Talk Is Sheep

I was making the trek back to Bloomsburg earlier this year and as I usually do when I’m in the car, I hit the Scan button and search for something good to listen to. Sometimes I’m looking for something to dance to, other times news, but I settled for one of those Christian talk radio shows that today just happened to be extolling the values of marriage. As I listened, I was reaffirmed in my desire to have an amazing marriage. Not to be confused with a great marriage, but one that works because we work on it and lasts because we continue to see the value in each other. (more…)

Let them eat marshmallows on their cake.

Sarah has teamed up with some our awesome lady-type friends to do some out-of-this-world baking. So while I and my gentlemen brewers are concocting the latest and greatest homebrew, the ladies are doing some kitchen chemistry of their own.

Do not joke about baking dear readers. In this masterpiece there are home made marshmallows. The process here is way over my head so I couldn’t really relate it to you – ask Sarah.

The name of this cake is the hot chocolate cake (though I may be mistaken). It really did taste like hot chocolate. It also melted my brains. I’m not really a huge chocolate fan. In terms of chocolate cakes there are only two that I enjoy, Texas sheet cake and red-devil’s food cake. This latest chocolate rendition may have topped them.

The weekend the ladies baked this was a wonderfully early warm weekend. There was brewing – we were brewing or bottling a blonde and had a whole crew over. The kitchen was a massive hub of conversation, laughter and Ricky Gervase impersonations. The smells of the chocolate, vienna malts, Czech saaz hops, and grilled meats filled the room. The light and the warmth of the sun kept the doors and the windows open to the outside as we spent time indoors and out.

In the words of dear father, “that’s what’s it’s all about.”

Yesterday I had one of those days. You know, the one where no matter how much free time you have, you don’t get anything done. No cleaning, no work, definitely nothing productive. And I’m not talking about the relax and do nothing kind of days. Those are good, but yesterday just felt bad. I think I got stuck in the endless loop of laziness which in the end led to an overwhelming feeling of depression. Thoughts start coming in like, “I’m a bad wife”, “I’m disorganized”, “WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!”. I think somehow I got caught up in all the lies I was agreeing with so that by the time Lee came home I was in such a state that I had wrong expectations of him. “Lee will get mad at me”, “He’ll think I sit around all day and do nothing”, “He’ll think I’m worthless”.. .

How deceptive is the enemy? I am always surprised when I realize how I’ve made those wrong agreements. How did I get here? How did I let myself not only believe the lies but wallow in them?

Would you like to know what I found out yesterday when Lee came home? I found out that there is redemption and forgiveness in love. I found out that my marriage can reflect the love that Christ has for me when we allow ourselves to be forgiven and forgive ourselves. What a wonderful thing to know the love of Christ within my marriage. That even on the days when I’m making it hard not only for myself but for Lee, that he’ll still open his arms and tell me that I have a safe place in them.

So how am I doing today? Today is a day of hearing truth. It’s a new day.

Do you know that after almost a year and 3 months of marital bliss,  I found out something new about my husband? Imagine…not knowing him absolutely after a year?! A couple of nights ago, I heard this tap-tap-tapping sound as I was trying to sleep. Thinking it was the cats playing, I decided I’d give them the benefit of the doubt, close my eyes, and try to fall asleep. Ahh, sweet sleep, I’m just about to start dreaming I know it, when…tap tap tap.

Hey. This is closer to my head…and the cats are nowhere to be seen. “Lee…? Is that you?”

Tap tap tap…”Yes.”

“What are you doing?

“Drumming.”

Hmmm. It turns out that after a  year and 3 months Lee has broken out the drumming that he used to do when he tried to fall asleep…but has stopped doing because he was afraid it would keep me up. Well, it did keep me up. But, I was intrigued and a little excited to find out something new about Lee. I urged him to keep going, but he politely declined for the sake of both of us getting some sleep. Maybe next time I won’t say anything

Merry belated Christmas from the little drummer family! Here’s to a new year in hopes of finding out many new things about my husband!

