becoming...

"the man said, 'this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.' for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." ~genesis 2:23 & 24

happy anniversary, baby...here's to many, many more!

a year ago...

a year ago this week i was preparing for one of the most important days of my life. finishing last minute details, purchasing and putting together gifts for my girls who would stand beside me, packing for an absolutely amazing honeymoon, and most importantly, preparing to marry my best friend.

i honestly can't believe that it's been a year {well, almost a year...i won't be near a computer to blog on the actual day ;}. i had a lot of friends mention to me that they thought the first year of marriage is the hardest but for me, it's been the best year of my life. sure, there were moments that wouldn't rank in my top ten list of favorite moments but overall, it's been incredible. there is nothing in the world better than walking through life with your best friend and i have been amazingly blessed with such an incredible husband.

and i'm not the only one who thinks so...a couple fridays ago i had my niece in the car with me and we were headed to my house for a sleepover and then our annual "aunt amy and anna day" {for the last 4 or 5 years we would make a day of it and go to lunch, go shopping, visit santa, etc. as a prolonged birthday celebration for her}. somehow our conversation turned to uncle joel and from the backseat she said, "aunt amy, i hope i get to marry someone like uncle joel someday." yeah, pretty sure my eyes immediately filled with tears. i told i her i hoped so, too....that uncle joel was a great man and that the important thing for her to remember was to wait for the person God has for her...because His plans are always the best. it blesses my heart to know and see how much my nephews and niece love their uncle joel...they want to spend time with him....they want to know where he is if i show up and he's not with me but more than that, i've been able to see just how good and gracious the Lord has been in blessing me with such an incredible husband. he not only loves me {which, i can testify is not always an easy task ;} but he loves my family and loves being with them and i can say without a doubt, they love and adore him, too.

it's been a year with lots of changes and some challenges but it's been an amazing first year of marriage and i can't wait to see what this coming year will bring.

a little more about me...

just a fun little bloggy q & a about me...considering i struggled answering some of them, i'd bet that most of you reading my blog will learning something new about me, too.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while your blogging? hmm...i don't really snack while blogging but my favorite snack right now is pumpkin bread. it's very yummy and i'm so glad i found the recipe. (although, i am seriously limiting my pumpkin bread intake because...hello? it can't be that healthy for you :)

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without? my practical, non-spiritual answer is my toothbrush.

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice? mountains, definitely. on our little mountain vacay a few weeks ago we drove around and talked about how much we would both love to live in the mountains.

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty? it's a toss up between folding laundry and cleaning the kitchen...i think because those were my "chores"when i was growing up (besides the obvious...cleaning my room). ugh. i can totally live out of a laundry basket but eventually, ocd takes over and i can't stand it. same with the dishes...it's NOT my favorite but i can't stand to go to bed at night and leave dishes in the sink.

5. Who do people say you remind them of? my sister. people often point out that not only do we look similar but our voices and mannerisms are very similar. when i was a little girl, i used to look up to her and i remember thinking, "gosh, i wish i could be just like her...she is so pretty and nice." so when people tell me that they think we are similar, it's the one of the highest compliments you could give me because she's pretty much awesome in every way :).

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam? it depends. if we've been super busy, i catch myself seriously craving a night in but i actually have to be careful not to "overbook" us. because i love being with people and hanging out with people, i tend to commit us before thinking through how busy we really are and then we end up with weeks where we're never home at night. i'm working on this :) and i think i've done better the last few months.

7. What's your all time favorite movie? oh man. my all time favorite? i can't answer this because i have too many favorites...sorry.

8. Do you sleep in your make-up or remove it like a good little girl every night? i've slept in my make-up the entire time that i've been wearing make-up. fortunately, i've never (even in the middle of my teen years) had any acne problems and rarely break out. i know, i know...don't fuss at me in the comments. i know better. :)

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it? i don't think i have any hidden talents...if i do, they're hidden very well because even i don't know about them :). when i was little i wanted to be a fashion designer...i'd love to get to play around in that field.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at? bulletin board ideas (random, i know...i grew up thinking i wanted to be a teacher) and craft ideas (ex--my niece's 3rd grade fruit fly project...i helped her come up with a way to make a model of a fruit fly. we used sandwich baggies, brown paper and pipe cleaners).

11. What first attracted you to your spouse? hmm...lots of things...his integrity, his amazing knowledge of Biblical things and then his ability to teach (left me speechless), his eyes, his smile...

12. What is something you love to smell? yankee candle's harvest candle, my mom's house right after she finishes cleaning...

