true tales of a seminary wife

I am a seminary wife.

My husband is currently a seminary student.

We live among other seminarians... (and their wives). They all seem really smart to me. The other seminary wives seem to have it all together. They look great in their seminary sweaters. They have perfectly clean children (that I'm sure never misbehave). They probably read the Bible start to finish every year. And I'm sure they never say bad words...

I've never read the Bible start to finish.

(and we all know how well my yearly Bible reading plan has been going so far.)

I speed.

(and sometimes yell at the other drivers when I pass them.)

I like dirty martinis.

(and margaritas.)

I cuss when I stub my toe.

(and sometimes even when I don't.)

But I love Jesus.

And thankfully, He was perfect so I don't have to be. Simple as that.

Linking this up to Capturing Motherhood's "picture me imperfectly."

he & she

{photo via Eckland Court}

he is relieved to have completed his first semester of seminary.

she is attempting to decorate their little rental for christmas.

he is loving all of this cold weather and snow.

she is learning to dress in layers.

they have officially joined a new church.

he is following ESPN and all of the bowl game excitement.

she is watching ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas every chance she gets.

he is using his spare time to read and get ahead of the game for next semester.

she is using her spare time with paper and scissors, documenting the holiday season.

they are hoping to catch a couple of UofL basketball games this year.

he is very involved with our church's mercy ministry.

she is still traveling once a month for work.

he has mastered his mom's brunswick stew recipe.

she has successfully finished wrapping and shipping all of their Christmas presents.

they are thrilled to be traveling to Houston this year for the holidays.

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Disclaimer: I totally stole this idea from Elise's blog... she is a creative genius. You can read my first "he & she" post here.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

I actually live in a place where it snows. So weird. I don't think it snows a ton in Louisville, but definitely more than anywhere I have lived in the past. Don't get me wrong... we would typically get 1-2 snows a year in Habersham... but it's just different here. People don't freak out here. They don't go to the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk and eggs, for fear of getting snowed in. They don't cancel all schools at the sight of a single snow flurry. They actually know how to drive in this weather. It's quite amazing actually. And it's really, really pretty. I'm not sure if I will be saying how pretty it all is come February. But for now... it's beautiful.

These pictures were taken just around the corner from our house. Don't they look like they belong on a postcard? Maybe with the lyrics of "over the river and through the woods..."

house tour {part I}

I realized after this past week's Top 2 Tuesday post that it was high time for a house tour. I have been teasing you for too long now... with a post here and a post there. But you deserve more then that. You deserve the full house tour. So, without further adieu... welcome. Welcome to our humble abode. Our humble, rental abode, that is...

This is what you see right when you walk in our front door. A little peek into the entry/kitchen/living room. I guess you would call this our 'dining area.' We don't have a kitchen table anymore... so this is as good as it gets. I seriously love these stools. They are one of the first things I purchased over 6 years ago when Lance and I got married. They are from the Old Clarkesville Mill... they are some of the actual stools that the factory workers used. I love that they are used... They are real. They don't match, they are a little rickety, and they have graffiti writing on the legs. That my friends, is what I call character. People pay big bucks for furniture with character. I however, paid $10.

This is our kitchen. So, it's a little bit small. Okay, it's really small. Good thing I don't cook. It works for us though. We have all the essentials... well, except for a dishwasher (another incentive to not cook). And depending on how long we stick around in this little rental, I may consider asking for permission to paint the cabinets. What do you think? Wouldn't it look super cute in a distressed white or black, with some new knobs and pulls? Hmmmm... will have to think about that one.

Here is the living area... One couch. One chair. But... it's one super cute couch and chair. I'm kind of obsessed with this whole black & white theme I have going on. We had all of this in the front room of our last rental, and I just loved the way it all came together. You can read more about the pieces in this area on this post.

And here is the other side of the living room... I guess where our kitchen table would go, if we tried to make it fit. When Lance and I first moved in, we voted. Kitchen table or TV... you see which one made the cut. We are really good at eating on TV trays. High class, I know. I'm still working on some ideas for these bare walls... but I think I might have found a solution this weekend... will keep you posted.

The last little corner of our living area... aka, the library. This piece of furniture is by far my absolute favorite. This was actually a pie safe that belonged to Lance's great grandmother. It used to have glass cabinet doors, but they were already broken when we inherited this piece... so I took the doors off and painted the inside a fun turquoise color (I didn't touch the outside) and filled it with our favorite books. Love. The black & white photos are from a photography class I took my last semester of college... all are photos taken somewhere in Troy, AL and developed and processed myself. Those have been with us since the beginning as well.

And finally... a little sneak peek into our master bedroom... Part II of the house tour.

