Weeping wax and happy tears

Last week, Kenneth and I opened a package wrapped in blue and brown ribbon to find this:

I'm such a sap, so I'm sure this isn't shocking, but I actually teared up a little when we opened the package and saw what it was. It's an incredible weeping wax "painting" made by one of Kenneth's mom's friends. Since the picture doesn't do it justice, I'll explain a little of what's in the piece. There's a picture of Kenneth and I from our engagement pictures (thanks again for taking those, mom!), and a picture of my church. On the bottom, she pulled our proposal story off of our wedding website and put it next to the picture of us. In the middle is the cover from our programs. At the top is 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 ("Love is patient, love is kind...") in Italian. There are little crystals here and there, and a crystal cross on top of the picture of the church. And at the top, is a silver heart with "Love" on it.  You can't see the sides, but they are covered in a beautiful floral fabric or paper with wax covering it.  I'm amazed by how much thought went into it. It was obviously made with care to be something meaningful for us, and we're both grateful and amazed by it. I'm still finding little details I didn't notice before. Love it!

By the way, if you want to see more artwork done by Kenneth's mom's friend, you can click here.

Love is not merely a feeling...

Found this quote, and thought I'd share. It's probably one most married couples can relate to, but it's something that didn't sink in for me until around the time we were engaged. 

No, this doesn't have anything to do with the quote below. It's just the most recent "family" photo, and blog posts are more fun with pictures. 

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called “being in love” usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending “They lived happily ever after” is taken to mean “They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,” then it says what probably never was nor ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?

But, of course, ceasing to be “in love” need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense–love as distinct from “being in love”–is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be “in love” with someone else.

“Being in love” first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise.

It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it."

—Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

The December Challenge

After our more-expensive-than-usual Costco trip on Friday, Kenneth suggested a challenge: no more shopping at the grocery store for dinner items during the month of December. The first reason is that we had to throw away a few boxes of food that had expired without ever being opened-- what a waste!-- to make room for our Costco purchases. And these were "non-perishables"-- like Bisquick that was 2 years past expiration. The second reason is that I have this problem with stockpiling food-- I hate it when I find myself in the mood to cook or bake something, and I have no supplies on hand to make the thing when inspiration strikes. I take always being prepared seriously. So, we have tons of food on hand as it is, and while I think Kenneth was half kidding, I thought we might as well try it.

Here's what we're starting with. I took these to have a sort of "before and after"... Here's hoping our cupboards will be more bare on January 1.

"Pantry" cupboard: Potatoes, TONS of pistachios, tuna, quinoa (that only one of us eats-- one of us being me), and lasagna noodles of questionable age.

Spices/baking supply cupboard: I can pretty much bake anything from what's in here. Pumpkin bread ... brownies... cinnamon rolls ... chocolate chip cookies -- I'm ready for anything. You know what this means, right? Cinnamon rolls for dinner!

Freezer-- this is probably the number one reason why we might actually get through the rest of the month without buying any supplies for dinner. In here, we have chicken, pulled pork, fruit and veggies, meatballs, halibut, homemade and store bought marinara... and 3 gallons of ice cream (Safeway had a sale. FYI: When it's snowing outside and you buy 3 gallons of ice cream, people seem to think that's kind of weird). Oh, and 72 frozen cookies. It's way too full, and action must be taken. Starting with the eggnog ice cream.

Storage closet, where you will find yoga mats, office supplies, 2 jars of marinara, 2 bags of pasta, 1 can of chicken stock, instant breakfast, and a giant jar of peanut butter. And dog food. We won't be eating that.

And, so we can be cool like all those celebrities on Cribs, here's what's in our fridge: 3 pounds of spinach ($4 at Costco), lots of beverages, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese... more cheese...half an onion, almond butter, and a dozen eggs.  Very exciting stuff in here.

Then we have the refrigerator door--- which is a little frightening. At the moment, I'm not sure which of the things in here are expired. But I do know the orange juice, wine, fish sauce, and butter are all A-OK. Which means I'll be making lots of... um... I'm not really sure what.

We're not going to take this too seriously-- but it will be fun to see how things go. Mostly I'm excited to free up some freezer space... so I can put more ice cream in it. Hehe.

P.S.--- The post about the Christmas cards yesterday was part of a promotion with Shutterfly. Bloggers who post about Shutterfly holiday cards get 50 free Christmas cards. If you're behind the ball like me, and still need to get your Christmas cards, click here for more information on how you can get some free cards too. 

Our First Christmas (Cards)

While Kenneth and I have now been dating, engaged, or married through 4 Christmases now, I'm finding myself very excited about our first Christmas as a married couple. We started dating late in the year that first year together, so we didn't spend that Christmas together, but we have ever since then. But there are some things that make this Christmas a little different. For one, this will be our first Christmas spent together in California. There are other firsts too...

First Christmas ornaments...

How pretty would one of these be with our names and "Our First Christmas" printed on it be?

Or this one...

Then, this will be our first Christmas cards sent as a married couple. I can't tell you how excited I am to sign some cards from "Brianna and Kenneth." Something about sending Christmas cards out together seems so very... "we're our own new family." (Descriptive, right?) Anyway, the added bonus is that it's a great way to share wedding pictures. (Ha! You thought you were done seeing them!)

I've been considering a few different places for ordering cards-- there are SO many out there right now-- but after playing with Shutterfly's system and getting used to it while working on some wedding albums, I'm leaning pretty heavily towards using Shutterfly for Christmas cards. Maybe this picture...

Thanks to my incredibly talented friend Carina for capturing this moment!

With one of these designs...

I love that if we chose this one, 10% of the proceeds go to Heifer International-- one of the charities we regularly support anyway. I'm a sucker for anything that supports a charity somehow, even more so when it's a great cause like Heifer International.

But, I love that this one gives us the option to show a couple of pictures, and this one helps you do it in a fun way...

 

I love that even though the aqua and red color combo isn't usually a Christmas color, it still seems wintry and fun--- it still seems Christmas-y.

Or, maybe in keeping with the "Our First Christmas" thing-- we'll go with this one because it has the same scritp-y font feel that would have gone with our wedding cake, and the colors are pretty close too. And look at all the different pictures we could share on just one card!

I'm having a hard time picking one, and Christmas is only 20 days away! Eek! Which one do you think we should go with?