30 Thanks

I’m way too long-winded for the “30 days of thanks” trend on Facebook. If I opened that can of worms I’d be blowing up your newsfeed with novels and you’d all unfriend me. So here’s my alternative – I long-windedly poured my “30 Thanks”, or 30 things I’m beyond thankful for, onto this blog. That way only those who really care about reading it will have to. Even if no one has the time for my ramblings, it was good for my soul to contemplate these.

 1. I’m thankful for a God who pursues my heart when my heart is deceitful and doesn’t pursue back.

2. I’m thankful for having everything we truly need.

3. I’m thankful for NOT having everything we want. If I had every little thing I desired, I might just start believing that the world revolved around me, and that’s a dangerous place to be.

4. I’m thankful for 3+ fantastic years of marriage, and the promise of many, many more (Lord willing)!

5.  I’m thankful for the love and support of a husband who consistently serves and pursues me – even when I’m cranky, when he’s right and I’m wrong, when I’m all out of energy to serve him back, when I (wrongly) put him behind everything else – I am SO blessed by him.

6. I’m thankful for our chubby, cuddly, healthy, beautiful son and a healthy, happy birth.

7.  I’m thankful for the small moments that make me pause my spinning my wheels and stop to cherish motherhood right where it’s at right now:

          ~ A little fuzzy head nestled into my neck at 3 am because he woke in need of   

             cuddling

          ~ The new things he learns daily (right now I particularly love how he crawls 

             around the house exploring while loudly yelling “Blah Blah Blah!”)

          ~ The way he reaches up and pats my face while looking in my eyes as I’m rocking

             him to sleep, just before he sighs, settles down into my arms, and drifts off

          ~ The way he lifted his hands and kicked along with the music in worship at 

             church this morning - it stirs my heart to pray for his

8. I’m thankful for a husband who I catch bent over the baby monitor as we get ready for bed, praying for our son.

9.  I’m thankful for the freedom of knowing that I don’t have the capacity within me to be the perfect mom or a godly wife of my own strength - I need strength and wisdom daily from the Lord to fulfill those roles well.

10. I’m also thankful that as soon as I start to think I’ve got it all together, something breaks down and I’m immediately humbled and reminded of #9.

11. I’m thankful for our families – all 21 of our immediate relatives – and how they love and encourage us constantly. Also thankful that we truly ENJOY our family!

12. I’m thankful for our friends that might as well be family who walk so closely with us and love our son as their own.

13. I'm thankful for our homegroup and the friends within it who encourage us, pray for us, and gently call us out when our priorities get a little out of whack.

14.  I’m thankful for our vibrant, growing church and the sense of home it’s given us for the past 7 years.

15.  I’m thankful for our beautiful little charming home full of love, memories, music, laughter, and things we’ve made with our own hands.

16. I’m thankful for our jobs and all that they entail – income, security, a creative outlet, a place to love on others, and flexibility for our little family.

17. I’m thankful for my friend Denise who selflessly keeps Micah so I can work part-time. I’m also thankful that I know he’s loved on at her house.

18.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to be a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom (and still work a little). While mothering is work, spending the day with my little man is an incredible privilege!

19. I'm thankful for my mom, who has spent lots of time with me the past 7.5 months, teaching me how to be a mom.

20. I’m thankful for the few months this past year that Jeremy’s brother, Joel, lived with us. What a fabulous season of getting to know him better, encouraging him (and in turn, he encouraged us), and being reminded that God has blessed us with our house to be generous with it.

21. Speaking of #20, I'm thankful for the joy Joel has spoken into my life when hard things happened this year. What an incredible bond I've formed with him!

22. Ok, I'm thankful for Joel a lot. I'm thankful for how much he LOVES Micah, goes out of his way to spend time with him, and will be an incredible, godly Uncle Joel for Micah to look up to as he grows. 

23.  I’m thankful for French-press coffee during naptime. It’s a soul-rejuvenator.

24. While I'm on cozy-hands-around-a-warm-mug soul-rejuvenators, I'm also thankful for Earl Grey tea with raw milk, Chai tea lattes, and the occasional Starbucks splurge. 

25.  I’m thankful for a local group of friends who support our pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.

26.  I’m thankful for our overall health, and pray that we don’t take it for granted as something God “owes” us, but as a blessing.