Thanks for stopping by... come again soon! No, really... come visit.

seminary sweater

Since becoming a "seminary wife" I have recently been feeling some unsaid pressure to transform into the stereo-typical-meet-the-duggards-type woman. Now, let me be clear... this pressure does not come from anyone but myself... but none-the-less, I'm feeling it.

The seminary Lance is attending is by no means some psycho-rule-enforcing-wacko-commune. Far from it. However, it is understood that men and women should dress in a way that is fairly modest and respectful. Lance often wears a t-shirt and jeans to class and if I'm visiting him on campus I will often wear jeans and a cute tank of some sort.

Although... Lately, I've been noticing that I will carry a sweater with me as well. Just.in.case.

You know... the Seminary Sweater.

Just in case I all of a sudden realize that the shirt I picked out is too low cut, or fits too well... I am suddenly much more aware of how I am dressed compared to others. It's not that I typically dress immodestly... I just find myself analyzing it a little bit more lately. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. And come fall, it won't matter much at anyways... everyone will be wearing Seminary Sweaters...

definition: friend dating

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Friend Dating: (verb) to put forth effort in meeting potential acquaintances of the same sex, in hopes of developing a long-lasting friendship.

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I have decided that "friend dating" is way more complicated than actual dating. As one of my girlfriends recently said, "Friend dating is harder, because you can't just smile and flirt... or touch their knee to make them like you." (I'm pretty sure if I would have touched anyone's knee, that would have been pretty weird.) But just like regular dating, you have to decide what to wear, make intelligent conversation, search for common interests, etc. It's all very stressful.

Lance and I realized that many times when you move to a new city, you have at least one "starter friend."

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Starter Friend: (noun) an individual that assists you in friend dating. someone that is willing to introduce you to their own circle of friends.

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However, when we decided to make the move to Louisville... we literally knew no one. Not a soul. No "starter friends." This makes "friend dating" much more difficult. But we are getting out there. We are committing to really give this whole "friend dating" thing a shot. Lance has met a few guys playing basketball at the seminary, and a few others in his classes. (I'm pretty certain that Lance will not be using my "friend dating" term for any of his very manly outings.) However, I have been on a few "friend dates" myself...

Date #1... This was actually more of a blind date. We were set up by a mutual friend that is on the other side of the country. Me and date #1 actually have tons in common... we are both accountants, we both went to college in Alabama, we both played college volleyball (and realized we probably actually played each other), and we both married our college sweethearts. The date went really well... it was a lunch date, so we were on a time limit... but we were happy to finally meet one another face-to-face. Our second date is scheduled for this Friday... and we decided to invite the hubbys this time:)

Date #2... This date was actually a double date. When we came to visit the seminary campus back in April, we met one couple that we stayed in touch with during our decision process. This other couple wasn't entirely sure if they were going to start seminary this fall... so Lance and I put the full-court press on them. We had already decided they were going to be our friends... whether they realized it or not. So, Saturday night our new couple friends invited us over for some authentic Indian food... and it was fabulous... as was the conversation and fellowship. Really looking forward to more time with this couple.

Date #3... My third friend date was last night at this really awesome local coffee shop. I met date #3 at the church Lance and I tried out this past Sunday. She is a single, young professional, a couple of years younger than me and has lived in Louisville for two years now. She was super nice and really easy to talk to. Our second date is scheduled for this Saturday... for a little shopping:)

So... overall, I feel pretty good about my adventures in "friend dating." Let me know if you have any "friend dating" tips...

kentucky bound...

See you in Kentucky...

reality check...

This weekend we loaded up the Uhaul and emptied the house. It's hard to believe that Louisville is just around the corner.

Seeing the Uhaul loaded up (and I mean, loaded up, stuffed full, packed to the gills, overflowing... you get the picture) was a bit of a reality check for me. You see, I'm really awful at goodbyes. I hate them. They are awkward and drawn out, and usually a little teary. So, I continue to use the excuse that I will be back on a monthly basis for work... "so don't worry, we'll do dinner..." And I'm sure I will get to do a few girls night dinners, but the reality is, most of my time will be spent at the office. And I know that Lance and I will be back to visit periodically for holidays and the occasional Raider football game, but it's just not the same.

Our sweet, sweet sunday school class cooked breakfast for us yesterday morning and the reality check hit me like a ton of bricks. Some of the people in this class I was just getting to know, and others have been there since day one. I suddenly wished I had more time. I know Lance and I will make new friends in Louisville... we'll start a new chapter... enter a new phase of life... all that good stuff... but leaving is bittersweet none-the-less.

