Special Occasions and Celebrations

Summer is in full-gear, and I'm LOVING every minute!

I'd love to share with you just a few of the special occasions and celebrations we have had in the past couple weeks since my last post:

1. Paul and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a special dinner at Ruth's Chris. Yummy! It was everything I expected and more....I just have to say that I'm oh so thankful for our gift cards, or I might have had a mild stroke at the prices. I love fine dining as much as anyone, but I have to admit that I did feel a little guilty, especially after our mission trip to Mexico earlier in the year and seeing how excited they got just over cereal.

2. I SURVIVED a full and fun week of cheerleading camp! My girls worked hard all week to learn 6 cheers, 12 sidelines/bleacher chants, and 3 dances, and they brought home superior ribbons (the best) for each category.They learned many new stunts, as well, and earned a superior ribbon for that. The girls also received the Spirit award every day. Finally, they competed against all other squads at camp in both a cheer and dance competition. They brought home the 3rd place trophy for the dance competition and the FIRST PLACE trophy for the cheer competition.  Our small middle school division was the largest and most competitive division of the competition as they beat out six other schools. They were very proud of this accomplishment, and I am, too!....and I must add that I LOVED having my sister there to support me during the competition. That meant the world to me!

3. HUGE CONGRATULATIONS are in order! Paul will not brag on himself (which is one the many qualities I love about him), but that just means that I have to share his accomplishment. Paul's research has been accepted and his work is being published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute. For those who do not know, this is a scholarly journal that only publishes esteemed work. In other words, for all the papers that I write for school, I have to research such journals as this and use the information in them for my papers. If I were an engineer, I would possibly have to cite my husband in a paper.  Not very many people without doctorates get published in such works..... So, long story short, this is a great accomplishment,  and I could not be more proud of my hubby! Sidenote: another article is in the works as we speak. This man cannot be stopped...haha...and I just love it.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LINK TO HIS ARTICLE 

Yes, it's like reading Chinese to me, too.....but I'm still super proud of him!! He's a smartie!

4. My sister came to stay with me for a week, and that was a wonderful occasion. Besides the breakdown that I had when she left, it made me appreciate our relationship even more! A girl can have a lot of friends, but there is still no one quite like a sister. It was also great to have a shopping buddy back! I finally have some outfits that are not "teacher outfits", so I can put the cardigans away for awhile and enjoy some cute summer clothes. 

5. I'm also super thankful for the weekend I got to spend with my family. They came down for the weekend, and it wasn't near long enough...but I'll take what I can get. LOVE THEM! Last, but not least, let me go ahead and give a big shout out for FATHER'S DAY! I am so thankful that God chose Chris Bruley to be my daddy. I wouldn't trade him for anything. From those countless nights that he had to play with my hair to get me to fall asleep, to hearing "There's a monster at the end of this book." nearly 1,000 times, to the day he gave me away to the one man that measured up to his standards, I will always be DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL. Happy Father's Day, Deddy!

I hope this post finds you well! Keep in touch. 

Until next time...

We cycled on to Year #2 -- the "COTTON" Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that we've already been husband and wife for:

2 YEARS

24 MONTHS

104 WEEKS
730 DAYS

17531+ HOURS ....

and I wouldn't trade a single second of it. 

We "cycled" on to year #2 and learned that true love is a beautiful ride in this thing called life.

As we celebrate our COTTON anniversary, I find these qualities about cotton intriguing:

1. Cotton is a perennial, not an annual -- meaning that it is not in season for just one year and has to be replaced. No, cotton continues to flourish year after year.

2. Cotton begins as a sort of flower. However, even when the original beauty fades and the petals fall, the cotton capsule remains. In time, that core also opens to reveal even more beautiful cotton on the inside. Just as a marriage, cotton seems to get even more beautiful and better with time.

3. Cotton plants love the sun and are vulnerable to freezing temperatures. The same with a marriage. With warmth and nurturing, the marriage blossoms; with rigidness and cold attitudes, it falters. 

4. Cotton is useful for so many purposes. I have learned over the past two years that as a couple, God has begun using us for so many more purposes than we ever thought possible. We may only see ourselves as simple cotton, but God sees so much more!

 

We've also learned that marriage provides a beautiful bridge through a lot of life's troubling waters, but it's still a bridge filled with squeaky boards, leaks in the roof, and many holes and cracks.

However, we've also begun to see that sometimes those pesky cracks add beauty to the marriage and break us just enough to allow new and precious light to shine right through!

 Last but not least, we've learned that marriage is A LOT OF FUN!! So, appropriately enough,
we had to celebrate with some COTTON candy!!! 

 

Serious conversations also came amidst all the fun.... You cannot give a grown man candy and expect him not to: 1. play with it or 2. eat it..... things get serious pretty quickly! haha

...but, of course, things went right back to fun!

Long story short, these past TWO YEARS have been nothing short of wedded bliss and blessings!

 Now, it's time to step out the door to year #3.
I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us as individuals and together!

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." - Ruth 1:16