controversial reading

I've been reading the best seller "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson who is ironically from the same town of Minnesota I live in.

I've realized how refreshing it can be to read a non-Christian-help book.  My mind is drawn in by stories more than exegesis and I need breaks from Christian books and sermons as my extra reading!

Plus, since Andrew and I have been taking trips to India, I'm especially fascinated by that general area along with the Middle East.  I read the book "Betrayed" a while ago and it was an interesting sliver of life in traditional Muslim-dominated Kurdish Iraq.

As I was reading Three Cups, I guess Andrew was watching the news and multiple times this story popped up.  Sadly, new information basically has slashed credibility and integrity about the story and the organization it's connected to.

It is so interesting to me that a man who has heard about Christianity not only rejects it, but seeks to live out a "good" life.  He gives, he sells what he has for other people, he builds schools for poor children, etc. But I keep thinking of the Isaiah 64:6 verse that says our "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." It baffles me because without Christ people are in an ultimate sense seeking their own selfishness. Mortenson seeks praise as a humanitarian and he probably feels good about himself, but truly he's fallen completely short of God's standard of perfection and still stands separated form God apart from Jesus.  Christ is the only way to attain a relationship with God and to please Him.  We will never on our own be praise worthy.  "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows," (James 1:17).

Only until we truly comprehend and experience Christ's truly selfless love, can it flow through us to others.  Otherwise, everything starts from ourselves and flows from us, ultimately resulting in our selfishness.

I'm grateful that despite my selfishness, Christ does still love me

charlotte back to mn

 Reading by the pool!

Our 4 day trip to Charlotte has commenced and we're back to Minneapolis.  This picture is now where I wish I was!  I loved going getting to explore new coffee shops, doing some shopping and looking at the gorgeous mansions and Southern homes around there and getting to have a perpetual date with my husband.  Andrew was glad to get his class knocked out and have a break from the 40 degree weather.

One of the coffee shops I enjoyed:

Amiele's bakery

eclectic decorating

blueberry-cream cheese muffin!

By the way, it snowed in MN while we were in NC.  Crazy. 

Here is part of my piece of mind: this winter has been the 4th snowiest in MN history (according to some local news channel) and Minneapolis is the coldest metropolitan area in the US.  It's been cold and snowy for seasoned Minnesotans.  It wasn't until after I moved that I realized these facts: we're north of Maine, NY, and most other places I categorized as "too cold," and we're closer to Canada than than Chicago. Anyway, I am grateful to be in Minnesota!  This is for sure, without a doubt where God has currently called us.

And moving on from a weather rant...Charlotte was beautiful and the area we were in was upscale and ritzy so that was fun.  Yesterday I went shopping then picked up Andrew from class in time to read by the pool and get a little sun.  Then I made a make-shift dinner in our little kitchenette.  We had pasta with some spinach, basil, turkey, and a bell pepper- all cut with a plastic knife :).  Eating that like that reminded me of when Andrew and I were first married and still hadn't put all our new wedding gifts away.  We actually had friends over for dinner at our huge table ($200 at a World Market closing) with metal chairs and a garden bench because the store didn't have any of the chairs left.  We had a pork loin that we baked on a cookie sheet and we used grill tools to cook with and plasticware for eating.  Fun memories!

Anyway, after dinner we headed to Dean and Deluca because of my good friend Samm's recommendation.  It's a gourmet grocery store complete with all kinds of specialty meets, and odd but interesting ingredients like duck fat in a jar, anchovy oil, smoked soy sauce, unique pastas and grains, rice krispy sandwich treats.  We had desert there and sat and talked for a long while with the tree-lit trees surrounding the store and it's outdoor cafe. It was a fun memory. 

After bumming around the next day, it was time to come back to Minnesota.  We caught a late connecting flight and finally made it back.  


Since getting back, I got to see some of the girls I love spending time with on campus and then it was Easter break.  So we've enjoyed some lazy days at home.  Though it's been a little gloomy, I'm glad it's not snowing and the green grass keeps things bright.  


