strolling down memory lane

5 years ago, Kabob and I were on an everyday date, driving around Austin while taking in the scenery and talking about who-knows-what.  We enjoyed a big plate of shrimp for dinner, and then we strolled around my alma mater, THE University of Texas.  We went up to a special little corner of the campus for me, a balcony on the 4th floor of the Student Union, where I would often go for alone time, to read the Word, or simply have lunch in solitude.  Not many people know this balcony exists, and I had shown it to Kabob on some other date.  After a few unintentional but misguided attempts to goof around while Kabob wanted to be smooshy and sentimental, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him.  And after a few solid minutes of uncontrollable laughter from the shock of it all, I said yes.  And in the giddiness of it all, we celebrated with ice cream at Sandy’s.

Three weeks later we boarded a plane for a month-long, 19 flight trip around the world, to research and pray over where God might have us live eventually.  Two weeks after that, we were in Florida, applying and then admitted to the company for whom we now work.  Five months and one day after Kabob’s proposal, I walked down a rain-drenched, muddy aisle in a white dress (and looking back, I think our engagement was about two months and one day too long).

I wrote this in my journal this morning:

Thank you, Lord, for calling us together, and for giving me the grace to step in faith and say yes.  He is not perfect, as am I, but I cannot think of anyone I’d rather do life with.  We are great together.  Thank you for a man that extends grace upon grace to me who daily cares for me (especially these days), and who is such a fun companion.  We have already walked through so much together; I can’t imagine what’s in store for us.  I love him, Lord.  Thank you for this gift. 

He is indeed quite the keeper.  And I am indeed still glad he asked.

So I think my post yesterday was a bit serious when it came to the topic of something rather trite like New Year’s resolutions.  I still mean every word of it, but here’s my explanation of why my one “pursuit” of the year (I really despise the term “resolution,” for some reason) is to be in the Word every day.

My goals for last year were as follows:

1. Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier.
2. Take that 1 1/2 hours I’ll have before Chickpea wakes up and spend it worshipping the Lord in various ways.
3. Get rid of everyday clutter so that our home stays clearer and cleaner.
4. Get back into shape.

I have to say I did pretty well with these, overall - at least during the first six months, when life was  saner.  I really did go to bed earlier than usual - 11 p.m. at the very latest, more often at 10 p.m. - which made #2 much easier.  I’m blessed with a sleeper-inner, which I know means I’ve got my day coming when we decide to go forth with another bundle o’ joy, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying the fact that her average wake-up time is 8:30.  Spending those dark hours of the morning with just me and the Father was THE reason life was good last year.  I know it.

And I can say yes, I did declutter the house, because we sold all but the kitchen sink and crammed the remainder into a 5×5 storage unit.  So if you count no longer having a home, then I’d say you decluttered it.  You de-homed yourself.  I’m so ready for a place of our own again, but that’s another topic for another day.  It’s really quite amazing how little you really need, but it is nice to have a bed of your own.

And finally, I did get somewhat back into shape, though I saw a very sharp downward slope back in to more out-of-shapeness the second half of the year.  I know it mostly has to do with the insane life we led, which I won’t get into - but when you spend your days raising support and making what’s left of your home function, and then spending three months mostly in a car, with the occassional stop to sit in a chair 8 hours a day for weeks at a conference, stopping only to eat, it’s slightly more challenging to have a workout regimen.  Lame excuse, I know, and I’m a little bummed that I did so well at the beginning of the year, only to pretty much un-do it the second half of the year, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  There are bigger fish to fry right now, and I look forward to getting back on the wagon soon.  Heck, this year I anticipate spending a lot of my day walking everywhere, since that’s what they do in our country (and we won’t have a car), and eating much fresher food, since you typically buy just a few days’ rations at a time at the local market.  I have a sneaky suspicion I might improve my health without even trying too hard.  We shall see.

I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll get to my original point, which was why I chose this year only to focus on spending every day in the Word.  The reason is because of what I said regarding #2 above - last year there was a distinct correlation between my intimacy with the Father and everything else in life just kinda falling into place.   When I daily handed over any earthly strength I had and exchanged it for that which can only come from the Father, then I slept better, my home was cleaner, I was in better health, and I smiled at the days to come.  And I don’t mean that the Word was a lamp to rub for a magical genie, but I can attest to what has been true in my life, and that is this - God created me to need Him to survive, thrive and live life abundantly.  He will take care of my needs, and when push comes to shove, I really need only look to Him.

