3 Years and Couting!

Today's post is dedicated to my one and only: Happy Anniversary, Love!

Want to know what seems to operate out of all space and time? How about marriage? Today marks three years from the day when I said "I Do" to the boy I knew was meant for me when he was placed in my life seven years earlier.

Three years seems to have flown by and so much has happened, yet at the same time I'm prettttty sure we just go married yesterday! I remember very clearly getting up early that morning and going to Joe's grandparents home where our reception would be held that evening with my dad and sister. I needed to meet with the caterer and florist to make sure everyone knew where everything should be (not controling at all, right?!) It was a perfect day in May, and I had never felt so blessed and loved -- from the strangers in Merle Norman who wished me "congratulations" while someone was doing my makeup, to my MIL's precious friends who set up decorations at the reception while we were off taking pictures, to the abundance of family and friends showing up at the church to give Joe and I their love and support. God's blessings were truly apparent that day. The sun was shining, the flowers were gorgeous, and we were surrounded by love -- all things that surely only a LOVING God could create.

TL: Flower girl, Avery TR: Church door wreaths from Fresh Cut Floral and Catering M: My then LITTLE brother cuttin' a rug BL: One of the many perfect photos from the talented Lovely Union Photographers BR: Capturing our reaction at seeing the reception space for the first time

 

It's true what they say though; after a wedding all to do with you and a honeymoon away from all the worries of the world, things get real... but man, isn't real the best part?! Yes, you have to work and fight and TRY, and most of marriage is not particularly glamorous, but through strife God is able to work and shine and now the love I have for Joe can only be exceeded by the love I have for my God. We could not love each other and care for each other the way we TRY to do if it weren't for the example Christ set and His love encompassing both of our hearts.

I love this sentiment from The Five Love Languages: "The object of love is not getting something you want but doing something for the well-being of the one you love." That seems obvious enough, but if there's one thing I've learned in three years, it's that this is not so obvious to the heart. I'm very grateful for a husband who takes care of me through thick and thin, through law school exams and clerkship applications, from right at home or 800 miles away.

And as I sit here reminiscing, I'm also reminded of the amazing music provided by my college choir for our ceremony. My favorite hymn they sang was "Love Diving All Loves Excelling." It is such a perfect retelling of Christ's love and wonderful wedding-day prayer for how we should strive to love each other.

But since I apparently have noooo idea how to slice up my wedding video to show you the clip, here's a Mormon Tabernacle Choir rendition that is ALMOST as good as it when it was sung by several sweet members Mississippi State Choir and directed by one of my very favorite people, Bruce Lesley. You should definitely take a listen; it's as beautiful as a hymn gets.

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Joe! I'm so grateful for these first three years, and excited I get to be Mrs. Davis for the rest of our lives!

 

Love,

DD



Seasonal Decorating

 

Well despite the fact that the forecasted high for today is 79 degrees, fall really is in full swing here in Virginia. We're having a strange dose of Indian summer this week, but the weather channel is promising that next week our temperatures will match the yellow, orange, and red that has taken over this area of the country. The Davis household, too, has taken on all the great autumnal hues of the season with mums, pumpkins, wreaths, and some pretty framed paper telling us exactly what time of year it is adorning our faux-mantel (faux, because it is actually the shelf that houses our speakers, but those aren't very pretty so I cover them up despite my husband's contention).



The letters were really easy and minimally time consuming to make. I started out with a few sheets of pretty paper measuring 12x12. Some came from my craft closet and the rest I bought from the single sheet bins at Michaels. (Be sure to use a coupon if you go; they ALWAYS have them available online!)

 

 

I cut the sheets down to 8x10 and 5x7 squares to fit my frames. This takes a little planning to make sure you get your paper in the order you want.

I also picked up some stencils from Michaels while I was there. I loved the font for these, but there are so many possibilities of how you could do this! If only I was artsy and could free hand... *sigh*

Use high gloss craft paint in a dark color to get the letters to stand out from the background. Mine is of course Martha Stewart.

 

The next step is pretty self-explanatory. Paint in the stencils and don't worry if your lines aren't exact. I think the homemade look adds charm to these little guys.

 

Annnd... VOILA! Frame them up and display!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I cannot get enough of this time of year. I think decorating our little apartment is just my way of trying to bring some of the beauty out there, in here. Have you ever stopped to think about how strange and magnificent it is that the earth is at its most colorful right before it becomes the most bleak? God crafted the seasons to take us from the radiant heat of summer into a bold and crisp fall that transforms the earth into fiery color just before everything dies and becomes dismal and barren; and then from the nothingness He brings new life in spring with some of the sweetest shades imaginable. Who else could have thought to order life this way? Who else could have known how to precisely purpose the world like this? Only one; and to Him I am in awe.

