Happy Anniverary....

.... to us!!

This post is actually a day late, but that's okay. :) We're celebrating our anniversary over the next week and a half or so. :) hehe

Yesterday marked three WONDERFUL years with my husband! He is such a gift, blessing, and answer to prayer in my life. We have been together 5 years as of a little later this year, and it's amazing how it's hard to think about what routines and life were like before him. I am so thankful for his friendship, having someone so safe and strong to be completely comfortable with (which is especially nice when you're feeling goofy), his love, his patience, his forgiveness, his wisdom, his SUPER hard work to take great care of us, his help, his gentleness, and so many other things. God blew my dreams WIDE open when Matt came into my life. And we are both all the better for it.

The past three years have seen us through exciting changes like, well, getting married, starting our first "real" jobs, buying our house, finding a church here, and adopting Sammy dog. Sure there have been hard times too. But you know the best part? Even in the hard times, I am living with my best friend. And even better than that, He loves Jesus more than He loves me. So when we're tired or stressed or feel bewildered, He points me to Christ. There is no better way for him to love me well!! Our hard times have brought us not only closer together in relying upon each other and turning to each other (not too much of an option since it's just the two of us down here in FL), but turning to God together. We have grown so much closer in the Lord and each other as a result of each trial. I can honestly say, I would go through them again because of how I have seen God work in our tenderness to each other and desire for obedience in Christ. It's more than worth it.

So here's to the past three years, and here's to many, many (MANY) more!!

I love you, honey!

p.s. Our celebration continues, because we're headed out for a day trip on Saturday. And then next week we are spending four relaxing days at the very same resort condo where we spent our honeymoon!!

2 Important Announcements

1. My birthday twin and dear friend is now a MRS!!!
We had the distinct pleasure of traveling home for Ruthie and Eric's wedding. It was such a sweet time of celebration and just reveling in God's goodness, faithfulness, and provision. It was SO, SO, SO good to be with family and friends this past weekend. Oh, how my heart is at rest there and surrounded by loved ones. We love you, the new Mrs. V, and we can't wait to see you in July!

I have to say, I'm amazed at how long my hair is here compared to the profile picture here on the blog (above and to the right)! Wow!

While home we also squeezed a game of Catan in with Brad and Joy (and I had my WORST game EVER), WE played WII with Brad and Joy--including old school Tecmo Bowl and Double Dribble, a visit to McKay's (where, of course, some teaching books were procured), play time with Charis and Cai, and even a family-famous birthday party for Joy. We are sorry we missed Matt, Ariana, and Sam, but hopefully we'll see them in July! And the wedding festivities allowed us time with some of my favorite ladies from my old Bible study and especially our favorite D.C.-bound couple, Jessica and Eric. :)


2. My class totally ROCKED the FCAT! Praise the Lord!! :)
Sigh of relief.

Sing a Song

While we're on the topic of favorite (and wedding) songs.... here's one from our wedding. Naturally, it's one I love!

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we'll triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.

May we truly marvel as God's beauty and blessing and praise Him in all circumstances.

Yes, Virginia...

...Matt & Becca DO have grass.

Errr, well, okay. Matt & Becca have grassy spots. :)

On Sunday we ate lunch on the lanai (which I cleaned on Saturday while Matt picked kumquats). Sitting out there and having the lanai all cleaned up made me wish the yard was cleaned up too. After lunch I decided to begin raking. You might think "palm tree" when you think Florida, and while we do have a palm tree, we live in the more northern part of Florida where you have plenty of pines and other coniferous and some deciduous tress as well. When I saw year yard nearly 2 years ago for the first time, it did not send the message "days' worth of raking and bagging leaves." Oh, but it does now. :)

While Matt picked more little orange fruits on Sunday afternoon, I raked and bagged 7 bags worth of leaves and pine needles. Seven. That might not sound like a lot to people with large lots, but in Florida? Small lot, palm tree Florida? I'm not kidding! And that was less than 1/2 the yard! I won't admit how long the leaves had been piling up (I don't know the last time I raked, but I DID mow last year.... does that count?) , but I had just had it. This afternoon I raked and bagged 5 more bags. The whole back yard (except for the little corner outside our window, which I left because it was dark/for comparison's sake in the photos/due to blisters, has been raked and bagged! On Sunday I also used the blower to get leaves off the driveway and to blow leaves off the yard and into the natural area in about 1/3 of the front. Whew!

Now onto pictures to prove this amazing feat! :)

Part of Sunday's bags

Looking to the right from the palm tree

I know it's blurry, but look! You can see GREEEEEEN grass!

More GREEEEEEN!!! :)

This is to compare... this is the side yard (and a crazy pooch) still covered in leaves. The whole yard used to look like this.