Those other things, they are good things - it is good to take care of home, body, relationships.  But for me this year, if I focus on those things, to the detriment of spending time with my Father, then I consider that a loss.  I have so much coming at me in the next few months, I have a deep-seeded yearning for simplicity.  For me, that means making my main focus the relationship between me and my Heavenly Father.  So that’s that.

So… In five hours and 49 minutes it will be a new year. 364 days ago I had great expectations for 2006, and I have to say, I wasn’t totally disappointed. Blown away, really, at how fast it’s gone by. I can’t believe in just a few hours, it will be another year. 2006 was a good one for me; probably one of the best I’ve had in a long while. I could repeat it if I had to.

We’re really not doing anything to celebrate tonight. Nothing cool, that is. Since it would be ridiculous to actually pay for babysitting, we didn’t even bother to do more than rent a movie and buy some popcorn and a six-pack of Shiner. We’re actually high-fiving ourselves that we plan to stay up until midnight. Did I mention we are uncool?

I have thoughts about my one 2007 resolution pursuit, but more on that tomorrow. For now I just want to reflect on good-ol’ oh-six. Here goes…

• Overall best thing that happened: I’d have to say our Fall Trip - it was such a great time of family bonding, it really focused us on the task ahead, and to top it off, we got a ton done.
• Overall worst thing that happened: Hmm… It really was such a good year, I guess I can only say back in April, when Kabob, both of Kabob’s parents, and I all got violently ill simultaneously for about 24 hours, while they were in town visiting.
• Biggest change from 2005: Chickpea started walking in January of this year (seems eons ago now). That changed… well, pretty much everything, from how we organize our house to how we have fun.
• Favorite family memory: Another tough one. It’s pretty hard to narrow it down, so I’m just going to say it’s a tie between Chick’s first sight of snow and Chick’s first sight of the ocean. Both occuring on our Fall Trip.
• Favorite movie: The Nativity Story. But a quick scroll of this site reveals that I saw three new movies this year, so this is saying jack squat.
• Favorite book: Blue Like Jazz. I realized that I never finished it due to a certain little girl’s birth, so I re-started it. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
• Favorite musician: I’m very old-school in this category - I’m pretty happy with my U2, Dido, The Cure, Coldplay, and David Gray. But this year I grew to appreciate Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, the latter barely scratching my learning surface, so far.
• Favorite TV show: Easy - Project Runway.
• Favorite and/or most-used website: I’ll cheat and say my personal bloglines, which has the 50 or so sites linked that I check regularly.
• Most applicable Scripture: “Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” -Psalm 37:3

Alright, I gotta get the toddler down to start our wild and crazy revelry - so more from me next year!

The past few days have been quite nostalgic for me, and quite the reminder that I’m rapidly approaching a new decade, where I will no longer be considered cool. But that’s another topic… Two nights ago we hung out with three other couples that we have not seen in eons. They’re all great friends, some of my best girlfriends, in fact, and we stayed up until 1:30 catching up and talking life stuff. It was such a trip, actually, because I think it’s been almost four years since we’ve all been in the same living room, not to mention the same state. Two of us couples are currently in Texas (though we’ve both been all over the country the past few years), one now lives near Boston, and the other is in Orlando. And three of the couples are planning to move to three different countries in the next few years. And two of us now have children, which was not the case at our last social gathering. And another couple shared exciting news about expecting a little one in about eight months. And we got to dine at Chuy’s, which only happens to this family when we have a good excuse to do so, seeing as the average wait time for a table is one hour (read: impossible with a toddler). And Jupiter aligned with Mars. Basically, it was a trippy-yet-fun evening. I don’t expect it to happen again until we are dealing with sketchy prom dates or college tuition rates, or maybe rheumatism. So it was good to soak it all up.

And then last night we actually popped in The Sound of Music, which I’m fairly certain I haven’t seen in 18 years, and I surprised myself with how well I knew most the song lyrics. I’m not a musical fan in the slightest, yet I do like this one. Even Kabob liked it (he had never seen it). So another trip down memory lane.

And while we were watching, we got a fun call that a friend had her baby, so we’ll be making a hospital visit in the next few hours. I’ll wait to let her share the details on her blog, but it’s exciting news. A new life is in the world! Always a good thing.

And finally, my toenails have not had TLC since Colorado (aka, October), and they’re looking pretty scary. Seeing that I could get away with sandals right now, I think I need to do something about it. The DVD collection at our current housesitting gig includes Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and I think I might need to paint my toes this afternoon while watching some old-school SJP and Helen Hunt. Kabob is thrilled.

So that’s been my week… A nice break from support raising and constantly - thinking - about - the - next - two - months. Which we’ll get back to doing this weekend. So I’m off to Target for some baby gifts!