like mother, like daughter

Last weekend, I flew to Houston, Texas to attend my ten year high school reunion.  My parents have since moved from Houston to Dallas-Fort Worth, so I made plans to stay with friends over the weekend.  When I told my mom that I would be in Houston, I was thrilled when she offered to drive down and spend a day with me.  I promptly changed my travel plans to arrive in Houston early Friday morning so we could spend the entire day together.  We had such a great time! 

rice fight, never die

This weekend is my alma mater's Homecoming Weekend, and also my class' five-year reunion.  I can't believe it's already been five years since I graduated from this beautiful place!  

via google

I am so bummed that I wasn't able to make it down to Houston to join in the celebration.  I know we made the right choice financially by deciding not to go (plane tickets were realllly expensive from Indy to Houston), but I'm still sad to miss out.  Still there in spirit though - Rice Owls, hoot hoot!

the chili-serving miracle of 2013

It's Friday!  If you are new to my blog, welcome!  Please feel free to stick around for a while and check out a little more about me here.  I don't know about you, but I can't believe we're almost halfway through October already.  I'm linking up with Lauren for five silver linings from this week:

1.  I'm working my way through my Fall To-Do's and am going to cross one off of the list this weekend - visiting an apple orchard and pumpkin patch with a good friend.  We're going to head out to my hometown and hopefully will find some apple cider while we're there - another one to cross of my list!

2.  I'm still on a high from our trip to Wheaton for the hubby's class reunion (you can read about it here).

 3.  This little pup was so worn out from her weekend at the boarding kennel.  She loves it there and always comes home exhausted from playing.  So much for feeling guilty about leaving the dog behind!

4.  Our small group spent yesterday evening serving a potato bar to a local inner-city high school football team.  I was in charge of serving chili and somehow managed to not spill it all over myself - which is a miracle, let me tell you.  It was a blast! 

5.  Speaking of my small group, after the Chili-Serving Miracle of 2013 we all went out for dinner and stuffed our faces with pizza.  YUM.  I am so thankful to have such great friends. 

 

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

weekend in wheaton

Steve and I headed up to Chicago this past weekend to attend his 5-year class reunion at Wheaton College.  We left Indy after work on Friday and spent the night at Gannie's house (really enjoyed catching up with her and my aunt!) before leaving for Wheaton the next morning.  We arrived on campus mid-morning and checked in at the student center for a full day of Wheaton Homecoming festivities!  I was the delegated photographer for the weekend, so sorry in advance for the photo dump :)

We made a quick stop at the campus bookstore, where Steve was pleased/perplexed to find that Perry Mastadon, a Wheaton College resident, seems to have become the university's new mascot.  I think he's cute.

After a short walk around campus, we were off to the chapel!  Edman Chapel is perhaps the most beautiful building on campus where students attend services three times a week.  It is huge and the entire student population can fit inside. 

We took the seats of two Wheaton students, which I was initially concerned about - but Steve assured me that those kids would consider themselves lucky for a free pass from chapel to study. Sure enough, right after we sat down, a student came up and bashfully asked if I would mind moving over a seat to take his spot so he could cram for an exam. I obliged, and no longer felt guilty for stealing someone's seat :) plus, we had a great view!

The chapel service was amazing. We sang a couple of worship songs to begin the service and I was nearly moved to tears when the first verse began... everyone was singing! That's 2,000+ voices, with harmony, praising the Lord three days a week like that. Needless to say, I was incredibly envious of Steve's college experience at that moment.

After chapel, we had lunch with Steve's pre-law professor in the campus servery (which was delicious, by the way) and grabbed some ice cream!  Mine was pumpkin-pie flavored.  SO. GOOD.  I may or may not have gone back the next day and ordered the exact same flavor...

We stopped by the Wheaton College archives, which included this sweet letter from Mother Theresa.  I love the sweet short poem on the second page.

We also found a fun game of Wheatonopoly - complete with Hell instead of Jail and crossing the Jordan River instead of passing Go.  Very clever.

Next up was the campus tour!  We trekked alllllll over campus.  The architecture was beautiful.

 We met up with some friends and Steve's old professors later in the afternoon for a cookout... 

 

 

...caught a star gazing session from the roof of the school's new science building... 

...and wrapped up the evening with the most delicious milkshakes of all time.

On Saturday, we caught up with some of Steve's old classmates at a cookout before the Homecoming game.  So much orange and blue! 

Then it was off to the football game!  (I couldn't get over how cute Perry Mastadon's mascot costume was.  I felt sorry for the poor kids inside that costume though - it was 80+ degrees outside and very humid!)

 After a thunderstorm interrupted the game, we took a tour of Steve's old dorm with our friends Charlie and Amanda...

...and headed over to the "official" Class of '08 Reunion.  It was great to see Steve catching up with some old friends and for me to meet people who were a big part of his college experience - they are all great!

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to (the suburbs of) Chicago without some deep dish pizza.  We went to Gino's East and stuffed our faces.  We were exhausted from the long day, but nothing would stop us from devouring that pizza.  It was delicious.

Random aside - if I ever ask Steve to take a picture of me, he is guaranteed to take at least 20.  His favorites are the random awkward ones where I make weird faces.  He took this...interesting collage below and declared the bottom right to be one of his favorite pictures of all time.  I don't get it.  But for your viewing pleasure, here is happens when I just want one little picture of me smiling and holding a piece of pizza.  Oh well!

On Sunday morning, we caught the early service at Steve's old church.  Isn't that pipe organ gorgeous?  

