John and I have some big decisions coming up. In eight weeks, I’ll be finished with my professional project at Jefferson City Magazine, starting and managing their blog, Facebook and Twitter pages. I’ll be wrapping up my paperwork to graduate, defending my project and looking for a job in the magazine or book publishing industries. I’ll even take a marketing or PR job if I can get one. And, hopefully, if I get a job soon after or just before graduation, we’ll be packing everything up and moving to wherever that job takes us. We’ve got a lot of decisions to make: where do we want to live, what kind of place do I want to work, what do I want to be doing, what does John want to be doing?

So I’ve been doing a lot of daydreaming in my downtime. I look for jobs I can’t start quite yet just to see what kind of salary I can expect. I look at houses in those areas to see what we could potentially afford. Our hand-me-down couch and recliner in our living room are on their last legs. If we move, we’re not even taking them with us, so I look at brand new furniture, thinking about the kind of things we would like to own, how I want to decorate our future home.

And then there is where will I work and where will we live. Right now I’m digging the idea of moving to Northern California, to be slightly closer to some friends, at least a shorter plane ride. But then there’s the idea of moving down south to Texas, to be near college friends and the other side of my family. Plus, Austin is a pretty sweet town. And there’s the romance of moving to some place completely different, where no one knows us, and we can start completely fresh! Some place like Savannah, GA. But lastly, there’s Jefferson City and Columbia, the towns that have become our transition home. We’ve made some awesome friends; we’ve finally felt like we’ve settled in, and now it’s time to go again? But there’s this aching sense that if we stay here, we’ll regret it. We’ll be asking ourselves “What if?” My dad told me last week to not worry so much about staying here. In eight weeks, the world is open to me. I can apply to any job for the simple reason that I can. Thanks, Dad. Now I can’t get that idea out of my head, and I can’t wait for that time to be here.

Only eight more weeks…

A small precursor: I was fortunate enough to read some very inspiring goal lists before Ace and I were officially engaged – posts about starting with the end in mind, about setting very honest and meaningful priorities for a wedding and beginning of a marriage, about the reception as a first act of hospitality, about a wedding as a launchpad for life, about anxiety and faith. With those as inspiration, I set about crafting a set of goals for Ace and I…and I thought it would be fun to share with you guys. These are the guiding light behind nearly every wedding decision we’re now making.

A set of goals, in verbs.

Reflect love in every aspect, and honor God in every action, word, and thought. Strive to keep things authentic, honest, and reflective of us.

Bring family and friends together to reconnect and form new friendships. Create space for this to happen.

Recognize that money is not the most important part of a wedding, and it will not be the focus. So in an effort to be fiscally responsible: this means not overspending, or making this wedding financially detrimental for anyone (including us). Money not being the focus also applies to the other extreme — not becoming budget-obsessed.

Have a fabulous party, where we and our guests can let down our collective hair and really celebrate.

Ask our community for help and input, especially where their talents lie…but keep this limited, and be overflowing in gratitude. No one should feel used.

Never lose focus on the marriage – keep the wedding in perspective as a mile-marker, a stone of remembrance, a new beginning – and ONLY that.

Be calm, and fully present. Set the tone for ourselves and everyone by not stressing out. Enjoy the time. Forgive those who don’t pull through, who step on our toes, etc. Espouse gratitude for those who go out of their way to make the day special.

It’s been forever and a day since we brought you a favorite thing friday. And I’m currently feeling so jazzed and blissed out from a few things this Friday that just needed to be shared.

My work days have been jamming lately thanks to the mixcast archives from Kitsune Noir (which, if you haven’t read the blog, is some of the finest curation of creativity on these here internets). There’s usually a theme to each mix, and I think that Bobby Solomon’s musical choices have only gotten better with age. For anyone who uses music to get into the groove/zone, these are just brill.

I’m also getting my funky-fresh music fix courtesy of The Herbaliser. You can check out some of their songs here via the Hype Machine. Love.

And last but not least, one of my coworkers has recently begun giving us short yoga sessions once or twice a week…and it is the best thing to ever happen to the work day. Happy body and happy mind = happy workers.

=Happy Friday, everyone!

On August 23, John and I challenged ourselves to go about three weeks without buying any food or drink outside of the grocery store. This was in an effort to keep us from going out and spending unnecessarily. I’m not sure what the numbers are in terms of how much money we saved, but I feel good about what we accomplished, where we’re at now financially as well as how this will affect us in the future.

