Out on the Open Road

Hi.

Ready to hear something totally disgusting?  Ok, so I decided it was high time to clean out our vacuum cleaner this week.  Obviously, I'd emptied out the tank multiple times, but I hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the filter.  This resulted in me completely taking apart our vacuum, and washing with soap and a sponge.  It was horrifying.  Truly.

My disgust was furthered when I decided to vacuum with my newly cleaned appliance and it filled up right away again.  Guys- it's not like I don't clean either; I probably vacuum at least twice a week on a regular basis.  Gross.

Anyway, I just came across some pictures from back in the day.  First, check out this dish.

This picture was taken when Jered and I drove to Missouri to meet Tanis. We made the trip to pick up Carter and Tyler and bring them back with us.

I wish I had the video to share with you because Tyler decided to sing a lot of the way home.  Carter read The Magician's Nephew the entire way back. 

Somewhere after dinner time, when it was starting to get dark, a storm hit.  You might remember it- it was the night all those tornadoes plowed through Missouri.  Later we found out Tanis had to drive through it.  We were just reaping some of the side effects.  Heavy rain.  Heavy, heavy rain.  To the point that Jered almost had to pull over because he couldn't see at all.

Needless to say, the drive home ended up being pretty long, and rather than going all the way back to his house that night, Jered and the boys camped out in our back room for the night.

In addition to all of this, Jered had a bad case of "The Ivy," and was incredibly grouchy.

 

Along the way, Jered treated the boys and me to some ice cream.  So all in all, the trip wasn't bad for me... although I didn't envy his position as driver and victim of "The Ivy."

I am pleased to announce that we have another road trip coming up tomorrow!  Jeremy, Kelly, Jered, and I will be venturing to Des Moines to spend the weekend with Jake and Molly.  I am thrilled, as we have been talking about this trip since Christmas break!  In addition to seeing them, Jered and I will also get to visit the town he's considering.

Well, I'm out for now.  I will talk to you later.  Have a great weekend!

Aim

Sleepless in Chicago

Hey there.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that one of the most annoying things in the world is knowing you need to go to sleep, and even being exhausted, but not being able to fall asleep.

You know- those nights when you feel like you were awake all night?

Had one of those last night.  And it always seems to happen the night before I have to get up way too early.  I swear sometimes I see every single hour during the night.

And then, of course, once the alarm clock sounds, I'm exhausted and drowsy and can't bear the thought of getting out of bed.  Suddenly the air is cooler and my bed is warmer, and I am more comfortable than I have been all night.

Nights like that, create days like this, where I struggle through on a caffeinated diet.  Luckily, I spent the morning building an awesome train track and a miniature town, so it went by painlessly.

Since today is Thursday, I also have Big Bang Theory and Grey's to look forward to tonight.  Plus, the possibility that I will be snowed in with my husband tomorrow with nothing to do.

That's about all I have the strength to tell you today.  Hope you're looking forward to this weekend as much as I am.

Later,

Aim

A Likable Guy

Hi friend.

This morning, as I watched my husband reluctantly wake up as I bounced into bed with a cup of coffee and my book, I was struck with how much I like him.

I know, I know- "Don't you mean love him?"

Well of course, silly.  Jered and I always think of loving each other as a given.  We always will.  Even if we don't feel like it.  It's a choice, and we will choose to love each other no matter what.

Liking each other- that's the real compliment.  We won't always like each other.  In fact, sometimes I really don't like him... like when I sit down with my lunch, and he takes a huge bite out of my sandwich.  Aimee does not share food.

Anyway- today, I looked at him as he woke up and as he got ready for class.  I couldn't help but smile as he rubbed sleep from his eyes, hair wild.  Or as he declared his new favorite outfit is an over-sized long underwear shirt and his baggy, old jeans with his Sanuks.  Or as he pulled me into a dance while listening to The Doors Light my Fire.

So yes, I will always love my husband.  Even when he's not so lovable.  And I'm quite blessed to be able to say I will far more often than not like him too.  I only wish I could share all of his really likable traits with you, but he probably wouldn't appreciate that much.



On a different note, the picture above was my subject today as I dove back into my sketchbook.  Hopefully, I will have some photos to share with you soon.  My goal is to have a new project at least once a week.  We'll see how that goes.

Well, for now, I shall let you go.  I hope you have a very nice middle of the week today.

Until next time,

Aim

Reflection Time

Hey.

I'm back.  I know, it's only been a few hours, but I feel like I've been deprived of writing time lately, and I so love to do it... even if I don't have much to tell you about.

