Honeymoon (#3) weekend! and Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

We ate good food, slept on my grandpa's

living-room floor AND celebrated

our three-quarters-of-a-month

wedding anniversary!

Let me just tell you this sweet story.

Last week Jake walked me home from

the train and when we got to our door

he said, "shhhh," because inside was

a hot dinner and a lit candle. It's obviously

a little difficult to see in this picture,

but how lovely?

I hope your holiday weekend

was slow and full, pure bliss.

Welcome back to the week!

I am entitled to nothing,
therefor, I am thankful for everything.

Jesus said,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "

Matthew 5

Group shot!

(click on the photo to see it bigger... trust me)

Honeymoon (#2) weekend!

Another honeymoon weekend!

And unfortunately no pictures ...

which is extra sad because we had

tiramisu TWICE!

Looks like the first Tiramissuers

will have to wait.

Here is our weekend in words.

Saturday started off like this.

After the morning we borrowed

a friend's car and returned a

bookshelf to Target.

We had a blast shopping and day-dreaming

about the holidays together and

all of the holidays to come.

Love is so deep, my friends, and I

can tell my toes are just at the edge.

Last night we celebrated our

half-month anniversary!

Our most favorite restaurant was

very busy so we ate at the bar and that

was a first. I loved my guy so much

and he charmed me like crazy, that

was not a first.

Then we went to a nice gathering

of some friends, old and new. And

thankfully made it home safe.

Shouldn't we be more thankful for

all of the times we make it home safe?

...

And Sunday, the sabbath.

I felt very called to visit a Loyola chapel

on the lake, where Jake and I once went

for a taizé prayer service about a week

or two into dating. I'm so thankful

for sweet memories of a love beginning.

My heart was not in the right

place for all of the service, but

I did settle in and really worship

eventually. The Loyola campus

is breathtaking, it was

severely glorious this morning,

in the intense yellow sun and

with a thin haze above the grass.

Jake and I enjoyed looking at

the lake while we prayed about

a disagreement we had.

Love is groundbreaking.

This afternoon our good friends

took us to lunch as a wedding gift,

one of them happened to be our

wedding photographer. So look

at what I have now ...

Life can be embarrassing.

Like when you sleep in again because it's your second honeymoon weekend and you've been a little sick but your landlord surprises you and comes to fix the cupboard, which you really would like, but you're in your robe and your husband is in the shower and you look like a mess.

But you go on, invite your landlord and his father into your tiny studio, you offer them coffee and pretend you're not in your robe and then you bury your face in your computer.

And when your husband gets out of the shower you take turns hiding in the bathroom/trying to get ready.

We have an adorably small and charming studio.

Tiramissuers

I'd like like to introduce anyone out there to the newest addition to my blog "home."

The Tiramisseurs is our name, and the quest began long before even our engagement. Jake and I take tiramisu quite seriously, we make a point to try it wherever we go. So, while we have about two years of background research behind us, and we've visited a certain favorite restaurant nearly 15 times, this little blog will be the official log of our tiramisu journey.

The plans are to kick off our first log (and celebrate our half-a-month anniversary!) at our favorite favorite favorite Italian place in Chicago on Saturday... so keep your eyes peeled!

Pretty.

I have to store our plates on the table for the time being because I'm afraid our kitchen cupboard will fall off the wall at any moment.

In other news ... I'm really wondering if Trader Joe's special winter coffee blend is in stores yet. A cup of that, the sun down at 5 pm, and Fleet Foxes? Oh my my my, last winter all over again!

Other, other news ... InterVarsity Christian Fellowship hosted a joint dinner with the International Student Organization last night. And God amazed me!

The grateful list

"Do not be anxious,

but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

make your requests to God."

Phillipians 4:6

'Tis the season for thankfulness.
But what if we were thankful all year long?
I want that, I want a grateful heart.

This week is already shifting gears into fast-mode,
I swear Tuesday are water slides, I wake up and suddenly the week speeds by me.

And it's no news that I'm an anxiety-prone machine.

So I'm going to slow down, and start blogging my thanks.
Just the little things that make today unique.

Of course, the goal is not to just write a list, but to actually thank God.


And my goal is to continue this list all year.
"Blessings may lead us to be grateful, but they are not the heartbeat of thanksgiving. Acknowledging God's goodness in all, that is the heartbeat of gratefulness."

I'll begin today:
I am so incredibly grateful for the ways God has provided free food to Jake and I!
Seriously.

Honeymoon (#1) weekend- Sunday

And now for Sunday.

A sabbath.

We slept in (again!) until 9 and the morning looked just like Saturday morning. I have such a love/hate relationship with sleeping in... feels so good, yet the day is cut short. Although there is also something to be said for waking up when it is actually sunny outside.

Another event made possible by a wedding gift was a gift certificate to Cafe Too, in Uptown.

Wow, I am now their huggest fan. (I have to plug THIS organization now, and tell you that not only does their brunch provide the cheapest deal in town but also a lifetime improvement for the people who just need someone to believe in them.)

Oh, so Cafe Too was a little crowded. We put in our name and then took our picture on a pumpkin at the market across the street to pass the time.

After brunch we meditated on the Jackson subway platform for 20 minutes, the genius idea of our darling friend Kristy. I only can aspire to be as creative as her.

Then we went to Macy's and Jake looked real good under the Christmas tree.

Then I diagnosed Jake quickly and took him to Borders for a bagel and David Sedaris. No photos were taken because we were at once very tired and overcome with tears of laughter.

