o christmas tree

Last night saw my first ever evergreen-topped car and our first married Christmas tree. And now all I want to do is soak up as much time in the glow of its large, old fashion bulbs. Oh and the smell. Oh my gosh the smell.

This is his, "hey look touch with your knife," pose.

Our tree doesn't really have one modern quality. I went a little past just vintage-inspired with the large lights, old glass ornaments, and tinsel. Yep, tinsel. Its shiny and fool proof and charming - what more could you want? My parents helped me gather all those wonderful glass balls at some local antique shops, and they gifted us with the Shiny Brights which were remade by Christopher Radko. They also sent us my absolute favorite ornament of all time: the Just Married car!

24 days. Can you believe it?! These next four weeks are my absolute favorite.

our thanksgiving vacation

I didn’t touch my computer from Tuesday night to Sunday. Traveling home always provides a nice opportunity to unplug.

We had a very happy first married Thanksgiving. It saw lots of family, lots of food, and lots of open road while trying to split our time between the McMahone and Jenkins clans.

There is a comfy feeling that comes with both the familiarity and certainty we experience when we travel to our parents’ homes. I can count on the fact that Mamaw’s dressing will taste the same [read: incredible], that my mom will be baking up something with bricks of cream cheese, that Audrey will say something hilariously adult-like. I can be sure that Ash [my sister-twin-friend] and I will find a way to soak up some rare face-time to dwell in these exciting and changing times. I know we’ll be Cowboy fans for a day [unless they’re playing the Saints] in support of our cousins who hail from Dallas. And I’ll never doubt that we’ll talk and laugh until we’re asleep, leaving us draped over various couches and chairs.


Thanksgiving Day brought a familiar morning of parade-watching. Really we just wait for the Rockettes the entire time. We had cousin reunions and a need to turn Mamaw’s dining room table diagonally to fit the entire family around it. It was a house-busting blessing. And later, after we ate and ate again and ate when we weren’t the faintest bit hungry, Moll and I suited up for a little Black Friday shopping. I’d say it was our most successful year yet. Target employees, you are our heroes! Except that one guy that yelled at my sister to not run while she was on her sprint to the bathroom [not to a flat screen TV]. Chill, dude. Pregnant lady has got to GO!

Possibly more than ever, I was overwhelmed with the care and provision that come from our parents. It’s not that I thought this would stop when we became old married folk or anything. Maybe I, having entered this adult world, understand their years of sacrifice in a sounder way. I mean, we are four for four when it comes to moms and dads who are incredibly selfless and thoughtful. We never doubt that they want our best, that they are excited about and immersed in our lives, or that they would do absolutely anything for us. I look forward to, hopefully, following their lead and making this a trait of generations to come when we have some little tikes and grand-tikes one day. I count it a privilege to know what this is like, and I hope to make a habit of gifting this to others who don’t have it intertwined in their own family tree. Our parents’ love is staggering. And I hope they know that the Lord is using them in this way. Because no one loves this well on their own.

And that’s what I learned on my Thanksgiving vacation.

thanksgiving eve

Last Wednesday night, after everyone made it to the McMahone home, we started a new family tradition. My family probably doesn’t realize this, but I’m definitely going to insist on it being an annual event. Maybe twice a year.

We bundled up for grilled hamburgers, sausage, and self-roasted hot dogs and s’mores on the back patio. Yes, that’s a lot of meat. And, yes, that’s the night before Thanksgiving. I can hear your judging me. There must be something about firelight, scarves, and red-checkered tablecloths that make you lose all control of portion sizes.

I vote for a repeat sometime over Christmas. Ok, fam? Ok great.

finding time and satisfaction

Let me preface this by saying I apologize for the length. But I hope you are blessed. And maybe you have a similar journey to satisfaction:

Please excuse my absence. Let's blame it on two things. First, the fact that I've been all pitiful and sickly with some of the cold and sinus business. Don't worry, a nice shot in the hind parts from a male nurse [EMBARRASSING] and a hot pink horse pill is seeming to do the trick. Secondly, D has had a tiny bit more free time this week, and we've been taking advantage of that while wallowing in our shared sickness.