By not eating out, it forced me to carefully plan out our meals — lunches, dinners and snacks — so that John and I would have plenty to eat and not feel tempted to sneak a quick drive-thru Starbucks or Sonic trip. Our grocery store bill definitely went up, but at the same time that didn’t bother me because I knew I was getting more for my dollars. This also forced me to be more intentional about what I ate and fixing dinner. I was more likely to actually use what I bought at the store instead of letting it go bad because I “forgot” to pull the chicken out of the freezer.

Now I have more willpower to say no when tempted with the idea of a quick run through the Culver’s drive-thru for dinner. Now, we haven’t gone all out on the eating out. We’ve kept our rule at only eating out on weekends, which means hopefully more date nights and better dining out experiences instead of always going to Ruby Tuesday’s (no disrespect, I love me some Ruby Tuesday’s salad bar, but we don’t have to go every single time). This weekend it’s Prison Brews for some fried pickles and french fries and next weekend I’ve already got it planned for us to try The Rome in Columbia.

I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this post for a few days now, a post that would boil down to a very simple and excited statement that announces: Ace and I are engaged! (Joy joy JOY!)

But walking hand in hand with this very simple statement is something so much larger…something more than thought, more than emotion, something completely overwhelming and intangible and so incredibly important. Something that really cannot be fully conveyed in writing, and that I’ve been afraid to touch for fear of doing it a grave injustice. (For better or for worse, here we go! (Har har, see what I did there?))

The story of the last few weeks deserves to be told, as it’s been a crazy period of time that I wish to have a record of for the future…and it will be told. But here, I want to focus on one very small part.

It was after Ace had asked the question, after I had answered through sobs and laughter, after the celebratory hot air balloon ride he took me on over San Diego. We returned to his grandparents’ beach house where we’d been staying, and all of our families had surprised us (well, surprised me, Ace knew what was happening all along, ha) with a crazy party full of shouting, laughing, champagne, tacos, and too many hugs to count. It was one of the best nights of my life! We prayed, I cried, we toasted, and everyone wanted to see the gorgeous ring that Ace had picked for me.

And sitting around the two tables (because all our family members couldn’t fit around one), I remember looking around at everyone and feeling overwhelmed at how much I loved every person who was there. It was positively dizzying how much love was welling inside of me, like it was pouring out of every orifice and pulsing, radiating: too large and too warm and too powerful to be kept in one tiny, fragile shell of a body.

That moment must have been, I think, a taste of what it feels like to be in the presence of God.*

My love, soon to be my life; the family I have and the one I’m gaining; the dearest friends I hold so close in my heart; and the creator of us all whose delight I feel so profoundly in this time; these moments are very, very good. Thank you for sharing them with me. I can’t believe I get to live this life.

*And one more spiritual takeaway: really, the spiritual implications of celebration, of absolute joy between family and community, of the active movement of the trinity’s third member…well, we were in the presence of a God who delights in love and laughter and life.

And isn’t it interesting that ha, ha, hallelujah sounds like laughing?

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Warby Parker Home Try-Ons

UPDATE: The pair has been chosen! As soon as I save enough pennies, I will be ordering the Roarks in Amber as my new glasses! The Roarks I tried on below were a little to light for me, but I love the shape! It was a tough call between Roark and Morrison, but in the end Roark won. Rest assured, Morrison fans, I was definitely going to get them in green if I went with the Morrisons.

The moment is here! After the last Warby Parker post, many of you wanted to see these glasses on my face, so I went online and took advantage of Warby Parker’s free home try-ons. I received my home try-on glasses on Monday, and I have been trying to take great pictures to show you. Unfortunately, after I finally got some decent pictures, I misplaced my camera cord so I can’t download them to my computer. These iphone pictures will have to do. I think you get a good enough idea for an informed vote. Click on the links to get a better shot of each pair on other models and see the other colors. Comment with your vote on which pair you like best. Feel free to comment on the color choices too! Glasses are a big commitment and I want some frames I’m going to be happy with for a while, so I want all your thoughts.

Click the link to see the five pairs I tried on — the Nedwin in Summer Green, the Morrison in Summer Green, Sibley in Dark Tortoise, Roark in Sandalwood Matte and Langston in Whiskey Tortoise Matte.

there’s more to this article. keep reading…

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on love and delight