But you wouldn’t be able to tell that from the amount of time we spend posting. So sorry for anyone who actually depends on us! Here’s a little screenshot of how we’ve been flirting lately.

Upcoming updates will include:
1. India Trip
2. Overhaul of all of the stuff we have horded in our house
3. Holiday Plans/Trips
4. And so on!

Much love,
Sarah

Ahhhhhh. I’m away from Lee for the first time in our 10 and a 1/4 months of marriage. After being with someone at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 10 months (minus the night he spent in the hospital), I was kind of amazed that I didn’t just break down when I realized that an essential part of me (my heart, as discussed in the previous post) wouldn’t factor into the equation for about 4 days. There is a major difference that I have noticed from the time I spent apart from Lee when we were just dating to these last couple of days we’ve been apart now that we’re married….a marked increase in Lee calling me on the phone! I love it! When we were dating, it’s more than possible that I pursued Lee by telephone more than I should have…and in general ripped him off as being the pursuer at times. Now that we’re married, it’s a rare (and wonderful) occasion that we would take time to talk on the phone while we’re not in the same place. I think I’ve learned a lot about confidence since we’ve been married. Not self-confidence…but a confidence in what our marriage means to both of us. By letting Lee take the lead in calling me, I’ve been able to see that he views me as a priority, that he’s willing to take time out of the daily grind to know that he is thinking about me while I’m away. That I’m important to him. And that he misses me, too. I hate to say it but the old adage rings true for me. This week I’ve been able to just appreciate Lee. He’s a wonderful man. And even though I’m only his arm. At least it’s attached to his hand. That I can’t wait to hold again.

Welcome to “Comparing and Contrasting the Sexes – Episode I”. In this installment I’ll be examining the importance we place on the significant other in terms of physical relation.

I recently said of Sarah that in her absence I was missing my right arm. She deftly replied that she was missing her heart. These quotes I’m sure a driving you readers batty with 7th grade level cuteness and exclamations of “awwwwww…” etc. etc. But I particularly thought that this was an interesting observation of our perceptions of each other. (more…)

In a lot of ways I’ve found my relationship with Lee to be unique. I know everybody has their own quirks, and we’re just two crazy people who managed to meet and somehow fit pretty well together. We like to do crafty projects together (well we start them…and they’ll usually get done within a year or two). We make up and sing opera‘s in the car. One thing that took us a while to find our niche in was hand holding. Anyone who’s been around me for an extended amount of times knows I’m a toucher. I’m a hugger, a back scratcher, and I am definitely a hand holder. The first time Lee held my hand it was a simple twining of our pinkies. So minuscule, but so meaningful. Little did Lee know that with that gesture, I’d be an insatiable hand holder. At first we’d try the intertwined fingers. This was somewhat painful and if I had to hear Lee say, “I don’t like holding hands like seventh-graders” one more time, I would kick him! (no offense to anyone who enjoys holding hands this way!). OK…so we moved on to the “hand clasp”. Where all fingers are kept close together and fit right next to each other’s thumbs. OK…this will do sometimes…but I’ll admit…there’s something joyous about the “seventh-grade” hand hold that was lacking with this one…So after many months of alternating and a little griping…we managed to find a compromise that fits both of us like…two hands in the perfect hand hold! Each time we hold hands now, we pay homage to that first time we twined pinkies.

Tessa. I just want you to know that wherever I am dancing – you are dancing there with me. You are an inspiration to me. You are creative, beautiful, intelligent, and insane! You bought a motorcycle! You run circles around children with books, gardens, and art. You bake delicious things from recipes dreamed in your head. You run like the wind, and you dance like a banshee. I love that after all of these years, we are still friends. You’re my boy, blue!

But on a more serious note…what kind of sweet tweet are we having for dessert?

A cookie!?

Check out the original.

At any rate I thought this was hilarious, so I had to post it and chat about it a bit. Sarah and I love spreadsheets. GoogleDocs is my favorite webapp ever. I make awesome spreadsheets about todo lists, grocery lists, budgets, savings goals, home inventories, wish lists, and a plethora of other fun things that I then share with Sarah, so we can quite literally be on the same page. (more…)