Then we went to church, it was dark outside and the warm light inside really made me feel like Advent is upon us! I became very nostalgic about all the times Jake and I went to church in the past two years, during the winter, before we were married. Time? How do you do it?

Finally we came home, remember what I said about all Chicagoans being bag-people? It's called urban living, people.

(If you've read any of my posts I just want to say thanks. This little blog is really for my compulsion to document but I love sharing life with others, too!)

Honeymoon (#1) weekend- Saturday

I must preface this by saying that this documentation was made possible by {Nick, Kaitlyn, Joel, Lauren, Harrison, Wade, Hannah, Mac, Erik, Kris, Dan, Nave, Bobby & Ed} because of their generous wedding gift, this:

Saturday was our quarter-of-a-month wedding anniversary!

(That was so fun to say all day.)

Jake and I cannot go on an official honeymoon until December,

so we've resolved to make every weekend in November a honeymoon in itself.Here's a quick wrap-up of a truly marvelous weekend with my love:

Other than sleeping in until 9, we started off the day like normal, me with my coffee and he still in bed pretending to pray so that I don't wake him up... he actually might be praying, who

knows.

We donated many, many things to our favorite local thrift store (which the woman said has been around for 90 years!) It was so so so sunny and that made my heart sing. Jake found two great sweaters and we had so much fun digging around, elbow-deep in thrift.

Then we spent a lot of time finishing his unpacking. I've since had to continually hold myself back from falling to the floor like a swimmer grateful to see land, and kissing the re-visible hardwood that's been hidden under boxes.

After a lazy morning we got all gussied up because Olivia was in town and we had tickets to a play! Chicago is so gorgeous when it's not too cold and the lights sparkle.

We marveled at the set and costumes and our talented friends in the play, set in the greenroom of a 1915 French Circus!

Then we ate their delicious French-inspired food at the reception! And we danced! Oh, how we danced.

Home, asleep by 11, my perfect ending to a perfect day.

This morning, it washed over me.
Through bleary vision of morning eyes
came to me the sight of yellow sun
and a husband with soft curls.
Like at the altar, when I first heard
him say he would take me as his wife.
It washed over me.

To whom much is given ... much is required, Jesus said.

"From everyone who has been given much,
much will be demanded;
and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked."

Do not worry, Jesus said.

"Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom
or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are
than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Luke 12 has been singing the song I needed to hear!
First of all, how about that kicker in the second passage?
That line I love to read, that thing the Bible says all the time,
'yet God.'
The story so often goes about people trying to follow God,
usually getting very confused, 'yet God' still does something amazing.
I am trying to take the message "do not worry" to heart.

And the challenge, the statement, the truth
that to whom much is given, much is required.

I heard this the other night on This American Life,
as Jake and I were unpacking.
Then I came upon it in the Bible this morning.
Coincidence? I think not.

I don't know much about marriage right now.
But I am certain that a marriage and a husband
are both the most honored gifts and the most
honored trusts that God gives.
He has handed me these things, though I've
done nothing to deserve them. And He has
asked me to hold them so firmly that they
don't fall from my hand, yet so gently that I
don't break them.

These are the thoughts that came to me this
morning as I was praying in the bathroom.
Our bathroom has become a downright chapel
where Jake and I go when we need space and
quietness.
I really like marriage so far.

I am married.

We are married.

We are so incredibly married.

God is good!

Well I met Jake at right after his class this morning ...

and I popped the question! And he said yes!

Today

11:30 am

Thankfully he's not busy this Saturday so we'll be going to get a marriage in Grand Rapids! We're thinking around noon.

That was the last time we'd see each other as single people in Chicago. I'm heading out tonight. It's really important to me that we sneak away during all the commotion with our dear friends and family, for some time between just the two of us. We've got a date for Friday afternoon and that will be the next time I see him.

Sharing

Jesus said,

"And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one"

Mark 10:8

While putting on my pajamas I realized that tonight is my last night alone in this apartment. When I come back, I'll share it with my husband. Those words seem so palpable, and at the same time not. They have such potential energy.

"The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christ's words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organism- for that is what the words 'one flesh' would be in modern English. And the Christians believe that when He said this He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact- just as one is stating a fact when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument."

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I am listening to "Casimir Pulaski Day" and the butterflies in my stomach have become heavy dragons. This whole album reminds me of visiting Iowa for the first time and singing in the car with Jake, nostalgia is so potent.

Today

9 am- This is my morning. That calendar is one of my most prized possessions, I'm sure you understand.

All I can say is that 5 days seems like the perfect amount of time left.

I am so excited for this week. I am overjoyed! I feel like I am near the center of God's will. I get to take the week off work, I get to see my family! And when I return I will be a married woman and life will be a whole new adventure.

I have some amazing friends and I am sure beyond a doubt that their prayers are carrying me, typical worrier and anxiety-prone Taylor, through this time, on a cloud of joy and peace.

Thank you.

From the bottom of my heart.

Today

Noon- We get to walk by Wrigley Field on our way to church. Oh, the novelty of it all.

Saturday

10 pm- Missio Dei Halloween masquerade. So much to mention; Jake's sock puppet, our new friend Theo, how we got there before the party started and judged it too quickly but then we got the dancing started, some extremely funny friends, and mostly just how amazing it felt to truly, truly, truly dance with the man I love the most!

Friday

8 am- Look at all the leaves in my back alley! Me pregunto cuantas hojas hay para cada persona en Chicago?