7 months of changes

I've been pondering what to post for a while and time eventually got away from me.

There were times in the life of this blog where I thought I'd post multiple times a week, document daily life, every detail of my wedding, pregnancy, apartment decorating, and so on. As my life grew and changed over the years I've realized that though I still love this blog, it just probably won't ever be something I devote a lot of time to...and I'm ok with that.

It's not that I don't enjoy sharing my life on here, I do. It's more I'm not very good at time management and this has just become a lower priority in life. I do like to come back and add pictures and sometimes there will be spurts of updates. Maybe someday it will pick up again as a regular thing. We shall see :)

For now, enjoy these updates. The last 7 months have held some big changes for David and I and some of them are revealed in the pictures below.

Got some new ink.

David turned a year older and got some new guitar toys.

Chuy turned 4!

We found out we'll be be gaining a new Wall in October!

Chuy remained the cutest poodle in the world.

I turned a year older.

Started baby knitting.

More baby knitting!

Did some non-baby knitting.

Back to baby knitting.

Colors 2 and 3 of a big 7 color blanket for baby.

Dyed some onesies.

Lots of naps and chill time on the couch with this little guy.

More couch time.

Even more couch time with Chuy.

Time is marching on

March is almost over, which mean 2013 is almost a quarter of the way through. Life is moving so fast. I haven't been updating much but I have been creating a lot and living a lot. Below are some highlights of my life lately:

• I had my 5th TMJ arthroscopic surgery in January
• We celebrated 2 years of marriage
• David was ordained a deacon at our church
• I've fallen more and more in love with my job
• We lead a time of worship and prayer every 3 weeks at our church
• Anticipating the return of new Doctor Who episodes
• Lots of hand-sewing and knitting
• Realization that my jaw isn't recovering and I need arthroplasty
• Chuy, as always, makes life just a little cuter
• I've embraced a deeper fondness of fashion
• We feel more drawn to missional living and doing life with a community
• We are also hooked on New Girl and I want to be Zooey Deschanel

David and I are also learning to really embrace who we are as a couple, as people, and as the artwork God created us to be. I read this quote on Kristina's blog and I just absolutely love it:

"Embrace the uniqueness God placed within you.

If you can do that, you'll give the world a beautiful gift."

SO GOOD. I've personally really learned to embrace my own uniqueness and not hide it or try to make it more than what it is. God created me in a very particular way and I shouldn't try to be someone else. He already created someone else, there's no need for me to try to reinvent that. Simple.

Since no post is complete without a picture or two here are a few of life lately.

In Fredericksburg celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary

loving my pup.

playing with some new hair styles.

David leading worship while I recovered from my surgery.

happy puppy.

learning to appreciate beauty in the most mundane things.

no explanation needed.

silly sisters.

my man can drive a bus.

the two most important men in my life.

stage before Mania Marathon 12/13

I'm more active on instagram on a daily basis so feel free to follow me there: @randamocity

2 years

Two years ago, today, I married my absolute best friend. And although he is super handsome and attractive, makes me laugh, sings to me, plays multiple stringed instruments, rocks flannel like no other, wears a great beard, and is generally awesome...that's not why the past two years have been so great.

Don't get me wrong, all those things help make up who he is and are part of the equation of why I love him so dearly. The heart of our marriage, though, can be best described in the below lyric:

You're in the whisper between two lovers
igniting passion long after the altar.
You are the reason I sing
You are the reason I sing

The "You're" up there is referring to God. He is the whisper between our hearts that keeps igniting the passion, love and affection we have for each other. And obviously He's the reason we sing, which as many of you know, is a huge part of our story, our lives, and our marriage.

Because we try to keep Christ in the center of every aspect of our marriage, it's been amazing! Now there are some rough moments when I just cannot believe he says something, or I can't handle another episode of some anime cartoon, but those just don't matter. Honestly, if my biggest complaint about marriage is I have to watch anime every now and then, or he leaves macaroni on the stove for a few days, then I'd say we're doing it right. Some say that first year is the hardest...um, awesome! It only gets better?! Our 10 year anniversary is going to be amazing, and I can't even wait to see how fun it gets at year 50.


Last night we got to listen to a panel of five married couples who all had different stories and backgrounds talk on marriage. There were newlyweds, one married 55 years, second marriages, no kids, adopted kids, kids from previous marriages, etc. It was such a blessing to just listen to them all talk about the role God played in their stories and how they all keep Him in the center of their marriages. It got me thinking about our story and how God's will is so interwoven in every aspect. Sure we pulled against Him at times and tried to do our own thing but He constantly pulled us closer to Him and I'm so thankful for that.


