how we wear our hats

My husband is a hat-wearer. He has at least 15 hats stacked neatly thrown in the top of our closet, 4 of which he actually wears on a regular basis (story of my life). Texas Rangers, OKC, Kansas City Royals.. snap backs, flat bills, on and on. My favorite is when he wears them backwards.. I think he's such a cutie. Anyway, the point is, he wears a lot of hats. 

cute, right? told ya.

And don't we all?

Husband.
Wife.
Mom.
Dad.
Nurse.
Teacher.
Minister.
Sister.
Daughter.
Son.
Brother.
Aunt.
Uncle
Mentor.
Friend.

And the list goes on, doesn't it?

Wearing hats isn't all we do, though. We are also professional managers of things.

House.
Dogs.
Baby.
Cat.
Rental house.
Hospital floor.
Church office.
Friendships.
Marriage.
Bank accounts.
Small groups.

And this list.. it goes on too, right?

With so many hats and so many things to manage, our marriage and our family are among the first things to get swept up in the chaos and jostled about. Over time (and especially since we added Quinn to the mix), we have begun implementing habits into our days and weeks that we feel help us keep it together and stay on the same page. Most of these ideas were passed to us by people much smarter than us and who are probably doing them much more effectively than us, but nonetheless I thought I'd share today in case any of you feel like you or your marriage or your family are being taken away with the current of a busy life.

1. We have individual daily quiet times.
This is first on the list because it is undoubtedly the most important. We have learned the hard way that when we aren't spending intentional, personal, alone time with Jesus, things just don't go like we intend. Our stress levels are lower and our fuses aren't so short and our words come out much more gently when we start our days off with Christ. And coffee.

2. We do our chores.
Per the advice of a very smart and practical lady, Sam and I both do chores every morning. I have 4 chores (make the bed, clean the litter box, clear the sink/counter of dishes, and empty the robot vacuum) and Sam has 2 (take out the trash, clear the bathroom counter of clutter). We do them within the first 15 minutes of waking up (or try to) and it has changed the way our house runs. Try it. Seriously.

3. We put the baby to bed.
Literally. This is so important for us. When Quinn was 7 weeks old we moved her to her own room. Soon after that she learned to put herself to sleep and started sleeping 7-8 hrs at a time (thank you Jesus). So at about 7:30 each evening we bathe her, feed her, and put her down. This gives us 1-2 hours of alone time where we can talk about our day or sit in silence or watch a TV show together or make out if we want (yea, I said it). It has been vital to our sanity, honestly.

4. On Sundays, we look at the calendar.
Because my husband is a little bit of a nerd (but still cute, especially in the backwards hat we talked about earlier), we have our iPhone calendars synced. Sunday evenings we do our best to sit down and look at the week together to make sure we both know whats going on. This way we both know which nights we have free (if any), which days we can do lunch together, and which nights would be best for hanging out with our friends.

5. We MAKE time.
Some days are full. Take Wednesdays for example.. Sam leaves the house at 6:45 in order to work out before work, works 9-5, gets ready for and runs Wednesday night programing for Junior High students, waits for parents and cleans up, and then gets home about 9pm, just in time to throw himself on the bed and fall asleep exhausted (I can't blame him... its a busy day!) Or some Thursdays, for example.. He gets breakfast with a student at 7:20, then works 9-5, then we grab a quick dinner and head to a football game which puts us getting home, again, about 9pm. On days like these that we know (because we've looked at the calendar) are going to be crazy, we plan ahead and set aside 15-30 minutes for just us. Like on Wednesdays, I cook dinner and take it to his office about 5:30 so we can close the door and eat together. On other busy days sometimes we both get up 20 minutes early so we can have coffee together in our kitchen before the rest of the world wakes up and the busyness starts. No matter how full the day gets, we find a few minutes where it's just us, and it makes all the difference.

