Happening in June

Alaska has finally gotten with the rest of the world and is warming up nicely. Thank the Lord!
Not much exciting has happened-we have been working lots!

My favorite restaurant in Alaska opened (the tourists are beginning to file in by the bus loads). I insisted we visit weekly, which Daniel has willingly obliged -I mean we are ready for one good meal a week! The pizza is out of this world, but my favorite is their baked tomato soup-delish.
If you ever visit Alaska, head on over to Denali and check out Prospectors Pizza.

                                                                 Behold the goodness..

I am so overly excited for June for many major reasons. I am heading home for a few weeks to be in 2 weddings.

My college roommate and close friend Jen (who goes by Jenny now, which I will never get used to,lol) is getting married! Weddings are only the most exciting reason to get with my best friends and be in another one all together again. I am so ready to see my girls! I will blog more about this-so be looking out for it!!

Secondly, my SISTER is getting married. WHOA. I don't know why it felt so normal for me to get married but it is SO surreal for her to be getting married! She is going to make a stunning bride (lucky lucky Landon) and I already know I am going to cry through her entire wedding-getting the water proof mascara now!! I cant wait to spend some pre-wedding time with her and celebrate her special day!!!

Thirdly, Daniel will join me for Diana's wedding and then wisk me off for a quick vaca to Arizona to see the Grand Caynon, and Colorado for the royal gorge jump, garden of the gods, pikes peak, and maybe a little rafting! It will be a whirlwind crazy time but we are SO EXCITED!

The adventure continues..

How I almost died

My Pastor, Gene, told me once, that you get more reads on your blog if you can come up with a catchy title. I completely agree with this, and so after our conversation I took a look at my blog only to find out that my most read blog was, "We're moving to Alaska". Not surprising.

 Ok. I admit it. I didn't almost die. I mean I DEFINITELY felt like I might at the time. But mostly I know that a large percentage of you are reading to see how I almost died..not sure how I feel about that.

... I digress. Here is what really happened.

For those of you who know me well you know that we LIVE by my bucket list. I keep an album on FB which I regularly add pictures to once we knock something off my list. I am always adding to the bucket list-much to Daniels delight..hehe.

I have many "Alaska only"adventures that I am currently focusing on. One of those happened to be snowmobiling.

Now neither I nor Daniel had ever been snowmobiling, but I mean, hey, it cant be THAT hard. So when one of the guys who Daniel works with invited us to go with him and some friends, we were on board.

We probably should have considered that Cantwell, AK is one of the most extreme places to snowmobile in the world-for experienced riders..which was certainly not us. This became apparent when literally we went to start the day and went up the first little mountain and flipped the snowmobile. Basically from that point on I was terrified..especially after we soon after flipped again and then 5 minutes later i completely flew off a good 5 feet from the snowmachine.

At this point I decided 2 things. 1. This was the worst idea ever. 2. If I made it out alive it would be a miracle.

Granted, the snow was so deep when you flipped you literally landed in 3 feet of fresh snow covering many more feet of settled snow-so it never hurt-except your pride. But it DID sufficiently scare me half to death each time. I kept thinking, "this is it Lord...You're taking me home today".

Ok, so looking back I was probably being a little dramatic. But what made this so different from all the other crazy things we've done-I never felt secure. Usually you skydive, or whitewater raft and at first the adrenaline is pumping and your terrified, but then you realize this is awesome, and the excitement clouds your judgement enough your enjoying it. This-this..there was nothing but crystal clear understanding I was going to die. This was, "I'm about to fly over the mountain and I cant see if there is ground or a 20 ft drop awaiting me." You would come up on these mountains so vertical that you felt like you were going to slide off the machine, only to just barely make it on the top and hope you didn't drop because you weren't sure if there was ground over the mountain.

It was probably good that the machine was so loud no one could hear what I was saying..
I kept thinking the entire day of a saying my college roommate Jen used to say. It had to do with being tense and a penny-if she reads this she will know haha.

 Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

For those of you enjoying the warm weather at home-it's been snowing here. And it's cold, so very cold!! Thank the Lord for warm clothes and heat. Truly, I think God had me in mind when heated car seats were created. It's the small things in life...

-Leslie





 

We made it

I read a quote this week:

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.”-John G. Shedd-

Apparently Mr. Shedd has never been to Alaska.
This is precisely what I was thinking when after getting up at 4am for our 6:30 flight, we were told that our plane was having maintenance issues. After about an hour it was clear that we were going to miss all our flights for the day, and this plane was not taking off. We had to be rerouted on the only available plane which was going to get us in Alaska at 2am-6am our time. 24 hours being awake. Here is what was running through my mind...

