I HAVE SLAIN THE BEAST AND LO, HE IS DEAD.

You heard me right. My candidacy exam is OVER. 18 hours, 42 pages, $87 in library fines, and an unholy amount of coffee later and I am DONE.

I am too tired to say much of anything about it except that actually sitting down and writing was pretty fun. And that feeling when I was finally done, when I had turned it all in…it seriously felt like I had wrestled an alligator or something. 

My oral defense is next week so I’m not out of the woods yet BUT it’s out of my hands and I’m glad for that. (Don’t let this bravado fool you…I’m nervous about that, too!)

After almost six months of preparing for this exam, I am suddenly done with it. Crazy town. And I’m so excited for Thanksgiving break! I have some super fun Christmas projects I’ve been dying to get to and BLOGGING! You guys, I can blog again!!!

Thank you to everyone for all of their sweet encouragement, especially this last month. It really got me through.

love, elizabeth

This is for a girl

This is just a note for a girl who does brave things;

She does them all the time.

A girl who smiles with her eyes

And laughs big, even at bad jokes.

For a girl who is super-hero-viking-warrior-strong.

You know the worst thing about being strong?

People forget that sometimes she doesn’t feel like being strong or tough or a super-hero-viking-warrior.

This is for that girl.

This is just a note I wrote for a girl who does brave things.

She makes me brave, too.

If you could blog a note to someone you love today, who would it be?
love, elizabeth

The best and worst thing about being married

 

There is nothing like a late-night phone call to remind you that life is fragile, time is short, and no one but God knows the future.

The other night, in the middle of a small family crisis, I was reminded of that thing that is so hard to explain about marriage. Sitting on the floor next to Kyle as he made frantic phone calls to various family members, watching his forehead wrinkle in worry, his calloused fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, his mouth pursed in a hard line, I thought, “This is what is so hard about being married. You aren’t just sharing a house, a bank account, a last name…you’re taking on every fear, every crisis, every unknown as if it was yours at birth.” There’s something frightening about that and comforting, too.

“I’m scared,” I whispered in Kyle’s ear.

He nodded.

I squeezed his hand. “I’m here,” I said. “I’ll be here no matter what, okay?”

“Yeah,” he said.

Somehow marriage doubles our fears and halves them at the same time.

A couple weeks ago, Kyle took me to dinner and I poured out my stresses on him. “I’m worried about this exam,” I told him. “I have so much to read and it feels like the time is slipping away and I’m not doing enough.”

“Just remember you’re not all alone,” he said. “I’m right here.”

Every joy is doubled; every pain is, too. And still, it makes me feel braver as we sit here on the floor by the couch, our shoulders and heads bent towards each other, waiting to hear good news, or bad news, or any news, at all. The best part and the worst part about being married is sitting here, holding your hand in the dark.

love, elizabeth

Love Stories

Tomorrow I am posting the first chapter of our love story. It’s been a really interesting experience writing it all down for the first time. Kyle and I have spent hours this last week trying to remember the little details, the chronology of events, the words we used. I’ve always enjoyed reading other bloggers’ love stories but I’ve been nervous about sharing ours.

Source: etsy.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

(If you like this print as much as I do, you can order yours here.)

Telling the story feels like another way of being brave so that’s why I’m doing it. I hope you’ll read it and I hope you’ll share your stories with others, too.

love, elizabeth

Someone's Got a Case of the Mondays...

You know you're an obsessive blogger if you manage to hit the snooze button 4 times before 7 am and still know what you're going to blog about by 7:08. And well, this post practically wrote itself.

Source: leblogdelamechante.fr via Becky on Pinterest

Ever have one of those mornings where you think, I just don't want to face the world today? I don't want to be a grown-up today. I don't want to be brave today.


I really try not to be one of those girls who lives for the weekend. Really. I do. I am well-aware that living is in the everyday, in the hard work, in the mundane. But this morning...all I wanted to do was just crawl back under the covers and sleep until Friday. To make it that much harder, Madigan was indulging in an absolute snugglefest this morning. The second she realized I was (kind of) awake, she army crawled up to the pillow and cuddled up against my chest, tucking her little fuzzy head under my chin as if to say, 'Mommy, it's not really Monday. Let's go back to sleep.'


And I really, really wanted to.



Here are two songs that continue to make my Mondays more cheerful.So wherever this Monday takes you, wherever you are, your jammies or your cubicle, I hope you'll take the opportunity to DANCE your way through Monday and into your week.

What about you? What's making your Monday lovely?

love, elizabeth

Love Makes Us Brave

via Pinterest

I was reading a couple blogs this morning and it made me think a lot about bravery and about what makes me brave.

I'll just start by saying I am NOT a risk-taker and I never have been. If it's illegal or against the rules, if it involves sharp corners, great heights, or hazardous material, if it requires me to succeed athletically or physically, if there is absolutely any potential for physical harm or possibility of repurcussions from an authority figure, chances are good that I haven't tried it. I can't even count the number of times I have been told I was "too cautious," "a goody-goody," and even "boring." Ask Kyle what drives him the craziest and he'll probably tell you it's my inability to back-seat drive him everywhere (slow down, that's a cop, turn on your signal, where are your wipers, the music is too loud). I swear, I could try the patience of a saint (or two).

The fact is, I have both an overactive fear of authority and an overactive imagination (I am constantly calculating the risk involved in everything). Not only is this exhausting for me (and everyone around me, I'm sure), but I know that I am really NOT taking God at His word.

"I've got this," He says.
"Okay, yeah, but I'll just...help you hold it up, okay?"
"No, really, Elizabeth. I've GOT this."

But when I met Kyle almost seven years ago...something totally unexpected happened. I got really brave. I kind of stepped out into this incredible unknown and though I ponder it from time to time, I can't really figure out why I took the risk. Pretty much everything about my relationship with Kyle has required an amount of bravery. If you've been following this blog for awhile, you probably have heard about a lot of that.

What I've realized, though, is that a huge part of the reason I fell in love with Kyle was that he was just so brave. So bold. Daring. Maybe a little stupid. Kyle is the guy that used to skateboard off of roofs in high school and shock himself with a dog collar "just to see what it would feel like." I suppose the line between foolhardiness and courage is pretty thin but WOW! What a brave guy. I admire his physical strength and his agility and his utter willingness to throw himself so completely into things. Snowboard on a double black diamond? "Sure!" Innertube down the Yampa? "No problem!" Fall in love and propose to a girl five months later? "Sounds good!"

It would take me the rest of the day to list all the things I have tried since I have been with Kyle - things I never felt courageous enough to do before. But I am reminded today that love has made this too-cautious-too-careful-goody-goody-scaredy-cat BRAVE.

via Pinterest

So what makes YOU brave? What would you like to be braver about?