Weekending with Favorites

Happy Monday, Y'all!  I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!  Jon and I spent a lot of time just snuggling up on the couch, which I'm pretty sure is one of my most favorite things to do on our weekends together.  Friday night, we joined sweet friends for dinner and a couple's Bible study.  We had Blue Bell Spiced Pumpkin Pecan ice cream, and it was amazing.  You should definitely try it.  Saturday, we slept in and went to our favorite mom and pop diner for omelets and coffee.  (Okay, so maybe this is our favorite thing.)  We headed out to get Jon a coat to wear with his uniform to work since it is getting frigid here.  Nevertheless, we stopped for Coldstone on the way home, and then I got some things done around the house while Jon caught up with a friend over coffee.  Saturday night, we had a date at Travinia, one of our new favorite places.  We had only ever eaten dessert there, so we were pretty excited to try it.  We got the nachos and a couple of their delicious spicy shrimp pizzas.  Who goes to a fancy Italian restaurant and orders pizzas?  These kids.  Of course, we followed with chocolate cake and apple crumble.  Everything was delicious.  Yesterday morning, we headed to church.  Jon and I are so thankful for the church we have here and the amazing, sincere community it provides.  We headed home, snuggled up on the couch for some football and skype time with family, and finished the day off with another one of our favorites, Domino's.  How was your weekend, friends?

Our 1st Anniversary: Baltimore, Maryland

Photo:  Powell Woulfe Photography

Jon and I celebrated our one year anniversary on September 28th in Baltimore, Maryland.  We had a blast exploring the city, eating amazing food and staying at the most adorable bed & breakfast.  We headed into town Friday evening to check in at the Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast.  Jon and I had never stayed at a bed & breakfast before, and had always wanted to, so we checked out the map, read some reviews and made the reservation.  This place was perfect!  I would love to go back.  Upon entering, the entire home smelled of hot mulled cider and pumpkin spice biscotti...amazing!  We grabbed some delicious snacks, got settled into our adorable room, and took off to find dinner.  The amazing thing is that we were able to walk everywhere.

Photo: Powell Woulfe Photography

We strolled the street and ended up at Regi's American Bistro.  Somehow they were able to seat us right away on a busy Friday night.  The staff was super friendly and the atmosphere was nice because tables were divided into a series of smaller rooms.  I like that feel...makes it a bit more personal.  The menu had a wonderful selection, but I knew I just had to try the crab (when it Baltimore).  Yum!  It was so good. After dinner, we walked up to a coffee & wine bar that had caught our eye earlier, and was located almost across the street from the bed & breakfast.  The Metropolitan was a favorite of our trip.  We ordered their espresso martinis and sat at a table in front of the large open windows to take in the evening.  We are definitely not martini drinkers, but these were so good, y'all.  Oh my goodness. I want to make them at home. (espresso, vanilla vodka and coffee liqueur)

 The next morning we woke up to the sweet aroma of a home cooked meal and joined two other couples in the dining room for breakfast.  (one of which was also celebrating their one year the same day as us!)  We had quiche, sausage, biscuits, homemade blueberry granola, and pumpkin biscotti.  After stuffing ourselves silly we headed out for more adventure.  One thing Jon and I have both always wanted to do is see the Baltimore Aquarium, so we headed there first.  It was so fun!  In addition to seeing lots of cool animals, the aquarium's layout and design was super impressive.  We also got to see a 4D show on wild salmon (kind of random, I know), but the 4D was incredible.  In addition to the 3D glasses we wore, we got sprayed by water, blown by air gusts and had our floor and seats rumble.  It was pretty exciting, and definitely caught us by surprise.  As you can imagine, people's children were loving it.

 

 After 2-3 hours at the aquarium, we walked over to Little Italy to find some pizza.  Have I mentioned that Jon and I love pizza?  Well, we do.:)  We found Isabella's Brick Oven and ordered the King Richard by recommendation.  This pizza had meatballs, sausage, pepperoni and ham, and totally filled our pizza fix, not to mention the exceptionally fast and efficient service we received from such a busy place.  