In fact, I'm fairly certain that was my exact face. Daniel encouraged me to sit down while he dealt with everything (mostly because he was afraid I was going to embarrass him in my grumpy state..which okay, was probably true). After getting over the fact that there was nothing we could do and we just needed to put our "happy faces" on and do what we needed, we began are really long day.

 I always enjoying flying so much more when I am with Daniel. Unfortunately for him, being his size means flying is mostly miserable, although he never ever complains. Our last 2 flights (and longest ones) the person in front of him leaned their chair back all the way. People-consider this when you crank that chair back-don't do it! Daniel gave me his grumpy face which always makes me laugh so hard mostly because he is the least grumpy person ever and even in a terrible situation he cant help smile when I start losing it.

We were near delirium and by the grace of God still were able to love each other when we landed in Alaska. It was 2am and we were tired and praying our luggage had been rerouted correctly. We got nervous when one of Daniels suitcases mysteriously was sitting by itself in the airport...okay..
We got our luggage which had thoroughly been beat to death and surely dropped and drug though the dirt..but hey, we have our luggage I said (proud that I was being the positive one). Daniel went to pull his handle..and nothing. After a few minutes of rage yanking the handle it was decided it was broken beyond repair.
So here we were: It's 2am and we are dragging our luggage through the snow in 10 degree weather freezing. I look ahead of me at my husband trucking angrily through the snow as he somehow lugs his "nemo" suitcase in one hand and his second in the other hand, and reach the rental car which is thoroughly buried in snow and were given the tinest snow scraper imaginable..and I bust out laughing. Ï mean REALLY!?!?!? it was such a cryable situation that all I could do was laugh. So there we were losing it like 2 sleep deprived maniacs who just want to be done with this day.

We made and have been getting situated since. We are so happy to be getting into somewhat of a normal schedule. And when I think about that quote, I realize that as good and safe as it is to be in the "harbor", God has designed us for so much more. So, here's to sailing our ship.


 The last frontier.

-Leslie

We're moving to Alaska

We are only a few days away from picking up and moving our life for 6 months at a time-for 2 years..to Alaska.

Let me back track here for a minute.

I met my husband in highschool. I saw him, did a double take, and the rest as they say, is history. And that was the beginning of literally the biggest adventure of my life.

When we graduated college, me with a degree in I.O. psychology ready to change the world, and Daniel with a degree in electrical engineering ready to..engineer?
We got married that summer, and thankfully both had really good jobs. We were happy and so blessed-but Daniel was traveling a lot.
The nature of what he does involves him doing engineer work all around the world. Most of the time for weeks at a time. Despite that misery I feel when I am home alone, this has always afforded us the treasure of traveling the world for basically free. Our first year of marriage Daniel spend weeks in California (where I got to visit San Francisco and Yosemite to see the redwoods), Cap Cod MA (where we ate the best cupcakes, and saw the plymouth rock, and soaked up the sun on the beach with my sister in law), along with many other trips.
Last summer Daniel started running a job in Alaska-for 6 months. I was able to visit him, which was awesome and we trucked along working separately. We were genuinely happy, but we both hated being apart. The job is a three year 6 months at a time (then come home and work then back).
Fast forward a few months to the decision to hire me and allow us to travel together. My husbands dream-boss at home and at work! lol.

So I quit my job, started working with Daniel, and here we are.

We are so happy to be able to travel and work together but I keep asking why we couldn't have the Hawaii job?!? Can I get an Amen??

Being married is an adventure-the best kind.
A year ago if someone has asked me if this beach loving girl would be moving to the Arctic I would have died. Snow-negative degree weather-carhartt and steel toe boots-no malls or fancy coffee joints? um.... no.
But being with my guy, seeing the northern lights, snowmobiling in one of the top locations in the world, whitewater rafting in the national park, and dogsledding..did I mention being with my guy???Totally worth it.

It will be lots of working, a little fun, more working, and cold-so very cold, BUT we'll do it together. And that, well that's always an adventure.

-Leslie

Suffering & Questions.

I think I posted a total of 1 time in 2012-WOW. This past year has been INSANE and I realized how much has been going through my head, which accounts for why I have written so little.

 Do you ever has so many things going on in your head, you struggle to write simply because there is not enough pen & paper to fill your thoughts? That was me. This entire past year. Many, many good things. Some not as obviously so.

