in our cleaning frenzy so i am listening to the CD Sing Over Me (GET THIS CD!!) so good.

I should be working harder on these Thank-Yous from our wedding (okay, dont judge me. We got married right in the middle of the holiday season and i have been a very busy girl!) I keep thinking of the blog Brett Baker did right after she got married entitled "pooped penman"..or maybe that was just the tag..i cant remember. Anyway, i am VERY MUCH SO relating to her blog. The Thank Yous never end! I think it partially takes me forever because i feel a strong obligation to fill the card at least on one side. i mean these are friends and family. i should have a lot to say! Anyway, i am breaking from writing to type. Daniel is upstairs painting the bathroom..thank the Lord for a husband who can do it all!

Daniel woke up at 6 am to get out on HIS favorite day of the year. What? the day AFTER Christmas? Who likes THAT day? You see, the day after Christmas all the Christmas lights and stuff goes massively on sale. and Daniel is so first in line. I woke up to Daniel standing over me smiling and giving me the lowdown on Junies Bathroom activities.. ie: i took her out and she did two pees and one poop." ( i know. i told daniel you know you're an old married couple when you start the day off telling each other what the dog did outside.) By this point Junie is already back in the bed under the covers because obviously it is the warmest spot in the house. Daniel slips out so quick i only realize he's gone when i get the text that he is going crazy at Garden Ridge,lol. So now we have TONS of Christmas lights and Daniel is already planning how he is going to deck the house out next year. Hey, before i forget. Your invited to our house next Christmas. really. You're going to want to see the lights, lol.

I hope you had a beautiful Christmas! Being married def makes Christmas more fun! Daniel and I were like little kids again waking up at 5 am (much to Junie's delight seeing how she usually has to lay in bed until 6). During our Christmas tradition (after everything is done and the day is settled we open a bottle of sparkling cider and enjoy the last minutes of Christmas day) Daniel called it "Believers Juice" to which we both laughed and laughed..and i still think that was funny,lol. Christian humor for you.lol. We toasted to our new beginning as our first married Christmas, our 6th Christmas together and to a Savior who has truly been abundantly generous to us. May we live lives painfully generous to those around us who have not yet understood the generosity of a Savior who died a murderers death upon the cross to save us.
Merry Christmas.

Leslie

Marriage,Junie B., and Life.

From the movie Princess Diaries, "Busy, Busy..DIZZY." I often think of blogging, but at the end of the day it suddenly becomes less important.lol

Tuesday will mark a full month being married..REALLY!?! Where did time go? It seems like just yesterday when i walked in my apartment to see my roommates (and consequently interrupted their movie) to squeal that i was engaged!! And now, ive been MARRIED a month!? wow. Everyone told me that the wedding day would fly by, but sheesh it really FLEW by. My wedding day was everything and more i could have wanted and marriage is even better! Our honeymoon in St. Thomas was beautiful but we were ready to get back to our home! Here are some of our favorite pictures.








to update you:

Daniel got the Christmas bug as soon as we got home and bought a christmas tree (that he put 2500 lights on). One of the major bonus' to marrying Daniel is his true Christmas talent. Im not kidding here people. You should see our Christmas tree, it's beautiful! Also the neighbors are loving the massive tree Daniel did outside...and ill be honest, it looks great! Plus, i love Christmas so it's really easy to get into the spirit with Daniel.

Secondly, Daniel came home the other night and said do you want your Christmas gift now or later. You should know at this point that both Daniel and i cannot keep a surprise. Of course at first i told him i wanted to wait. He had that face. you know that face that his smile is about to explode and the surprise is so good i'll def want it now. yea, THAT face. So i did what any girl would. I said, " OH FINE ILL HAVE IT NOW!" Needless to say, Daniel said he went to visit our PUPPY!!! We got to pick Junie B. Ram Pendergrass up on Thanksgiving day! Here she is:




(i know, have you ever seen anything that cute?! And Junie is precious too!)

Junie B. is quite possibly the cutest dog ever. She is already spoiled and thinks she owns the house. As frustrated as she makes us some days, there is nothing better to coming home to a little puppy who attacks you with kisses and goes crazy just because you walked in the door. I love her and she is Def. one of the best gifts i have ever gotten!

For the first time in our marriage Daniel is out of town with work. He is in Maine. I am in Richmond. lame. It's funny how you can sleep in a big bed your whole life and feel like it is perfect. Get married and sleep just one night alone and suddenly you are in a bed far to large for you. I felt like Daniel's side was eternally long. Here is a picture i drew so you could understand what i mean. of course, this is the most accurate i could be using paint.