Naturally we would need to get ice cream to continue our day, so we headed over to Affogato Cafe & Gelato.  Coffee & gelato... is there a better combination?  They had pumpkin gelato, so I had to go for it.  We sat outside on the patio to enjoy our gelato on the hot, fall day.  It was wonderful.  I've never met an ice cream or gelato that I didn't like.  We then continued our stroll over to Fell's Point, another popular little area off of Baltimore with more restaurants, bars and shops.  Apparently this area has a notable number of bars within quite a small radius.  Seeing as the bar scene is not really what Jon and I are all about, we really weren't that impressed with the area, to be honest.  We walked through a few shops, and headed back over towards Inner Harbor.  Next, we went into Baltimore's amazing Barnes & Noble.  I know you're thinking 'Barnes & Noble, huh...sounds...exciting', but it was so exciting!  This particular one is in a very cool, unusual building.  I wish I had taken photos.  If you ever visit the Inner Harbor you can't miss it.

 

 After the bookstore, we headed back to the bed & breakfast for a power nap before dinner.  We decided to try Abbey Burger Bistro Saturday night.  My oh my.  If you are ever in Baltimore you have to find this place.  It is amazing.  I've already told Jon several times over the past few weeks just how desperately I want to make the trip back just for a Baltimore burger.  This burger came with homemade crab dip, apple wood smoked bacon, and cheddar cheese. It seriously rocked my world.  I know, I've never had crab dip on a burger either, but trust me, it's amazing.  We liked it so much that we went back for lunch the next day before we left town, and it totally delivered for round two. The owner found out we had been in just the night before and offered us a free round of beer.  I love Abbey Burger Bistro.  After dinner Saturday, Jon & I made another return to the Metropolitan for an Espresso martini.  This time we sat at one of the small sidewalk tables as we enjoyed conversation and taking in the sights.

 

 Sunday morning, Jon and I grabbed a quick breakfast at the Inn before we met our photographer for an anniversary photo shoot (my anniversary gift from Jon).  I love him! Best gift ever.  We enjoyed exploring Federal Hill and the Inner Harbor with Angela Woulfe as she captured our anniversary morning...such sweet moments I'll cherish forever.  I can't wait to share more of the shoot with y'all!

Photo: Powell Woulfe Photography

Afterwards, we loaded the car, checked out of our room and returned to Abbey Burger Bistro for round two of amazing-ness.  It was the perfect Sunday afternoon because the Ravens were playing in town which gave the place a great atmosphere.  We even walked over to the stadium towards the end of the game just before heading home.

Of course, once we got home we had to break out the year old wedding cake.  It was still great!  I ate the entire top tier over the next few days. (This girl really loves sweets.)

We are so thankful to the Lord for the gift of marriage.  He has already used it to teach us so much, drawing us closer to Himself and closer to each other.  We cannot wait to see what year two has in store!

 Photo: Stephanie Yonce Photography

Marriage: God's Faithfulness & My Selfishness

So, I'm not gonna lie y'all, the past few days have been tough.  It turns out that I'm still a selfish sinner.  Go figure, right?  It's funny how desperately I need to be reminded of this at times.  It's quite impressive when even in the midst of being so so tremendously blessed I still find a way to be discontented, to say, "What I have is not enough.".  Ugh, how it disgusts me to admit this. Even more disgusting is being confronted with how I still desire to put my interests and passions before Jon's.

I know we're only eight months into marriage with him being deployed over half of it, so we are by no means supposed to be experts.  However, I am convinced of this:  marriage means loving your spouse more than yourself, and loving them unconditionally...a beautiful picture of the Gospel.  Wow, how much more easily this is said than lived out in my everyday.  How much easier it is to focus on how others could change to benefit me, instead of me changing to become more selfless. I hope I'm not alone here.

As I push to plan my life the way I think it should  look, I fall into the trap of selfishness and control.  Praise Jesus I have a husband who sets a beautiful example for me of what it means to desire God's will for his life rather than his own.  I am so humbled by it.  One thing I feel so blessed by is God's faithfulness to reveal my selfishness to me.  Although the realization that I can be more selfish than I ever thought possible doesn't exactly feel good, the sense of God's nearness and faithfulness to mold me into His image for His glory sure does.  While confronting, it is so cool to navigate this journey with Jon as we identify his passions, my passions, and God's passions; surrendering our own and receiving a new heart for His.