I hope you're getting a chance to take in this beauty in like I am! With any luck Joe and I will be out and about in it again soon.. I think there may be some apple picking in our future!

Love,
DD

Linking up this project here:

 

Details for Lunch

Once again, I have taken far too much time away from the blogging world.  If all my readers left, I heartily support your decision.. but please come back!

Of course much has happened in the last month and half, but I won't bore away with too many of the details.

HOWEVER just to play a quick catch up, here are a few of the highlights:
*Joe and I were confirmed at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville.  We LOVE our new church home are so blessed to have been welcomed by so many wonderful people!
*During spring break the hubby surprised me with a quick jaunt over to Niagara Falls.  Yes as in the waterfalls in western NY and Canada. It was an INCREDIBLE adventure.
*We ended his spring break with a weekend at the Chesapeake Bay with our law school family.  Playing mafia will never feel the same.
*I spent a few.. or more than few.. hours in the kitchen. My greater accomplishments/attempts included my new favorite recipe for strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream for a friends birthday, and a Dianna original pot roast for law school family Easter lunch.  (Not quite as good as mom's and grandmother's, but I'll get there)
*Finally, I began working for an organization very close to Joe and I: the University of Virginia School of Law. It seems we can't get away from this place! But it's quite alright, because it's a wonderful program that Joe and I are so grateful for... and I am happy to plan their events!

It's lunch, so no pictures right now, but I promise to follow up with outstanding photos soon!

Yay Law School!!

XOXO,
Dianna (and by extension her hubby, Joe)

UPDATE: A few of the promised pictures from past adventures.

Our first UVA Baseball game.. do we look like we are dressed for baseball weather?

Learning to drive in snow instead of rain!

Temperature upon our arrival to Niagara Falls, in March

Sunrise over of the Falls

View of Horseshoe Falls from the legal place to view them.

 View of Horseshoe Falls that almost got us arrested.. actually arrested, not figuratively.

From Skylon Tower in Canada

Sunset over the Chesapeake Bay

Waiting for Sunshine

Isn't it incredible the way God uses his created world to share things with us?

I woke this morning to the storm still going from last night.  It was dreary, wet, gray, and cold... definitely the kind of day no one wants to get out of bed for, except my husband. Joe Davis, just like every morning, pops out of bed like its Christmas morning. Rain or shine he wakes and is ready to embrace the day. Meanwhile, I lie there thinking about all there is to do, how sore I am, how I have nothing cute to wear on a day like this, and how much I just want to skip today and move onto a day that is literally and metaphorically sunnier. A day when I am not overwhelmed by what lies ahead and underwhelmed by what I feel I have to offer.

Lots of lessons are being learned here in Charlottesville. Some are coming from the results of mistakes made, some are coming from the great ministers at our new church, and most are coming from being around my dear Joe.  So, being completely bewildered as to why anyone would be as emphatic as he is about this unpleasant Tuesday morning, I started to study the differences between our situations. I thought maybe the 2nd week of law school is just much more exciting than the 3rd month of a new and demanding job. But is it really better? Long lectures, walking 20 minutes in the cold rain? Better, but not by a whole lot...so maybe I just have a bad attitude? Then I picked up on a very long, ongoing reflection of myself... what made us so different?

My conclusion? Joe takes care of himself.  He loves others as he loves himself, and he doesn't put too much stock in being perfect for everyone at every moment... I mean no wonder I get overwhelmed!

God created us to love ourselves, because, after all, we are created in His image and are His children. Just as my parents think the world of me and think I should think the world of myself, so does God.  Then, He wants us to take that love for ourselves and love others the same way.  I won't say Joe is PERFECT by any means, who is?, but this is one thing my husband absolutely has figured out.

God didn't intend for us to be everything for everyone. That's his job.  And this is a lesson I am painfully learning.  I think a lot of us out there feel that if we aren't doing everything exactly as everyone expects we are not worthy.  But if we, including myself, continue using perfection in the eyes of other imperfect humans as our measuring stick, we are just going to continue to be sorely disappointed in ourselves, and as a result, not want to face grim days like today.

I think God hands us days like today to say this world is not perfect. It has been tarnished with sin and imperfection. However, if we look to God instead of others to find our worth, so then we will find our rays of sunshine.

I am sorry to preach, especially on our NEWLYWED blog, but I feel that the lessons I am learning are from being married to such a Godly man.  We both learn from each other daily.

Good luck to all of you finding sunshine on stormy days!