 In particular this has been a year of LOTS of questions for the Lord. I know the Lord has truly been pruning my theology and faith, which has been good, but also incredibly challenging.
Today, I read an article about one of my favorite musicians, Sandra McCracken.
She was *quoted (in answer to her lyrics/music),
 "there is a thread of hope that runs even in the darkest fabrics. I want to put that in there because in our season in life – where we are as a culture and in the world – I think cynicism can take over so easily. As a follower of Jesus, even, I try to weave that thread of hope into these songs and words. Hope is like a muscle we exercise; we choose to believe in these moments that these things will be made right. This is what we hope for. It’s like a new freedom to allow your heart to be broken because if you didn’t have hope, that would just be a bottomless pit. Those two things have a delicate balance, where we find ourselves living somewhere between the brokenness and the hope."

 This was so very moving to me. It truly inspired me to write again. I have seen lots of sorrow this year in sweet friends.

When I look on the Horizon, I see an often overwhelming wave of even more sorrow coming. Who can we trust but you Alone Lord?

 During this season the Lord has pushed me to trust His character, despite my often confused feelings.
 I can trust He is good: Nahum 1:7-really the entire Bible, time and time again he is Faithful when we are not!

 I do not have to fear: Isaiah 41:10, 2 Tim 1:7, Psalm 62:6,Psalm 23  

 He actually, truly, evidently hears my prayers: Psalm 116:1, Psalm 66:19, 2 Kings 20:1-6, James 5:16, Genesis 21:17, Genesis 30:22-24, 2 Samuel 22:4,7, Revelation 8:4 and so many many more in scripture!

 Even when He doesn't answer (my way), I can trust his character and be confident he is still good(see all above).

And largely a verse that I have dwelt on LOTS this year is:  

Romans 11:36(NLT) "For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen." 

 This has been the answer to many many difficult questions I have asked the Lord. And to be honest, it is a tough pill to swallow sometimes.
Everything is intended for His GLORY. not ours. my mine. His.
What a great act of mercy that God would create us, let us exist,, and be completely devoted to His glory.
I am so thankful for this truth. I am so thankful that even when I do have answers I can trust that we are created for His glory.

As my very wise friend Emily Jennings said, "It is hard when we have difficult questions that cannot be  answered in pretty packages neatly tied in bows."


May you too ask difficult questions, with difficult answers, you are willing to hear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cCqZ7FfeQU

-Leslie

*Article on Sandra McCracken: http://www.curatormagazine.com/jennisimmons/a-red-balloon-of-hope-part-2/

Musical Questions

Ever since I was a kid I've loved music. Most of my life has been spent wishing I was more musically talented. I think my parents both encouraged and stunted this.. Some of my early memories of my dad are him sitting in our living room floor strumming James Taylor while we sang semi-correct lyrics to "Frozen Man" (which by the way is a pretty morbid song for a 6 year old to be singing). I always ALWAYS wanted some kind of musical instrument for Christmas, and was always delighted to see them by the tree on Christmas morning...like the Saxophone (that was plastic and provided my family with a perfectly played birthday tune each year) the child sized guitar that my sister broke and my dad super glued back together..only 100 times). I think my parents realized my propensity to lose interest quickly which is why they always bought me "fake" instruments. All this to say..I love music. Even now,I am always trying to convince my husband to buy me some kind of new instrument that I will never really learn to play. He usually buys me the real thing despite knowing my lack of true talent. That's real love people. Music seems to stir in me words that I really never have a way of saying. I cant just listen to a song, I have to hear the melody, and read the lyrics, and research the meaning. As I get older I realize even more how much music speaks to me. I find good music always brings me back to scripture and draws me to communion with Christ. It's this amazing, wonderful, truly indescribable thing. I find myself wanting to "pick the brain" so to speak, of so many artists who I respect. Although true for so many there is one artist who I think I would love to talk with most-Brooke Fraser. When I listen to Brooke it evokes so many questions. The kind of questions you grab a cup of coffee and your best friend and talk for hours about. Questions like, So what is the real meaning of the song, "Scarlet"? And how do you always know exactly when to pause in a song to make it perfectly poignant. And my biggest question of all is a fully loaded question about the progression of her music.. And then, of course discussing the significance of these songs in my life: 1. Love is waiting (the song I walked down the isle to meet my groom, which seemed written for our love story) 2. C.S. Lewis song (one of the most lyrically beautiful songs ever written) 3. Faithful (the lesson of my life) 4. Indelible (so often my own thoughts!) 5. Scarlet (the ghostly tune the world is always speculating about) 6. Arithmetic (my fav video by far) 7. The entire album of Flags( do I EVER have questions about that one!) 8. Hymn (this was my far my fav album (Albertine) and one of my favorite songs!) So here's to never getting answers to my musical questions. And being thankful for having answers to the only question that ever mattered. Till I only Dwell in Thee. -Leslie

a year in the life..