We've done things like...
-Celebrated our two year dating anniversary [I celebrate everything, OK?] with some good Italian food. I was a little peeved on the way because it was November and hot outside. So D cranked up the air conditioning and blared some of 96.1's Christmas tunes. I was gladly shivering by the time we got home.
-Went to Sam's for a bottle of wine [classy, I know] and spent an extra hour in the Christmas section. Excited. Doesn't. Cover. It.
-Worked our plastic gloves and stick-on name tags while working the dessert table at CrossPoint's Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday night. Wonderful fellowship with our wonderful church family. And I baked my first lattice-topped apple pie from scratch. Easy peasy. Here's my crummy phone photo which was taken in the car on my lap on the way to church:

-For our exciting Friday night, we fed this sickness with breakfast for dinner and three hours of Lord of the Rings. D's a big fan, and I had never seen them. They weren't too bad. Not my normal Steel Magnolias/Pride and Prejudice/Mona Lisa Smile style. I think I finally got all of their names right by the end.
-I did wear some of my new red lipstick for our little at-home date night. Meaning half of the movie was spent telling myself that I can indeed wear it without looking like a clown. I am a reproduction of my grandmother, and she rocks it at almost 90. I think I can. I think I can. I think...

For this semester, that is a pretty incredible list for us. Many weeks, there is not a moment of free time in my poor hubs' schedule. Amidst the sweetness of newlywed life, there have been difficulties. Difficulties for our good. Difficulties whose presence are becoming more and more obvious.

This is a lesson the Lord has taught me in several different situations. It concerns satisfaction. Maybe, next time, I'll use some God-given wisdom and head this one off beforehand. Throughout my teenage and adult life, the Lord has shown me over and over again that true and full satisfaction can absolutely only be found in walking daily with Him. My first thought when I type this is an overwhelming thankfulness for the fact that He even allows this closeness of relationship. What a gracious and loving God. While I strive for this, I let many of the Lord's blessing take up some of that satisfying space that He deserves all of. Story of my life. From family, to friends, to abilities - I'm familiar with this slow learning process. And, of course, I'm learning again with this new life-addition: a husband.

The difficulty lies in the fact that D's love and selflessness and service and attention is incredibly satisfying. And I thank the Lord for a husband with those qualities. But then he has to work until eleven at night or fly to different states for job interviews or stay on campus to work with his senior project group. Then the one, who I'm receiving a portion of satisfaction from, is absent. This is in no way blame to D. I'm continually amazed at his attitude and stamina and ability to find time to be an great partner with a jam-packed schedule. But he is not called or expected to be the primary source of this in my life. We really are two sinners who have said, "I do." And when we talk about this little issue of mine, he points me to an all-sufficient God.

So that's the big-ticket item the Lord is kneading into my heart and mind. At the end of this lesson-journey, there is sweet and urgent satisfaction. Sweet because of a more intimate walk with the Lord and a step towards looking more like Him in life and in relationships. Urgent because this life is fleeting, and the only reason I have this available satisfaction is because of Jesus' supreme and atoning sacrifice. How I wish to not waste a day of that ultimate blessing and for the Lord to receive the glory that He deserves.

Here are a few of many verses to which I can cling:

Whom do I have in heaven but you? I desire no one but you on earth. My flesh and my heart may grow weak, but God always protects my heart and gives me stability. Psalm 73:25

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! Psalm 65:4

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13


Thanks for walking through that with me.

interchangeable

When purchasing the floater frame that is on our mantel, my intentions were to be able to rotate its contents out depending on color or season or holiday or if something just happens to strike my fancy.

This is another 8x10 that I created for this [quickly approaching] holiday that is centered around thankfulness. Food, also. But that's beside the point. The print [which is below] maybe downloaded here.

As much as I have to be thankful for this season - my precious and new marriage to Dustin, my family, my life-sharing friends, our incredible church, a job - nothing compares to my thankfulness for the salvation which I have been given through a call to faith in Jesus Christ many years ago. I am confident that without Jesus' atoning sacrifice, it would be impossible for me to be looked at as righteous through the Lord's supreme and holy eyes. And I, someone who does not like to ask for help, am completely overwhelmed with how I am fully helpless I would be in a quest for righteousness. Nothing I could do would ever compare. My Lord is the only hero here. And my dependence is in him.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 6:16-20