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people. i can be forgetful when it comes to returning phone calls and email. i also tend to give waaay more details and give long explainations when a short answer will suffice.

14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you think to do with it? go shopping (it's not usually what i do with it, though)

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest? i am a loud laugher but sometimes if i'm laughing really hard, it becomes the silent laugh. joel alley makes me laugh harder than anyone i know.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop? target or macy's

17. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time? write letters and cards to friends (instead of email)

18. Are you a big spender or frugal? hubs says i'm a moderate spender.

20. Would you want to be famous? ummm...no thank you. i'd enjoy the perks but i definitely would not want to deal with everything else that comes along with it so i will just be happy and content with my little non-famous life :).

MckGiveaway...

just checking in to let ya'll know that mckmama is hosting a very fun giveaway over on her blog. you should hop on over there and check it out, too.

in other news, i've been bitten by some sort of sickness bug...not sure what it is but i can tell you what it's not...it is not fun nor enjoyable. i'm drinking lots o juice and resting so hopefully, whatever bug this is will decide that i am no fun and vacate immediately.

i'll be back in the next few days with a new post. until then, i'm off to buy stock in tylenol cold & flu and tropicana.

pass the hand sanitizer :)

hello, fall...

hello, fall...i heart you. i am so excited that the days are getting cooler and fall is definitely here and what better way to celebrate the start of my favorite seasons (because fall leads us into winter and the Christmas season) than a list on the blog (that and it's too early for me to think in paragraph format...sorry)!

so, here we go...

-all the decorations: this season in particular i have loved, loved, loved decorating my house for fall (because it's my first fall in my house and my first fall to be married...like you didn't know that :). i have a gorgeous fall wreath on my front door, pansies planted in the flower pots, mums and pumpkins on the porch and that's just outside. :) i didn't go overboard inside, i promise. wanna see some pictures? good. i'm so glad you do!

welcome to our home :) this is the foyer

my dining room table

my two favorite magazines chock full of wonderful fall decorating ideas, recipes, and places to visit. (i am so gonna make those pumpkin cakes...LOVE them!!)

kitchen table...love the table runner and flowers

kitchen countertop

love the pie plate!!

this container was full of candy corn and peanuts but joel hearts the candy corn/peanut mixture :)

-i just love the smells and flavors of fall. i love all things pumpkin...pumpkin bagels/cream cheese (thank you, einstein bros!), pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin bread...i think you get the idea :). my other absolute fall favorite is the harvest yankee candle.

one word: YUM!

-football: i'm a football girl, i admit it. i love nfl and college football. just this past weekend, i had the opportunity to take my daddy to a panther's game (they were playing the redskins and he grew up as a redskins fan...until the panthers). hubs had a paper and school work to finish so he encouraged me to take my daddy (don't worry...hubs and i have tickets to two more games so he won't miss out on going to some games this season).

my daddy and me (notice, btw, the my fall wreath on the front door :)

awesome seats and it turned out to be a great game

-day trips and weekend trips to the mountains! we are headed out very soon for a fun little trip to the mountains to relax, enjoy the leaves, nature, and just enjoy being together. hubs and i can't wait...we are SUPER excited!!

hope you have a fun-filled fall weekend, peeps! :)

difficult lessons...

sacrifice. submission. selflessness. those are some pretty heavy words and the actions behind them are even more difficult, i believe. when i lived in texas, a guy named david nasser was a guest speaker at the church where i was working so obviously, the bookstore stocked his resources. i'd heard great things about this author/speaker and when i saw one of his devotionals on the shelf, the title captured my attention...a call to die: a 40 day journey of fasting from the world and feasting on God. i read the summary on the inside cover and instantly knew it was a devotional that i wanted so i purchased it. upon reading the introduction, he gives a disclaimer, if you will, that if you're not really serious about taking this 40 day journey or if you feel like you're not quite ready for it...the call to die, then maybe you should wait until you are ready. reading that gave me great pause and caused me to evaluate, "am i ready to answer this call to die? am i totally committed to a 40 day journey like this?" well, i can tell you right now my next thought was, "of course i am. i'm a seminary student, this is what the Christian life is about." well, i'll confess to you that i thought that i was ready but apparently, i wasn't. after reading the introduction to that devotional, i laid the book on my nightstand and that's where it stayed for the next few months until it was packed in a box and then placed on a bookshelf in north carolina. i've picked the book up every now and then but i don't know what it is about that particular book that gives me such pause but i'm ashamed to say i've never gone beyond the introduction. {i realize that Jesus calls us to daily pick up our cross...die to ourselves...and follow Him...and it's my prayer that is what we all make an effort to do as believers but let's just be honest and transparent for a moment and admit that it's a tall order and it's difficult. it's not impossible and it's not just for the super spiritual but it is a challenge. every. single. day.} maybe it's because in his introduction, he asks for a solid and serious commitment to the journey or maybe it's because the call to die isn't a very comfortable topic of study.

