I know I posted a picture a while back of the house that Mark and I had just started the process of buying... we were in the early stages then and we thought it seemed like forever before we would close on the house and officially own it. But that day has come and passed. Mark signed the papers on November 18th, and while my name is not on the deed yet because we're not married, this house belongs to us. I was able to go over to the house this past Saturday and with the help of my mom and sister, cleaned the house from top to bottom. We scrubbed the tubs, the sinks, the shelves, the kitchen counters and cabinets. We dusted, vacuumed, swept and mopped. We opened the blinds to let the sunshine fill the empty house again and opened windows to let the fresh air in. This day was a dream a come true. Ever since we started looking for houses I dreamed about the day that I would go to the house after it was ours to clean it and make it just that - really ours. As I was cleaning I felt like I was washing away all of the things the walls of the house had seen and heard from the family that lived there before us. I felt like I was wiping the slate clean and preparing the walls to host new adventures...adventures that will without a doubt bring both laughter and tears, struggles and victories, and joy and sorrow through a variety of life's issues.

So New House, you are cordially and emphatically invited to take a front row seat to witness the early days of what will one day soon (165 days to be exact) be the Mr. and Mrs. Mark Poindexter family. Enjoy.

Okay... so I didn't do too amazing on my 7 month wedding check list. Out of the 20 things that needed to get done, I accomplished only 7... YIKES! But no worries, I just hired our DJ Sunday night and it motivated me to keep on top of our wedding plans and try to get major decisions in before the craziness of the holidays. I also prioritized a little and decided some things could wait until January before final decisions have to be made.

So whats on the list for the rest of November?

1.) Buy a Dress! - Isn't this one of the first things Bride's get done when it comes to wedding plans? Why is    
                             it taking me so long to decide?! But my appt with Williamsburg Bridal and Formal on  
                            11/22 will help me make up my mind!
2.) Purchase Save the dates - I've already found adorable Save the Date magnets from Libby James, so I
                                              will probably do this in the next week.
3.) Set aside block of rooms at nearby hotel - no reason why this shouldn't get done in the next few days!
4.) Finalize Invitations - I already have these picked out too! I just need to work on the wording and  
                                      finalize the time of the ceremony.
5.) Finalize guest list so I know how many invitations/save the dates to order!

I should be able to handle five tasks right? Maybe if these get accomplished before December I can add new things to the list!

6 more months. *sigh*

Oh! I was totally a slacker and didn't post pictures of my epic pumpkin cake failure... so here's a little summary of what happened:

In Gary Thomas' book "Sacred Marriage" he poses the question, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy rather than happy?"

If you've grown up in a church setting as I have, you've probably heard of or seen your church put on marriage conferences or maybe marriage classes for the Wednesday night bible study. Some popular classes at my church, which my parents have often lead and facilitated thanks to their strong example of a christian marriage, have included "Love and Respect", "Fireproof", and "For Men/Women Only". Mark and I have read the last 2 books at the suggestion of our parents in preparation for our marriage and these books largely focus on how to better understand your spouse in order to improve your marital relationships. I enjoyed reading those books and with out a doubt gained insight into how a man is designed and what he needs, but this book by Gary Thomas takes the focus off of building a better marriage. It shows that marriage can be the avenue for experiencing a deeper relationship with God.

Not that bettering your marriage (or preparing for my eventual marriage) is wrong, in fact I believe this is a good thing. But shouldn't our main focus, whether we are single or married, be on developing a closer, deeper, more intimate relationship with God? Because in light of eternity, that is the relationship that counts. There will be no marriage at the resurrection, except for that of Christ and his Church. The relationship between husband and wife can reveal the character flaws that God is trying to correct in our lives.

I just finished chapter 6 (out of 13) which was titled "The Cleansing of Marriage". It spoke about how his marriage has held a mirror up to his own sin. Forcing him to honestly face his flaws and selfishness. He quotes an author that says "Sometimes what is hard to take in the first years of marriage is not what we find out about our partner, but we find out about ourselves."

This book has challenged my thinking on preparing for my future role as a wife. I need to purpose to not only understand the way God designed Mark in order to understand how Mark is thinking and communicating his needs so we can grow closer as a couple, but to view my relationship with Mark as a platform for growing closer to God. I need to view my future marriage as a way to be cleansed spiritually, to view it as a spiritual discipline. My main focus on entering this marriage should not be on becoming emotionally fulfilled or romantically charged (though I am excited about those things and believe those can be a result of a godly marriage for sure!). My predominant reason for entering this marriage should be so that I can become more like Jesus Christ.

 I'm thankful for my dear friend Robyn who gave this book to me as an engagement present of sorts, for she is always spurring me on in my relationship with Christ. Urging me not to become satisfied with the things of this world or lose track of my eternal focus. God gave her to me to be my iron, and I only pray I return the favor in our relationship.

