I realized I hadn’t written on this blog since June and some people might be missing me. Ya’ll should know that I am primarily writing on the blog portion of Micah and I’s website. (http://micahandcarrie.com/blog/). So if you had subscribed to this blog and it was in your reader you should add the other one to your reader. That way you won’t miss me too much.

Carrie

Now that I have a legitimate job and an income I have a list of things I would like to purchase.

1) A “C” letter from pottery barn to match my roommates. We may or may not be A-B-C-D and want to put all 4 letters on the wall, hehe.

2) A ESV study Bible and an ESV thinline, red letter Bible. I’ve actually found both of those online for way cheaper than they are in the stores!

You know I should probably have the Bibles first, however, my future roommates have been bugging me about the letter since February  so I need to get that or our wall will say A-B-D which looks weird.

3) This next thing isn’t really something I’m buying but I finally set up a savings account so I can save money to buy Micah a fabulous wedding gift. I have some good ideas.

4) I would like to purchase a cute white dress to wear as I leave the reception. I want to be wearing white, but I don’t want to wear my dress because then I’d either have to take it to the Bahamas or my parents would have to get it from Greenville. If you have suggestions for a white dress in December, please pass them on. I don’t even know where to look, ugh. Should I wait until winter clothes are out or will there be no white things, it’s quite a problem.

5) Snapfish.com lets you upload your own pictures to put on canvases! I want a few of these for mine and Micah’s living room. I need some pictures, but I think this is the coolest thing ever! Here’s an example of one of my photos.

So that’s my list. What are some things on your wish list?

Welcome Back! I know it has been forever and a day since I wrote a real post on here. After Maymester finished I didn’t do anything with my life for a few days, which was actually really nice. Because I was doing nothing there wasn’t anything to blog about and then I got too busy, vicious cycle.

Since I last updated I….

- made an A in my Maymester class

- spent a week at home with my family, and began packing up my room. The picture below is what my room looks like now. Well it is even a little less. All my furniture is at Micah’s and the rest of the my stuff is in boxes to move to Boston with Micah in August or December with me.

- spent a week in Cocoa Beach, Florida as a counselor for my high school youth group. There were about 275 high school students there. I don’t know the exact number but I would say 20 public salvations, 20 salvations made public through baptism, and a whole lot of God moving through this generation. It was an incredible week. I absolutely loved it. I had a group of 9 soon-to-be sophomores from various high schools in the Atlanta area. I was so blessed with girls that wanted to learn. We often got side tracked, but I do believe God blessed the discussions we had that weren’t straight from scripture. I know He’ll use my testimony and how I prayed to include His impact on my life in every story!

- And then this past Monday I started work! I am babysitting for a family from Crosspoint church. The kids (four of them) are exhausting but so much fun. I don’t stop all day, but it is such a great experience and a pleasure to serve this family. (Dad is serving our country overseas and mom works).

That is about it. I start classes on the 30th, blah! Thankfully they are online, so I’ll keep working and get school work done at night. Micah has been busy working, painting our future furniture (was mine and white, now it’s ours and brown) and prepping for beach camp (leading worship for his high school youth group). Unfortunately I can’t go, because I have to work.

The rest of the summer is basically spending as much time with Micah as I can before he leaves, working, and class. Woo!

I guess you could say I am officially in the business of planning my wedding, WEIRD! It is so odd to think I have to make real decisions about what I want my wedding to look like: the place, the flowers, the people, etc.  Now that it is here I have no idea what I want. It has been  fun to start from scratch on the day-dreaming and planning. I finally get to look at wedding stuff and bridal magazines without guarding my heart. I really am engaged!

Being engaged means I  am also thinking about my friend Caitlin. Caitlin is a character in a book, “I Do.”  In the story Caitlin gets engaged to her dream guy and begins the crazy process of planning her wedding. Her future mother-in-law is a bit more uptight and high maintenance than Caitlin and it starts to wear thin on her patience. Caitlin eventually gives her entire wedding plans over to God, but not in the typical fashion. Caitlin walks to a park and as she is sitting there on a bench she imagines an altar in front of her, much like Abraham had for Issac. And there in her imagination and heart Caitlin sacrifices her wedding to God. Melody Carlson does such a great job writing this chapter. Caitlin’s emotions are very real during this part. You can feel her heartache about what she is doing, but also the freedom it brings her. As God would have it Caitlin’s wedding turns out beautifully and is a testimony of God’s love and his son’s sacrifice.

Since last Friday I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Caitlin and what she gave up. I want to be so faithful to God that I let him plan my wedding. I desire for people all around me to see God’s glory even in this, especially in this.

Here are a few pictures Ashley took while she was hiding in the bushes.