6. When we can't DO something, we SAY something.
Sometimes, even if we plan ahead, date nights and family walks and pillow talk just don't happen. When plans get cancelled and other things come up, it can be very frustrating and discouraging, especially for me. Thankfully, my sweet husband is so intentional in these situations when he can't physically be somewhere to make sure I still know he wishes he could, and sometimes thats all I need. He is the best about sending me a cute text or leaving me a thoughtful note or surprise FaceTime calling me. We all know actions speak louder than words, but for times when action is just not possible, the right words do just fine.

And thats about all I've got for today. The baby's hungry and the dogs are barking at the neighbors and the cat just knocked over some fake flowers that I've disguised as fall decor. So, these are the ways that we not only survive but truly get the most out of this beautiful thing we call life together. Hopefully something in this post will help you do the same!

catch up and kick off

Oh my word. Ya'll. Time is flying.

Like, I have always known time goes quickly. But days and weeks and months are literally passing at light speed and there is no slowing it down.

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, so this is going to be a catch up post and a kick off post... catching up over the last two months, and kicking off a new season of yet another attempt at consistently blogging. Round and round we go :)

We bought a house. A real, live, 3-bedroom 2-bathroom one story house with a pool. Sam moved in the day we closed (January 2nd), and Delilah moved in a couple weeks later once there weren't so many boxes. We have spent the last two months painting every room in the house (all we lack is the office), cleaning and organizing, and are now working on refinishing the kitchen cabinets. It is so fun decorating and planning together... even the parts where we disagree on shower curtains and wall colors. More on that at a later date. I'm still at my apartment (obviously) until we get married. Which bring me to the next news:

We have set a date! Friday August 29, 2014 will be the day I become Mrs. Samuel Ford Smith. It is exactly 170 days away. That feels like an eternity, lets be honest. But we know it's not, and like I've already said, time is flying.

Between painting and remodeling and bargain shopping for cool furniture, we are planning a wedding! It's going to be back home in Tennessee, which makes planning easier and harder at the same time. Harder in that we are essentially making decisions like venue and photographer and cake maker and flower arrangments blindly, easier in that we have a wedding coordinator who is doing most of the work and all we have to do is email her haha. It's coming together, that's for sure. And I found my dress!

Wait, let me back up. I forgot to tell you that we did some traveling in February. Sam made the trek across a few countries and went to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Yes, I'm serious. To Russia, by himself, to stay in a hotel he found by looking at Google Maps, to take a train into Sochi every day for a week to watch Olympic Events like curling and ice hockey and the biathlon. He's crazy, and independent, and adventurous. That's why I love him, duh. While he went there, I took a few days off work and went to Tennessee to do some wedding stuff. I had 2 full days. In those two days, I found my wedding dress, toured the venue we had already booked but had never seen, and met with our photographer who we had never met before. Also I met my new baby cousin, spent time with my fam, and had a birthday dinner. It was a super productive few days!

this is my "I found a dress!" face. It was a long day, don't judge my hair

#SaminSochi #thecutest

I forgot something else. Before we traveled, we got to spend an entire weekend with over 1000 kids 7th-12th grade at Prestonwood's biggest student event of the year, Freedom. It was absolutely amazing to watch God move in the lives of our students and staff and ourselves. Like, really, amazing.

In other news, I'm still loving my job. I love my coworkers and am slowly but surely making friends that I can get lunch with and do life with outside of work. It's exciting to see relationships transition to that. Sam is still loving his new job as student minister as well, and he's still rocking it, of course. It's kinda what we do. Our students are what consumes the majority of our time and the great majority of our hearts and prayers. There are no other people in the world we would rather do life with.

Our most recent adventures took place this past weekend. My best friends from college came to visit for the weekend, which could not have been more fun. It was the ultimate sleepover weekend, complete with moving matresses to sleep in the same room so we could stay up til 3 am talking about boys and late night Walmart trips that ended with dying hair. Besides the fun, it is so refreshing to share how God has been faithful to us and how God is teaching and growing us. Soul sisters are the best.

And at the tail end of the weekend, Sam did a little more traveling back to Tennessee to Chattanooga. This is where we are taking Junior High students for a mission trip this summer, so he went to preview the facility and make a game plan for July. Just an overnight trip, but I'm glad he's home.