"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

1 John 4:12 ESV

Not Enough Hours...

So to begin this post, I would like to share the story of how I wrote a blog post about how there are not nearly enough hours in the day to do everything Joe and I would like and how very frustrating it is. I very deliberately set 30 minutes aside to do so, and 45 minutes into the post, it was deleted. An unfortunate tragedy, but we must continue on.

I have been through this cycle of life before, i.e. busy days of college, but Joe and I are quickly having to re-familiarize ourselves with the concept of not have enough time in the day.

Things have become a little hectic lately with my long weeks of work and Joe's many hours of studying. The days of Joe taking care of all things domestic are over, and we are learning the joys of shared duties after coming home at the end of the work day, exhausted, but with dinner to cook, house to clean, plenty of personal projects, quality time to spend together, cat to take care of (and yes cats do require time, at least our spoiled one does), oh and a socail life to maintain.

Sometimes I wonder what God was thinking when He created 24 hour days. Doesn't He know that if you try to get any decent amount of sleep, there is simply not enough time to do everything else? I suppose maybe the Creator of the world knows more than we do, and maybe this just means we need to prioritize...

I pray daily for more strength, but I feel like it takes the energy of an Olympian to survive these days. If anyone has any tips on how to balance work and EVERYTHING else, I believe I speak for Joe and I when I say, we are all ears!

We did manage to slip away a few weekends ago to visit some of the local vineyards. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Other than our weekend trip, I can't say it's been completely all work and no play.  We've checked out the c'ville bowling alley and attended a few IL section H events (which would be Joe's 1st year law school group).

This past Friday we went to a section H potluck. Joe signed us up to bring dessert, and I was inspired by this very yummy local grocery's bakery across the street from our apt. to try my hand at coconut macaroons. I found them to be SUPER easy, and very yummy. They're a great party dessert, because they are accessible like cookies and if you melt a little chocolate and drizzle it over the top, people think you really know what you're doing.

Here's the recipe I used (modified from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook):

14 ounces of sweetened flaked coconut

1 1/3 cup of sugar

2/3 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

6 egg whites

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1). Preheat oven to 325º

2). Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper or grease and lightly flour (be aware it can still stick with ungreased waxed paper)

3). In a large mixing bowl stir together all the dry ingredients.

4). With a large spoon (I used a wooden spoon) stir in the egg whites and vanilla.

5). Using a 1/2 tablespoon, drop rounds of the mixture on the cookie sheets 2 in. apart. (I fit about 20 macaroon balls per cookie sheet)

6). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the macaroons are lightly browned on top.

7). Set aside on cooling rack.

If you want to add the extra chocolate drizzle, just heat about 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate (chop if you use a bar) with approx. 1 tsp of shortening.  Stir continually until the chocolate is completely melted.  Immediately remove from the heat and drizzle onto the cool macaroons.

Easy peasy.

One last note. Tomorrow is a big day for the Majors and formerly Majors women.  I will be arriving at my 24th year of life, AND it marks the beginning of the 2 month countdown until Jennifer gets married! Keep my sister and Philip in your prayers; they are getting very close to the big day!

Lots of love,

DD

Exploring God's creation

This weekend Joe and I decided to get to know our new home state so... we went hiking!
After doing some research on trails in the area (because there are tons!) we drove out to Shenandoah National Park about 20 minutes from Charlottesville.  We decided to do one and maybe two trails but after hiking a total of 4.7 miles (and the second half of it ALL up steep hills) we decided one would do for the day.  I will say, though, that I felt much more challenged than I thought I would, but Joe and I are really ready to get back out there and tackle some more... once we get over the soreness.  Our next trail will definitely involve some rock scrambling!

We decided to try the South River Falls trail which boasted a hike to a waterfall with an optional spur to the base of the waterfall (which we of course did) and an alternate route back which was longer (and steeper believe me) but it took you through part of the Appalachian Trail.

Our several hours in nature showed us some pretty interesting things...

Some VERY YUMMY wild blackberries; unfortunately only a few were ripe.

Honey anyone?

Very relaxing, beautiful mountain springs that also happened to be EXTREMELY cold.

And some very beautiful hillside flowers.

One thing I loved about our exploration was noticing the complexity of every rock and plant and hillside groove and tree and stream and waterfall and creature that existed just in the few miles of this land we took in and the fact that this was just one of many many mountains in many many mountain ranges that are present across the world. It is so incredible to imagine that the same God who created this vast structure of land also created every tiny petal on every small flower that grew just within the picture I took.  God is so incredible, and it is always a divine pleasure to see glimpses of his massive creation.

"For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land." Psalm 95:3-5

I stand amazed.