happy thanksgiving!

And official Christmas season!

What's that? Yes, it's here! Hurray!! Well, in honor of the most wonderful time of the year finally beginning tonight, we are playing Christmas music on blast celebrating! Really, we've been listening to it here & there the past couple weeks, but that's besides the point. lol Thanksgiving, we love how you brought us together with our families this year. Our parents graciously got us tickets to go home for this holiday since our move will prevent us from coming for Christmas. So we are cherishing this years Thanksgiving BIG TIME and going all out with friendsgiving in a couple days! Currently, I predict G & I are cozying up with are family & friends, eating round two of ham & stuffing & my aunts famous sweet potato and pecan dish. Cheers to scheduled blog posts and being with the people you love!

Let's decorate the tree Mom!

p.s. that photo was an actual moment captured from our amazing shoot with http://www.fabianephotography.com/! I have no idea what we were actually looking at. lol

two burgers & a concrete

Last night we finally got to visit the new Shake Shack that opened downtown a couple weeks ago. When we tried to visit opening weekend, the line went nearly around block! G and I both looked at each other and said, lets try again next time. I mean, it was only freezing that day. So, we walked a couple blocks away to some Mexican which I had been craving for days and days, and G got his burger from Epic Burger. We ate in Taco Burrito King which was not crowed like Shake Shack was, giving us space to have some good deep conversation. Let's just say I was in tears a couple times, in the middle of Mexican & burgers in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. Oh, life...you are so unpredictable sometimes.

This time however, there were no tears. Only yummy burgers and a s'mores concrete with pieces of pie from the famed Bang Bang pie! Gosh I love this foody city! Before we leave for Cali. (less than one month away :/) we hope to visit the German Market, which comes alive outside every holiday season, and The French Market in the West Loop. I feel so overwhelmed with all we want to do & see before we leave! There will definitely be many plans left undone, but I know that only means we have to return and check them off one by one.

On a fun note, as soon as we got home from dinner & Hunger Games I checked my Insta feed and saw that Taza from Love Taza, and her family were also at Shake Shack tonight! A little coincidence I loved. Happy Weekend Everyone! (It's almost Thanksgiving!) :)

remember that one time...

We left home after sun-down and waited on N LaSalle Bridge for almost 2 hours to see Nik Wallenda walk across the Chicago River on a tightrope? Then in-between buildings, BLINDFOLDED?! I almost can't believe it really happened and that we were there to see it live. So let these pictures be proof  to us and our future little people that we were there babe. ;)

g was getting the deets from mama watching on discovery, and I was off & on the phone with Julie and my mom. Freaking out!

Can you see him? Here he was about half way!

Always keep looking up.

a lament

Restore Some Beauty
by Andrew J. Schmutzer

Creator of Life,
      Maker of Perfect Memory,

            restore precious moments to our waning days;
            interject tasks of more eternal meaning;
                  we need them desperately.

Like the Laments of old,
      teach us both pain's honesty
         and the vigor of praise.

So, between pain and praise,
      restore some beauty that nurtures.

Too long have the painful memories hounded us:
      What we've done,
      What others have done,
      What we're afraid may return.

Overwhelm our burdened minds with:
      Glimpses of beauty ~ images not our own.
      Angelic friends ~ insights gifted to us.
      Hope of healing ~ sheer release
            from the toilsome cares outside Eden.

Then, fed with
             healing, wisdom, and beauty,
      chart us a new course of
             caring, mending, and building.
For any healing you bring is really beauty restored.

Dock us in deep waters of brokenness,
      So we may be agents of comfort,
            as we too, have been
                   comforted,
                   named,
                   and restored.

We pray in the name of our Broken Savior,
      Whose name we love,
            fragrance we feel,
            and beauty we share.

                                                     AMEN

...............................................................................................
This is one of my favorite laments I have ever read. Dr. Schmutzer is an amazing Professor at Moody with an profound testimony of restoration. I'd highly recommend the book The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused which is edited by Dr. Schmutzer himself and contains dozens of laments he has written, including the one posted here. Have you lost something or someone you need to lament today? Lament literally means "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow" and in our fallen world there is much to lament because there is much that we loose everyday. In our busy lives we tend to not recognize loss, or simply ignore it. Yet, we may still need to lament those things for healing to take place in our lives.

A personal example that may sound silly is loosing "our norm, our routine, our life" as we know it, in preparing to move to California. I have been grieving the loss of our home in Chicago for months in big & little ways, such as photographing everything I don't want to forget, staring out our windows thanking God for giving the best place to live that's been perfect for us, taking in all our surroundings and paying attention to everything we see on our walks even on the colder days. I know God is leading us somewhere new, and new chapters in life are exciting! Very exciting, especially when they involve SoCal. But ignoring the pain of what we leave behind holds us back from making the space in our souls for what's new. Change is hard & change is loss. So I process. And, I hope you will too. To make a way for the beauty, for life, for the new. And may the love, hope, joy & strength of Christ dwell so deeply in our lives that in Him we breath.

*photos by fabianephotography.com

lyrical: come to me

I am the Lord your God, I go before you now

I stand beside you, I’m all around you

Though you feel I’m far away, I’m closer than your breath

I am with you, more than you know

I am the Lord your peace, no evil will conquer you

Steady now your heart and mind, come into My rest

Oh, let your faith arise, lift up your weary head

I am with you wherever you go

Come to Me, I’m all you need.

Come to Me, I’m everything

Come to Me, I’m all you need.

Come to Me, I’m your everything

I am your anchor, in the wind and the waves

I am your steadfast, so don’t be afraid

Though your heart and flesh may fail you, I’m your faithful strength

I am with you wherever you go

Come to Me, I’m all you need.

Come to Me, I’m your everything

Come to Me, I’m all you need.

Come to Me, I’m your everything

Don’t look to the right or to the left but keep your eyes on Me

You will not be shaken, you will not be moved ooh

I am the hand to hold, I am the truth, I am the way

Just come to Me, come to Me, cause I’m all that you need

Come To Me 

by Bethel Music (featuring Jenn Johnson)

friend filled days: part Chicago

In continuation of the previous post, here are some snippets from last weekend when these dear people came to visit! Can I just say how AMAZING the weather was seven days ago? Really! It was in the 70's all weekend, and today it is currently 39 with off and on flurries! It's cold!! What a difference a few days can make. God sure did provide the perfect temps for our loooooooong walks (maybe too long? hehe) & photo taking! Still on a bit of a high from these days, so I'll be reminiscing as you scroll through...

Surprise!! Everyone knew Julie was coming except for me! Fabz, Jess & I were getting on the train to get our hair done when Julie was coming off the same train, so she ran into our cart before the doors closed and it was hilarious and surprising and awesome! After this weekend I have come to believe that true friends sweat for each other. (Oh I know, I've got a lot of sweating to do.)

"natural"

Oh, I love you g.

Chicago eats all weekend long! Not pictured, Giordanos & crazy eye things from the night before. lol

love this blurry one from Julie's phone!

ladiesssssssss (Julie stop talking and smile please!)

A huge thanks again to my dear friend Fabz for capturing our love in the city we fell in love with together! Check out her site linked below!

Here's two behind the scenes iPhone snaps from our "walk & shoot" over the weekend captured by Jess! I love the second one in all its joy & sweetness.

 ** Please visit fabianephotography.com to contact Fabz & see some pretty! **