Life these days: S/O to the hubs

Hey friends,

I’m emerging from the shadows this evening after a month-long hiatus from blogging. I’ve had my laptop since my senior year of high school and my charger just finally decided to quit on me. Bummer! So, today my knock-off Apple charger arrived on my doorstep and I am STOKED about it. My last blog post was about giving yourself grace which seems fitting as I continue to fall behind in my goal of writing two blog posts/mo this year.

Since I last wrote, Riley and I have officially moved in with my parents. This was not something that we had originally planned on, but through a series of events decided it was a good idea. Turns out, it was a GREAT idea. Now, I can’t speak for my parents, but I’m not sure why we didn’t do this sooner. I think we’ll just live here forever!

Haha! I’m kidding.. but only a little. I appreciate my parents so much. Their willingness to house us and our doggos is such a huge blessing.

In other news, Riley is now two weeks away from graduating with his Masters in Family Therapy. I could not be more proud of him. These last two years he has spent countless hours away from home, in class, making presentations, studying, writing papers, seeing clients, scheduling clients and filling out paperwork. I can’t take credit for his success, but I too am feeling a sense of accomplishment as he nears the end of his two-year program. It has been a long investment. An investment that will undoubtedly be worth it, but filled with so much sacrifice.

Some of you may be familiar with the new feature on Instagram stories where you can allow people to ask you questions. Tonight I opened up my story for questions and Riley took the opportunity to chime in. “Favorite memory of us.” If you want to get technical, this wasn’t a question, but I went for it anyways. How in the world are you supposed to pick just one memory with your favorite person on the planet? Well, I couldn’t, obviously. But, I started reflecting on our relationship and couldn’t help but feel a little sappy about it all.

I have a really specific memory of the summer Riley and I first stated dating. It was the summer after my sophomore year of college and I was working for Manhattan Christian College as a member of Camp Team. Essentially, I was a camp counselor at 8 different camps throughout the summer to recruit students to attend MCC. It was one of the most exhausting and memorable summers of my life. What an experience. Anyways, that same summer, Riley had taken a youth ministry internship in Hugoton, KS, very far from all of the camps I was attending that summer. Each night after my campers would go to bed, I would find a place to sneak away and call Riley (If I could get cell service). I remember one night while I was at King Solomon Christian Camp (the camp I grew up going to) I went in the chapel to make my phone call. I remember walking down the center aisle and through the rows of chairs as I talked to Riley about the students in my small group and listened to his stories about the students in his youth group. I was so proud of the ministry he was doing in Hugoton and he was so encouraging of me and what I was doing on Camp Team. I can remember having a very specific thought that night. “I don’t want to experience anything else like this without Riley by my side.” It killed me that we weren’t able to be together as we impacted the lives of students.

Looking back on our relationship and throughout our marriage, my favorite memories with Riley have been any new experiences we’ve had together. Sometimes that looked like traveling to new cities, or shopping for an apartment. It’s also looked like potty training a puppy and spontaneously getting tattoos in Colorado.

My excitement for the end of this season continues to grow and my thankfulness to God and his provision does too. What’s ‘next’ still remains unclear, but whatever it is, I’ve got my favorite person to experience it with and an expectancy that whatever is next will be so, so good!