lately

I've been married.
Yep. I'm on summer break, I'm working only one measly job till the end of august, and I got lots of projects to keep me busy.
Also, I have a husband who works over 40 hours a week while I only work about 3, so I'm the cook/cleaner/housekeeper for the summer. ONLY for the summer, we hope. It'd be easy to stay on a track of Jess doing most of the domestic work, but we have high aspirations for this marriage to have differently defined gender roles.

We really like being married. It isn't really that much different than before. It isn't hard yet. The most different things are that we wake up in the same bed now, we don't eat many meals with our previous 8 roommates so dinners can be strange, and when we hang out with our friends, we usually bring along the spouse cause an evening at the house with no more roommates and no spouse can be lonely.


So now every morning I kiss my husband goodbye before he rides his bike to work, then I start my work on one of many projects around here.

unpacking crap in our bedroom. We're a messy pair.

Sorting through and pricing boxes and boxes of garage sale items. For a while we couldn't both fit in this room, it was scrazy. both scary AND crazy.

I just painted these. Anyone want to help me figure out how to hang them and where to put them? Or anyone want to come by and buy our stuff Saturday? It's so cheap it might as well be free!

This is also our living room. See that leather chair with the straw hat hanging off it? That was Justin's wedding gift from me. it reclines all the way. Yep. it's the nap chair.

This is the brand new never been ridden XL Cannondale Comfort 4. retails for $450 and just for you I'd let it go for just $280. Any takers?

Our yard is the host of two Church Under the Bridge buses. Every Sunday they're used to pick up homeless folks and take them to church. They don't leave the keys in them. I've checked.
There's our very safe cinderblock firepit that we will use in about 6 months when it finally gets below 80 at night.

These are some doors we have in our house. They were never painted but look like they've been there a while so I'm gonna put the second coat on here in a bit.
This is actually where I am sitting right now. It's the only place we consistently pick up internet. I don't know who the benefactor is in this exchange but they give us internet, we give them a responsible quiet neighbor. (there aren't too many of those on this drug dealing block)

So usually about 3pm I grab a beer or make myself a margarita (which I have next to me) and continue all these projects. One of which has been to update this blog (check!).
Also, most of our coffee is drunk here. cigarettes are smoked here too.


The fantastic kitchen. I dont have enough counter space to roll out a pie crust or knead bread dough anywhere. It is kinda lame if you like to cook.

But there's one of my other projects: bread baking. I've been working at it for a month now and it's getting better. Now that we have working air conditioning it stays around 83 on that half of the house when I'm baking instead of the previous 105. No joke.

The other project, of which Susan will be proud, is hand turned ice cream. First batch: Blackberry Plum, so-so. Next batch, Cinnamon Vanilla Bean- Pretty dang good. Third time's a charm with fresh Blueberry ice cream. I'm tellin you I could sell this stuff, it is GOOD.

Next project which we will come to after this saturday's garage sale is breaking out the soap making equipment and experimenting with our organic grassfed calf's 52oz of kidney fat that I have stored in my frezer. MMmmm. His meat has been perfect in enchiladas and lasagna, now lets see if he can clean!

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Shalom

family

Right now sleeping in my bedroom, in my bed, are two precious little boys (Bela and Laith) and their precious momma (Amy). They came to visit and it has lifted me so much. This bunch is one that, if only they lived closer, I would learn from them (amy and zach) as spouses, as parents, as humble followers of Jesus. I'd strive to love as they love, to understand others as they do. And if only they lived closer, I'd have a running partner. Amy, Laith, Bela, and Zach, I really love you all.

Other than myself we are the only ones who have slept in this big house this week. All the true roommates have gone out to their new oasis (taking all the good coffee with them, bummer) and luckily I have Amy to keep this house company with me till she heads back to Brenham today.


I soon will be a spouse. I will have a husband. It's pretty overwhelming to me to think about this for too long. It's also crazy for me to think about this thing, marriage, in regards to it's prequel- pre-marital counseling. In this, the biggest decision and committment one can make, a couple is expected to learn and prepare for this life-long challenge in 6 weeks of chatting with a MALE pastor. Oh the ridulousness of this preparation! Where is the wife? where is the marriage from which to learn?? and how can you possibly prepare and learn all the tools you will need BEFORE you ever get started in this crazy thing?
Are pregnant mothers and fathers, after all the birth classes and preparations, supposed to go it all alone from the day the baby comes out all through that first hectic year until the kid is 18? Is it not expected of them to have help and communication, even weeks of overnight assistance, with other parents when they don't know what to do with this kid yet?

I think most necessary is communication with other couples, both husband AND wife, whose marriage you respect and appriciate. And I also believe, just as there is no way one would expect a new mom to be able to handle a child on her own from day one onward, that it is ridiculous for new couples to expect that this monumentous life-long task ahead of them should be handled without guidance and counsel all along the way.



there's my ranting. Hope to see you all at our wedding and I expect from all of you encouragement and love to the benefit of this new baby marriage. Now I have to go to work.

Shalom

plans for the future

Are a bunch of crap... but I am actually going to count on as if it's reality that Justin and I will be getting married on May 30th. All these other things i will tell you about are wishful thinking, taking some faith and trust in the Divine and not worrying if they do or do not happen.

our plans:
a marriage on May 30th 2009 with flowers and music and dancing and sunshine

after this, in chronological order I hope to:
1.not get pregnant
2.lose 5-10 lbs
3.begin doula certification. seriously, I am really doing this one.
4.move to the farm with my husband as an intern Jan 2010
5.figure out a 2 year AG project/apprenticeship in a developing country within a Muslim community/people group
6.move back to texas
7.buy a milk cow
8.begin midwifery school in 2013ish
9.have lots of babies

for all this I am excited.


Yesterday Justin turned 25. We were on the Easter retreat with Hope Fellowship so the only special thing he got was brownies. So tonight I made Justin a birthday dinner. I put in a lot of planning as it was my first attempt at a couple of these things, but all of it was a great success:

Bacon wrapped fillet mignon (cooked medium well. I was shooting for medium, but Ihadn't ever grilled steaks before at all, so we were happy.)
Fresh green beans
Potatoes
Chocolate creme brule
Kendall-Jackson Meritage wine

He was pleased, and I was proud. Papaw would have been too.