fast forward to this past week in my life and guess what the theme has seemed to be? yep, you guessed it...submission, dying to self, not my will but Your will. nothing major has happened this week but it seems as though the Lord is working to effect some change in this heart of mine. you see, over the last month or two the Lord and i have had the same conversation {well, it's not been much of a conversation because for the most part, i've been the one talking without slowing down to actually, you know...listen.} where i give Him suggestions as to what i would like to happen or if He would just listen to me, things would work out so much better. then in the next breath, i admit that i don't want to take a single step outside of His will. talk about feeling conflicted! :) sunday morning we had the opportunity to worship at my home church and the sermon was all about...you guessed it...choosing obedience, submission, etc. the passage was out of mark when Jesus was praying in the garden of gethsemane and the Lord {gently} spoke to my heart reminding me that Jesus is my example. His choice to go to the cross was not easy, as that is evidenced in His agonizing moments in prayer to the Father but even as He pleaded for the cup to pass from Him, He ended every plea with, "not My will but Your will." quietly, i heard Him speak to my heart and all i could say is, "not my will but Your will." then, {oh yes, there's more} my apples of gold mentoring group's {older ladies mentoring younger ladies} Bible study this week was on submission. seriously? all i could think was, "okay, Lord, whatever You are trying to teach me, i'd love to learn it quickly because obviously, i'm not getting it." it was amazing that all He has been teaching me fits together...it's as if He has a plan or something :).

there is a reason i believe Jesus tells us to daily deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him because doing it yesterday just doesn't get it done for today and sometimes, it's a choice that we make over and over throughout the day. my heart and my desire is to willingly deny myself and take up my cross as i follow Him in my marriage, my work, my friendships, and my interactions in daily life. isn't it just like the Lord, though, to highlight two very important relationships in my life at the same time to show me how the lessons are related? the importance of obedience and submitting my will to Him in my relationship with Him and then also the importance of submitting in my relationship to my husband...the Lord has an order for the Church and a similar order in the family. can i be honest? i didn't realize how truly selfish i was until i married joel {and i know all my friends with kids will tell me just wait until you have a child} but the act of submitting doesn't always come easy. it doesn't mean i don't want to or that i don't have the desire to submit but i'm human and sometimes, my selfish desires want to be heard. i am thankful, so very thankful, that i have a husband who fulfills the challenge given in ephesians 5 to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. it definitely makes it much easier to submit when you know your husband has your best interest at heart.

so maybe, just maybe i will pick up that devotional sometime soon and sign the commitment in the introduction to complete the 40 day fast. either way, i am already on this journey with Jesus and i'm thankful for the way He speaks, teaches, and then gives the opportunity to put it into practice.

"when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." ~dietrich bonhoeffer from the cost of discipleship

life is...

life here in the alley household is good. actually, i would say that it's great. the last two weeks have been amazing. my last day in the office was difficult but praise God my last Sunday was a good day! i didn't know what to expect or how i would deal with it but from the moment my eyes opened that Sunday morning, i was completely filled with and covered by the Lord's peace...the peace that passes all understanding. sure, it was emotional to hug the necks of children and parents i've grown to love over the last 8 yrs (2 1/2 yrs of interning and then 5 1/2 yrs after seminary) and to say goodbye but through all of it, i had such an overwhelming peace. i was able to enjoy my last sunday with complete assurance that joel and i are moving exactly in the right direction...relying on the Lord to guide us instead of handling it ourselves. :)

it was funny to me when people (before my last day of work) would ask, "what are you going to do with yourself now that you'll have all that time?" i would like to find those people and ask them to what exactly were they referring? what time? obviously, my life is less structured and there is waaay less stress but honestly, life hasn't slowed down. i'm working part time doing some contract work as a consultant for hgbc's daycare/mother's morning out program, i've started a pampered chef business {if you're reading and would love to host a party in your home, have a catalog party, OR place an order, just shoot me an email...i'd love to help you out! ;}, i'm in a mentoring program/bible study at church AND i've been decorating our house for fall. and i hate to admit it, but none of that stuff was even on my "things to do when i stop working" list. so, never fear, i i haven't been bored one single second over the last couple weeks and i couldn't be happier!