I'm sitting in our little, hole in the wall, coffee shop.  It's called Metropolis.  Previously, I've really enjoyed their iced chai tea.  Tonight, however, is a hot cocoa night.  It's freezing, and their hot cocoa with whipped cream on top is really hitting the spot.

As I sit here, listening to the always interesting mix of music and the bits of chatter echoing through the place, I feel very reflective... although I'm not sure that will be revealed by my letter tonight.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to write to you about.

Did I tell you about the delicious dinner I made last night?  Chicken with risotto.  Really good.  Jered even called it delicious.  I can't take too much credit though because the risotto was just a box recipe.  I didn't do much.  But hey- it came off of my stove and went on our table.

Other than after a rare delicious dinner, I've been feeling pretty worthless lately.  Like a screw up, a whiner, a lazy bum, a failure, you name it.  A girl who could have gone far and didn't work hard enough or put herself out there enough to do whatever it is she could have done.  And most of the time, I feel like it's already too late to change all that.

Sometimes I get so bogged down by the thought that I have done very little of worth in my twenty-five, quickly nearing twenty-six years.  I should have done something of value by now, shouldn't I have?

I went down to New Orleans for a Katrina relief trip during my second year of college.  At that time, I really felt like I made a difference.  But now when I think about it, I wonder if God was doing more in my heart than what I accomplished there.  The people there changed me.  All I did was pull down a few walls.

Today, I did something I haven't done in... well, I don't know that I've ever done it.  I read the Facebook wall of a dear friend who has been gone for awhile.  And I don't know if it's because my mind was at peace with the fact he's gone, or that I've just been so distracted that I don't stop to think about it often.  But reading the messages from people, and even his last few posts before he left, my heart broke all over again.

Disbelief that he's gone, racks my body.  Could it already have been so long?  And I think of the things he taught me about life, and love, and God.  I think about how he taught me the most during his last year.  His fire still inspires me.  I want to have that.

I often write about the things God has been making evident to me.  But then I consider my life, and how those things are evident in the way I live, and I sometimes shudder.  It's one thing to talk about it, it's a whole different thing to live it.  It's so much harder.

Tonight, friend, I'm praying that God will do a mighty work in me, as He promised us He would, and that I will be submissive to His will.  I don't want to live a life of could have, should haves.  I want to be the girl who lived, without fear, without holding back.  A girl who made a difference. 

I will try to stop being such a downer now, friend. 

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.        

Philippians 1:6

Goodnight, friend.  And sweet dreams to you.

Aim

The Old Stomping Grounds

Dear friend,

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  I did.  Jered took me to the Art Institute.  Loved it.  Loved it so much.  Then, he decided we should visit TIU and our "old stomping grounds."

I'm not sure if the driving force was really reminiscing, or a rescue mission for his old cot.  Either way, our visit turned into a failed rescue attempt.  We did, however, visit the beach where we went for one of our first dates, and visited often with friends.

We even found the remnants of Jered and Jacob's old summer home.

 

I wanted to take the iPod with us, and listen to songs that reminded us of each spot we visited, but honestly, it was pretty cold, and we didn't stick around long at any of our stops.

For instance, out on the rocks, I would have played James Blunt's Your Beautiful.  I'm not sure why we listened to that one; I never really liked it.  However, I will always remember the moment when we were listening to it and looked at each other in surprise as we listened to the non-radio version for the first time...

I might have played some Dizmas on the rocks too because I remember trying to open Jered's mind to some of my favorite bands at the time.

Out at the stadium, we listened to James Blunt's Wisemen and Rihanna and Jay Z's Run this Town.

If we had visited our dorm rooms, which we didn't because that likely would have been an awkward moment with the current residents, Return of the King definitely would have played.  It was a favorite during study sessions. 

Anyway, like I said, I don't know if the point of the visit was about the cot, or if it was really to visit some sentimental spots, but for me, it was lovely.  And I thought it was awfully sweet that he wanted to do that on our Sunday afternoon.

Well, my fingers are freezing, and all of this typing does do anything in the way of warming them, so I'm calling it quits today.

Bye!

Aim

And the Greatest of These is Love

Hi all.

I just finished grazing on my Facebook newsfeed.

Valentine's Day posts abound.

I may have shared before that I have mixed feelings about this holiday.  I don't take it as seriously as some, but it can be fun. 

Did I ever tell you about our first Valentine's Day together?

Guys, my guy did Valentine's Day, and did it well.

He came over to my room and gave me a notecard with a rhyming hint on it.  The hint suggested that I needed to visit the beach, where we had gone for our second date.  I said, "ok, let's go!"

He told me I had to go by myself.  I was not happy.  "It's Valentine's Day, it's cold out, it's dark, and I have to drive half an hour to wander around the beach by myself?!"

