The Mystery and the Mayhem

As i sit here in my NEW! house, eating a delicious and visually-appealing bowl of Ranier Cherries, i struggle to grasp the magnitude of changes in my life these past few months. I am staring out a window into a backyard that is entirely new to me, but is now MY backyard. I am in a guest bedroom that is painted a light apple green and is filled with MY old sheets and comforter, MY old green desk, and dozens of knick knacks, both mine and my hubby's. I will soon go to switch out laundry in MY laundry room, with MY clothes and the clothes of a MAN. Then water MY garden, small, yet fruitful, full of a variety of peppers, watermelon, chives, tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries (all your basic staples of course!). yeah, random bunch, i know.

I will be shopping with my mother for furniture for MY house. A couch for MY living room, a side table/dresser for MY husband's bedside (that i share with him!), and a structure for storage in MY kitchen, which is overflowing with MY shiny new appliances. I curled up for devos in MY zebra-printed Pier One blanket (THE softest blanket known to mankind, and i am willing to fight for this title), in MY chaise lounge chair, drinking coffee from MY Keurig Coffeemaker (more on THAT in a later post). MY husband will be coming home and I will have him all to myself. My father will not be trodding down the hallway, ankles cracking (which comes in handy for the preparation of his arrival), peering into the room to see what we are "up to". My mom will not be yelling up a cheery "hello" from the bottom of the stairs and then coming up to chat with us both. Don't get me wrong at all, i LOVED living at home and having my parents there for everything. But there is just something about having that almost-guaranteed privacy, the realization that nobody is going to come barging through that door except my husband announcing the infamous, "Honey, I'm home!!!". And then i will spend the evening getting to know my groom better, doing devos, and falling asleep by his side in OUR bed. Well, not tonight. We are housesitting for a week. But for the past few weeks it has been this way.

Oh, there is such mystery in marriage! And the mayhem of life continues on...even after a wedding of 500+ attendants. even after a honeymoon on the beach. Yes, life goes on. Dan's desk is waiting for him every morning, and a pile of empty Thank You cards are waiting for me. I still must furnish my house, keep up with the cooking, baking, laundry, gardening, and cleaning, hang stuff on walls, organize shelves, and clean out boxes. But it is very good.

This Kansas girl who grew up with a passion and desire for the great continent of Africa and the faces of the children she met there, is, in effect, living out her dreams right here as the bride of a wonderful groom, a keeper of the home, and an eater of delicious Rainier Cherries* (really the only "pits" she has come into contact with lately), as she strives to become even a smidgen of a "woman of dominion". Yes, life is good.

*these cherries are in peak season right now and it doesn't last long, so go getcha some! oh, and here is my grapevine...