I refuse to reminisce about the past year unless it's in a "best of" format.

I'm not so much a fan of the "how far we've come" reflections, mainly because I keep this blog for that very reason, but in a best of format, I don't mind.

January:  I got my job offer.  It snowed enough for Sean to take an early day off of work and make soup and grilled cheese.  I took a cake decorating class.  I spent most of my time doing crafty stuff.  We celebrated Sean's 23rd Birthday.


February:  We went to a cooking class.  We celebrated Valentine's Day with surf and turf.  We spent a weekend at a hotel in Uptown Charlotte.  My mom finished her "bad chemo".


March:  I started my job at the beginning of this month.  We visited my family in San Francisco.  I learned to sew.


April:  We spent most of this month looking at houses.  We celebrated Easter in Charlotte.


May:  We bought our first house.  We celebrated Jake's graduation in Hilton Head.  We started our new roles at Elevation.  We celebrated the marriage of Dallas and Liz in Beaufort.


June:  We spent most of this month settling into our new house.


July:  We celebrated the fourth of July at the whitewater center and had a full date weekend.


August:  We celebrated our one year anniversary.  We adopted two cats, Aurora and Oliver.  I went to night shift.  We spent the majority of the month in an effort to restore the health of our adopted cats, and sadly lost one.  I started a young women's Bible Study with Holly Furtick about marriage.  I have learned SO much about our relationship from this study.


September:  We celebrated Labor Day in Hilton Head with Sean's parents, Nick, and Lyndsey.


October:  We went to New England to see the leaves in North Conway, NH and ate lobster in Maine.


November:  We celebrated Thanksgiving in Charlotte with Sean's family.


December:  I turned 24.  We celebrated Christmas in Charlotte, in Greenville, and in Alpharetta.

We have been abundantly blessed.

I am Grateful.

For Jesus.  For the country that I live in that despite it's current economical situation is still richly blessed.  For the freedom that I have to write whatever I want on this blog without persecution.  For my husband who loves Jesus, loves me, and respects the institution of marriage as a mirror for Christ's relationship with the church.  For my marriage in general and God's blessing on it.  For my mom who is still here, is healthy, and has hair.  For my in-laws who cleaned my house this morning.  For FOUR grandparents.  For 5 almost 6 siblings that I'm lucky enough to call my 5 almost 6 closest friends.  For the sister that I prayed for all my life.  For our health.  For animals that have been entrusted to us that have brought us so much joy.  For the children's ministry at Elevation and for the hearts of all of the people who serve in it.  For women in my life that have invested in me in my marriage and for women in my life that have invested in me in my job.  For a job that I love, and for the people who taught me how to do it.  For really smart co-workers.  For God's obvious favor in that I can do my job at all.  For a Clemson University diploma with my name on it and the little letters under my name that let me think that at some point I was reasonably intelligent.  For a house that we love and for the ability to pay our bills.  For cars, clothes, and for all of the material things that make our lives easier.  For a Holiday during which we can consciously acknowledge all of the things in our lives that should make us totally unabashedly grateful.

Four Legged Crandalls :)

I'm going to interrupt any normal sequence of blogging to post some pictures of the four-legged Crandalls...after all, they add a lot to our lives.

Mr. Grady, Nick and Lyndsey's puppy on his first trip to go tailgating in Clemson.  He wouldn't stay still long enough to catch much of his cute Clemson bandana on camera...but just know that he did wear orange.

Rora, our sweet cat back from the brink of death since last month.  Sadly, her brother Oliver wasn't as lucky, but we're glad to have this sweet girl back happy and healthy.

And Mr. Mogatu, fat tabby, the longest-standing member and hands-down most photogenic of the furry variety of Crandalls

Labor Day

This past weekend, Sean and I got to go down to Bluffton and visit Sean's family...and the beach.  We did some beach time, pool time, and shopping, and met Nick and Lyndsey's new puppy, my nephew-pup Grady.

Mr. Grady

Bro and Sister-in-law Nick and Lyndsey

Lone picture of Seanie and Me

Yay Twins!  With a foot of space.

Grades again

Ok... no more pictures...

We spent some time with Gram

Sean's Parents

And them again, humoring my need to take a million pictures

Our House is Simliar to Noah's Ark

...in that we take 'em 2 by 2.  That's what Sean has been telling people regarding our family.  Last August, he got Mogatu and me, and this week we got our newest additions (see below).  We set out to find a friend for Mogatu sometime in the next several months and "went to the humane society just to look" (a phrase that was cited by a co-worker of mine to be an oxymoron).  That's where two maine coon mix adult cats found us and wanted to come home with us :)  At the risk of being labeled crazy cat people, after a couple of days of thinking, it was decided that both of these little ones could join the Crandall household.

We were very excited.  Mogatu, not so much.  I don't think that he could have been less welcoming.  So we're hoping that he comes around...

When we met them.  You see how much they wanted to stay with us..