Lance and Little Cat are driving the Uhaul today. They needed some good quality time together :) More on that trip tomorrow...

adorable little rental... check.

Here is our adorable little (2 bedroom) rental. It is absolutely perfect... and was the last place we looked at after a very long day of rental searching. Lance and I arrived in Louisville Thursday afternoon. We spent all of Thursday evening and all day Friday calling numbers on 'For Rent' signs, and looking at apartment complex after apartment complex. It was utterly exhausting and we had almost given up hope. On a whim we decided to stop by the seminary so Lance could talk to some people about his class schedule. On our way out, we stumbled upon a housing bulletin board.

...And there it was.

A light blue flier requesting renters for a 2 BR, 2 bath, guest house in a gated community. So at 4:30 Friday afternoon I called the number and left a message... desperately hoping they would return my call. (You would be surprised at how impossible it is to get a hold of some of these people.) Well, sure enough they called us back and allowed us to come by the house that evening to check it out.

The potential rental is only 5 miles from the seminary campus, but you would think you entered another world. Do you remember in my first Kentucky post, how I said we were hoping to find a 2BR rental in one of the trendy neighborhoods near campus? Well... I'd have to say we did pretty good for ourselves. Did you catch the part earlier when I said our rental was someone else's guest house??? Any time the guest house has it's own 2 car garage, you can only imagine what the main house looks like, right?

Well, it's absolutely perfect. I tried to take a couple of pictures with my phone, but the quality is not that great. But basically there is a small living room and kitchen area with one bedroom on the main level. Then you go down this adorable little spiral staircase to get to the second bedroom, aka, my office. It has a washer and dryer, 2 full baths, a perfect little kitchen, and the best part... A POOL. That's right, the main house has a gorgeous backyard with an immaculate swimming pool that we would have access to whenever we want. I mean seriously... how awesome is all of this?

And to top it all off, the landlords are this adorable little young couple, not much older than Lance and I. They have a sweet 18 month old son and both are full-time lawyers. They seem incredibly nice and laid back. We are hoping that our landlords become some of our first friends in Louisville... kind of like a 2-for-1 deal.

Here are a few pictures of the inside. I know the quality is not great, but you kind of get the idea...

This is in the living room area with awesome spiral staircase.

This is another view of the living room/dining area.

This is the upstairs bedroom, which will probably be the master.

This is the downstairs bedroom, which will be the office/guest room.

We are absolutely thrilled with our find... Thanks to all who were praying this weekend!

next chapter... kentucky.

That's right blogland... next stop... Louisville, KY. Lance and I are making the big move early August... which I keep reminding myself is not very far from now. (Note to self: start collecting boxes for the move).

So, some of you might be wondering, "Why Kentucky? Why Louisville?" Simple. One word... Seminary. Yep, you heard right... Lance will be attending The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in the fall. This decision has been something Lance has gone back and forth on for years now. He is such a gifted speaker and so passionate about teaching that sometimes seminary just seems to be the next logical step... but then Lance would always seem to talk himself out of it. But God continued to put it in front of us, eventually to where we couldn't ignore it anymore.

So, at the beginning of August, we will pack up the big U-haul and drive 6+ hours to our new home. Now, I have only been to Louisville once in my entire life, and that was just a month ago for the one weekend that Lance and I went to check out the seminary campus. From what I can tell, I think I will really love Louisville... it has the small town feel with a young eclectic urban twist. Think Nashville-meets-Birmingham.

In two weeks we will make the trip to Louisville again... this time to hopefully find an adorable (yet very affordable) 2BR rental in one of the trendy neighborhoods near campus. This might pose as a potential challenge... as we will definitely be downsizing, and have an extremely tight budget... but yet, we (as in I) still seem to have expensive taste. Our budget really seems to say 1BR, but since I will be working from home all flippin' day I would really like to have some type of office space (hence, the 2BR). In all reality, the 2BR is probably crucial to my sanity... as will be lunches out of the house. I will keep you all posted on the 'perfect rental search.'

This new chapter will mark the first time that Lance and I will live in a city without any family nearby. For the first 6 years of our marriage, we have always lived close by to all of Lance's family... this definitely has it's advantages (delicious homemade meals), but I have to say there is a part of me that is looking forward to it just being us... just us two... figuring it all out on our own. However, there is also a part of me that is absolutely terrified by this idea. Lance and I have some of the most incredible friends here... friends that are irreplaceable. And to be quite honest, I'm not sure if we can make it without them... which means everyone better start planning their trips to the Kentucky Derby :)

So, in the near future you can expect to see this blog evolve into... my thoughts on a new city... my failures as a 'seminary wife'... and the joys of new adventures. Hang on blogland, it's going to be a wild ride.