I think that pretty much brings you up to speed. Fill in the few gaps that there are with budgeting money, watching Netflix, cooking dinner, packing lunches, and learning how to merge two separate lives into one that revolves around THE One, and there you have it!

Promise I won't let so much time pass before we talk again.

Love from Texas!

reflecting on 2013

A few days later than planned, but I'm reflecting on 2013:

January: I did a science experiment and made a volcano for these cuties.

February: I turned a quarter-of-a-century old. And I had a quarter-life crisis, which consisted of running a redlight, spending $100 on completely random stuff at Walmart, and eating a half gallon of icecream from the carton by myself. It was perfect.

March: I ran my first and only 5K, and I got the privilege of meeting Emily Elizabeth Moore just hours after she made her debut into the world.

April: I flew to Texas to celebrate the marriage of sweet friends, and reconnected after two years with the guy I'm gonna marry.

 

Also, I visited my family in Haiti. My heart was so incredibly full.

May: I got to go to my baby sister's 100 Club Banquet, and I met Sam in Knoxville to be his date at a wedding. [This was before we were dating, and I remember being so nervous not knowing what to expect or what to do].

June: I spent Father's Day and a couple other weekends on the river with my fam. I will desperately miss that this summer.

And I flew back to Texas to visit Sam and be the nurse at Junior High Camp. And just before I flew back to Tennessee, Sam asked me to be his girlfriend. <3

July: We made our annual Florida vacation [which I will also miss desperately this summer]. And my baby brother got married! And Sam came to Lawrenceburg for the first time and met my family.

August: I got to see Kessy stateside for a few days! And I went to a Titans game with part of the fam.

September: I flew back to Texas for a weekend and got a job and an apartment. Then Sam flew to Tennessee and drove me back to live just down the street from him. Crazy and bold, I know. But we both knew it was right.

October: Sam became the Junior High Minster, I started my new job as an oncology nurse, we carved pumpkins, supported friends who ran a 5K in the pouring rain, and took our junior high students to serve at a neighborhood in south Dallas. Busy month!

November: Sam turned a quarter-of-a-century old! And we drove to Houston to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of his family.

December: We flew home to Tennessee for a surprise 50th birthday party for my Mom, had a Christmas date night complete with selfies with Delilah, I dyed some of my hair pink, and, oh yea, WE GOT ENGAGED!

January 2013 I would have never ever predicted that this is where my life would be in January 2014. God has huge and crazy and awesome plans for your life too, you just have to let go and trust that He knows best. We all know that life is forever changing, good and bad. Take heart today, He has a plan. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Look back and take a minute to reflect on 2013, and then let it go and look forward to whats next.

heres to 2014, friends!

pre-christmas craziness!

The craziness of the holidays has taken over life and my blogging keeps getting pushed further and further on the furthest back burner that I have. and I have a lot of burners in my life. The struggle, I tell ya. Anyway.. we've had a lot going on! And it's been awesome. Let me tell you about it.

Sam turned 25! This is his birthday selfie with Delilah, who he loves. And looks strangely similar to in this picture.

We saw Catching Fire in theaters with our friends. And then me and some of my girls went to District 12.

Sam and I went to Houston for the Thanksgiving holiday and were able to spend time with some of his family. It was my first time meeting his mom and grandmother, and any family of his for that matter. I feel like it went well? And I feel like I'd know by now if it didn't. So, check that off the list.

Yes, we stopped at 7 am on the side of the road in Houston to take this selfie with an American flag covered trailer. So what?

 

Sam and I [and several of our friends/Sam's coworkers] served at a mother-daughter Christmas event for our students. So much pink! and sparkles! and glitter!

The day after that we had our end-of-the-year Wednesday night Chaos in the Junior High ministry. Christmas theme! My fav!

 This is one of my fav JH girls :)

 

After all of this was over, we made a surprise trip to Tennessee for my Mama's 50th Birthday Surprise Party! My siblings and all of our significant others put it together, with the help of some extended family. It took a lot of scheming and a little trickery, but we were able to throw the party at our house on a Friday night, get over 20 people there, have all the vehicles hidden, and totally surprise Mom with a celebration just for her, complete with me and Sam flying in from Texas and my Sis and Hunter driving in from Johnson City.

