6.

I've been MIA for a while so far this month, very unintentionally, to be certain.  I've got no real reasons for my lack of writing, except that we've been traveling to northern Indiana quite a bit over the past few weeks, and I've been working quite a bit during non-traveling weeks.  A week ago Scott and I went to Kendallville, IN to the Chain O'Lakes National Park to camp in a log cabin with some of his friends from dental school.  We spent one night in the national park and the second night at his friends' lake house, and we had such a lovely lovely time.  We went to an Apple Festival where we got to try apple fritters, candy apples, apple cider, and so so many other yummy treats, and we hiked through cornfields and soybean fields with some of the cutest dogs I've ever seen.

One of my favorite photos from our hike last week

Our little cabin in the park

This week, we've had the pleasure of hosting our first guest since we've gotten married-- my dad!  We've been exploring downtown Indy, eating in Broad Ripple, enjoying pumpkin madness, and traveling to Notre Dame for football!  My college team, Carolina, played Notre Dame yesterday and put up a surprisingly good fight against the fighting Irish.  Weather was perfect, our trip went without a hitch, and we played good football.  Couldn't ask for much more than that!  Oh, and the best part was getting to sneak a visit with my brother for about 10 minutes as he took a break from work.  He's an equipment manager for the UNC team and sits in the box keeping stats for the game, but he was able to sneak away for a bit to share hugs and some laughs with us before the game started.  

Siblings, minus Adriana!

Dad and brother

And then there's today.  Today marks six months since I drove out to Mama C's in Rose Hill to marry the man I had loved for 7 years.  I can hardly believe that it's been 6 months; sometimes it feels like it's been way longer and other times it feels like it was just yesterday that I was walking down a grassy aisle to meet him under my favorite live oak.  We've learned so much about ourselves since that beautiful April day.  The day we got married, it seemed that the whole world was before us, just waiting for us to experience all we could from it.  Wedding days make you feel that you can accomplish anything as long as you have love.  And you know what? Six months later, I still believe this to be true, even though our first six months have been far from perfect.  I think we escaped the "honeymoon" phase two months into marriage when we were facing family deaths and challenges with school and careers.  

But we've made it through those things, and while we still face challenges together, I think we're learning how to handle them.  We're learning our roles as husband and wife, learning how to encourage one another and how to be the support beam that the other needs when the roof is caving in.   We've walked through deep, dark valleys and climbed to the summit of tall, beautiful mountains.  There's beauty in all of it; we wouldn't appreciate the views from the mountain tops if we hadn't trudged through the dark valleys before.  We are still facing muddy waters but have learned how to trust each other and trust Jesus despite not being able to see what's at the bottom.  

Today we celebrate 6 months of living and loving, of immense laughter and quiet tears, of incredible joy and deep sorrows.  We celebrate the big and small moments that have shaped us into the beings that we are, and for the God who brought us together in love.  We celebrate all of the people who have supported us through our journey and for those who encourage us when we're trapped in the valleys.  And we celebrate the hope of many more days and weeks and months and years ahead, speckled with laughter, tears, and sweat.  In celebration, we walked around Butler University with my dad and threw caution and leaves to the wind on a gorgeous fall day.

Lots of love & more to come soon.  Sorry for the lack of words lately, I promise they are flowing in my mind if not on paper.  

Love,

C.