Cleaning House.

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.

6 More Months!

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:

Bunt Cakes: Turns out I'm pretty decent at the baking part of things...

 Flip one side upside down to apply icing and create a rounded look once stacked: 

Awesome. I can flip things over :)

Chocolate Frosting for the middle: Yes please!

Dirty Icing (Cake Boss Lingo!)

Stack Cakes: This looks like its going to turn out great huh?

Vanilla Icing mixed with some food coloring for the outside to create the pumpkin look... Not the prettiest color of orange but I was proud. 

And here is where things went terribly wrong......

As it turns out, I should have somehow shaved off the tops of the cakes so they would lay flat against each other and not have a ginormous gap that I hopelessly tried to fill in with my pasty orange icing.

The result:

What looks like 2 bunt cakes stacked on top of each other with a less than appealing orange colored icing covering it. But hey! It ended up tasting pretty decent...

Maybe next year pumpkin cake... maybe next year.

Sacred Marriage

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? :)]

Find His Website Here.