Oh Friday! Glorious Little Things

So sporadic are my posts these days. I'm sorry, I am! But life is so full of sparring matches, football games, typing and plotting, shopping and cleaning, lifting and cooking, etc etc etc.

We even added to our little family! Musashi, or Sashi as we affectionately call our little Tortie kitten, is a bundle of energy and always ready to snuggle and jump on anything that moves.

Jacob has been well added to the Beyond the Belt family and has begun volunteer instructing after his promotion to purple belt. Yes, he may have just started about 10 months ago, but when you live with a martial arts instructor, every day is a learning experience- or at least I try to make it so! 

I am so blessed that my best friend decided to abandon the seemingly 'good' choice of working for Edward Jones and instead has chosen to go down the unorthodox career path of martial arts with me. Life is certainly different because of this choice- but despite this, God has blessed us and our new journey of marriage immensely. Things have been tight, but we have never gone without and we continuously see God's hand in everything we witness in our lives.

I am now only 4 months out from a goal I set out upon over 4 years ago: black belt. Although my job and my pursuit follow the same lines, the concept of getting my black belt is still thrilling and I am ready for this next step... I hope! Again, I'm very blessed to be a part of this community and do what good I can through this occupation.

Doesn't he look good in a gi? ;) I'm excited to see where all this goes and how God uses it for his glory! We are, again, very blessed to be where we are and continue to wait and watch to see where we go from here.

Until then, it's wild shenanigans and bro time in the living room, eating out of tupperware because we're always at the dojo, getting gains, and making our first year the best year!

6 Months of Marriage! What We've Learned

Tomorrow, Jacob and I will have been married for 6 months. That's half a year!

While the time has absolutely flown by, it's been nothing short of incredible. It's been marvelous. Now, lest I come across as one of those bloggers who shares only the good and not the bad, let me recap the past 6 months a little bit as well as share some of what we've learned:

-We've stayed in 5 different places over the past 6 months.

-We still don't have a cat. Shame.

-We've made 2 major moves from different states.

-We've lived out of boxes for the first three months of marriage.

-We've learned quickly how to be penny pinching and prioritizing, creating plans for the future through our spending and habits of today.

-We've become so much closer than we ever were before marriage and every day we get closer than we were at the saying of 'I do'.

-We've not fought once. Hey folks! Have we gotten frustrated with each other? Have we looked at each other and felt overwhelmed by grown up life? Have we had bad days? Absolutely. But we've chosen to turn to God for guidance and grace than to each other for a chance at slander or vengeful words and actions. And besides, when you get frustrated, laughing over things WITH each other rather than yelling AT each other is always better!

-We've settled back into NH in our first apartment!

-We're enjoying the freedom to be wild, goofy, serious, and all together open with each other about everything. An extension of yourself is the best thing ever. 

-We've learned that life can be a dream, even when you have to pick and choose, taper and cut, be patient and receive patience.

-We've learned that God is always bigger than the problems life throws at you... even when you feel scared or uncertain.

-We've learned that maturity and faithfulness in regards to God is both an individual and team effort.

-We've learned that post wedding bodies can actually get more spicy than those in the wedding photos. I.e., marriage does not equal being doomed to an out of shape body.

-We've learned to enjoy corn chips and broccoli, couscous and cabbage. Oh wait. We've always enjoyed those.

-We've learned contentment is the key to happiness.

-We've learned that love covers a multitude of sins.

-We've learned that we couldn't live without each other.

May God guide us every day for the rest of our lives, may he show his face to us every day, and may we bring him glory through this institution he has so graciously blessed us. Here's to the next 6 months, the next 6 years, and the 60th birthday part we will celebrate together on an August 31st years and years from now. Oh, we'll be millionaires and have 6 packs (still). And we'll open our Bibles together and remember years back when two friends became one heart.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.

Thank you for everything, Captain. You know I'll be here a while longer to feed you mashies and schlups and the like. And after that, well, I'll still hold your hand if you'll let me :)