Yes, in case you were wondering Junie does sleep in the bed...but she buries herself down under all the sheets right near our legs. So really, she is in the picture, but you cant see her under the covers. As i lay down in bed, Junie B. at my knees, the left side of the bed eternally long clearly missing someone, This song came to mind.

(Nichole Nordeman: You are Good.)


The Good Lord, has blessed me so well. This is such a wonderful season of my life, and even with my guy gone, i cant help but feel immeasurably blessed. Oh, how he has given us so much more than we deserve...
May this season be just that for you too. A season of gratitude.

Leslie

Growing old, but not quite growing up

There is a song called "Waiting" by the fabulous Matt Wertz. I was laying out at the beach today listening to shuffle on my ipod (something i hardly ever do because i memorize the play sequence and subconsciously like to hum the next song right before it starts). Anyway, this great song has a chorus to it that plays like this:

"Growing old. Growing old, but not quite growing up."

I have probably listened to this song 100 times but today that line really struck me. I think right now, that is EXACTLY how i feel. In the last month i cant even begin to tell you how many people have told me something along these line, " WOW! you are like a real adult!" or "sheesh all grown up now!" It's funny because until someone says that i never really think about it.

here are the raw facts.

1. in two months i am get married (something i am totally ready for)
2. we just bought a house. a real one. with real walls to paint and real things to fix.
3. i have a full time job using my degree that i spent 4 years getting..who does that!?

Now, these things hold real responsibilities. the kind at 22 i sometimes wonder if i am capable of handling.
But all these thoughts collide with a crazy thing that happened the other night. I was having this terrible dream (i knew eating that lobster crabcake would have consequences) and woke up in a frenzy. Out of no where i told the Lord i needed help cause i wanted to do things right!!! (i vaguely remember saying this loudly too) and just like..peace. and i went right back to sleep only to awake acutely aware of my night outburst.

see, cause really i think no matter how old i get..i probably wont ever feel like im the grown up i should be. i think that's a good place to be though. I want the Lord to guide my steps and make my decisions. Dont get me wrong, i want to be someone who carries responsibility and embraces the new and beautiful (and scary) steps in my life. But i also want to be someone who says (even if its in a delirious state of half asleep mind), Lord, i wanna do things right!

and how do i do things right?

Proverbs 2:3-6
"Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
Search for them as you would for silver, seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.
For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding."


So here's to growing old..but not quite growing up.

-Leslie

September.

Today is the firs of September. This means that suddenly this will be the first blog on my page! yehaw! (i dont know why i just typed yehaw, i never say that. lol)




Here is what i am looking forward to this month.
1. Going to the beach with my parentals. hey, we live for family vacas around here.
2. Getting really tan from laying at the beach
3. Reading all the books i have saved specifically for one week at the beach. and yes, i will finish them all!
4. Learning more about my job..feeling less lost every day.
5. Linny is coming to visit this month! woohoo! i really miss sharing a room..and more importantly a life with her. This is going to be a very special weekend.
6. Going for my fitting for my dress. and Linny will be here to see it! Feeling kinda nervous about this but i think that it's the excited kind of nervous.
7. A joint shower with Daniel (i should clarify that this is a wedding shower..you know, the party kind. Just so the previous sentence doesn't sound shady.)
8. Meeting Greg and Sara for marriage counseling and Greg's famous "words of wisdom"
9. Closing on our house!! Sept 27th! Feeling like a true homeowner.
10. Daniel giving me free rein to pick our the paint colors for the house. i love that man. hopefully he still loves me after he sees my choices,lol.
11. cooler weather-i love fall!
12. Everyone starting school except for me and daniel..this might just be my favorite thing about September
13. Considering September still "summer" so Daniel and i have an excuse to go get icecream every night.
14. 2 months until we get married...woah! talk about time flying!
15. fall clothes. because, really, summer clothes only look good with a great tan..otherwise they look totally putrid. i prefer flannel shirts and jeans any day, and plus, my natural color, pasty white, looks better in them!

Yay for September!

So what are your thoughts about September!?

-Leslie

bug fixed!!

My plans to blog much of my summer have backfired. I will say however, in my defense the blogger has been going crazy and not letting me post a new blog. FINALLY today, it suddenly let me make a new post. so relax, this is going to be a long one!