My little rant did not work.  I drove to the beach alone.

I climbed and wandered around the large rocks that jutted out into the lake.  Didn't find anything to suggest I was supposed to be there.  I went to another set of rocks.  Still found nothing.  At this point, I'm figuring that the other people at the beach think I'm nuts, and I'm wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do.  I decide, that I should double check the first set of rocks because that's where our date was.

After a few more long minutes of searching, I happen to see a small, light pink ribbon, sticking out from under the snow.  Attached is a bag of sour twizzler bites.  Yum.  And another notecard.  I can tell this one is supposed to lead me to the stadium box, where Jered had taken me a couple times when it was nice outside.

Instead of going straight there, I ruined the scavenger hunt, by going back to my room first. 

I was met with the sight of a small table, set up with candles, chicken noodle soup, ruffles chips and dip, and sparkling grape juice.  "I knew it! Why did you come back here first?!" He wasn't very happy with me.

Somehow, I managed to talk him into going to the rest of the stops with me.  We went to the stadium, stopped by the pillar I got stuck on when we climbed onto the chapel roof, and checked under one of the couches in Johnson Hall.  Finally the clues led me back to my room, where the dinner awaited us.

Not only was there this beautiful dinner set up, not only had each clue been taped to one of my favorite kinds of candy, but I was also greeted by a poem, typed out on a paper made to look antique, and a single yellow rose.  His poem was adorable, and I was informed that the yellow rose was because it was my favorite color and that I would receive one more flower each Valentine's Day we spent together.

All that said, it's not just about the holiday.

Tonight, probably nothing special will be done.  Not sure I'll be able to whip up a delicious dinner, and if we go out, there's a pretty good possibility that it will be the McDonald's dollar menu...

And that's ok because my husband loves me really well.  I don't mean this in a way that would make anyone blush.  He's just good at knowing my needs as a person.

This morning, I woke up with a migraine.  A horrible, paralyzing pain through the whole left side of my head.  I could hardly open my eye.  And I had already taken two rounds of medicine after getting the headache yesterday afternoon.

At six in the morning, after I got the ok to move my workday to tomorrow and whimpered incessantly, my husband woke up and kneaded my neck and shoulders.

He's too good to me.  He really is.  I'm a little sorry about the damage I just did to his street cred, but not sorry enough to not share.

With that, I will end my sappy, Valentine's Day letter.

Aim

Playing House

Hey.

This is how my afternoon is going.

"Do you want to play with me?"

"YEEEEEEEEEES!... Can I be the dad?"

"Sure."

 

 

Do you remember playing House?

I do. We spent many a hour, day, weekend, summer, playing House.  For some reason, being the baby was always a favorite.

Before getting married, everyone always tells you that it's not just playing House.  

It's not, but today I felt a little like it.  While Jered was getting ready to leave for clinical, I made an egg sandwich and packed a lunchbox for him.  I don't know what about that little preparation made me feel that way, but it did.  And I was alright with that.  

Of course, I'm alright with any time my husband pulls me into a giant hug and tells me that I'm a good wife, just for making him a sandwich.

Anyway, back to the current episode of House.

Now I'm enjoying watching these little ones play together, on their car of couch cushions, with their shield-turned-steering wheel, baby dolls in the backseat, and keys in the ignition.

 

 "We're going on a dadventure!"

"We need to make wings, so we can go!"

(Pulls out a pair of his dad's pants to use as wings.) 

And no adventure would be complete without, "Are we there yet?"

I suppose that's a pretty good picture of real life too.

Right now, I feel like Jered and I are getting ready for a "dadventure."  Sometimes it's exciting being right where we are, but at other times, I feel like asking, "are we there yet?!"

I don't know how it went in your car, but in our family's car, it was always, "five more minutes."  Even if it's asked every hour.  It wasn't necessarily a lie.  There always was five more minutes... plus some.

So right now, when I get anxious...  I just need to think, "five more minutes."

 Dinner beckons.  Talk to you later.

Aim

Crazy Wife, Poor Husband

Hello there friend.

I am currently staring out the window at a nasty rain/snow mixture that refuses to leave us.  It's looking as though my rain/snow boots that I received for Christmas (for which I am very thankful!) are going to be a full time accessory for awhile.

Oh.  I just looked outside again and it's coming down even harder.  Guess I shouldn't have mentioned it at all.

I used to be really picky about my coffee.  Ok, I am really picky about my coffee.  But, I used to need, and I mean, absolutely required with no alternative, about six squirts of the creamer syrup.  You know, the super sugary, flavored kind.  However, recently Jered hooked me on Dunkin Donuts coffee with just normal cream and sugar.  After waking up much too early today, I decided it would be a nice treat.  It was.  Oh, it was.