27. I’m thankful that my parents raised me in a way that I want to emulate, not escape, as I raise my own son.

28. I’m thankful for the assurance that God is sovereign and in charge of EVERYTHING, even the administration that governs this nation.

29. I'm thankful for the freedom we enjoy in this nation and those who fight to preserve it.

30. I’m thankful for dark chocolate. Good one, God. That was an inspired creation.

The Return of the Wasp-Monsters

It has been quite some time since something new has graced the face of this blog. I'd like to say that I've been so busy doing important things that this little page was left un-updated. But that's not really true. I'm just lazy. So here's the speedy version of what's new so as not to bore you:


- I let the garden die (remember the laziness I referred to?)
- We're finally in a season where we have enough time to travel to see family. It's fantastic.
- I've been knee-deep in thesis - and am glad that's something you only have to do once....
- We're skipping Thanksgiving all together and going to Vail, Colorado with The Powers instead
- Jeremy got a new job!! He'll be starting at Lockheed Martin (Missiles and Fire Control) on November 29 - right after we get back from our snowboarding getaway






Last fall, ironically right around this time, we had a little humorous trouble with wasps in the house. So much trouble that it spurred Wasp Blog #1 AND Wasp Blog #2. 




They're back. 




And this time I have no handy husband nearby to hunt them for me. Jeremy's been finishing a project for work in Cleburne, TX which means he often stays there Monday through Thursday. This has shown me a lot about myself:


I hate sleeping alone.


I'm too lazy to cook if Jeremy's not home to eat it. My new dinner norm is cereal. How nutritious of me. 


I am also incapable of bringing in the garbage cans after trash day. All former roommates can vouch for me on this. 


I thought I was a pretty capable woman, but one year of having a man around the house has debunked that myth. When the wasps started trickling back into the house again, I figured there must be another nest in the chimney. Turns out I don't know how to close the chimney flue. 


Smoking them out would be another logical alternative --- but I can't light a fire to save my life. 


So instead of trying to nip the wasp situation in the bud, I'll just continue to kill them when they find their way into the living room. Not because I'm brave, but because I'm lazy.




So the moral of the story is that this story isn't about wasps at all, but about how gracious I am to have a husband who will wasp-hunt for me and eat my food and bring in the garbage cans. 


Thanks for making it all the way through my ramblings - next time I'll be organized and concise.






Love,


K

A Graduation & One Year of Matrimony

We have had a majorly exciting past few days. Here's a quick summary of everything:

Jeremy graduated with his Bachelors in General Business from UNT last Saturday (whoooo hooooo!!! Is it obvious how excited we are??). We spent Friday night and Saturday celebrating with family. It was so great to see everyone and celebrate Jeremy's accomplishment.

Jeremy with the Irwin side of the family (some of them ;) - we're a large bunch!)

Jeremy with his Mama and Bobby

The Howard/Irwin/Hamels (I guess we'll be adding the last surname when Sarah becomes one in June!)

He's just a bit excited. Only a bit.

The day after graduation was our first anniversary. I can't believe how fast this year flew by! We celebrated by watching our wedding video and cracking up at all our amazing friends' dance moves. The video of our reception entrance is below - just because it's hilarious. Disregard the darkness :)

We were also pleasantly surprised that our wedding cake still tasted great a year later....

...and that my wedding dress still fit!

We were able to spend the night at the Adolphus hotel in Dallas, and were surprised with an upgrade to a junior suite! 

All in all - a blessed weekend of celebration and much needed relaxation. Now we are on our anniversary trip in Canada. Look for pictures from the trip soon!

Love-

K

Tired

I snapped this picture last night. My husband passed out on the couch. Notice that's a full plate of still-hot homemade cookies in front of his face....  he was awake moments before when they were set there. It was 8:00 pm. 

We are tired. Plain and simple. This semester of both of us in school full time and both working (Jeremy sometimes more than full time) has put a serious damper on our time and energy. But alas, the end is near. While the summer will be another hectic whirlwind of school and work, Jeremy will finish his degree in August!! I am so proud of him. There aren't too many husbands who could do well in 15 hours of upper-level business courses and still provide for their wives, but mine can. (Just thought a little bragging was warranted ;) 

We so appreciate all of our friends and family hanging in there and supporting us through this time, through our busyness - we love all of you and couldn't have made it through this time without you. 