7 things I love about my Husband

Happy Monday, Y'all! and Happy 7 Monthiversary to that sweet husband of mine!

In honor of seven months of marriage I thought I would share seven things I love about Jon.

1. He loves Jesus more than he loves me.  This one is by far my favorite.  I know it is so often said, "find a man who loves Jesus more than he loves you".  I had heard it plenty of times before God blessed me with Jon, and I'm convinced that it's only through His grace that Jon found me, but ladies, this saying is so so true.  It's difficult to even explain other than saying we were designed to love God the most.  It's interesting that the world has adopted the idea of "the one", or how you are supposed to love your spouse more than anything.  This so keeps us from living in the freedom of God's Truth and experiencing love with our spouse in the deep, beautiful way He has designed it.  Again, it's hard to put into words, but because Jon loves Jesus the most, He is able to love me with a love far deeper than he ever could by centering His life around me; He is able to love me with the one, true love, the love of Christ.

2. He's a great leader.  It's so funny to me that this would be my number two, and even more funny to me that I would ever reach a point where I would be excited to be led by a man.  Again, the world had successfully convinced me that I was totally capable of leading myself, being self-sufficient, and that the idea of male leadership was a thing that should be left in the past along with all things that, to the world, made women seem inferior.  Oh my goodness, how my heart has changed on this issue. (All glory to God.)  Again ladies, it has everything to do with God's design.  For the majority of my life I have been able to say "God's plan is better than my own" without really living like it. (Haven't we all?)  But seriously, I have been a champion at this.  If God's Word basically says that Jon is supposed to lead me who am I to oppose that?  I thank God that He has totally changed my heart on this issue by showing me part of His great design of male leadership through such a Godly husband.  Jon is a great leader even at times that He's unaware that He's leading me simply by fixing his eyes on our sweet Savior.

3.  He humbles himself in the midst of my selfishness.  Eee. How I still cringe at this one, but oh my geez, how it's one of my favorites!  Well, I'm sure y'all can agree, no one likes being confronted with their own selfishness.  It never feels good.  Jon is a champ at loving me even in the times that I am being so selfish.  I really don't know how he does it.  I think Jesus helps him a lot. :) Seriously, nothing humbles me more quickly than Jon's unconditional love when I'm acting like a total brat.

4. He's a hard worker.  Jon is such a hard worker, and I am so proud of him.  As I've posted before, Jon is in the Army, and we're just over halfway through a deployment now.  He has been such a trooper through it all.  He never complains, and always seeks to see what God is teaching him through his career.  Most importantly, I admire how he is able to work hard while still knowing that God and family are most important.

5.  He's smart.  I had a hard time when Jon and I first started dating because I never thought I could handle being with someone who was smarter than me.  :) He is so smart y'all, and I feel as though I learn so much from him in the time we spend together.  One of my favorite things to do is just sit and chat with him for hours over coffee.  Somehow the man has great ideas that would never cross my mind, but shhh.. don't tell him, because I like to let him think I'm the one with all of the good ideas.:)

6. He loves to dance.  Seriously, the man is a dancing fool.  I grew up dancing and always looked forward to being able to dance a ton with my husband.  Jon is definitely that guy.  We have so much fun dancing together, whether it be a night out or a night in. So fun.

7. He encourages me. He always says I'm a good cheerleader, but I think he takes the cake. This man encourages me no matter how big or small the obstacle.  Most importantly, he always encourages me to seek Jesus and to grow in what God has for me through current circumstances. He is such an encouragement to me.  Recently I started running, and I am no runner, but Jon knows just the right things to say to keep me going.

I hope y'alls week is off to a fabulous start!

One Year Ago Today: The Proposal

Happy Monday, Y'all!

I am especially happy today despite the sleep deprivation of daylight savings time.  Jon proposed a year ago today, and we have so loved talking and reminiscing about this special time in our lives.  :)  We feel so blessed and humbled to look back on everything The Lord has done in the past year.  He is so good.

Read our proposal story here.

5 Months!

Married 5 months today to this man who spoils me.

Happy Friday, Y'all!