On the plane bound for Tennessee :)

It was supposed to be a two day trip, but because of the icepocolypse that happened in Dallas that particular weekend, no airlines were able to land flights as scheduled. So, we ended up spending an extra three days in Lawrenceburg with the fam. The flight cancellations and rescheduling and car rental extension and all was stressful, but overall it was a perfect weekend full of laughing and game playing and memory making. Love him.

After finally making it back to Texas, we got all dressed up in our finest and went to the Gift of Christmas presentation at Prestonwood, which was mind-blowing, of course.

 

In other news, I got my chemo certification and can now administer chemo at the hospital, which I'm pretty excited about. And Sam finished his fall semester of school! It's definitely time for a break... Hebrew was almost the death of him :) Also, I taught Sam how to do a headstand a couple days ago, which was a hilarious and extremely fun 15 minutes in my living room with pillows under our heads upside down against the wall.

 

And finally, my favorite Sam quote as of late:

Me: [after Sam said something slightly inappro]: "That was over the line."

Sam: "YOU'RE over the line."

Me: "Yea, I am."

Sam: "Yea you are, that's where I found you. I saw you standing over the line and I thought to myself 'There she is, over the line. She's the one.'"

 

He's the cutest. And I know you get it, but he's my fav. Every minute we spend together is sweet, even the not-so-fun ones.

 

Through all of this madness and fun, we are thanking God daily for each other and for the life He has designed just for us, and we are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We spent several hours in the car on the way home from Houston listening to Christmas music and just being still and quiet, letting the wonder of the fact that God became man and came to earth in the form of a baby to save us sink in, again. It is worth stopping and being still for people, I promise.

 

Tis the season :) I'll keep you updated on what the holiday holds for us here in Texas and everywhere else! Love from Plano!





a brief synopsis

It's been too long people! I'm falling behind, I know. I have to leave for work in 30 minutes, but between now and then I'm gonna give you a brief synopsis of happenings here in Texas over the last two weeks.

The week of Halloween we had a pumpkin carving party with our friends. So much fun. Pumpkins, caramel apples, playing cards, and tons of laughing.

Sam almost ran a 5K. But it started pouring down rain about 5 minutes before starting time, so he opted out. Good choice. No pneumonia for us, please.

We took our J-High students to the inner city in South Dallas to put on a fall festival for a community there. It was so fun to watch them learn how to serve in Christ's name, and to see the precious kids dressed up in Halloween costumes and such.

We went on a double date with Canaan & Ami, our life-friends here, to a sleepy little town with a cute square where we had dinner, then hit up a high school football game to hang out with our students for a while. Our fav date night :)

Ami and I have played countless games of spades against Canaan and Sam in the last couple weeks. The girls generally lose, but its probably a good thing because it turns our the boys get pretty feisty when we win occasionally.

We've spent several Fridays looking at houses.. Sam's in the market and will hopefully close on a house at the beginning of the year. Super super exciting!

I have learned/am learning how to quilt. So I've completed one small baby quilt with random fabric not really made for a boy or a girl, and one oblong Christmas quilt that Sam refuses to acknowledge as a blanket because he says its shaped like a table runner haha. It's a work in progress. The next one should be better. I'll let you know.

Sam wrote a big paper, and only has 3 weeks of classes left, praise the Lord. He needs a break from school.

I'm flying solo at work now with no preceptor, and I have friends, so all is right in the world again it seems.

We have been cooking dinner when we aren't on the go, which we love. And while Sam made homemade pizza a few nights ago I sat on a stool in the kitchen and we discussed Romans 9 and a chapter of "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan. Hard stuff, for sure.

We have made a prayer chart of our families and close friends, and we have started the tradition of praying together daily. I am beyond thankful for a man like Sam who leads me in purity and in making the most of Christ in all areas of our life.

I came to the realization a few days ago that every night when I go to bed I think "Today was the best day ever." And then the next day is always even better than that. We know all of life won't be mountain tops and that we will inevitably go through the valleys, but I honestly believe that even the biggest struggles won't be as big facing them with Sam.

