101 Ways for 101 Days

One of my favorite poems is "Sonnet 43" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It's short, but the first lines of the poem are famous: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." (to read the sonnet in its beautiful entirety, click here).

Today marks 101 days until the wedding. I love doing top 10 lists, but I couldn't narrow it down to that few! So, to countdown 101 days, here are one hundred and one ways I love Joshua Scott Glazier...

101. His desire for adventure
100. The ways he has made me more adventurous
99. The way he loves me even though I am not as adventurous as him
98. The way he smiles at my attempts to be adventurous
97. The way we can have fun together doing anything
96. The funny faces he makes when taking pictures
95. His sense of humor
94. The fun he brings to everything he does
93. His love of airplanes
92. The noise he makes when he sees an airplane
91. His giddy excitement when talking about airplanes
90. His laugh
89. His smile
88. The joy in his eyes when he smiles
87. The joy in my eyes seeing him smile
86. The fact we don't always have to smile with each other
85. The way he loves me when I'm not smiling
84. The way he can be honest with me when things are hard
83. The way he respects my vulnerability when things are hard for me
82. The way he makes it easy to respect him as a man
81. The way I respect him anyway
80. The way our love grows when he loves me sweetly and I respect him openly
79. The way he loves me for my strengths
78. The way he loves me for my not-as-serious strengths
77. The way I love him with my English-major abilities
76. The way he sweetly asks me to edit his papers
75. The way I love to serve him in that way
74. The way he loves my nerdy-ness

73. The countless books on his bookshelf

72. His countless collection of movies

71. His obsession to alphabetize and categorize his books and movies

70. His love of Glee

69. The way he's not ashamed to let everyone know that he loves Glee

68. The way he sings along to the radio (and Glee) when he thinks no one is listening

67. The way he gets embarrassed when he finds out I was listening

66. The silly look on his face when I tell him there's no reason to be embarrassed

65. The fact that he's still embarrassed anyway 

64. The way he does things just to bug me

63. The joy he gets from bugging me

62. His laugh when he knows he's bugging me

61. The fact that he thinks bugging me is funny

60. The twisted way he loves to get "in trouble"

59. The fact that when he's "in trouble" he knows he's bugging me

58. The way he butters up to me after he gets "in trouble"

57. The way I melt like butter to that face of his

57. The way he loves to put butter on everything

56. The way he still eats my cooking, even when it's healthy

55. The way he likes my cooking, even when it's healthy

54. The way he cooks for me

53. The way he cleans for me

52. The way he serves me because of how much I serve him

51. The way we can serve each other

50. That he allows me to cook and clean for him
49. That he loves my cooking so much
48. His honesty
47. His integrity
46. His strength
45. His courage
44. His honor
43. His love of the Lord
42. The power of his prayers
41. The power of our prayers together
40. The power of his love
39. The depth of his love
38. His love of many things
37. His love of gadgets and electronics
36. His love of guns
35. His desire to have guns
34. His desire to protect me
33. His desire to make sure I'm safe
32. His desire to make sure I'm provided for
31. His desire to have a family
30. His desire to provide for that family
29. His desire to grow old with me
28. The way he calls me old already
27. The way I call him old in return
26. The way we bicker like an old married couple
25. The way we love each other despite our bickering
24. The way we can see each other's faults
23. The way we can love whole-heartedly despite those faults
22. The way love covers a multitude of sins
21. The way he looks at me
20. The way I get butterflies when he looks at me
19. His persistent attitude when I refused to date him
18. His honest charm that made it so hard for me to refuse him
17. His desire to do whatever it took to impress me
16. His desire to do whatever it took to make "us" work
15. The great story of how we started dating
14. The sweet circumstances of our first kiss
13. The effort he put into making our relationship work
12. How our relationship grew over three years and great distances
11. How we continue to grow closer to one another
10. The wonderful way he prosed
9. His impeccable taste in jewelry
8. His commitment to love me no matter what
7. His love of life
6. His love of my family
5. His dedication to his family
4. His dedication to serve this country
3. His dedication to serve me
2. His dedication to serve the Lord
1. I love the way he is who he is... Joshua Scott Glazier. I love you.