Hope

Good morning, sweet friends!  I hope everyone's Monday is off to a great start!  Mine has already been eye-opening.  I have a little over an hour commute each way to my job, which serves as the perfect opportunity to pray and praise Jesus while jamming with Pandora.  As no surprise, one of the first things I pray for is my sweet Jon.  I pray for his protection spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally and largely for his safe (and rapid) return.  Prayer is very interesting.  To me, it is the clearest window to our hearts, so as I pray I can usually determine the desires of my heart pretty clearly.  This is a great gift, which can often be very convicting, because I feel it also shows me what I am placing my hope in.

This morning I felt The Lord shining light on where I have been placing some of my hope.  While I think it is totally acceptable for me to hope tremendously that Jon has a safe return, I cannot find the hope of my life in it.  I felt very clearly that God was trying to remind me that I have all of the hope I will ever need in this life.  He has already given it to me, in His son, Jesus Christ.  What beautiful news.  I hope you ladies are able to find your hope in the only, true Anchor this morning.:)

The Art of Marriage

Recently, Jon & I attended an Art of Marriage seminar at my church.

I had never heard of the Art of Marriage until Village decided to host the event one weekend.  We jumped on the opportunity.  (Jon & I have this whole "wanting to know everything we can" attitude while still understanding that there are some things God will throw our way that we simply won't be prepared for...kinda scary, but super exciting!)

Y'all should check it out! :)

Sessions are offered all the time everywhere across the country.

The really cool thing about it is that it's applicable to any couple regardless of whether or not they've been married 1 year or 50... and also for couples preparing, like us. :)

Ours was one Friday evening and most of a day Saturday, but I hear some places offer it more like a 6 week Bible study covering one session a week, which I think would be pretty cool.

Here are the topics covered:

Have any of you attended the Art of Marriage?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

Claire

We're getting MARRIED! :D

Well guys, I'm sure glad I had the opportunity to introduce you to my boyfriend, Jon because now I have a fiance, Jon. :D  He proposed last Sunday morning, March 10th on Myrtle Beach at sunrise, and it was perfect.

We had gone down to stay the night with some awesome friends of his who were vacationing.  Just being around these sweet believers made for a delightful weekend.  Little did I know, God & Mr. Jon were about to blow my mind...which, come to think of it happens quite regularly, and I am by no means ever opposed.

The previous weekend we had intended on seeing the sunrise in Wilmington, which due to scheduling, did not happen.  Therefore, when Jon indicated that we should see the sun rise the next morning at Myrtle Beach I was all in...until I realized the next morning that I was cold and tired.  However, Jon being the motivator that he is, got my cold, tired, grumpy self out on the beach.  The plan was to sit, watch the sun rise, read our bibles and bask in the vibrant rays of God's love.

First, we strolled along the beach for a while.  I love strolling on the beach with my Jon, and it was a beautiful morning to do so.  We laughed, talked and flirtatiously kicked one another as usual.

Suddenly, Jon picks me up in his arms and sits me in this random chair that seemed have been left out by the water's edge.(*conveniently placed there by Jon's friend, of course...the same friend who was staged to take all of these wonderful photos that we will forever cherish)

  Immediately, Jon drops to one knee and all of a sudden his previous slight sketchiness makes sense to me.:)  Initially, it's somewhat a blur...a moment that I couldn't quite believe was actually happening to me.  However, as I looked on at my prince and heard the sweet words he had prepared for me, God was working hard in my heart to impress that this was in fact His beautiful reality for us.

After washing my feet in the ocean, and right before asking me to be his wife, Jon read to me Ephesians 5:25-33.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Our hearts cannot wait to serve God as one, and to experience all of the joyful lessons marriage is sure to teach us.  We both leap for joy at this blessing! 

It has been quite clear to us for a while that God has great plans for us as a couple.  We have rejoiced in being able to follow Christ together, drawing closer to Him, and closer to one another.  

Words cannot describe the love I feel from my Father as I make plans to spend the rest of my life here with this truly amazing, strong and loving man.  

Just as this proposal went beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of, Jon far surpasses my lifelong dreams of who I imagined my husband would be.  To me, this clearly demonstrates that God has the ability to give to us things far past our grandest imaginations if we simply choose to trust and follow Him.

so happily engaged,

Claire