We're still saving and hoping that we can make it to Canada in August to celebrate Jeremy's graduation and our first anniversary - oh man what a great celebration that will be ;)

Now I've just got to get through the rest of grad school and we'll be set.... 

Love you guys-

K

Spring Break Chronicles - Kelley vs. The Pickaxe

For those of you who know my husband, he is a construction-working, Mr. Fix-It, tougher-than-nails, man's man. Last week we were in his car driving to church and I noticed a pickaxe and a sledgehammer in his back seat. I asked him if having these things in his car made him extra manly. He replied, "You know it, babe." (Upon reading this part of the blog, he admitted that the sledgehammer actually belongs to our friend Nels Jacobson. I asked if we needed to give Nels some credit for manliness, and Jer replied, "Yes - I get my manliness from my friends.")


The weather was so pretty yesterday that we decided to do some garden work. I had one raised-bed veggie garden last year, but we were planning to put in two more for this season. After the trip to Lowes for lumber and to Gene Gohlke's for some compost, we were starting to run out of time to build the garden. I decided the most efficient way to *ahem* get 'er done was to double-team it. Jeremy was already sawing the boards and constructing the boxes, so I reached for the pickaxe to break up the ground.


I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of myself - I hacked up 17 square feet of our yard in record time. I think that was my official initiation into the Irwin family, because everyone knows an Irwin can use a pickaxe like nobody's business.


Here are the pictures of our lovely finished, empty beds. Empty because there's a winter storm warning for today, so I didn't want to risk it. Just use your imagination and think of them like blank canvases ;)

And for good measure, since the above pictures are semi-boring, here's a picture of the amazing blooms showing up on our peach tree: (please please PLEASE winter weather - don't kill my peach tree flowers...)

So after my initiation into Irwin-ism, I did what any tough hoss of a woman would do.....

I went and got a massage.

Love ,

K

Date Night Adventure - 'C'

One of our New Years Resolutions was to go through the alphabet in date nights/days. Our 'A' and 'B' dates were pretty low-key with a strict budget (thus there were no posts about 'Avatar' and 'Breakfast in Bed'). However, in honor of the beginning of spring break we saved and pulled out the stops for date night 'C'.....


Cooking  class at Sur La Table. And we brought Aaron and Denise :)


Here are some pictures from our fantastic date last night:

Jer peeling and slicing apples for the delicious caramel apple tart for dessert

Aaron learned how to zest :)

Coolest little hand-peeler ever - of course they would let you use all the cool kitchen gadgets so you'd want to buy them...

Aaron was apprehensive about being in charge of the potatoes - but did a wonderful job :)

Rosemary flank steak - good gracious this was amazing!

Apple tart!

Now we're just trying to talk the boys into date night 'D' - salsa dancing!!

Check back for more spring break adventures!

Love you-

K

Christmas, brain surgery and a love list

This is our first Christmas season as a married couple. During our engagement, we had many many couples tell us that  their love for each other had grown so much through the years, that they couldn't believe they fancied themselves in love on their wedding day. Their perspective on the depth of love had grown. 


We've been married for slightly less than 4 months, and I'm already noticed this happening. Each morning I roll over and see my husband and think, "There's no way I loved him this much yesterday." 


A recent trial in the life of our church has made the life I share with my husband even more precious. Our pastor, Matt Chandler, had brain surgery on Friday to remove a small tumor on his frontal lobe. The mass was discovered on Thanksgiving morning, after Matt suffered a seizure. The response of Matt, his family, and our church has been amazingly encouraging and a strong reminder of God's goodness and sovereignty. 


Here are some things that have impacted my heart lately:


Lauren Chandler's blog


Matt's blog


A video from Matt to the church



I've been reminded of how fleeting and fragile our lives are, how Almighty God is, and how consuming His love is. I am called to love those around me, including and especially my husband, how God loves us. I've been reminded to PRAY - for the Chandlers, for my church, for my heart and for my husband.