Remind Me

A good question. Still searching for the answer today.
"Tell me once again who I am to You.."



"When I lose My way,
And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the lonliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't recieve your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,

Remind me who I am.
If I'm your beloved,
Can you help me believe it.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you, Woh.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you, Woh.
To you."

NCIS Makes My Life Better

NCIS makes my life better. Really. That may sound funny, but I promise it makes sense. When things are hard, when I am frustrated, when I am upset, I love watching NCIS because it puts my life in perspective. Watching episodes where people die horrible deaths, have shoots-outs with terrorists, get stalked by psycho-criminals, solve peculiar murders, and drink way to many caf-pow's, the problems and situations in my life look so much better in comparison. 

Since becoming engaged, I have been dealing with the jewelry repair center in frustration as I have been fighting to get my ring fixed, and properly. I went to go pick it up today, but it still wasn't done. It was 3 weeks late, was sloppily made, and took 3 times (and hopefully just three) to get it fixed. So I was really bummed when I saw with my own eyes, that it still wasn't done. I know it's small, but my hopes of finally having my ring back after a month were dashed. 

So on my way home all I wanted to do was watch NCIS, because I knew I needed some perspective. My roommates once quoted me saying (during my awful job-searching days), "My life really isn't too bad. My husband wasn't murdered and I wasn't shot today!" 

So many things can give us perspective, and even though NCIS may not be the most beneficial and encouraging, it definitely makes me grateful that those shows don't mirror my everyday life! Prayer, in addition to NCIS, helped me realize that dealing with an imperfect engagement ring isn't the end of the world. It's isn't even the end of the marriage that hasn't even started yet. At the end of the day, it's just a ring, and so many things are more important. And realizing that makes my life better. NCIS just helps in the process... :)

The pits in my ring :(

Filling Our Life with Furniture

Josh and I just made our first purchase together... We bought a couch! Not any ordinary couch, but a cheap (yet nice quality) loveseat from a local classified ad. I even measured my car and made sure it would fit. However, I didn't measure how far my back swing door would open. We huffed and puffed and stuffed, but it made it home a little differently. This sums up our experience:

Loveseat bought through a classified ad: $25

Measuring tape to make sure it would fit in the back of my car: $2

Rope to secure the door closed (just in case): $8.37

Gas to drive the 27.2 miles roundtrip: $2.89

Amusement from the looks we got as we drove 13.6 miles home with a couch almost as big as my car strapped creatively on my roof-rack: PRICELESS.

But we have our very own couch! And it helps that I really like it too. And I am so glad we decided to buy that rope just in case and that Josh knows how to creatively jimmy-rig! I can't wait til Josh can move into his apartment (that will be our apartment in 122 days) and we can fill it with more stuff! But for the time being it is in my little living room where it looks massive! But I love our new loveseat and I love that Josh and I are at the stage where we can be buying things not just for my life or his life, but for our life together. 

My Thoughts on the End of the World

As 2012 is hours away, I remember back 12 years ago when many people thought Y2K was the end of the world and all electronics would crash and burn, killing everyone. That was not the case. I think back to last May when that pastor predicted the apocalypse. Ironically, I still see those billboards up. And I think to the Mayan calendar that predicts the end of the world in a year from now.

But what if tonight really was the end of the world? Would I live today any different? This is a re-post from another blog I had that shares those thoughts. These are my thoughts on the end of the world.

(Originally posted May 20, 2011 here.) 
By now, I am sure that everyone has heard of the pastor in California who is convinced that the rapture will happen on May 21, 2011 and the world will end the following October. Because that date is so near, it was on my mind as with the rest of the nation (and maybe even world). Today as I spent most of my time in airplanes and airports, making my way to visit my mom, a great song came up on my iPod. I always thought of Bruce Cockburn's "Last Night of the World" as a love song expressing no regrets in life. Today it ironically had new meaning.