PLUS, I cut out as much of the seam allowance as possible in the thumb of the oven mitt and cut a slit in the wrist, and it's actually functional! I'm not going to give it as a gift, but right now it's on display on top of our fridge. It's a great hubby-swatter. :) Hehe

If you're tired of the cold, come visit! We are in bloom already!
(this one obviously "coming soon")

Lastly, we recently received this in the mail.
I already asked off for it, and I can't wait to come home in May! Not only will we be coming HOME, but we'll be come HOME to CELEBRATE and REJOICE in Ruthie getting hitched!
I can't wait, I can't wait! :)


Ooops... lastly (for real) you can never have too many Sammy pictures. :)

Friday Night "Therapy"

After a particularly tiring week, I decided to let the creative juices flow. A teacher at my school is getting married the beginning of April, and we usually have wedding and baby showers at school. I was trying to think of something I could sew for her, and first I thought of an apron. I emailed Joy, of course, to ask if she thought that would be too hard for me. She pointed me in the right direction, and off I went!

After waiting a long time at JoAnn's (a story for another day), I got my fabric cut and was on my way. This particular teacher is very fashionable and seems to be quite fond of the bright pink/bright green combination you see around. So, I found some fun fabric in those tones and set to work. I started probably around 5:30 or 6, stopped to get dinner with Matt, and then I finished up around 10. Without further ado, I present the apron...

This project included several firsts. It was my first time using the pom-pon trim (at least for me, I had to be particularly careful not to let the strip the pom-pons dangle from show through). That required thinking through right sides together and wrong sides out and turning and whew. I almost had a brain cramp, but I figured it out!

I also made the apron reversible... since I would be lining it anyway, why not make it fun?

I would also like to make her a matching oven mitt. I just need to get some plain fabric for the lining (or dig through my stash, but I don't think I have anything).

I've also considered making a 9x13 casserole dish carrier (like the brown, flowered one Mom has). I think it would be really cool and perfect for a new bride! :)

I am a little nervous--do you think they're good enough to give for gifts to someone outside the family??

We hope you have a great weekend and get even a smidge of time to do something fun you enjoy, too. While I don't want to wish this one away, Mom and Dad will be here next weekend!! :)

Love,
Becca

P.S. This is what your dog does while you are sewing. Isn't that nice? It's one of the shoes I bought for E's wedding... oh well... goody thing I don't wear heels much. :-( :-(

P.P.S. Here's Samuel's very belated birthday present. I just need to hand-tie it and send it in the mail!

And Let's Not Forget...

...the GORGEOUS roses Matt brought home to me on our actual anniversary... :) :) :)

Anniversary in Pictures...

So, Blogger ended up posting these in reverse order... but here are pictures from our anniversary weekend!! :)

Smiley Lego Loch Ness kind of guy :) (his humps come up out of the water there in several places)

Lego shark and fish

Lego crab

Lego robot

Outside the Lego store they have huge bins of legos and these boards, so you can create. I made "I (heart) M." Inside they have large and small buckets and bins with every lego piece imaginable. You can fill up the bin with any/all the pieces you want for one flat price (per size of bucket). I can already see us taking a little boy (or girl... I loved those beach and stable Lego sets) for a special treat... or doing it for ourselves. :)

Really cool LEGO dogs!!! :)

Us strolling around the hotel property

Stream flowing through the hotel grounds

Sunset from our balcony

Downtown Disney at night

Wolfgang Puck restaurants (we ate at the Cafe)

Epcot on left horizon, Disney hotels (Swan & Dolphin) on the right

View from our balcony (that's Epcot in the center of the horizon and the Swan & Dolphin hotels to its left)

Us. :)

An herb garden on the hotel grounds that its restaurants use daily.

Crazy bird that was stalking some left over snacks around the pool.

Weekend and Wedding Fun

Here are some pictures related to two vastly different hobbies...

1) Brad and Joy send the funniest, most thoughtful gift to Matt! On Friday when he was home playing Halo, THIS arrived...




Isn't that so cute and funny? Matt was really excited, and he even told me he'll "share" with me. :) Thank you, Brad and Joy (and Charis and Cai) for remembering my crazy husband and being excited with him about this game. Thanks for your help in acquiring it, too. :) Now you just need to come down to FL and play it with him. :) We love you!


2) I don't think Ruthie frequents our blog. If she does... well, Ruthie, quit reading this post!
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After she received her first engagement gift, Ruthie mentioned that she'd said to her mom, "Oh! People will give us presents!? I need to get some stationery!" I thought that was really sweet. It's not the norm I know of for my dear friend to be concerned with stationery and such. I browsed several paperies online, but I couldn't find anything that seemed just right. I remembered that I still have a great pack of heavy-weight cardstock from our wedding, so I set to making some notecard sets for her myself. I settled on four versions of her name and 2 monograms I made in photoshop. Then I decide to use SU! Old Olive ink (the black looked reallllly navy next to the printer's black in. My pigment black ink was the right shade, but I didn't want to risk messing up with embossing--you know, having power stick places you don't intend, not sticking evenly, etc.--and it would have taken forever to dry without embossing). I need to get a few more envelopes, but in the pictures below, you'll see the 6 personalization variations I decided on (4 names, 2 monograms). I made 4 of each font, and I used the same 4 stamps for each font set. You'll see each font choice and stamp choice--the bouquet, tall vase, short vase, and wedding cake. I hope she likes them!