We're slowly learning each others' love languages and finding new little ways to serve one another. For example, I did not know there was an upside-down and right-side-up way to load a roll of toilet paper onto the holder. But the upside-down way really bothers Jeremy, so I make it habit to load the toilet paper correctly. Not because I care, but for him.  


Taking any chance available to brag on my wonderful husband, here are some ways Jeremy constantly shows me his love. A love list of sorts:


*** Before we got married, Jeremy rarely drank coffee and never made it for himself. Now, he goes downstairs before I do to start the coffee pot so that I'll have some waiting when I come downstairs.


*** He plugs in the Christmas tree when he comes down before me so the house will be pretty and Christmassy for me.


*** He always pulls the shower button out after his shower, because he knows I hate having cold water land on my head when I turn on the faucet.


*** He makes up silly songs that encompass the words "I love Kelley Rae Irwin because...". It's especially endearing to hear the "Irwin" part, as the songs used to be about Kelley Rae Howard :)


*** He HATES HATES HATES long shopping trips, but last Saturday he came Christmas shopping with me for 7 hours and didn't complain once.


*** I frequently come home to the dishes already clean and put away, laundry already started, or the floors already swept and mopped. Just because he wanted to do it for me.


*** When I decided I wanted to start a vegetable garden, Jeremy went along with spending the money for the soil and making the above-ground bed for me. Then, on the very frequent days when I didn't want to go out and water it because of the heat/mosquitoes/cold/darkness.... He did it for me. 


*** He massages my feet/shoulders/back/neck whenever they need it. Many times he offers without me asking. 


*** Whenever we take long trips, He always drives so I can read/sleep/play on my phone/watch movies on my laptop and he NEVER complains.




I am so blessed to have such a loving man to grow old with. 


Merry first Christmas!

Jeremy assembling our first Christmas tree, given to us by The Wrights. 

Our super-awesome tree is 9 feet tall. Our ceilings are 8 feet 11 inches.

On the square at Denton's annual Wassail Fest

WONDERFUL friends and mentors - John and Ann Wright

First fire in the Irwin home :)

The Irwins vs. Hair Disasters

This weekend two dear friends of ours were married. We were in the wedding, and thus our appearance seemed important. Bearing this in mind, I decided Friday night after the rehearsal dinner that Jeremy desperately needed a haircut. So after borrowing scissors, an electric trimmer and a cape from a friend who is actually talented at cutting hair - me, Jeremy and our friend Robby headed to the garage to trim away the fluffy length that was Jer's head. 


I should preface this story with the fact that I've only cut human hair once in my life. Eight grade. Ashley Lundin. She cried and wore her hair in pony tail for two months. I did not tell Jeremy this before I set out to make him look studly before the Jacobson wedding....


Thirty minutes into the haircut, I was still nervous, Jeremy was still relaxed, and Robby was stifling giggles. Ok wait, Robby doesn't giggle - he guffaws. It's actually quite entertaining. I was doing great rounding the back and sides of my hubby's head, until I accidently took quite a chunk out of the top center. Bad news bears. 


Robby was laughing uncontrollably by then, so Jer decided to get up and check the apparent damage. A bald spot. Right in the front. Oops.


Jeremy, being so calm and not concerned about such trivial things as hair, laughed and demonstrated that if he fixed his hair just so, the bald spot wasn't visible. Crisis avoided.


Next day. Wedding day. Teagan had been staying with us that week, so I woke up to have a leisurely breakfast and chat with her before her hair appointment, and then flew into a whirlwind upon her departure trying to get ready on time. 


Shower. Blow dry. Trying to put my hair up in some elegant way.... (outdoor wedding = wind = eating hair is never fun) ..... time passes and I'm supposed to leave in 10 minutes.


Jeremy comes home to find me frantic, frustrated and half-bobby-pinned up in the back exclaiming that my hair is ruined and I'll never make it to the hotel in time to help Teagan. My ever-calm and collected husband picked up a few bobby pins, soothed me, and went to work pinning my hair. As he finished, a quick glance in the mirror revealed a perfect updo. Couldn't believe it. I think my husband is superman (or grew up with 4 sisters - same thing). 


I got compliments on my hair all night and loved shocking everyone by saying that my husband had done it.


Moral of the story: Kelley creates hair disasters and Jeremy calmly fixes them. Good to know.