The chorus goes:
"If this were the last night of the world, what would I do?
What would I do that was different, unless it was champagne with you..."

From stories I have heard, people are taking this May 21 "prophesy" in different ways. I have heard of some who have sold everything they own, quit their jobs, and have gone on vacation. Others are planning post-rapture looting parties. So, I got myself thinking: if this really was "the last night of the world", would I change the way I live? And my answer in that honest moment of personal reflection took me off-guard.

Yes, I would. But not how I would have expected. When it comes to the issue of eternity and Heaven, I am 100 % certain that whenever the rapture happens (or I die, whichever comes first) that Jesus will usher me into Heaven with open arms where I will spend eternity worshiping the Lord. And I know it's nothing I have done that has earned (or could ever earn) my place there. Instead, it is everything Jesus has done in my place. He took all of my mistakes, short-comings, and everything else labeled 'sin' and died with them on the cross. Then three days later he conquered death so I could live free of the penalty of my sins. And he did all of this because he loved me so deeply that he wanted me to know God personally and intimately, both on earth and in Heaven. And all I had to do to save my place in Heaven was acknowledge what Jesus did and receive the life he offered me wen he rose from the grave. So I wouldn't change my actions to try and get into Heaven, because I already know I am going there. But this got me thinking about everyone who is not.

If I really knew that the rapture was going to happen tomorrow, I would want to tell people. There would suddenly be a sharp urgency to my words and to my ministry. But the reality is that I don't know. I can't know when it will happen. I only know that it will. In Matthew 24 it is written that we should always be prepared and we should always be ready. So why do I live my life with calm complacency? The stark reality is, whether or not Jesus comes back tomorrow,he is coming. And I am called to live my life with that expectancy and urgency.

So, if this was the last night of the world, I would do one thing different: I would tell you about Jesus. And it makes me wonder how different my entire life would be if I lived every day as the last night of the world...  
If this were the last night of the world, what would you do differently?

          “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

         “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

-Matthew 24:36-44 

The Birth of the Redeemer

Redeem: v. 1. to buy back; 2. to pay off; 3. to recover
Redeemer: n. 1. a person who redeems; 2. Jesus Christ
            (credit Dictionary.com)


As all the wrapping paper pieces settle and chaos gives way to silence, I sit and reflect on Christmas. Even before I decided to follow Jesus, I heard the Christmas story year in and year out. It seems to have lost its awe. It seems to have lost its wonder. A virgin teenager really gave birth to the Son of God in a smelly barn? Really?? And He came to not only save the nation of Israel, but the whole world?? Really??? This story is no longer new and wondrous, but old and stale. It is hard for me to remember the miracle that Christmas is all about. But it truly is miraculous that Christmas not only celebrates the birth of the Savior, but also the redemption of us all.

As I have been finding new reflections to freshen this Christmas season, I was surprised to find that the official definition of Redeemer is Jesus. Even secular, non-bias sources see Jesus Christ as not only a redeemer, but The Redeemer. So, I have found my fresh perspective on Christmas as I reflect on how I was redeemed. I am in awe of the ways Jesus has saved my life, saved those in my life, and blessed the road ahead. I am Redeemed because He is the Redeemer.

Thank you LORD for saving me, for redeeming me, for setting me free. Thank you for loving me so much that you paid the ultimate price to redeem my life from the ultimate bondage. And thank you for allowing me to spend your birthday celebration with those I love so dearly. Thank you LORD. I love you. 


*Looking for a fresh look at the Christmas story? Check out this cute video...

To All You Procrastinators...

Bought all your Christmas presents yet? For all you procrastinators out there, here's some good gift ideas for meaningful and unique Christmas presents...

Since when do babies need iPhones??

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of the cell phone??

Mmmmm... smells like bacon

You look like a handsome filet mingon in that scarf 

Getting hurt never looked so good!

Let there be (bacon) light! 

Flavored flossing!

Need a nap? Grab a tie!

There's nothing classier than wine out of a mason jar! 

Merry Christmas Shopping!