We spent hours sitting in my floor painting canvases together last week. And his is equally as good as mine. This is how I know we are made for each other.

Oh, and last weekend Sam took me to see "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis performed at a theater in Dallas. It was so much fun. I haven't been to a play in years.

Life is crazy, and if someone had told me one year ago that this is where I'd be in November 2013, I would have never believed it in a million years. But His ways are higher than our way, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His plan is always always always better than anything we could possibly dream up on our own. So thankful every single day that He pursues me and He pursues Sam and He calls us to love each other and the world more perfectly on the daily. Can't wait to see what life holds. Keep up with us as we go :)

Love from Texas!

so, now we know.

I feel like now is a good time for a mostly-photo-blog that will hopefully give you a glimpse in to our everyday life.

I moved into my new apartment, and this is my first craft of the fall! It's homey, right? :)

Sam studying for Hebrew, cause he's hardcore like that.

I started my new job... this is my commute. Lame, but totally worth it. I'm loving it so far.

This is how Sam spends a big majority of his time.. with JH students. And he's great at it. [Wednesday night Chaos]

And I spend a pretty big chunk of my time with students as well. And I love it! [Girls Movie Night]

And this is just one of the many perks of dating this awesome guy... love notes written completely backwards :)

That about sums it up! It turns out day-to-day life is WAY more fun in person that via FaceTime. Who knew?  I have two favorite happenings from the past week that I feel like paint a pretty clear picture of how we are learning each other as we do this crazy thing called life together.

1. Last week I was hanging out with Sam at his host home while he was doing laundry. He brought a laundry basket full of clean clothes fresh out of the dryer upstairs and I volunteered to fold them for him. I know people can be particular, so I thought I would be proactive and ask before I started, "Is there a certain way you like things folded?" "No, whatever is fine," he says. So I proceed to fold all of the t-shirts, undershirts, shorts, socks, etc. and separate them into piles of their same kind. Once I finished, I said "Okay, what do you hang and what goes in drawers?" "Umm... everything can go in drawers except the button downs," he replied. I got up and carried a stack of nicely folded solid colored t-shirts to the dresser. "Perfect. Which drawer do these nicer t-shirts go in?" I asked. "Umm..." he pulls open the second drawer of the dresser to reveal an overflowing perfect mix of shorts, t-shirts, nice shirt, hoodies, and even bathing suits. "Well, this one looks full. Lets try the next one." he says. "Whoa whoa whoa," I say, "you mean to tell me you just throw stuff in all these drawers until they're full and then you move on to the next one? There is no designated space for any particular kind of clothes?" "Pretty much no," he says, with a smile. It was like he was speaking a foreign language. This concept flabbergasted me, which he found highly amusing. Needless to say, he graciously let me spend the next hour meticulously organizing the entire dresser by clothing type and color. So, now we know who will NOT be in charge of putting away laundry for the rest of our lives :)

2. I worked 8-5 Monday-Friday last week, and I was supposed to move in to my new apartment on Thursday. Because I wasn't going to be home in time to pick up my keys, Sam went by and got them for me. And then by the time I got off work on Friday, he and some of our sweet friends had moved every bit of my stuff out of the storage unit and into my new home. Best friends ever. Anyway, so we spent the weekend basically unpacking and trying to get my junk all in the right places. At one point, I was in the bathroom hanging the shower curtain and Sam was in the kitchen attempting to unpack boxes. He hollered from the hallway "Hey, I'm gonna unpack some of this food. On a scale of 1 to 10, how particular are you about where things go in your pantry?" I hollered back "Umm... maybe like a 7." "WHAT?! A SEVEN?!" He exclaimed. Now it was like I was the one speaking a foreign language. He couldn't fathom that I could possibly care that much where the cans of corn go in the cabinet. So, now we also know who won't be putting away the groceries. :)

Missing my fam and friends in Tennessee like crazy. Missing my old job and work friends. But absolutely loving life here in Texas.

Peace and love people :)