on 2x4s and community and anticipation

These days one of us makes a daily builder-hovering trip to the house site. Some days it ends with pure excitement, some days with an email to the builder explaining that that cable jack is in the absolutely wrong place. But when I walk our dust-covered floors, turning in circles trying to figure out what furniture will go where and what we'll need to fill in the holes, I don't picture the house photo-ready, but [hopefully] filled with people to share life with.

After almost a year of several unknowns, it's as if we've come to the top of the hill and can begin to see what is ahead. Or at least anticipate it - we've definitely learned that you never know what the Lord has planned. This season has been a beautifully trying one that has strengthened our marriage and taught us a lot about our little plans compared to God's big picture and how He's intricately aware of both. After these months, I'm happy to see its end only because it is replaced with the start of a new community in Lexington, South Carolina. And since we know this new house and community is a blessing of a gift from the Lord, we found it fitting to record those sentiments on our [pre-Sheetrock] walls.

[Got ahead of myself and left out a couple words of this important verse. Full text here.]

[This one appropriately went above the dishwasher.]

I guess you could say that I have high hopes for this first home of ours. That it would be a place where friends will feel comfortable, where stories will be told, where those soul-binding similarities are discovered. I hope it can be a spot for dinner parties and Sunday school get-togethers and DNow weekends and baby showers. I want it to be a place where parents and siblings and [one day] cousins and out-of-town friends will fill all the available sleep spots. Where friends know they can pour themselves a glass of tea without asking. Where people can be recharged over coffee and dessert. Where successes can be celebrated and burdens be carried.

We are thankful for new beginnings [even if we didn't choose them] and for the buds of friendships that we hope and anticipate to bloom into more vibrant ones. Until they discover how weird we are. Mostly kidding.

And I hope that some of that blossoming happens around our supper table.

my new favorite apps [part two]

With that unavoidable Spring rush coming, highlighted by having [finally and thankfully] joined a church, an exciting new opportunity with Fern Studio, several weekend trips for various weddings and showers and birthdays, and this little project of building a house, this pen and paper loyalist has finally gone digital. I didn't even purchase a 2013 planner, I'm ashamed to say.

A while back, I shared my overall favorite apps. Part two consists of those that just seem to make life a little easier.

Wunderlist: What I finally settled on after many other options including the iPhone's Notes and Reminders. I love a good check box!

Pocket: A place to store all those must-read-when-there's-time articles. Sounds like one of those things that you could just use Pinterest for, but it's not. Just trust me. And the tags are super helpful.

Mailbox: Obviously, I don't know if this actually will be helpful or not, but I've heard good things. Originally I predicted that'd I'd get through the line by 2017 seeing how I was number 149,798 a week ago. But it's picked up a little since then. Maybe this week is my week.

WedHappy: This is for you, brides-to-be, MOHs, and MOBs. I downloaded this after beginning to help my dear friend Mandy coordinate her wedding. The only down side is is that you have a limited number of custom tasks you can add before having to upgrade. If I was the bride and having to do all that her and her MOB are doing, you bet I'd be upgrading. It's simple and smart and I love how you can connect the vendors to your contacts. The easier to nag you with, my dear.

Simple Joys: Last but [obviously] not least is a new favorite devo app with daily excerpts from Piper books. I'm probably the last person to know about this, but, just in case, there you go. It is really great.

There you have it. But remember:

daddy turns sixty

I have a few fleeting memories of my dad's surprise 40th birthday party. I was a few days away from four years old and Biscuit, our Shih Tzu, was brand new and had to stay in the bottom half of a tiny cardboard box in the corner of the room. But I remember lots of loved ones and lots of appreciation for Don McMahone's life.

For the big 5-0 I'm pretty sure we went out to dinner and took him shopping for a new recliner.

Which obviously meant that year sixty called for a very special celebration for someone who deserves the biggest party every single year. Or possibly every month.
Between five courses of choices like espresso-cumin rubbed chicken and honeycrisp apple rosemary sorbet and Argentine short ribs over roasted garlic polenta, we talked about what Daddy hoped to accomplish in his next ten years. We talked about the numerous close calls he experienced as a young and adventurous boy [e.g. climbing ten-story-tall water towers and plenty of cotton mouth run ins].

And after a final course of bread pudding and bananas foster, Moll and I shared a surprise toast – good and teary, of course.

Happy 60th Birthday, Daddy.

It seems nearly impossible to put into words the thanks and appreciation that this milestone birthday deserves, but we will, as you have always taught us, do our best.

We've gained so much from you. Like why to look both ways on a one way street, how to rig a dripping faucet with a shoestring, and how to shoot a gun and not miss. One of us even got your good looks.

From you we've learned the importance of hardwoods over pines, a strong tennis backhand, and a well-built fire. Of efficiently shaped dinner plates, a cup with a good handle, and never missing a historical marker.

Not to mention all of life's basic necessities - like how to drive and change a tire.

And because of you we have unique loves of house plans and residential construction zones, of meteor showers, and of flying squirrels.

We've always known that if there was a project you could build it, a task you could complete it, and a problem you could fix it.

Besides teaching us what you love, you've given an astounding amount of your time for us too. For dance recitals and choir performances and football halftimes. For science fair projects and multiplication tables.

You are our provider of senior trip funds and overpriced prom dresses and college degrees and wedding expenses.

Better yet, you've provided us with a daily example of the person we want to become and, more importantly, the person we wanted to marry.

That person is a fiercely loyal spouse, a hard worker, a non-worrier, someone of unwavering character, and the best Pops there ever will be.

It's someone who gave us a foundation of steel in a fragile world. Someone who made us feel like we had unmeasurable worth and potential. And, when the time came, it's someone who gave our husbands the perfect balance of a whole lot of love, plenty of advice, and a little bit of fear.

So here is to sixty years of life that have made all of us better spouses, better children, better parents, better church members, better employees, and better friends.

We love you!

words for my birthday

I'm 24 today. I was thinking about what I hoped for and who I hoped to become during a twenty fifth year of life [other than my ongoing obsession passion for becoming a floral designer].

And then I developed a little writer's block. Thankfully, I am a self-professed over-pinner and tend to geek out over a well-written quote. There's proof of that.

// Loving Jesus //

// Living Life //

// Links here! //

Hope you feel inspired and slightly cheesy. Happy Last Day of January!

cinnamon almond granola

This is a big day, y'all. I finally made granola that I really liked and that I didn't burn.

Mir-a-cle.

I kept it simple with two of my favorite things - cinnamon and almonds - and wanted to share!

Cinnamon Almond Granola

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup wheat germ [optional]
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons salt [unless you are using almonds that are plenty salty]
• 6 tablespoons oil [I used canola]
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 cups almonds [I chopped 3/4 of mine and left 1/4 whole]

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Combine oats, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt
3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, honey, sugar, and almond extract
4. Combine the honey and sugar mixture with the oat mixture until well coated [I like to leave some clumps]
5. Spread on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes
6. Stir and flip the granola and add the almonds
7. Bake for another 10 minutes, watching closely and stirring once more half way through the cook time

I keep it in a big sealed Pyrex container. It's breakfast. It's a snack. It's dinner. It's awesome. Hope you enjoy!