Here are some of the fun things I saw while window shopping in Charlotte:

capiz mirror was on sale, but too big for the plane!

unique table

awesome stool! love this!

cute cupcake stand

fun glass coffee mugs

love these double drink dispensers: iced tea + lemonade

This is when I realized we were back in the South!

a little trip to charlotte

Andrew and I are hanging out in our living room.  in Charlotte.  Actually we're in a hotel, a gigantor one.  Hubs loves to use Priceline.com and his little secret scored big this time.  We have a super nice room with personal patio, kitchenette, living room, bedroom, and large bathroom.  For $60 a night! Woah!

and this is a terrible picture, but that's the skyline in the background.  Note: no snow, lush trees and very green grass.  We're not in Minnesota anymore. 

Anyway, my parents came up to Charlotte on Saturday to go to a local beer festival and stayed through, today to hang out with me and Andrew.  They are wonderful!  As we left Minneapolis, though beautiful, was heading toward another snow, and when we got to Charlotte it was in the 70s.  Thankfully my parents have incredible taste in food (get it?! pun intended) and we went straight to Maggiano's.  It's a little family tradition.  We get a big salad, share some entrees, and stay late until they're about to close the place.  Last night was no exception.  Then we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory next door.  Fortunately, mom, like me is chocolate obsessed.  We shared the yummy and huge carrot cake.  Dad and Andrew are two peas in a pod when it comes to dessert.  They were indecisive when there were like 5 cheesecakes that were chocolate and peanut butter.

Anyway after we waddled our way back to our cars, we slept and the next morning, you guessed it, met up for a good breakfast.  Mom had heard there was a Flying Biscuit up here so we opted to eat there.  Mom and I shared a plate of eggs over black bean cakes, tomatillo sauce and feta cheese along with some creamy grits and a biscuit.  And none of us were hungry for lunch.  Go figure.

flying. biscuit. yum!

the rents!

We walked and talked in the park with Mom and Dad and when they had to drive back south to GA, Andrew and I regrouped and went for a run before finding a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Actually it was Honduran and Mexican mix, so while it was great, didn't quite hit the spot for my Mexican food craving/obession/idolatry.

While hubs was in class...did I mention the reason for the trip? Ha, well, Andrew is working toward his masters at a seminary in Charlotte.  He takes classes online, but had to fly down for this one and I of course opted to accompany him. Anyway while he was learning deep theological truths and distinguishing major philosophical movements (or going over the syllabus) I went to this cute Starbucks in an old house. Tough life, I know.

Oh, and Harris Teeter!  I forgot about the Carolina grocery stores.  So much nicer than all the Midwestern ones.  Remind me of a new Piggly or Publix.  Anyway, Andrew loves me and threw a couple of these in the cart for us to enjoy :)

wedding weekend

Our great friends Reid and Nikki tied the knot this weekend!  Andrew had the priviledge of marrying them- so it was doubly fun for me to be there!

Here are some pictures of the wedding:

Andrew and a lot of the guys he invested in around Minneapolis at the rehersal...

and that little green blur was the ring bearer in full action.

So proud of my hubby giving a pre-ceremony gospel illustration about marriage

I love Andrew! That's Reid (groom) in the middle and his twin brother to the right

Reid and Nikki with "Pastor Andrew"

We'd been meeting with Reid and Nikki for the past few months about marriage, conflict resolution, and general preparation for gettin' hitched. A couple of weeks ago we joked about Andrew accidentally messing up their names (ya know like Rikki and Neid or something)...and well, hubs didn't let us down! It wasn't Rikki, but after welcoming the couple forward said "Reid and...Nookie...Nikki." Bahaha! And wa-la, the church was filled with muffled laughter.  I could barely keep it together.  Thankfully the rest of their ceremony and reception went off without a hitch.  It was fun to say the least.  

two whole years

April 4th.  That's our anniversary! It's been two loooooooong years.