I've read two posts by pregnant women, fairly recently, where they expressed their raging hormones, and sans the growing baby in my tummy part, I feel like I'm right there with them.  Poor Jered.  Poor, poor Jered.  Sometimes he just doesn't stand a chance.

Like the other night, when I came home late from work, and all I wanted was a snack, and we had no clean silverware, and there was some leftover cereal in the sink, and I literally shout, "Dangit Jered! Can't you take care of your stinking cereal for once?!"

(That was a really long, terrible sentence.  Thanks for putting up with me.)

Needless to say, about 30 seconds later, I had to walk in and apologize for my outburst.  True, I was hungry and frustrated at the silverware for not being ready to get me a brownie.  True, I was tired and had a small headache.  But... poor Jered.  Not my proudest moment as a wife.

Add to this, the fact that I've come home to a spotless apartment: dishes done and all, not once, but multiple times this week, and I feel really abysmal.

Good thing he loves me.

I just finished rereading the first three books of the series The Circle: Black, Red, and White.  (I've written to you about them before a couple years ago.  Read that HERE.)  Basically, in a far too small nutshell, it's about a man who enters a reality where all of the metaphors God uses to explain His love, salvation- everything- is literal.  I realize, this is a terrible description, so please, just read it yourself.

It was first introduced to me by the Flinkman family, and it rocketed to one of my favorite series.

Especially in White, I was reminded that God loves us, and if we have accepted His sacrifice, is able to see us as blameless.  And hardest of all, that we are to see others that way.  The way He sees them.

That kind of unconditional love is so hard to comprehend.  I struggle to show it to others, and I'm sure they struggle showing it to me- especially with episodes like the one this week. 

This has been a really, random letter, and I apologize for that.  My mind has been all over this week, and that is reflected in today's letter. 

I've just started reading Green, which is the last book, but starts the whole series.  I'm excited to see how it pulls everything together.  It will be the first time I've truly finished the series. 

I suppose that's it for now friend.  Remember: The Circle.  Check it out.

Later,

Aim

Die of a Finger

Hey there.

 I came home from a long morning of watching two little boys, to a delicious meal waiting for me on the table.  Not only that, I came home to a sparkling kitchen and cleaned up room.  My husband loves me.

Did I ever tell you about the time I took him to the hospital?

It's a great story.  Let me share it with you, k?

Back in our fairly-early dating days, we spent many an evening in Johnson Hall Lounge- the downstairs community room of my dorm.  This is where our story really takes off. 

Earlier that evening, Jered showed us a banged up finger: a result of lifting weights for football.  One of his buddies, whom he had been spotting, dropped the bench press bar and Jered's finger found itself smashed between the bar and the bar holder.  It wasn't a pretty sight.

A couple hours later, while we were watching a movie in dear old JHL, he was still mentioning the pain.  However, halfway through the flick, he began exclaiming over and over again that it was getting worse.  Much worse.  To the extent that he was up and pacing back and forth and bending over in pain.

He called a brother and his dad to see what they thought he should do.  I think one of us joked about going to the hospital.  Not an hour later, and we were on our way.  I had remembered passing one on the way to a friend's house once, so I headed in that direction.

We eventually made it to the ER, and waited for what felt like forever.  By this point, I had also developed intense pain in the form of a migraine.  We made quite the pair sitting there in the waiting room: Jered with his ever-swelling finger, and me with my growing sensitivity to light and sound.

Finally, we were escorted to a room.  I think it was in the pediatrics area because I remember sitting in a rocking chair and seeing bright colors.  Truth be told- I felt so awful that it all seemed a little dream like.

So there we were.  Finger and head throbbing.  I mostly remember the light being bright, but kind of dim at the same time, like an artsy film.  And both of us being completely miserable.

I think it was almost a full hour later, that a nurse finally came in and took an X-ray of Jered's finger.  Jered pleaded with her to tell him it was broken, even if it wasn't because of his pride.

She went out of the room to examine the results.  I looked at Jered and told him I loved him.

He said, "Really?  Even though I'm almost to die of a finger?" 

His exact words.  I loved that.

Well, sad to say Jered's finger was just swollen with blood, not broken.  She took a huge, hot needle, and stuck it through his nail.  It was disgusting.

At least he had some instant relief.  However, the pain continued on for quite some time.

That's all I remember about that night.  Mostly I remember Jered's question, and how I loved him even a little more after that.

Well guys, I must go now.  Talk to you later.

Aim