After church, we had a delicious breakfast with Steve's old roommates (+ Amanda).  They are a great group and breakfast with them was the perfect way to wrap up our trip.

 

 I'm glad to have a connection to Wheaton College through Steve.  It is a special place and affiliated with so many wonderful people.  We had a great weekend and I can't wait to go back again sometime soon. 

october-ing

I found this list from Veronica at Passion, Pink and Pearls and thought I'd adopt my own version as a check-in each month.  So as we usher in the new month of October, here's what I'm currently up to!

reading: "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. Charles Townsend.  Great book.  Also, anything by Margaret Atwood.
making: a commitment to work out for an hour 6 of 7 days each week this month.  So far, I'm 4/5 :)
cooking: Breakfast scrambles, aka the easiest breakfast ever - just a bunch of veggies thrown into scrambled eggs.  My husband thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread.  He's a sweetie.
drinking: LOTS of water.  Also, hot tea (Constant Comment).
wanting: to cover my front porch in pumpkins.
playing: with new ways to style my hair.  I've recently learned how to curl it with my left hand, which sounds silly but I'm ridiculously excited about it. Being ambidextrous has its perks.
watching: Once Upon A Time.
eating: leftover birthday cake.  It's a terrible problem.
wishing: that my swimming skills were as good as they once were.  Maybe one day...
enjoying: waking up early.  I know, it sounds crazy, but I feel like I can fit so much more in my day when I rise early and get my workout done before heading to the office.
waiting: for the arrival of a new baby!  Our friends are adopting and found out two weeks ago that they will have a new sweet baby within the next week.
liking: everything about Wheaton College.  We are here for Steve's class reunion/Homecoming and this is a really special place. I'll blog more about it soon.
wondering: when the weather is going to turn fall-ish.  It's strange to me that it's eighty degrees in October (although I'm not complaining!)
learning: a lot at work - I'm working on some projects with a great partner who has taken time to teach me as we progress.  It's been great.
loving: folding little baby clothes while helping my friend prep her nursery for the new baby.  Something about little baby clothes just makes me smile.
hoping: that the government shutdown will be over soon. The longer this shutdown goes on, the more people that will be affected but it. My heart goes out to them.
worrying: whether I'll be able to go to my college's 5-year reunion next month.
marveling: at the true Christian community of our small group. I'm so thankful for all of them.
smelling: pumpkin-scented everything. Tis the season!

missing: my sister.
wearing: a new ring that Steve bought me at the Penrod Arts Fair.
noticing: how often I do not show respect to my husband (convicted by this article).
knowing: that Steve and I feel more connected after a weekend away from home.
thinking: about what to do with this desire God has placed on my heart for teaching others.
bookmarking: everything on thepeacefulwife.com.  (See noticing, above)
opening: my heart (well, trying to.  Some days are better than others.)
feeling: nostalgic about my college experience. Wheaton College is a special place, and Rice is too. In very different ways.
praying: for my dad's ongoing recovery from shoulder surgery last week.
looking forward to: seeing my mom when she is in IN at the end of this month. 

loving: meeting all of my husband's college friends. It's so fun to get a glimpse into what he was like before we met!

from one amy to another

I've been reflecting a lot lately on this phase of my life called my "twenties."  I'm over halfway through them, and starting to look to thirty.  There's so much to look forward to, but also so much I have learned in this phase of my life.  I have found myself thinking back to who I was as a twenty-year-old, and wishing I could pass along some "life lessons" to that girl.  As a twenty-year-old, I was still learning so much of who I was and who I wanted to be.  Now, seven years later, I feel like I have a better understanding of who I am, where my priorities lie and who/what is important to me.  I've learned a lot since I was the girl in this picture and am so thankful for the journey of life that she has traveled to get to my present-day. 

But if I could sit down across the table from her, maybe over a chai tea latte, some froyo or a glass of white wine, I'd love to share some of my heart with her.  I would tell her:

• It's okay to be pale.
• There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to bed early.
• Not everyone will always wish you the best - but that's okay.
• Just because you're swimming 4-5 hours a day doesn't mean you should eat whatever you want.  Make smart food choices, because when swimming stops, you'll have to eat like a regular person.  And it will be quite a shock.
• Spend time alone with God every day... it will make the rest of your day so much better.
• Stop looking for love.  It will find you when the time is right.  And stop worrying about finding The One.  Believe me - you'll know when you meet him! 
• Swimming isn't everything.
• You don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of.
• Don't pretend to be someone you are not - God sees right through you.
• Soak up the little moments of college - you'll never experience anything like it again and you will think back on it with fondness for the rest of your life.
• Thai food is really delicious.
• Guard your heart. 
• Embrace your inner nerd.  She's bound to come out sooner or later, anyway.  (but surprise: you're not going to do anything with that biochem degree after all!) 
• Pizza at 2am is not a good idea.  Ever.  Ok fine... rarely, ever.
• RELAX.  You don't have to try to be perfect at everything!
• Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
• You have the rest of your life to pursue your dreams - keep 'em big!
• Believe it or not, after you move away, you will actually miss Houston.  But don't worry, you'll get to travel back more than you would have thought and each trip gets better and better.
• You're beautiful in your own skin. 
• Mexican food just isn't the same outside of the Lone Star State.
• Love doesn't always look like what you see in the movies.  But it's better than the movies, because it is real. 

Yes, I think we would have a really nice chat.  Oh twenty-year-old me - what an incredible journey these seven years has been.  Can't wait to see what the remaining three years of my twenties have in store.