My summer started with a few weeks working MFUGE in Charleston, SC. Because I am getting married, and basically needed to find a real job, I couldn’t commit to doing another entire summer at camp. FUGE has this great thing called “special-teamers” which means during really huge weeks they have past staffers who can’t work a whole summer, work during those weeks. It was so good, so different, and so HOT. (Charleston seriously has got to be the hottest place on earth..the humidity..ugh!) It was really good being back to what really became a home to me last summer. I missed seeing our ’09 staff there but was able to work again with some sweet friends. It is such a different thing being there only for a few weeks, but the team really welcomed me in just like I had been there all along. I was really able to see the Lord working in my life and took a step back while I was there to really understand why he had me where he has me. (if that makes any sense). I found myself back at the old P.C.Y (painting, construction, yardwork) shed..rememered why I hated it so much last year. This summer was so different with my site because instead of moving from yard to yard, location to location, I worked both weeks at a kids camp. My students and I painted so much I was sick of seeing paint for a while. All in all a great experience to which I was totally wiped and ready to go home and rest. Here are some pics from the 2 weeks.









2. Event two of the summer included flying to Kentucky to visit my sweet friend Emily! We spent the week painting and fixing up her new house (which is fabulous by the way). This was actually the first time I had ever flown by myself so I was a teensy nervous, however I got where I needed to be and everything worked out great. My friend Katie recued me from the Nashville airport since Emily was so far from Nashville (Katie I still owe you for this!). Also shoutout to Megan who pulled an all-nighter with me and got me to the airport at 4:45 in the morning..a terrible idea to stay up all night, but we had a fun time! Seeing as it was the 4th of July Emily and drove back to Cunningham Kentucky and basically got our own personal firework show as we could see all the firework shows from the highway. We worked so hard on the house but were able to finish everything just in time for Brian (Emily’s husband) to get home! We also had cheeseburgers at a little store ( im not sure what you call it,lol) where I promptly bought EEJ a snake that was a sucker and we laughed very hard about that. We stayed up excessively late every night and chatted which was sooo good. I slept for a full 20 hours when I got home I was so tired..but it was SO worth it! This was such a special week in my life. The Lord really works in mysterious ways..







3. Event three is really like 10 events in one. This is what happened when i got home from Kentucky. I first got a call that the wedding dress designer of the dress i wanted had gone out of businesses..which left me without a dress 4 months out. a minor crisis however i resolved to just figure out a plan and not stress out because as we all know it cannot add a moment to my life. there are times when the Lord gives you such clarity it is unreal. that happened. Then i got a call that i got the job i applied for. This was largely a shocker because i am grossly unqualified for this job yet the Lord saw fit to place me there. So i am now officially working with mental heath support in an agency i have already grown to respect. It is such a stretch for me but i know the Lord has me there and i am content with that knowledge. And hey, what better way to lean on the Lord's abilities when there isn't an ounce of your own! Then Jen came and spent a day with me which was fun especially because we went to Shortpump to this outdoor concert which we thought it was so awesome that everyone had these seats placed for us until our bubble burst when that lovely couple told us they would like there seats back...opps! so i guess it wasn't free seats after all. Then because i started my job i couldn't join the girls on their beach day so Sarah swung by and had dinner with me..which was sooo good! We have always had great conversation. Then Daniel and i found a house, put an offer on it and boom, as of September when the house closes we are homeowners. Anddd..i love the house! Honestly, it is exactly what i wanted. Daniel did such a great job, and basically everyday i realize how smart he is and how incredibly thankful i am that he is such a good steward of his money and so wise with investments. This is further proof that the Lord truly does meet and exceed our needs. Then daniel and i went to a beautiful wedding on the beach where we drove home jiffy quick (err..rather tried but got tied up in excessive traffic) and scrambled to get our act together just in time to FINALLY get engagement pictures done. Which, in case you haven't checked out the album on Facebook..turned out AMAZING. i honestly couldn't be more happy with the great job Sara did. ANDDD Daniel and i had a great time taking them. Sara, you are a genius. thank you a million times over!! Most recently this weekend i had my wisdom teeth out. Actually i only have 2 wisdom teeth. I know, kinda weird. its not like the other two are there but dont need to be removed, i just dont have the other two. no seriously, i saw the x-ray. nothing. so odd. anyway, i am swollen and not exactly loving life however glad to mark one more thing off my list. Oh and in case you were wondering, i found the dress. not just a dress, the one i wanted from the beginning. its a long story but i found one, bought it and am having it altered as we speak. pth. put nothing past a woman on a mission who is willing to take a moment to not freak out. done and done.

whew. i think that's it. Basically things have been really uneventful this summer...lol











next time not so long!
-Leslie