We think we're naming them Oliver and Aurora

and of course our first little friend, Mogatu, who has been very bad at making Oliver and Aurora feel welcome

Out of curiousity, I looked up the definition of crazy cat people and most definitions require that you be middle aged/older, have at least a dozen cats, own cat paraphenalia like mugs and wall pictures, and have more cats that the municipal limits allow.  And great news, Sean and I don't actually fit any of those descriptions so we're in the clear :)

I have an Elevation Church sticker on my car.

I believe that I am a generous person.  In general, when we have opportunities to invest in a ministry, gift, mission, etc., I always vote to give more.  I'm all about a hand-out to someone who needs it.  Whether that's because I'm more generous than Sean, or because I don't look at our finances and therefore have no real benchmark to refer to, is up for debate.  So yesterday, when Sean shared with me, what he shared with a random beggar in the Home Depot parking lot, I thought he must be joking.  I quickly let the issue of whether or not he was kidding to rest, and went about my day until we had some quiet time during which he was going to confess.  That time came around 7 or so, and we set out for a long walk, and a discussion of "beggars".

I told him about a time when a beggar at a rest stop had told my grand dad some long drawn out story about why he needed money.  My grand dad had responded with what was determined by my brothers and I to be an overly generous donation.  The beggar had gone and fist bumped his fellow beggar, and we were FURIOUS at how he'd just taken advantage of an 84 year old.  Pops didn't join in.

And here I am.  Married to someone who can't tell a liar in a parking lot when he sees one.  Luckily, he's married to me- the wiser.  During our walk, I sought to understand the reasoning of this soul that's now a part of mine.

Can we really tell whether or not someone really needs what they ask for?  Probably not.  But God calls us to be generous.  He doesn't qualify it.  I believe that.  That doesn't mean I always live it, but I do believe that we should be generous when called to be generous, and should trust that God can deal with the other person if they use your 20 dollar bill to buy drugs.  Still, I don't give all of my spare change to anyone who asks.  Because part of me thinks that I'll just know if someone really needs it.  Which is what I told Sean, and what led me to feel quite convicted afterwards.  Because that's when he brought up an interesting point.  One that I thought was worth sharing.

Sean said that he doesn't believe that generosity is about the other person at all.  Whether or not they really need what they ask for is TOTALLY irrelevant.  It's actually about you, and cultivation of YOUR spirit.  It's God giving you an opportunity to help someone who has less than you.  Spiritually, emotionally, physically, or in this case financially.  And whether or not you choose to take it.  Generosity  is a way that we can show the love of Christ to those around us, and therefore, is a way that we can become more like Christ.  And becoming more like Christ really should be the goal of our lives.  So that money to someone in a parking lot might buy a meal, but it also aids in the cultivation of your spirit to make you more like Christ, and we don't want to pass up that opportunity.

Sean finished up his explanation with "...besides, I had an Elevation Church sticker on my car".  And I definitely don't want someone's possibly only interaction with me to be one in which they learn that people who love Jesus don't love beggars.

Have I mentioned lately how much I respect my husband?

"Remember this- whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."

-2 Corinthians 9:6

The Orange Blooded Newlywed Club

Disclaimer- some pictures are jacked off of facebook.  

Shortly following the college club comes the newlywed club, and it's a club that it seems that all of our friends are quickly joining.  We've all been bridesmaids and groomsmen, brides and grooms, hosts of parties and showers, and have loved every second of it.  Looking back over these pictures and remembering the beginnings of each of these relationships makes me feel so lucky to have been able to become friends, and in some cases family, with so many wonderful couples who love God, love each other, and love Clemson.  This past weekend, we had the privilege of watching Dallas Kunkel and Elizabeth Temple join the ranks of Mr.'s and Mrs.'s, making them the fourth in a group of close knit friends to tie the knot.  It seems that weddings are the latest and greatest in post-grad get togethers, and we had an awesome time hanging out in the SC low country for the weekend celebrating and getting caught up with our college pals.  

Nick and Sean, the handsome twin Groomsmen with the newest husband, Dallas

The Crandall representatives in the Kunkel bridal party

The new Mr. and Mrs. at our wedding in August right after getting engaged.  Dallas was one of our ushers.

Newlywed Jen Moody teaching me Cotton-Eyed Joe at my wedding

The groomsmen at my wedding; appropriately included are other newlyweds Nick and Dallas

Sean, Nick, Lyndsey, and Me at their wedding in June

Nick and Dallas at Lyndsey and Nick's wedding

Nick, Lyndsey, Sean, Me, Tyler, and Jen and Dallas and Liz's rehearsal dinner

As much as I so miss being able to see all of these people every day, it's exciting to see and hear about everyone's lives going from college kids, to people with new jobs, homes, puppies, husbands, and wives.  And fun to have a weekend to hang out and catch up before all heading back to our new not-in-kansas-not-so-orange-anymore worlds.  So in honor of the latest and greatest in newlywed life, I'll end on a Michael Buble' note..