Martin Luther once said,
“The first love is drunken. When the intoxication wears off, then comes the real marriage love."

I love this quote because it's so true. The first time I met Daniel I leaned over and asked Rachel Hartman, "who is that guy with the beautiful smile?!" She answered Daniel Pendergrass. And that was it. We met, we dated, we married. I remember being so taken with Daniel that I knew he was "the one" soon after our first date. We recently had a conversation about how quickly we said, "I love you" (a week into dating!). We were young and had never dated anyone else and we meant it. But looking back we have to smile at how little we really understood what love meant. It was in fact, just as Martin Luther stated, drunken love. You know what I mean..the "no you hang up first" "i love you more" "you are the air i breathe!" "you can do no wrong" kind of love. The real love comes when you can say, "no one else in the world annoys me more than you" "i forgive you" "WHO DID I MARRY!?" "You are crazy" I dont mean that you lose the sweetness of love, but somewhere in the mix you realize that this person has flaws and yet, despite them all you love them even more. It is no longer the drunken love, but a love that has depth and substance. and it's good. real good.

Daniel and I just had our first year of marriage. Despite all the horror stories we had heard about the first year of marriage, it was a FABULOUS year!! I learned so much about myself in the process and wanted to compile my top 10 things i learned in marriage:

1. I am selfish. Greg Pulling told Daniel and I that marriage will teach you how truly selfish you are. I thought it was a silly comment but boy was it true! There is no one who sees the real side of you like your spouse when you act like no one or nothing matters more than YOU. It is embarrassing and humbling and a daily reminder that the world does not revolve around you. Why is this such a hard lesson!?

2. A king size bed makes for a happy marriage. Let's be real here. Marriage is great, but when you are sleeping..you need room!! It is nothing like the movies where you fall asleep in each others arms. The reality is.."waking up in the middle of the night because your husbands hand is once again resting on your face." "Fighting over the sheets (why dont they make those things bigger?!) move your leg, give me back my pillow, get back to your side. All problems eliminated by a big bed. yesss.

3. Being married to your best friend in one of the greatest joys in life. There is something beautiful about sharing a life with someone who sees you at your best and worst and who laughs at your jokes, who loves you fiercely and tells you your cooking is good and you look hot even when you look like a hot MESS.

4. Jesus makes the marriage good. Without God marriage will always be missing the biggest piece. Because of Jesus you learn to serve each other because marriage isnt about you. You always forgive wrongs and offer each other grace upon grace because that is what Christ has offered us. This friends, is the key to not only a happy marriage, but life.

5. House projects teach you all you need to know about each other: Working on house projects (something we spent our entire first year doing) can really be a make or break. Thankfully for Daniel and I we learned how completely alike our work ethics, crazy ideas, and taste (i know, i NEVER thought we would like the same things) are!!

6. learn to love what they love: look, It is good and often necessary to have your own interests (we do), but there is something to say for learning to love what your spouse loves. For example VCU basketball. I used to resist Daniel at every turn whenever he wanted to go to games. I mean, look, im not really into the whole my husband gets so hype he throws me across the isle (yes this actually happened once) but i finally realized that my bad attitude wasn't keeping us from going to games. If you cant beat 'em, join 'em. Who would have ever thought we would have gotten to go to Houston for the final 4 (did i mention our hotel room was attached to a 3 story mall!?) So you see, everyone ends up happy!! GO RAMS!

7. Marriage is FUN: I cant remember EVER having fun like we did this year. Our Honeymoon was in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. We went to California to see the Redwoods and San Francisco to ride a trolly and see the golden gate. We went to Houston for the final 4, We went to Cape Cod where i saw the plymouth rock and ate the best cupcakes in the world. and a million other fun things. Truly marriage was better than ANYONE told us!!

8. No one could appreciate their husband more. With all the travel Daniel has done this year (listed above are some of his work spots) I learned, I MEAN REALLY LEARNED to appreciate the time we spend together. Im so thankful for this lesson. May i never fail to appreciate the great blessing of my husband. He is a hard worker and despite it all always finds ways to love me when he is away.

9. Get a dog: this taught me how much my husband loves me. Not only did he get me a little dog, but one that wears heart sweaters and pink outfits! He takes her out when its cold or dark and wakes up early to feed her. He complains about it daily but its obvious they love each other. When he is out of town im so glad to have that stubborn, obstinate, sweet dog who loves to snuggle!

10. I'll end this post now and just give some pictures from our first year...enjoy!!