Ha, Kidding.  It's been two amazing years!  It's really flown by.  I remember counting days and then weeks of being married.  And now it's in years.  I love thinking back to dating and engagement and even last year and laugh at all we did!

Walking to dinner in front of Lake Calhoun around sunset

We started out the day with a staff meeting, and while Andrew was doing a traning session for some staff, I met with a few girls, and worked out.  A pretty light day :)

Then Hubs picked me up and drove me down through Uptown to "the lakes," a fun area with big beautiful homes and lots of runners.  He took me to this restaurant on Lake Calhoun, which is where he took me the first night I ever visited him while we dated.  I felt so raw flying across the country with him as my only reason! But he put me at ease and I loved every minute with him!  It was fun to go back to this place.  Except this time the lake was frozen over (but starting to melt, thank you!) and the wind was whipping some cold air! We got shrimp and grits and fish and chips.  Both of which were tasty.

at dinner (sporting a new haircut too!)

Just like that date a few years ago we went to get ice cream! I was craving some Cold Stone birthday cake ice cream.  Yum!  And proof that my husband knows and loves me: he ordered my ice cream with extra sprinkles :)

we clearly didn't like it.

We also asked each other the questions about our favorite and least favorite parts of marriage:

Mine:

• favorite things: having someone who's always there for me, a best friend, leader, and person to cuddle with/wake up next to!
• least favorite: getting into arguments and being frustrated, and seeing so much of my sin all the time (really that's so good though!)

Andrew's:

• favorite things: having someone stand by his side, a partner to do things with him, and having me on his team!
• least favorite: having to remind me to do stuff all the time (ex. finish something I said I would take care of...thank you cards, sending emails, etc)- ha.  so true.  

It's been so tender to see God's faithfulness to us.  We both realized how gracious God has been.  He's given us more grace toward one another, more humility (taking responsibility in conflict, and genuinely saying sorry sooner), and generally seeking to understand the other (vs. being understood) more and more.  Really, it's all the Holy Spirit!  If our first year's theme was learning more about another, this year's was really understanding the other more.  So sweet.

Then, last night, I was determined to make Andrew a fabulous meal that his Southern roots would love!  Country fried steak, fried okra and cornbread.  And tiramisu for dessert because he loves it.

...Enter dose of humility.

None of it was good!  You can't buy breaded okra up here or really any fresh okra this time of year.  So I tried to bread frozen okra and get it done.  Massive fail.  I've never really fried anything and I've got a lot to learn.  Country fried steak? Yep, never made it before and it wasn't crunchy.  And with all the work, I couldn't get the cornbread done in time.  I'd made the tiramisu with a new recipe and the marscapone added a tangy flavor I wasn't a fan of.  As it was all about to hit the table, I started to kind of lash out because I was so frustrated nothing turned out right, but thankfully Andrew was so sweet.  So much for a wonderful meal, smooth cooking, and easy anniversary gift :).  Praise God for my husband!  He was so gracious, loving, forgiving, and will eat just about anything! 

loves last week

Here are a few things I love and experienced last week :)

Here are the sweet college student friends I am privileged to meet with each week!  I love them :) Pray for them that they keep growing into "oaks of righteousness" and "displays of God's splendor for all to see," (Isa 61:3). 

Here's my preacher man!  Hubs got to preach at a friends' church last weekend.  So proud :)

Date night with my handsome husband!  We went to the 112 Eatery for a DELICIOUS brie cheeseburger and fried gnocchi! Woah. So good.  Then we went to a fun theater downtown to see that "Source Code" movie. 

All the new fabric I got last week...Hubs went with me! So cute.  But he asked the lady at the cutter counter a billion questions (like "How do you cut straight?," "What is a bolt?," "How many yards of fabric do you cut a day?," etc, etc.)

Anyway, here are some close ups.

For our bedroom or living room- can't decide yet

for the living room

I have no idea.  I just love seersucker and can't wait to make something with it! Side note: all the girls I met with had no idea what seersucker was?!?!!?!  I am NOT in the South anymore!  Don't worry, I taught them!