I'm excited to continue reading and gaining new insight. This should definitely make it on your "to read" list. [Or am I the only one that has one of those? :)]

its the season, maybe its the thought of soon becoming a housewife, or maybe its just my mouth watering, but whatever the case yesterday afternoon was spent doing some much anticipated fall baking!

The set up:






 It turned out so much better than I thought it would! My fiance, who happens to be a very picky eater, even enjoyed it! [success!]

Overall the baking yesterday proved to be very therapeutic. This is why I've already planned out my next baking adventure, which is also inspired by my internet obsession.

However this will have to wait for another day because Noah's 13 birthday is today, so we're spending the afternoon celebrating with him!

I'll be sure to post pictures of my pumpkin cake baking process when I do finish it!
Happy Fall Baking everyone!



P.S.
Thanks Mallory Kessler for helping with the photos!

What a weekend!!! 

Thats right... I'm getting married in 7 months! Thats only 213 more days to go.

Its official. Mark and I have begun the house hunting process.

We met with a real estate agent on Saturday, and discussed the necessary steps we had to take in order to buy a house. She gave us a lot of information and also took a lot of info from us regarding what we were looking for. We even set up a time for next Saturday to begin driving around and looking at houses. Of course this depends on whether or not we can set up a time to meet with a lender this week and get pre-qualified. We are beyond excited!

Its amazing to me that its actually time to start this journey.  For months, long before we were even engaged, Mark and I began daydreaming about our future house. We would drive through neighborhoods talking about our favorite features. Whether we liked brick or siding, a two story or a ranch. We discussed our "must haves" [a master bathroom for me, a wall where mark can put his projector for him] and our "wants" [a front porch for me, a back deck for mark]. We debated location. We discussed our likes/dislikes regarding floor plans. We imagined how many rooms we would need/want for our future family and what we would use the rooms for until then. [marks hoping to finally be able to set up his drum set thats been taking turns between the back of his 4runner and his garage]. We would even spend down time at work searching through zillow.com and emailing favorite houses back and forth. We would critique and reply until we both had a good idea about what we wanted in a house, but this was all in fun. They were simply day dreams about "some day".

Sometimes during our trips through the neighborhoods we would let ourselves get lost a little and wander to what we call the "rich section" of neighborhoods. Here we would drive by very large, very expensive homes and imagine that we had high paying jobs that allowed us to have gigantic pools in our back yards and bathrooms with jacuzzi tubs. We would pretend that we had a boat or a couple of jet skis in our drive way that we would take down to our beach house [because obviously if we could afford one of these homes we could afford a beach house... isn't that how it works?]. Sometimes we would plan what our home theater room would look like or our giant foyer. But always after we left the "rich section" and we would drive back by the "normal" 3 bedroom homes that we knew maybe had more than 1 bathroom... it was there that I could actually see our life playing out before us. I could see reality. A small home filled with struggles and victories, occasional tears and lots of laughing. A small house occupied by the man of my dreams, me and our future family. It was then, as we drove by, that I would fall in love with the small brick house. Not for what it was but for what it represented. And suddenly, as we drove by, all of the imagining and day dreaming about the "rich section" lost all of its appeal. The only thing that mattered was the man driving me through these neighborhoods indulging me in my day dreams, and the life we would "some day" be sharing.

Now our day dreams about "some day" are beginning to become reality. We couldn't be more excited - or more scared. We have big decisions ahead of us, big important decisions. We are praying for guidance, because we know we are entering unfamiliar territory for us. I am praying for guidance for my Mark because I know that while we will be making these decisions together, he is the one that will be  picking up the financial and emotional responsibility that these decisions bring with them. I am praying that God will show me how to help him carry this load within the the role of a biblical wife and helpmeet that God has laid out for me, so that this responsibility will be a joy for Mark to carry and not a burden.

We fully trust that God has a plan for our future home and we pray we will be diligent to follow biblical principals so that we can honor God with our decisions and be a witness to friends and family around us.
 

Thanks to my cousin Kelleigh... I have found a new obsession. They call it:

Pinterest.


Not only do they have the most adorable wedding idea pictures, they also have pictures of food ideas, DIY craft ideas, and yummy food ideas!

These are some of my favorites so far!

Sara's

Ann's

Mallory's

7 years and 2 weeks ago today, I met Mark Thomas Poindexter for the first time, we were in South Dakota, on a missions trip that neither of us had planned to be on. 3 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 day ago we made a commitment with my parents to enter in to a relationship that we both desired to lead to marriage, we were at Neighbors Pizzeria. 1 month, 1 week and 6 days ago, Mark Thomas Poindexter got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife and to raise a family with him, we were on a picnic at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.