David, you are my perfect match and I completely enjoy every day I get to spend being your wife and partner in our fun journey through life. I can't wait to see where God takes us next, and I'm game for anything as long as we get get to do it together. I love you.

Gettin things done!

Here's how life is going lately:

• Lots and lots of singing
• Secret Christmas present projects
• Ladies night planning
• Pocahontas watching
• Chuy snuggling
• Salsa eating

photo booth fun at a church Christmas party!

church musical rehearsal

my handsome hubby workin' hard

new white Christmas lights at home!

sequins & felt Christmas decor

pattern writing

family portrait

did you know I have a pet Falkor?!

puppy noses...it doesn't get cuter

I'm ready...

Anyone else ready to decorate for Christmas yet?! I'm ready to get going with twinkly lights and shiny red and green everywhere. The hubs makes me wait until Thanksgiving but after that...it's on!

To keep me at bay until then I do decorate a bit for Halloween, so that helps. And I will be decorating my Sunday school classroom with a smallish Christmas tree this weekend to promote the Operation Christmas Child toy drive that our church is doing. Boxes are due November 4 so I want there to be a reminder the week before.

This is all the crafting I've done in the past week...

knit feather

David and I went to Houston this past weekend to see my best friend Emily and her hubby.  While there we had to go to Southpaw Guitars (all left-handed guitars for my backwards hubs) and I knit a feather prototype while he played. I have a few changes I plan to make and then incorporate it into some cool stuff.

my Emily!

Saturday - paddle boating in Houston

some pretty new fabrics

Sunday - Pentatonix concert!  So good.

Monday - IKEA trip to get David a cool table.

Expect Chuy pictures soon, he's getting a major haircut as I type this. :)

Jesus, lover of my soul

The hubs and I have been singing together for over 6 years now and it's our true passion.  We finally made a recording for the first time last night!  We've had live gigs recorded but this is the first time recording ourselves.  I'll be honest, it's weird!  I feel weird not having a mic in my hand and not being on a stage to perform.  So weird. 

Well anyways, here's the video.  I know this is mostly a crafting blog but music is an equally big part of my life so I wanted to share with yall :)

day 11: marrying a musician

photo by Whitney Carlson

I am so so thankful to be married to a musician.  I love that we can sing together and make music at a level I never could with anyone else.  There's just something about singing with David that it so special.  Our minds synch up and the harmonies lock in.  When we first started dating he would always try to steal my harmonies (he claims I stole his, but I'm older, they were mine first).  Nearly 6 years later we've grown so much musically and keep finding new harmonies and sounds to add to our repertoire. 

I think one of the reasons singing with him is so important to me is because I started falling in love with him when we prepared and sang together for Mani Marathon 2005.  It would be a little over a month before we would start dating, but part of me just knew.

I just found out we might get to sing together for our Christmas Eve service, I'm so excited!

a month of thanks: day 1

I decided in an effort to post more and to thank God more I would do a daily blog post about something I'm thankful for.  This shouldn't be too hard considering I have so much in my life to be thankful for.  Seriously, I love my life and all those in it.  On that note...here is day 1.

my little penguin santa

To kick off this month on thankfulness I will start with one of the biggest blessings God has sent me.  My husband, David.  We have been friends for over 6 years, together nearly as long and married for 8 months.  He sings goofy songs about everything, makes me laugh, loves my knitting, and is my best friend in the world.  He understands my weird mind and appreciates my sometimes inappropriate humor.....ok, a bit more than sometimes.  I found someone I can make music with and who is as big a believer in DIY as I am.  David tolerates my ridiculous love of Christmas decorations and teenage girl movies.  He even bought us our first Christmas tree 3 weeks before Halloween!  We've been through so much together and I'm so excited to see what adventures we will trek through together in the coming months, years, and decades.  Most importantly he loves Jesus more than he loves me.  I think that is awesome and I love having such a strong leader in our household when it comes to our faith.

David, I love you and am so thankful for everything you are to me!

25 days..

oooooh goodness! only 3.5 weeks to go until the big day!

We just had our 5 year dating anniversary and I'm so excited to start celebrating our wedding anniversaries :)

I stayed home sick today with asthma and jaw complications which has been awful, but it has given me a chance to make a few flowers for the wedding. Today's were tulle filler flowers that I'm very excited about. There's even silver glitter tulle...awesome!


We also got our invites but our envelopes are stuck somewhere in America due to crazy weather. So, if you've been wondering if you're invited or where your invite is...it's coming!

When David gets off work we order the ties! yay weddings :)

well...it finally happened!

I will let these wonderful pics that Whitney took speak for themselves :)

March 5, 2011