It really all started about a month ago when my parents made plans to come up to Clemson for the spring football game. Eventually it was decided and confirmed my grandma, aunt and uncle were also coming to celebrate birthdays, go to the spring game, and the Tigeroar concert to see Robert. The same Saturday was also an awards ceremony for Micah that his parents would be here to attend. All of that was decided about two weeks before spring break.

The week before I was commenting to Micah that I really needed a pedicure and manicure because my nails looked gross. He oddly and quickly jumped on the chance to pay for me to get one. I thought it was a little odd, but didn’t get my hopes up, until the next week. The Tuesday before we were talking about when all of our family was going to get there and he made a comment that he wanted to make sure we had some “us” time that afternoon before the festivities began. About this point I started wondering what was up. Somehow all of this came up one night and I let him know my suspicions. Well he quickly said everything possible to prove it couldn’t happen. He showed me the cash that was going towards my ring that he hadn’t spent and faked a very upset and sad demeanor that I actually felt really bad for bringing it up. As Friday approached I was quite confident we weren’t getting engaged until at least later this May. Well little did I know.

So Friday comes and after our last class at 2:15 we head down to Spill the Beans for ice cream and to do a crossword puzzle. (We are nerds, we’re okay with that). All was normal to me and I still suspected nothing. So as we were getting close to finishing the crossword puzzle he starts to act antsy, so I assume he is getting tired of this and ask if he’s ready to go. He says “yea, I’m getting a little bored.” So we leave with plans to go fix our tree. We had carved it the year before with stuff that was an inside joke at the time and needed to change it up a little bit. We had talked about doing this so I wasn’t suspicious that we were doing it then.

Old Carving

Bridge Area

So we go down to the tree which is by a little green area with a creek and two bridges. He volunteers to get rid of the old stuff if I’ll carve the new heart. I’m still clueless at this point. He does his thing and then hands the knife to me. When he hands the knife to me I start carving away, making jokes, and completely unaware of what he is doing behind me. When I turn around he is down on one knee holding out my ring. Then the dialog went something like this.

Micah: Why don’t you put the knife down.
Carrie: Okay..(throws knife down).
Micah: Carrie, will you marry me?
Carrie: YES! —pause.
Carrie: Are you going to put that on me.
Micah: Yes, if you’ll give me your hand.
Carrie: oh, haha okay.
–End Scene.

New Art

After we both calmed down and caught our breaths I asked if my parents knew and if Ashley knew. He tells me to look around. I look to my right, see nothing, and then to my left and see Ashley pop out from behind a bush. She had been hiding behind a bush filming the whole thing and taking pictures. I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked and surprised.

After we took some pictures and started to breath normally Micah said he had one more surprise. We walked over to one of the bridges and he pulled out a padlock and key. This is something that couples do in Smolensk (Russia) after they get married. They put a padlock on the bridge then throw the key into the river. We put the lock on the bridge, threw one key in the river, and then got the other key out so I could save the lock. We figured someone would come down there and cut it off, which would be sad and I would rather save it. The thought was there and that was the important part to me.

One side says “Micah and Carrie 2010″ and the other says “1 John 4:19″ which has sort of been our verse.
(We love because He first loved us).

Anyways, after we left the bridge we went to dinner with his family, my family, and Ashley. The weekend was amazing having both our families there and quite hectic as well. I feel incredibly blessed to have a family that loves me and future-in-laws that love me as well.

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, the single people complaining and the dating people worrying I felt the need to comment, cause that’s what I do.

I’ve never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. I see it as a day that guys are reminded to do something nice for their ladies. Until last year all of my Valentine’s Day dates had been duds. They were awkward, boring, and hectic. I spent them at crowded restaurants, Clemson basketball games, and the movies. Last year broke the streak. I enjoyed Valentine’s Day because it was unconventional. I went hiking. I had the best time because I wasn’t worried about what I was wearing, getting a seat in the restaurant, or if Clemson actually won. I got to spend the day with Micah. He didn’t have to spend a lot of money and I didn’t have to worry about anything. And what was even greater is we both got to decide what we wanted to do. He didn’t feel pressured to come up with it all on his own or anything. It was fantastic!

So this year, we are doing it again. Earlier this semester we went hiking and found this cool beach that sits next to a beautiful waterfall. Other people had built fires and stuff, so we decided we’d do the same. Without hesitation or really any discussion we decided we’d take the little hike to the beach, make a fire, roast the hot dogs, and hang out there for a little while the Saturday before Valentine’s day. To add to the fun, we’ve invited some other couples to join us for an unconventional Valentine’s day celebration!

For me it isn’t about the planning, money, or surprise, it s about getting to spend time with Micah.