Nanas

What intrigued me about nursing when I chose my major, was that in nursing, you get the unique opportunity to be with people during some of the most trying times and some of the happiest times of their lives.  Times that they'll remember, as opposed to, in most jobs where you see people during their normal days.

One of those "times" this week that made an impression on me, was listening to a new grandma explaining her role in her new grandbaby's life.  It was one of the sweetest things that I've ever heard.

This grandma had been sitting next to her baby's isolette for an hour or so by herself, without really interacting much, just holding the baby's hand, and I sat nearby and charted, occasionally exchanging a few words with her.  After a while, I remembered that I needed to prick that baby's heel for a lab, so I went over and after explaining what I had to do, offered the grandmother some options: you can wait in the waiting room, you can sit here and watch me, or you can hold a syringe with a little bit of sucrose in the baby's mouth to ease the pain.  She reluctantly went with option 3.  So I got my pricker, and my lab sheet, and the gauze and tape, and some alcohol, and a little tiny bit of sucrose for grandma.

Since we would be bonding over the next few minutes, I asked her who she was going to be, to which she replied "Nana".  "I have a Nana", I told her, "so I know that Nanas are really special people, and he's lucky to have one".  With that bit of encouragement, each of us went to our separate duties, me to pricking, and Nana to sugar-giving.

During the next 3-5 minutes or so, Nana told the baby all about Nanas, and the irony of her first job in his little life, to give him sugar.  She explained that Nanas ALWAYS have the sweet stuff.  That Nanas always make you feel better.  That Nanas love you no matter what all of the time.  She went on and on and I wanted to cry because, since I have a Nana, I know how right she was, especially about the sweet stuff.  Nanas slip you a twenty when you only have half a tank of gas.  Nanas cut the ends off of your sandwiches and then make you another one to make up for the fact that half of the previous sandwich had to be cut off.  Nanas send you a card for not only Christmas and your birthday, but Valentines and Halloween.  Nanas get you a Chick-fil-A when you already have food at home because you like that better.  Nanas pick you up from school with a coke and a bag of candy since they know you'll be hungry.  And I could go on and on.

The baby didn't cry or act upset at all.  Just looked at Nana and learned about how special Nanas are.

Workin' For The Weekend

I haven't written anything in a while mainly because most of my free time went out the window with my job, which showed me into reality right around my last post.  But I really love it thus far, so I feel pretty blessed.

A few months ago, post-CMC-rejection letter, I had resigned myself to working retail for the rest of my life and was mad at myself for picking a major that chewed up and spit out all possible free time in college, as opposed to, say, psychology.  But then I got this awesome job and am successfully using this degree of mine :)

I thought, after my rejection letter, that since God didn't put me into a new grad position at CMC, that I should be totally psyched about what was in store for my life, but it was really hard to believe that.  So I called CMC, gave up on any dream that I ever had of working with women's and children's and begged/pleaded for any position that they might have (med-surg, nurse tech, secretary, janitorial services, whatever would get my foot in the door) and was denied.  I cried.  Presbyterian had told me that they would be hiring 18 people, all from within the system, and even after listing all of my fantastic credentials, was assured that since I didn't work for Presbyterian before, I wouldn't be now either, so all was lost.  I felt like an over-achiever in college, and was really irritated that I'd done so well in school and been involved in so many extra-curricular activities only to be turned down for not living in Charlotte during school.  So after teaching me plenty of patience that I don't ever want to use again, God came through as always in the 11th hour and I got a phone call from Presbyterian offering me exactly the position that I wanted in women's and children's in the neonatal intensive care.  So in effect, I was right.  I should have been SO excited that I didn't get the job that I applied for at CMC, knowing that God had something so much better and cooler in mind than what I had limited myself to being able to do.

Anyway, onto what we've been doing in the mean time...

We saw Cirque Du Soleil's show, Totem, which is easily the coolest thing I've ever seen.  I'm a huge fan.

I planted a garden.  Basil, Rosemary, Catnip for Mogs, Onions, and Cherry Tomatos.  Our green thumbs are at work.  It's modest, but it works.

We had a progressive dinner with our small group that I wish we had pictures of that consisted of super high class appetizers compliments of Jana and Blake, dinner at Jessica and Ben's, and puff pastry dessert at Ginny and Jonathan's.  Sean and I did the salad, and we were very outdone.

 I finished making my bag :)

 And I made my first envelope pillowcase.  I was psyched about how well this would match our bed (see below), but I think I'd rather it go on a chair in our room, and maybe make a solid green one to go with it.

And lastly, we've been looking for houses like we're getting paid for it.  Where to live, how high are the taxes, do we need a yard, HOA, neighborhood pool, which kitchen do we like, how many bedrooms....there's more to buying a house than I thought.  More on that when a decision is made...don't get too excited, it'll be a while.  I like a house in Stallings and a new development in Steele Creek.  Any opinions would be helpful...