today marks 11 months since this man & I met. yes, that's right, we met less than a year ago & in 49 days we begin the rest of our lives together. forty-nine days, people. this is the first picture we took together last june, when I took a trip to Louisville to visit this guy I had just met a couple weeks before. yes, it sounds crazy, and if you told me this would be how I met & dated my future husband I would have laughed at you. why? because I love control. stated differently, I hate feeling out of control. but that's exactly how the Lord orchestrated this entire thing... out of my control. each time I look back at our story I am reminded that I am not in control; that God is sovereign; and that I can trust Him. honestly, letting go & trusting the Lord is a struggle for me. the funny thing about that is I am totally fine with trusting myself: the short-sighted, unwise twenty-something that I am. but I think that's the reason the Lord has taken me through these crazy journeys because it teaches me that He is good, that everything He does is good, and that He can be trusted no matter what. that's not to say that everything in life will be rainbows & butterflies, but it means real peace and life to the full with the Lord rather than stressed out, anxious life trying to control everything on my own. praise the Lord for His faithfulness & writing a beautiful story. here's to Churchill Downs, walks that last the whole day, & 49 days until #haefnerforever
after this week I will have moved 11 times since 2007. it's amazing what I've learned (and haven't learned) about packing & moving in all of these moves. there's a lot of stress that comes with moving, as well as excitement. the stress comes in different ways for each person. for me, it is because I'm type A & self-diagnosed slightly OCD. I have a system, and when moving with other people who think your system could be more efficient **cough, Michael, cough** it can cause issues & breakdown communication. all joking aside, it has been such a blessing for Michael to help me move. I will concede that he was right on a few things **just a few** & it is so fun moving into the place we will share once we are married! it also makes me really excited to be in the same place for more than a year. maybe that's not the place we will live in when we first get married, but I am so ready for that day to be here soon! here are my best tips for preparing to make a cross-country or cross-town move: DO 1. pack pillows/scarves/something light on top of a layer of books, so the box doesn't become way too heavy 2. get rid of things you never use/wear/haven't seen since the last time you moved 3. use styrofoam plates between your breakable plates when packing 4. set small goals for yourself in packing different areas of your room/dorm/house/apartment 5. accept help from others & get rid of the "I can do this by myself" attitude 6. use boxes even if you are only moving across town 7. change your address with the post office 8. change your billing address with your bank & credit card company DON'T 1. be stubborn in accepting help **yes, I have trouble with this** 2. allow yourself to be ADD when packing... focus on your goal 3. justify moving things again only to have them sit in the same box for another year 4. throw away the packing paper you just bought because you might need it again next year when you move... again **hoping I remember this one this time**
here's to selfless fiancés, new packing paper, & arm muscles! Happy Tuesday, peoples!
dear blog, I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past little bit, but there are good reasons. first, it was writing my appellate brief **aka hardest paper I've ever had to write... happy briefster to me** then came practice rounds for moot court, the oral arguments from the appellate brief. that same week I found out I have to move before finals. then came the real preliminary rounds of moot court competition, mixed with my trial advocacy interview. made it to the top 64 of moot court, which meant I had to compete in the weekend tournament **praise the Lord for bonus points** luckily, I didn't make it past the first round, so I was able to begin studying for finals, which are right around the corner... cherry on top: my arkansas car registration has been expired for the past few months, so I spent 6+ hours figuring all of that stuff out this week. but now there are two big things moved onto my DONE list: moot court & car registration. by wednesday I will have moved out, and the only thing left on my to-do list will be two weeks of finals. **insert 100000000 dancing ladies here** I'm sorry you were the first thing to go when life got crazy. don't be mad... it's me not you. I'm back now, so will you forgive me?? sincerely, crazy haired & wide eyed coming soon: lessons learned {moving}, stressed desserts, & countdown to #haefnerforever