(Not at band camp, sorry). But this one time Micah posted a blog about all the music he would buy if he had money. Well I’m going to do a post about all the books I would buy if I had money. Ready? Okay here we go.

1) So Long Insecurity (Beth Moore)

2) Stuff Christians Like (Jon Acuff)

3) Jesus: 90 Days with the One and Only (Beth Moore)

4) Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (Ree Drummond)

5) The America that Reagan Built (James Woodard)

Yes, I think that is it for now. My heart is sad because my bank account is sad and cannot afford any of those books. It is having a hard time affording the $1.50 I have to pay for a book for school.

I need a job.

Recently my major and I have been at odds. As my graduation date is approaching quicker than first anticipated I am getting a little skeptical about the likelihood for employment. Today I went to the career fair. Other than being a great learning experience and a good chance to practice my “professional” skills it didn’t really help. Technically only one corporation listed a request for Political Science majors (and I don’t think I visited them because they were a huge corporation based in California, some sort of learning environment). I talked to a few other companies interested in the College of Business and Behavior Science, but really they wanted the business, communication, and management kids. I knew that, but was hopeful nonetheless. It was cool though, I talked to the CIA about being a political analyst or a linguistic analyst. Apparently I need at least a Masters, preferably a PhD…woo. (Not). I also talked to the Department of Veterans Affairs about a desk job that was described without the words exhilarating or stimulating.  Thankfully I have a minor and can earn a teaching certification that would with hopeful certainty provide a paycheck.

So back to the love/hate analogy. The above is my rant and tad hatred towards my major. However, below is my love. In some ways I love getting picked on about my major. No one understands my fascination with politics and it is often fun to confuse them. Sometimes I like saying things no one understands and feeling smart, it doesn’t happen often but occasionally. Plus, I read fun books like “Southern Politics in State and Nation” and enjoy them. I get to watch the news for school and read FoxNews because I need to know whats going on. So this is the love I have towards my major.

Isn’t it a complex relationship? Don’t worry though, I’m not a quitter. I know what I love and I’ll get a paycheck one way or another.

By this point  all the blogs I read have written about the earthquake in Haiti at least once, if not multiple times. It breaks my heart to see all the devastation there, but what hurts worse is to think about all of the children that are now orphans. That country already had so many that needed better homes and now the need is so much greater. I have definitely been following the situation of the orphanages the most, it’s my passion. There is one that ran out of food and running water, but thankfully the roads finally cleared so that they could get supplies. I told Micah I wanted to go down there to  just love on the children. He didn’t think I could handle it. I probably couldn’t but my love for children and the compassion inside of me to give them a hope is much greater than my tendency to faint at the sight of blood. I can’t imagine what it is like down there right now. I read a great article on the Gospel Coalition Blog about whether God hated Haiti or rather this was the perfect opportunity for Christians to be God with hands and feet. It definitely brought things in to perspective for me. I hope many people read this and think about the situation as a place for God’s hope to shine.

Change of topics, slightly. More talk about orphans. I am very jealous of people in the position to adopt Haitian orphans right now. Unfortunately being 20, in college, no money, and unmarried doesn’t exactly render me capable in the eyes of the government to raise a child. I am so happy that families have stepped up to adopt these children. I pray though that these are good, loving, and God-honoring homes the children are going into. I know God has a plan for each of them, they lived through the earthquake for a very specific reason. It still amazes me an entire orphanage of 43 kids was adopted and sent to America, wow. God is awesome and so sovereign. Thank you Lord!

Now a more permanent change of topic. Can anyone whoop whoop for Scott Brown!? Man, I really didn’t think that the people of Massachusetts were capable of putting a Republican in Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat. Wow. For those that actually read this, but don’t understand what this means. The Democrats still hold the majority in the Senate, but they no longer have the 61 votes needed to overturn a filibuster. (A filibuster is when a member of the Senate stands at the front and talks about anything and everything to prevent a vote from happening). When the Democrats held 61 seats the Republicans could not filibuster because the democrats had the power to overturn it and vote. This is HUGE for the passage of the healthcare bill. As so many news sites are reporting President Obama and leading Democrats are pretty much stopping work on the healthcare bill because they know they can’t pass it in the Senate with Scott Brown in now, and the House won’t agree on the Senate bill that already passed. (The two different chambers, House v Senate passed separate bills and now have to convene in a joint committee to pass ONE bill).

Wow, that was fun explaining all of that. Whether anyone who reads this cares or didn’t already know that I have no idea, but I truly enjoyed doing that.

One last thing, check out my photography portfolio, I’m working on getting more pictures up. It is a slow process because I don’t have a lot of space.